Stolen

Chapter Three

Knox

Academy One begins selecting recruits at the ripe age of five years old. Parents are eager to submit their children's names every year to see if they will get selected for the trials. Some children are born with gifts, they're automatically taken in, but some are not. Those who aren't are genetically and physically tested to see if they carry the warrior genes. The trials will tell, is the motto they chose to make parents believe their kids could have a shot. I was six when my parents submitted my name for trials. For most kids, once they passed the trials, they never saw their parents again.

Rhett and Carrson had shown gifts and were thrust into the chaos of becoming a warrior. I had been specifically bred for this. My family had a history of creating recruits for the war against the darkness and I was just the next in line. I knew what was expected of me before I ever got to the academy. Rhett and Carrson had become my lifelines, my best friends through all of the training and classes. But Carrson started to fall behind and before I really knew it, he hated me. It was his jealousy that drove us to where we are now. Since we were kids, he was always coming in second. A lifetime of falling short can make you cold.

It was Carrson's plan to leave the Academy to look for Ember but for some reason I felt like we should stay close by. The scouts were deploying soon, trying to find anything that something from the shadow realm could have used to get into the academy. The tether I had to Ember was like an invisible rope tugging me from inside of my chest. I could feel her in the darkness, but I could also feel something pulling me to the academy. Carrson disagreed, if she's in the darkness then we need to get to the barrier and find a way out. Rhett was the deciding vote and logically it made more sense to do what Carrson suggested. The closer we got to the barrier, the smaller the tether to her felt. Something was happening to her there and I knew there wasn't a lot of time left to get to her. Carrson said he knew an old recruit, a breacher, who purposefully flunked out of the Academy because he was too afraid to take part in the war. The Academy didn't want recruits to share their gifts with each other but that didn't stop them from doing it. I knew that Carrson and Rhett both had shown gifts but neither of them ever said what they were and I never asked. I was told that gifts were very personal. They came from your very soul. Sharing them with the world made you vulnerable. The recruits who entered into the second round of training would be taught to harness their magic and use it to fight the war. Until then, they relied on tactics and strength to keep us alive.

Carrson led us to where this breacher lived but the chances that he'd help us were slim to none. The three of us made our way to the breacher's apartment on the outskirts of Academy Territory. It wasn't far but it wasn't easy to get to undetected. Having undergrad recruits outside of the Academy Territory was not allowed and if people found out that one of them had been breached into the darkness from inside of the Academy, everything would descend into chaos. We had to stay hidden and not draw attention to ourselves. One by one we let ourselves into the dilapidated apartment complex. 

"This place should be condemned" Rhett breathed as he brushed a spider web away from his face. 

"It's not much farther." Carrson called out over his shoulder. 

I shot Rhett a warning look, but he didn't seem to notice. My instincts were telling me that something was wrong. I shook them off and kept moving until we found ourselves standing outside of the breacher's door. Carrson banged his fist against it. I didn't trust Carrson, that much I had made very clear. But Rhett was holding onto a version of him from a hundred years ago. A version of him from before jealousy and rage took over. Carrson continued to nervously glance at the watch on his wrist before banging his fist against the door again, shaking it in its frame.

"Brett it's me!" he growled, "open the damn door!"

From the other side we could hear multiple locks clicking open as the nervous individual did as he was told. It wasn't long before the door swung open revealing a dark and empty apartment. Rhett stepped forward first, his red hair swallowed by the sheer blackness inside. Carrson ushered me in next, but I stood firm. There was no chance in hell that I was going to let him enter that apartment last. Carrson rolled his eyes in annoyance but knew there was no fighting this and stepped forward into the darkness. I pulled my gun from where it hung in the holster on my hip and followed him closely.

We had barely stepped into the rundown apartment when the door swung shut behind us causing a loud bang to echo off of the empty walls. A smothering silence hung into the air until a skittering sound came from the room to the left of us. Something was crawling across the floor. Something inhumane.

"This isn't right..." Rhett breathed from in front of us. 

I could feel the tension hanging thick in the air as we waited for whatever attack was going to come. A small white light illuminated from Rhett and lit up the space around us. The three of us had instinctively formed a triangle with our backs to each other, weapons drawn in defense. The gun I held in my hand was heavy and cold, but I kept it pointed down as I begged my eyes to focus beyond the space we were in. The skitter moved again only faster this time. It shot out of the darkness with precision. Fangs and talons were all I could see as the creature latched onto Carrson from over my shoulder. I turned quickly and shot close to his face, nipping Carrson's ear with a bullet. The creature faltered back as the magic in the bullets worked like poison in its veins. It sputtered and coughed black bile from its throat before falling limp on the ground. We didn't have time to process the attack. Another shot from Rhett sliced through the air as the skittering sounds began to echo all around us. We were surrounded.

We all sprang into action as the creatures lunged forward from the darkness. I could hear Rhett struggling on my left but the amount of these things that were attacking was astounding. In the old world I imagine the creatures would have been some form of rodent. Now, they were twice the size they would have been and mutilated beyond recognition. The cancer that swallowed the world and brought the darkness had transformed every creature caught in it into something unimaginable. The light Rhett held was growing brighter and I quickly realized that the creatures wanted to stay away from it. Each time the light hit one of them, it cowered back like it had been burned.

"Rhett!" I yelled, "The light! Shine the light on them!"

Rhett immediately began to direct the light he held towards the bulk of the creatures as Carrson and I continued to shoot them down. One by one we fought until there was nothing left. Rhett was the first to yank the door open and practically fall into the hallway. His face was paler than usual, and he had a cold sweat running down his temples. I squatted down in front of him, placing a steadying hand on his shoulder.

"Are you okay?" I was worried. He really didn't look good.

Rhett nodded, "Don't worry about me. I'm fine." I knew it was a lie the second it left his lips, but my rage was beginning to build and take over. Why had Carrson brought us here? Before I could question him myself, recruits began to line the hallways of the rundown apartment complex, weapons drawn towards us. I stood with my hands out to show them I was friendly, but they never wavered. It wasn't until the director stepped forward that the soldiers withdrew their weapons.

"Knox" she breathed, "what are you doing here?" There was pure shock in her voice. She'd never expected to find me here. We had broken direct orders to follow Carrson's plan and had found another leak in the wards where the shadow realm was able to get through.

"Well, I could ask you the same thing, Mother." I said coldly.