I Am Annika

Chapter 1

My whole life had been a lie.

I couldn't even call it mine, really. It was just a copy of someone else's.

When I woke up, tears of joy were spilled, champagne was passed around.

I was their prize, the perfect model of their hard work.

They had created me to be a symbol of power.

They had experimented on me for years. I'd been put to sleep, only waking upon completion.

They had shown me a picture of my old 11 year old self. I looked young and carefree. Where was that now?

In a mirror, I was altered and dangerous. Nearly everything that made me human had been changed. My emotions. My skills, my intelligence, my looks.

I had been unaware for 6 years.

They said it didn't matter, that I would get the time back someday.

I didn't think so.

I could hardly walk the city without people watching me with fear or anger.

My life belonged to the government. Dangerous people. Smart. Crafty.

Life in the city is bad. Life is bad, and yet the government only looks on.

The government is hated, and that means I am, too.

I hear what the people say about me. What they whisper behind hands and shut blinds.

'She is death itself,' they would hiss.

'A killer,' they would whisper.

I am not a killer.

I am not death.

I am Annika.