The Reserves [Book 1]

Prologue

Lisbeth knew something was up the second she walked into her household's living room. The digital clock under the television read 8:41 p.m. and her parents were nowhere to be found. While that may not have seemed like anything of importance to most people, it was a warning bell to Lisbeth. The last time her parents weren't in the living room at night, she had moved from Georgia to Ohio. So, as Lisbeth awkwardly made her way into the kitchen of her home, she was wary of the conversation that she may or may not end up having with her parents.

"Sweetie?" Lisbeth's mother glanced up from the kitchen table, where she and her husband had been staring at a painfully bright laptop screen. "What are you doing up?"

Lisbeth rolled her eyes. "It's 8:45, mom, I'm not seven." Plastering an innocent expression onto her face and leaning forward slightly, she glanced at the computer and asked her question. "What're you looking at?"

Her father ran a hand through his greasy gray hair, looking at his wife out of the corner of his eye. "We're not really looking at much of anything, honey..."

I stood straight, sighing with another roll of my eyes. "The day I believe you look at memes is the day you accept the fact that avocados are fruits. Just let me see." I walked around to their side of the table and froze upon seeing the computer's screen. "This is for Julian, right?" Her parents shared a guilty glance. She repeated herself, her voice forceful. "Right?" Her parents simply stared at her sadly, and let Lisbeth come to her own conclusion.

She stood up, grabbed her keys, and walked to the front door of the house. "I'll be back later." Walking out, and slamming the door behind her, Lisbeth ran. She ran past the other homes on her block, up and down a hill, and into her town's forest. She was sweating buckets by the time she stopped running, panting and gasping for air. "Jesus." She sat down on the forest floor, leaning back and closing her eyes.

~*~

It took Lisbeth a couple of minutes to realize she had fallen asleep after she woke up hours later. The moon was still in the sky, but it was far closer to the middle of the sky than it was before. It took that realization a little while to set in. It took her longer to fully realize the consequences of her unintentional actions. Her parents were probably worried, she probably woke up her little brother when she slammed the door, she was probably going to be grounded, and she was probably going to be sent to a boarding school when she got back. Lisbeth felt an intense urge to leave the forest, the trees suddenly far more intimidating than they used to be. However, she couldn't remember how she came in to save her life. Lisbeth stood up, thought hard for about a minute, and decided to walk in one direction until she was out and she could breathe again.

Until then, however, Lisbeth resigned herself to the fact that she was lost in a forest and there was nobody else around, which meant there was no one to point her in the right direction. So, she spun around for about five seconds to decide which way to go, and started walking.

Lisbeth's pace was equal to that of a turtle's; she crept quietly and slowly towards what she saw as freedom.

And then she tripped over a bush and off a cliff.

She screamed in terror. "NO!" Her voice was shrill. This can't be happening, she thought.

She slammed into branches covered in leaves of various colors, and, for a hysterically stupid and vain moment, thought of the state of her hair and clothes.

Then she screamed again. It was long, loud, and most likely heard all the way in China. If she survived, her throat was going to be killing her.

She hit the ground. She sucked in a breath, but couldn't feel any pain. Slowly, her eyes slid shut, and they didn't open.

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OKAY WAIT I'M SORRY THIS OPENING IS SO SHORT THE REST OF THEM WILL BE LONGER I PROMISE PLEASE DON'T HURT ME.