SHATTER

PROLOGUE

The sound of their bare feet hitting the wet gravel bounced off the walls of the underground cave as they sprinted through it. The second explosion went off stopping us in our tracks, the ground shook and rocks fell from the ceiling; the tunnel was about to collapse. "We don't have much time!" I rushed out. The command was clear and strong but even I could hear the slight panic in my voice. Are we going to make it out on time? 

We ran harder and faster, our light layering of clothing helped with our speedy escape. We arrived upon the cobblestoned wall with a ladder bolted to it. It's right where he said it would be. Looking up the ladder, I saw a door that looked small but large enough for our bodies to squeeze through.

     "This is it. Edos I want you to go first when you reach the top bust through the door and help everyone out. You have your strength. Use it. " I starred the brown eyed boy down, waiting on his answer. He simply nodded and did as was told. One by one everyone else climbed up the rickety ladder and when everyone was safely up the ladder I started to climb.

             The ladder groaned as I stepped onto it, every step I took there was a new sound. The ladder creaked and wobbled like it was going to break from my weight and I immediately paused. More creaking and more wobbling, the constant shake from the chaos in the building above didn't help me at all, my palms started to sweat from nerves. When I looked down fear bloomed inside of me, I hadn't realized how far I had climbed and if the ladder decided it actually wanted to give away I would be stuck down there while the tunnel collapsed around me. "Raine? Are you alright?" Gemma stared down at me with worry overwhelming her eyes. " Yes Gem, I'm fine— nothing to worry about—I'll be up there in a second." With that notion, I continued up the ladder carefully and a step at a time.

         I finally reached the top, rough callused hands grabbed me out of the tunnel and I was immediately engulfed with hugs by my companions. Someone had their head on my shoulder and was weeping quietly, tears of joy I assume.

"Can you believe this? We are free! Look at the sky and the grass. Feel the world around you, doesn't it feel lovely Raine?"  Gemma questioned, and I had to admit it did feel and look quite spectacular. Even the smoke cluttering the sky above us couldn't hide the stars beauty, and the grass below us tickled our bare feet. A sigh of content escaped my lips, this is what I had missed in those four years I was kept in the darkness. We were at the front of the forest where the trees were thin, but we were about a mile away from our prison. The tunnel had carried us far. Looking around at my companions that I had devolved a deep relation to over the years put a smile on my face, they were jumping, laughing, and running. This is what they needed, this is what they deserved after the torture they endured they deserve all of this and much more.

A loud explosion a mile away brought us back to reality, we were not safe, even though we escaped our prison our journey has just begun." Everyone stop! I know you are excited, I am too, but we are not safe here. We must keep going— they could come at any moment." I twisted my face in the direction of the chaos. My nose could detect the faint scent of burnt flesh. My heart constructed with the thought of all that we left behind—everyone—that we left behind.

          "But aren't they all dead? Didn't we take care of them with the bombs? If they didn't die is there a chance that they could come after us and this time kill us?" one of the boys of the group with wild eyes full of fear at this sudden revelation quietly said from my right. He had questions that I couldn't answer. The bombs could have taken care of our captors, but there is a chance that some may have escaped. "I don't know Elijah, but I'd rather not stick around and find out. But we still need to keep going we must find shelter and food, with the amount of traveling we will be doing we need all the strength we can get. We have to get off no man land before it's to late. If our captors do come again we are in no condition to fight." Elijah didn't seem satisfied with my answer but it was the best I could give. Taking a moment to glance around at me peers or should I say my new family pride swelled in my chest.

             These people that I stand before now have lived a terrible life, being stolen from their home, taken to an abnormal place only to be tested on and treated like wild animals. Some of their mates have been killed and others villages destroyed. We all have a story to tell and the fact that we are alive today to tell that story is a gift from god, we may look weak with our battered clothes, grime covers bodies, and scars layering our skin but beneath the surface are some of the strongest worriers I have ever met. "Shift!" I tell them, at once they crouch down and call upon their inner beast. They scream from the pain of shifting since they haven't done it in years their bones need to break and re-arrange themselves all over again. In a matter of minutes their painful screams turn into marvelous howls as the rags called clothes rip away from their bodies, their bodies sprout fur, and they morph into their inner beast, a wolf.

             
           Wolves of varies size and color surround me. Their color going from a dark brown to a light grey almost white color. The sizes go from 4'0 feet tall to 5'5 feet. After a second of gathering their senses they bolt off into the thick of the Forrest. Tears of joy well up in my eyes but I push them away because now is not the time. Howls passed over my ears and I realized it was my family calling to me, questioning where I was. I looked back through forest where the tress are thin and I can barely see the burning walls up camp 13 above the trees. A thin smile appeared across my chapped lips as I rose my tattered black cloak hood over my violet eyes, sealing half of my face from the world. My cloak kept me semi warm since the only thing I had in was a pair of ripped, worn out dark blue shorts and tank top. Then the last bomb went off completely destroying camp 13 and everything in it. I took off running, my bare feet welcomed the pricks and stabs of the fallen branches. I did not shift. I will never.

       Laughter bubbled up inside me as I ran and I finally erupted with laughter. I may have looked like a mad woman but I didn't care, the freedom just tasted so good on my lips. My feet beat the ground hard as I dodged trees left and right, I jumped over fallen logs and large boulders. I felt invincible. I felt tired of fate and destiny. I'm about tired of other people deciding my fate. No one should choose when I live or die, it's my time to take control of my life, and I'll be darned if I make the same mistakes twice. A new found determination floated through me, I looked left and right as my family ran beside me the same look of determination was set in their eyes like we all had come to the same conclusion. We had a determination to survive, a determination to win in this battle called life. This time no one was going to take that away from us—not now—not ever again. With that, we ran into the night never looking at the past but forward at the future that awaited us.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Authors Note

Please vote and comment about the chapter it would mean a lot to me.

Can you comment on what I have to work on please and I know there are some grammatical errors but please disregard them

Thanks for reading!

Bookworm2434.

XOXOXO