Everything is not what it Seems...

Chapter 1

I pulled my hood around my shoulders. A scream in the distance rattled around the various corridors, creating a resounding sound that I had never wanted to hear. I shuddered, but continued on, using the various barrels and gleaming machinery to disguise myself. I wasn't meant to be down here. In fact, no one but the very elite is allowed to walk these halls. As far as I know, no one has been down here before, unallowed. No one except me. That thought makes me proud, but only slightly. It doesn't matter that I'm the only one down here, it doesn't matter that I'm breaking all the rules just by being here. Nothing mattered, except trying not to get caught. 

Straightening up, I walked further down the hallway, towards the scream, and towards the ever-increasing rattling. The sound was not unlike the clunking of machinery, so I assumed that this underground labyrinth was filled with all sorts of mechanics. I suppressed a shiver as the temperature suddenly dropped, filling the space with a chilling atmosphere. This was the coldest I had ever been before, and it wasn't the last time I'd feel like this. Being the sheltered, privileged girl that I was, I had never experienced any type of discomfort. In fact, no one in the history of our city ever had. Not since he arrived. He came around and fixed everything for us, giving us things and opening our eyes to ideas and lifestyles that we had never considered before. At least, that's what he wants us to believe. Ever since I was a little girl, I had harboured certain suspicions about our leader. Why did he never come outside? Why did no one see him? Questions like these swirled around my brain, filling every inch of my mind with theories and mistrust, for ages and ages. Everyone else was too blind to see that in this life we were living, things were bad. I closed my arms around myself and soldiered on, walking towards the clunking. I grit my teeth together as the sound increased, going from a slight noise in the background to a rattling noise that filled the entire corridor. The sound was chilling, horrible, and it forced goosebumps up through my skin. The sound got louder and louder until it not only surrounded me but filled me as well. 

Towards the end of the corridor loomed a metal door, screaming danger from every massive bolt and hinge. However, I approached it. For possibly, behind this door lay the answers. This was the reason I had come. I looked everywhere, ensuring that no one was there to witness my treason before laying a hand on the ice-cold handle. Even though this place was unguarded, my paranoia was through the roof. I opened the door, and was immediately shocked, but not surprised, at what I saw. A large shiny machine sat towards the side, shuddering with the weight of its work. I swept my eyes around the room and was very nearly sick. In the corner of the room was a large cage, which held too many people, each of them with sickly, grassy skin. Tubes were attached everywhere, sucking some liquid from their bodies and snaking back towards the machine. The poor souls wailed and tried to reach for me through the bars of the cage. I took a step back, horrified. I had imagined that something terrible was happening behind the scenes, but nothing this... grotesque. I forced my eyes back to the machine, which was churning out items that looked familiar to me. I stepped closer to the items and breathed sharply when I could make them out. Our "great" leader had been using these people to make mounds and mounds of glasses. Exactly like the glasses everyone here wore. Just like the pair I had tucked into my cloak pocket, unused. I knew it. No one had believed me when I tried to tell them, but now I had proof! However, before I could turn around and run back to civilisation, a smooth, oily voice came from behind me, sending shivers down my spine.

"Now, darling Effe, just what are you doing down here?"

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It was that dream again. The dream that ruined me. Every night, when I close my eyes, I can still see the caged victims, clawing at the walls of the cage, and clawing at each other, trying to tear the tubes off. I can hear every word issued from that slimy, vile con artist's lips. I see myself turning around, facing him. I feel that sudden drop in my stomach as I realise my fate, and I can't do anything about it. I don't feel that anymore. In fact, ever since the incident, I haven't felt anything, except this growing feeling that grew in my gut. That feeling is familiar to me, coming from all those years trapped in that godforsaken city. Over the years, that feeling has grown, numbing ever inch of my body, shutting out anything else and blinding me. I don't care, however. This type of feeling pushes me, keeps me going. It's all I need in this time, to finish what I set out to do.

I will kill him. Before he gets the chance to kill me.

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[a/n] Hey guys! Thanks for reading this chapter! It's not the best, and it's really short, but I feel like it might be a good start to introducing some of the key characters and events. Tell me what you think, and please give me tips for improvement!! Please leave a comment, like, whatever you want, if you think it's alright! :)