Cartria

Chapter 1: Not So Sweet Sixteen

"I don't think that's a good idea," I explained to my mom. Or at least TRIED to explain. She doesn't know why I don't want a party for my "sweet sixteen" and she never can. I'm not like other girls. It's not like I can tell her I'm a Cartria! People like me are not excepted in my community.

I live in a city called Alekia and if they find a Cartria then they take them away and kill them. I've been lucky so far but I'm in constant danger. That's why I can't risk making friends and having them here for a party. It's too much of a risk and I'm on too much danger already. There's just no way to explain it to my mom...

My father got me diagnosed in secret when I was 12. The results were positive and I was told that I had to be careful. A few months later my father died and my secret died with him. He was the only one who understood me being a Cartria. Times were a lot harder when he was gone. I learned to hide my emotions, to not expose my secret.

The reason the people of Alekia hate Cartria's so much is because in the past they started a rebellion. They intended to overthrow the rulers of Alekia and take over our beloved city. Now the government thinks every Cartria plots and desires to do the same. I guess it makes sense in a way but just killing any Cartria they find isn't right. If they find out that a five year old girl is a Cartria for example, then they will find that house, take the girl away, and kill her then and there. It's the rulers of Alekia's way of making sure my kind doesn't rise up again.

I look like every other average teenager. Long brown hair, brown eyes. I guess that's why I can hide my secret so well. But there's one thing about me that I especially have to hide. A birthmark that's shaped like a flame. The symbol of rebellion. Of defiance. I have to try so hard to keep it hidden. The reason it's so hard to hide is because it's on my forearm. Long sleeved shirts and sweaters became a staple in my closet when I turned twelve. The year I was diagnosed. The year I lost my father. The year it started to show.

There's one major problem with turning sixteen. It's the year in a person's life when they get interrogated by the government. A Cartria needs to be cunning in order to outsmart the government. Otherwise it's instant death. I've heard stories whispered around Alekia. Stories of different ways to kill a Cartria. Drowning, electrocuting, shooting, hanging, cutting off limbs one by one, and more, many of which are worse. I pretend I don't believe these stories but at night I worry that if I mess up, which death punishment will be mine.

"I'm going to my room," I told my mom as I walked up the stairs. "Why do you always do this? You're impossible!" yelled my mom. I don't even care any more. I'm not in the mood to apologize to my mother when I didn't do anything wrong. It's not like I wanted to be a Cartria! I think she'll probably find out eventually and then I'll be in BIG trouble. I have to keep dealing with this until I can finally go to university or college. Then that will be one less person to hide my secret from.

I had a shower and then climbed into my bed. After an hour or so I fell into a restless sleep. My nights were always filled with horrible pictures, whether it's a Cartria being killed and tortured or my dad dying. Tonight it was me being tortured. They had me strapped down to a chair where they would then pour gallons upon gallons of water onto me. Once they finished that they immediately shocked me with electricity. I woke up with a jolt after they shocked me for the fifteenth time. 2:30 am. The usual time I get jolted from my nightmares. This is what I have to go through every night. This is a different kind of torture. After a few years I'll probably break. That is if I last that long.