Isle of Sanctum | The Aya Thrasher Chronicles | Book 1 |[Editing]

Chapter Two

CHAPTER TWO

AYA

The guards led us to a large room with white ceilings, white carpet, and white walls. If I hadn't known better, I would have thought we were at an asylum.

There were already about twenty-five other teenagers lined up against one of the drab walls. Brennan and I jammed ourselves into an open space, sandwiched between two other terrified teens. I scanned the lines. Many of them wore the same signs of confusion as I did.

"Aya?" I heard someone calling my name. "Aya, is that you?" This time I recognized the voice. It belonged to Lake.

I turned my head and saw a girl in a stylish leather jacket with faded blue tips in her cascading blonde hair. It was definitely Lake.

"They brought you here too?" I raised my right brow.

Lake nodded. "I was in the middle of a final. They just yanked me out of there," she yelled. "If I fail this class, I won't be able to graduate next year."

"Does it matter? Soon, school won't even exist," the guy next to her with overgrown black hair and a slight Scandinavian accent commented.

"It matters to me. If I'm going to die anyway, at least I would like to have the accomplishment of graduating college at eighteen," Lake responded.

"That's true. I'm seventeen, but I just started at MASS Sci Institute," he told her.

"No, way. Me too. Small world, I guess," Lake said.

The balding man with spectacles entered the room, carrying a large box. His tall structure filled up the area he stood in. Something about him reminded me of the villain from a cartoon I used to watch. 

"Good day, children," he began. "My name is Dr. Lam Marks. I'm the chief of this federation's health association." He opened the box. "I will be handing out a brief survey for all of you to answer. Each of you must answer each question truthfully and to the best of your knowledge."

Dr. Lam's voice sent shivers down my spine, but I tried to tune him out. After I received the glass tablet, I quickly glanced at the survey questions. My hands were damp, and I worried about the tablet slipping. I wished we still used paper.

I calmed down and took a deep breath. There were only five questions, and they seemed pretty straightforward.

1) Are you up to date on all of your vaccines?

2) Do you have more than four immediate family members?

3) Do you believe that you have exceptional or unusual talents? 

My heart stopped after reading question three. Were they talking about my dreams? Were they singling me out? Were there others? I knew I was probably just being paranoid for no reason. It was just strange they were asking all these questions. Since they pre-selected us, shouldn't they know the answers to these questions?

4) Have you already applied for a number under the Dyeing Program?

5) What is your highest level of education? If you are in high school, please list your grade.

Fifteen minutes after the survey, Dr. Marks came back into the room. This time he had a glass tablet of his own in his hand. "If I call your name, please form a line and follow me," he looked down at the tablet and started reading. "Soren Oskar Sanjay Srivastava, Monica Yvonne Alopia."

The guy talking to Lake about school emerged and started the line. What would happen if they called my name? A thin film of sweat coated the palms of my hands.