This summer

chapter 1:

They say that it's better to assume the worst of things, to then be relieved when it's not as bad as you thought. If you get your hopes up, you'll get even more hurt. That's not how it is with me. I'm sensitive. I always find a way to daydream, overthink, hope, and it all ends with a heartbreak. That's why i wasn't surprised to get my cause of death. My birthday is tomorrow, the big sweet 16. I have to do the tests and pick up my envelope from the mayor's office. It's so easy to screw with my mind, I let people in easily, that's why this summer, I'm going to change. I need people in my life that are loyal, trustworthy. Time will tell if that person is really willing to do anything for me. As this day is coming to an end, I just sit in my room, wondering if anything has changed since the switch of mayor. He changed everything, turned the world inside out for our society. He's tough to handle. Ironically, this is the only way we keep the peace in this world now.

I wake up to my usual morning alarm. It being 8 in the morning, I am the only one awake right now. It's a nerve wracking feeling, finding out how you will die, some people find it exciting, others find out and try to avoid everything to live longer, either way it will always come back to you. I get ready, tie my hair into a normal side braid for it to not get in the way while they're running the tests. Then I pass by the kitchen, grabbing a croissant and a ready to go smoothie and I'm on my way. The tests start at 9:00, but I like to be early. When I get there, they ask for my name.
"Kiana Michaels." I say. They need it to check if it's the correct day, and if I'm officially 16 or not, some people tried to sneak in before, getting it before they're meant to. They end up getting killed, that's the only exception. Otherwise, murder is prohibited because it will cause a glitch in the system since the causes of death are clear predictions, not sudden events. As I sit in the waiting room, I'm a nervous wreck, suddenly, I'm even more nervous because they call me in.
"Kiana, do we have a Kiana here ?" The words struggle to come out of my mouth as I stand up. "Here."
"Right this way ma'am." Her british accent makes her seem even more posh than she looks. She walks me to room 23 and sits me down one of those chairs they have at the dentist. The room is all white, I guess it's easier for them to concentrate while running the tests.
"Today you're going to be finding out your cause of death, we are going to be running a few tests such as your fears, how well you handle frustrating situations, and others. There are three tests overall and you have nothing to worry about."
I hate how everyone says that, I have everything to be worried about. As they stick a needle into my neck, I close my eyes and fall into a dream immediately. The first test. phobias. I generally just have one fear, but it can lead to several outcomes which I may not like. The fear of losing someone you love. And there it was, my mother standing on the edge of a cliff. The more I yelled "MOM! DON'T JUMP!" the closer she got to the edge. until one moment, she took the last step of her life. I felt numb. I was lost, not knowing where to go or what to do.
"HELP! ANYONE PLEASE!" but no matter how much I cried out, nobody came. A loud announcement came out of nowhere saying:
"First test complete." a robot's voice. I woke up in a different setting. This time I was in a house. It looked familiar, but I couldn't figure out where it was from. All of a sudden there was a knock at the door. I slowly walked up to it, and there was a bang on it. I could see the doorknob resisting the hand from outside. There was a gunshot. I immediately grabbed the nearest weapon i could find, a lamp, and the house phone. I'm making the plan up as I go, so decide to go down into the basement. There I can hide and quickly dial 911. as i close the basement door behind me, I can hear the person walking above me on the first floor. I sit in a corner behind the couch and quickly dial the three numbers. Hands shaking, voice trembling, I tell them that i'm in danger. They ask for the address. Shit. I should've known. I look around the room. There's a backdoor. Unlocked. As I quietly get out from my hiding spot, I hear the basement door screech open, and footsteps coming down the stairs, gradually getting louder and closer. So i make a run for it. As I'm trying to open the door, someone grabs me from behind and pulls me down. I resist, try to scream, bite, but it's not enough.
"Test 2 complete."
"Last test" I think to myself.
I wake up in the middle of a square room. there are 4 doors, one on each wall.
"I guess I have to chose one." I say to myself.
I chose without thinking, picking randomly is probably the best choice right now. As I open the door to my right, I see a dark hallway. But I see light at the end. Maybe this stands for light at the end of the tunnel. So i stepped into the hallway. As soon as I did, the door closed behind me. Great, I could only chose one. As I took another step I tried to be quiet just in case. I kept walking, but when I was almost at the end, the floor screached underneath my foot. I heard noises. I knew I had to get to the light as soon as possible. So I ran. Something told me that there was good at the end, a reward, my mother who jumped off the cliff in the first test, like a loop ? I imagined that as I ran, made me run faster as I knew that it would pay off. I reached out my hand and it was in the light. And that's when the floor beneath me broke and I fell into a pit of nothing.