The Selected

The First Cut

I spend the rest of my day sitting in the ladies room beside Marissa, reading. The ladies room had been empty almost all morning, and it wasn't until Serena stood in the middle of the room with her new "friends" Katrina, and Marley, that I even realized it was now afternoon and all of the selected were now here.

"I heard one girl tried to run away from the Prince", Serena said to Katrina and Marley, loud enough for everyone else to hear.

"She's probably looking for attention, she seems desperate," Marley replied with her arms crossed and a smirk on her face.

"I bet she won't even make it past the first round", Serena says while looking around the room. When her eyes meet mine they stay there for a second too long before she turns back to her friends. I sink back into my chair and bury myself back into my book trying to draw as little attention to myself as possible. I can't figure out how she even knows what happened during my interview. No maids were in the room, and the room seemed pretty sound proof to me.

I'm interrupted from my thoughts when the door swings open and Prince Damon appears in black dress pants and a white button up shirt. Every girl (well every girl except me) instantly begin fixing their hair or whispering something to the girl beside them.

"Ladies, it has been a pleasure meeting all of you, but unfortunately I will be letting some of you go tonight. If your name is called please exit the room and find yourself a place to sit in the dining hall, if not then you will be escorted back to your room where you can pack your things", Damon explained. He sounded bored almost, like he's rehearsed these lines a million times, and doesn't realize he's about to crush a bunch of girl's dreams. Above all he looks like a total, complete jerk. I know he probably doesn't actually care about anyone here but himself, but the least he could do is pretend. You know, soften the blow a little.

After a few seconds I realize I've been staring, and by the look on his face he knows it too. I blush instantly and look away trying not make eye contact with him again. He laughs quietly to himself before speaking again.

"The ladies who will be remaining at the palace for now will be Serena..." I watch as she gets up, flips her hair and walks out the door while making sure to brush by Damon who looks her up and down with a smirk. I roll my eyes while closing my book.

"Emma, Marley, Briar, Katrina, Rose, Kylie, Marissa..." I give Marissa a reassuring smile and watch her leave, hoping Damon doesn't change her sweet, friendly personality.

"Talia, Julia, Sabrina, Adelaine, Liana, Rebec........" Damon gets interrupted when two guards come storming in with a wild look in their eyes. The first guard with dark hair and pale skin speaks first.

"We need to get all of you too a safe room now!" he screams.

Damon's eyes widen. "Now? they're here now?!" he asks, but his question is answered when the window to my right shatters to a million pieces, sending me flying to the ground with a few cuts now forming on my body. Damon is instantly by my side, inspecting my body quickly before helping me up.

"Everybody follow me now! Lets go!" The other guard yells.

We all get up and follow him. Almost every girl screams every time they hear another gun going off. There's about 17 or 18 of us girls following these two guards... and then it hits me.

"The others!" I yell at Damon, "The other selected don't know what's going on!" I yell before sprinting towards the dining hall.

"Carter! Carter!" I hear Damon yell behind me, but I have to find the others, I have to get them to safety too!

By now the palace is full of guards and whoever is trying to attack them. I can hear guns going off and smell smoke but I have to keep running. Just as I'm about to turn the corner to the dining hall I get thrown to the floor and my head hits it. Hard. I look up to a see a very out of breath, fuzzy looking Damon on top of me, covering my body.

"ARE YOU CRAZY?!" he yells at me while a bullet whizzes by only inches from our faces. "We have to get of here. NOW!"

"But the others! They --"

"The others are fine! I promise you" he cuts me off. "Now lets go!" he says while helping me up and beginning to sprint. I follow him, and after a few seconds he grabs my hand, noticing I'm beginning to slow down. I watch as we run down a bunch of deserted halls but come to a stop when we end up in one full of attackers.

"Shit." I hear him curse under his breath before making us run back down the hall we came from. I can feel myself getting tired, and when my vision starts turning black I know it's only gonna be a matter of seconds before I pass out. We turn down one more hall before Damon hits a brick hidden behind a bit of tapestry and a door opens before us. We quickly run in before he closes it, tests that it locks and then lets go of my hand. I take one quick look around the dark empty room, before my vision goes black and I pass out into a pair of arms.