F.E.A.R

One - Iroka

The second I woke up, I knew something was different today. The cheery vibe that usually floated in the air had disappeared, now replaced with an indescribable tension, that felt too heavy for the weak, tiny house our family lived in. I opened my eyes, stretching as I scanned my room. It wasn't anything special, a small white bed, light gray walls, a small wooden desk with a lamp and a chair. There was also a small counter with all my stuff either on or in it. I peeled back the curtains on the window, opening it to let some air in. The house was getting stuffy. I walked downstairs, still rubbing sleep from my eyes.

"Morning Iro" my brother says from the hall, already downstairs. My real name was Iroka, meaning color-changing. The thing was, my left eye changed colors depending on my emotions. Though I'm not the only one, pretty much everyone in this family has it, except for them it's both eyes, not just one. Speaking of, Niroyo's - my brother's - dark brown bangs were covering the top of his deep blue eyes, which looked particularly sad today. Noriyo was 4 years older than me, and at least a foot taller. I looked up into his sad blue eyes curiously.

"Morning. What's gotten into you today? You seem so... sad. What's wrong?" Noriyo looked at me with slight surprise.

"You don't remember? Oh right... you were so young." I looked at him with confusion. He clarified "It's December 1st. The day the children get taken. The night of the 'Akiri Kombs.'" I froze.

The night of the Akiri Kombs, an event passed down from generations as a reminder that we are all just puppets in a show, with no control over our lives. Every ten years, ten candidates get chosen. Five boys, five girls. No one knows what happens to them, but they never come back. The last time this happened, I was 3. You need to be anywhere from 7-20 in order to be chosen. And today was the day they're calling names. I took a step back, trying to steady myself. I knew there were thousands of slips. More than 3,000 people lived in our small town. Last time it happened I was too young to be chosen, but now I'm right in the middle. The worst luck you could have is being anywhere from 7-10 when it happens. Then, you have a chance to be picked twice. My brother had the luck to escape it the first time, but I knew that now, either of us could easily be chosen, as well as our little sister, a nine year old. I quietly stepped towards Noriyo, hugging him from behind. I could see the surprise in his eyes, not used to this affection, but then it softened and he smiled, hugging me back. We both just stayed there for a while, enjoying each other's warmth in the chilly morning, and then he pulled away.

"Come on. I'll make us breakfast, while you go out on something nice. They want us to 'dress for the occasion'. " right. Because they're totally not planning on taking 10 children and bringing them hell knows where and why. I sighed, and went back upstairs. I didn't have much clothes, just enough to last the week. Though I did have some of my mom's old clothes from before she died. I traced my hand over the soft fabric of the pale blue dress, which both looked and felt like it was made of giant white rose petals. I blinked tears away from my eyes, as I picked the dress off the hanger, remembering my mother twirling around in it. I slipped it on, and it fit so perfectly it was like it was custom made for me. After struggling with the strings in the back for a while, I finally managed to tie them. Just then, my little sister Aiya burst into the room, giggling. She had on a tiny black dress, which I had no idea where she got, but it really matched her. Our entire family consisting of white-pale skinned, jet-black haired and blue-eyed children, we stood out in a crowd almost like tiny devils. Because the rest of us was so colorless, our eyes looked like they were glowing. I used to dye my hair a lighter color, to look a little more natural, but I've finally given up. Although the tips of my hair have been bleached blond, if you look closely you can see hints of a creamy caramel brown. Aiya and I exchanged 'hellos' and 'good mornings', and headed back downstairs to get some breakfast, together with Aiya, and halfway down I smelled the soup that only Noriyo knew how to make. My mouth watered as I ran down the stairs, and my eyes pretty much sparkled as I looked at the tiny bowl. I'd engulfed it in less than a minute. After maybe two or three portions, I was full and ready to go.

"So... let's get this over with" Noriyo said. I nodded, taking Aiya by the hand. As soon as I walked outside, the mood immediately went from cheerful to unsettling. The streets were gray, with not a single sound.

As we walked through the dark streets, you could see a crowd of people going in the direction we were heading in. Though everyone was noticeably avoiding getting too close to us. In our town, we were known as the possessed children. Ghosts. Witches. Haunted kids. Anything similar you can think of, they'll call us it. As you were walking up to the middle of the crowd, it was really stuffy, filled with people, though there was a noticeable circle around us, with no one daring to go inside. It made me sad, and I'm pretty sure my left eye flashed a dark blue. Everyone around us tensed, expecting for an attack, but I just sighed. Wasn't it time the council came to pick the candidates? Right as I thought that, light flashed on the stage. I kicked myself.

'Great job Iroka.' I thought. 'Ya jinxed it.'

Little speaks of glitter were raining from the sky, forming 10 figures in white cloaks. Everyone stood there, gaping. And that's when one of the cloaked figures came forward to read names.

'Eeva Kathie. 23.'

"What are the numbers for?" I asked Noriyo.

'Koro Niko. 57.'

"They give everyone a number so they don't have to remember names." He responded

'Leo Kai. 67'

"Oh." I replied.

'Romi Kiko. 52.'

One by one everyone stepped up.

'Ritsu Lyra. 90.'

'Cryona Kiya. 79.'

'Hajime Kimiko . 22.'

'Honkiti Kurono. 32.

'Kiba Soto. 13.

My breath froze. Please, not me, not me, not me!

'And Evercore Iroka. 45.'

Hey guys! I will update this book as often as I can, probably every 1-2 weeks. Sorry the first chapter is short, I'll try to make them longer. Anyways I'm going now so cya guys later!