The announcer called out his name, waving for Teddy to come up. He stood with shaky legs, walking to the Circle of Color, a circle of stone surrounded by a two-inch wide moat, impossibly deep and black.
The announcer gave a small nod and smiled kindly at Teddy. After another deep breath in and out, he stepped into the ring. The crowd drew in a breath in anticipation, waiting to see what would happen next.
After a few seconds, Teddy looked down at the Circle, frowning. Was he going to be... colorless? No. It couldn't be possible, he thought. There was no possible way that Teddy wouldn't have a color. It just couldn't happen.
The announcer looked at him sadly, sharing the unspoken words between them. Teddy slowly started stepping down from the platform, lowering his eyes, so that no one could see the tears welling up in them. He couldn't bear to see anyone else right now.
Right as he took both feet off of the platform, everything happened at once. Bursts of lightning, floating rocks, vines, all the colors came out of the circle in a burst of color.
The announcer and the rest of the crowd gave a collective gasp. Teddy didn't know what was happening, and with a quick look around at everyone else's shocked expressions, they didn't either.
---
Every year, the Determining of Colors takes place at the Garden of Colors. Your color is determined by stepping into the Circle of Colors. Red for fire, Orange for time, Yellow for light, Green for earth, Blue for water, Purple for gravity, Grey for metal, and White for air.
Theodore Swift's life changed when he turned thirteen, the age in which everyone was Determined. Instead of getting one of the eight colors, as expected of him, he got the ninth color--Black. Omnikinetics, who could control all of the colors. A power, only the Senate knew of because it was so powerful. But no one else knew.
Time passed, and everything seemed normal. Until the dark mages rose, and darkness fell.
In the beginning, there was death.
The darkness flows from hues of purple and orange, the moon rising to kiss the sun's rays one last time as the darkest cloud of night I've ever seen falls over our tiny haven. I catch Will's face from the side of my vision and my heart tightens slightly. The tick of his jaw wouldn't be noticeable for anyone but me. His best friend, his lifeline. A solemn tear forms in my eye as he wipes his face, another tear falling for the family he lost. I love him. Utterly and desperately so, but, there's nothing I can do about that. The ultimate forbidden fruit, if you will. I reach to comfort him and he doesn't respond. I open my mouth to speak and he looks my way, but the gleam in his dark brown eyes hits the moonlight just right and I fall. My voice escapes my throat and I can't do it. I've tried for years to tell him. 10 years, actually. All this time, I hopelessly remained devoted to a ghost who had given the best of himself to a fiery red-head with a sassy personality and the body of a supermodel. For 10 years, I held to the desperate thought that maybe, just maybe, he'd be someone I could count on. Instead, I watched him marry my best friend, smiled as they welcomed their son. Stood, holding that beautiful boy as his mother was in the first round of executions after the beginning of the Revelation. Helped heal Will's wounds in the aftermath. Cried, clutching the tear-stained shirt of my best friend as his son took his last staggering breath in that first harsh winter. The guilt of my emotions crawl through me. My heart twisting in regret, guilt, desperation, and grief. I loved my best friend. She was so much more than that; she was my family.
In this dystopian quick read, join a group of people desperate to recapture their freedom and end a tyrant's reign.