Chase

Chapter 1

The room was cold. Everything was silent. It was pitch black outside. It was 3:00 a.m., nothing felt normal. Only the moon and stars for light. Astoria sat on her windowpane, breathing in the cool air. Her clock rang moments before. She had already been awake for quite a while but never did anything. She went to the wash to clean up before she had to leave. The cool air left and the steam from the running water filled the air. When the water came down, it felt like a shock of energy.
She would be leaving to join and compete in the Chase. It was a big deal to the whole city. It was made to decide who would rule over the city. Whenever a ruler was near death, it would announced and the eldest child of the twelve families of the government would have to join.
The contestants were supposed to wear proper clothing to signify the role of possible leadership, at least that's what her mother had told her. Astoria decided to wear a simple long-sleeved top, denim pants, and sports shoes despite what her mother told her. She packed a few pieces of clothing assuming they must give her some. As well as the belongings that meant something to her. Before leaving She looked in the mirror in front of her wardrobe and fixed a piece of her auburn hair. The piece would always bother her, but not knowing what she is getting herself into is more distracting now. Astoria put on her long coat and put her bag across her back before walking out and taking another deep breath.
Astoria slowly walked the stairs of the quiet house, thinking about how much she would miss being in her room at dusk, looking out her window for the stars and the beautiful silence of the woods, but this silence felt uncomfortable and isolated. The last time she might walk into this house. She might be dead or buried alive in 2 days. Nobody knows what goes on during the process of the project and only the people involved are allowed to know. Maybe even working for a person who had beaten her just to repeat history over and over again. That person will then own her until she dies.
The cook, Natalia, was in the kitchen making breakfast for her family before they woke up. She glanced at Astoria before beckoning her to come over.
"Take some," Natalia said, holding a tray of small breakfast sandwiches.
"I shouldn't-."
"No, please, you need the strength."
Astoria couldn't help but smile. Natalia had always been good to her.
"Thank you." Astoria embraced her before saying goodbye.
"I will always believe in you. Brave the storm," Natalia responded quickly before the door closed.
Hearing Natalia's last words made her tear up. Brave the Storm was a sentence she learned from a program that she loved reading. It was a reminder of hope.
As she walked through the streets of Alvis, Astoria felt a mix of eagerness and guilt. The sight of no one around gave her the space to think about her future. She didn't know a lot of the contestants personally. Most were a few years younger than her parents. She was the youngest one of them all. The only person Astoria knew and got along with was Kristian Varg, but the last time they talked was over a decade ago. He was a few years older than she was. They used to play together during the summer. After a while, Kristian would stop going to the park or garden. She never knew why, but it didn't matter.
The chase was to take place at the learning center and by the time Astoria got there, it was surrounded by security. She hadn't seen any other people around, so she walked up to the door. The guard swiftly got in front of her with his hand.
"Who are you," The guard asked with his palm out to block her.
"Astoria Eir."
"Hand," The guard was aggressive, but Astoria put out her hand, and unexpectedly the guard scraped off a piece of her skin around her wrist. The wound stung. She was in shock. "Warning, it might hurt. We just needed to see if your DNA matched the one under your name."
"Can I get some sort of help to stitch this? This kinda stings." She sounded sarcastic to hide the pain. It stung badly, but she covered most of the pain to appear stronger.
"Yeah, there's a first aid kit in the infirmary."
Astoria nodded sarcastically, and the guard opened the door. The place was dark and gloomy, unlike how it was when she went there. She walked to the infirmary and went through the cabinets to look for some sort of thing to cover her wound. As she sat on one of the beds and bandaged her arm, she thought this was how her life would now be. Full of guards and testing. Always being watched in a sort of way, but it was better than just doing nothing in her room while being told to prepare speeches for banquets and trying on absurd dresses for parties she didn't want to go to.
There was a sudden noise, it sounded like a knock, but it wasn't as loud. Footsteps came closer to the infirmary room and Astoria took her things, the first aid kit, and ran out the other door into the closet. A younger-looking man walked in and did exactly what she was doing. He stitched up his wrist, where he got his skin cut off for DNA testing. The urge to open the door was strong, but instead, she decided to stuff the first aid kit into her bag and took out the three stitches she had made before pretending to just walk in. She opened the door, came out of the room, and got a good look at the man, he was maybe around 25 years old. He looked familiar, but the name wouldn't pop into her head. He finally looked up after finishing. The look wasn't normal. He took a good look at her. He stared deep into her eyes.
"Sorry to barge in," she said apologetically.
"No, it's fine. I'm just stitching my wrist up," The man had a bit of an accent. He looked at her half-open wrist. "They cut you up for DNA too."
"Yeah."
"If you want, I can help you. I learned how to," She almost hesitated, but gave in.
"Yes, please."
Astoria sat next to him on the hospital bed, and he cleaned her wrist before stitching her skin together. The name came to her brain. The man was Kristian Varg. He had tan skin, light hair, and unusual eyes. They were blue and almost yellow around the edge. Unlike the rest of his family, with brown hair and green eyes.
"Do you know how the whole project works?"
"No, and I rather not," Kristian said.
"Why?"
"I'm only here because I have to be, and none of this is important." He looked up at her and his eyes were full of hatred. They change quickly and they look curious. "Does any of this matter to you?"
Astoria thought about this. "Does this matter to me, or does it matter to make my heinous family," Her brain thought.
"No."           
Kristian's face changed into a happier, more pleased face. He finishes stitching her cut and then puts everything away and sits back down on the bed.
"I never told you my name, did I. Well, I'm Kristian, by the way."
"I know."
"What's your Name."
She hesitated again, but she told him anyway.
"I'm Astoria."
"You have a last name, Astoria?"
"Eir."
"Your dad, Erik, right?" She nodded. "You have some big shoes to fit. Your dad is stated to be a good man, so I assume you are the same."
Astoria hated her father. He always said if one of his children had to go into the project and lost, he would disown them. She wouldn't mind to never see him again, but she couldn't afford it. Her dad controls all her finances. He was always so hard on her, but not on her younger sister or brother because she might go into the project, but he never cared enough that if she went, he wouldn't try to help her.
"You know you shouldn't assume things about people you don't know."
"I technically know you now, so I can do what I want."
"That's because you were raised that way."
"And you weren't?"
"You just proved you don't know enough about me to make assumptions."
"I guess you're right. I will see you in the foyer," Kristian bowed his head and walked out the door.

Astoria didn't want to trust this man. Even though she believes he could help her. Most of the people would be well into their thirties, Kristian was only 25. She sat on the hospital bed until the bells rang. She walked into the foyer and there were eleven people. Five women and six men stood, talking to one another. She saw something ahead but ignored it. Astoria saw twelve boxes; each had a name, and she put her items in the box with her name. She walked back to where everyone else was and the things she saw in the distance were thrones coming towards the middle of the foyer. They all looked different, and one spoke to her. It looked like hawk wings and pages with writing on them secured in metal. Everyone sat down in their chosen seats, and she noticed everyone wore simple clothing like her. Kristian was the only one wearing a suit, and no one bothered to mock him.
          A man looking a bit older than the others came from beyond. The back of the room was dark, so he probably was in the lounge room, where the instructors eat at school. He dressed very similarly to Kristian and stood in the middle of the thrones.
      "This is the beginning of the project, you all will learn how to do justice to our land, and whoever can't, will be cut out and serve intense consequences."
His grin turned into a bit of a laughing smile. His name popped into her head, just like Kristian. Dario Amrit was head of weaponry. Dario clicked a button connected to his walking stick, and the room was filled with smoke making Astoria's eyes hazy.