And Then There was None

Chapter 1

The sound of women’s feet sounded in the room.  They were mumbling apologies to one another as they kept stepping on each other’s feet and bumping into each other in the small, closed off room.  I held on to my mother’s hand in the chaos of what was happening.  My mother tightened her hold on my hand and my older sister’s.  Her strong, calloused hands made me feel safer, and less afraid of what was happening.  Father and my two brothers were in a different room, far away from us as they told us.

The monitor sprang to life, and a voice came on.  It was a loud voice, and it was gruff and sounded like it was meant for business.  My sister looked at our mother, obviously terrified of what was going on.  The murmuring and talking in the room stopped and everyone looked at the monitor. 

“Ladies, right now, our planet is under attack.  To keep you safe, we designed a safe haven for you.  You will be placed under different jobs.  Some of you will be in charge of taking care of the sick and injured, others will be taking care of the cooking and cleaning.  Then, there will be some of you who will be trained to fight.  You will all be given a number between one and five.  You’ll then go to your designated group and you will then find out your assignment.” The man told us.

“Mother, he only said three jobs though.” I told her.  My mother looked at me and shook her head.

“Don’t question them, Isa, just stay quiet.” Mother told me.  My sister, Elle looked at me with her soft forget-me-not blue eyes and shook her head.  Elle is the prettier one out of the two of us, it showed greatly as well.  She is also more caring, and patient.  She was quiet and tended to do what she was told.  Elle…a beautiful fairy that is what her name means, while I am Isa, strong-willed according to the Scottish meaning.

My sister Elle is beautiful and had more exotic features to her.  She has unforgettable eyes and high cheek-bones.  Elle had wavy black hair that reached to her mid-back, she had red small lips and her eyes were big with dark long eyelashes around them.  Her skin is of an olive color and she has long slender fingers that were soft to the touch. 

I am rather plain to my sister.  I had the same colored eyes as her, though; they had more fire in them than my sister’s soft ones.  Other than her rich black hair, I had straight blond hair like my great-grandmother with red streaks.  My hair was overly thick, making my mother frustrated whenever she tried to curl it.  My sister said my beauty was hidden underneath all of the scars and the boyish clothes that I took from my brothers.  I was much more awkward than her; she was elegant and could dazzle anyone with just a small, shy smile.

In our neighborhood, I was known for being a troublemaker, and the neighbors would constantly call my mother to tell her of my mischief.  Of course, my mother would always tell me to be better, and take lessons from Elle, but I refused.  I would rather have fire running through my bones, than be a bird locked away in a cage like my sister Elle. 

A door opened and I looked over to my sister.  Her head was buried in my mother’s side.  She looked frightened.  They came in the middle of the night of how I remember it.  They told my parents to round us up.  Of course I heard all of that since I was up, and I didn’t listen to my mother to go to bed again.  I was up out of bed, with the door cracked open so I could see what was going on outside of the small room that I shared with Elle.

I was later scolded by mother from being out of bed when I was supposed to be in bed like my siblings, though, I was glad to be out of bed.  I knew what was going on before any of my older siblings.

“Isa, let’s go, we have to move now.” My mother told me.  I smiled at her and nodded.  I was anxious to get through that door.  I just wanted to bolt out of the room, but that couldn’t be since the other women were shoving me to the side to get through first.