[book one]
The game was simple: A contest comprised of three unique challenges, designed to test a human's strength physically and mentally, their personality compatibility, and their chance of survival.
The prize was excruciatingly tempting: The ch...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
AUBREY SEEMED TO shrink into herself. She kept her arms folded across her chest and her shoulders hunched. "It's really not that hard at first," she said softly. "It's like any skill; it gets better the more you work at it."
Sophie followed her down the hall. She couldn't help but watch Aubrey. The once Victoria's-Secret-worthy model was now a shell of her former self.
"My favorite class was always hacking," she continued to babble on. Her gaze seemed focused on something far in the distance. "I've always been good with computers. I programmed most of the equipment that the Headmaster uses. He has this whole lab set up in the basement of this old castle. It's where most of the transformations from human to vampire take place. I programmed those pods that inject the venom into your bloodstream. The pods made the process much less painful and reduce the amount of damage that can be done to your body."
"You're just a fountain of information, aren't you?" Sophie mumbled under her breath.
Aubrey didn't seem to pay her any mind. She kept muttering about programming and the pods, and turned down another unfamiliar hallway. Aubrey pointed to an unmarked door at the end of the hallway and said, "There. That's the classroom. We have to change first though, so follow me."
She pulled Sophie through a different door. As she entered the room, Sophie's body tensed. An abundance of heat, diluted blood, and soft murmurs flooded her senses. Sophie's nose curled. Something metallic mingled with the floral scents around her.
The room opened into a collection of navy colored metal lockers. Several girls were clustered around different lockers, chatting and changing into sleek black outfits. Sophie avoided their curious gazes and followed Aubrey to a locker tucked away in the corner. As they passed the other girls, Sophie realized that she could make sense of the distant chatter. It was forced; mild comments about unimportant details, like the weather and homework.
Aubrey stopped. She reached out and popped open a locker, revealing an abundance of folded black outfits. A mirror clung to the back of the door, and Aubrey seemed to recoil at her own reflection. She pulled out an outfit and then turned to Sophie.
"Pick a locker. It doesn't really matter which one, because they are all the same," she said.
Sophie examined the locker in front of her. It didn't have a lock. She reached out and popped it open. Inside, a small stack of black cloth sat on a metal shelf. She pulled them out and sorted through them. The outfits resembled the black shirt and leggings that she had worn during the Games.
"The fabric is special," Aubrey said as she pulled her regular shirt over her head. "It's meant to act as a second skin, and improve our range of movement. I can't really tell a difference."
Sophie watched the blonde yank a black t-shirt over her head. Once the shirt had settled over her torso, it seemed to almost shrink. Like Aubrey had mentioned, it seemed to cling to her curves like a second skin. Aubrey wiggled into a matching pair of leggings and then slammed the locker door shut.
