The Beast

Chapter 1

I clutched my cloth dress in my sweaty palms, trying to ease the nerves in my stomach. The Initiation was happening today- the most important day of my life. Today, I would finally become a Protector. 

Nothing else had ever mattered to me more. Not since my father's death, when he was murdered by the beasts. I hated them with a passion. Just the thought of their tribe sent my skin burning with anger.

My mother had never been the same after my father's passing over five years ago. Her face- which used to be plump and full of cheerful energy- was now sullen and grey. It took me over a year just to get her to go outside again. Even to this day, my skin would crawl at the thought of the beast tribe able to infiltrate our gates and rip someone's throat out, let alone my father's. 

That day, when I stumbled upon his body in a pool of blood on the edge of the gate, I swore to myself that I would become a Protector. I would make sure this never happened to anyone else ever again. 

Now, sitting in the sea of fellow girls and boys, I looked around at the faces of those around me. Everyone seemed nervous, their skin pale and clammy. I straightened my back and made my face stone cold. There was no way I was going to show any fear like the rest of them. I had to be stronger. 

My best friend, Collin, laid his hand on my shoulder and sent me a reassuring smile. I nodded back to him, lifting my eyes to his to show that I returned his gesture.

"You look like your angry, Annabelle." Collin said, his smile almost reaching up to his golden blond curls. 

"Not angry. Determined." I replied, shrugging his hand off of my shoulder. I didn't need him being seen comforting me. The Elders would just think that I was a defenseless little girl, unable to handle life by myself. If my father had taught me anything, it was that I had to be courageous in the face of danger. No fear allowed. 

Collin didn't react to my gesture- he was used to it. After all, we had been friends forever. 

"Don't worry. You will make it, Annabelle. How could you not?" Collin said warmly, running his eyes over me from head to toe. "And you look too beautiful to be said no to." 

I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear and turned away from his blue-eyed stare. I didn't want him to see me blush. I could still fell his eyes on me as I played with the hem of my home made dress.

"Thanks, Collin." I murmured.

"Cease!" A voice shouted over the crowd and almost immediately, everyone went silent. I jerked my head up and searched desperately for the source of the voice. My breath hitched in my throat as I set eyes on Tarron, a member of the Elders, standing alone on the old wooden stage. 

This was it. This was how it all began. 

Just like I had gone over a thousand times in my head, Tarron welcomed everyone to the hundredth annual Initiation Ceremony, where each child was assigned a job in the tribe based on their age and physical abilities. Some, if they knew what they wanted, were able to request a certain job, but that still didn't confirm anything. In the end, it was the Eldest member of the tribe that decided what you would be. 

I held my breath as Tarron finished up his welcome speech, announcing the arrival of Fiona. She was the Elder who would be determining my fate, along with where I'd live, who I'd marry, how many children I'd have, and so on and so forth. But, thankfully, that period in my life was far away. For now, I was itching to know if my destiny would align with my dreams. 

I made sure that I watched Fiona's every move as she glided onto the stage, just as graceful as if she were in her twenties. Fiona's hair had been wrapped into a long silver braid that traveled down her back. Her wise, grey eyes were surrounded by smooth wrinkles- each signifying a year of her life. Her thin lips and all-seeing eyes decorating the never-changing face that I had seen hundreds of times at public speakings, full moon rituals, and more frequently- funerals. Fiona was always the main guest at funerals where someone has lost their lives at the hand of the beasts. Her speech, though once touching, was always the same. She thanked everyone for being there, addressed the lost loved one, apologized, and told the old tale of the beasts.