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Chapter Two

"Not being able to see tomorrow is better than reliving the past."
~Unknown       

As we enter through the wide doors of the City Hall, I am met by the familiar faces of my former classmates. Some of them, the individuals whose parents and other family members had the test done and qualified, look worried or stressed. Those who have "pure" blood, or people who don't have family members that qualified, look the opposite; calm and joking around with others. I should be like those people, since my family is considered to have "pure" blood, but I can't help but feel worried. My mother leaves us at a table, both Markus and I taking a seat, while she goes to inform the assistants that we are here.

"Madi, seriously, calm down." Markus tells me as my leg keeps hitting the underside of the table, looking at me with worry. "You're going to be fine, I promise. There's literally less than a one percent chance that you will qualify, so stop worrying."

"I know that, Markus. Don't you think I did the math for myself?" I say, looking at him with a little bit of annoyance. "I did it multiple times. Trying to find some way to reassure myself. But the thing is, Markus, no one is one hundred percent sure that they will or won't be chosen. There's always that chance. And I may be that one person in our family that qualifies. And honestly, Markus, that terrifies me."

"But even if you do qualify, you won't be alone. You'll have the family, and we'll visit you every chance we get."

"I know. I'm just the paranoid one in our family." I say, smiling at him. He grabs my hand and squeezes it, and it sends a little bit of reassurance surging through my veins.

"Okay, you two. You will both be tested in a couple of minutes." Mom says as she walks back towards our table. "Now, there's no reason for goodbyes, because I'll see both of you as soon as the results get in. So, you two just relax, because there is absolutely no way you two will qualify."

Before either of us can respond to her statements, the doors at the other end of the lobby open, and a woman wearing a white outfit walks out, looking down at a clipboard.

"Madilynn and Markus Benson. Your tests are ready." The nurse said, searching the room for us with a bored and annoyed expression on her face. I wonder how many years she has had to do this job.

Markus and I stand, patting mom's shoulder as we pass, and start walking together towards the doors.

"Madilynn and Markus Benson?" the woman asks, looking us up and down. I know, we don't look like pure bloods, but don't stare and judge!

"Yes ma'am." Markus answers her before I can answer her. Probably a good idea, considering my sarcasm can get the best of me most of the time.

"Follow me." she says, turning and walking down the long hallway. She eventually, after many twists and turns, leads us to two, identical, white doors.

"Boy into the right, girl into the left. A tester will be with you shortly to commence the testing. Sit in the chair, and please wait patiently."

We both walk into our corresponding doors, taking one last look at each other before the doors close behind us. I hear the door lock, to keep me from getting out. There is a single chair in the center of the room, and it is the only object in the room. I walk slowly to it, hesitant to sit. I know that this chair will be the place where my fate is determined, where my life will be mapped out. No sooner than I sit, the door at the opposite end of the room opens and a woman, dressed in a pink shirt and matching pants walks in, pushing a cart in front of her.

"Madilynn Benson?" she asks, giving me a smile.

"Yes ma'am." I curtly answer.

"Okay, Miss Madilynn, I have to ask you a few questions before I can begin the test." she says, sitting down in front of me with a clipboard and pen.

"What is your full name?"

"Adelaide Madilynn Benson."

"Birthdate?"

"September 29, 2019."

She asks a few more questions, until she puts down the clipboard and walks back over to her cart. She grabs a pair of headphones and goggles. She hands them to me, instructing me to put them on. I do as told, and almost immediately a voice enters my ears and my eyes are shown multiple pictures.

"Twenty years ago, our world turned on itself." a monotonous voice tells me. "Brothers against brothers, sisters against sisters. The world was ravaged in a terrible war. Millions of people died every day, people from everywhere. The United States was the only country to survive, only because it did not join in the fighting. Only part of our population survived, and those left created a new country, the country we now know today as Vetala. The government, in order to create a new population, stronger than the last, created the Testing. Only certain people are fortunate enough to be chosen for this opportunity. With everyone's cooperation, we can, and will, rebuild the world, to make it better, stronger, more efficient than ever before."

The final picture that comes up is the emblem of our country, three feathers, tied together with a twig. The three feathers represent the three people who, while the rest of the earth's population was destroying themselves around them,  remained strong and created our country, saving the people who now make our population. The twig represents the rest of the world, which was so fragile that at any moment it could break.

I take the goggle and headphones off, handing them back to the nurse. She takes them with a smile, and sets them back onto the cart. She then grabs a needle and syringe, tying off my arm, and drawing a syringe full of blood. When she finishes, she places a piece of gauze over the wound, tying it down.

"I will be back shortly with the results." she tells me, rolling the cart out of the door that she came in through. I sit and wait, tapping on the arm of the chair, as I wait for her to return. My mind wanders to the piece of music that I was learning at home, wishing I was playing it right now rather than sitting in this room, waiting for the verdict that will decide the rest of my life. She comes back in, moments later, with two men following behind her.

"Miss Madilynn, you have qualified for the government experiment. These men will take you to the Dome, where you will live for the next few years of your life. Congratulations." she says, smiling sadly at me. My mind freezes, and the music in my head stops. My body won't respond to my mind's pleas to run, and before I know it, I am being taken from the room and back down the hall, to the waiting torture chamber that I will call home for the rest of my life.