Marked (On Hold sorry!)

Chapter One

I paced across the room with my hands crossed behind my back. The children I was lecturing stared at me with both curiosity and terror in their eyes.

“When you were born, your whole life was suddenly planned out for you,” I said the dramatic beginning line. A small round of gasps erupted throughout the small crowd. I smirked.

“You were either chosen as a Worker,” I began, narrowing my eyes at the left side of the room, where the workers had grouped together.

“Or an Enforcer,” I finished, glaring at the other half. All of their small heads turned to look at one another.

“What’s an enforcer?” A squeaky voice blurted out. I almost winced as I saw the guards move forwards. The voice had spoken out of term and the punishment, even for a child six years of age, could be severe. I found its owner in the back, eyes widened and fear etched across his face.

I held my hand up and the soldiers paused. I shook my head and gestured for them to resume their places by the door. They both nodded once and retreated. The little boy in the back relaxed and gave me a thankful smile. He was lucky I was so respected around here; otherwise he might wake up in the morning missing a few limbs.

“The workers,” I started turning to their half of the room, “will be working 19 out of 24 hours every day starting at the age of 12.”

In one collective movement, their mouths popped open in disbelief. I could tell they wanted to protest, but luckily they knew better.

“And the Enforcers, are special,” I said, switching stances. I tried not to focus on any individual pair of eyes as I broke the news to them.

“You will enforce the government rules. Every single day, starting today, you will be trained to kill,” I told them. The room stayed silent as all of them froze in shock.

“You will kill the ones who chose to disobey, or what we call them, Breakers,” I announced. Not a sound was audible as the news sank in. Then, ever so slowly, a hand rose in the air from the middle of the crowd.

“Yes?” I asked. A boy, muscular for his age with dirty blonde hair cleared his throat.

“When do we get to move onto rebels, Sir?” He questioned in a deep voice. I smiled as I saw a younger version of me. Hopefully this young man would grow up to accomplish things as great as me.

“That depends on you. How well you do, or how much you achieve will factor into moving you up to the next step. I killed my first one when I was twelve,” I said. He stuck out his chest and straightened up in his seat. Although, I doubt he would kill his first one as soon as I. I wouldn't have even come close to killing those first rebels if fury didn't strengthen me. After what they did to me, and my family, how could they live?

“Your beginning may have been chosen for you, but how you build onto that defines who you really are!” I tell them fiercely.

“You need to work hard, train, and you won’t fail in what you do. Make the Rulers proud,” I said and with that, I stepped out the door, leaving them with a determined look on their faces.

As I stepped into the cool air, all the previous hints on tension vanished.

“How did it go in there?” My best friend, Liam suddenly appeared next to me. I grinned.

“I think I inspired most of them,” I told him. He laughed and slapped me on my back.

“Well, Ashton, if you weren’t such a good Enforcer, I’d suggest you take up giving the talk as a career,” Liam laughed. I looked at him in disbelief.