The House Project *currently editing*

Chapter 1: In the Dark

I was being chased. I didn't know what by, but I could hear it grunting behind me. As I swerved around a sharp corner, I felt it's heavy footsteps grow closer and closer. I turned another corner, but it soon dawned on me that I made a mistake. I was now caught in a dead end. I felt like a mouse in a trap. I tried to scream for help, but no one could hear me. The creature was coming closer now, but I wasn't able to see it. It was dark but I could sense its presence right in front of me. 

"You are late, Joslyn," the voice said, in a wispy tone. It kept repeating that same phrase over and over again. I could see it's deep red glowing eyes through the darkness. It was the only thing I could see. Whatever it was, I knew it wasn't human. It started to move towards me and I could hear the floorboards squeaking under its feet. I felt it's claw wrapped itself around my neck.

 The creature was still repeating the same sentence, "You are late." At this point, my breathing was heavy. I took long breaths to try and keep me calm to no avail. Its claws started to dig deeper into my neck. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, thinking it would be my last.

I gasped for air, my eyes shot open but instead of darkness, I was in my room. My older brother, Wyatt, was standing over me, "You are going to be late, Joslyn. You need to get up," he said while shaking my shoulders. I didn't notice that I had slept in. I ran around the house, changed my clothes, brushed my hair and said goodbye to my mother and father. Wyatt and I headed down to the food level. When we walked into the diner Wyatt went with his group members, and I joined mine. 

There are only four people of the same age in a group, two girls, and two boys. I am one of the group 18's in my colony. There are other groups of 18's in other colonies. I sat down at one of the tables with my breakfast tray.

"Hey, how was your sleep?" My friend, Kinsley said. She was a short girl, with brown hair and eyes as grey as smoke.

 "It was okay, I guess" I answered.

 "The dream?" she asked. Kinsley knew about the dream, they happened very often. She usually said that they were just nightmare and that they were nothing to worry about, but I didn't completely agree with that. I nodded my head as a response, but just as I answered Maxton and Otto came to the table with their trays. They were the other two 18-year-old members. 

"Are you ready for the test today?" Maxton said as he sat down beside me. His voice was deep, and he was very tall. He also had dark brown hair with red tips, like flames, and eyes as grey as silver. Maxton is my boyfriend, I have been with him for about a year now.

 "As ready as we could be," Kinsley said. 

"Yeah, I get what you are saying, we don't know what's waiting for us in there," Otto said. He was the other boy out of the 18's. He had extremely pale skin, that made him look like a ghost. He had ginger hair and eyes as green as the leaves that we could see in the forest, that covered the perimeter of the colony. We kept talking about the house, and what we have heard about it.

"I had an uncle-", Maxton started to say, "When he was our age he took the test, but he came out last, he became a disgrace to our family". Maxton took a deep breath, it looked as if this was a hard story to tell. He continued, "-No one talks to him anymore, even if they wanted to, they wouldn't be able to-". 

"What do you mean?" Kinsley interrupted. Maxton looked up at her and continued his story. "-if you are the last pair out of the test you become the property of the house and you can never leave". I look up at him, I was so confused his family was usually one of the top scorers. His uncle must have been different from the rest of his family. I remember Maxton told me that his older brother, Casper, was able to get out of the house with his partner 30 minutes before anyone else could come out.