Special

The fete

Standing in front of the mirror, Stephanie was watching her mom putting glowing hair ornament in the shape of a white rose. She was looking at her bloody-red hair, her mom's fingers ably tightening the rose. 

"You look good Stephanie."
"Thanks, mom."

Now, she was watching a blue dress falling down her legs to the floor. It dragged behind just like Jonathan's robe. White roses across her waist made her look skinnier than she actually is. Shoes with a high heel made her look taller and more beautiful. 

"You look like an angel from an old book I once read." It was Alan, standing on the doorway of her room. 
"Thanks."
Stephanie would be more comfortable if her brother would have to choose too. But he did that 2 years ago. He chose the kind, and their parents supported it.
They went downstairs to their parents. 
"We're so proud of you," said Rebecca. 
Stephanie asked herself if her mother truly loved her. 
"You look good." Said their dad, Timothy. 
"Just remember, whatever you choose, we support it." 
Stephanie thought that she could see pride and empathy in her mother's voice. Too bad it was just an illusion. 

Next thing Stephanie knows, sitting in the big hall with hundreds of other children and their parents around her. 
They started pronouncing names. Kids would come in the little opening area with a table in the middle. There was paper and a pencil. You write the community you want and they say it over the speakers. At that moment, everyone knows what are you thinking about, everyone knows where is your place.

"Logan Trejo" 
Logan, in his black suit, and glasses went to the table. He wrote his choice down.
"The smart!"
Everyone clapped. 
"Stephanie Santos"

She was walking towards the table, slowly. She didn't know what will she write. Looking all over the hall, she spotted her mom and dad. She remembered them congratulating Alan on his choice. With the corner of her eye, she saw Jonathan watching her with a big smile on his face. Her stomach was tight. She could throw up right there. After a few seconds, she started writing something down. 

She started walking towards her seat. 
"The brave!"

Everyone started clapping, but she couldn't breathe. Hall started looking small, full of people all around her. She saw her parents and she hurried towards them. 
"Good choice." both of them said. 
Alan looked at her, "Good Steph."
She started smiling, as the approval of her parents made a difference. Now she knows they are okay with it. She felt more peacefully. 
After everything was done, everyone started going to the headquarters of their new community. 

"I'm Zachary, your new leader. Everyone from any other community, come with me." 
Stephanie was walking along with other ones who choose "The brave" unfortunately, there were only a few of them. Five, to be precise. 
"Steph."
Stephanie turned around to see a familiar face, Ashley. 
"Ashley? What are you doing here?"
"The same as you, leaving the rules behind me."
Leaving the rules behind her. Is that really what was this choice about, rules?

After driving on the bus for the first time, Stephanie got out of it. She was trembling, but not because of the coldness, it was nervousness. She could feel something coming up soon, something bad. 
They entered a big black building with lots of windows on every side. After several long, dark hallways, they came to their bedroom. Every hallway looked the same. It was small, dark with a poor light in the middle, hanging from the ceiling.

"You sleep here." he opened the doors and slide in. 
There were 5 beds, all lined against one wall. 
"You have some clothes on the beds," said Zachary leaving the room. 
Stephanie picked the bed in the left corner of the room. Ashley came next to her. The new clothes looked bad compared to what have they wore until now. 
"Like it here?"
It was somebody behind Stephanie. Guy, few inches taller than Stephanie, with his brown hair and green eyes. He was skinny, almost like he never eats.
"For now, yes."
"Noah." he put his hand in front of him. Stephanie reached for his hand,
"Stephanie."
"And you?" he turned to Ashley now. 
"Ashley."
"Nice to meet you girls, looks like we will spend some time together."
He was calm, almost happy. Stephanie could feel joy in his voice, He's different, she thought. No, I'm just panicking. 

The next day, early in the morning, Zachary came to their room yelling, "Common! Get up! We have work to do! Be ready for 5 minutes!"
Stephanie's sight was still blurry, but she somehow put tight black jeans and a thank-top black shirt on her. Her shoes were over-sized, but she tightened them strong. On the nightstand, she saw a white rose her mother put in her hair. She slid it under the bed so no one could see it. 
They were all stumbling out of the room towards Zachary.

"Nice morning," whispered Noah.
"It is." agreed Ashley. 
They both looked at Stephanie who was still half sleeping. With big weight, she mumbled, "Yes." Walking through the pitch-black hallways, Stephanie stumbled on someone's feet. She couldn't see who it was, but she didn't care anyway. 
"This is a training room, you will spend the most time in here these first months." Zachary started talking.

He continued, but Stephanie was amazed by the number of things in the space in front of here. Right in front of her, there were targets. The Center was red-colored. Left from the targets, there was a table with blades on it. Silver, sharp, shiny daggers. On the right side of the room were white, chalk-drawn circles on the floor. On the left side of the room were more targets, but these had a human drawing on it. On the table beside it was guns and pistols, Stephanie spotted she same big black gun that guy was holding that morning Stephanie was in the church. 
"First, knife throwing. Get your knives and took a place to a target."