Prologue
I was sitting in her room crying. It had been two days since they had taken Rey away from the “safe haven”. Naturally, the memory was on repeat in my mind.
We had been racing each other outside when she suddenly collapsed next to me in a pile of limbs. An electric force flung me away from her and my body hit the ground about twenty feet away. I scrambled up fast enough to see a tall male walk up to Rey and grab her. My mind at this point was repeating the same word over and over. Predator, Predator, Predator. Saria had warned us about this, but we didn’t listen. My eyes snapped to the man as he walks towards a gray ship. Without thinking I start to chase them. The last thing I saw of Rey was her blonde-streaked hair.
Saria is the caretaker of our safe haven and every night she would explain why we were all stuck in this old house. She would explain what happened to those who ran away or got caught out in the open. Her stories changed each night but they all had one thing in common, Predators. Predators are the name we gave the people who gave their lives to the lab. I always thought that they were just stories to make us stay here in this prison with them. To plant fear into us so we would stay away from all of the normal people.
A couple of nights before Rey had been taken, Saria talked with us girls. She explained further what the Predators were. Rey listened intently her face growing grim with every word. I didn’t believe a single word that came out of Saria’s mouth, but I hadn’t believed her since she snatched me from my home. She warned us to be extra careful and a laugh escaped me. Rey glared at me but I just couldn’t help myself. Rey, Derek, and I were the strongest mutants here. Three days ago Derek ran off, he agreed with me that the Safe haven is just too constricting so he left. I nearly went with him but I couldn’t just leave Rey here alone. Derek and I are shapeshifters while Rey is, well Rey is Rey. Her power was different from the rest of us. Saria still wasn’t sure what category Rey went under. Now as I relive those moments I wish I would have listened to Saria’s warning.
I slowly got off of Rey’s bed and trudged towards the door. My eyes scan the room one last time and my heart shatters again. She’s gone. My legs carry me to my room and I automatically lock the door. As I collapse on my bed an ear-piercing scream resounds through the house. A voice echoes up the stairs, “Jade, run!”
The warning was immediately followed by a cry of pain. On instinct, I jumped out of my window which happened to be the only escape route out of my room, due to my locked door. My mind was locating the nearest safe haven while I scanned my surroundings. Someone charged me from the left and I began to shift. A sharp pain shot up my leg as my eyes began to glow. A small cry escaped me as I crumpled to the ground. I looked down at my leg to see what had caused the pain and found a tranquilizer lodged in my right calf. My fingers grappled with the small dart as I tried to keep the drugs out of my blood. I tried to Shift again only to find out that the tranquilizer had some sort of serum that prevented me from using my powers. I went to stand and run, but my legs betrayed me and gave out from beneath me. My breaths came in short gasps as I struggled to stay awake. Someone walked up to me and grabbed my torso. I tried to turn my head to see who my captor was, but my strength was being sapped out of my body. I heard my captor speaking into their walkie-talkie, or at least I think it was a walkie-talkie. “Subject Nine is under custody.”
“Copy Agent Five, preparing to land now.” I managed to move my head just enough to see a girl about my age looking down at me. I realized with a shock, I knew this girl’s birthday and I was only a few months older than she was. She had short blonde hair now and she wore white pants and a shirt that smelled very much like chemicals. She smirked down at me her dark brown eyes were almost black in the moonlight. She lifted a gun and pointed the barrel at my neck. Before I could move she shot me and my vision went black.
