I put the finishing touches on my name card with a flourish. If I had to do this, I might as well make an effort, I thought. Although some of the lines were crooked and some of the curves were lopsided, as art had never been my strong suit, it still reflected that I had tried. The words 'Tessa Gray' shone back at me, black against the outline of color and design. I sighed. It was a shame that it would never be seen by anyone again after it had gone into the box. Unless I was chosen. The traitorous thought flitted across my mind before I could shove it down. While my life here wasn't all that it used to be, it was surely better than the life of those who 'won' the Lottery.

Standing up from the surface I had been sitting at, a small desk in the corner of my room, I made my way as quietly as I could to the door. Slowly, I opened the door a tiny crack. The acrid scent of cigarette smoke burned my nostrils, coming from Nate's room down the hall. Since the door was closed, I assumed that my cousin was still under the delusion that his mother didn't know what he did in his room all day. Hopefully this would mean that I would be able to get out of the house without him bothering me.

I moved down the hall as quickly as I could, only slowing when I reached the kitchen. My aunt was sitting at the dining table, looking through yesterday's mail. She looked up as I came in.

"And where are you off to so quickly?" Her voice was chilling, and sent cold fingers dancing down my spine.

I showed her my finished name card. "I have to drop this off."

She sniffed. "Maybe you should be chosen. Less of a waste of my money that way." Although she said it in a near whisper, I was sure she wanted me to overhear. Of course, it was no secret that I probably made more money than her, and that she couldn't afford to throw me on the streets. However, it was also no secret that she despised taking care of me, and had only agreed to because I was the daughter of her dear, dead sister.

Although she might not think she could get rid of me just yet, there was not telling what she might do in a fit of rage. At her statement I only nodded demurely and walked out our front door into the corridor beyond.

Away from the tension of my home, I noticed how quiet the building seemed. Everyone was most likely out or dressing up for the Lottery. Since today was a free day for everyone, nobody was at work. Those who saw the Lottery as a day of celebration would go all-out in their appearances. However, while I appreciated the respite from work, I saw it as just another way for the privileged government to keep control of the general population.

As I walked down the hallway, the usual slime that coated it threatened to suck off my well-worn shoes. Since the elevator was hardly ever working, I headed directly for the stairs. Taking care not to touch the handrails, I walked briskly down the six floors to the lobby. The man at the desk leered at me. "I hope you don't get chosen, sweetheart. I sure would miss your company." Although his words seemed kind, his tone was anything but.

The arm that suddenly appeared around my shoulder surprised me, and I almost jumped out of my skin. The laugh that tickled my ear almost gave me a heart attack. "I'm afraid that even if she isn't chosen, she's spoken for."

The man at the desk looked me over once more, his eyes seeming to invade every inch of me, before turning away. "Shame," was his only reply.

The stranger held me tighter to him, as if possessively, before turning and walking us through the front door. I followed eagerly, grateful for the opportunity to get away from the man who had tormented me ever since I was old enough to know exactly what he wanted from me.

As soon as the door had shut behind us, I turned to the man, stepping out of his grip. I studied my rescuer for a moment. He was about me age, and tall and handsome, in a dark sort of way. He had messy black hair that dipped over his eyes, and deep blue eyes that danced with mirth, as if he was perpetually in the moment between a joke and a punchline at your expense. It was those eyes that told me it wasn't a good idea to stay around.

"Thank you," I said, before turning away and walking briskly down the street. Although I was tall for a girl, and as such my legs were long, he was taller still. He caught up to me easily.

"So tell me, Tessa, what is a girl such as yourself doing in a place such as that," he asked in a conspirators voice, the smirk on his face seemingly designed to irritate anyone unlucky enough to gaze upon it.

I looked at him sharply. "How do you know my name?"

He just pointed to my name card. Miffed and blushing slightly over missing the obvious explanation, I shoot back at him, "I happen to live there. And what about you? Do you typically pretend to be the lover of any girl you happen to come across?"

The man chuckled and raised his eyebrows at me suggestively. "Oh, I don't pretend." At that, I turn a darker shade of crimson. "However, the reason that I was in that particular hovel- excuse me, apartment building- was simply because I mistook it for an opium den."

The red shading my face now was partially from anger. How dare he insult my home? "I would have thought that you would have mistaken it for a tattoo parlor, what with all the strange symbols you have already," I shot back.

He looked slightly surprised at this comment, but his face quickly settled back into a knowing smirk. I walked faster, wishing that there was a crowd around that I could disappear into and get away from this annoying boy. The object of my ire stopped suddenly. "I do think that I'll be seeing you again very soon, Tessa," he said cryptically. When I looked back, he was already gone. It was only then that I realized that he hadn't told me his name.

.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.

The line that I had to wait in was so long, it took me almost three hours to even get near the front. Since there was only one Lottery machine in our province, everyone who participated was in the same line. That meant that every 18 year old in a 20-mile radius was legally required to wait in that line.

The Lottery had been around for as long as anyone could remember. Every year, everybody who had reached 18 years of age that year made a card with their name on it and put it into a Lottery machine. Most of them were never seen again, and nobody seemed to know where they went. However, every once in a while, there would be that one unlucky child. Their card wouldn't stay in the machine. Sometimes the card would have a hole punched through it, which was why it was known more casually to people as a Puncher. If a card was returned, then the one who had put it in the Puncher was said to have won the Lottery. The winner was taken away from their family and their life, and was never heard from again.

I moved forwards as I watched the people in front of me put their name cards into the Puncher. After having so much paper shoved into it, I was surprised it wasn't full. As they moved away, leaving their cards behind, it was finally my turn.

Although most of those who had gone before me had been nervous, holding their breath as their card went in and releasing the air in a sigh as it didn't come out, I was calm. Considering the fact that only about one person every few years was chosen from our area, and that there were thousands who participated every year, I knew that the odds of being chosen were dismal at best. So when my card went into the machine, I considered myself completely safe.

The card entered the slot in the side. I prepared myself to walk away and place the whole experience out of my mind, resigning myself to living with my aunt forever. The card came back out. In the center, as if a pair of eyes staring back at me, were two holes.

I had not only beaten the odds, I had obliterated them. And now, I could quite possibly die from it.

Hello reader. So this is my first fanfic, and although I really do love everything about what I'm writing, the mean reason I'm doing this is to improve. So please, if you see anything that I could improve on or that would make the story better, please review. (Note: This part is a little slow but that's partly because I'm setting everything up.)

Thanks, Censelessly.