A/N: Alright, so Ryan is a girl. Just thought I'd clear that up before you read.

"Ryan?" a quiet voice called from the shadows.

"No," I sobbed. "I can't do this. Not here. Not ever. Just leave me alone."

A slight figure stepped out of the shadows. "I don't know what you're talking about," the other girl answered.

"How-how did you get up here?" I asked. There was no way this stranger could have gotten on my bedroom balcony. "Who are you, anyway?" I asked, looking closer.

"I am Ever. And, Ryan, the way I got up here must remain a secret unless you agree to come with me. Do you?" she asked.

I had known this day was coming. Every teenager gets taken to a secret facility near the edge of town where they are Trained and undergo the Change. Normally, they did not return until they were about eighteen. They were never allowed to tell anyone what happened, except for those who have undergone the Change themselves. But I didn't know they would come so soon. I was only thirteen. With the normal age for us to be Trained being around sixteen, I had thought I had a few more years. But there was no point in resisting. They would just come and take me while I was asleep. And there was the fact that they could not Train those who were unhealthy. They would have to fix the seemingly incurable illness that had been keeping me in my house for the past few weeks.

"Do you? Are you ready to be Trained, Ryan?" Ever asked.

"Yes."

"Do you swear never to tell an Unchanged what has transpired once you return? That you will remain silent about your time at the Training Center, unless you are asked by one of your status?" she asked.

"I do."

"Then by the power of our goddess Ever, for whom I am named, I bind you with the Oath of Secrecy. If this oath is ever broken, you, and whoever you told, will be killed on the spot. Are you ready to leave?"

"Y-yes," I stuttered.

Ever sighed. She wrapped her arms around my waist and jumped off of the balcony, tumbling into the darkness towards the street five stories below. Just before we hit the ground, something caught us. I looked up to see a huge pair of tawny wings stretched from Ever's back, flapping strongly. I smiled. I hoped what we heard at school was right, about the Unchanged being picked up by a creature who is the same as what they would become. If so, then I would grow wings. And the Changed with wings always had the most fun.

A/N: Yeah, the first chapter isn't the best chapter of the whole story, but it gets better. I promise.