Ivanna MacLeod sat on the top of a small grassy mound and watched the sun come up. As the ball of glowing light and heat rose between the mountains, lighting up the Scottish valley, Ivanna lay back, resting her head and bushy ginger hair on her left arm. She spun a small daisy around between the index finger and thumb of her right hand. A stick broke behind her and she sat up quickly, turning around. A figure emerged from behind a tree, cloaked in darkness.
"Who's there?" called Ivanna strongly. Her Scottish accent was thick and tough, and it matched her tough personality. Her left hand clenched into a ready fist, and she dropped the daisy as she did the same to her right hand. The figure darted back behind the tree line. A man grunted behind her and Ivanna turned sharply just as a disc was thrown to her feet. A bright white light shone from its centre and it enveloped Ivanna. She raised her arms over her eyes to protect herself. Her body was tingling and she felt her muscles weakening. Ivanna cried in effort as she tried to tear herself out of the disc's light. "Congratulations." Said the mans' disembodied voice. "You were chosen." Ivanna looked through her arms in an effort to see who it was but as soon as she saw the light properly, she felt giddy and felt herself fall as everything faded to black.
Jerald Carter sat at his desk staring at the blank page, nibbling the end of his ball point pen. He glanced to the small oval shaped digital clock to his right. 5am. Jerald sighed and straightened his back. He'd been up since 3, trying to write the English essay he'd forgotten about until the last minute. Jerald pursed his lips and picked up "The Hunchback of Notre Dame", the book he was supposed to have read by now. He flicked through its pages and then dropped it back onto his desk. He dropped his head into his hands and rubbed his head, tousling his long brown hair out of his eyes. He rubbed his eye and then his thumb and index finger together, squashing the small cream coloured blob his mother used to call "sleep". He saw something out of the corner of his eye and fell back of his chair in shock. "ah, what the hell?" he cried as he fell.
"There he is!" laughed the large man who was suddenly stood in Jerald's' room.
"err." Jerald said intelligently. He was thinking about calling for the nurse when the man threw something at him. He caught it out of instinct. A small white disc sat comfortably in his palm. Before he could shield his eyes the centre of the disc fell away and a strong burst of light erupted over him. Jerald saw the shadow of the man move towards him as everything else went black.
Skye Monaghan was alone in her grandfather's apartment. She sat in front of her large dressing table and applied mascara to her already long lashes. She looked out of her window briefly. London in the early morning was always such a mysterious sight to behold. The doorbell rang and Skye got up slowly. She picked up her bright pink hairbrush and began to brush her long blonde hair back as she moved towards the door. She opened it and stared at the large man on the other side.
"You're not Stephanie." Skye frowned, furrowing her eyebrows.
"Observant. You'll go far." Smiled the large man. He turned and began to walk away down the corridor. As he stepped away he dropped a disc onto the floor. Skye bent and picked it up. "Um, you.." was all she got out before the disc began to glow. The middle dropped away and the light shone out. Skye dropped the disc and shrieked. She looked in panic for someone to help her, but all she saw was the man as he began to walk back towards her. Seeing her panicked face, he smiled and waved. The other doorways on her floor became shadows, and as the shadows joined to form an eternal darkness Skye prayed she was dreaming.
Ethan Thompson wondered the Dublin streets kicking cans as far as he could. He'd been out all night again, watching the stars and the occasional drunkard from his favourite place in the park, and now he was on his way home to change for school. Ethan shuddered at the word "home". His Uncle's house wasn't home, and never would be. Ethan reached into his back pocket and took out a packet of cigarettes and a lighter. He knew he was too young to be smoking, and he was well aware of the dangers of smoking. He just needed one. He lit a cigarette and replaced both objects. A man coughed pointedly as Ethan passed him. Ethan clenched his fists as the man began to follow him. Ethan stopped and dropped his cigarette to the floor, putting it out with his foot. A waste of a good cigarette but Ethan thought his own life more important. The man had stopped as well. Ethan turned quickly and his fist connected with the man's jaw. The man bellowed in anger and stumbled. Ethan raised his fist again but the man moved like lightening and caught it. Ethan raised his other fist but it wouldn't move. The man reached into his coat pocket and brought out a disc. He smiled as he held the disc firmly onto Ethan's' forehead and light began to seep through it. Ethan had no choice but to star at the light as it became brighter, and slowly found his body going limp. After no longer than a minute, his eyesight left him for darkness.
When Jerald woke up, he was in a different room and another guy lay near him. The room was a little bigger than his bedroom, but with no furnishings. He had woke on the blue carpeted floor with a slight headache and blurry vision. A moment later and the blurriness had faded. He sat up slowly and moved backwards until his back rested against the cream coloured wall behind him. He looked around the room slowly, taking nothing in. Aside from the other guy, there was nothing. Not even a window or a door. Jerald moved his arm back and accidentally hit the wall behind him. The noise woke the other guy, who jumped to his feet immediately, startled. That was a mistake. He got up, wobbled and span, and then fell, heavily back to the floor. He groaned and looked over to Jerald while holding onto his head protectively.
"Who the hell are you?" he asked angrily, tossing the black hair out of his eyes.
"Jerald." Replied Jerald slowly. The guy sat up and propped himself against the wall next to Jerald. He was tall but had fair sized muscles. He wore black jeans and a dark blue hoodie. He was much better looking than Jerald, not a spot in sight, and he spoke with a strong Irish accent. Jerald was instantly jealous. Girls loved that. "Ethan." The guy grunted, and Jerald nodded.
"Any idea why we're here, Jerry?" Ethan asked in an attempt to be friendly. Jerald paused. He hated the name Jerry, but didn't want to tell him. Jerald shook his head instead. "Thought not." Shrugged Ethan. "If I don't, why would you?" he said and he grinned smacking Jerald on the back. Jerald was thrown forward slightly at the slap. Ethan was strong. Ethan sensed Jerald didn't want to talk and the two sat in silence and waited. After what seemed like hours of awkward silence where Jerald kept thinking of what he should say, part of the far wall slid noisily to the left and a familiar stranger entered through the gap that had been made. The large man that had been their abductor stood before them, hands on his hips. The only difference Jerald noticed was that now the man had a purple bruise on his jaw.
"Its always been a mystery to me as to how boys can sleep for so much longer than girls." The man said thoughtfully, a cheerful smile playing on his large features. Ethan raised his eyebrows and stood up. "Exactly what part of that sentence wasn't meant to sound creepy?" he said pointedly and the man laughed heartily. "I suppose I didn't mean any of it to sound "Creepy", but ah well. Now, would you like to find out why you're here?" He said and Ethan snorted.
"Do you think?" He snarled, moving towards the man. Ethan was much taller than the man, but far skinnier, and although Jerald hated to admit it, the man would probably beat him. Jerald got to his feet as well to back Ethan up, but it wasn't required.
"You are part of a new team. If you'd like to come with me, you can meet your team captain." The man smiled, gesturing towards the gap in the wall. Jerald made to move but Ethan put out his arm to stop him. "You first." He said bluntly to the man, who smiled and walked through the door. Ethan and Jerald followed, a little further behind. Jerald noticed that Ethan's' fists were clenched. He did the same.