Chapter One

In a dark room, lit by a single candle, an old man sat on a chair studying the nine files he had chosen. It had been a long and arduous task, going through the billions upon billions of files to select the Nine; the ones who would be responsible for the world's redemption and safety.

Tomorrow, he thought, it all begins tomorrow. With a ghost of a cunning grin, he blew out the candle and the room flooded with darkness.

In a remote field, filled with several buildings and other constructions, nine young women and men popped up out of no where

Immediately the quiet field was filled with loud exclamations, cursing, and chaos. Not one of them knew how they had arrived there, or who the others were, and better yet, why they were there.

One of the girls was cursing, trying to stay tough, but was in all honesty, completely freaked out. Barely over five feet, she flipped her shoulder length wavy dark reddish brown hair back, flitting her large grey-green eyes around taking in the scene, wondering why the fuck she was here. On her way to her next class, she had no clue how she had ended up here and where here was! Alexa Kadman was utterly baffled, pissed off, and wierded out.

Adam Marach had no clue what was going on. He had just been eating breakfast. Black hair fell to cover dark green eyes as he bent his head in an attempt to figure out what was going on. It had to be a dream. That was it! He probably had fell asleep on the table again. He pinched himself hard. No not a dream. But if not a dream, then what?

After taking ten or so deep breath, Jonny Icthus regained his composure, or at least the appearance of it. He had just been on his way to track practice. Blue eyes took in the surroundings; running a hand through short light brown hair, he let out all the air in his lungs. What the fuck was going on?

Deep breaths, Anni Cage told herself, deep breaths. This couldn't be real; she had to be losing her mind. Her curly brown hair bounced as she shook her head in complete confusion. Brown eyes wide in fear took in the area. This couldn't be real was her mantra. She said it over and over again, hoping that the next time she said it she would return to her dorm room, or at least to somewhere she knew.

Danny Boyd was just done. It had been a week of hell and this on top of everything was just the last straw. Black framed glasses covered brown eyes full of annoyance and confusion and fear. He pushed a hand absentmindedly through brown hair. This couldn't be happening

Stephan Burren was fucked. Curly brown hair was brushed aside as he rubbed his forehead in confusion. He cursed aloud, brown eyes screaming anger and fear. This was not good, not good at all. He had no idea what was going on or where he was.

Her big hazel eyes wide, Misha Oresno tucked a lock of light brown hair behind her ear out of habit. She had been in the studio painting one second, and the next she was here, surrounded by unfamiliar people and an unknown place. Could she be lost in one of her fantasies? That had to be it. But no, she never fantasized about strangers. Misha was about to panic; hold it together she told herself, hugging herself hard, just keep it together.

Of all the days in her life, Jasmine Straine had been alive; this had to be the weirdest. How in god's name had she got here she asked, looking up at the blue sky as if expecting an answer. Brown eyes smirked as she tossed her long brown hair back. If there was a day god would answer back it would be this one where she magically appeared in an unknown place. But magic doesn't exist, she quips quietly to herself, followed by the eerie thought, does it?

Grant Powell was annoyed, confused, and scared to death. Brown eyes flitted accusingly at the others in the mysterious place he'd popped up; maybe one of them was responsible for it he thought to himself. The next second he ran his hand through brown hair as he dismissed the idea. The others looked just as flabbergasted as he was….there had to be an explanation…

Everyone at this point was yelling at each other, not in anger really, just out of fear and frustration. The volume was escalating, filling the quiet with chaotic noise

"SHUT UP EVERYONE" Alexa yelled, "Ok, we're all confused" she said taking charge of the situation, "Does anyone know what's going on?"

"Who made you boss?!" Grant snipped back

"I never said I was the boss, asshole, I'm just trying to calm everyone down so we can figure this out and get the fuck out of here!" Alexa snarled.

"Where is here exactly, does anyone know?" Jonny asked, "Or how we got here?"

"Don't have a clue, one minute I was on my way to the kitchen, the next…" Anni whimpered

Everyone basically said that they had been one place, and the next they were here. After some slight bickering, they all calmed down, or at least acted more reasonably and introduced themselves. They were all college students, juniors and seniors. Other than that, they had nothing in common.

"Well, now that we all know each other" Stephan drawled, "Let's try to get out of here"

"Now, now, why so soon?" came a voice from the end of the field, from a person who hadn't been there a minute ago.