Chapter 1
I lie back in my plush bed. The room is silent save the tapping of my pencil on the notebook resting on my pale legs. On the nightstand beside the bed, a cell phone buzzes, and I put down my notebook to grab the phone. On the lock screen is a monochrome picture of me and some of my school friends, all wearing our school uniforms, all touting machine guns. Superimposed over us is a countdown clock, counting down the seconds until the annual Purge. It's in one week.
Punching in my combination, I open up my phone to a text from Marian.
"New package just arrived. Wanna see the swag?"
Before I can respond, the message is followed by a picture of Marian, still in her white button-down shirt and khaki skirt uniform. She's accessorizing with a large black strap with grenades embroidering the front and back. A smaller strap hangs from her shoulder that connects to an assault rifle, and her ensemble is completed with a garter on her left thigh that secures a military-grade knife.
"Nice," I reply, feigning interest in her display.
She texts back right away, "Yeah, used the 10G granny gave me for my 18th Bday. Have you picked out what you're going to bring?"
"I have some things in mind."
I don't.
My bedroom door opens, and I dump my phone onto the nightstand.
"Shouldn't you be doing your homework?" Mrs. Singleton asks, as I return to my notebook.
"I am doing homework, mom," I defend, pulling up my notebook onto my legs so she can't glance it.
She puts her hands on her hips, "Uhuh. Don't come crying to me when the best you can get into is state college."
I purse my lips as she turns around and shuts the door. I should be doing homework. I look down at my notebook, the page filled with sketches of guns, a city street ablaze, and a profile sketch of...him.
"Now Linda, this is what we do on Purge night," Mrs. Singleton places her hand on my shoulder, her cold pearl bracelet searing into my skin.
Wooden legs knock against the hardwood floors as a man chokes and stifles through a rag tied around his mouth. It's nighttime, all of the house lights have been turned off, the only light being a flashlight pointed directly at the struggling man. A red laser dot appears around his chest area, and starts circling rapidly around his body.
"Steady your aim, Linda," Mr. Singleton orders, even as my hands continue to shake.
"I-...I can't," my hands start to lower, the weight of the gun too much to bear.
Mr. Singleton lifts the gun back up with his much larger hand.
"Linda, all of your friends have already had their first Purge. You're almost ten years old, it's time you learn these ...what are they going to ask you when you go to school tomorrow?"
I remain quiet, but I know they won't accept my silence for long.
"Linda...what are they going to ask you?" Mr. Singleton repeats.
Swallowing, I mumble, "Did...did I Purge?"
He takes my hands, guiding the gun so that it aims at the man's chest, "And what are you going to tell them? Did you Purge?"
Tearing the page out of my notebook, I crumple it up and throw it into the trash bin across the room. I hurl my notebook onto the ground before burying my head into my pillow. Yes, dad, I did Purge.