Chapter 1
I opened my eyes as I felt the sunshine hit my face. I reach out, seeking Sunny's warmth but finding only the smooth silken sheet of the bed. She must have had bad dreams and climbed in with our mother. Of course she did, today is the day of my departure.
I prop myself upon one elbow. There's enough light in the bedroom to see them. My little sister, Sunny, curled up on her side, cocooned in my mother's body, their cheeks pressed together. I swing my legs off the bed and slide into my flip-flops. I pull on my shorts, a shirt, fix my hair into a ponytail and grab my small bag.
Our part of District four, nicknamed the Louvre, is usually crawling with fishermen heading to the sea at this hour, carrying fishnets and other stuff. But today the sea is empty. Shutters on the small huts are closed. The people are really giving my mother the message: 'condolence.' My departure isn't until two in the afternoon. I still have plenty of hours to spend before ten.
Our house is almost at the edge of the Louvre, I only have a kilometer to reach the beach. I look at my map. I will be going two districts away from here. District 1 is the most dangerous part of the country. Well, it's a home for different kinds of monsters. I guess it's just pure bad luck for me because they will throw me there without even asking if I want to.
Every two decades, the officials of the each district will send one person of its district to district one to ask forgiveness from the people because they're population decreased during the war. They call the person 'departed' because if one get's in there, he won't be able to go back to the Louvre anymore. So if he makes it, he's just one cold, bloody corpse. And now, it's District four's turn to give their offering. Me.
At 2:00, I will be riding the train to district one. I check my watch. It's already ten, time to get dressed. I walk to the center. The prep team works on me until one-thirty, turning my skin to glowing satin. Poshé enters with what I assume is my dress, but I can't really see it because it's covered.
"Close your eyes," she orders.
I can feel the dress slip down over my camisole. I clutch Reese's hand as I blindly step into my shoes, glad to find they are at least one inch lower than the pair I wore in the reaping. There's just some tying and adjusting. Then silence.
"Can I open my eyes?" I ask.
"Not yet," says Poshé. "We still have one thing to do."
I feel Cinna's hands slowly loosen my birth choker. I hear it fall down on the floor in a click. She rubs my neck with a damp towel and for some reason, I start to feel funny. They all let out a gasp.
"Reese, what's going on?" I ask.
"Why don't you open your eyes now?" Reese says.
I gently open my eyes and found myself completely shocked, too. The creature before me in a full length mirror has come from another world. She has rosy-white skin and well-proportioned body. And her dress, which is entirely made from black leather, bits of gray velvet and covered with blue tulle, is made to my exact measurements. The only thing I hate is that it falls down halfway of my thighs. Shiny leather boots lace up to my knees.
"Did something go wrong?" I ask. "I thought birth chokers cover the monster inside us but why did I turn out like this?"
"You'll see," Poshé whispers.
The three steps back and admire their work.
"Oh my gosh! Frances looks so perfect with that dress!"
"You're so cute!"
"How adorable! You're adoptive parents will surely love you!"
I curve my lips up into a smile to show how grateful I am. "Thank you," I say sweetly as I give them a splendid twirl.
I stand a few minutes in the doorway of the train as the cameras gobble up my images, then I'm allowed inside and the doors close automatically behind me. The train begins to move at once. The speed initially takes my breath away. We only have one train in district four that goes 100mph but this is faster, I think it has an average of 250mph.
I sit inside and try to get some sleep. I haven't got a good sleep since the day of the reaping but now I can have at least one nap.
Chapter 2
Ж
What they don't tell you about trains is how completely lame it is. I should have guessed though, it was my parents' idea. They're not exactly renowned for their coolness. They brought this train for me and then asked me to tour the whole country.
They must have been sucking each other's blood for now since the population of humans in district one is decreasing a bit. But since today is the arrival of the departed, everyone is busy preparing for the welcome party tomorrow. It seems like the departed this decade is not so ordinary because the last departeds became bums and got eaten. Well, I guess it's just bad luck for them. Too bad they aren't special enough for rich families to adopt them unlike this decade's departeds; I guess they all got adopted.
The train stops for a moment and then goes again. Oh, shit. The scent of blood is starting to fill the train. Slowly swirling around me like fire. Crap, I feel like hell. My mind's going crazy over that scent. That sweet, seductive smell that is slowly forcing my body to react in such a wild manner. And before I even realized, I'm already opening the door to the next train cab. What am I thinking just now?
"You're trying to imagine what it would be like to taste blood for the first time, Cabel."
Stop it! You, bitch! Stop sneaking into my mind! If I taste blood, I wouldn't be able to taste food the same way again!
"Are you just going to ignore that sweet blood laid on before you? How sad. It's a rare opportunity. Come on, it's just a single bite and 'poof' it's yours!"
Before I could even stop myself from listening to that monstrous part of me, I saw the source of the sweet smell of blood. It's from the girl sleeping on the seats.
She's the most beautiful girl I've ever seen.
I stare at her. I've never seen a human being who looks like her, and I'm from District one, where good-looking people, I mean, monsters live. But this girl isn't just good-looking. She's perfect in a way that's quite beyond my expectations for humans.
Her pitch black hair falls down her waist in smooth, soft waves. And her medium frame is so. . What do you call that? Hot. But the weird thing is, it's not her body that I notice the most. It's her face. Her skin is the color of milk with just the tiniest bit of strawberry drink mixed in. Her eyes are closed, but I can tell they're huge, with long eyelashes that curve upward. Her lips definitely don't look like it hasn't been moistened.
I think she's in my age. Most fifteen-year-olds have sweet blood some say. And her blood smells really sweet so I'm quite sure that she's just fifteen but does her blood also tastes sweet? I'm not sure of that because some things smell sweet but don't taste sweet. Like perfumes, smells like candy but tastes like, ugh, soap. So I don't know why some people use them, of course, to smell good, but not everyone wants to know how you smell, right?
What if I just leave this girl alone? Yeah, why didn't I think of that a while ago? That's nice. In that way, I don't even have to bother what this girl's blood will taste like. I want to rest for a bit. I'll be restless once I arrive at District one. Guess. I just have to find a perfect spot to sleep just like this girl.
Chapter 3
I rub my eyes and check my watch. It's 4:30 already? How fast! I thought it's just past three. I stretch my arms up; spreading warmth to every muscle. Hmm, it feels nice and—huh? What the—? I'm not the only one here? Is this true? Maybe he's a passenger or the train staff.
I come near the sleeping guy. His skin is pale, if I say pale, I mean, almost white and he's, well, good-looking. I'm not joking, he's like the male version of Snow White, you know, pale skin and raven-haired, it's just a shame his hair is straight but he sure does look like royalty. Like the ones I saw in Fairytale books when I was younger. He's tall and a little muscular; I guess he's just strong enough.
Alright, he's quite attractive but the thing is, I'm not interested. I didn't mean he's not interesting but I'm just, you know, uninterested. I'm not like those girls who take advantage to guys who are dozing off. And also, I'm not a princess-like girl who always needs help, seek help and use her appearance to get what she wants. Need a clearer explanation? I'm not a damsel in distress and I don't need a prince.
The guy turns his head to my direction, hits his head on the window and sees me.
He looks at me with his mysterious crimson-red eyes. I admit, him looking at me that way makes me scared. I don't know why but there's something in his eyes that I find creepy but it's still attractive, though.
"Who are you?" he asks, staring at me with awe.
"My name's Frances. I'm fifteen years old; from District four. Pleased to meet you," I say to him with a bright smile.
"Why are you here? A citizen like you shouldn't be traveling without the permission of the capitol,"
What a nice reply to my pleasant introduction.
"What do you care? Are you a staff here?" I say, crossing my arm upon my chest.
"Of course, I have to care who rides on 'my' train."
"Oh, now I get it. You are expecting me to walk from Louvre to District one. Well, I'm sorry, I didn't walk. Now please stop the train so I can get off now and walk as you like, train manager."
The guy bursts into laughter. "You're really going to do that?" he giggles.
"Of course," I snap him out.
"Show me, then." he smirks. Is he challenging me?
For some reason, I feel so courageous; like I can really do it. Just wait, you, filthy rich boy, I'll show you what you want. I walk near the door and wait for the guy to stop the train. And it stops. So it really was his, huh?
I step out of the train. What is this place? It's so warm in here. Palm trees and tropical plants are everywhere. The scent of citrus fruits filled the atmosphere, is this District two? Why don't I ask 'rich boy'? He's got a train; for sure he's been here already.
"Hey, is this District two?" I ask.
"Yep. It's the central town of District two. Too bad, it's not far enough for you to walk. It'll be nice to see a girl walk from here to District one." What? So he really is an immature, bad-mannered rich boy!
"Wait. Are you challenging me? If you do, then bring it on. You'll just lose, anyway." I dare.
"So you're up for the challenge, huh? Then, if you make it to District one without getting tired, I'll do anything you say but if you get tired I'll win and you'd definitely do anything I say without any complaints. That's a deal, okay? Be sure to prepare yourself, princess." he says as a winning smile crept upon his face.
How will he know that I'm tired? Everyone can act like they're not tired, right? So I'll definitely win and this guy will surely regret that he challenged me. District one is not that far, why is this guy so confident that he'd win?
