Ender, Chapter One
The ground shook from explosions. Rocks tumbled from the walls of the cave. Pickaxes gleamed in the torchlight as the Miners hacked away at the stone. None of them were affected by the earthquakes, as TNT explosions were part of the job. One of the falling bits of rock hit a girl in the head. She stumbled, but did not fall.
One of these Miners was a girl with turquoise-blue eyes. Her face was smudged with coal dust. Her dark brown hair was tangled and dirty. Her uniform green dress was so dusty that it looked black. A red mark was coming on her cheek, where the supervisor of the mines had hit her. Some supervisors weren't bad, but Marcus, the one who hit the girl, was awful.
The girl hefted her iron pickaxe and slammed it into the stone. She was exhausted from hours of mining, but she dared not stop. Marcus would beat her if she stopped. Finally, the supervisor's voice rang out through the mineshaft. "That's all for today!" The blue-eyed girl followed the other laborers out of the mines, placing her pickaxe in a barrel as she passed.
She was followed out of the mines by two other teens; the brown-eyed girl that had been hit with a rock, and a brown-haired boy. They held hands, and whispered to each other. The boy gently inspected the bruise from the rock on the girl's head. "Come on," he said quietly. "Let's get you to Gabrielle."
The blue-eyed girl's name was Ashley, and it was all she owned in the world. The other two were two of Ashley's four friends total. Their names were Louise and Jerome, and they had started dating three months before. Her other friends were Gabrielle, the girl who ran the library, and Gabrielle's older brother Martin.
The three walked along a stone hallway. The hallway soon opened up into a large cavern with a high ceiling. This was the Town Square. The actual town was a series of caves and hollowed-out rooms, deep in the earth's mantle. None of the citizens had ever seen sunlight. Not for two hundred years.
They walked swiftly down the corridor, past several livid-looking guards. None of the three relaxed. The guards would find any reason to harm you, any reason at all.
But they relaxed when they got to the library. The library was a safe haven for them, because there Gabrielle protected them.
Gabrielle was not much to look at. She was five-foot-four and skinny, with her obsidian-black hair pulled into a tight bun at the back of her neck. She had never mined a day in her life, and she was delicate. The only intimidating thing about her was her eyes, which were a pale, icy blue. When Gabrielle cast her gaze upon you, she pierced your soul. But Gabrielle's father was powerful. Although he was also abusive, to her and his son, the man had granted Gabrielle living quarters in the library. There, Gabrielle was queen, and she reigned gently. God help the man who misbehaved in her domain.
Ashley, Jerome, and Louise were met by Gabrielle at the library's entrance. She waited for them there every day. She ushered them to the back of the library, where there was a door. Beyond the door were Gabrielle's rooms. She had a small kitchen, and a bedroom. The bedroom was carpeted in green wool, which was incredibly expensive. The only furniture, besides the bed and the kitchen things, was a small granite table and two matching chairs.
Upon seeing the bruise on Louise's head, Gabrielle sat her in a chair. Jerome sat beside her, and Ashley leaned against the wall with her arms crossed. Gabrielle wet a handkerchief with cool water from the well in the corner, and tenderly sponged Louise's head. The bruise faded slightly.
"How did you get this?" Gabrielle asked. "Did Marcus hit you?"
"No." said Louise, in the quiet way she always spoke. She took the cloth from Gabrielle's hand, and applied it to her head herself. "A rock fell from the ceiling. It hit my head."
"He hit Ashley though," Jerome said. He took Louise's hand. Ashley shifted uncomfortably. "I'm fine, Gabrielle," she said. "Really. I promise."
Gabrielle crossed the room anyway. She observed the slap mark on Ashley's cheek. "Can't do anything for that," she said. "It'll fade soon, though. God, if I was the Chancellor… Marcus would have been imprisoned the minute his hand moved."
That was when the screaming started.
Jerome was on his feet instantly, and he sprinted from the room. Louise followed, running quickly. Gabrielle and Ashley exchanged looks, and chased after their friends. The four burst through the lapis-and-gold doors at full speed. They ran to the Town Square, where the noise was coming from.
There was a girl who slept two beds down from Ashley in the girls' dormitory. Her name was Natara. Her skin was the dark color of rich coffee, and her hair was short and black. Natara was short, skinny, and frail, even more so than Gabrielle. Natara could barely lift a pickaxe, so she worked in the kitchens. She was timid, and had never hurt a fly. Much less killed a man.
And yet, there in the Square was Natara, standing over the body of a dead guard. She held a bloody diamond sword – the soldier had been killed with his own weapon. Natara was screaming hysterically, "I killed him! I KILLED him!" She tuned, and saw Jerome, Gabrielle, Ashley and Louise staring open-mouthed at her.
"Lou!" she cried desperately, dropping the sword and running to Louise. "Lou, you have to help me! I killed him – the guard – but it wasn't me!" she grabbed Louise's shoulders and began to shake her. "I didn't mean to! Something was controlling me! Please, please help me!" Tears ran down her cheeks.
Many more people had gathered at the Square. Women screamed at the sight of the body on the floor. Chancellor Kramer – the ruler of the caves – had arrived on scene, along with dozens more guards.
Suddenly, Natara went rigid. She turned, and walked stiffly towards the Chancellor. Her mouth contorted into an evil smile.
Her deep brown irises disappeared, leaving her eyes totally white.
''You fool!" Natara screeched, but her voice was a man's voice. "You thought that by coming into your precious Mines, you could escape ME?! Well, you cannot! Thanks to a foolish Hunter, I will soon rise again! I am coming for you," Natara swiveled, pointing at every Miner in turn. "And you all shall DIE!"
If the Chancellor was rattled, he didn't show it. He simply signaled one of the guards, and the soldiers surrounded Natara. She was laughing now, still in the man's voice. Three of the guards grabbed her shoulders and shoved her down, into the position for execution by beheading. A Guard raises his sword –
And Ashley closed her eyes, as Natara's laughter, and her life, was ended forever.
Louise cried afterwards. Jerome held her close to him, whispering comforting words. Ashley, despite her sadness over Natara's death, could not help wishing that someone loved her as much as Jerome loved Louise.
Soon, after the bodies were cleaned up, the bell rang. This signaled that it was time to get to bed. She and Louise bade their friends goodbye, and left for the girls' dormitory. Gabrielle went to her rooms, and Jerome walked away towards the boys' dorms. When they arrived, thirteen of the sixteen girls were already there. Ashley and Louise were fourteen and fifteen, and sixteen would have been Natara.
A few hours later, everyone was asleep. Ashley, however, wasn't. She had been thinking of the Thing that had taken over Natara, because she never would have killed anything of her own free will. Checking to be sure that she alone was awake, Ashley stole out of her bed to the empty one two beds down. The two girls she passed did not stir. Ashley knelt down by the empty bed, and did something she'd rarely done before – she prayed. She prayed for Natara's soul. And in that moment, Ashley realized something.
This Thing, the Thing that took over Natara, was after all of the Miners – it had said so itself. And she, Ashley, was a Miner. It was after her. Ashley decided then and there that she wouldn't come to an end like Natara's. If she had to abandon her entire world to do it, so be it. She hated this life anyways. As long as she and her friends were safe, she didn't care,
And so Ashley made a promise to herself. She would escape the godforsaken Mines and go to the surface. She'd read about the earth's surface in books, and she believed it was real. She vowed to get there before her seventeenth birthday, in nine and a half months.
And she vowed to die, on that day, if she didn't.
Ooh, kinda intense! So yeah. Natara was created simply for me to kill her… I'm evil. Her name is actually Arabian, and it means 'sacrifice.'
So what did you think? Please PLEASE PLEASE review and tell me! Reviews cause chapters to not be posted not months apart! Any now, a list of people who I want to thank (I know it's early in the story to do this, but too bad)
My parents, for letting me steal the desktop computer for hours to type this. Especially Mom, for proofreading the prologue when Spellcheck broke. And my little sister Natalie, for making me print out copies of the chapters to read out loud to her. She recently tackled me to find out what happens in chapter six… hehe.
Sophia R, Lizzie P, and Abbie B, three of my authory friends, for dealing with me sending you updates whenever and giving me your honest opinions. And Sophie, double-thanks for forcing me to let you read everything before it goes up! Love you guys!
My sister's friend Kenny, because he bugs me at school to give him copies of the chapters so he can read them. Between him and Sophia, the pressure is so high that I get stuff done!
My old religion teacher, Mrs. Howe, for taking the manuscript of chapters 2-5 to the dentist and reading it there. Also my Memere (French for 'Grandma' for all you non-French Canadians), for reading this!
All of the YouTubers featured in this. Because you guys are just awesome.
FanFiction authors Sushilover8 and Lilypad009, for inspiring me to get an account. You guys are amazing!
Imagine dragons, for the awesome music that I listen to when I write.
All the cows, for making milk that I turn into chocolate milk that I drink while I write because it gives me ideas.
And anyone who bothered to read and review this story! You guys make me so happy every time I get an email that says 'New Review.' Thank you so much!
ENOUGH RAMBLING! But Seriously, I love you guys.
Love, Speckle.