Kisa woke to the sunrise, like she always did, stretching her arms over her head. Today's the day, she thought, the day she turned eighteen and joined the rest of the world. As she thought about the impending doom that was going to crash upon her this evening, she felt a bit of excitement form in the pit of her stomach.
Even though she complained and ranted on and on about being forced into the business, Kisa was genuinely excited. She was about to join her parents in their lives, getting to know them and hopefully they could become a happy family again, just like the old days. Kisa's only memories of an actual family were from when she was a child. She only remembers small fragments from those days, but all of them were happy. Even her father smiled.
Kisa pushed away those thoughts and looked out her window to the sun's golden rays and closed her eyes to its light. But, a small thunk on her window's glass forced her eyes open again. As she sat on her bed, dumbfounded, a stone pegged against her glass. Kisa pushed herself off her bed and onto the protruding windowsill. Three stories down on the ground, a group of seven sixteen and seventeen year olds stood in warm sweaters and jackets, waving up at her room.
Kisa rushed to get dressed as quietly as she could and slowly opened her door. When she saw that the coast was clear, she bolted down three flights of stairs and snuck out the front door. Outside, on the landing, were her friends, Chedder, Jackson, Chaz, Tim, Emerald, Jaylynn, and Melodey; all bundled up in bright yellow and red jackets.
Kisa was very happy to see her friends but she worriedly said, "What are you guys doing here?"
"We're coming to give you a break," said a slick, black haired boy from the back of the group. He stepped forward and grabbed Kisa's hand. "Come on, let's get out of here."
Kisa let Jackson pull her along, into her group of friends and out onto the lawn. Kisa and her friends talked and walked and eventually found themselves near the outside her estate. Kisa turned back to see, tucked behind the rows of trees and bushes, her room and the small sill.
Jackson still held her hand and decided to pull her close to his side and said, "Do you know what today is?" Kisa smiled and shook her head playfully. "No," she said. "What is today?"
From behind, her best friend Jaylynn hugged her and said, "Happy birthday!" Everyone else came around her and they began to talk again and give her good wishes. They continued to walk down the street that separated her home from the town. Red and yellow trees seemed to camouflage everyone except Kisa, who was in a purple jacket.
Kisa loved her friends and wished these days would never change. Those hopes were quickly dashed by the black Lincoln Towncar that pulled up alongside Kisa and her friends. The backseat window rolled down and within the darkness of the interior, Suko Atlas' face appeared.
"Kisa, what are you doing out here?" Kisa's father said in a condescending voice. "What are you doing with these people?"
Kisa recoiled at her father's rudeness. When she recovered, she grabbed Jackson's hand and began to walk away.
"Kisa Atlas, get back here now," said an authoritative, female voice. The sound made Kisa freeze. Kisa firmly held onto Jackson's hand and began to shake. Jackson placed his hand on her shoulder and whispered in her ear, "Don't worry, we'll be okay." Kisa looked up to see Jackson smiling down on her. She smiled back and let go of his hand. She then turned around, walked back towards the car, and hugged everyone goodbye. Then Jackson took her hand again and led her away from the group. Everyone knew what was happening today and that it meant they would never see each other again. But Jackson pulled Kisa into a hug and whispered in her ear, "We will see each other again."
Kisa's eyes began to water but she hid her tears and walked into the car. She slid into the seats across from her parents and sat near the window, looking at her friends. The car pulled away and as her friends got farther and farther away, Kisa let her tears fall off her still face, her rainy, blue eyes staring into the cloudy grey sky.
The Lincoln Towncar pulled up alongside the lab's administration building. Kisa followed her parents out of the car, solumnly walking up the steps and through the facility's hallways. Kisa knew exactically where they were going, so she absentmindedly followed her parents to their offices, all the while thinking of Jackson's face as she left him on the side of the road.
Kisa began thinking to herself, what if she had run away. All she's ever thought of these past three years is running away. Running away from parents whose love is gone, running away from becoming a partner at a large contracting firm as a high school senior, running away from the disappointment in the eyes of everyone she meets; Kisa just wanted a break.
Her parents stopped in front of white double doors and entered in their security passcodes. Both doors opened simultaneously and they both motioned for Kisa to walk through first. Inside was the whitest room in existence. White curved walls created an eternal feeling for the room and the only color that could be found was the folders on her parent's desks. Kisa plopped down on the only comfortable thing in the room, a white couch that Kisa specifically requested. It was plush and conformed to her body as she sunk down deeper into the seat.
"Kisa, your father and I have something very important to tell you." her mother said. Kilah Atlas was the only person in Kisa's life that really treated her like family. Even then, they could only talk to each other when they were away from Suko. Kisa's father began to neglect Kisa as his daughter when she turned thirteen, thinking that Kisa needed to be treated as an adult now and didn't need any babying. But Kilah never stopped talking to Kisa about life in general. When Kisa had met her friends again in 9th grade, Kilah encouraged Kisa to continue the friendships she had with them. Kilah even congratulated Kisa when Jackson and her began to date. Although, only Kilah knew that.
At school, Kisa only met with her friends when they had classes and clubs together. In 9th grade, rumors began to spread about her friends, so in order to protect each other they made a pact to only see Kisa in class and after school. Though they would still 'kidnap' her after school to go hang out on the beach or at the library.
Kisa wished now that she had just run.
"Kisa, are you even listening to us?" said Kisa's father sharply.
"Hmm, what?" Kisa said absentmindedly.
Her father stood beside his desk and sighed, "Kisa you still have so much more to learn." He spoke in an angered whisper.
Kisa looked down at her sweaty hands and began to fumble with them. She couldn't let her father look down on her anymore.
"You're right father," Kisa said softly. "But that doesn't mean I don't know enough to start." Kisa's voice grew louder and louder. "What is it you wanted to talk to me about?" Kisa's voice settled at a socially accepted sound as she waited for their reply. Kilah smiled at her daughter and expectantly looked to her husband.
Suko had turned to face Kisa. He had one hand behind his back. "Well, Kisa, in that case-" Red lights began to flash outside the translucent double doors they just entered through. Muddled footsteps pounded down the adjoining hallway and into the room. These footsteps belonged to a young man but others' footsteps resounded throughout the complex.
Out of breath and urgently trying to say something, the young man heaved his breaths in and out. When he had finally caught his breath, he frightfully said, "Run! Someone has-." He was cut off by a dart to the back of his neck. He slumped to the ground out cold. Kilah let out a sad whimper and moved over to where Kisa was to grab her hand.
A group of masked people entered in a short while after and began to shout, "Get down! Get down!" They had their guns pointed at Kisa and her parents. By this time, Suko was shouting at the top of his lungs, "What are you doing? Get out of my building!"
Kisa looked to the couch behind her and tightened her grip on her mom's hand. Kisa tried to pull her and her mother to safety behind the couch but a gun went off and Kilah's body automatically went limp. Kisa couldn't bring her over the couch, so she left her mom hanging half-way over the couch and crumpled into a ball.
"Idiot!" One of the masked men said. Suko had gone silent either from being shot or seeing his wife slung over their white couch, to his knowledge, dead.
Kisa tried to calm her breathing, thinking somehow, someway the intruders wouldn't notice her. But as she heard footsteps approaching, Kisa cried for the second time today but this time, out of genuine fear.
When the footsteps finally met her, she let out a small, hopeless cry. The man before her paused at first and began to lower his weapon to shoot. Kisa looked up just in time to see him change his mind and raise his weapon to shoot her.
Kisa felt the dart pierce the skin underneath her knee and as the sirum from the dart began to spread, Kisa's last thought was, "Why?"