As her alarm went off, Violet sat up and shut it off immediately. She had been awake for hours, excited for the day ahead of her. She brushed her long brown hair and changed into her clothes, running into the kitchen to wait for her parents. Today was the festival! Kids got to play around in the dome in the center of the town while the adults went to a boring ceremony. She couldn't wait! She was going to climb the rock wall, and play down the slide and-
Her mother was looking at her sadly. Her father looked at her nervously.
"Honey, we're not going to the festival today, at least not right away." Her mother said gently
"Where are we going then?" She said swallowing a bite of cereal.
"You are going to come with us to the ceremony…"Her mother started but stopped and stared off into space. Her father picked her up and set her on his shoulder.
"C'mon kiddo. Lets go or will be late."He said and began to walk out the door. They headed to the short building on the edge of town that the other kids called the grey place. It was a dark gloomy place and some of the other kids her age were being walked in as well, all being stuck into separate rooms. Violet was taken from her parents and pulled into a room.
"I love-" Her father was cut off by the door shutting. She looked out the window on the other side of the room. She saw men with knives and swords and something that looked like a big hammer. Violet was scarred. She wanted her mother. The she saw that her mother and father were sitting at one edge of the area, with all the other parents. She tried to wave but they couldn't see her. A door opened at the opposite of her and a boy walked out onto the stage.
A man pressed a device against the boys hand. The boy walked down to his room. Next another door opened, another boy. He had black hair and was clumsily walking up the stage almost tripping and falling. As he was tested a loud beep was heard and the windows had a blind drawn over them. Violet couldn't see anything but she could hear. She heard shouting and a scream cut short by a crunch. Everything was silent. A announcement came on in her room saying that the boy had fallen off the stage was would be move to the infirmary. Violet relaxed.
After all the doors had opened, Violet's finally did too. She stumbled out and looked around. She had watched enough of the others to know what to do. She began to walk to the stage glancing at the ground around her. Violet stopped and stared at the ground. There on the dirty tile of the courtyard, was a pool of blood. Probably from the fall she thought. But this spot was no where near the stage. Violet hurried towards the stage, and climbed up. She glanced at the men with weapons. One of them had dark,red splatters on his shirt that Violet decided that she would rather not look at. The man on the stage began to read something in a quiet voice.
"When the race of the human traitors began to fall we, the true breed, decided to save our own kind and punish those who were traitorous. To be traitorous is not by choice. It is by blood. So know I, leader against the traitors, test you so that your name be cleared or you will be punished." He held out his device and pressed it to Violet's hand. At first nothing happened. Then a beep sounded across the clearing. The man let out a hiss.
"Traitor!" He screeched. One of the men with weapons dashed up the stage and tried to attack her. Violet screamed and jumped off the stage. She ran to her father for protection, but her just scowled and spat at her with disgust. She was confused. He pushed her away and tried to hit her but she dodged. She turned to run but found that the men were closing in. Violet ran to the stage hopped up and jumped off the other side, heading for the fence. No one was allowed past the fence but Violet had no choice. She climbed over quickly. She had been ok at the climbing wall at school, and running wasn't really her strong suite but fear and adrenaline pushed her. She made a mad dash for the forest and found shelter in thorny bushes. The men did not follow. Miserable and hungry Violet curled up and began to cry. Her sobs echoed through the forest. She was alone. All alone. So Violet Pershan, one of the last of her kind, who was eight years old, carrying the world on her shoulders sobbed and thought about home. But while she cried, a giant figure stumbled towards her. On four legs.