The Chosen Ones
The Chosen Ones
By
Lori
Brighton
Copyright 2014 Itzy
All
rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no
part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written
permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
This
book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and
incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used
fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademark status and trademark owners
of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used
without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized,
associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
This
ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be
re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book
with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient.
Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
The Chosen Ones
is book one in the
series. It can be read alone, but would best be enjoyed and understood by reading
the free prequel,
The Beautiful Ones
,
in advance.
Editing by Megan Records
Cover design by Ronnell Porter
The Chosen Ones Series:
The Beautiful
Ones:
Prequel
(Ebook is free!)
The Chosen Ones:
Book
1
The Forsaken
Ones:
Book 2 (Winter 2014)
Other Young Adult Books by Lori Brighton
The Mind Readers Series:
The Mind Readers:
Book 1 (Free!)
The Mind Thieves:
Book 2
The Mind Games:
Book 3
The Mind Keepers:
Series Ending Novella
The Matchmaker Series:
Make Me a Match:
Book 1
The Chosen Ones
Lori Brighton
Chapter 1
“She doesn’t talk, merely stares
at the wall as if she’s trying to find meaning in the damn stains covering the
cement. She barely even eats. I think she’s lost at least five pounds since she
arrived. She’s of no use to us at all. In fact, she’s a damn hindrance.”
Although the woman standing next
to him flinched, the harsh words barely resonated with me. I was too numb to
care. The old Jane would have been amused that this man still tried to reach me,
still bothered. He paced up and down the hall, in and out of the shadows, the angry
thump of his footsteps mirroring the beat of my heart. On the positive side, or
perhaps it was a negative, I was vaguely aware that my heart still beat,
proving I was indeed alive.
“Should have left her in the
woods.” He knelt down, staring into my eyes, an intense gaze that drilled into
me. “Do you hear me?”
I heard him, but it was as if
his voice came from far, far away. Murmured words I hardly understood, words that
didn’t influence me in the least. An invisible glass wall separated us, a wall
we couldn’t break, couldn’t pierce. Did he not see that?
No, I didn’t care what he said. In
fact, I barely cared about anything anymore. Food, clothing, even safety was
lost on me. I was drowning in a sea of gray, unable to reach the surface,
unable to find a world of color. In all honesty, I wasn’t sure I wanted to
escape.
With a growl of frustration, he
stood.
The woman sighed. “Have a heart,
Will. We don’t know what she endured at the castle.”
He snorted, and the few men
standing behind him shook their heads in disgust. I knew what they were
thinking: since they’d saved me, at the least I owed them my gratitude. But I
hadn’t even been capable of giving them that.
I didn’t care.
Didn’t care.
Nothing mattered anymore.
“She endured the same damn thing
we’ve all endured, and we got over it. It’s been two weeks.” He leaned down
again, eye level.
This close, the lantern managed
to highlight his features, giving him a soft glow. He had kind hazel eyes. Or
at least they’d been kind when he’d first found me confused and lost out in
that field after having just escaped the castle with my life. But now…now his
eyes were hard, cold under the lamplight. I knew I was wearing out my welcome.
I knew that in a few days they had plans to leave the base and would probably abandon
me here to rot. I didn’t want to be alone. But I couldn’t seem to pull myself
out of the darkness.
“Listen. You hear? You can’t go
on like this. It’s time to wake up.” He snapped his fingers in front of my face.
“Get it together and actually do something useful.”
But as I continued to sit there,
staring at the stained wall behind him, he surged to his feet, his anger and frustration
obvious in the tightness of his fists. “Fine, Kelly. You want her here, you
babysit her.”
Just like that, he stomped down
the hall toward the great room, leaving dust and irritation in his wake. One of
Will’s friends turned to leave, kicking the book at my side and sending it
skidding across the hard floor, out of reach. A book Will had given me the day I’d
arrived, shivering and cold in my fancy white gown.
I hardly remembered that day,
the day they’d found me in the field terrified and alone. They’d led me into
the huge abandoned building they’d somehow made a home. I’d been fed some sort
of stew I hadn’t really tasted. They’d given me a ruffled, sleeveless shirt and
trousers; clothing left over from a society that had lived long, long ago. And
when I’d questioned Will, unable to understand this new world, he’d handed me
the book.
Dracula.
A novel about monsters that fed
off of human blood. A book that wasn’t fiction after all, but a book that had
become my reality two weeks ago.
I’d always loved books. In fact,
I’d devoured any novel I’d come across. It hadn’t mattered what the subject,
fiction or nonfiction—I wanted to know everything I could. But reading
Dracula
and realizing that it was truth
had pushed me over the edge. My mind, my memories, and my body could not handle
that reality. When I’d finished that last page, the novel had slipped from my
hands, hitting the floor with a thud as I sank into a world of silence,
stillness, a world that comforted me, held me close, made me blessedly numb.
When I tried to think too hard about
the events leading up to that day, as I did now, ice-cold terror raced through
my body leaving me frozen, suspended like the icicles that hung from our eaves
in winter. And so instead, I didn’t think about it at all. Or at least I tried.
But at night…at night the memories seeped into my weary and vulnerable brain,
haunting my dreams.
Will’s footsteps faded, the others
followed and only the woman remained.
“Don’t worry,” Kelly said,
kneeling beside me and giving me a genuine smile that showed off slightly
crooked teeth.
I liked her, although I hadn’t
ever told her. Actually, I hadn’t said much of anything to the woman. But she
was kindness itself, her touch gentle, her large dark eyes full of compassion.
She never grew frustrated, never annoyed. Always the mother hen, she set a
plate in front of me, but the smell of greasy meat made my stomach churn. I
should have been hungry, starving. But my stomach didn’t even grumble in need
anymore. My body, like my mind, had given up.
“We all went through the despair
when we first arrived.” She drew in a deep trembling breath that told me the
memories still tormented her. “That sort of destruction, death…that’s not
normal. Right?”
She was asking me? I would have
laughed if I’d been able to, if I hadn’t been trapped within the shell of my
body. I didn’t know what normal was anymore. Nothing was normal. There was no
such thing.
“I lost friends as well,” she
whispered softly, gently. “I understand.”
Friends. Yes, I’d lost friends
and would again, perhaps already had. All those people trapped within the
compounds had no idea they were being raised as food for monsters. The image of
Sally came to mind. Sally, so proud of being chosen, so excited about her pretty
lace dress, so trusting. We’d arrived at that castle together, but she had died
alone.
Just like that the memories
overwhelmed me. I squeezed my eyes closed as Sally’s terrified face flashed to
mind. But the guard hadn’t cared. He’d shoved her, sending her stumbling back
onto the table where the others had trapped her, holding her captive while
they’d sunk their teeth into her neck, feeding off her blood.
“Let go!”
Sally’s cry still echoed through my mind, over and over,
never silent. The image of her struggling to break free haunted my dreams. And
all the while I had stood there watching from the window…doing nothing.
A whimper escaped unheeded from my
lips. As if to offer comfort, Kelly sat beside me, cross-legged, the sweet
scent of clover and sweat clinging to her clothing. I couldn’t see much of her
in the dim corridor. Everything was dark here as we huddled in the deep bowels
of the basement of the tall decaying building. While the beautiful ones—the
blood drinkers, the murderers—roamed the outside world, we were stuck here.
Unwashed bodies cramped together in fear, no better than cockroaches.
It was the confinement that should
have bothered me the most. After all, I’d never been content at our compound
because I’d hungered for the freedom of the outside world. I’d escaped that
prison for another. Instead of being trapped behind a fence, I was trapped by
my fear. Hiding within the ruins of some former glorious city. What sort of
life was this?
“I know it’s hard to
understand,” Kelly whispered.
She talked to me a lot, but then
being trapped inside your own body made for being a good listener. I hadn’t
paid attention to everything she’d said, but there were times, like now, when I
was more lucid and actually heard her words. I knew she had escaped years ago
from her own compound. I knew she worried about the friends she’d left behind,
and figured most were already dead. And I knew, even though she hadn’t told me,
that she blamed herself. I knew because I, too, felt guilty. For Sally’s death,
and for the deaths I knew were to come.
“Brought some water.” Another
male emerged from the shadows and set a container in front of me.
Vaguely I remembered that he and
Kelly were together, a couple of some sort. Two weeks ago I would have been
utterly fascinated by their relationship, since we were encouraged not to form
bonds at the compound. But now I had more important things to worry about.
“Thanks, Tony.” She smiled and
leaned over, pressing a kiss to his cheek as he knelt beside her.
I’d always craved affection, wondering
why we weren’t allowed to hug or hold hands, even though other compounds didn’t
have these restrictions. Now I couldn’t stand the thought of someone touching
me. Even when Kelly accidentally brushed my arm while offering a meal, the
image of Sally being pinned to that table flashed to mind. And now, seeing Tony
resting his hand on Kelly’s shoulder made me uneasy and slightly ill.
Kelly lifted a chunk of rabbit
meat to my face. “Won’t you eat?”
I managed to shift my gaze to
the offering. But the meat only reminded me of the horrors I’d seen, of being
hunted like prey. My stomach churned and I thought for a moment I might be
sick. Repulsed, I looked away.
Kelly’s boyfriend shook his blond
head. “I know you mean well, but Will’s right. She’s too far gone. She won’t
last much longer. It would be best not to form an attachment.”
How ironic that I’d said those
very words to my sister when she’d found an injured robin four weeks ago. Tony stood
and moved away, disappearing into the dark shadows of the hall. But Kelly
remained, her kind eyes worried, desperate, yet full of understanding. Vaguely
I felt the stirrings of guilt, but the reaction wasn’t deep enough to actually
force me into eating.
“They think we’re nothing, you
know. The beautiful ones think we can just be tossed aside like trash once
they’re done with us.” She leaned forward, her eyes glimmering with sincerity
under the lamplight. “You going to prove them right?”
I wanted to respond. Somehow I
managed to shift my gaze and look into her kind eyes. So kind. I wanted to
reach out to her. To tell her what had happened, ask her to teach me how to
forget so I could move on. But my body wouldn’t obey. My lips wouldn’t move.