The Chosen Ones

Chapter One

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.