Killing people definitely wasn't the skill I would have picked. If I had been given the chance to choose, I would have picked something, well, less destructive. But I wasn't given that chance. I was forced to be a cold-hearted killer, more or less.

As I walked up to the destination, the next victims home, I took in my surroundings. There were trees every which way you looked, surrounding the home like a protective mother would a child. If one had accidentally come across the woods, there was a high chance they would become lost and flustered in the countless duplicates of trees, bushes, flowers, rocks, and streams. It was a maze bound to catch people who had been in the wrong place, at the wrong time. Which was probably the point of it all.

Now, standing tall and proud in front of me, was the smallest house I had ever seen. It looked like it was built to be a shed. It couldn't of even fit a small old-fashioned car inside. It would most likely end up breaking right through the termite covered wood if you tried.

    I walked along the dirt path that led to the shacks front doors. I had a pinching feeling in my gut, and my head began to throb. Warning signs.

    This was all too easy. No guards? No traps? Nothing? Either I was in the wrong spot, which was unlikely, or someone was waiting for their chance to pounce.

I heard a twig snap and came to an abrupt stop. I glanced down at my feet to see if I had been the one to make the deafening noise in the otherwise quiet forest. The path was clear. There was no twig.

I slowly slid my hand to my right hip, gripping the dagger I had placed there tightly. I leisurely moved my head to my left and right. I couldn't see anyone, but I sure as hell knew someone was there.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Letting go of the breath I had just taken, the energy that surrounded me came undone, sliding across the rocky forest floor taking every inch and detail in, searching for the figure trying to hide. A surge of adrenaline coursed through my body, and I threw myself down to the ground just in time, missing the attempted hit to my head, instead getting a blow to my back from the rock I had fallen onto.

"Fuck that hurt," I looked up at the attacker, "I'd say I'm going to have to give you equal payment back." I kicked myself up off the ground, letting my foot swing out kicking the assaulter in the solar plex, knocking the wind out of him. I chuckled, "hurts doesn't it?"

I felt another jolt go through my body before I spun and did a roundhouse kick to the attacker coming at me from my backside.

Nine. The number flashed through my mind as the energy field came flinging back to my body. There were nine men here. Nine people that would either end up dead or too hurt to move. I was already feeling guilty.

As both men recovered and began their duo attack on me I jumped into the air, landing in an attack position from my backflip. The two men had run straight into each other, daggers in hand. They were both dead.

I didn't have time to think or react in any way before I was attacked again. I grunted as I ran my way over to a tree, using it as a support source for my high jump onto the man. I landed on top of him and felt him go limp in a second. He wasn't dead. I knew this for sure. He would most likely be out for a couple of hours with the impact I had just given. He was lucky.

I shook my head to clear it. Three men down, six to go. Great.

Three men came out at once, in a fighter's stance. "Oh, don't tell me," I pretended to concentrate, "You're the three musketeers," I smirked at them as I too got into my fighters stance. Making the joke made the pressuring guilt in my chest go away. For now.

I took a deep breath and let my energy overtake me. This was my least favorite part. The part where I could feel in my chest that I'd have to kill. At least my instincts warned me now. They didn't before. Which had made it much worse.

I let out the breath as I snapped my head up and began sprinting at them, full speed. I hope they had gotten to live most of their lives happy, not as a slave to whoever they were protecting. And I really hope none of them had a family.

I slid the dagger out of its holding. It happened in slow motion. I hated when it did that. Each man fell to the ground. Dead. Because of me.

I felt the blood on my hands, mixed with my sweat. It was the worst feeling. It was sticky and thick, like slime that wasn't made right. I grimaced as I flicked my hand away from my body, the blood flying off in droplets like water.

I've done this so many times. But it always affected me like the first.

I shook my head. Three. There were three others that I had counted. Where were they?

My thoughts were immediately answered when my ears caught the noise of rustling leaves. I moved to throw my dagger at the noise but paused. Don't. Said a voice in my head. Don't attack. I stayed in the pose, ready to attack when the noise did show. Out of the woods came a blonde headed dork. He had thick curly hair with the sides shaved off. He was bronze-skinned, with a freckled face, and green eyes with the same red specks as mine. Otherwise known as, my best friend Raaz, one of the "chosen", like me.

    Being dragged next to him was three, tied up and knocked out, men. The three left. I sighed in relief.

    "You're late," I said to him, letting my arms fall to my sides, standing up straight once more, "again."

    He winced, "Sorry Eve. You know my charm? The one of the leaf?," I nodded in response. He had a small leaf-shaped charm that his parents had hidden within his blanket when he had been selected as a chosen one."I somehow lost it, and just spent all morning looking for it. As soon as I found it I made my way over here as fast as possible," he paused to gesture at the tied up men, "I got these guys for you though."

    I raised my eyebrow at him, "And how did you do that?"

    He grinned, "Oh, easy," he chuckled, "I disguised myself as a tree and as soon as any of them made their way past me, they ran into my branch," he used air quotations on the words ran and branch.

    I shook my head in wonder. Raaz had the ability of disguise, enabling him to make himself, and whoever or whatever he wished, to look like something it was actually not. Which was why the council had given him the name Raaz, meaning 'secret'. My true name was Evanna, meaning 'young fighter'. However, when I was young I forced people like Raaz to call me Eve. Short and innocent sounding. Something I was not.

    I nodded over my shoulder, signaling him to walk with me.

    "This is it?," he questioned doubtfully, "This is where the king ordered you to go? Someone the king hates, is living, here?"

    I shrugged my shoulders, "I don't know, but what I do know is that we need to go inside. So do your stuff."

    He nodded in response and I looked down at my body to see it change before my eyes. My pale skin, which was abnormal for the amount of time I spent outdoors, was exchanged for a much darker skin tone. My dark brown locks were out of the ponytail they had been in before, now black and intensely curly, hanging down over my shoulders. My outfit also changed, going from a pair of camouflage khakis and my skin tight black t-shirt to a maid's outfit.

    It still left me in awe every time I saw it happen. I was often times envious of Raaz's skill. I reached up and touched one of the curls. I could feel it, but there was a texture to it that told me it wasn't real. Something someone who brushed my shoulder wouldn't be aware enough to notice. Perfect.

    I looked over at Raaz as we got ready to open the door. He looked extremely different than his actual form, and it made me want to laugh. He had made himself look like a woman. I must've smirked or made an amused noise of a sort, because he rolled, his now green and red-free, brown eyes at me.

    "Me being a maid too would make the most sense. Why would a butler or some other guy be walking around with a maid on duties?"

    I chuckled at his attempts to reason as I opened up the old, broken down, door.

    As we walked into the shack, torch lights automatically turned on, revealing a long staircase that led lower and lower underground. We glanced over at each other in suspicion but shrugged as we made our way down the stairs. Out of habit, I reached over to put my hand on my dagger, noting the fact that it was now disguised as a pen, something no one should expect to kill.

    We finished walking the length of the staircase and found ourselves in a well lit, fancy, golden hallway.

    "Now this looks more reliable," Raaz muttered.

    I rolled my eyes at him before letting my eyes dart around to take in the details as we walked. The walls and floor were golden, if not the actual material gold itself. Everything looked freshly dusted, swept, and placed. It was a beautiful place to look at. There was red furniture placed in some corners, and diamond chandeliers hanging down from the ceiling. The shack above, I realized, was just a trick. A cover-up for the true beauty and richness of the hidden castle-like place stuck underground.

    As we turned another corner into another beautiful hallway, a blueprint flashed into view in the corner of my eye. On it was mapped out exactly where Raaz and I needed to go to complete the mission.

    When I had been selected as one of the chosen, I had undergone surgery to place a disk behind my left ear. It allowed images to be sent to my brain to appear in front of my eyes when needed. On the other side of this transaction was Hugo, another one of the chosen. His name meant intelligence, which is what Hugo had. He had the skill of knowledge, getting to know how almost everything worked and why it did, especially technology.

    We made our way to the corner that, once turned, would lead us to our goal. But right before we turned I stopped and stuck my hand out to stop Raaz from continuing as well.

    Once again, there was a pinching feeling in my gut and a throbbing started in my head. We shouldn't turn the corner. It wasn't safe enough. I glanced around to find an alternative entrance.

    I spotted a door that, according to the blueprints, was the entrance to a servants hallway. I grabbed Raaz's arm and dragged him over to the door where we both slipped in.

    The hallway was made of dark bricks, with the only light coming from the small windows that were close to the ceiling of the walkway. I spotted a silver outline of a vent amongst the black bricks.

    I pointed up to it to signal to Raaz that this where we'd be heading. He let out a noise that showed how unhappy he was about having to climb up into a vent.

    Once at the vent I felt a shadow release off my body. I looked down to find my original properties back. Raaz had released the glamours.

    He reached above my head and opened the vent for me, allowing me to pull myself up and into the vent. I looked back, expecting him to be making his way into the small vent too, but instead, I saw him looking at me in concentration.

    "It's too small for me to go in with my original form," he explained, "I'll come in after you in just a second, but I need to refuel my power to make sure I'm strong enough to keep it up so neither of us gets stuck in there."

    I nodded in understanding, "Still, hurry up."

    He chuckled, "You too."

    I turned away from him and began making my way through the sliver walled vent. It was a tight space and it was extremely hard not to get a case of claustrophobia. As I tried to find a spot where Raaz and I could sneak through once he caught up to me, the vent began to shake.

    "Shit," I whispered to myself. I hadn't thought that'd I'd be heavy enough to break through the vent.

    I shook my head in dismay as my mind rushed for a way to save myself from falling through the vent.

    But it was too late. The entire vents lining flung open, causing me to be flung onto the floor. I closed my eyes as I landed with a roll onto the surprisingly softly carpeted floor.

    "Ah, you're finally here," my eyes shot open hastily at the voice, "we've been expecting you."

I hope you enjoyed chapter one of Chosen! If you liked it feel free to vote and/or comment.

xoxo

Sara