My body ached as I pulled my body up. I was on the floor for some reason. I wish I wasn't so weird. The alarm just went off signaling us to get up. That also meant it was close to being time for the second test.

Something was nagging at me though, something I'd forgotten. This feeling had been happening more often than not lately. I shook off the feeling and went on with my routine.

I walked over to my closet and pulled out my clothing for the day. There was a pair of stretchy pants and an athletic shirt. It looked comfortable like it would be easy to move in. I threw my outfit on and made quick work of tidying my room up.

As I went to make my bed a small piece of paper fell out of the sheets. I picked the paper up and set it on the table beside my bed. Why was my room such a mess this morning? Why couldn't I remember anything from yesterday?

I walked down the stairs to The Restaurant, and hopefully to find Alistair for some answers. I also really wanted to apologize to him. He didn't deserve me ignoring him as I did. He was only trying to protect me. Not to mention I wanted to see him before the test.

Entering the restaurant I saw Alistair almost right away. He was getting his food from the machine, so I made my way over.

"Hey," I said meekly standing next to him.

He sighed flashing me a smile, "Thank goodness. I was going to die if you kept ignoring me."

I giggled before saying, "I'm sorry Al, I shouldn't have done that. I know you said all of that about Bobby because you were trying to protect me. Not that I remember why we were fighting over him in the first place."

He pulled me into a hug, "I'm glad you forgive me. I'd never say anything like that if I knew it would hurt you."

He pulled away and his blue eyes spoke volumes on sincerity. How could anybody stay mad at him? I mean especially if they don't know why they were mad at him in the first place.

"Oh," he exclaimed excitedly, "Let's get our food and sit down. I have something cool to tell you."

I nodded and went to sit down at a surprisingly populated table. I just brushed off his decision to sit with others and typed my info into the machine. This time my meal was the same as the others. I didn't take time to mull over it though. Having to be social required enough thinking as it was.

I walked over to the table that Alistair was sitting at, and sat down next to him. He was talking to a group of guys about the test today. He noticed me and gave me a reassuring smile. I didn't understand why.

"Hey, guys," he stated boldly, "This is Eve. She's really shy so I figured that I'd introduce her to you guys because I know she won't do it herself."

I immediately panicked. The attention was all on me. I completely hated it, but I forced myself to smile politely.

"Hey guys," I said quietly.

The other guys jumped back into their conversation and I looked at Alistair still a bit embarrassed that he put me on public display.

"Oh yeah," Alsiatir exclaimed, "So I wanted to tell you that they added another thing to the test today. They made the announcement earlier, but you weren't here. They didn't tell us what it was, but I thought you'd like to know."

"Thanks, Al," I said, "Can I ask you something that's been bothering me?"

"Of course! You can ask me anything Eve," he said sincerely.

"It's about yesterday. I can't seem to remember much. Like I know we were fighting but I can't remember why. Did I hit my head or something?" I added the last part as a joke but Al didn't laugh.

Instead, he had a worried look on his face, but it was quickly replaced by a smile.

"Eve, we were fighting because your friend Bobby killed himself. I didn't know, so I asked something that you weren't ready to hear."

That's seemed pretty believable. I could remember that Bobby was dead and that I talked to his sister. About what I couldn't recall.

"Eve, I know that when I asked yesterday the timing wasn't right so let me try again, now," Alistair grabbed my hands in his, "Evelyn Harley, will you be my girlfriend?"

I let the question hung in the air as my eyes widened. Alistair looked so hopeful and convincing. I couldn't just say yes or no. This was so fast. I hadn't ever had a boyfriend. Plus, I had so much else to think about at the moment. But this one voice inside begged me to say yes. I wanted to say.

"Al-" I started

But my response was cut off by the women that let me off without punishment. She still made shivers run down my spine.

"Today you all will be taking you physical ability test. There will be two sections to it this year. The first section requires you to complete a series of obstacles. These obstacles will evaluate your speed, agility, and strength. The second section of the test is new this year. You will be put in a certain situation to see how you respond to it," the women to a deep breath, "There is one more thing I must inform you of. You all must know by now that your peer Bobby committed suicide. With that horrific even we have decided to eliminate your day of rest tomorrow to speed The Choosing along. We need no more tragedy. So, prepare yourselves and we will be starting the Physical Ability Test now. When I call you names, please stand at the front with your heat."

I took a deep breath myself and looked at Alistair. He smiled but still looked at me expectantly. I knew what I needed to do. I just wasn't sure if I wanted to. My contemplation was cut short when my name was called.

"I wish you the best!" Alistair called.

I smiled sadly and muttered back, "As I do you."

It was going to be awful telling him I just wanted to be friends.

I quickly made my way to the front and stood next to a beautiful black girl with curly hair and light eyes.

After a few more names were called we were all being led out of the building. It was time, and honestly, I wasn't sure if I was ready.

I took a deep breath and removed all other thoughts from my mind. At the moment all I was, was a fifteen-year-old girl. All I was going to do was take a test. I was going to give it my best and that's all that mattered.

If only it were that easy.

I walked over to the start of the obstacle course and it looked hard. I knew immediately what the issue would be for me though. I was strong so I would be able to to the obstacles the required lifting things and using brute force. But the ones that required speed or balance would be an issue. As my parents would say I am not a dainty little flower. I liked that about myself though. It meant that I could take care of myself.

But what was in front of me was daunting, to say the least. As far as I could see there were ropes, beams, and flimsy ladders. That's the fact that I wasn't sure how the course was graded was scarier. Was I supposed to do it fast or well? God, I hated not knowing things. That was my life though, full of being in the dark.

"All right," A large man said calling my attention to him, "One at a time you all are going to complete this course. Well, you'll attempt to complete it. Skipping an obstacle will lower your score. As will not finishing, so beware. Arrows on the ground will guide your way. Your score will be generated based on time, efficiency, and way of completion. Of course, other elements will come in to effect as well. The first person in this heat to complete the course will be Evelyn Rose Harley. Could you please step up to the starting line? The following person will be Alora Hardin you may step up behind Miss. Harley."

I took my place on the line and mentally prepared myself for what was to happen. I could see a few people walking back into the building. I turned my head to the right and could see a crying brown haired girl being lifted onto a stretcher. I hoped that wouldn't happen to me.

"Are you ready Miss. Harley?" The man asked pulling out a timer.

"Yes, sir," I replied formally

He nodded, "You may begin."

With his words, I speed off the first obstacle. It was a series of metal bars with about four inches of space between them. At the end of the bars, there was a platform just big enough for one person to fit on. I guessed that meant I either stuck the landing or I broke my leg. The first option sounded better.

I gripped the first peg and jumped off of the platform I was on. I sang my legs and grabbed on to the next peg. I kept this strategy until I reached the last bar. I was going to have to jump to reach the platform.

"I wish I had longer legs," I grumbled to myself.

Before I could talk myself out of it I swung my legs back and forth to build up momentum. After a few pumps, I release my grip on the bars and flew forward. My knees made hard contact with the wooden platform and I grimace. I swallowed hard and pulled myself up.

I didn't take the time to assess my injuries as I looked at the obstacle in front of me. I looked from the rope in front of me to the arrow pointing down on the platform. This is not going to be good. I took hold of the rope and wrapped my legs around it securely. There were no knots on the rope and that scared me much more.

I slowly began to maneuver myself down the rope. There was no point in going fast if I was going to fall. As my arms and hands began to get sore I suddenly understood why going fast might have benefited me. I looked down at the ground, judging the distance below. It was a chance Ik was going to have to take.

"Oh, this is going to suck," I said while letting go of the rope.

I flew to the ground and landed on the balls of my feet. It would have been so much more cool if I had stayed on my feet though. Instead, the force of the impact caused my knees to buckle. Waves of pain flowed through me as I forced myself back up. I could feel my head started to hurt from holding in my tears. But I wasn't going to show weakness. Not here.

I began to sprint the distance between me and the next obstacle. I had to make up the time that I lost. But seeing as though my sprint wasn't super fast on a daily basis and my legs were killing me, it was more like a jog. Regardless, I made it to the next obstacle and it didn't look that challenging. All I had to do was walk over a narrow beam over a pit of mud. I guess they wanted to know who failed this one.

I climbed up the ladder to the obstacle, which looked way higher up now that I was on it. I studied the beam and decided the faster was probably better for this one. The faster I got across it, the faster it was over. I placed my right foot on the beam. I silently cursed my wide feet as I tentatively placed my left foot in from of my right. Without much warning, even to myself I leaped as fast and as far as I could across the bar. My steps were unsteady and messy, but they did the job. I made it across the beam with little trouble.

"Who needs grace anyway?" I questioned aloud as I looked for an arrow.

The next arrow pointed to my left. Standing before me was a giant wall. Spray-painted on the wall were the numbers 19-13-1-19-8-9-20. The wall stretched as far as I could see. There is no way around it and going back the way I came would cause me to fail the test. I knew what the numbers meant. I had figured that out in the mental ability test. The shock that I felt was purely for the reason that the wall was here in front of me. How was that even possible? What was behind it?

Part of me wanted to cry out of confusion and frustration, but the rest of me wanted to grab the sledgehammer on the ground and begin to hit the wall. That's when I realized I was on the second part of the test. I honestly thought the first part would be longer, but as I looked at my bloody knees I understood why it wasn't.

I looked ahead at the wall and thought even though I had already made my decision. I twisted the front of my shirt between my fingertips as a feeling of anxiety crept up on me. If this wall leads to where I thought it lead it could change everything. If it didn't and I was just worrying over nothing then I would be fine.

With weirdly calm hands I picked up the sledgehammer. I pulled it up over my shoulder and hit the wall as hard as I possibly could. This part was not as easy as it was in the game. It took several hits before I even made a crack in the cement. After about ten hits the cement started to crumble and I knew I was getting somewhere. My hands had started to ache and I could see bruises forming on my legs that had taken quite the beating. I grimaced and continued.

Two more swings and I knew I had to be close to getting through the wall. I started ripping pieces of rubble out to see how much more I had to do. I pulled out a ton of pieces of cement, but I knew it wasn't going to be enough.

I pulled the sledgehammer back into my raw hands and continued to hit. Tears formed in my eyes as the skin broke on my left hand. I wanted so badly to drop to the ground and cry, but I simply couldn't. If I did I wasn't sure if I would ever get back up again.

I pulled back the hammer and hit the wall with so much force I surprised myself. With that hit, I could see through the wall. A tiny fleck out what was behind it, but it was enough.

"Yes!" I shouted tiredly.

I started pulling out loose pieces and slowly but surely I could see more and more. Soon enough I had a big enough hole to fit through. Taking a major risk I flung the upper half of my body through space. My hands reached for the ground and I quickly found it. I pulled the lower half of my body through the crevice screaming in pain as the jagged cement cut into my legs.

My body crumpled to the ground as I screamed in agony. I struggled to pull myself up, I had to stop the bleeding.

"Hey, are you okay," an unfamiliar voice called, "I think that much blood means no."

I felt myself being lifted into a strong pair of arms. My eyes widen as the realization hit me. I was not in The Town. I started to try and free myself from the stranger's grip.

"Let go of me," I demanded weakly.

"I would," the masculine voice said, "But I don't think you'd get that far."

Realizing that he was right and feeling more tired by the second I relaxed slightly in his arms. I looked up at his face for the first time and I wasn't disappointed. He had dark shaggy hair and forest green eyes. He looked to be a bit taller than Alistair and was built more solid than Al. But my studying of the mystery guy was cut short as my eyes started to feel heavy.

"Woah, hey, keep your eyes open shortie. I can't have you dying on me here. The Town would kill me if you died. Literally."

I struggled to keep my eyes from shutting.

"I'm so tired," I muttered snuggling into him.

"I have a question for you shortie and I need you awake to answer it," he said suddenly causing my eyes to open.

Any information was a good thing after all. Even if I felt like I could sleep forever right now.

"I'm only going to answer if I get to ask one too," I stated firmly

He laughed a bit at my stubbornness, "All right, Shortie. But I get to ask first; what's your name? Because even though shortie is fitting for you, I'd like to know what I should be calling you."

The fogginess in my mind got thicker and I had to think a bit before I could remember what my name was. It would be so easy if I could just sleep.

"Um, my name is Evelyn. But my friends call me, well Al calls me Eve," I said.

I yawned and my vision started to blur. My eyelids now felt like they weighed a million pounds. If I shut them it would feel so good.

"Keep them open. We're almost there, Evelyn. What your question?"

Oh yeah, my question. I couldn't seem to think of a good one with all of the fog in my head.

"Um, the same thing you asked me," I said quickly.

It hurt my head to talk. It would be so much easier to just sleep. To close my eyes and not wake up.

"Real original shortie," he retorted, "My name's Cade."

I knew that name from somewhere. Somebody had said it somewhere. But in my state, I could think straight. Wait, Alistair! He knew a Cade, or did he say, Gabe? I think it was Cade, this Cade. But then that meant- oh shit. That meant I was in the arms of a killer.

"We're here shortie," I looked up and saw a mass of people that I didn't know.

Cade's demeanor changed as he spotted a middle-aged woman, "Terry! This is Eve and she is bleeding out. I know that I still owe you big, but please help her."

The women came over to use. She looked me over and sighed.

"Kyle, grab some healing slave, wraps, and antiseptic," Terry shouted to an older-looking man.

A guy trotted over as Cade set me down.

"Thank you, Terry. I'll pay you back. I promise," Cade said truthfully.

Terry just nodded and started to tend to my wounds. She slathered on healing slave and wrapped me up in bandages.

"Are you from The Town, dear?"

I looked up at Terry still feeling foggy, but I nodded.

"Cade, grab her something to eat. It'll help her regain her energy.

He nodded solemnly and jogged off. The women finished bandaging the rest of my cuts. She looked at me skeptically, but I didn't know why. She was about to say something to me before a guy about twenty years of age rushed over to Terry and me.

"They're coming for her! Somebody from The Town is coming here now. We need to give her to them now or else they'll kill us all."

"No," a firm voice said, "Do you see what they did to her? There's no way we can allow them to take her back."

I looked back to see Cade with a furious look on his face, but he had it all wrong. They didn't do this to me. I did it to myself. I could have given up, but instead, I broke the wall.

"We sure can give her back and we will," the other guy said angrily.

It was seriously getting frustrated that they were talking like I wasn't right in front of them.

"I don't remember any of you asking what I wanted," I stated glaring at the two men.

The two guys looked at me expectantly. They both wanted me to say something different, but honestly, I didn't care about their feelings.

"I'm going with them. I have friends and family there and I wanted to get chosen. You people seem nice, but I can't stay here."

The shouting guy looked relieved. Cade on the hand just clenched his jaw and handed me the apple he had.

A large black van pulled rather close to us. People shouted and threw things at it and I knew that I was right not to stay here. They didn't have anything that we had in The Town.

"I'll help you to the car shortie," Cade stated tersely.

He helped me stand up and held mostly all of my weight up. It didn't seem to phase him though as he trudged to the van.

When we were a few feet away a familiar brunette popped out of the van. Bit instead of rushing over to me like I thought he would he stood frozen in place.

Cade's grip on me tighten as he laid eyes on Alistair.

"Eve, come over here," Alitsrair said while glaring at Cade.

"Oh, so you're the friend that calls her Eve. That's great. So I'm sure you've told her all about me," Cade chuckled humorlessly.

"Don't say something you'll regret Cade," Alistair said cryptically.

Cade released his grip on me and I stumbled over to Alistair who now supported me. I could tell having to support me affected him more than it affected Cade. Alistair was built leaner though. I broke out of my thoughts by a scoff from Cade.

"Don't worry pretty boy your secrets safe for now. The truth will come out eventually anyway," with that Cade turned around and walked away.

Alistair rushed me in the van and an anxious feeling crept up on me as I sat down and took a bite of the apple Cade gave me. Something was going on here. But what?

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Hello my lovely readers!

What are your thoughts on Cade? What about what's going on right now? Predictions?

Well, this was a long one, so I'm gonna sleep now. I bid you farewell XD