"Yes, I don't know the 6 lined man's name, but he went into the games unexpectedly, too. He didn't know how much magic he had. He was a historian with a theory that would change the world if true. He wanted to get past the cloud wall that kept us in, but he couldn't convince anyone to help him. He spent his time trying, but it was all for nothing because the participants that year worked to kill him first. They chased him to the top of a cliff and killed him where he stood. He didn't try to protect himself because he had failed and never hurt a soul. When he died, his magic left him, which caused the quake that ripped the island. It killed almost all of the Challengers and many of the people on the main island. It was so bad that everyone who survived was allowed to return."

"He didn't kill anyone?"

"No, he never hurt anyone."

"What did he want to do?"

"He believed that the humans were the cause of the cloud wall that they trapped us in here. Placed themselves at the head of the society and forced us to kill our most powerful witches. He believed that if we united, we could destroy the prison in which we are being kept. He failed by going about it alone."

"So how am I supposed to do what he couldn't?"

"That is for you to figure out, but a good place to start would be to realize that you are not alone." Mr. Louis walked away, me on his tail. He didn't need to tell me it was time to go home. We both just knew it was.

The house was empty; apparently, my mom took the family somewhere for the night and would deal with the windows tomorrow. I just wandered into my room and crawled into bed. Alone. Mr. Luis said I wasn't alone, but tonight, I really felt like it.

I woke to my father swinging my door open.

"Imelda, get up. You need to get to the parade." He wasn't looking at me, but how he angled himself made me believe he might be scared of me. I quickly tossed on clothes and grabbed a wet rag to be confident I got the mark off. As we arrived, I saw the thirty chosen people getting ready around the back of the school building, where we started our walk through town. Relief, then fear flooded my senses when I saw Navy there.

"Dad, did I get it off completely?" I asked before I left the car. I wanted to be certain that no one knew I had six lines. If Mr. Louis' story was true, that would put me on everyone's kill list.

"Almost like it never happened." he glanced at me for a moment but then looked down because it did happen. There was no getting away from that. I ran from the car towards the group of 29 future dead people and survivors.

"Imelda," Navy called me, "do you want to sit with me during the parade?" I was momentarily confused, but then I realized none of the other chosen cleaned their face; they wore it with pride, and Navy's face was clean. Behind him was his sister crying in a ball, which was normal for her. She has always been different. She would never look you in the eye, didn't like to be touched, and when things were too much, she just shut down. She scratched her face violently, trying to get the three marks off. She screamed and then started rubbing her face on the ground because they had tied her hands to her side.

"Navy untie her right now!" I was shocked that anyone would treat another person that way.

"My mom wants her to wear the lines proudly. We have never had a chosen in the family before. We had to keep her tied up all night and watch her to keep it on." I ignored him and untied her, then took out the wet rag I used on my face and started cleaning her off. She hit me a couple of times until she realized I was helping her get it off. "Imelda, my mom is going to be pissed when she finds out that Kelen doesn't have her marks" Once her face was cleaned, she grabbed my waist and cried into my lap.

"If your mother has a problem, tell her it was me. I only have another week to live, so her revenge better be quick." He stared at me, momentarily confused, and then the realization hit.

"But you're not marked."

"Neither is Kelen." Pridux walked over to our little show. It was time to go. "I'll watch her during the parade. She will be ok." I grabbed Kelen's hand and walked towards the group.

Kelen, I am so sorry they tied you up. You deserve so much better than that. Good or bad, no one will be doing that soon."