MERCENARY

The bell tolled. signalling that it was time for everyone to wake up. The children filed out out their rooms by the dozens. some as young as five and others as old as eleven. It was a five story estate with four dorms on each floor, two on the left and two on the right. The dorms were Aries, Taurus, Gemeni and cancer (1-4) respectively. Out of 200 kids, three stood out the most. Those were Aurelia, Elijah and Valentino. The three had been inseparable ever since they joined the institute, but their personalities could not be more different. They filed out of Cancer one with the rest of their roommates. In the dinning hall they were shocked to see Ruth and Tony helping out. Of the three Valentino was always brooding and a pessimist. "well this is different," he said and earned an elbow jab from Aurelia. "what he meant to say was thank you for helping out." The house mistress made her way to the hall and her aura alone made all the children sit and keep their mouths shut. They said grace and proceeded in silence. Madison, who belonged to Cancer one watched all her friends carry on as though today wasn't special for her. The thought made her heart sink. After breakfast they were all let outside. The older children looked after the younger ones, keeping them occupied. Meanwhile, Valentino paid no attention to anything as he just sat under a tree with his nose stuck in a book. Aurelia bothered him about his antisocial nature from a branch above him. Seeing this, Elijah tugged her leg making her fall due to her being distracted. She gave him a dirty look and rolled her eyes, her signature trait. "You shouldn't try to change him you know," Elijah said. she huffed, "I'm not, i just think he should talk more." He smacked the back of her head, earning a groan from him. Valentino sighed and stood up walking towards the younger kids. he then found little Madison. She looked sad but tried her best to hide it. Aside from Elijah and Aurelia, he always took a liking to her. the little girl looked up at him, close to tears. "What's wrong princess?" she sniffled and looked away, "you all forgot my birthday Tino." He smiled and picked her up, "oh i beg to differ." They walked towards the woods with The other two trailing behind them. When they got passed the bushes, she stared in awe. All their dorm mates along with a few others from Aries two shouted "SURPRISE!" she looked back at him to see him smiling, "happy birthday princess." She went to her friends who all wished her a happy birthday. It wasn't allowed to celebrate birthdays at the institute, along with many other things. So it was a struggle to find a place where the Mistresses wouldn't think to look. After a couple of hours the group started to go back to the house. It was almost lunch and they did not want the other houses especially Taurus one to find out. They were after all known for being boot lickers. They walked into the hall casually, ignoring the stares from Ruth and Tony. As soon as they settled the house mistress entered the room, a creepy smile adorning her face. Whatever reason she was smiling for was not good; seeing as all she did was bark orders and make their lives miserable. She pulled a stuffed animal from behind her back and walked over to Madison. "happy birthday Maddie," Shock was plastered on everyone's faces, some even fear. If house mistress Laila gave you a birthday present nothing good came from it. Ever. Maddie took the anime and thanked the lady. everyone stared at her as if she had grown two heads. "Well, aside from that i have another present for you sweet Maddie." It was at this point that they all looked down at their empty plates. It was that time again. No matter how all different houses were at each other's throats their hearts always went out to whoever was picked next. It was hard to look forward to any day when you could be the next to go. "You're getting adopted," those three words caused everyone to hold their breath. You didn't have to be a rocket scientist to figure it out. Adopted was just a word they used to make you feel less scared. First off, they always left at the same time, sunset and second they took nothing with them. No bags, no toys nothing at all and third, they would never be heard from again. even though they had no clue what happened once someone left those gates, they all knew deep down that it was anything but pleseant. "Children, your food is getting cold," house mistress Laila said and they started eating with much difficult. Valentino's hands shook slightly qs he ate. Elijah and Aurelia radiated the same fear as he. When lunch was over, everyone from house Cancer kept to their dorm. Valentino had not spoken a word since lunch, his eyes just held a distant look. There was no escaping it, this was infact tradition. Madison sat by him holding him tightly. He loved her as much as the other two. His mind raced around all the possibilities of what happened outside those gates. It didn't make sense though, someone had already left just last week. The sun was beginning to set and it was time. Most of the kids had gathered outside the dorm and parted like the red sea at the sight of Ms. Hillary. She was the one who walked children to meet whatever fate was outside those gates. "Time to go, Maddie." The girl stood, for a seven year old she was quite mature. Everyone walked down the stairs, behind them. Ms. Hilary held her hand like a mother would her child and opened the door. Maddie said goodbye and they were out the door walking on the straight path that led to a possible hell. It was after they were on that path that Valentino ran. He yelled for her and she ripped her hand out of the woman's hold and ran for him too. They met halfway and sobbed uncontrollably. Everyone watched in awe; no one ever attempted to run after anyone on that path. Elijah and Aurelia followed suit and the four sobbed as though it was the end of it all because for her it possibly could be. Ms. Hilary pried Maddie of them and she struggled in vain. They disappeared up the small hill. The trio sat there as the sun finally set. Madison walked quietly alongside Ms. Hilary, thinking of all her friends back at the house. To say she was scared was an understatement. When the two made it to the gate, the woman put her hand against the scanner and there was a clicking sound signifying that it was unlocked. Once they were on the other side it wasn't outside at all, but more like a tunnel. In front of then were two men dressed in a uniform that looked like it was military but it wasn't at the same time. The first man stepped forward. "Funny how we're here twice in the same month isn't is O21?" Ms. Hilary just nodded. Fear coursed the little girl's veins like a deadly poison. She clutched on to Hilary like her life depended on it because right now, it did. Hilary shoved her roughly towards the man, Madison was shaking like a leaf as fresh tears made their way down her face. On cue, the second man stepped forward and put a tablet in front of her tear stained face. The screen displayed multiple binary codes along with hexadecimal before finally decryption i to English. It showed all the information there was to know about Madison, including what institute she was going to. What the surprise was is that they didn't expect someone so young to be ranked as Mars. The two men exchanged looks, "whatever Laila does to these kids is definitely a show stopper." The first man- O16 reached for her and she ran back to Hilary and held on to her as best she could. "please Ms Hilary, don't let the bad men take me!" Madison cries bitterly as she tried to pry her off. she kept screaming and struggling frantically all while begging the woman she grew up with for help. However Lal she wss met with were cold, dead eyes. O64 sighed and pulled out a syringe and stabbed it into the side of her neck. Her small body immediately went limp. He carried her to the black van she had not seen until now, and her heart rammed violently against her ribcage as she saw multiple children of various ages strapped to makeshift beds, all on the same paralyzed state. She too was strapped to a bed and the man closed the door, sealing her fate.