Chapter One

So now I've told you all about Elena. Are you excited for more? Are you on the edge of your seat?

Good.

Because I'm not just telling you a story anymore.

What I'm about to write did happen. Well, in my world it did. In yours…? Well, that's to be decided, isn't it? Here's hoping I sway you with that decision.

Mia's here as well. She's sitting beside me but…I don't know how long she's got. Actually, I don't know how long I've got. Technically I could drop at any second, but let's hope that doesn't happen.

I'm being too dramatic. The one thing I was afraid of doing was making this sound so dramatic that you turned away.

Please, please, don't turn away.

Like I said, let's begin in the year 3451. I'm sixteen. I never thought I'd make it to sixteen. Maybe it would've been easier if I didn't…

So read on, discover your future, and pray that I'm wrong.

But I'm not.

A long time ago, after the Oil Wars finally ended and the population was cut by half, "Life Source" was finally discovered. Instead of using oil and minerals, we could now combine a tiny bit of very common materials and make energy that way. It was called Life Source because it could even nourish a human being.

About a hundred years ago, all food was eliminated. The only thing we ate was a Life Source tablet, and that fed us for a whole day.

And then something very, very strange happened.

Since humans were all ingesting this Life Source every day for their whole lives, eventually our bodies changed. The combined minerals just warped our DNA beyond recognizable.

Humans got these things called Abilities. Do you know what superheroes are? Mia's told me about some of the ancient ones, ones she found in "comic books" in the museums, like Superman, Batman, the Green Lantern and Captain America.

Tell me this, 21st century; why are they all male?

Anyways, we got Abilities that made us like superheroes, except we didn't exactly try to save the world. It was too far gone at that point. There are five different types of Abilities, and we're all born with them; there are Elemental (power to control elements), Mental (you had an IQ powerful enough for telekinesis and things like that), Physical (super strength, super speed, etc.), Spatial (you could make objects and change shape) and Time (time travel.) Time was extremely rare…and quite dangerous.

For a time, everything worked.

But the Life Source wasn't all good. Sometimes, the Life Source changed your body so much that your organs mutated and your blood ran cold and you…

No. You didn't die. Duh. What, you think I was going to list a dramatic chain of events just to say "you die?" Seriously, don't be so morbid.

No, you don't die.

You Change.

It happens to factory workers. It happens to people who eat too many tablets. Sometimes, it just happens. Studies (done by random people on the street, mind you) have shown that only people with Substance, Physical and Time Abilities Changed, but nobody knows why.

Sorry, but knowing that fact gave me a little piece of mind, especially after my parents (both Substance) Changed. When you Changed, these black tattoos ran down your body and covered you. Your eyes turned black and you became so inhuman that they took you to the Cage.

I'm sure you've figured it out. It's just a pen with barbed wire around it, like a zoo. That, in itself, is inhumane, letting the Changed live.

Mia's telling me that's enough and to get on with it.

Well, make up your mind, woman.

Okay. Buckle up, I guess. That is if you still use that expression. My deepest apologies if I'm judging the time wrong and you have absolutely no clue what this means.

Oh, screw it. Here we go.

The cobblestone street was cracked, as always. Carefully, I walked along the "safest" path, stepping to avoid cracks because, in the Slums, a crack could mean so much more.

Seriously, one misstep, and the whole street caves in.

I could see my home at the end of the street, one shack lined up next to about twenty more. Some homes had more than ten people living in them; luckily, mine only had two.

Someone grabbed my shoulder but I knew better than to turn around. All I did was draw my knife and thrust it backwards, feeling as it sunk into warm flesh. The man who had grabbed me gasped, and quickly his faltering footsteps ran the other way.

I scoffed quietly. Amateur.

I'd heard rumours about how, in the mystical place called Elysium, what I just did would be considered an "felony" and I'd be exiled to the Slums for eternity.

And in the Slums, you'd do it everyday.

Yeah. That season, I killed about a person a day. And I didn't think twice about it. I was born and raised in the slums, and I knew that was what it took to survive.

More people who lined the street stared at me as I confidently made my way down the street. I was a sixteen year old girl - most people my age didn't make it to adulthood. Things happened to teenagers.

Sometimes they were kidnapped. Sometimes they were killed. And sometimes they were sold into slavery as an attempt to get more tablets.

I wrapped my hand around the cracking door handle and carefully opened it, checking for any signs of intrusion. Luckily, today there weren't, and everything seemed to be in place.

"Amber?" I whispered, just in case she was sleeping after her day at work. I heard a small groan coming from the corner of the room, and I walked over, shutting the door behind me. Most of the light was then eliminated.

"Hey, Faith," she whispered. She was curled up on her straw mattress, one eye cracked open to look at me, the piercing blue orbs lighting up the room. "Scavenge anything today?"

I worked as a Scavenger for Earl, the forty year old man a few blocks away, finding him lesser available things in the bad parts of town. It wasn't a hard job; I just had to be careful and make sure Earl didn't turn on me. "Few tools," I muttered, handing her the tablet he'd given me as payment.

Amber snatched it and immediately gulped it down, her eyes lighting up a little as the Life Source fed her body. She sat up slowly, shaking her hands faster than I ever could; she had a Physical Ability, and super speed was one thing she was amazing at. Life Source fed our Abilities, strengthening them.

Then she stared at me, realization dawning in her eyes. "You didn't have one today, did you?" she said harshly, flipping over my wrist and seeing the telltale signs; the normally blue veins were now slightly purple hued.

Did I forget to mention that? You don't eat Life Source, and you Change as well.

But, to be honest, I was okay with Changing if it meant Amber would be okay. Her father had been exiled to the Slums when her mother was pregnant with her, and so the entire family had to bring her up in the Slums. They didn't know how to raise a child in these conditions, and they both Changed; I found Amber in an alleyway, on the verge of being Changed, and I just didn't have the heart to leave her there.

"You've gotta eat," she said sternly, standing up and trying to find a tablet for me, but I knew there weren't any. I made one a day, she made one a day, and something told me she'd already eaten hers.

"Tough day?" I asked her quietly, knowing she didn't like to talk about her job.

You probably want to know what she does, don't ya? Mia says to tell you. I don't want to. I really, really don't, because Amber isn't the only one in those conditions.

Amber works in a brothel. Look it up in a "dictionary." I'm not explaining.

She nodded once, still scurrying around the floor, searching for a tablet. I sighed and crawled over, putting one hand on her back and drawing her into my arms. "It's fine, hon. I'll eat tomorrow. One night isn't going to do anything."

She shook her head, tears welling in her eyes. "That's just it, Faith!" she practically wailed, and I had to rub her shoulders to make her calm down before anyone suspicious (aka, everybody. Even me) could come in when they heard a teenage girl. "You don't eat. I didn't even get a tablet today - "pay cuts" they told me. After five different clients, more than I've ever had to do, they didn't even pay me! And then you gave me your only pay…like you always do!"

"Hush," I told her sternly. "You have the harder job, don't you? Sometimes you come home at midnight, and sometimes you're not home for a week. I'm always going to be here, aren't I? So I have it easier. You deserve the food. It's not your fault you're here…"

It's nobody's fault they're here, after all.

Guess we're just born lucky.

Or, we're not.

Amber fell asleep soon afterwards, and I carried her over to the straw mattress, letting her curl up, digging her fists into the straw. I smiled softly, leaning myself against the wall.

My eyes were drooping shut, and for a moment, I thought I could avoid any aftereffects. I didn't have the telltale headache, and I certainly didn't have any muscle cramps, so maybe I wouldn't sleepwalk tonight.

That's something else I've missed. If you don't have any Life Source, the effects of the Change come out more prominently in your sleep, and you literally Change in your sleep. When you wake up, you're normal.

But you could be anywhere, with no clue how you got there.

So my eyelids shut, and I didn't notice the tattoos creeping up my body, my hair slowly losing it's colour, and I certainly didn't know I was getting up, growling in some strange language.

My eyes stayed firmly shut.

When I woke, I was standing in the middle of the cobbled street, my knife in my hand. A small trail of blood ran through my fingers, and I dimly realized I'd been holding the weapon by the blade.

Quickly I realized - I'd momentarily Changed.

"Damnit," I yelled, not even caring if anyone was listening to me. "Just…just god-freaking-damnit!"

Actually, I said something else, but I don't know how old you are and I don't want to taint your innocence…yet.

I gathered my bearings and slowly made my way back home, avoiding the throngs of disheveled looking people, who were ignoring me as well. I knew they were used to the night Changers. I certainly was.

Someone tapped my shoulder, and I had a momentary flashback to when I'd stabbed the guy in the street who grabbed me, and I knew I'd do the same here. I ignored the searing pain in my hands and whipped the knife around, grabbing the handle, thrust it backwards…

Only to have my wrist grabbed and my arm bent behind my back. I groaned, and attempted a move to slither out of his grip, but I felt another pair of hands holding me down, forcing me to my knees.

"Let go of me!" I growled, but I knew it was hopeless. There were at least two people here, maybe three, and I was still weak from the momentary Change.

Instead of replying to me, the person holding my arm just bent it farther, causing a few tears to spring to my eyes. One of the men even laughed at me.

"Haven't eaten, have we?" he giggled, and I knew he was looking at the veins on my wrist, which were probably a deep purple, if not tinged with black.

I opened my mouth to say something and then quickly shut it. Idiot, I thought to myself. Damn, I'm so stupid.

Quickly, using my Elemental Ability, I opened up my hand and let a flicker of fire dance around on it. One of the men gasped and the hold on my wrist was relaxed slightly and I almost got free…

Until someone grabbed my shoulders, poured water onto my fiery hand, and someone else hit me over the head.

My eyesight swam and I felt myself losing consciousness - the last thing I heard before I passed out was a gruff man saying, "As an Elemental, don't fight another Elemental if he's got the upper hand."

Words of wisdom, right there, huh?

Too bad I wasn't awake to properly appreciate them.