Prologue: ERIKA NITE

Prologue

         Once upon a freakin time in a facility somewhere in Missouri  there were 5 non-related orphans. 3 boys and 2 girls. They didn’t go to a foster home. Instead, were stuck in a hell hole military school with a thousand of other orphans and were trained to be soldiers for as long as they can remember. Cut off from the rest of civilization, they trained like marines-learning combat skills and war strategies and were taught on an advanced  college level of education.  The 5 formed a group and selected one  person to be the alpha. And that was me.



         I am Erika Nite. The leader of the pack. The others are Tyler Mayle, Claire Scott, Jared Moore, and Isaac Locke. We’re all 15 now and we‘ve known each other since we were crawling in diapers. And all you read above is true. When we were to young to even remember, our parents died, I think. And we were taken in by The Academy (or at least that‘s what we call it). There we had to go through several hours of drills and school work. Our drill sergeants taught the rules of war, when to trust people, who is our ally, who isn’t our ally, how to shoot a variety of guns, self defense, and much, much more. Our brainiac professors in the class room taught us advanced schooling 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. Their motto - “A smart soldier is a deadly soldier”. 

         There are a number of rules. Each rule has a punishment. And not those baby punishments where you get detention for 2 hours for fighting in the hallway, but more harsh. More traumatic. And the rules are very easy to break. I “disrespected” a professor a couple years ago and spent 2 days in a pitch black isolation room with a dog collar that shocked me every time I spoke. I never said anything bad to the adults since. Thank God my thoughts are private though. If someone could read my mind, I‘d be dead. But that is a mild form of punishment. I’ve seen people black, blue, and red all over as a result of their bad behavior. And some of the really bad rule breakers, I’ve never seen again.

         We don’t really get out much as you can tell. The only time we’ve been out of The Academy was when we were babies. People aren’t permitted to leave and the thick, towering concrete walls that surround all 4 sides of The Academy make sure no one does. I saw a little 10 year old try to escape before. He scaled to the top of the wall with a grappling hook and rope before he was entangled in the barb wire and shot back down. Heck, the only reason I know teenage slang is because some of the newbie’s I’ve seen at lunch haven’t learned how to talk military style yet. But I’m not complaining. There are 500 square acres of land and 18 hour days to keep me sane.

         Why are they doing this? Don’t ask me. I have no idea. I am not allowed to question any orders they tell me. Trust me. I’ve done that before. The punishment is really excruciating. 

         How is it legal to be doing this to kids? Again, don’t ask me. As far as I know, no one outside of these walls even knows about us. It’s like were not here. Nothing. And you can’t make nothing illegal.

         

         So there you have it. Only part of what I- we have been living through for the passed 12 or 13 years. Confused? Well the rest of the story reveals the other part.  If you think you can read it. Or maybe you were wrong when you thought you could handle it. It’s up to you to keep going.

         The Academy is my only home. Tyler, Claire, Jared, and Isaac are my only family.

         But I can tell you this right now. It’s NOT going to stay that way.