increasing in speed the closer I got to the outside. My breath misted into white puffs as we hit a wall of cold. It was freezing outside; snow covered the ground.
I climbed down the steps, only for the Wraith to point me toward the end of a line. The place was silent as I walked down the line. I stared at the children’s faces, recognizing some from my dorm or from the canteen.
My eyebrows pulled down when I saw that all the children in the line were boys. A flicker of movement caught my eye on the other side. When I turned my head, a line exactly like the one I was in stood opposite. Except they were all girls.
A whoosh of breath left my chest when I saw the Wraiths were splitting us up. My body tensed and I felt sick at the thought of my little Inessa being taken from me. I held her tight, and I fought back tears at the thought of her being on her own, of her not having me to protect her.
The warmth of her breath drifted down my neck. I took my place at the end of the line. I stared before me at the long row of young girls, all crying or deathly still, all still dressed in their nightgowns, just like my Inessa.
Then I heard it. I heard the sound of heels on the ground, and I knew it was her. I focused on the ground, never lifting my eyes, when I saw her feet come into view. Inessa must have felt my body freeze, as she whimpered into my neck. She could sense my fear.
The familiar end of a whip landed under my chin, lifting my head. My eyes met the cruel eyes of the female Wraith. She stared and she stared, until her whip moved to run down Inessa’s back. My sister jumped at the feel, but her grip tightened around my neck.
Next, everything seemed to run in slow motion. The woman snapped her fingers and a Wraith began to approach. When he arrived at where we stood, he reached out and wrapped his hands around Inessa’s waist. Inessa screamed, but I held on tight. I fought and fought to keep hold, but as the woman’s whip came cracking down on my back Inessa slipped from my arms. Her pretty face was red and streaming with tears as the Wraith took her away. I pushed forward to run after her, but I was kicked to the ground and whipped across my body until I couldn’t feel my arms and legs.
My head rolled, pain pounding through my skull. My eyes stung with the cold, but I forced them open to search for Inessa. I screamed a silent scream as I saw the line of girls being led away through a wide arch. I tried to push myself to run after her, but another blow came down, pinning me on the snow-covered ground. I watched through blurred eyes as the girls faded from view. But at the last minute, the girl at the end turned, her dark hair in the bright rising dawn looking like a halo on her head. My breath was lost as I realized it was Inessa. I cleared my eyes, reaching out my hand. Just as she disappeared through the arch, she lifted her hand in a small wave.
She was saying good-bye.
Pain overwhelmed me, burning me from the inside. A sense of failure wrapped me in its embrace and I curled in on the floor. The sound of feet moving, crunching on the snow, hit my ears, but I didn’t move.
A pair of black boots came into view, and I heard the woman, order, “Get him up!”
Someone grabbed my arm and wrenched me to my feet. My head hung, defeated; then that fucking whip lifted my chin. The woman shook her head, then flicked her chin to a Wraith behind that pushed me into line along with the other boys.
We walked through the same arch, until a huge field came into view. Metal towers and fences topped with razor wire stretched as far as the eye could see. But there were no buildings. I wondered if it was a military base, until we came to a sudden stop. The line started to move again, but I couldn’t see where the boys in front were walking. Night Wraith guards surrounded us on either side, and when it was my time to walk my eyes widened at a