she finally started to budge. Lexus finally and fully came out of the Unknown as the metal shutters closed down on the ground rather than her body.
I turned around, squinting from the light. Lexus was next to me, her back against the shutters panting with a pained look on her face. We made it. We made it through.
A guard shot a glare at the boy who helped me. The boy – Jack Ruce – noticed and quickly strode back towards the benches.
Claps and whistles erupted from the six Accepted on the benches.
I saw the huge screen behind the stadium. It turned on and was divided into ten squares. It had every Undecided’s name that entered the Unknown in this round in each square.
Dex Gossamer: REJECTED.
Chills ran down my spine when I saw his name. I had small flashback of the sound of the gun that erupted from the guard’s gun, aimed at Dex Gossamer’s head. He tried to run away when he had the chance and failed horribly.
Lexus Keats: DRAGON SECTOR.
I raised an eyebrow in surprise, but not too surprised. Lexus crossed her arms and scoweled. She hated the Dragon sector, but she couldn’t say anything otherwise she would be Rejected.
Dallas Sawyer: DRAGON SECTOR.
Dallas tried to put a smile on his face, but he had difficulty forming it because he was panting too much.
Emma Ryan: MERMAID SECTOR.
The girl smiled. At least she was satisfied.
Mason Westfield: PHOENIX SECTOR.
Mason didn’t seem to notice which sector the leaders chose for him; he was too busy wheezing from exhaustion. He looked dazed and pale.
Ember Mayze: REJECTED.
Sam Mayze, on the benches, shook his head. His sister must have died in the Unknown. I had flashbacks of Ember running at me. I told her that there was no other way but to face her obstacle course. I told her that we would meet here. My stomach felt sour and acidic from the bile forming inside it.
Winter Odette: DRAGON SECTOR.
Winter, unlike her sister, shrugged. Summer started to jump like a maniac, congratulating and hugging her sister. I didn’t know if the Unknown made her go crazy or if it was just her personality.
Summer Odette: PEGASUS SECTOR.
Summer clapped her hands while jumping up and down. She bowed to the crowd in a display of showsmanship. She was a very weird girl.
Iris Abernorth: PHOENIX SECTOR.
I stared at my sector, not knowing what to feel about it. I didn’t really think about which sector I wanted to be in before all this. The Phoenix Sector was actually the sector for the selfless, but personalities didn’t really matter. What really mattered was whether or not you were tough or brave enough to protect the island and also which weapon you were good at using. The personality thing surfaced because it seemed that every sector had certain characteristics within it.
I turned around to see Isaac’s reaction. Wait, where was Isaac? My stomach flipped in fear. No. Please no. His name appeared in big letters on the screen.
Isaac Abernorth: REJECTED.
Chapter 7
I couldn’t believe what I saw. Isaac was rejected? No, no, no, that’s not possible. This is not happening. This can’t be happening.
I froze and kept staring at his name with his fate written right there. Rejected, like all the other people who died in the Unknown, like all the other people who didn’t impress our leaders. Rejected.
Lexus lightly pushed me forward, but I didn’t realize that everyone had gone to the bleachers except Lexus and I. Mason went, too, revealing the same expressionless face as mine. Lexus kept pushing me forward as we made our way onto the stepped benches.
“I know it’s not easy, Iris,” she consoled me. I could feel someone’s presence near me. It was Mason; he seemed to be shaking. His grief seemed very palpable to me. I knew how he felt. I lost my brother and he had lost his best friend who was like a brother to him.
“Come on, let’s go sit on the benches, that’ll calm you down,” Lexus said. Both she and Mason led me to the top bench away from the others.
I sat down and buried my face in my hands. I felt so numb from shock that I couldn’t form tears. I had never thought I would actually lose my twin brother in the Unknown. I had always thought about us getting out of there alive, both of us. He told me that we would both make it. I did, but he didn’t and that made me feel guilty.
A guard came by and distributed some water. Mason came up to me and handed me a bottle of water. “Here, you need this, you look pale.” I took a sip.
“Thanks…” I said grimly, still frowning.
Lexus came up into the stands with her bottle of water in one hand; she sat next to me and placed her arm around my neck. I somehow remembered Isaac hugging me before we entered the Unknown; I felt my eyes welling up.
Some physicians came towards the ones who had completed the round. One of them came over. Lexus pulled her arm away when he came towards her.
“Any injuries?” he asked hastily. I was about to shake my head when I realized the thorns in my back, the scratches on my cheek and so on.
“Um, yes, my back…” I said.
“A creature with a sphere- like ball that represented a flower bud?” he asked. I nodded. He rested his hand on my back when I flinched. The physician nodded knowingly, “The creature that was responsible for your leg and cheek?” he asked.
“A hydra injured my leg, and the flower was also responsible for my cheek,” I said.
He opened what seemed like a medical case and took out two clear cylindrical containers, both with colored napkins. The containers were so small that the physician was able to close his hand over them. The man pointed at both of them.
“The container with the brown napkin will help your scratched cheek and the one with the blue napkin will help your injured leg. Congratulations,” he said with a smile as he started to check my back.
I turned my head to see the physician had finished with Lexus. She opened a container with a green napkin and wiped her neck with a cringe.
She noticed me, “It smells like rotten fish, but it works like a charm. Be careful, it burns at first.”
When the physician was done treating my back, I opened the container with the folded wet blue napkin inside. I took it out and wiped my thigh first with the napkin and felt a burning sensation. It irritated my skin at first but quickly wore off. I actually felt a lot better despite the burning sensation and the horrible smell that made me gag. Lexus was right; it did work like a charm.
“So, Phoenix, huh?” she said, her voice revealing some exhaustion.
I looked at her and laughed.
“What?” she asked me, laughing a bit too.
“And you’re a Dragon?” I told her as I wiped my cheeks with the brown napkin. She remembered her sector, and rested her elbows on her leg.
“To tell you the truth, I sort of saw that coming since both my parents were Dragon affiliates. I was bound to be a Dragon affiliate somehow, but I didn’t really think my theory would actually work…” she said frustratingly.
My happiness quickly turned into grief. I couldn’t stop thinking about my brother.
Lexus noticed, “Look Iris, things happen, I know it’s not easy. But the nice thing about life’s challenges is that they make you stronger. Don’t let Isaac’s death get the best of you. You have the right to mourn him, but you won’t mourn him forever. I’m pretty sure Isaac wouldn’t want that,” she said in a firm voice.
I