Existence

By J. J. Hanna

The daughter of a spy labeled "missing in action" and "presumed dead," Chrysanthemum Smith quickly follows in her father's footsteps. She passes the government's examination and quickly finds herself in fast-paced training in the Capitol among other students her age. When the head of school starts paying more attention to her studies, she quickly discovers that her placement in classes is not accidental. Will she be able to learn all that is required of her before the neighboring country attacks?

• Language: English
• Publisher: J. J. Hanna
• Release date: Mar 20, 2016
• ISBN: 9781310925603

J. J. Hanna

J. J. Hanna started writing when she was in seventh grade, inspired by a family friend. Her work started small, beginning with Existence (2012). She continued writing throughout her high school career, and truly enjoys the process of watching her characters come to life in print.She lives in Denver, CO with her mom and sister, and looks forward to a future in the literary world.

Book preview

Existence

Existence by Jori Hanna

Copyright 2015 by Jori Hanna

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission.

First Edition: December, 2012

Smashwords Edition: 2016

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Acknowledgements

Chapter 1

One October night, in a land far, far away called Eclar, a mother sat on her bed crying. Her daughter had been taken away from her the hour before, and her last words were, Forget that I exist. I never have existed, and never will.

The mother was shocked to hear these words come out of her daughter's mouth, but nodded as she sobbed into her daughter's shoulder. Soon, her daughter was yanked from her grasp, and pulled away.

Now, you may be thinking that I am lying, but this is true, I was there, for I was the daughter. My name is Chrysanthemum Faith Smith, and this is what happened to me the night I turned 15 years old. The government had come to my door and examined me, as was customary in my time and country. If I fit the requirements, then I would be taken away and trained for use as a secret agent. I wouldn't have a choice.

The requirements were that I was the first born, didn't matter if I was male or female, I had just turned fifteen, and I passed the inspection. I dreaded this year with all my heart, for I knew deep down inside that I would be taken away. The one thing that I didn't expect was being pulled away. They came, inspected me, and then just started pulling me away. I was lucky I had who I did come, because if it had been someone else, I may not have been able to say goodbye to my mother.

Here's what happened. It was my fifteenth birthday and I was expecting the government to come, I just didn't know when. It was just my mother and I in the house, for my father had died years ago, or so I was told, when I was nine. I was the only child, which also made me the first born. Bang, two of the requirements passed. The only thing I would have to do now was pass the inspection. I wasn't sure if I wanted to leave or not, for in my heart I knew it would be difficult. I would probably never see my mother again, but my mother had always told me it was an honor to serve my country, and I wanted to bring honor to her name. I was just going to go with the flow and see how things worked out.

As I answered the door, my mother came up behind me when she heard a male voice saying, Hello, I am here from the government to inspect you. Would you like to become a secret agent? He was speaking to me, but I could only shrug. I really didn't care what happened to me now. My mother put her hands on my shoulders and spoke in my ear. Go put on work clothes so you will be ready for the inspection. I nodded and ran off to change, leaving my mother and the man alone. It was the middle of the day and I hadn't finished my chores yet, but I wasn't really worrying about that right now.

You are probably wondering what this inspection was like, so let me tell you. They had me run a path they picked to check my speed and endurance. Then, they had me climb a tree and jump from that tree to the one next to it. This is actually easier than one would think, for the trees in the forest were very close together. Next they put a sword in my hand and told me to defend myself. There were three reasons for this. First, the sword was heavy and they wanted to see if I could wield it. Second, they wanted to see how quick and smooth I was on my feet. Third, they wanted to see my reaction when they attacked, forcing me to fight or die. Having done a lot of farm work and being lucky that I was tall, I easily defended myself, since I had fought off wolves with a stick and a few stones. Unfortunately, since I passed all of these tests, I was going to be brought to the Capitol for training. That meant leaving the life I knew, my mother, my horse, and my friends behind, since I knew none of them had passed the test.

I asked the man if I could say goodbye to my mother, just as he was about to pull me away. He nodded, and then said, You have five minutes. I nodded and ran back to my mother. She hugged me, holding me tightly for the entire time, whispering things in my ears such as, Be good, and, Do your best at everything you do. I felt a tear slip down her cheek and onto my shoulder, and I whispered back, I love you, Mom. Do me a favor?

She nodded, and then asked, What?

Forget that I exist. I never have existed, and I never will. With those words, I gave her a kiss on the cheek and then felt the man behind me, telling me it was time to go. I stayed in my mother’s arms until he pulled me out. His large hands gripped my waist and pulled me away. I looked longingly back at my mother as I was pulled up onto his horse. Then he cantered off.

The Capitol was more than what I could have imagined. The floor was white granite, the walls were granite with blue streaks leading up to a glass ceiling. There were golden pillars all around with silver trimmings. As soon as you walked through the door into the lobby, you immediately understood why your parents were grumbling about taxes. There was a woman sitting at the front desk, talking into an earpiece, being silent for a moment, and then speaking again. She looked up when the man, who on the way over had told me his name was Nasir Meyer, but he was usually called boss. He was the leader of the secret service that protected our Jotaja. The Jotaja led the country, and we never really saw him, considering that his life was constantly being threatened, hence why I was even in the Capitol. Only his closest advisers knew his name, otherwise he was just called the Jotaja.

Boss, the woman said, proving his point. She stood, and looked me over. Her face was like a stone, expressionless except for her eyes, which showed fear, as if she had been in the business of being a clerk too long, or she had gotten caught saying something she shouldn't have. I wouldn't have known then, since she had been speaking in code. Nasir simply nodded, and led me through a pair of double doors that he had pressed his thumb up against to open. Obviously security was tight if they had to have thumb scanners to get past the lobby and into a hallway. Then he pressed his thumb up against another one which led into a bedroom. I gulped as I looked around at the blank room. It was painted white all around; the ceiling, floor, walls, and doors were all white. There was a light in the corner farthest from the door, and after I walked in the room, Nasir turned and left, the doors closing behind me. I heard more of what sounded like gibberish, but what must have been the code, and sighed.

There was a white cot in the corner, with white sheets and a white pillow, nothing here was colored, unlike the lobby. The lobby had so much color, so you would think the entire place was like that. Just then, I realized that that was exactly what they wanted you to think, that everything would be fun and colorful until they had you completely immobilized. I lost all track of time while in that room, left alone with my thoughts, letting them wander back to my mother. All I could hope was that she would do what I told her to and forget I existed. It would be the easiest on her if she did, she wouldn't claim that she ever had a daughter, and I would no longer be related to her. She would be all alone ... I dozed off to sleep, after letting my mind wander, for that room was very dull.

Chapter 2

I awoke the next morning as someone was shaking me. I was slightly surprised to see white all around me, and at first I thought I was dead, until I remembered the events of last night. Once my mind was awake, I recognized Nasir quickly, after thinking just how out of place he looked in the white room. In the bright light, his tan skin looked extremely dark, but then again, so did mine. It was apparent that he spent time outside; otherwise he wouldn't be as tan as I was.

He threw me some fresh clothes, and then said, Change, get ready for breakfast, and then knock on the door. I'll be waiting outside. Any hint of friendliness that he had had last night was gone, now it was all business. I caught the clothes after nodding, and then watched him leave the room. I quickly changed out of the light violet dress that I had been wearing and into the light blue pants and pure white, whiter than the walls of the room, shirt. They fit nicely, and after running my fingers through my wavy golden hair, I knocked on the door. It opened, and he extended his hand. His face was stern, obviously expecting no horseplay and only obedience. His eyes were dark, almost black, and his dark hair was pulled back and tied out of his face. He looked slightly amused at my reluctance to take his hand, and then he reached for mine. I didn't object, but I didn't necessarily agree to be dragged along behind a man twice my size through a maze of hallways. He was gentle and rough at the same time. It was strange, but he soon pressed his thumb up against another finger scanner and doors swung open, this time leading into a cafeteria.

Inside, were other fifteen-year-olds dressed in the same manner as me and older teens dressed in blue striped pants and a white shirt. Then, lastly, there were the oldest teens, probably around 17 or 18 in age, dressed in pure blue from head to foot. I looked back at Nasir and noted what he was wearing; a black shirt and black pants. There were other people wearing black, but he was the only one in solid black. The others had black pants with a stripe down the side of their legs. He noticed me taking in the clothing, and he explained. "The youngest, newbies, or people that are still learning basics wear blue and white. The ones in the striped pants that are still blue are one step higher, and learning intermediate skills. Pure blue is a master of intermediate, and learning the beginnings of advanced, while when you move to black, you are now an instructor. Those in