My body lies against cold steel. It is as dark as midnight; I don’t even know how I got here. All I know, all I can remember is: that my name is Elizabeth and I’m fifteen. I still can remember my city but I can’t remember my mother. Man, why can’t I remember my life? As I start to sit up I hear something breathing, and my heart stops. It’s near me. I start to catch my balance against a wall. I follow the wall to a corner. I step on a body and it groans.

I jump back; I see a dark figure on the floor starting to move. It stands up and it’s at least four inches taller than me. “I’m so sorry I stepped on you,” I say to the dark figure as I start to back up. I make out what looks like a boy. “That’s alright. Nice to know I’m not the only one here,” a deep voice says. It was a boy. “My name’s Thomas by the way. What’s yours?” My mouth goes dry, and I tense up. Why am I here? What did I do to deserve this? This… This is against the law! But what other choice do I have? “I’m Elizabeth,” I say with a shaky voice. “That’s a nice name,” he says.

Lights flash brighter than the sun. I look around. I was right! We are sitting in a steel box. It’s moving, the box is moving! Then it stops with a jolt back. The lights turned off when it stopped and a door opened in one of the walls. Thomas looks at me and then walks out the door. I follow him out. It looks like a rain forest out the door; big green trees with vines hanging down so you can swing on them. “Where are we?” escapes my mouth before I can stop myself. Thomas looks at me. “I don’t know, it looks like a swamp though.” I feel raindrops fall on my cheeks. A question pops into my head, “What do you remember before you ended up in the box?” I ask. He stares at the ground and then answers, “My name and age.” Something weird is going on, but what? Why would they take away our past?

A loud beeping noise is coming from the sky. Then I hear screaming and yelling, I tense up. Thomas and I exchange looks. Hundreds of girls surround us. A girl comes up to me. Her hair is greasy and she has a retched odor. When was the last time she took a shower? “You know this boy?” the girl asks. Her face is close to mine and I can smell her terrible breath. Her face is meaningless; she looks demented. I nod yes. “Lucky for him, because we don’t like boys. You two are stuck here like us. And believe me when I say, there is no way out except death.” The way she said the word ”death” made it sound like a better choice. “Also, if you step out of line,” she says pointing a finger at Thomas. “We will kill you, even if it breaks this girl’s heart.”

They bring us to their campsite in a tall hollow tree. They sent us to the dinning hall. I grab an apple and go outside and I sit against a rock. Thomas comes and sits with me. “Thanks Elizabeth,” he says. I look at him. If anyone saw this I’d be in jail right now, and so would he. “It’s nothing,” I say. A rather small girl looks at us and she points up. Her terrified face makes me anxious. Thomas gets up and he grabs a stick. He yells at me, “Elizabeth run!” I freeze. Thomas hits the beast with a stick, giving me time to run. He catches up. “You saved me,” I say out of breath. “Well, you saved me earlier.” I smile. Why is it against the law to talk to boys? And what was the beast?