Shadow's of Tomorrow

with my existence came in t

med into a too-small space. Each morning, we ate in silence, our fingers trembling from exhaustion, our eyes hollow with a life that never asked for kindness. It wasn't a life anyone

-that day-wa

marched in like a thunderstorm, her footsteps louder than ever on the creaky floorboards. The sharp tap-tap-tap of her hee

eping us locked into this place with the precision of a prison guard and the cruelty of someone wh

ng beneath the force of her grip. "Listen up!" she barked. Her tone was clipped,

sion in the room crept up lik

dfire. An announcement.

a vessel for punishment. Yet there she was, drawing atten

a gift. If anyone was getting something,

much from you, but you must understand the significance of this opportunity. The Headmaster from Blackwater Legacy School has decided to visit the orphanage.

. "The most prestigious institution in the country. Those who go there-their lives change. I

tch, a flicker of d

t felt as far out of my reach as the moon. Every girl at the table-every face around me-was longing for a way out. A way to

e. You must pass the tests, survive the interviews. Not everyone will make the cut. It's not about kindness." Her eyes fixed on me, colder than I'd ever

slap, knocking any exc

g more biting. "Only those who are worthy will go. The rest of you-w

entence, until I could barely focus. This was no fairytale. No easy way out. It never w

was too easy. The last thing I wanted was to be singled out, as I had so ma

ng duties, the cafeteria became a whirlwind of whisp

y'd mold themselves into the picture-perfect student to win a spot in a place that was never meant for the likes of us. A place w

ferocity in her that clung to every word she spoke. "You'd be a fool to pass this up. Thi

squeezed shut. Could this be my way out? Could I walk into

one was chosen. Some girls wouldn't even survive the exam. And I knew that it wouldn't

e, to endure. Every day I lived, I fought for nothing more than a scrap of survival. Bl

ce, like a figure from a dream we were never meant to touch. Tall, with the kind of sharp gaze that made it hard to breathe. The entire room fell s

is eyes sweeping over us with such precisio

den beneath his well-curated exterior-a deeper, far more dangerous hun

for one thing only: to select those among you who will rise from this

nal. As though our value was wrapped in a single moment of his approva

m across my face like a predator scenting the

a razor on me. "Only the strongest and brightes

ran th

eneath his words, like the tightening grasp of a man who already owned

us who he

f one thing: there

-

r chap