Read Online The Change: Episode one by Angela White - Free Book Online

disappeared
into the darkness.
    At first, I could hear the others in the
tunnels on either side as they made the same sounds I did… grunts
at a particularly painful step, a wild stumble and swipe at a
flying shape that dodged it and took a layer of skin in return.
    The noises echoed loudly through the pitch
black, telling me we were running about even, and I smothered my
automatic need to slow down and feel my way through. I wanted this
to be over… I wanted blood, and I took off, sprinting through the
darkness.
    The glass cut into my ankle as I stumbled
over the rocks, and the pain brought my pink vision to the front. I
wondered if the Network knew it gave us a slight version of
infrared?
    “ Uug!”
    I ducked a second swipe of
angry talons, feeling blood gush down my back from the
gouge. Damn them!
    My stride lengthened again as the anger made
my muscles bulge. Silence had fallen, other than my own…
    Wwwiiii…
    I rolled over the pointed ground, protecting
my neck with my hands. The flare behind me said I’d had a narrow
miss, and I grinned in the darkness. Fire didn’t scare me anymore.
I had spent too much of my life feeling the heat to fear it.
    I ducked a second flash, but ran straight
into the third one and felt my cloak flame up. I quickly pulled it
over my head.
    The fire blasts were random, constant
blinding sparks to ruin my pink vision, and I understood that yes,
the Network knew, and they’d compensated for it.
    I wondered how the others were doing and
pushed myself harder, breath coming in short, even falls. It went
still and dark suddenly, and I tried to be prepared for
anything.
    “ Zzzzz….”
    The blade flashed up on my right, and I
scooped a handful of glass and rocks to throw ahead of me as I
ran.
    The rocky floor sharpened, shredding the
side of my foot as I slid. The motion saved me from losing my head
and put me under a hip-level grinder that spun out of the wall.
    I stayed lower, still tossing a path that
bounced off the stone walls.
    Another blade whirled over the top of me,
slicing through part of my hair, and I felt the betrayal then. The
Network didn’t really want us to come out of this one. It was an
ugly feeling that had my eyes flashing red and my feet carrying me
on legs that jumped, leapt, and ducked me under death.
    When I saw the tiny prick of light ahead, I
began to force the heat back. I wanted them to think I’d made it
without flipping.
    Not sure where the others were, I rolled
under a final blade and darted into the center to break the
ribbon.
    “ And that’s our winner,
folks! The bounty-hunting teenager will be one of our contestants
in tonight’s feature match!”
    The Network would choose my opponent… if
they lived, I thought, but realized at least two of the other
tunnels would have been clear of death-causing dangers simply to
have at least two survivors for the final match. Likely only mine
had been rigged. Had my being directed to that gate been random or
intended?
    I didn’t stay around to see who placed
second. Winning was all I cared about now. They could torture me,
but I’d never quit, never break. What I needed was here, and I
would have it at any cost… even Angelica’s life.
    I realized that and
accepted it with a snarl of pain that had people scurrying back as
I strode the halls on my shredded feet. I left puddles and heavy
swirls of blood as I went, and it was intentional. I wanted them…
the Network , to
know it would take more than pain or surprises in the dark to get
rid of me.
     
    4
    “ The note just came.” My
Mother’s voice held my relief. “They want 200 million UDs and
amnesty from being hunted.”
    When situations like this came up, we
handled it our way. Together, the Pruetts were hard to beat, and I
was smart enough to know I needed their help. My Mother was
sparkless most of the time, but on bounty runs, when my Father was
in danger, she was merciless. I much preferred that version of her,
but either way, I could now concentrate