Hand in hand, we walked towards the building of the Taking with full stomachs.
It was a huge glass dome with bleachers circling the inside. We couldn't see much beyond that, but the image was amazing. So many people, colors, and noise.
"Gross." I said. "It's amazing that all of these people could make such noise, and have so many colors besides pink, and make enough ruckus to be heard out here. What a waste of space."
He looked at me and distantly nodded, like an astronaut in space, responding to a vague signal.
I snapped. "Hey, Jake, still alive?"
"I, uh.." he bolted towards the door. "Help!" He yelled, slamming his fists against the metal door of the hallway leading to the dome. "Help! Get me outta here! I don't want to be taken!"
A guard seemed to fall out of the wall. It crept toward him. I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. Jake! Look out! My mind screamed. Jake! Hurry, before they screw up your hair! You won't look perfect! But my attempts did nothing, and still the guard crept closer. He raised a fist, and brought it down swift and quick, smashing his fist down onto his skull.
But then, another fist came down onto my head.
My hair, was my last thought, before I fell unconscious.

***

"Welcome!" boomed the voice over the speaker. "Sixteen, seventeen, and eighteen year olds, to the Taking!"
Flames erupted around the arena, and some of the people screamed. The voice chuckled. "Well, now, you have all cast your votes of disapproval, and the ones being Taken from the athletes is..." drum beats. "Lia!"
"No!" cried a chorus of voices, maybe Lia and her friends. "No!" but the athlete that most of us don't want was dragged out of the bleachers.
The process continued, with different groups. An awful, cruel way to keep the population under control.
The nerds.
The dorks.
The popular.
The skaters.
And so on.

***

I woke up lying in a bed. A rag bed, a bug bitten bed, an awful bed. I scurried out as quickly as possible, dusting bugs and dirt off my clothes, wondering how I got there. You got taken. Something inside me said. No, I fought back. No I didn't! Everyone loves me. It had to be voters fraud or something... I wracked my brain for an idea of who would do it. That's it.
Tiffany.
Oh man I'm going to kill her.
Where am I?
I looked around the room.
It was an old, wooden room with a small desk and chair in the corner. No! This couldn't get any worse. No. Mirror.
I hunted around the room for a puddle at the least, but nothing could be found. Under the bed. In the wall. Etc, etc.
Nothing.
No makeup, either. No shampoo. Nothing.
Wherever she was, they must not respect personal hygiene.
Then suddenly the thought hit me.
How will I get out?
No door, nor windows.
I peeked through a crack in the wall and saw nothing much, but an old wooden board on the other side.
Perfect.
She backed up, ran as fast as she could, and smashed through the wall into an entirely new world.