What If-

I’ve been destined for this. Every day, every week, every month, every year, training. Since I was born. I might not even be the right one, there’s a whole facility full of us. Whoever is left by the next full moon, is the right one.

Born on a winter’s night…

All of us are waiting to know who it is so we can be done. Done with what? Done with training. Done with nights in sterile, white rooms. Done with only reading books and seeing movies about chosen ones so we know how to act.

Full of the stars’ might…

If I’m not the last one left, then my whole life was for nothing. If I’m not the chosen, I die in vain. I can’t let that happen. I’ll be free when I’m done, no matter if I wanted this prophecy or not.

Magic is entwined in their veins…

This facility is full of scientists, how do they know what magic is? How can they tell who has the magic? It left our world a long time ago, one of us will bring it back when the time is right.

The worthy, the magic will sustain…

I am worthy. I can explain the history of our world from the conception of the earth to this exact moment. I can recite the prophecy word by word, I can get through any training situation Dr. Peters puts me in. All the assistants say so, most of the others say so. I’m the best out of all of us. If I am not the chosen, what have I spent my life doing?

When the moon is full for the 575th time…

That’s in two weeks. In two weeks, every other person here but me will die, right? Everyone I’ve grown up with, will die. Everyone. No one asked for this, we just share the same birthday. No one asked for this, we just fit the description, as far as we know. No one asked for this, we were just forced. But we could fix the world, so why wouldn’t we ask for this chance?

All but one soon will die.

We have two weeks to know who this prophecy is about, who will bring magic back. Does that mean we will destroy the science that ran it out in droves? Questioning this may lead to me not being the chosen, so I have to have faith in my scientists.

Today, we trained harder than ever before, to prepare for the test. The test will decide who is left to be chosen. The test determines who is magic and who isn’t.

We practice using a machine to reach inside ourselves. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. I didn’t ask for this. I didn’t ask for this. I didn't- and it's over. I will prevail. I can. I will be the chosen.

We run, we race, we climb, we lift, we do this and we do that. Who here asked for this? I’m sore, I’m tired. Some of us couldn’t take it, and they’re in the infirmary. They aren’t the chosen. I am a part of the chosen group. I will be the chosen, and then I will have a bigger purpose. I need this reason to live.

What will become of those who die because of the prophecy? What will become of those who lose this challenge? What will become of me when the prophecy is complete? What will I-

It's done. They have finished the scanning. They won’t tell me anything they know. Why won’t they tell me anything? Why won’t anyone tell me anything but the prophecy? Why am I for nothing but the prophecy? And what if I’m not even the one?

I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe. What will I do when I can’t breathe forever? Because of the prophecy? What does this prophecy do for me? Why am I so selfish? Will the world be able to sustain itself with the magic? Is it grown without it? What if I murder everyone? Then they won’t be able to breathe. I can’t breathe. I can’t-

I need to stop. I need to trust these people, like I have my whole life. I can’t stop believing them now? But what if-

I’m just going to test the theory of the prophecy. If I can survive whatever I do, then it is the magic sustaining me.

The worthy, the magic will sustain…

What should I do to prove it's me? Do I want to know? What if I just refuse to carry out the prophecy? Learn its origin and fight it? Yes. That will be easier. I even know its origin already. How will I even leave? What if I’m not the one and the real chosen comes to stop me?

I can’t think about that now. The prophecy must be stopped. After everything I’ve been taught about science, magic would just be another invasive species to the planet.

I also know that for a human to be as successful as possible, we must take any impossible task step by step. Leaving is the first step. I need to get to The Door.

The group of children that grew up with me, we all formed cliques and this one was mine, told of a door that took you out. Out of the facility. Out to whatever lies beyond. The Door.

It's across the entire building. One of my friends saw it when he was…

Well it doesn’t matter why he was there, but he saw it. He said you have to run through all the hallways you aren’t supposed to without permission. He had permission…

I’ll do what he did. I’ll do it in his memory. He tried. I will succeed for him.

I sit in the Free Room, where we train however we want. In the fun ways. Like wrestling without the rules. Like chess. Like anything that makes you stronger and smarter, that you enjoy.

I scream. I scream and scream and scream and…

They’ve grabbed me.

What’s wrong with you?

Why can’t you behave?

You’re just like him!

They drag me back the way they took him, I think. I scream about how I want out. I want to leave. If I hate it, how could I ever be chosen? I tell them all my thoughts.

We already knew that about you!

We saw on the scanner, you selfish monster!

We thought you were the one, but we should’ve figured after you spent so much time with him!

They won’t even speak his name. They say they knew…

What if they were just waiting for me to snap? They were waiting for all my friends to..

They all died. But by the doctor’s hands. How I didn’t see the inhumanity of this experiment is unknown to me, but they’re dragging me. They thought I was the chosen. I had a purpose…

What if I apologize, promise to do better, what if I-

No. I’ve started and I must finish. I still scream, to keep them annoyed. They drag me farther and farther and farther until I see the door. I bite them.

They scream and drop me. I run. My feet hit the floor, and it sends a rattle through my bones. My brain. My thoughts. Every hit, a new shake. I breathe every other step. I can breathe. I can.

They chase me, but they haven’t been trained for this. I’m faster. I beat them. I slam into The Door. It doesn’t open. As to be expected. They said they thought I was the one, so what if…

I dig. Into me. I try to find what I’ve been looking for. Magic needs emotion, according to the scientists. I need to search. I need to find.

I punch the door, just enough to make a hole for me to crawl through. They reach me and grab my ankles. I kick. I kick them in their forearms. I can’t pull it out anymore, so I have to rely on my own strength that I’ve built up. They let go, screaming.

We will find you. You won’t get far!

That’s all I hear before I’m gone. Like I said, they’re not trained for this. Why would we leave? We had purpose, a destructive one, but a purpose.

My feet hit something new, that I’ve only read about. It scratches and it's green. Grass. New. Sky. New. Clouds. New. The sun. New. It’s overwhelming, but luckily for me I have a mission to focus on. I can’t think about the new now.

Next step, where do I go? How do I get there?

They said the mountain. I see a mountain. New. I run there. How long will it take?

The prophecy is said by the scientists to come from a mountain made of onyx and fire. A girl said it. She died right after. They believed her back then, because she was respected. Later, no one remembered. Except for one man, who created the facility. He believed it, after testing it scientifically of course. The soil near the mountain gave off a new and strange radiation. He found every child born on the night spoken of and hid us away. How can we protect the world we don’t even know?

Three times the sun has disappeared and I’m still running. The mountain keeps getting bigger. Before I can even process it, I can’t see the top of the mountain.

I’m at the base. It's black and hot. I can’t touch it without burning myself. I was not trained for this.

I circle the mountain like the vultures I’ve read about. Why did they want us to read about vultures? There’s no one here.

I find a cooler side of the mountain, one the sun never has the chance to see. I climb. I was trained for this.

Four more times the sun has disappeared. Why haven’t I been caught? Do they know what I’m doing? Did I think this through? How do you break a prophecy?

There’s a hole in the top of this mountain. The curve is sharp with broken rocks. I can’t see the bottom. I jump.

The world is spinning. I feel it fly across my skin. I can’t see the top anymore. I also can’t see the bottom. I’m going faster and faster and faster. When will I stop?

I stop. I hit the ground hard. I hear the arm that catches me crack. I think it was my arm. Maybe my rib? My leg? Something is broken and I can’t move.

Hello.

The voice is familiar.

We knew you’d come here.

You jumped? We trained you for this.

The voice taunts me. I cough up blood. I can barely see. I can’t breathe.

There’s a new voice, so soft I can barely hear it.

You were wrong.

Is it talking to me? What was I wrong about?

All of you were wrong.

All of us? Wrong about what. I can’t breathe.

The prophecy can’t be changed.

I was wrong. I can’t fix the world.

You also can’t force the future.

Who was forcing the future?

You can’t change what I have said. You can’t make it come true either.

The familiar voice speaks again.

I needed magic. I needed something new that doesn’t make sense.

It’s crying.

You could’ve let the prophecy not make sense.

I’m drifting. Is it her?

I lost my purpose.

I can’t breathe.