Chapter One:

“You’re dead!” Maddox shouted as he shot his friend in the chest. He had never played an actual video game before. “Video games are gone for a reason.” That was something he had heard since he was born. Ever since the extinction, the Leaders were very cautious about everything. They checked each meal before it was consumed. They made sure the water had absolutely no particles in it. They even had personal guards at each family home. Maddox didn’t have a family. He lived in a home for lost children. There were a total of 151 children, including him, living in the giant home. The house was only built for 150. Maddox was the last child in. He got the leftover food, no play time, and he was always forgotten. His parents died on their way back from exploring, or so he was told. They were explorers. They traveled far beyond the mountains just to write about what was past them. They were looking for new settlement areas. The settlement that Maddox lived in was running out of food and resources.

If they couldn't find a new settlement area in time, they would probably all die. The explorers had brought back a very strange machine. Most of the younger children didn’t know what it was. He had remembered seeing a video game before the leaders threw them out. He saw it when he was very little. He was thirteen years old now. Almost 14. His birthday was in 2 days, but nobody cared. The community still celebrated birthdays, but never his. All he wanted was to be included. When it came to lunch time, nobody ate with him. Sometimes, he would skip his school lessons, and expect for the house leaders to be angry when he got home. But they never were. They weren’t angry because they didn’t know he had skipped school. Nobody knew. I mean, why would someone pay attention to a kid who stutters every time he talks?

Maddox woke up to a thud beneath his bed. He sat up, but didn’t see anything. He had read stories about monsters hiding beneath children’s beds, but he didn’t believe it. He didn’t even know what monsters were. No children were taught about fear, or potentially scary things in the world. The leaders didn’t want them to be scared of the world they lived in, but maybe they should be. He slowly started to climb out of his old bed, trying not to make noise. “Thump.” There it was again. He followed the noise out into the narrow hallway. Left, then right. Left, then right. The noise continued to get louder. Suddenly, it stopped. He moved to the right. It started again. He moved back the other direction, and it stopped. There was a rug on the floor. How convenient. He tore up the rug with his hands and looked down. Nothing. He couldn’t believe it. He had been deceived. Maddox shook his head and started to walk back to the boys’ room.

“Maddox.” He froze. He thought he heard someone whisper his name. He slowly turned back around. No one was there. He continued to walk back to his bed. “Maddox...don’t leave me Maddox.” He felt goosebumps on the back of his neck. The girls’ room was on the other side of the house. And no one even knew his name anyway. Especially not a girl. He started to run. He didn't know why he was running. He knew that there were no such things as ghosts, but he was scared. He ran for what seemed like hours before he suddenly stopped running. He bent over and started gasping for air. He walked over to the door to the boys’ room, or so he thought. He couldn't’ believe it. He was back in the same hallway, with the same suspicious rug. He heard a noise behind him. But before he could even turn around, he was knocked out with one simple hit to the head.

“Hello? Helllloooooo?”  There was a large man in a black outfit standing above him. He held out his hand. “Name’s Smith.” Maddox sat up slowly, wondering if this was all a dream. The strange man put his hand out again. “Can ya hear me buddy?” Maddox started to realize what was going on.

“Where am I? Wh-who are you? Wait...are we under the rug?” Smith looked confused.

“Rug?” He paused. “Ohhh, that old thing.” Smith chuckled. “Yeah, yeah. How’d you know that? Nevermind, not important. Hey, did you hear some girl calling your name?” Maddox was very confused. He started to remember what had happened before he was knocked out. He slowly nodded his head.

“Yeah. Yeah, I did. Who was that?” Maddox still felt like he was dreaming.

“That” Smith got quieter. “That was your sister.” Maddox looked at Smith like he was delusional.

“N-no. That’s not possible. I d-don’t have a family.” Smith chuckled.

“Everyone’s got a family, kid. Even me, and I’ve been alone for 27 years.” Maddox shook his head. “No, this can’t be happening. This isn’t real. It’s all a dream. Just ignore him and wake up. Wake up Maddox!” Maddox opened his eyes, but he was still sitting in the small, darkened room with the strange man.

“Come on, I’ll take you to her. Your twin sister needs your help.” “Twin?” Maddox didn’t want to go. He had been woken up in the middle of the night and greeted by a stranger who told him he has a long-lost twin sister who needed his help. It just didn’t seem real to Maddox.

“I can’t go.” Smith looked confused.

“Why not?” Maddox shook his head and looked solemn.

“B-because this isn’t real. Soon enough I’ll wake up in m-my own bed and realize that this was all a dream. I-I’m sorry.

Look, I really wish I had a twin sister...but I don’t. I just don’t, okay?” Maddox turned away from Smith. “Just l-leave me alone.” Smith sighed and started to walk away. Suddenly, a voice cried out.

“No! Let me go! I don’t belong here! You can’t do this to me! He’ll come. I know he will. And when he does...you’ll be sorry.” Maddox froze. It was the same voice that had whispered his name.

“Wh-who was that?” Maddox asked in a panicked voice. Smith stared at Maddox solemnly.

“That’s your sister.” Maddox opened his eyes wide.

“Where is she? She sounded hurt. Smith...we have to save her.” Maddox couldn’t believe what he was saying. Smith just shook his head.

“No. I was not sent her to save her. You have to save her.” All of the pressure was on Maddox. If he didn’t save his sister from those terrible people, he might lose the only family he ever had. And he couldn’t let that happen.

Chapter Two:

Smith taught Maddox everything he knew about who was keeping Zora, his twin sister, hostage.

“She has powers?” Smith nodded. Maddox was confused. If they were twins, then why did only Zora have powers?

“Yes, that’s why they’re keeping her in that facility. They want her powers.” Maddox couldn’t believe it. He had read about superheroes with special powers when he was younger, but he didn’t think they were actually real. Smith told Maddox that he was sent from the Society to help guide him during this strange journey. “Now remember, you have 7 days to rescue Zora. If you don’t rescue her in time, they will take away her powers.” Maddox nodded. It was all on him. Smith was counting on him.

And so was the society. He had learned about the Society in school. They were the people who made all of the major decisions, like who would be the leaders of every community, and more. But now the Society had asked for him, personally. He finally felt like he was important. Suddenly, Smith handed Maddox a large dome-like object.

“Take this, and when you’re past the North Side river, hold it in your hand, and it will take you to her.” Maddox was confused. He chuckled.

“What, is magic real too?” Smith looked at the floor. Maddox changed the expression on his face. “Wait...how did I h-hear Zora if she was p-past the mountains?”

“I think you know the answer to that question.” Smith replied. Maddox slowly nodded. “Magic.”

Maddox started his journey without Smith. He had begged Smith to come with him, but it just wasn’t his journey. It was Maddox’s. Maddox held the map that Smith had given him in his hand. It wasn’t that hard to sneak out of the community. He was never noticed anyway. He followed the tree-line, down to the base of the mountain. Every so often, he took short breaks and ate the food that Smith had packed him. He was 14 now. He had spent his birthday alone in the mountains, with no one around. It took him 2 days just to reach the base of the mountain. It had started snowing. He’d never played in real, pure-white snow before. The leaders always took it out out the community, because they said it could be laced with germs to make you sick. Now, Maddox just had to climb the mountain. At first, it wasn’t that steep. But as he kept going, it got worse. He finally made it to the middle of the mountain.

There was a small cave where he slept. He was miserable, starving, and cold. Some nights he just wanted to give up. But he knew he couldn’t. He had to save his sister. It was day 4 and he just wanted it to be over. Finally, on day 5, he reached the top of the mountain. He looked down and realized that he had crossed the river, which was at the base of the mountain. He held the strange object in his hand and thought about the sister that he’d never seen. He opened his eyes and was suddenly in a dungeon-type place. Maddox shuddered at the thought of magic bringing him there. Everything was made out of stone, and there were cells on every wall. There were no windows and it was very dark. He didn’t hear or see anyone.

“H-hello?” No answer. “Anyone there?” Maddox spoke to himself in the empty room. He sighed and turned back around. Suddenly, he heard footsteps behind him.

“Hey! Get him!” There were guards surrounding him. Maddox kicked and screamed. He put his hand out and felt the pressure go off of him. He opened his eyes and saw that every guard was pinned up against the wall. He slowly put his hand down, and the guards fell onto the cold, hard ground. He picked his hand up again. They immediately pinned back up against the wall. “I have superpowers. I really have superpowers.” Suddenly, he heard a strange, high pitched noise. He ran down the hallway while keeping his hand up. Every time a guard came around the corner, he would just put his hand up and throw them against a wall. He continued to follow the high pitched sound down every hallway and through every door. Finally, the noise stopped. He looked inside the nearest door and saw a girl bound to the wall with chains.

“Help! Somebody...anybody.” Her cries were barely heard over all of the commotion going on outside.  Maddox paused.

“Zora?” He said in a whisper. She slowly turned her head. Her eyes opened wide and filled with tears. Time seemed to stop. Maddox saw everything in slow-motion. They stared at each other in awe and wonder. A loud noise finally got them out of the trance.

“You’re him, aren’t you?.” She barely spoke in a quiet whisper. It was her. He couldn’t believe it. She had whispered his name in the hallway, she had cried for help. It all made sense now. He really did have a sister. Maddox ran over to her and held up his hand. Immediately, the chains broke off of her. She stared at him in disbelief.  “I see you have your powers now.” They both smiled.

“Come on! We have to get you out of here Zora.” Maddox grabbed her hand and started to run. She stopped him.

“Wait! We have to save them.” Maddox was confused. Who else was there to save?

“I came here to save you, now let’s get out of here.” Zora stopped him again.

“Maddox! I’m not leaving without them.” She had that same sad look in her eye.

“You’re not leaving without who?” Maddox had a rude tone in his voice. He just wanted to leave this awful place. Zora threw up her hands.

“My par- well, our, parents.” Maddox froze.

“We have parents? Th-they’re alive?” Zora nodded.

“Yes, and we better hurry if we want to save them.” Zora grabbed Maddox’s hand and guided him through the maze of hallways. They peered into every room until they got to a dead end.

“I thought you knew where they were.” Maddox said. Zora shook her head in disbelief.

“No, I don’t get it. It was right here, I remember. I was so young...but I remember.” Zora began to tear up. Maddox tried to comfort her.

“You were young. Maybe you just imagined them.” Zora got angry. She pushed away from Maddox’s open arms.    

“No! I saw them! They were right here. I remember. There was a -a door. R-right there.” Zora began to cry. She rested her head against the cold, stone wall and put her head in her hands. Maddox turned his head to the wall behind her. The sun was casting a strange shadow on it. Maybe that’s not a shadow. Maddox held out his hand and concentrated on the wall. A few moments later, there was a rumbling sound, and the wall began to crumble. Zora quickly stood up and ran out of the way, before the debris hit her. They both looked into the room and saw a two people hooked up to a large machine. They ran into room, not knowing who the people were. The twins looked at each other. All of a sudden, they both heard voices inside their heads.