<3 I shall post the prologue/first chapter on Tame Him, Tamer. Tell me if you like it~
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"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you..." Today's the day. The day I can finally get out of here. I'm sixteen at last. I can follow my dream. "Abi, Abi!" Snapping back to reality, I looked to see who was calling me. My mother, stressed out as usual. "Are you heading off straight away? Couldn't you at least wait for some cake?" She was pleading with me, begging me not to go. She'd been doing it for days, telling me I could do better. I didn't have to work in a Keep. I could be a lawyer, or a doctor. Anything but a Tamer. "Mum, I'm only looking around. I swear, I'll be back within a few hours," I stood up, I wanted to get going now. My mother followed suit, reaching forwards to tug at my light brown plaits that hung down on either side of my face. She smiled weakly, I could see her giving up hope. I returned her smile more broadly, leaning forwards to kiss her cheek. Then I pulled away, and this time she let me go, watching me turn away with a wistful expression.
Looking down at my wrist, my heart stuttered as I saw the time. No! I wouldn't let myself be late! Hurrying now, I rushed forwards, pulling on my boyfriend's jacket. As he looked round at me, I stepped closer, motioning towards the door. I had to go now! He gave a short nod and followed after me to the exit, pausing to shout a few goodbyes to my family members. I was already getting in the car, impatient to get moving, my heart fluttering like a caged bird. As Stephan slipped into the driving seat, I looked back, unexpected tears pricking behind my eyes as I saw my mother watching me, her shoulder shaking with silent grief. Gritting my teeth, I waved at her as we drove away. I could understand why she was frightened. The place I was headed to was dangerous, and there was a good chance I wouldn't get out alive.
The Keep. Those two words are enough to send shivers down the toughest man's spine. But some people are different. Like me, they aren't scared, they just feel a pull, an connection to the words. We are the Tamers. The ones who venture inside the portal to work alongside the other humans to look after the Creatures, hoping we will stay alive long enough to get to see our families. Most don't. The Creatures are wild, strong, and untamed. Our job is to make them trust us, so that they can be assigned to one of us - to a Tamer. That Tamer will fight beside the Creature in battle, or whatever it is they do in the Worlds. The humans in the Keep had been the ones to contact me, not the other way round. They had told me that they had seen a large force on the radar, and had tracked it to... Me. It was my chance to shine, and I planned on becoming good at my job, the best they'd ever seen. I needed to make Scott proud.
Scott. My brother's name brought fresh tears to my eyes, and I turned my head to look out the window, pretending to be concentrating on the scenery flashing past. As the tears slipped down my face, I remembered my brother. I had seen him the day he'd been dragged away to war, a war that he would never see the end of, one he would never return from alive.
We sat at the dining table, laughter sounding from either sides as we compared our nights dreams. Scott told me had dreamt of a Beast taking him away, a big, strong Griffin-beast. That made us all hesitate. And then, the sound of the door being broken down, Granny's shrieks reverberating around the room as they tossed her aside, searching for their prey. They saw Scott, and he stood up to meet them, his fists ready for combat. Then, the Dog-beast appeared in the doorway, a huge Creature, it's jaws able to crush a full grown man in a instant. We screamed at them then, but they still took him away. That was the time we saw him alive. They returned the parts of him they found in a box, which we buried under the apple tree in the back yard.
"We'll all miss you, you know." Stephan's voice made me jump, and I returned to looking out the car window, hastily rubbing my eyes dry on my sleeve. I heard him sigh, and then he was holding my hand. "Its not too late to turn back. I'm sure Scott wouldn't want you to do something you don't want to, I'm sure he'd understand if you didn't," I felt my lips curve up into a smile. Stephan always seemed to know what I was thinking, but then again, I didn't exactly keep my thoughts to myself. "This isn't just for Scott, its for me too. I want to go, hell, I'd even go as far as to say I need to go. Please, just understand me and trust me. Just this once."
Stephan had his eyes back on the road, and his hand dropped mine as he reached for the gear-stick. We were slowing down. I raised my eyes, we were here. In front of us was a factory type building, but everyone knew it was the home of a portal, a black hole that transported people back and from Phyxis, another, more brutal world. We had been asked to help by the natives of the planet, and they had sent us magical Creatures to tame and use against the invaders. The number of deaths on our side had reached it's thousands, but still we trudged on, never gaining on the enemy more than a few feet.
Looking over at Stephan, I waited for him to say something. And finally, he did, but his words weren't the ones I wanted to hear. "Well, this is it. We're here." His voice sounded tired, like he'd at last given up hope. I frowned, swallowing back the lump that was rising in my throat. Slowly, I twisted round in my seat so that I could lay my head on his shoulder. I forced my lips to form a half-smile, half-grimace, but it was like I was devoid of any emotion. An empty husk, a shadow of my former self. I knew now that I had unknowingly wreaked my families lives, that they would now be forever terrified that I would be joining Sebastian in the back garden.
Finally, I succumbed to the tears and they slipped down my face, soaking themselves into Stephan's jacket. "I-I'll stay. I w-won't go, I can't d-do it to you a-all..." My words came out like a whisper, my eyes closing as I sacrificed my dream to keep my family sane. But I could feel the slight shake of his head, feel him wrap one arm tightly around my shoulders. "This is what you want to do, so you're doing it. But promise me one thing, --" Stephan stiffened, his body tense. I raised my head quickly, following his gaze over my shoulder. Outside the car window was a girl. A Tamer.
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FFFF, this isn't at the interesting part yet. I'm sorry if it sounds boring, this is mostly just some background information/setting the scene. And if something doesn't make sense, it's because one of the Tamers that Abi meets will explain everything to her. So basically, you're just as much in the dark as she is. :'3
