By the time the next lottery came around, the governments were better prepared. The Chosen weren’t given the chance to run. Officials secretly ran the lottery weeks before the expected date. Soldiers and police officers stormed the Chosen’s homes, giving them no time to run, hide, despair, plead, or say goodbye to loved ones.
I was 16. It was my first time in the lottery. I was one of the lucky ones.
I wasn’t Chosen.
The government transformed the lands surrounding the portal, now dubbed Area F, into a makeshift prison, though they didn’t officially label it as such—we all understood its true nature. Temporary accommodation for the Chosen. They say it was a five-star accommodation, divided amongst a quintet of skyscrapers. But I doubted the Chosen appreciated being crammed into the skyscrapers before being sold to the fae.
They arrived on schedule, as menacing as ever. They took our women and left us to our own devices once again.
During the next five years, as I matured, researched, and rebelled, the lottery changed again. Though I didn’t know it until it was too late.
Chapter One
“Dad? What are you doing here?”
I was 21, living in a suburban apartment building on the more average side of town. My father and I had never really recovered from my mother’s abduction all those years ago. We were close when I was younger, but as I matured and the world turned from shit to shittier, we grew distant. He spent his days lazing around watching TV with a beer in his hand. I spent mine reading, studying, and plotting. I wouldneverlet the fae take me like they did my mother. Like they did with the thousands of other women.
We called ourselves Faemenists. Feminists with a twist, the world liked to joke.
But our world was no joke.
They claim humanity escaped slavery. We say differently. They say, what’s a few thousand women every five years? We sayourpeople. They say your name is in the lottery. We sayover our dead fucking bodies.
The lottery is due to be drawn in two days, with the portal opening a week after that.
My flatmates, Rihana and Waverly, and I had been enjoying takeout Chinese in the living room, a new rom-com show playing on the TV. It was the first time in a long time that we hadn’t been plotting and planning. We were ready. Our camping gear was packed and sitting by the door. Tomorrow, we will set out in the countryside, leaving our mobile phonesand any electronics that could track us behind. We had fake IDs, and we’d purchased a shitty old Hyundai anonymously through the marketplace.
We were going to outrun the lottery. Consequences be damned.
Then my dad showed up. Apparently, he wasn’t alone.
Waverly had answered the door.
“Delta? It’s your dad.”
I looked up, cheeks filled with noodles that didn’t quite fit inside my mouth. After staring at him for a good thirty seconds in surprise, I slurp up the escaping worm and swallow thickly without chewing. Ugh, I was going to regret that in the morning.
My dad looks awkward as shit as he stands by the door. He wears worn and dirty clothes. I squint as I take him in. Yep, that is a coffee stain on his upper left pocket. His cheeks are sallow, as if he hasn’t been getting enough nutrition lately. I know he hasn’t. He still lives off beer, canned stews, and toast. He has surprisingly short hair; I’ve never known him to not have a messy mop above his brow. He also has a rough and patchy beard. Maybe I’d give him money to see a barber before I left.
“Dad? What are you doing here?” I finally ask after my brief appraisal of him.
He shuffles awkwardly, glancing from Rihana to Waverly, then back at me.
“Delta, could we… ah… could we speak for a moment?” he finally stammers.
“Sure,” I say, my brows raised expectantly. He continues to shuffle and glances behind him.Oh! “Oh! You want to chat outside?”
He nods, relieved.
I get up, snatching the remaining spring roll from my plate as I go, because for sure it wouldn’t be there by the time I got back. I raise a suspicious eyebrow at Waverly and Rihana. Rihana smiles guiltily while Waverly just pouts. Yep, theysohad their eyes on it. I grin, take a big bite from the crunchy Asian goodness, send them a wink, then turn and swing my hips as I sashay out the front door.
Dad leads the way to a side alley. He looks tense.
“Dad?”
He nearly jumps out of his skin as I gently touch his shoulder.
“Oh, sorry, Delta,” he smiles abashedly. “I’ve been a bit… jumpy of late.”
