The moment I looked down and saw the mark, it was like my whole world suddenly began in slow motion. I already knew what everyone was thinking that the Marked could not hear. They heard their orders to kill. My dark chocolate, brown eyes darted around- I saw everyone tense up and prepare to get a weapon. I saw knives and pencils and even forks! “Pinkie, Chris. He-” Before I could finish, my eyes widened at the sight. My two best friends. My two ONLY friends. Had knives, clutched in their hands. And that’s when I knew, that they were set to kill me too.
“We’re sorry, Juni, but you know the rules. The Marked Ones get killed.” Chris started walking towards me, but I quickly stepped back.
“You know we don’t want to do this, but it’s the rules. We can’t stop it so we can’t break it. Just accept that you’re going to die and we’ll make this as painless as possible.” I looked to Pinkie then to Chris. I knew now that they won’t show any mercy to me. I was a walking corpse and the fact that people had surrounded me, didn’t make matters better. So I did what any logical person would do- and ran.

Running from a school full of kids your age and younger (plus teachers, the counselor, and even the principle!) wasn’t as easy as it sounds and it sure as hell wasn’t easy to get out. And if you thought that was hard, wait till you finally get out but then have to deal with the people outside of school! The billions of people of the world were coming after one person- me. Sure, my life wasn’t all that great but I’m not dying now. I only got to live for 17 years so far, don’t I get any last words or something? “Hey! There she is! Get her!” I looked back to find a group of guys chasing after me, they were jocks from my school. Total jerks, but they are in the football team. Lucky for me, I used to be in the track team in my early highschool years.
Right and left, people were chasing me (most I don’t even know). Preps, jocks, nerds, teachers, lawyers- you name it! I was running like my life depended on it, which it actually did, until I took a wrong turn and was trapped in an alley with no way out. I gasped when Mark, captain of the football team (ahem*jerk squad*ahem), held a dagger to my neck. “There’s no way out now, Marked. You’re dead.” He smirked. So this is how it’ll end, huh? I felt the dagger dig into my throat until a bit of blood drew out. My world had started to turn black. I hated this. Not knowing much about life, or my parents, or why the human race was cursed to do this. It sucked.
...I…I don’t want to die. Please, someone help me. I don’t wanna die yet. Help, help me. Somebody please. Anyone! I felt my salty tears slid down my pale-toned skin from my brown eyes. My breath quickened, heart pounding in my chest. Could they sense it? My fear of death? Too late now I guess.

‘At the time, I felt ready. Ready to die. Ready to leave the world and end up somewhere. Where would I have gone? Heaven? Hell? Or nowhere at all? I guess you’re wondering how I’m still telling you this story. Well…’

I dropped to the ground when I felt Mark let me go. My vision was blurry, but I could make out two boys fighting. One, I could guess, was Mark because of the tall, strong build. The other on the other hand, he was tall but it’s not like he was the size of a girl (or in this case, me cause I probably did something horrible in my past life (if I had one) and they cursed me to be 5”2). Although it was hard to see, I could tell that Mark was losing this battle.
The smaller boy was fast. He dodged every swipe Mark did with his knife until he kicked Mark’s knife away from his grip, then they started using their fists. Mark got only one good punch across the other’s face until the other kicked Mark’s shins, causing him to fall to the ground. When Mark’s head collided with the stone hard ground, he was out like a light. The person crouched down beside Mark, checking his pulse, then stood back up and walked towards my body. I started to squirm and try to leave when I felt a hand on my shoulder. “Hey, stop moving, idiot. I’m not gonna hurt you so don’t worry.” Wasn’t he going to kill me? Why doesn’t he use Mark’s knife to finish me off? He took his hand away from my shoulder and put it under my legs as his other arm was against my back. I felt the person lift me up into a bridal/princess style. “Just rest, alright? You’re gonna be fine. I’m taking you somewhere safer.”
With that, my eyelids started to droop shut. My heart beated into a normal pace once again as my breathing slowed. “Th-Thank you.” I muttered before falling into darkness called sleep.

The news flashed brightly in the tv. “This news in, another Marked was found in the high school. She was reported as a 17 year old girl with dark hair and a pale complexion, name is Juniper Jones. If found, kill on sight.
“Continuing, the group called ‘Death’s Marked’ has, once again, attacked the stations of both the radio and the police. Tracking the group seems impossible at this length, let’s see what Deputy Stevens has to say about it.”
“This so called, ‘Death’s Marked’ is just a bunch of baloney. They are just a group of troublemakers, so there is no reason for panic, alright? We’ll track them down somehow and we’ll dispose of them immediately. But until this gets settled down, curfew for kids 18 and younger must be at 8:30 pm sharp. If we find anyone out later than that time then marked or not, we are going to have to put them down.”

It was dark. Why couldn’t I move? Why can’t I see? Wait. There are voices. It’s faint but I can hear them. Maybe if I could show them I was awake. I tried to move a finger, but it was like my body was frozen, all I could do was listen to the conversation that started to become clearer. “Are you a fool? We can’t keep her here! She’s all over the news! What if they track her down?”
“Well, we destroyed the stations, didn’t we? I fail to see the excuse.” That voice. It’s familiar somehow. “Besides, I couldn’t leave her to die. What would you do if you were in my place? Would you just leave her to die?”
“Yes! Yes, I would because I know what’s better for the team!” I heard the familiar voice scoff at the person. Both were male, but one sounded older than the other. “Hey! Don’t turn your back to me! Oi!” I felt something cold and wet against my forehead after a door shut. I guessed they probably left, but someone else was in the room.
I heard the person sigh, this one female. “Sorry about them, they can be a real pain in the ass.” She sounded kind, almost motherly. Of course, I wouldn’t know how ‘motherly’ actually sounded, but I guess her voice is what it sounded like. “I hope you could wake up soon.” I am. I’m awake! I tried to tell the caring woman who was helping me, but I couldn’t. “The two don’t get along very well, they’re just up at each other’s neck all the time. Even when they first met they couldn’t get along at all. Hehe, I wonder if you knew anyone like that, Juniper.” Yes actually. Hold up. How did she know my name? Wait, the guy did say that I was all over the news so I guess that’s why. “I’m not sure if you could hear me, in fact I could just be talking to myself for all I know, but I hope I get to know you better. Also not sure if you’ll remember this, but my name is Alexis Powers, you’re aloud to call me Lexi. Don’t tell the boys though, they would hate that I had prefered you more than them, which I have known for a while now.” I felt the woman stand up. “Goodnight, Juniper Jones.” The door opened then closed once again.
After for what felt like a year, I was finally able to open my eyes. It was blurred at first until it finally cleared. I was in a room with grey, stone walls with a nightstand next to me with my shirt and a pair of shorts on top. The bed I was currently lying on was comfortable, I felt like I shouldn’t leave from this spot but I knew I had to if I wanted to know what was happening. I slowly got up from the bed and felt my neck. It was bandaged. I grabbed my black, Green Day shirt and slipped it over my head then the black shorts that reached mid-thigh. My shirt was long enough to be a dress so, I was a bit grateful for that.

Once I was finally able to get out of bed, I felt around (the room was dark so I couldn’t see a thing) until I finally felt the cold steel of the doorknob. I turned it, slowly opening the door. A flood of light and talking came towards me like a tsunami, my head started to ache. Once my eyes were adjusted to the brightness, I stepped out of the room, silently closing the door behind me. My eyes slightly widened at how much people there were. There were two bickering boys (which were probably the ones that I had heard earlier); A woman (who was probably the one taking care of me) who was trying to keep the boys from fighting; A young girl who stuck near to another boy (both seemed to be at least 14 or 15); Another woman (this one a year or two younger then Juniper) who was watching the two bicker as the other woman tried to stop them; And finally a man (at least at his mid-20’s) that sat at a desk, drinking coffee. No one had noticed me at first until I pretended to clear my throat. Then all noises silenced and all eyes were towards me.

I fidgeted slightly at the attention. “U-Um, I’m sorry, but- where am I?” I asked. One of the boys, his dark hair slicked back with gel and his silver-like eyes menacing.
“Tch, looks like Sleeping Beauty is finally awake.” What was his problem? I glared slightly until calming down once again. I couldn’t just pick a fight out of nowhere now could I? 1) It’s not nice and 2) I don’t even know these people. Just because he’s being a dickbag even though we just met, does not mean I should go sass mode on him. Maybe he’s not much of a bad guy. “Hey hero, why don’t you explain to Lois Lane here, huh?” Okay, nevermind. I take back what I said. This guy’s a dickbag.
“Well, I’m sorry, Grumpy. I didn’t mean to offend you in anyway. Why don’t you go get a good smack from Snow White before I give you one myself.” I retorted to him. It seems like the guy wasn’t expecting that. The woman that was watching the two males bicker earlier, chuckled at the insult.
“Oh wow, Allen, she sure got you there. I like the kid already!” The woman had shoulder-length, dark blonde hair that was tied in a messy ponytail. She wore a grey shirt, dark blue jeans, and a black leather jacket. She seemed like one that should be riding around in a motorcycle and should be in those biker groups that would go to bars and begin wars with other groups until the cops came. 
Obviously, the one I had insulted, Allen, didn’t like that she said his name in front of me. “Damn it, Chloe! You know we can’t say each other’s first names!” Said Chloe rolled her eyes and stuck her pierced tongue out at Allen.
The woman that was taking care of me, walked in front of me and held my hands. “This is great! It’s so good you’re awake! Don’t mind them. Nobody gets along with Allen.”
“Hey!”
“My name is Sylvia, the rude one is Allen, the blonde biker is Chloe,” Sylvia continued with names of each person. I slowly memorized them one by one. “the two kids there are Jackson and Zoe, the other teenager over there is Rick, and-”
“And I am Steve Charles, but call me Charles, pleasure to make your acquaintance.” Charles took one of my hands from Sylvia’s grip and we shook. “M-My name is-”

“Yes we know fully who you are. You were all over the news in the the telly.” Charles smiled. It was kind, like Sylvia’s, but it looked more of a ‘you’ve doomed us all’ smile than the motherly smiles that Sylvia gives. My heart clenched when I remembered what Allen had said earlier while I was ‘asleep’. ‘“Yes! Yes, I would because I know what’s better for the team!”’ It wasn’t my fault that it was my time to die. And even if it was, I didn’t ask to be saved. Then it hit me. I did ask to be saved. I called for help. Did I accidently say my thoughts outloud? Well, that doesn’t matter now. What does matter is that I have another chance at life. I can start over with these people. Wait, now that I think about it…
“It feels like all of you know more about me than I do you. All I know is your names!” The people that I have only come to know, look at each other. All seemed to debate whether they should tell me who they actually were or not.

And that kinda lead me to now. I am sitting in the room that I was healing in as the others were in a different room, talking about who knows what. Probably multiple things, like if I should stay or not or if they should trust me enough for them to tell me who they are. But I have to say…
IT’S SO BORING! Come on! I can’t wait here for any longer, and either way I’m gonna find out who they are even if they don’t keep me! I’m not just gonna run blind without knowing everything that was going on. I groaned as a flopped back onto the bed, looking up at the grey ceiling. This really sucked. Can they just make up their minds already? Just as I thought that, I heard the door open. I sat back up as Sylvia came inside. “Hey, am I allowed to sit with you?” I nod my head. The bed dipped slightly at the extra weight when she sat down beside me. She took in a breath before sighing. Was that a good sign or a bad sign? “Juniper…” I held my breath for a moment, what was I so worried about? “We’re trusting you with this, alright? This is secret so you can’t tell anyone. Promise?” Once again, I nod. “We go by code names, But we call each other Mark and other numbers. For example: I am Mark 5, Via Lys. Allen is Mark 6, Nella. Do you understand the pattern?” I thought for a moment before it finally clicked in. “I’m guessing, with that face, you already know what it means by now? Via Lys is kind of my name backwards, and Mark 5 means that I’m the 5th member to join the team.”
“Then why is it Mark?”
Sylvia didn’t say anything at first until she took off her shoes and rolled up the jeans she was wearing. There on her ankle, was the Death Mark. I blinked up at her in shock until she started to explain once more. “I have it on my ankle. Charles has it on his hand. Chloe has it on her hip. And so on. Mind showing me where your’s is?” I hesitated at first until I stuck out my arm, showing her the black mark. She simply smiled before waving it off, signaling me that she was done looking at it. “Tell me Juniper, how would you like to join our team?” I was about to say yes until she stopped me. “Before you answer, I’ll heed you some warnings. 1) You can’t tell anyone about us. 2) We do some bad things, such as stealing and destroying things. And 3) If you want to join this team, you have to trust us.”

It seemed dangerous, but where else am I supposed to go? The whole world was after me, but these people. They seem to trust me and I don’t think they’ll harm me. And so I decided. “Thanks Sylvia… I’ll join.” Sylvia sighed in relief as she suddenly hugged me.
Into my ear, I heard her whisper:
“Welcome to Death’s Marked, Mark 7. Jin Reup.”