Dark Universe & Forbidden Love by Hao Yang Page A

history of Glycan, they never found a
survivor after the rain season.
    There
were over 100,000 Glycan teenagers gathering at the great hall. Gloria had never
seen so many Glycans. Most of them were waiting alone nervously. Some of them
gathered in groups and talked away their anxiety. Nobody knew what would happen
next. Nobody knew whether he or she would survive or not.
    Klaycon
walked to Gloria and said, “Gloria, how do you feel?”
    “What do
you think?” Gloria said coldly.
    “You
will be alright.” Klaycon said confidently.
    “And how
do you know that?”
    “You
finished second in the last selection when we were 14.”
    Gloria
didn’t say anything. She could tell Klaycon liked her, but she didn’t like him
at all.
    “I am
thinking, you can come to my celebration party after this.” Klaycon said
proudly.
    “You
sure you can survive?” Gloria sneered.
    “I will
be the champion the third time.” Klaycon said firmly.
    Gloria
flashed a brittle smile. She could tell Klaycon got this confidence from his
family. It also reminded her that Klaycon’s grandfather, General Klizan, was
one of the few generals that sentenced her grandfather General Gien to death.
    “What do
you say?” Klaycon asked nicely.
    “I am
the granddaughter of General Gien and you are the grandson of General Klizan.
What do you think?” Gloria said angrily.
    “I don’t
care.”
    Gloria
was surprised to hear this. She stared at Klaycon.
    “I don’t
care.” Klaycon repeated.
    “Not
everyone has the privilege you have.” Gloria said coldly. She felt a very light
touch on her back. As she turned around, she saw Carila grabbing Klaycon’s arm.
    “Klaycon,
come on, what are you doing here?” Carila asked unhappily.
    “Carila,
I will catch you later.” Klaycon said gently. But Carila still stood there.
    “You
should join her.” Gloria said hastily and walked away. She couldn’t see the
colorless liquid on her back started to spread.
    “Think
about it, OK? Let me know.” Klaycon shouted as he waved to Gloria. Carila
glanced over at Gloria and flashed an evil smile.
    Gloria
looked up at the high ceiling. She was thinking about Jason. The desire to see
him again was so overwhelming that she couldn’t think anything else but him.
She remembered when she met him on that movie night, the joy busted out like a
volcano eruption. She never had such feeling before. At first, she was
struggling to find why, but later the reason didn’t matter anymore.
    Just at
this moment, her family badge was flashing. Gloria knew it was Jason calling
her. As she was about to answer the call, she noticed the ceiling was
descending very fast. Then the ground below her suddenly disappeared and all
Glycans fell into a huge hole. After a long fall, Gloria ditched in water. The
pain on her chest almost knocked her out, but she managed to come up to the
surface and stay floated. Some Glycans around her were trying to catch their
breath. Some swam around nervously and some were dead already. The water level
was rising and the ceiling had covered the hole completely. Gloria took a deep
breath and dived into the water. When she reached bottom, she could see
hundreds of outlets. She simply picked the closest one and swam as fast as she
could. The outlet opened to some kind of tube and the water flow carried
forward. Soon she resurfaced in a lake in the middle of a desert. She stumbled
onto the shore and called Jason, “Jason. Jason. Are you there? Can you hear
me?”
    The
badge looked fine. Then she realized that they might block all communications
as the selection started. Gloria tried again, but the line couldn’t get
through. She thought for several seconds, but there was nothing she could do.
    Other
Glycans kept coming out of the lake and none of them stopped to take a break.
Gloria quickly got herself together and ran behind other Glycans. A sandstorm
was approaching them from several kilometers away and it soon swallowed the
slow ones. Gloria got into a