The first day of my work program comes before I'm ready for it. Although I'm not sure I would ever have been ready to face the underground, no matter how much time I had to prepare for it. 

It turns out I did get issued special clothes for the program, despite it being the middle of the year when clothing wasn't normally distributed. They told me I was given an exception because I would have to dress appropriately for my work conditions. At the time, I hadn't known what that meant. But now, entering the lift to take me underground, I realize exactly what it means. 

As we ride the lift down, the temperature seems to drop more with each level we come to. I'm clothed in a beige jumpsuit that covers the entirety of my arms and legs and is made of itchy fabric that leaves red marks along my skin. The colder it gets, the more I'm convinced that this thin material won't actually do much to provide me with warmth. 

"You're on underground level seven," the woman in the lift tells me in a somewhat friendly voice. I can tell that she's trying to be upbeat, but the lines etched in her forehead reveal that she's spent too much of her life worrying. I wonder how she got stuck in a program like this. 

"I'm Alexandra, by the way," she mentions as an afterthought and gives me a cautious smile. 

"Nya," I return, nodding my head curtly. 

Alexandra looks at me with sympathy. Or is it pity? I can't tell. Her black hair hangs loosely at shoulder length, framing her round face. The lift shakes ad rattles as we slowly continue the trek downward and I watch her hair softly swish side to side in time with the lift's movements. 

"We're almost there," she says, filling the silence. Her long, thin fingers hold a metal key in place next to a square aluminum disk with the number seven engraved on it. I've never seen such an old contraption like this lift and I assume it's never been updated with our current technology. It's been forgotten. Just like I will be if I'm left down here long enough.

"Alright, here we are."

The lift comes to an abrupt halt, almost knocking me off balance. The doors slide open and Alexandra pulls the gate of the lift to the side, which is keeping us in here. The latticed rusty metal gives her a hard time and I assist her in pulling it the rest of the way. 

"Thanks," she says gratefully to me, brushing her hair out of her eyes. 

"Yeah, it's no problem," I wave off her gratitude, hoping that I hadn't embarrassed her. I know I wouldn't want to show incompetence at my job, no matter how meaningless it might be. 

I take a few steps out of the lift and notice that Alexandra isn't following me. "You're not coming?" I ask, my stomach tightening with nerves. 

She shakes her head sadly. "I can't leave the lift. Someone will meet you at that corner." She points in the direction of a narrow hallway to my right. 

"Alright. Well, thanks," I say awkwardly and Alexandra smiles in return, wishing me luck before disappearing behind the doors of the lift. 

I walk the length of the hallway and the smell of dirt and mildew assault my senses. The air is damp and the chill that I felt on the lift isn't lessened here. My teeth chatter, either from the cold or my nerves or both, and I try to clamp them together to keep them still. 

Small lamps are positioned on the walls, each within about a three foot distance from one another. The illumination is strong, but I still feel enclosed in darkness. Once I reach the corner, I lean back against the wall, noticing that there aren't any more lights once I round the turn. It's pitch black and I shuffle myself closer to the lamp nearest me to stay near as much light as I can for the time being. 

"You must be Nya."

I jump and almost yelp as a tall, slender figure of a man emerges from the darkness. I hadn't heard him approach.

"Sorry for startling you," he chuckles. He doesn't sound sorry at all. 

"It's fine," I mutter, trying to appear unaffected. 

"So you're new," he says with his large blue eyes piercing my gaze, giving me an unsettling feeling. 

"Well that's one way to state the obvious," I quip. 

He raises his dark eyebrows and for a moment I'm worried that he will reprimand me for speaking inappropriately on my first day, but then he smirks. His eyes roam up and down my body, lingering a bit too long on my chest and I clear my throat. I can't help but shiver at the creepy vibe this guy is exuding. 

"You'll get used to the temperature," he says, noting my shivering. His smirk is still in place. "And Nya, I would hold your tongue if I were you. You wouldn't want to get kicked out of the underground because there are no other options for you. Trust me."

My heart feels like it's turned to ice in my chest. He's right. If I do anything to screw this up, I will have nothing. The only comfort I find is thinking about Harry's promise to get me out of here. I can only hope it will be sooner rather than later. 

"Do you think you can agree to that?" He asks, licking his lips and leaning down to me so we are at the same eye level. 

"Yea- Yes," I mumble.

"Good." He straightens up. His skin looks translucent - probably from lack of sunlight - and the contrast against his dark hair makes his skin appear that much paler. 

"We need to go through there." He points at the dark hallway from where he had emerged. "Are you frightened?"

I hadn't realized that I had moved away from the hallway slightly. 

"No," I say incredulously. "I'm just moving toward the light for warmth. Maybe you're used to it, but it's fucking freezing down here." My excuse is mediocre at best, but I don't want him finding out that the dark does, in fact, frighten me. He seems like the kind of guy that would use that against me.

He clucks his tongue at me disapprovingly. "You're off to a rough start, Nya. Remember what I said about that tongue of yours."

I suck in a deep breath, keeping myself from shouting out a reply that would surely get me in trouble. The man hands me an oblong device and instructs me to push a rectangular button on it, which results in a beam of light emitting from the end of it.

"What is it?" I ask, curious about why we aren't just using light transmitters instead. It seems like they do the same thing, but the object in my hand is bulky and the light coming from it is much dimmer.

"Old technology," he says, switching his on as well. "They're called flashlights. We don't get many new devices down here."

I follow him as he leads the way down the darkened hallway, making sure to stay close. He doesn't make me feel safe, but I would rather be with him than by myself in this dark and narrow passage.

"So I should probably tell you more about your position," he says, running his hand along the concrete wall as we move forward. "I'm Elijah and I'll be monitoring your progress in your specific program. If you aren't able to handle what little tasks you're responsible for, we will move you down. And down. And down again. Until there's nowhere lower for you to go and then you will be eliminated from this program."

As Elijah speaks, I'm filled with more and more dread. His words are not giving me any sense of hope and part of me thinks that maybe that's what he is trying to accomplish.  

We turn a few more corners, going through some passages that are more narrow than others. I can make out faint lights in the distance. 

"Ah, here we are." Elijah almost looks joyful, like he's taking pleasure in seeing my courage waver. 

We've come to a metal door and Elijah slides a small disk into a thin opening near the handle. Before he opens it, a strong pair of hands grab my arms and yank them behind my back. I scream out and my knees buckle from the shock of the pain. Elijah's wicked, smiling face is the last thing I see before I'm blindfolded and plunged into darkness. 

A/N: Four updates in one day! I'm pretty proud of that. And I'm planning on posting more soon. Also, the gif is Elijah! Creepy, right?