False Gods

Book I: The Nation of Alrest

Chapter V

     I hate dressing up. It didn't mean I didn't know how to, but I hated it. The dress, the make up, the pantyhose, the dreaded modern torture machines commonly referred to as heels, ever part of it was sickening. I was a soldier, not some pretty little rose for all the boys to stand and gawk at with their mouths hanging open like a bunch of underfed birds in front of a worm. Nonetheless these were my orders.

     "Colonel Acacia, I will need you to come to an event this Friday. I will be showcasing a miraculous invention that will change the way we see the world! But you'll have to dress nice," he had said.

     I had attempted to argue wearing my dress uniform, but he waved it off and specifically asked me to wear a dress.

     "That's an order," he had finished. So I knew there was no getting out of it.

     I applied a nice shade to my face and eyeliner and lipstick and all of that malarkey, and then put on a dress my sister had recommended. Of course, it's not that my sister cared at all. She enjoyed watching me squirm, so she'd pick out some of the girliest things she could find. Even though it bothered me, I knew she'd never let me leave looking bad. No, she'd make sure that I looked absolutely stunning, but she'd also make sure I absolutely hated it.

     I opened the closet and pulled off the plastic cover from the dress, she definitely pulled out the stops this time. The dress was very expensive, and dark blue? Wow, the color was something I didn't actually hate, until I realized that the subtle pattern on the dress contained butterflies and flowers. They were simply stitched onto the dress, and were the same color, but anyone with eyes would notice it. The dress came about to the bottom of my knees, and the spaghetti straps weren't my favorite. Luckily she included a long-sleeved black cover for it. The heels were black, but also about four inches high.

     "Why do you hate me sis?" I mumbled aloud.

     Now all I had to deal with was my hair. This part I didn't mind so much, as I was simple. I brushed it out and used a couple of oval hair clips to pin it behind my ears. My hair went slightly below my shoulders, but it had been in a bun for so long now that I had forgotten how long it really had gotten.

     I put on the dreaded heels and then sat down and waited for the security detail to arrive.

     After about fifteen minutes, I realized I had forgot my perfume and spritzed some on me. Immediately there was a loud knock on my door, startling me and causing me to drop my perfume. The almost-full bottle then proceeded to leak in a big stain on my apartments carpet.

     "Son of a bitch!" I yelled at no one. "This place is going to smell like perfume for months now...."

     The door was knocked again.

     "Yeah, give me a minute!" I groaned as I sopped up what I could of the perfume with a towel before finally answering the door.

     "Colonel Acacia?" a large man in a complete black suit with a white shirt and a black tie asked. He had a wire hanging from his ear and was wearing sunglasses. His skin was a peachy-white and he had black hair, obviously the security detail. He also had some sort of mustache, but it wasn't growing out well at all.

     "That's me," I responded.

     "I am part of the New Tornan Exclusive Security Detail, you're ride is here," he explained in a deep voice.

     "Fine, let's just get this over with," she said as she locked her door and walked to the vehicle.

     "You look—" the man went to compliment, but Acacia cut him off.