Perfection [On hold - changing a lot of the story)

10║the way they create

        “Take your clothes off.”

        I stared at her, my eyes widened.

        “Excuse me?”

        “Do you want to get out of here or not?” she asked.

        “And what do you mean by ‘out of here’”? I said, folding my arms. “And why does it involve me taking off my clothes?”

        “Listen,” she said, moving towards me. “I just need you to do what I say. I’ll explain later.”

        “No,” I said, taking a step back. “I need you to explain everything now, I’m not doing anything you tell me too, especially after you put a gun to my head.”

        She opened her mouth to say something but then stopped, looked around and also folded her arms. My head started spinning with uncontrollable force. Everything she said added more confusion to my already fractured thoughts. She put a gun to my head yet she was speaking to me like I had just met her. She was asking me favours as if she had a right to.

        Taking a step towards me, she placed a hand on my arm. I shrugged her off, taking a step back away from her in an attempt to avoid her touch again.

        The next thing I knew, I was surrounded once again by trees, trying desperately to hide between a thick tree trunk. I fiddled around with the straps of my dress, slipping out of it quickly. Without hesitating, I picked it up and stuck my arm out at the side of the tree, holding the dress out. She grabbed it, replacing it with what she was wearing.

        My face dropped as I held out the crummy pair of jeans she had passed me, dotted with patches and the baggy hoody she was wearing earlier. I laughed at the ridiculousness of what she was asking me to do. After looking at her expression, I realised she was serious and slipped into it, trying my best to avoid touching the wet mud patches.

        “I’m going to need your stilettos too.”

        I sighed, unstrapping them and just threw them at her, assuming she was remotely talented enough to catch them. In return, I was thrown a muddy pair of shoes but threw them in the trees ahead of me instead. Rummaging through my bag, I pulled out the pumps I had taken off before I entered the division and slipped them on.

        I took one last look at myself and held onto the tree behind me, nearly falling over. I felt sick. I couldn’t go anywhere looking like this. Nobody could see me. It would ruin everything for me, my first impression, everything.

        “I’m not going anywhere looking like this,” I said and a second later, I felt my head spinning once again but this time it refused to subside.

        I staggered back and forth, holding the tree to steady myself but in the end, I found myself grabbing the tree for all of its strength as I crouched lower and lower till I was on the ground. I sat there as arms fumbled from the other side of the tree, caressing my temples with my fingers delicately. In a matter of seconds, darkness enshrouded my sight and I fell into a never-ending pit of confusion.

                                   ♛                    ♛                    ♛

        I felt groggy, balls of light filtering through my eyes as I opened them. My head felt weak and I placed my hand on the surface beside me to steady myself. My hand sank in the soft material and as I steadily recovered from my dazed state, I felt it sink further. Stretching my hand further, I grasped something soft and cold into my fist. Its then that I realised I was on a bed, the corner of the satin sheet draped over me clenched in my fist, my knuckles red from the force I was using to clench it.

        My eyes immediately switched to my surroundings, darting around in a panicked attempt to figure out where I was. The walls were graced with an aureate paper, detailed with intricate patterns that I could even make out from where I was sat. As I sat fully upright, something flicked on from either side of me and I turned to face a plump lamp seated on black patterned cabinet which produced a faint light to the area around it. The beige curtains on the wall beside the cabinet glided open on their own, revealing an ornate window which illuminated the whole room with rays of brightness.

        Shuffling off the round bed, a soft platform touched the soles of my bare feet, and I stepped off it to reach the floor. Warmth embraced my toes as I put both of my feet on the stone floor, standing fully upright. As I looked around, I was filled with adulation for the beauty around me.

        My arms were covered with the sleeves of a silk robe which was fastened tightly around my waist. I tugged on the strands in the middle to loosen them and my face dropped as I stared at a thin black bra and underwear covering me. I looked around in a panicked attempt to locate any other person. Empty. Who undressed me?

        As a cold breeze swept through the room, I pulled the robe against my body, fastening it around me once again. My eyes wandered around the room before setting on the door in the corner of the room. As I made my way towards it, the sound of whirring and clicking stopped me in my tracks and I turned toward the huge wall facing the bed. The wall began to be replaced with slim panels, the whirring and clicking continuing, which lined themselves side by side all across the wall, covering the entirety of it. From being transparent, the walls turned black and the distinct outlines which formed each panel faded into the background, conjoining all the panels to form one wide, black screen.

        It turned white and from there, an image graced the whole screen and I had to step back to observe the whole thing. I was surprised to hear the familiar voice of Lavinia Beaumont speaking and I frowned, clearly distinguishing the channel as a news channel, even though I had never seen Lavinia presenting the news. It was always another woman

        “Since yesterday, crowds have formed outside the venue of the awards ceremony to congratulate Esmeray Beaupre on her fantastic achievement,” Lavinia spoke on, her soft voice fading into my ears as the scene switched to the scene of the previous event.

        The screen displayed large crowds gathered at an outside location, around a broad podium. Confetti fell from the sky, covering everybody on stage and the audience in a beautiful array of colours to celebrate the achievement. It then zoomed in on the faces of the people on the podium and then on Esmeray Beaupre.

        “… achievement from an exemplar of perfection!”

        I felt my face drop and I put my arms out behind me to steady myself, my hands flailing in thin air to find something but I instead failed and hit the floor with a thud. Both excitement and fear coursed through my veins and my eyes widened, my head spinning with a confusion that both made me wonder and fear for my own life.

        I recognised that strong bone structure and those pink, rosy cheeks.

        Everything felt so unreal, like somebody had created this very moment just to play with my emotions.

        It wasn’t true; it couldn’t be.

        My find refused to accept the daunting reality which was dominating my thoughts, threatening my happiness but the more I found myself thinking about it, the more it struck fear into my heart. I clasped a hand around my mouth as my thoughts formed into one sudden realisation.

        My assailant was an exemplar of perfection.