The Huntress in the Wood

9. Sometime

The door knocked at 7 o'clock sharp. It was like that they had flown by too fast. I avoided Madison's reign of terror until about 6 o'clock in the afternoon. I had been hiding behind my reports for hours on end. I even FaceTimed Damon, our officers son.

Back in high school we had a little fling. It wasn't much other than coffee dates and text messages, because we were always so far apart. Whenever there was a counsel meeting I would beg my parents to bring me with, only to sneak out and see him. After a few months of stolen kisses and hook ups we sizzled out. There was never enough time for us to see each other and the long distance made me realize I only liked him as a friend.

"I knew you would have read that book! So as I was saying, I think that-" Damon was cut off as Madison threw my door open, her hands full of clothes hangers.

"You can't hide in here anymore Em. You have to get ready! I only have an hour to make you beautiful." Madison threw the pile onto my bed.

"I gotta go." I said quickly to Damon.

"I want pictures!" He yelled before I hit the red end button.

Madison immediately started pulling dresses from her pile, all which made me want to vomit. I was more of a dark jean and hoodie person. After about 10 different dresses we got into a heated conversation about color. I told her the only dress she could even think about getting me in was dark blue or black.

She squealed in delight when she remembered she had something else in her closet. She came back with a dark blue, almost black, tight dress with plastic sequins. The dress fell right above the knee and had a plunging, but not revealing, neck line.

"Can't I just wear a nice shirt?" I asked.

"Hell no! Cmon try it." She pushed.

I sighed and walked to the bathroom. The dress was nothing like I'd ever worn before. Even to the hunters version of prom I didn't dress up like this.

The dress hugged my body perfectly but covered everything it needed to. When I moved it caught the light and shimmered beautifully. I looked at my dull features and messy braid and couldn't believe I was the one wearing it.

I don't think I had ever seen Maddie wear it either.

I opened the door to my bedroom and my sister looked up from her phone. Her face went from happy to pure shock and she dropped her phone on the bed.

"Is it that bad?" I asked.

"It's... DROP DEAD GORGEOUS!!" Madison screamed and ran towards me. I held my hands up to defend myself when she pulled me towards the desk again. She already had her ring light, makeup palettes, and brushes laid out.

For the next several minutes all I heard about was how I should do my makeup more often and pay better attention to my hair. When she was done pulling at my hair with the curling iron she moved on to my face.

I felt like I had just fallen in mud and done a poor job of wiping it off. The foundation felt foreign, the mascara made my eyes feel heavy, and I felt like I needed to lick the shit off my lips before it melted down my chin.

I looked in the mirror to see a completely different person looking back at me. My eyes looked bigger, my nose looked smaller, and I couldn't see a single imperfection on my face. I turned to look at Madison who looked happy with her creation and ran off to change into her own dress.

I heard my phone buzz and went to answer it. It was a message from Damon.

How'd it go?

Right as I went to answer it someone knocked on the door. I sighed and walked downstairs to see Kaden in a suit, standing in the entry way. He wave me an award winning smile and handed me a rose.