The Soldier named Dalliance

5~alter ego

°~another I~°

You know, after a few years of living
A few things about people really stay with you over time.
I should know,my closest friend is the one that taught me that.
Even if we want to drop kick each other even to this day.

I woke up barely, the pull of death was getting harder to resist since the man injected me and refused to feed me for three days now. The other voice I heard that spoke, I learned that he was a inactive cadet.

I didn't know what that meant but when I saw the boy being pushed around outside the cage, I realized something. He was taken just like me, but his fate was alot different from me.

I didn't move much since those long days, my body was numb to anything other than constant pain. But it wasn't a terrible pain that blinded you. It was a pain that numbed you to anything else.

The sun was just starting to creep over the horizon for the fourth day. I slowly moved my hand to my head and cradled my face in a sad attempt for shade.

"Girl, are you still alive?" That voice,the cadet's voice. I tried to speak but my spit just drooled past my lips and the sounds came out as slurs.

But it was enough for him. I heard the cranking of metal and the jingle of keys. Then a shadow stood over me before the Cadet spoke again.

"I'm really surprised you survived. Usually the other people they inject die from seizures within a day or two." He said, sounding genuinely happy.

I tried to move my head, but my hair fell over my eyes. I sighed in defeat, since it was the only thing my body could still do normally.

I felt hands circle my body lifting it in what seemed like a bridal style carry. I blinked the hair out of my face, desperate to see the Cadet.
He looked really strange.

He had extreme pointed ears and long hair that was a mix of orange and red shades, adorned with braides of different styles. It was quite alarming to see such vibrant colors on a man.

He moved slowly as he carried me across from what looked like a fort. Buildings and tents filled the space, along with rugged soldiers. Most were either training or gawking at my direction.

I would've covered myself up with anything I would find if I could. I was taught that I wasn't supposed to attract attention. It was an impossible task in it's self,since my appearance was the sun of attention.

The Cadet made a round to a few tents before walking into a large building. Smoke bellowed out of the chimney, and the smell of sterilizer filled my nose. I wasn't stupid, I knew that I was only going to get more needles.

I tried my most desperate to move away, but only made the Cadet annoyed with me.

"Hey! Hold still! If I don't take you for the injections than you're definitely going to die in the next few hours. Is that what you want?"

I slurred my best curses at him but only managed to drool all over his arm. Poor thing.

He kicked the door open and entered the fresh hold. "You can't just barge in -"

"Andreas! What the hell you doing! You're supposed to restrain the patients before bringing them!"
A high-pitched woman spoke, her heels clicking over the tiles.

The Cadet only grunted at the woman.

"Shut it Tennessee, you know very well that the fucked up ritual they have going makes you nearly dead."

He lifted me, almost to throw me to the woman. "Besides,does this poor thing look like she could fight back or run away?"

The woman leaned over to me, flashing a flashlight and checking my eyes.
"She's responsive. This is good. Place her on the stretcher, the doctors would like to run tests on her."

The woman sighed and rubbed her forehead. She almost looked like the cadet, Andreas.  She had large pointed ears but her hair was a blond color, green scattered around in the strands.

" Let's hope that this girl will be our ticket out if here Andie." The woman's said, almost in a sad tone.

Andreas placed his hand on her shoulder.
" I hope so Tess. I really fucken hope so..."

They had a moment of silence before a bunch of footsteps broke the silence.

"Thank you Miss, we'll take her from here. But before you leave, I need to take a few notes."

One of the doctors said to the pair, holding a clipboard. " Has her appearance or behavior change during the preparation proses?"

Andreas answered :" Her appearance really did change. When they brought her, she was almost like a blond. But after the injection, her hair and skin got way different."

The doctor looked up from his writing and glanced at me, his shrill eyes dead to empathy. "Thank you for your cooperation. We'll see to it for a letter of recommendation, have a good day."

Andreas and Tessa looked at each other again almost hopeful. It was the last thing I saw before the stretcher began to move down a bleached hallway. Even though I was only an observer at this moment, I felt like I was the only one truly experiencing myself out of my body.

I guess it had to to do with the numbing pain, it took my senses and broke my grip on reality.

It was a good hour I saw on the ticking clock that went by. They strapped my arms and legs with belts the hospital bed, even though I still couldn't really move.

Luckily with the fluid they gave me through the drip, I had gotten my vision back again and my speech no longer slurred. I looked around the room, seeing that it was painfully barren.

But that was when the mirror that stood  across from me caught my eye.
The person staring back at me was a stranger.
I don't know where I got the strength from but I just moved my arms and legs without restraint. The whole bed groaned under the pressure I was pressing down.

I released my one hand from the straps and reached out to the mirror, touching the alien face.

My hair that was once a light blonde brunette, was nou a deadly jet black. My eyes that where a soft brown,was now a transparent gray. It frightened me to my very core.

It was then that I let out a scream that made the glass of war on my nightstand crack. A scream that made my ears ring and my nose bleed

As the heart monitor near me start to go haywire, I glanced quickly as worried nurses and doctors rush into the room.

The screeching and the two people I saw earlier, Andreas and Tessa
was the last thing I saw before I blacked out and sleep took me into a loving embrace once more from my pain.