A Waking Nightmare (TNHID Book 2)

Chapter 13

Willow

The cheering of the crowd is deafening. The moment I step off the train, the noise overcomes me, but I don't flinch. Even though my strategy at the moment is to look weak, I refuse to show vulnerability at something as harmless as this.

I hold my head high and smile at the people around me, even though all I want to do is shriek all sorts of profanities. My dad and I are herded into a long black car with tinted windows. "A limousine," my dad calls it. Blaise and his mother follow shortly after.

I find myself sitting across from Blaise once again, and I try to ignore his piercing gaze. He's practically asking me to stab him.

I turn my head to glance out the window as we pass the different buildings. There are large apartments painted in every color imaginable. And as we get closer to the training center, the apartments become houses. Even the smaller residences must be worth more than my own. And I can't fathom why. They are so colorful that it is grotesque.

After a drive that takes way too long, we are directed towards a large building. The wall that I can see appears to be made entirely of glass. I hope for everyone's sake that it's bulletproof. Otherwise, some desperate kid will break right through it and jump to their death.

I assume that this is the Remake Center, and it will also be the area where I am "remade." The thought makes me flinch. I don't want to know exactly what the process entails, but I understand that I am about to find out.

Blaise and I are directed to one elevator while my dad and his mom are led to a different one.

I take deep breaths to steady my nerves. This is not the time to be afraid. I'll have plenty of time for that when I'm in the arena. But for now, I'm not in a life or death scenario. I hope.

The elevator ascends a few levels, and I can tell that we are pretty high above the ground. Blaise and I are separated into our own rooms where I know that the prep team is going to be in charge of clearing me of my flaws.

The three people waiting inside are altered to the point where they don't look like normal human beings anymore.

One woman has neon pink hair, and her eyelashes appear to be the same color. Her skin is the color of chocolate. But what really sticks out to me is the fact that her eyes have jewels embedded inside of them. The sapphires match her eye color, but it is unnatural. That looks painful, I think to myself. The next is a man who is bald other than a zig-zag of black hair on the top of his head. Every inch of his body is covered in tattoos. They're above his eyebrows, along his upper lip, following his jaw. There are even some on his nose. The last woman looks normal at first glance, but I see that her skin is fair, white as the winter snow. And her face is pretty, but her skin is stretched tight over protruding cheekbones and a sharp jaw. Her nose is too small and her lips too full to be normal. Her hair is a sheet of blonde, and her eyes are green. But not a soft green like Blaise's. Her eyes are almost glowing. They look radioactive.

I don't notice that I am slowly backing up until I hit the door that is sealed behind me. Calm down, Willow. They can't do anything to hurt you. But that's not my fear. My fear is being forced to look as they do. Like some alien creature who wasn't conceived on this planet. They wouldn't. They need me to look recognizable for the cameras. With this thought, I move forward towards the chair in the center of the room. As I sit down, the prep team is already in motion. The woman with pink hair begins to grab supplies while the man adjusts my seat so that I am lying down.

"Oh, look at how cute you are!" the blonde-haired woman says. Her voice is high-pitched and bubbly. "My name is Aniela, that's Forrest," she gestures to the tattooed man, "and she's Everette." The pink-haired woman gives a little wave from the cabinet in the corner of the room. "And we're here to make you look beautiful!"