Burlap

10 - Bodies

Recognition didn’t dawn on me as I watched the glowing figure in the mirror until my own dull grey eyes fell into view.

I couldn’t stop the small gasp that shot from my mouth like a bullet from a gun at what I saw. Esther’s primping had become noticeable, and the fresh, crisp looking woman staring back at me in the mirror exuded far more beauty than little Kate the Great ever could have on her own.

My fingers lifted to my face, pulling at the pink skin on my cheeks and inspecting every smooth and flawless inch to see where this discernible difference had begun. For as many times as I’d glanced at the jars on Esther’s vanity and thought them a waste of money and useless, I was now staring at living, breathing proof that they worked, at least to some degree. Even my hair, normally brushed once a day in haste, had begun to curl slightly and get softer and less stringy under Esther’s routine of brushing it in slow, gentle rhythms for several minutes at a time every night.

I licked my lips, my nerves jumping all over as I stared back at myself in the mirror.

My reflection smiled, making my heart thud loudly because I knew, without a doubt, that I was not smiling. As my body froze and I watched on in horror, my reflection widened her grin and turned her head toward the door to my room, the motion slow and deliberate. Without moving her head back to face me, she looked at me from the corner of her now sparkling steel eyes and winked, nodding at the door she faced.

I shrieked at the resounding knock that broke the terrified silence I’d sat in. My head snapped toward the door, then back to the mirror only to see the same wide eyed, petrified girl I knew I myself to be.

You’re becoming me, Sane. I’m flattered, Power mocked, exceedingly happy with her little parlor trick. I glared at my reflection, sending every ounce of hatred I had for the psychotic beast in my head through my sneer. Her tinkling laughter rang out in my head before the knock on my door came again. 

“Come in!” I called, closing my eyes to slow my heart and my breathing. I needed to calm down. I had to calm down.

The gentle creak signaled the entrance of my visitor. I squeezed my eyes shut, took in a deep, cleansing breath, opened my eyes again and looked back up toward whomever had come to my room. 

“Are you alright?” John asked, his brow set in a concerned furrow from where he stood inside the door frame.

My body’s relaxation was instantaneous at the sight of him and the sound of his deep southern voice. A smile etched itself across my lips, Power’s teasing and mind games forgotten in his presence.

“I’m fine,” I breathed, more than said. “Is something wrong?”

His lips formed a gentle smile and he shook his head. “Nothing’s wrong. I was just wondering if it’d be alright for me to walk you to Shilling’s office for your appointment?”

Giddy warmth coursed up and down my veins and my cheeks began to ache with the grin plastered across my face. “I’d love that, John. Is it already that time?”

I watched in amusement as his body visibly puffed up in pride at my acceptance, his face lit up in satisfaction and happiness. Without a doubt, he was a man’s man, raised to be an alpha male, and the knowledge that he’d chosen to gift his affections to me made me sigh with my own womanly sense of pride that complimented his.

Was I even good enough for that? Timid, little field mouse Kate?

Don’t discredit me. You’ve got some spark with me in here, Power chipped in, her voice filled with mirth and self-satisfaction.