Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
VOL. ONE; CH. FOUR ༄ ————nearly naked but not afraid in the slightest
Vulnerable was not an emotion Elodie typically felt. She was normally protected and confident. In that moment, though, Elodie did feel particularly exposed. Lying naked on a metal table while she was stripped of, what felt like, three layers of skin. Her whole body tingled, and not in a good way. Her skin felt raw.
Coming from a well-off family, in an even better off district, Elodie wasn't a stranger to shaven skin. She normally shaved before every reaping or party. Though, she typically only shaved her legs. Now, she doesn't think she holds a single follicle of hair anywhere except her head.
After what felt like hours of waxing, Elodie was dunked in baths. That's right, plural. They all looked and smelt different, and she doesn't think a single one of them was just water.
After being given a robe (which felt thinner than paper) and command to stay in the room, Elodie wandered over to the one mirror in the room. Her hair was shorter, all the ends cut at her collar bone. Her skin looked like porcelain, pale and delicate. All her bruises and scars that had previously decorated her skin were now absent. Replaced with complete nothingness. Elodie looked completely bare, like a canvas. A canvas for her stylist to lavish with whatever painting of their choosing.
Her nose crinkled at the thought. Her fingers danced over her jawline. They hovered over the spot where a particular scar had once resided. It was given to her by Cadman. He had nicked her with his sword while sparring. He hadn't done it intentionally, but she was only eight and her skin wasn't quite as thick as some might think. Elodie ended up getting stiches and a scar out of the deal.
She grew to love the blemish on her jawline. It made her look more threatening, more lethal. Elodie couldn't describe how, it just had that effect on people.
Now, she was left with a blemish-less jawline. As well as a blemish-less body in general. She looked completely and totally fake. As if she was just created, never having lived in the real world at all.
Elodie heard her before she saw her. All Elodie heard was a muted clicking that slowly grew louder until finally the door lurched open to reveal a woman that Elodie could only describe as blue. Her eyes and lips matched in color, both a deep blue. Her makeup was in shades of blue, blending into her baby blue skin. Elodie likes to say she's tall, but this woman was even taller. Of course, she was wearing six-inch blue pumps, but she would be tall without them.
"My name is Aquanetta, but I'm sure you knew that." And she had. Aquanetta had been a district four stylist as far back as Elodie could remember. She was thebest. Though, they never moved her up from district four; Elodie could only assume it was due to her obsession with the color blue. All of Aquanetta's looks contained at least a splash of blue and that just wouldn't work with a masonry themed outfit.
