Under My Skin

by Shawntelle Madison

  Karin sorted through the items in her bag. “I’ll wash her hair first. That’ll take the longest.” With her supplies in hand, she ran her fingers through my hair. “Quite soft. Too bad whoever cut it didn’t do a good job.”

  I bit my lower lip. My mom had cut my hair. Even if my hair weren’t as easy to manage as hers, she had done a great job, thank you very much.

  “Let me get started—”

  Claire grabbed me by the arm. Her fingernails bit into my skin. “I got it. I need to double check her measurements for the dress anyway.”

  Karin shrugged. “Whatever. More time for me to prep everything.”

  As Claire led me to the bathroom, a sinking feeling came over me. Why was she moving so fast? This feeling turned to dread as she shut the double doors and engaged the locks.

  “Sit down on the stool over there,” she commanded.

  None of this made sense so I waited next to the old mahogany stool and watched with curiosity. Claire turned on the faucets over the tub.

  “We could wash my hair in the sink,” I offered. “It’d be much easier.”

  She shrugged. Steam began to fill the room. “This’ll be faster. You can get clean and get your hair washed at the same time.”

  The water rose at a leisurely pace in the tub. Claire continued to face away from me, her head bent over while her hands messed with something beeping I couldn’t see. I craned my neck to see what beeped in her hands. Then as fast as a viper, she closed the space between us, holding a small black box in her hands. A buzzing noise, like the sound of angry bees, came from the box.

  “Look, I don’t have much time,” she whispered. “I have too many things to tell you.”

  My face wrinkled in surprise. “What?”

  “You need to get the hell out of here!”

  I jumped back. “Out of here? But wha―”

  “Just shut up!” She sighed and took a deep breath.

  “I have about three minutes before my cover’s blown, especially in a room like yours. You’ve got tech all over this place. Even the damn uniforms are bugged.”

  I nodded. She was so close I could make out the light freckles on her forehead, the soft sheen of the lip gloss on her lips.

  “Everything here is not what it appears: the Water Bearers, the Guild. It’s a front. I want to throw up every time I think about it.”

  The air in my throat caught and refused to go down.

  “You’ll have an opportunity after the auction to escape. You must take it.”

  “Will I get help to go home?”

  Claire shook her head. “You can never go back home, Tate. The Guild chose you and there’s no escape from them—unless you make a run for it.” Her gaze darted to the door twice as if she expected someone to come any minute now.

  “I don’t understand any of this,” I said. “I can’t go back home. I can’t stay here to be bought by the Guild. Why should I believe you?”

  Claire groaned and wildly gestured around her. “Does any of this make sense to you? Why would a group like the Guild who’ve oppressed people for hundreds of years have an auction and bid on people?”

  “Servants? I even heard we might be trained as their apprentices to take their place.”

  “Apprentices? Oh, c’mon. Do you think they would pluck anyone off the street to do that kind of thing?”

  “I don’t know.” I searched for some reasons and they came fast. “We’re young—harmless. Wouldn’t they want people they could trust? That they could train?”

  She roughly grabbed me by the chin. “Everything you’ve heard is nothing but lies. To them, you are cattle,” she said between clenched teeth. “You’re something they allow to grow along the countryside before they bring you here to—” Heavy footsteps in the suite made us both look toward the doors. The doorknobs shook.

  “Not another word. Open the door, immediately!” A man's voice ordered.

  Claire turned to me, her eyes pleading. “Don’t forget what I said. Don’t let them use the Vorhees Unit on you.” She touched my forehead with her fingertips as someone rammed against the door. Eventually, the beautiful doors bent inward and broke. Enforcers rushed the room. The steam swirled around us, filling the space with screams and flailing arms as Claire fought against them. Her legs kicked and jerked, causing an antique mirror to crash on the floor. A delicate vase followed not long after.

  “Get back, Ms. Sullivan!” one of the enforcers barked. Part of me wanted to intervene, but instead, I backed into the corner. Do as you’re told, I could hear my mom beg.

  Sweat poured down my forehead and entered my eyes, but I wouldn’t blink—couldn’t tear my gaze from the horror in front of me. One of them slapped Claire’s face to subdue her. Again and again. The sound reverberated against the marble walls.

  Another enforcer tried to cover Claire’s mouth, but she managed to scream, “You can’t hide the truth forever!” They grabbed her from behind and by her legs. “We will free them! We will—” The sharp snap of a las-gun filled the air along with the stench of burned flesh. Claire went limp in their arms.

  Locked in the grip of fear against the wall, I watched them carry her away. Her chest continued to move with each breath, but her eyelids drooped. Her mouth hung open. Was she okay? I’d never seen someone like that before. The enforcers in my town rarely had to use violence.

  My tears mingled with the heavy steam in the room and I couldn’t help myself. My chest shook and I sobbed. In the background, the water continued to run. It almost felt like a lifetime since Claire’s words bounced around my mind. I could see the corners of the room, but I didn’t feel alone anymore. The room had sufficient light, but after what happened, the dark eyes of strangers stared at me from every corner. They slid down the ornate vanity and slithered my way. Moved across the fine rugs on the floor. Ever since I’d come here, they’d been listening to everything and seeing everything. At this moment, the cameras were no longer something I brushed aside as a persistent warning from my parents. It was all very much real. And now I knew the truth. Something bad will happen to me very soon.

  Time passed. Eventually, someone entered the bathroom and turned off the water. It was Karin.

  “Get in the water, Tate.” Her voice was quiet.

  I never got in that tub. Instead, I used the sink to wash myself as best as I could. I shook all over, but soon enough, with clean hair and all, I entered my bedroom. Karin combed through my hair. I sat in a chair in the main room while she clipped the ends. At first, she considered using the bathroom, but we both quickly vetoed the idea. No need to rehash the memories from that scene. No one came to replace Claire, so Karin continued to work magic on my skin with luxurious lotions. She filed and added fingernail polish to nails, which had never seen such a beautiful shade of gold. I relaxed a little and kept my gaze away from the bathroom door. Karin used the majority of our time to do my hair. She brushed and yanked, drawing up my thick hair with pins. The few strands that she didn’t pin up were coated in red glitter and curled to perfection.

  “Your hair is quite cooperative,” she said. Soon enough, Karin finished my hair and it was time to put on the dress. As Karin unzipped the dress bag, the red-haired girl arrived with my lunch. Everything proceeded as if Claire had never been here.

  “Is Claire coming back?” I whispered.

  I almost missed when Karin shook her head. Her focus rested on the dress she pulled from the bag. When I saw it, I understood why. It was gorgeous. A long, glittery black gown with an empire waist. I’d only seen gowns like this on the comm-console on women far prettier than me. I touched my scar and rubbed the ridge.

  “That’s so beautiful,” I murmured.

  Karin smiled for the first time. “Only the best for certain members.”

  My curiosity drew me to where she handled the garment. A cloud of vanilla perfume surrounded the dress. Grandma Ida wore vanilla oils. Those weren’t cheap in the south where I lived.

  I reached over to touch it and stopp
ed myself.

  “Go head. I plan to put it on you in a bit.” Karin pushed it closer to me.

  I touched the delicate beading on the front. Shiny black beads flowed like a dark river. All of this was for me? Why would they dress people they planned to use for nefarious reasons in something so expensive?

  “Did my sponsors pay for this?”

  “Of course. They paid for all of this. The make-up. The clothes. They even paid for surgeries for some people.”

  My hands paused. Why hadn’t they paid to take care of my face?

  Karin grabbed me gently by the shoulders and turned me to face her. “Let’s get this on. Take that robe off.” She continued to speak while she unhooked the back of the dress. “Some of the other beauticians have clients who’ve had dental surgery. And, boy, did they need it. There were mouths full of decayed nastiness on a few of the boys.”

  I took off the robe and covered my breasts. What little I had. Carefully, I stepped into the gown and allowed Karin to finish fastening the back.

  She went on and on about the clients of other beauticians while she applied my make-up. To be truthful, part of me wanted to experience wearing make-up like all the girls I’d seen around here. At least once—even though I didn’t like drawing attention to my cleft scar. No one wore make-up back home. Not that many needed it. My mother had a natural beauty that would’ve looked ridiculous with all the glitter and lip gloss most of these girls used. As Karin applied gloss to my lips, she didn’t say anything about my scar. She dabbed glitter on me as if nothing were wrong. For that, I was grateful, but that didn’t take one obvious fact away.

  “Why didn’t my sponsor pay for a procedure to take care of my face?” I gestured to my ridge. I didn’t want to touch her handiwork.

  “Oh that? I don’t know. I do know you had specific orders on your records that no one was to alter your face. One of your sponsors paid a hefty fee for you to keep it, since everyone else wanted it taken care of.”

  I bit the inside of my mouth. Hard. My face would’ve been repaired by now. I could look like Karin, but one of the Guild, the people Claire had warned me about, had some crazy idea I didn’t need to look normal. All of this opulence around me—the food, this humongous room, and one of them thought I needed to look like this? What kind of person treated people that way?

  My throat dried painfully and tears threatened to fall, but I refused to cry after Karin had worked so long on my make-up. Not long after, she presented me with a mirror. I sighed and gave her a warm smile. The girl in the mirror was a princess from a fairy tale: soft, blemish-free skin. Perfect make-up. Mesmerizing brown eyes and a prominent scar that would accompany me to my cattle call. I’d never looked so beautiful in my life.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Just as the Guild promised, the evening had the pomp and circumstance of a ball. The beauticians handed us off to the older Water Bearers who escorted us from our rooms into a hallway decorated in streamers and balloons.

  Even with the festive mood around me, I wondered if the enforcers had taken Claire away through these very halls. Had they nonchalantly carried her limp body past all these decorations?

  An older Water Bearer girl interrupted my thoughts. “Congratulations on your joyous day!” Her face exuded excitement, while a few of the others around us reflected disdain. One older boy had his arms crossed, a bitter frown on his face. Another girl’s face reflected pity. Did they know what Claire had told me? I tried to pretend that seeing Zoe in a dark red gown with ribbons in her hair was a good thing. She rushed to me through the crowd and grinned widely. From the look on her face, no one like Claire had visited her. She was oblivious to the numbing fear slicing into me.

  “You look amazing, Tate!” With her hand in mine, she rained compliments on me.

  I nodded with each one she offered, but, in the back of my mind, all I could think of was that Zoe and I would be sold to strangers. And, just like my parents, I might never see her again. Soon enough, all those things Claire whispered to me would come to pass. Cattle, she called us. Zoe’s grip on my hand tightened as we continued down the hallway and more Water Bearers joined us from their rooms. “Aren’t you excited?” she gushed.

  I barely nodded and tried to ignore the buzzing noises from the older Water Bearers who held noise makers. “I wish I knew what they plan to do with us. Why are they holding a celebration?”

  Zoe had to yell over the madness. “Oh Tate, you’re getting upset over nothing. The girl who did my hair told me that all of this is part of the ceremony used by the Guild to celebrate the new class of Water Bearers. Hundreds of years of tradition and we’ll be in the middle of it all. Isn’t that crazy?”

  She squeezed my hand. “I also asked her to send a message to my sponsor.”

  “You can do that?”

  “I guess so. It never hurts to try! I asked her to tell my sponsor to bid on both of us so we can stay together.”

  Our celebratory march continued down a corridor deeper into the Training Facility. We’d never gone into this area before. The Water Bearers in gold, black, and silver gowns around me whispered in excited tones. Everyone had been dressed in finery with hair done to perfection. Not far ahead, Eva and Albert took the lead. They appeared like a golden king and queen. They’d dressed Eva in a black gown with gold stripes down the sides. Her chestnut hair had been drawn up and adorned with a black feather. Albert stood at her side in a black suit, staring at her with adoration. Bits of confetti clung to his blond hair.

  Our final destination was another cavernous chamber, covered in black stone. The glossy surface reflected every light from the floating chandeliers above our heads. With awe, I gaped at the rectangular-shaped room. I tried to take it all in, the thumping drums, the buzzing horns—the pain in my head pulsed with every sharp bang of the cymbals. Along the floor, adults and older Water Bearers sat in rows of seats, while far ahead at the end, a grand stage waited for us. As we closed in on the stage, I could make out silver chairs in the back. I bet they were meant for us.

  “Tate, look up there!” Zoe pointed to the balcony seating on the walls.

  So that was where the Guild sat. Up high and far away from us. But how would the auction take place if they’re up there?

  I’d seen auctions before at home. Men and women would line up around Old Bill Graves’s podium and they raised their hands when he tossed out numbers. Mom often bought things for the house that way, especially when the price of goods like flour got too expensive for us to afford.

  I squinted at section after section of balcony seats as we approached the center aisle toward the stage. I started to count how many, but I quickly lost track in the massive room.

  Eyes from above stared at us. Men and women of all ages and colors. Some of them with binoculars, the light from their sensors reflecting against the light of the floating chandeliers. No doubt, we had cameras on us as well, watching our every move.

  Eventually, we reached the stage. The silver seats in the back were meant for us, while close to the front, a single golden chair waited for an occupant. I took in its regal features—the tall back to the elaborate etchings carved in the wood. Somehow, seeing that made me recall the taste of the offering at the well. The bitter taste rolled on and off my tongue. Was this the moment where the cattle headed to slaughter?

  The man who initiated us as Water Bearers, Valentin, went up the steps to the stage wearing his grand robe. Once we took our seats, he extended his hands in the air toward the balconies on each side. “Welcome, esteemed Guild members to our 203rd annual celebration!” His voice echoed through the great hall and suppressed the cheers from the crowd.

  With the audience sufficiently hushed, he continued. “I’m pleased to bring our Water Bearers forward so that they may carry the waters of truth for our beloved Guild. May they leave us with light and love.”

  The bright lights dimmed, with only a single spotlight on the golden chair. From my vantage point in the third row, I squinted to see the audienc
e. The Water Bearers around me shifted, pointed, and whispered regarding the ornate chair. What would happen? Who would go first?

  Valentin glanced at the individual faces in the front row, a compu-tablet in hand. “Eva Donahue, come forward, child.”

  From the first row, Eva strode toward Valentin, who gestured for her to sit. The white spotlight hit the shiny stones on her hair, creating an angelic glow. I swallowed from how breathtaking she was.

  “May I introduce our first Water Bearer available for sale. Eva Donahue, item number 23674A on your compu-tablets. Based on prebids, we open the auction at 7,500 credits.”

  The audience remained silent for a moment, and then the lights from several balconies lit up like starlight. Each one had its own distinct color.

  “Look at that!” Zoe whispered.

  From protector over the Water Bearers to salesman, Valentin’s voice took on the guise of a man who held many auctions before. “I have 8,500 from booth 12C, 12,000 credits from 5A...” On and on his voice went. The number rose higher and higher as the lights from the balconies blinked and flickered like fireflies dancing around a bonfire.

  The auctioneer slowed down as the number climbed toward 30,000 credits. The number boggled me to silence as the Water Bearers around me buzzed from hearing such things.

  “There’s no way someone would pay that much for her. Can you believe it?” a girl behind me said.

  “I’ve heard them say Eva is special,” another said.

  Zoe snorted at my side. “I find that hard to believe.”

  The bidding finally ended at 45,000 credits, a number my village didn’t produce during a year, according to our accounting books. We were lucky most years to generate half of that in canned fish sales to the northern cities. And yet Eva was worth that much? For what reason?