Among Wolves [EXPLICIT]

i. among uncertainty

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ADELINA FLORES STRAINED A FAKE, GLITZY SMILE across her face for the umpteenth time, using it as a facade to hide behind. Clad in a traditional yet somewhat glamorously embellished wedding dress, her mother, Luciana, sung in a sharp tune of how she was marrying the perfect man for herself. But her and her daughter were singing a different tune that day.

"You do look beautiful, Mom."

Luciana inspected herself in the mirror, smiling at her daughter's words and on how the dress perfectly fit her body and the curves she had.

"Well, Roman didn't buy me this dress for nothing."

Her hands rummaged along the fabric of her dress, thoroughly in love with it. The older woman was happy with her decision to make the dress purely out of velvet, lace, and silk - although it was quite expensive, Luciana only had the finest taste for her things. And the dress was no exception to her philosophical lifestyle. Her smile was wide, showing her perfect teeth, until it fell into a horrified gasp at what she saw in the mirror.

In the reflection, a red smudge was stained on the side of her dress, now noticeable once Luciana moved the frilly material in her fingertips. A shrill squeak caused all the workers to pause in fright and Adelina's face to pucker in odium.

In anger, Luciana raged out loud.
"Maria!"

From the small crowd of differently aged workers, a tired Guatamalan woman appeared, holding Luciana's white veil, adorned with rich embroidery, in her wrinkled hands."Yes, Mrs. Flores?"

"It's Mrs. Lykos to you, Maria! What is this?!"

Luciana grabbed the stained material to show the tired maid, who bent down on aching knees to examine what she was so angry about. Maria handed the veil to another woman who looked frightened at the drama queen.

"It's a lipstick stain, Mrs. Lykos."

"And who was the idiot that caused this?! This is a ten thousand dollar dress! It's more than any of you skanks are worth!"

Adelina watched as her mother threw her tantrum, pointing accusing fingers at the women huddled in a crowd. She stood on a slightly elevated platform in front of the mirror that allowed her to tower over them like King Kong on the Empire State Building.

"Mom, I did. It was my fault,"Adelina took the blame and exasperated, feeling pitiful and embarrassed at her mother's behavior. The drama queen's rage swiftly turned towards her own daughter.

"Well don't just stand there, Lina! Clean it now!" Luciana huffed and crossed her arms. Maria quickly disappeared into the bathroom before reentering with a damp cloth and handed it to the demure daughter. Adelina gently dabbed on the stain to remove it as her mother watched her carefully like a hawk," You're too slow. Hurry up."

The stain wasn't as noticeable as it was at first, but Adelina continued to try to remove it to get her mother to calm down, though even that didn't satisfy her pretentiousness.

"Fuck," Luciana suddenly shrieked,"Maria! Get me some more wine. I'm more nervous than a fucking whore in church."

As she waited to be attended to, Adelina noticed her mother's nervous excitement. She remembered how her mother told her about her multiple beauty pageant escapades, and yet here she was... insecure and fidgety as a rabbit.

Both Adelina and her mother jumped up when the sound of Here Comes the Bride played elegantly, echoing throughout the aged stoned walls of the medieval building. Luciana panicked, hopped off of the pedestal, lifted up the layers of the dress flow, and quickly put on her heels.