Untouchable Fruit

Fear and Beginnings

No pictures with my updates i'll fix it soon.

Artemis' POV

     Briana sits on my bed behind me as I sit in a small chair in front of my vanity as Anna works on me, brushing my long dark hair until it's smooth and silky before she take the curling iron and begins to work her magic.

    I watch myself in mild disgust as I begin to get prepared for myself to get gawked at and touched on by any male with enough money and power that my Mother and Aunt will allow me to be with them.

    My back is achingly straight and I try not to gaze to myself too long, only staring off into space or behind me at my Knot.

    "Why are you here?" I ask her, and not for the first time and she doesn't take offense to the question.

     "To protect you. To support you. We will figure this out together. It sucks when the people that you need the most are no where to be found. You don't have anyone here besides Chelsea and some times she doesn't get it. The abandonment. It hurts. I know. But here I am." She says looking at me with a heart broken half smile and I close my eyes to stop the tears from coming.

     One of them escapes though and I sigh in defeat as many other follow.

    "I'm sorry, Anna. I know you're working hard." I apologize to her but she doesn't seem upset like she usually does. Typically she would hit my shoulder with one of the make up brushes and scold me for not being careful with her masterpiece.

    This time, she pulls one of my strands of heart behind me eat and look at me with sad eyes that make me tear up again. "It's okay to cry. Living is hard. People tell us that life is short, but in reality, it's the longest thing we'll ever experience." She tells me and I stare at myself in the mirror then, letting my core tighten as I remove the water form my face.

     "They always make living sound so easy and simple." Briana says from behind me and I nod in agreement.

     "It never is." I say and she smiles.

     "You're all done." Anna tells me softly, stepping back to put her tools away and I look at myself, not liking what I see. Anna did amazing, but I know that the girl in the mirror isn't who I am or who I want to be.

     I'm doing this so that I can finally be who I want without restrictions and so that other can feel that freedom too.

    I have to remind myself of that goal three times a day to stop myself from screaming at the top of my lungs in a break down. I clear my throat and advert my eyes before I turn around, only in a tank top and shorts for now. "How do I look?" I ask Bri with a wobbly smile.

   She walks over to me and places a soft touch on my cheek, enough for me to feel but not enough for my make up to get messed up.

    "Beautiful. But I prefer the real you over this any day." She tells me and I breathe a slight sigh of relief before Anna walks over to me with a soft yellow dress, the one that hugs my curves just so and I stand up and help her put it on me before she carried to me hide heels that I slip on.

    Once I'm all dolled up, I turn towards Bri.

    "Yellow is definitely your color." She tells me with a sad smile and I laugh, posing for her for a bit before I walk over towards her and grab she hand.

     "I know you don't like this. And I'm sorry you have to go through it. But I learned a spell from a Cassie. Since Faeries and Warlocks are so closely related, and I'm a Royal I hope this works." I mouth the words I've been practicing for the past few days and trace a symbol of Bri's hand while making my finger burn with a soft fire.