Chapter Fourteen-Kenna

Delilah spent the day dragging me from shop to shop, throwing different types of clothes at me and demanding I try each item on so she could decide what looked best. Once she was satisfied with the twelve bags filled with new clothes and shoes, we stopped at a place she called a beauty salon.

There were rows of transparent plastic chairs either side of a large mirror that seemed suspended in mid-air. Luminescent blue lights moved in waves inside the plastic of each chair, adding to the futuristic feel of the place.

I was busy eyeing the sharp looking chandelier hanging overhead when a plump woman with a short pixie haircut and round eyes came to greet us.

She introduced herself as Maggie and I couldn't help but notice that her features were youthful however her hair was grey. When I asked her if it was a disorder of some type or if she just aged really well she burst out laughing, told me that I was absolutely hilarious. I had no clue which part she found so funny but I didn't say anything as she led me to one of the chairs and motioned for me to sit.

Delilah mumbled something about dropping the clothes off at home, leaving me alone with the woman who began pulling at my hair and eyeing me in the mirror as she scrutinized it. "Your hair is super healthy, but it seems like it hasn't been cut in years, so the ends are rather dry and more than a little damaged. I recommend we start by taking this much off," She told me, holding her hand next to my shoulder, "it'll really compliment your heart-shaped face."

My eyes widened and I shook my head, reaching up to play with a strand of my hair. No way was I cutting it. "Uh, no thanks." I told her sheepishly.

She looked somewhat disappointed but didn't say another word about it as she put on a pair of spectacles and moved to open a book with different pieces of hair woven into the cardboard pages. While she paged through the strange book, someone placed a thin glass of champagne in front of me. Grateful, I picked it up and took a slow sip, enjoying the way the bubbles felt on my tongue.

Maggie pointed to a piece three shades lighter than my natural hair colour and looked at me with raised eyebrows, "How about a different colour? A soft blonde shade in between your caramel locks will do wonders, it'll really make those gorgeous eyes of yours pop."

"Sure," I told her, even though I wasn't sure that I understood exactly what she was saying. Felt like I didn't understand anything about this world. It was really starting to become frustrating.

Before she started, she sent me to a side room where another woman in the same white uniform proceeded to use hot strips to remove every bit of "unwanted" hair from my body.

The experience was painful and extremely unpleasant. The woman was surprised when I told her that I'd never undergone such a procedure before and said that many woman do this each and every month. Somehow I found that hard to believe.

Once finished in what I now refer to as the torture chamber, it took three hours for Maggie to wash, dye, dry and style my hair.

By the time she'd finished, Delilah had returned with two brown paper bags filled with food. I'd eaten just that morning so didn't have much of an appetite; when you're used to eating every few days I suppose your body gets used to it.

When the hairdresser was done, she spun the seat around so that I could see exactly what she'd done. When she did, I found myself staring at the mirror with wide eyes. I couldn't believe it, it didn't even look like me.

My once dry and frizzy hair now fell down to my waist in large, silky curls. The colour she chose really complimented my skin tone, making my features seem softer than before.

One of the main things I noticed was that the torture chamber actually worked out well for me; now that the swelling and redness had gone down, I was able to see that by merely thinning my eyebrows out she had actually made me look more feminine.

I suppose the clothing I had on helped with that as well. Before we arrived here Delilah forced me out of the clothes I'd had on and into a pair of figure- hugging skinny jeans, short-heeled boots and a black knitted turtleneck. She tried to get me to go and get my ears pierced too, at first I agreed until I saw exactly what that entailed and backed out of there so quickly. Why would anyone purposefully put holes in their body?

"Wow," Delilah said, "you actually look hot."

I frowned in confusion, placing a hand on my forehead to see if I felt hot. When she saw what I was doing she laughed and led me outside. The sun had already started to set and the heavy rain had slowed to a drizzle as we made our way back to the apartment.

When I pushed the door open Jed was seated at the breakfast nook, papers spread out all around him as he held his head in his hand and frowned down at them. Delilah went to the bedroom to change and I went to find some water in the kitchen, the champagne had dried my mouth out terribly.

Jed was so engrossed in what he was reading that he didn't even notice we were there until I reached the tiled section of the kitchen and my heels began making a noise.

He looked up and dropped his pen, staring at me for a moment longer than usual before scrambling to pick it up.

My heart started beating erratically as he studied me from top to bottom. I'd never been self-conscious before, but I found myself blushing under his gaze and wondering if what I had on was too revealing as I fought the urge to look away.

He walked up to me and reached out, curling a lock of my hair around his finger as a small smile played on his lips, "You didn't cut it," he said, looking at me with his golden eyes, "I'm glad. You look beautiful."

I looked down, trying to hide my smile as my cheeks burned. His attention shouldn't have affected me as much as it did but I'd never been called beautiful before, it was nice to feel noticed. Now I understood why women in the modern world did what they did.

Delilah noisily cleared her throat as she walked out of the room, swaying her hips as she showed off her very revealing, tight red dress and impossibly high heels.

Jed and I stepped away from each other quickly, not realizing how close we'd ended up standing.

"Right," Delilah said in a cheery voice, clapping her hands together loudly, "So, let’s get going then! I'm sure your mother is extremely excited to see us." She added sarcastically.

Jed gave me one more smile before turning to Delilah, "You look great Dee." He told her without looking at her for more than a second. I didn't miss the way her face fell at the lack of attention he gave her and it made me feel a little guilty.

Before I came along, they had strong feelings for each other. Perhaps they were even planning a future together, I had no intention of ruining that. All I had to do was fight this curse a little harder and make sure to keep my distance as much as possible.

We climbed into a box-like machine that scared the crap out of me. It moved so quickly! Quicker than anything I'd ever encountered on the island and that's counting the Jag that was seated next to me.

My breathing quickened and I tried not to burst into tears as the outside world rushed past at an impossible speed. The contraption was so unnatural it made me want to tell the person steering it to stop and allow me to walk. Instead I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.

Jed noticed my anxiety and placed his hand over my clenched fist in an effort to comfort me. I wanted to open my hand, link my fingers with his and take in every bit of comfort he was offering but as I met Delilah's eyes in the review mirror I remembered what she told me in the coffee shop and immediately felt bad about wanting such things. So instead, I gently pulled my hand away from his and placed it in my lap.

Nobody said a word until we pulled up in front of a large triple-story building. There was an elderly woman waiting for us at the entrance.

Instantly I recognized her. I had no idea if it was even possible but something in me just knew that I had seen her face somewhere before.

Jed opened the door for me and I stepped out, my eyes glued on the woman at the top of the stairs. He walked up to her first, greeting her with a hug and kiss on the cheek before turning to Delilah and I, "Mom, this is Kenna, the girl I was telling you about. Kenna, this is Agatha, my mother."

"Nice to meet you, my dear," she said, smiling politely as she turned to look at me, "I look forward to getting to know you a little better."

I smiled in response before Jed continued, "and this is Delilah, you remember her, right?" He asked, his voice got a little higher and I could sense he was tense. Guess they really didn't get along.

She looked at Delilah and without a word, turned to walk inside. We followed her into the entrance hall as just as a young man came bounding down the stairs.

I paused, watching him as he walked up to us with a sexy lopsided grin on his face. His blonde hair was wet and messy, sticking up in different directions as he looked at everyone before his eyes found mine.

He stopped in front of me, bending at the waist, keeping his pale grey eyes on me the entire time as he pressed his full lips to my hand, "Why hello there, Gorgeous. I'm Haden, Jed's better looking brother." He winked up at me and Jed rolled his eyes as he watched his brother closely.

Haden stood up, moving to stand beside me as he continued to speak, "It's a pleasure to meet you, little hexblood. I can already tell we'll be fast friends." He told me, placing my hand on his arm before leading me into the next room.