He stood before the crowds, his proud stature giving off a aura of strength and power. He was nothing like I had imagined him. There was no way he could be the legend of darkness that the stories made him out to be. He looked like an ordinary man in some ways, but in others, he was so much more. His eyes, they were... splendid. Bright magenta irises seemed to glow as his gaze shifted around the citizens. His skin was dark, olive tan, and his hair was a dark brown with a slight red tint to it, especially when the sunlight shinned on it. Physically, even I had to admit he was a very attractive man.
I felt my face heat up when I looked at him. I had to turn away. I was to be married to a wonderful man that I loved. I was not going to marry the country. Eventually, my eyes became glued to the screens. There was something about him that was mysterious and irresistible. He was hypnotic. It was his eyes. That bright magenta dragged one in like a magnet. As they flashed through to meet the camera, my heart nearly stopped. It felt like he was staring straight at me. God, they were so beautiful. I had never seen a human with eyes that color. It was rare to find someone with an eye color other than brown, so to see that gorgeous shade staring into your soul, it was incredible. He was an endangered species. No, in fact, he was more than that. He was unique, a true one of a kind.
When I looked around at the women, all of them were in almost a trance like state as they watched the screens. It was as if they were being pulled to him. When I looked back at the screens, I saw a small smile on his face, but there was something off about it. It was more of a smirk than a smile. Did he know what he was doing? Maybe holding all of the woman hostage in their own mind was a plan of his. I had completely forgot that this man was a lot older and wiser than he looked. He could outsmart anyone here. But why was I spared? I guess I just saw through his trick, but then, I heard his voice, and just like before, and like the women around me, my eyes were glued to the screen.
"I welcome you, my citizens to our beautiful city of Rome. I am overjoyed that so many were able to come." He spoke proudly into a microphone. His voice was rich like honey. I closed my eyes and listened carefully. Now, it was like he was only talking to me. "As you may already know, one of you is to be my new wife. I hope that which ever woman is chosen, will be happy." He paused briefly and motioned for a few other men to walk over.
The first man was huge. I had never seen someone that large in my entire life. He had blond hair and red eyes. His entire body was covered in muscle. I got that same irresistible feeling about him, but not nearly as much as the beautiful man at the microphone. The other man who came up was shorter than the other two with jet black hair and dull red eyes. Just as the other two, he was irresistible, but in a different way. He was so odd with the way he looked. He was very different from the other two.
The two men pulled out a large box. In the box, all of our names were kept hidden. The large man held the box, the short man pulled out a name, and Luciano read it. The name sounded all too familiar. A few soldiers walked over to me and escorted me to the stage. My legs were like jelly as I walked up onto the platform where my new soon to be husband was waiting. I almost melted on the spot when he gave me a small reassuring smile. He was magnificent. The audience applauded for us. I was dumbstruck. There was absolutely no way in my entire life that I would have predicted my ordinary days would suddenly be changed forever in such a dramatic turn of events.
"I'm sorry." He whispered to me briefly before turning back to the audience. I looked at him confused for a moment before both of my arms were grabbed. I looked around terrified, barely having enough time to react to the soldiers carrying me away. I tried to let out a cry for help. My new husband could stop them. He had power. One wave of his hand and the men would put me down. As soon as I opened my mouth, a rag was put over my face. A putrid smell filled my nose before I passed out.
When I awoke, I was in a completely white room, lights shining in my eyes, blinding me. I saw blurry shapes moving around a few feet away. My head was pounding, I was drenched in sweat, but I was freezing cold. I tried to move, but my muscles felt like they were being soaked in acid. My entire body ached. I let out a soft moan, hoping one of the shapes was human.
A doctor turned to me and looked my body over for a few moments, then walked over to the others and started to talk to him about something. I lay helpless and motionless on the bed. What seemed like hours later, they walked back over to me and sat me up. My head immediately started spinning. I sat still for a few seconds before I emptied my stomach contents all over myself and the bed.
A few nurses moved me into a chair and pushed me into a showering unit. They scrubbed the dirt and filth from my body. My hair was brushed, my nails were cleaned, and my entire body was washed. The water was so warm. It was like basking in the sun on a fresh spring day. I wanted to wrap the heat around me like a blanket. The nurses rinsed me off, making sure there were no more bubbles anywhere on my body. When I got approved, my assistants helped me into a new clean robe. It was so soft and fluffy.
After my cleaning, the nurses took me into a different room. It looked like a small bedroom with a bathroom attached to it. I was put into bed and told to rest. I passed out once again, only this time I woke up in the same room. When I looked to my side, he was there, reading a book. Dark brown hair with a red tint, tan skin, and those eyes. My body was shaking with nerves. I wanted to say something, but I wasn't sure what I would say. I opened my mouth, but closed it before any noise could escape.
"You should be asleep." He said calmly. His voice was different than at the ceremony. He was so calm and bored sounding now. There was no crowd for him to impress. He put his book down and looked at me. "You must be tired." His voice was quiet. A few minutes later, I gathered up all of the courage I could. I needed to know some things. I had no idea of what was going on.
"Excuse me sir, but where exactly are we?" I asked quietly. He looked down at me, a blank stare over most of his face. He wasn't the same as at the ceremony. There he was magnificent. Here, he was so dull. Once again, he picked up his book and began to read, not answering me. "I asked you a question. Where are we?" I asked, getting irritated with him. He gave a small sigh and put the book back. I could tell I was starting to irritate him. I didn't care about that, I just wanted answers.
"We are at the hospital. It is kind of obvious. You needed testing done to see if you were healthy enough." He looked at me. My arms were covered in bandages, my legs were too tired to move, and my head still ached. "You passed all of your tests. Congratulations. If you would have failed even one, you would have been put to death and I would be in your place, all covered in scars." His voice was so bored sounding now.
"You know, for the country, you are pretty rude." I said bluntly. To me, it didn't matter who he was. He still should treat others with respect, especially after going through all of that. The look on his face was pretty priceless. He was shocked none the less. I doubt anyone had ever spoken to him like that in his life. Country or not, he was going to have to learn I had to teach him myself, I would. He was supposed to be a symbol of national pride, not someone who just watches the world spin by, not caring about anything.
"I am not rude, I am truthful." He explained, the boredom still in his voice. I couldn't take it. Back at the ceremony, I at least thought he would always be some glorious hero, but he was nothing like that. It just proves that you can never judge a book by its cover. And he was one long story. "There are certain health requirements, and lucky for you, they were all met. If you would have failed even one, they would have killed you outback." He looked me dead in the eyes as he spoke.
"Why would they do that? I was chosen." I asked quietly. I knew they could kill me but, I didn't think they would go that far. "Why wouldn't they just let me back outside?" There were so many questions for me to laugh. I didn't think I would ever get to ask him all of them. There wasn't enough time in my lifetime, and maybe even his for me to ask him everything I wanted to know.
"If we would have let you go, you would be different. You would be clean, and you have seen some things that can't be released to the public and, you add to all of that, you have been vaccinated. And you can be replaced very VERY quickly" He explained to me. I still didn't quite get it. What was the point of choosing a name then? Why couldn't they just go up to someones home and take them in the middle of the night. They already do that anyway. People would go missing in the middle of the night, then mysteriously, the next week the military would buy their house and they would have a new base.
Whenever I tried asking more questions, he kept avoiding them until the doctors came into the room. They unhooked my bed from the floor and wheeled me out. He followed us out to a large truck where the loaded me up. I lay helpless in the bed until they parked the truck and removed me from the back without the bed. I looked up at where we stopped. It was the place that was to be my new home. I had never seen a more spectacular house in the world. It was a major upgrade from my old shack in The Devil's Playground. I was amazed by the large marble pillars and the amazing sculpture work on the outside. It was surrounded by thick, lush gardens full of flowers and shrubs.
"Is this really where I will be living?" I asked, wonder and awe in my voice. He looked down at me and gave me a nod and a very slight smile. Unlike the one at the smile at the ceremony, this one was real. I walked over slowly and weakly to smell a large red rose. It was so sweet smelling. My new husband simply snapped his fingers and a gardener appeared and clipped the rose away from the bush and handed it to me. I looked down at it sadly. "But now, it is going to die." I said quietly. He looked at me and saw the distress in my voice.
"But it would have died out here anyway. At least with it picked like this, you can treasure it's beauty in the little time it has." His words were soft. I was amazed by the wisdom that he spoke. He was no ordinary man by any means. He was the most different man I had ever met. Slowly, he made his way over to me and sniffed the rose. It was only when he got that close to me that I noticed something. It was a random curly hair sticking out from the side of his head. There was no purpose for it to be there, it just was. It was only then that I realized something very important.
"What do I call you?" I asked him quietly. He looked at me, obviously confused by my question. "I mean... What is your name?" I could feel my face turning red from embarrassment. We never had introductions, and the man giving the speech never gave a name. I had gone this long without even knowing something simple as his name. I felt so idiotic about it. I couldn't believe I would just forget something important like that. I was too busy caught up in my moment that I didn't realize that he had turned to face me with a small smile on his face again.
"Luciano Vargas, at your service." He took my hand gently, and kissed the back of it.
