Swimming in Dark Waters

Day of Reckoning (Part II)

"Hello and welcome to the Annual Choosing ceremony!" A long haired man with a neon green suit stood in front of rows of women. The women were lined in order, each with their hands clasped, staring at the ground in silence, most wearing red dresses. "Today, we have an assortment of women available! And a record amount of Betas this year as well, our lucky Alphas will have plenty to choose from!"

He laughed halfheartedly, and turned to face them. "Betas first! You will proceed in an orderly fashion down the stage, and follow your guide to the auditorium."

A narrow, shrivelled woman, who looked like she'd been soaked in lemon juice for too long, waved at them from the bottom of the stage.

Cleo was in the front row of women, so she did as she was told, following the guide down the worn wooden steps, through a pair of towering wooden doors into a long, dimly lit hall.

The guide said nothing to them, nothing at all, nothing to ease the tensions and nervousness of the young women, leaving them heartlessly to fester in their own doubts and fears.

Cleo was tempted to speak up, but checked herself. That was not something Betas do. Alphas spoke up, not Betas. She eyed the other women around her, feeling somewhat bad for them, as she knew most, at best, would be going home alone. Another part of her analyzed them critically, looking for flaws, comparing their beauty to her own. Many of them were quite attractive, although a few unlucky girls were cursed with 'unattractive' bodies. All in all, Cleo figured she was prettier than most of them, and that gave her an edge.

Besides, most of them were clad in red, to stand out, just like she had predicted. She was thankful that as far as she could tell, she was the only wearing white, and a frilly yet plain white dress at that. This made her smile; perhaps she was not entirely doomed.

They reached the end of the hall, and another pair of towering doors opened before them. The guide entered, and the rest followed in a neat procession.

"Ahh, here they are! Such wonderful young ladies!"

Cleo turned to find the owner of the voice, and saw a rather fat, greasy looking man approaching from the right. Behind him was a stage, larger than the last, and with purple velvet curtains hanging from either side. Across from the stage, was an elevated 'box' in which, Cleo could make out young men, all chatting with one another. Their voices were vaguely audible over the auditorium, and many of the women looked up fearfully.

"Come now, it has already begun." The greasy man motioned for them to follow, and they did so. He led them behind the stage, where they could no longer see the young men, or anything in fact, besides the back of the stage, and pulled out a long piece of paper from his oversized pockets.

"We will begin with Amery Caldice," He read out loud, "Amery, where are you?"

A thin girl in a bright red dress staggered over to him, wobbling in her high heel shoes. "Here." She said, her voice scarcely loud enough to hear.

"Very good, come with me now. The rest of you, take a seat." He took Amery by the arm and led her up the back steps of the stage, but just as they were about to enter the stage, he turned. "Oh, and I nearly forgot to mention, when the music plays, you need to dance, or walk around and show off your body."

Cleo nodded, trying to maintain her disgust at the requirement of 'showing off her body', and sat hesitantly on the cold ground, and the others did the same. It chilled her to the bone, and she wondered how much time and effort it would've taken for them to at least lay down a carpet. Of course, none of those in charge really cared if the women froze for an hour or two. If it didn't do permanent damage, why would they bother?

The lights above dimmed, and she heard the greasy man introduce Amery. Music began to play, and after a short while, she emerged from the stage, shaking so bad Cleo truly felt sorry for her.

"Anna Li, come up, you're next."

So the night went on, woman after woman called to the stage, the man would introduce them, and then music would play, different songs each time. Cleo sat in numbed silence, waiting her turn with no emotion, as if she were in a trance. After a while even the cold leeching through her clothes didn't bother her.

"Cleo Laurence. Cleo Laurence." The man had resorted to simply calling the women twice, nothing more, so far, everyone responded within being called twice.

Unfortunately, Cleo was too deep in thought to realize her name had been called.

"I said, Cleo Laurence, come up NOW, or your chance is lost."

This time she heard. She leapt up in a trice, and almost fell over again, her legs being stiff from the cold. She adjusted the white flowers on her head awkwardly, and ran forwards.

"Yes, sir. I'm here!"

The man glowered at her, and seized her arm, hauling her up the steps.

Once on the stage, with all the lights focused on her, her began listing off her qualities, and information.

"Cleo Laurence, 18 years old. 5"6 feet tall. Traits include: Creativity, intelligence (for a woman), compassion, kindness, patience..." He went on for some time more, Cleo standing beside him all the while, scanning the men staring down at her.

They were handsome, there was no denying that. Certainly Alphas as well, she noted their posture, how some had their feet up on the banister, how others poked and prodded each other, not taking it too seriously.

One of the men gave her a scornful glance and turned to whisper something to his friend, and they both burst into laughter.

Cleo narrowed her eyes, but upon realizing what she was doing, relaxed her face and looked away. Women were not to be angry at men. Women are to be submissive and understanding. Anger is not attractive if it comes from a woman.

If she wanted one of them to fall in love with her, she dare not be angry.

A small smile spread across her lips, and she glanced back up at the men. Now only three were actually paying attention.

Annoyance spread throughout her body, she had spent so much time preparing to look THIS beautiful and only THREE were bothering to pay attention?!

She kept the smile on, however looked the three over quickly, when suddenly her eyes locked with a man at the edge.

She could make out his brown hair and facial features, and decided he was not as attractive as some of his peers, but he was handsome nonetheless. He would be the one she would seduce. He would fall in love with her. She agreed to this statement in her mind, and plotted on how to make it so.

"...and most of all, Cleo is submissive and respectful towards men. A perfect trait." The greasy man smiled up at the Alphas, and music began to play.

It was piano, not exactly what she had been hoping for, but she had no choice but to deal with it.

Cleo kept her eyes locked on the one Alpha, and walked slowly to the front of the stage, bowed half way, and spun around sharply, causing her dress to lap at her ankles. She twirled a few times, and walked gracefully around the stage, making sure that her body could be looked at as most as was possible. All the time making sure to glance up at the one Alpha every so often, just to check if he was still watching.

He never looked away.

The music ended after a minute or so, and she was taken back to the cold stone floor, and forced to wait for another eternity.

Finally, after all the girls had their turn, and they sat in silence on the floor for a while (greasy man had disappeared). The greasy man magically reappear and stood in front of them all : "Alright, the Alphas have chosen 30 women to proceed to the next round of choosing. So listen closely."

He pulled out a sheet of paper. "They've marked down which women they would like to see more of, anyone who has not had their name written down, will be escorted out."

He read out a few names, before, in relief, Cleo heard hers spoken. She breathed a sigh of relief, and immediately wondered if it had been that one Alpha who had written her name down. She hoped so.

Suddenly, 10 security guards marched in, surrounding the women.

"Anyone who did not hear their name, will be escorted out by the guards. Please stand up if you did not hear your name."

Half the women stood, and obediently followed the guards out, their heads lowered in fear and shame.

"As for the rest of you, now you will meet the Alphas."