Katniss wakes up feeling unprotected and unfocused. The bed beneath her is too soft and she realises she is still a prisoner in the castle. Her mind fills with the events from the day; the haunted castle, her father locked up in a cell like an encaged animal, the shadow which turned out to be a human with very peculiar features. She has to leave the place immediately, because she won't spend forever in the ghostly castle.
The hall is dark. It is like the light was sucked by supernatural forces. She wanders through several dark halls, opening doors quietly. Everything is empty and silent, except for the statues and paintings. She hears footsteps approaching and only has time to open a door and hide inside a room. She turns around and is speechless at the aspect of the room. So many broken chairs and cracks in the walls. A painting hangs on the wall with its picture ripped to shreds. One of the windows is broken and shards of glass are scattered around the floor. She is more confused about the castle than ever.
She steps into the hall and looks both ways before closing the door. A grand staircase ascends into a darker hall and her curiosity wins. The hall is lined with more shards of glass and only the wooden frames of looking-glasses hang on the walls.
One double door blocks her passage. She tries the doorknob and the door opens with a creak that fills the silence. Katniss must has enter a cell and not a room. Everywhere she looks, she only see destruction. Cracks, broken objects, ripped bedcovers. Behind a fallen wardrobe is a balcony. Its doors are ajar, but her eyes move to the round table with a rose protected by a glass dome. Her hand touches the dome and a warm breath on Katniss's neck sends a shiver down her back.
"Remove your hand immediately.", a voice threatens.
Her hand trembles as she drop it to her side. Two rough hands crawl down Katniss's shoulders to her wrists and she must fight the urge to shiver at the stranger's touch. She is spinned around and she is face to face with him. It can only be him. The being's eyes are blue, but the black is over-coming the light colour.
"What are you doing here?", he demands in a voice dangerously smooth.
"I..."
"Did you come to see the monster?"
"What?", Katniss wonders and his hold on her wrists tightens, causing her to whimper at the pressure on her bones.
"If you didn't come see him, leave.", he pushes her and she stumbles to the floor, scratching her hand on the a broken chair leg. "Leave!"
"Who are you?", she asks, pushing a few strands of hair away from her face.
"Leave!" An object breaks right next to her.
She stands up, fearing for her life and leaves the room. The sound of objects breaking follows her as she runs through halls, hoping they will lead her to a way out of the castle. She recognizes the main entrance the minute she climbs down a staircase. She throws the door open and steps into the icy night.
Lady is still on the place Katniss left her. They ride through the forest with the wind blowing harder and more snow falling down on them. Lady comes to a halt and Katniss is thrown to the cool ground. Her feet immediately freeze at the contact with the fresh snow.
Several growls become louder and she looks up to see three wolves approaching her and Lady. They circle Katniss and her mare, the wolves' eyes heavy with hunger. She remembers her father's arrows and takes one from the bag on the saddle. One of the wolves lunges at her and Katniss jabs the sharp arrow into his stomach. Lady is no longer beside her and she is alone with two wolves, ready to kill her at the first opportunity.
She runs as fast as she can, but her feet always get stuck in the heavy snow and the storm is constantly pushing her back. Katniss's breath comes out in small white clouds, burning her throat every time she exhales. The howling is right behind her and she pushes herself forward, yet it isn't enough.
Pointy teeth pierce her ankle and she is dragged down to the ground. Katniss screams at the excruciating torture, betraying tears staining her cheeks. If she is going to die, she wishes to be quick. The wolf yelps and she no longer feels its teeth, only a very strong pain. She crawls to a nearby tree and holds on to the trunk for support. Through her hazy vision, she makes out the silhouette of a man.
He is fighting the wolves with a sword already covered in blood that drips to the ground. The wolf with his mouth painted in red is slashed across the face, collapsing livelessly. The last one still stands, no harm made to him.
"Let him go...", she tries to yell, but it comes out as a painful moan.
He glances at Katniss, but he shouldn't have. The wolf lunges at him and bites the being's arm. There is blood everywhere and angry screams echo around the dead night. The sword is thrusted into the wolf's neck, cutting off a yelp. There is silence and then he looks at her. The black is slowly decreasing, the blue gaining life. His expression changes from fury to tiredness and he falls face-forward with the snow.
He saved me. She can't get her head around at what it means. She can't leave him here. However, that means she has to return to the castle.
She tries to walk to him and turns him around with trouble. His face... It is full of scars. Scars that have been marked to his skin permanently. Katniss exhales and takes his arm in her hands to look at the wound.
"I must look terrifing to you.", he breaths out the words. His clear blue eyes stare at her, possibly waiting for Katniss to feel disgust and repulsion.
"No.", she murmurs. He chuckles, humorlessly.
"Return to the castle. My servants will take care of your wound.", he pleads.
"I can take care of it."
"You are still my prisoner.", he reminds her, a warning in his tone.
"I thought you wanted me out of your castle."
"I don't."
...
He helps Katniss walk to a room with a fire already lit and sit on a sofa near the fireplace. She ia a bit surprised to see a room so clean and organized. He leaves her for a moment, giving her time to see the wound in her ankle. The hem of Katniss's dress is caked in dry blood and trails of it keep pouring out of the wound in the shape of a crescent moon.
"Don't touch it.", she glances up as he enters the room.
"I know how to treat a wound."
"Yet, I want to do it.". He kneels in front of her, places a porcelain bowl on the floor and grabs her leg roughly. His cold hands are like iron chains around Katniss's skin.
She glimpses the ripped sleeve and the scarred flesh on the being's arm. "And the wound on your arm?"
"It doesn't matter. I am okay."
"Why did you save me? Why did you come after me?", she asks, feeling conflicted with his actions.
"I have told you." His eyes gaze into hers and she remembers that at any moment he can hurt her. "You are my prisoner."
"If I am your prisoner, you could have let me to bleed out there.", she says. "It isn't your duty to treat me humanly."
"Yet, I want to!", he snaps, his hold tightening around her leg. "Can't you just be thankful for the help?!"
"I am trying to understand your actions. First, you want me out and the next moment you are saving me from - "
"Why do you have to know every detail?!" He stands up, his eyes beginning to look black. "Be grateful I didn't harm you instead of those wolves!"
Katniss is dumbfound at his confession. He truly is a monster, not physically but mentally. His mind and heart must only know darkness. "You are truly a monster."
"You are finally seeing the truth behind this scarred creature." He kneels down once again and cleans the blood around her wound before bandaging it. "Lie down. You aren't walking to your room with a wounded ankle."
The unhuman takes the bowl with him and closes the door. The room is too wide and empty for just one person. She takes her sandals off and lies down. A sudden pain shoots up Katniss's leg and she has to bit her lip to prevent a shout from leaving her mouth. The pillow is so soft and cushy under her head that she closes her eyes to sleep until the morning light.
She wakes up with a shiver to a dark room. Her mind recognizes some of the decoration and Katniss realises she is in her room in the castle, lying on the bed with a warm cover over her body. He couldn't have carried her to the room. He doesn't have that much kindness in him.
