DISCLAIMER: HG CHARACTERS DO NOT BELONG TO ME, BUT OC ONES DO

A/N: Warning-disturbing content/violence in this chapter

Chapter 165-Scared III

Cassandra opens her eyes and raises her head as she slowly wakes up. Her head throbbing, she can feel that her hands and arms have been tied up. As her eyes come into focus, she sees that her wrists have been manacled to a large bed. Upon closer inspection, recognizes the room. She's in Kyle's apartment, the apartment he rents when he is in the Capitol. For he has a house back in District 2, acquiring a second, smaller home in the District after getting divorced.

Last fall, after breaking things off with Gale for the second time in October, she had finally agreed to begin dating Kyle after his continued pursuit of her in the middle of November. Knowing she needed to get Gale off her mind, she had begun spending time with him, and started having sex with him immediately as a distraction. Before leaving for one their dates, he had invited her inside to see his apartment. She remembered his room, for one thing that struck her as odd, was that there were no pictures of his family in his room. While she was not expecting to see any pictures of his ex-wife, she was expecting to see pictures of his children, ages ten and eight. But Kyle had no pictures of any of his family members, which was a stark contrast from Gale, who had pictures of all his family members and pictures of Katniss scattered throughout the whole house.

But their courtship did not last long, for by the middle of December, she was back with Gale and refusing to take his calls after their disastrous final date at the beginning of the month.

She closes her eyes and inhales, trying to calm herself down and come up with a plan. Knowing that Kyle was dangerous, she had underestimated what he was capable of. Knowing he must have somehow found out about her and Gale, she knows this is the reason she has been kidnapped, and knows what she needs to do, is get to a phone. If she can call Gale, he will come and send for help.

She looks around the room and sees no sign of her things, her purse and bag from the store gone. Thinking perhaps it is outside in the living room, for the apartment was a one bedroom, she begins scanning the room when suddenly the door opens.

She watches as he enters the room, closing the door behind him.

"Rise and shine gorgeous" he says with a smirk.

She notices with a quick glance at the clock on the nightstand that the time was 10:17 am.

"What did you do to me?"

"My assistant gave you something to knock you out. Worked very quickly from what I've been told."

Trying to remember what happened after she had gotten off the elevator, she remembers seeing a figure come towards her, and large hands engulf her. Man's hands she assumes.

"You had someone follow me?" she asks, trying not to show her fear.

He confirms with a nod and says, "I just wanted to know what was going on with you. I never thought you would quit MC2. I know you are not working all that much, but I guess you don't need to."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

He goes over to the dresser and opens the second drawer. He pulls out an envelope and takes out three photos and places them on the bed beside her. The first a photo of her with her friends, the second, a photo of her and Gale outside her apartment complex holding hands, and the third, a photo of her and Gale outside on the back deck of the cottage in Red Rocks, their arms wrapped around each other as the photo captured them in a deep kiss.

She forces her face to remain blank as he says, "I see he got you a place not far from his."

She does not answer him, continuing to stare at the pictures placed before her. She cannot remember when the picture of her and her friends was taken, for she saw them often, but she knows the picture of her and Gale on the deck was taken at the end of April. He had come over after dropping Juniper off at Yari's house to spend the night, and they had eaten dinner on the deck. And she had no idea when the picture of the two of them exiting her apartment was taken, for they often held hands when walking in the busy streets of the Capitol.

Seeing she wasn't going to engage; he decides to try a different tactic. He picks the photos up and places them back in the envelop and says, "I mean, he's a lucky man. To be able to fuck you at his age, I have to say though, I can't blame him for not including you in his life. It is easy to be seduced by you, but you are not exactly the type of woman to introduce to the fam. You call him your boyfriend, but is that all he'll ever be? I can't imagine all those kids of his would be happy to see you be his wife."

Finally looking up at him, she meets his eyes as she says, "If I am so…unworthy….then why am I here? Why can't you just leave me alone?"

He gets a dark look in his eyes as he says, "I'm flawed, but you are too. And it makes my blood boil when I see that the person you rebuffed me for, was none other than Gale Hawthorne. It was one thing when I thought you had just fucked him like you did all the others. But to see you are in a relationship with him. Do you know how that makes me feel?"

She shakes her head, unable to hide the fear in her eyes.

"You will soon find out" he says in a nasty tone as he moves towards her.


June 10 (Thursday)

Gale continues to check his phone to see if Cassandra has sent a message. Only working until noon, tomorrow morning he'll be heading downtown to get to the train station to pick Jack up. His class ending today, and his bags packed, he was catching an overnight train leaving District 3 at 9 pm and arriving in District 2 at 7 am, the train making multiple stops and layovers along the way.

Once he picks his Son up at the station, the two of them will head to Hazelle's townhouse for breakfast before catching a train back to Silver Lake.

Having gotten the phone call on Monday with the results of the autopsy, he was informed by the medical examiner that Katniss's Mom died from untreated lung cancer. The medical examiner guessing that as with most people, the early stages of the disease showed no symptoms. But that as the disease progressed, she choose not to pursue treatment. Knowing that Katniss's Mom would know the symptoms of cancer, he also knew that given all that she had been through, she would decline treatment. Before hanging up, he asks the medical examiner if living in District 12 and more specifically the Seam, which was covered in coal dust could have contributed to the cancer diagnosis.

"Hard to say with complete certainty, but there is a strong possibility the number of years she spent living in 12 and the area where you are from contributed to it yes. There has been a lot of research since the war regarding environmental factors and diseases in Panem residents, along with all of the research the Capitol has focused on with former Victors" the medical examiner told him.

Her body cremated after, he arranged for the service to be held on Sunday in District 4. While he invited his Mother, Sister, and Brothers, it was decided that Gale, Sienna, Avery, Jack and Juniper would fly to District 4 that morning for the private ceremony, scattering her ashes in the ocean as part of their final goodbye. They would then fly back to District 2 with Rory and spent the night at Hazelle's with the rest of the family.

He had sent Cassandra a message on her phone yesterday letting her know of the funeral plans. In his message he had invited her to come with them to District 4 and let her know she could stay with Rory at his apartment while they attended the funeral then invited her to stay with them at Hazelle's. While he was not surprised that she had not contacted him after leaving his Mother's house four days ago, it was not like her not to respond to his message, for she would have at least told him if she wasn't going to come. Deciding if he does not hear from her by this evening, he would try calling, and if she does not contact him by tomorrow morning, he would purchase the commercial hovercraft tickets for him and the kids and should she reach out, she can take the train to his Mom's house and meet them after.


June 14 (Monday)

Cassandra stares straight ahead as she tries to come out of her stupor. Knowing she was drugged earlier as she usually was; she sees the sun begin to set through the window. Hundreds of floors up; she knows no one can see her, and when she is fully conscious, he bounds her mouth so no one can hear should she try to scream.

She is not sure how many days have passed, but she figures it must be at least a week, if not a week and a half by now. He drugs her when he leaves for work, or when he goes to visit his kids. Sometimes his assistant or henchman as she refers to him comes over to keep watch. She knows he is the one who kidnapped her and followed her around for who knows how long taking photos of her. Since Kyle is not in the room with her and she is still manacled to the bed, she figures he must still be out, especially since she hears no movement outside in the living room area. She opens her mouth to scream, but her throat is so dry, her voice is hoarse, hardly making enough of an impact for anyone to hear.

He unshackles her to use the bathroom and to eat, monitoring her every moment. He also watches her every move when he places her in the tub, allowing her to wash herself, but not in private. Desperate for a chance to escape, she knows her biggest problem at this point, would be getting her legs to move fast enough, for she knows the limited food and water he has given her has made her weak.

Another option is to somehow convince him to unshackle her when he forces himself on her. Whether is she heavily drugged or not, each day she is continuously raped by him, sometimes twice a day. Resisting as hard as she could at first, she learned it was easier to give in, for when she didn't fight, she didn't feel the force of his fist on her face. Figuring if she can show enough vulnerability to let his guard down, she might be able to finally escape this never-ending nightmare.


June 15 (Tuesday)

"I'll see you guys on Thursday, call me if you need anything" Gale says to Juniper, Avery, Jack, and Sienna, the five of them embracing in a group hug before boarding the train to head to Silver Lake. Needing to stay back at the townhouse for tomorrow he has an all-day meeting in the Capitol, his children were heading home without him.

"Bye Dad, love you!" Juniper calls out to him one more time as the four of them walk through the sliding doors to head to their assigned compartment.

Once he sees the doors close, he pulls out his phone and checks it, still no word from Cassandra, he calls her again, her phone continuing to ring until it goes to her automatic message. He tells himself that perhaps this is it, that she has finally wised up and figured out she deserved better, and that she deserves to be with someone who can give her what she may wish to have someday, a baby.

He turns around and quickly leaves the train station, heading back to his Mother's house.


June 16 (Wednesday)

Cassandra sits very still as she feels Kyle's body on top of hers. Deciding not to go to work today, she was not drugged, and he was currently sleeping. Unsure what time it is, she thinks it must be around lunchtime, but she does not want to move from her current position just yet and risk waking him to check the clock.

Having convinced Kyle to unshackle her before they began having sex, once he was finished, she says to him as calmly as she can as he panted heavily in exhaustion, "How long do you plan to keep me here?"

He pauses for what seemed like forever before his head rises and he looks at her as he says, "You know here in the Capitol they have a museum that displays a lot of the documents and edited videos of the former Capitol's psychological tactics they used on the Districts?"

She nods her head, for she knew about the museum, for Gale had explained that President Paylor wanted to show full transparency of the former governments past crimes.

"I saw in one of the displays, that psychological evidence shows that a person can learn to love and care about their capture or oppressor. I mean, look at the Career Districts. But to answer your question, I plan to keep you here until you look at me the way you look at him."

Chilled to the bone, she tries to keep a neutral face, but also uses the moment as an opportunity to say, "If you didn't shackle my hands so tight, it would help a lot, sometimes I lose feeling in my hands and arms."

The plan works, not only did he not lock the manacle as tight around her wrist, he chained only one wrist to the bed, giving her other arm freedom to move. Once he put the key away and returned to the bed, she leans forward and kisses him as a way to show her gratitude. Her eyes closed; she forces herself to imagine Gale's lips instead of his. He fondles her body after, and she stares up at the ceiling as she tries to not scream in disgust. After she feels him ejaculate onto her stomach, she is surprised when he cleans up the mess and falls asleep on top of her afterwards, for he usually left the room once he was finished with her.

Seeing him now fast asleep, she looks up at the glass of water above the headboard of the bed. She knows it is now or never. Quiet as a mouse, she very slowly moves her body off him and once she is beside him and sees he is still asleep, reaches up and grabs the glass of water.

Taking a deep breath and bracing herself for what she must do next, she pours the cold water on her shackled hand, careful to ensure none of the water drips on him. Her hand now wet and cold, she begins sliding it down, desperate to get her hand out of the manacle. Her skin rubbing against the metal, she feels the skin begin to tear, her bones making a funny noise. Using her free hand to help steady the manacle, she moves her arm up to cover her mouth to stifle her cries of pain. Her hand now bleeding, she manages to force her hand out of the manacle, though once her hand is out, she sees her fingers are bent and she fears they are broken. But she pushes the thought and the pain from her mind as she quickly and silently moves off the bed, careful not to make a sound. She sees one of his shirts sitting on a nearby chair and she grabs it as she carefully opens the door and slips out of the room. She pulls the shirt on and tries to steady herself as she walks into the living room. Having only taken a few steps from his bed to the bathroom in his room, she has not walked more than ten steps three or four times a day since arriving. Feeling light heated for she was losing blood; she finds a towel and wraps her injured hand in it. She then looks for a knife or weapon and manages to find a small cutting knife. She tries to find a phone but figures it must be in the bedroom and quickly heads towards the front door, but as she begins walking past the couch, she feels his body plunge into hers, knocking her to the ground.

Desperate to get away from him, she thrashes her body as his hands clasp around her neck. She manages to look over and sees the knife within reach off to the side and lifts her knee up to kick him in the groin. Hearing him shout, "fuck!" in response as he releases his grip from her throat, she manages to crawl and reach for the knife as she feels her body being dragged back towards him. As he reaches for her hands, she quickly begins stabbing him as he struggles to get the knife. Stabbing him in the side, he screams in pain as she then begins stabbing him in the chest over and over, feeling his blood begin to spout on her. She sees him try to reach for her, but she stabs him harder and harder in response, until she sees him take his final breath and collapse on top of her.

She sits on the floor of his apartment, her hand still wrapped, and forces herself to stay awake for she knows she is losing blood, the towel her hand is wrapped in getting redder and redder. Kyle now dead, she is too afraid to call law enforcement. Forcing herself to get up, she goes into his bedroom and after a quick search, manages to find his phone, her hand and body bloody, she concentrates as she tries to remember Gale's number, desperate for him to pick up the phone.


Gale gets his notes ready as walks towards the President's office. While he was in the Capitol for meetings all day today, one of his meetings was with the President, for there were important topics he wanted to discuss with her. As he turns the corner to head to her office, he feels the buzzing of his phone in his inside suit pocket.

Figuring he better check quickly to make sure it was not his Mom or the kids, he takes out his phone and sees an unknown number calling. Ignoring the call, he places the phone back in his suit pocket as he heads inside.


45 Minutes Later

Gale exits the President's office and takes out his phone as he begins walking back to the area the District Official's office space in the mansion is located. While meeting with the President, he felt his phone buzz 8 times, suspecting that it was the unknown number that called before, he takes out his phone and sees his theory was correct. He dials the number back and hears Cassandra's voice on the other end, picking up after the first ring.

He hears the fear in her voice as she asks him if can come to the Capitol, telling him that she is in trouble. He tells her that is already in the Capitol and asks her where she is, she responds by saying, "Look up Kyle's apartment address and make up an excuse to be let in the building, the front door will be open" then hangs up on him.


30 Minutes Later

Gale carefully opens the door of Kyle's apartment and closes it behind him. Calling out for Cassandra, he sees her sitting with her back up against the couch and sees Kyle's body lying face down five feet away, a knife plunged his body. Taking in the scene before him, he sees blood everywhere, including blood on her.

He sees her hair is a mess, her face bruised, and her hand bandaged, the cloth red. Looking as if in a trance she says, "I didn't know what to do."

"You're hurt" he says in alarm.

"Yeah" she says, her voice void of emotion.

"I'm calling a medical evac" he says as he pulls his phone out and quickly walks into the bedroom. As he gives the address of the location, he sees the manacles hanging from the bedpost, once the call ends, he then calls law enforcement, followed by a call to the President's mansion.

Once he goes back out into the living room, he sits down beside her and pulls her into his arms. She remains silent as he holds her, trying to stay awake as her hand continued to bleed.


June 17 (Thursday)

Gale helps Cassandra get her shoes on. About to be released from the hospital, Avery and Juniper took the train the Red Rocks to go to the cottage and packed a small bag then headed to the Capitol and arrived at the hospital late last night. Once they dropped Cassandra's bag off, Avery and Juniper went back to Avery's apartment, and Gale told Avery once Cassandra was released from the hospital they would meet at Avery's apartment and the four of them would then take the train to Silver Lake.

After the medical evac transported Cassandra to the hospital, her hand was treated and it was confirmed her hand and fingers were broken, while also lacerated. Her face bruised, she was given a cream that instantly healed the wounds on her face and hand. Her hand and fingers re-set, she must wear a temporary cast for three days and once removed, her hand will be fully healed.

Wrapping his arm around her as they walk to the door, they are stopped by law enforcement officials suddenly appearing at the door who say, "Ms. Rawlings, you are hereby ordered to come with us immediately."

"What is this about?" Gale says angrily, standing between Cassandra and the officials.

"You are being taken into custody."

"Under who's orders!" Gale shouts.

"The President's" one of the officials say and before Gale can say another word, both men whisk Cassandra away.

A/N: Just wanted to say there is an end to this story, just got to wrap up some plot points before doing so LOL