Song Suggestion: Tom Odell- Another Love
Shattered Glass
Prim's world crumpled, and she lost sense of reality, sinking into the floor, welcoming the bitter winds.
"H-How?" She barely got it out. She had to know if it was Cato. Upon seeing her reaction, Cato looked hesitant to answer. His fierce expression softened.
"Stupidity. Peacekeepers are a bitch to get past sometimes. Honestly, it was only a matter of time. I was going to, but he did it himself."
Prim couldn't listen anymore. His words were tuned out. Her soul felt frostbitten. There had been a sudden slicing pain, and then everything went numb and black. She couldn't do this anymore. Couldn't take the pain and fear anymore. Not when her world vanished, her hope. What would be the point of escape? There was nothing to go back to.
Is this what her mother felt after her father died? If so, she didn't blame her.
She glanced at the gaping widows, the jagged glass, the howling winds. They were on the first floor, giving a magnificent view of the mountains during the day. At night, it became an abyss of darkness. It called to her.
She glanced once at Cato. He stared back as if trying to read her thoughts. At the last second, he seemed to catch on, but he was too late, she got past him. Prim gathered her skirt in her hand and sprinted towards the darkness, intending to run into its depths.
Cato tackled her before she made it, a stone wall smacking into her back. She fell against some broken glass. It sliced into her skin, but she barley felt it.
"Let me go," she screamed.
Cato pulled her into his arms. She tried to crawl away, digging her fingers into the rug, leaving tracks of blood.
"There now, little bird. No need to be stupid." He pulled her even closer to himself, and Prim gave up trying to escape again. Instead, she curled up into the monster. There was nowhere else to turn.
"There's no need to be upset with his death," he continued as she sobbed into his shirt, leaving large wet blotches. "The pain will subside, and then you'll realize you have everything you want, everything no one else could give you. I'm the only one offering. You'll never be hungry or without shelter. You'll never have to worry or work. You can't die yet. I need you. If you die, I die. If I die, then what would Coral do."
Prim was tired, too tired to try and understand his ramblings. She fell asleep on his chest as he stroked her hair.
The Next Morning
Prim woke up in his bed. She didn't remember going there or even what day it was. But he wasn't there, and that was all that mattered. She patted herself down to make sure she still wore her own clothes from the night before. She breathed a sigh of relief to find her cotton blue dress.
Her hands. She held them up to the light to inspect them in wonder—they were healed. Not even a scar left.
What in the world did he do to heal them?
She shook her head. It didn't matter.
Nothing mattered much anymore.
Though the fluffy mattress and beautiful surroundings enticed her to stay, she snuck out of the room at the first chance she got. She found a random room—a room with the theme of yellow. It held a daybed, and she snuggled against the soft linen.
She stayed there for a full day, not able to think, alternating between dark grief and a disconcerting numbness. Coral found her the next day. She tiptoed into the room with uncharacteristic shyness, her finger once again in her mouth, a habit she had almost taught her to drop in the past month or so.
"What wrong?"
"I'm not feeling too well, that's all." That simple sentence exhausted her. She fell back against the cushions, unable to say anymore. Coral crawled up unto the bed and snuggled under Prim's arm. Then she twisted in her arms and placed her tiny hands against Prim's cheeks.
"You sick?" Coral looked into her eyes. "It okay."
Prim buried her face in Coral's wild hair, smelling of strawberries and sugar. It soothed her.
"Do you wuv me?" Coral mumbled a short time later.
"More than anything." Prim couldn't believe how much she did. The little girl had wrapped her heart around her little finger. A single tug and Prim would do anything she wanted.
"And you'll never leave me?"
Prim's heart clenched. Cato would never let her leave. She couldn't escape. This was her new life in all its horror.
"Never." She tried to mask her pain for the girl's sake.
"Good." She nodded with satisfaction and snuggled back under her arm, wiggling a little to get comfortable. "I wuv you too, mommy."
When Prim glanced at her in surprise, Coral's eyes had already fluttered closed. Prim kissed her head and was glad she didn't have to correct her.
Two Weeks Later
Cato didn't make her go to training, whatever that was, for two weeks. Prim would have refused to go anyway. She tried hiding most days, transferring rooms and places often to throw him off her tracks. Though he probably wouldn't have had to search hard to find her. She didn't question it. She enjoyed the reprieve.
One day, he finally found her.
"You're still moping? Get out of your fucking bed. It's getting ridiculous."
She was in the orange room now. She pulled coverlets that sparkled like flames over her head. Maybe if she didn't see him, he wouldn't see her.
But monsters like Cato were undeterred by covers.
He ripped the sheets down and grabbed her around the waist, hoisting her up and over his shoulder. Prim felt weak, not having eaten much in days, so she didn't fight against his touch.
"You smell like shit."
She hadn't taken a bath since the last time she saw him. He walked out the door and down the hall. She jostled with each step.
"I've let you have your pathetic moment, but it's over now. It's time to suck it up."
He opened a door. She couldn't tell which room he walked into. The floor changed from wood to tile.
In a sudden movement, he flipped her over her shoulder and dropped her. She didn't even have time to scream before water sucked up her nose and filled her mouth. She was under water.
What the hell?
She struggled to upright herself, coughing up the liquid and vigorously rubbing her eyes in indignation when she broke through the water. Waves sloshed out of the tub and out on to the ground.
"How dare you—"
Cato smirked and squirted a bottle of shampoo at her. It shot out and left lines of goo across her body and hair.
"That's better. Remember to lather well."
"I'm going to kill you."
And she meant it. In the past two weeks, she thought about it hard. She was tired of being the victim, tired of him forcing her, tired of his threats. One day she'd kill him— slit his throat while he slept or poison in his food. What did she have to lose?
Your humanity, a voice nibbled at the back of her mind. She tried to silence it, but like always, it was insistent.
He must have thought her threat was a joke, that she was playing along with his teasing. He gave a playful smirk and reached out to splash a little of water on her.
It was the most lighthearted she had ever seen him, and it disconcerted her.
"Wash that frown off too. You're much better looking when you smile."
"Well, I prefer frowning. Besides, how would you know? I've never smiled around you." She crossed her arms on her chest in a petulant mood.
"Frown all you want. It makes me want to bite your pouting lip." He wiggled his eyebrows with the insinuation.
Prim couldn't help it. Her face turned red. She felt the heat crawling up her checks to the tips of her ears.
She hated that her blush gave away how uncomfortable she felt. Cato seemed to like it.
"Don't take took long with your bath." He crossed his arms on the edge of the tub and leaned on them. "Today you're training."
He looked at her as if gauging her reaction. Prim tried to keep her emotions off her face.
Cato sighed and rolled his eyes.
"Stay sour if you want." He stood and walked to the bathroom door. Before he left, he turned around. "Oh, and I forbid you to wear that ugly dress. If you even try to put it back on, I'll bring you naked."
He slammed the door before Prim could reply. She blinked a few times, trying to understand what just happened.
Cato's upbeat mood was worse to digest than his anger. At least with anger she knew what to expect next.