Song Suggestion: Game of Thrones: Season 6 OST- "Light of the Seven" (EP 10 Trial Scene)… I wrote the chapter to this song, so it reads well with it.

Thanks: Mistress-Cinder, Guest, Cat Beats, Lalyh17, ShootingStar96 (for two wonderful reviews), Eeeep, Alexxis T. Swan, and StrawberryPeaches!

To my American readers: Happy Thanksgiving!

Warning: very dark content (mostly in the beginning). This chapter will earn the suspense label to this story. It is one of the most important chapters of this entire story in terms of Prim's character development. You might ask: did I plan the end of this chapter from the very beginning? The answer is yes! Enjoy! Please review and tell me what you think!

The Monster Inside Me

"You survived," Prim said.

Jace tipped his head back and laughed.

"You always did know just the thing to say to make me smile. It's a shame you didn't take me up on my offer to play the besotted whore. It would've been entertaining." He paused until his amusement went away. "Water won't be my downfall, though Theo can't say the same, which is a good thing because I was about to kill her anyway."

A rotting smell wafted off him, something she noticed before, but the water and the humid heat made it worse. The trophies decomposed in his pouch, since he had no way to preserve them.

"What do you want?" He played a game, and Prim was determined to find out the rules.

"That's the important question isn't it? I'm afraid I don't have time to spare like I did before, so we will need to make this quick. Still, not all is lost."

"I'm not following."

He talked in riddles, and Prim couldn't concentrate enough to unravel what he intended. She wanted him to be plain and upfront with his plan, because he had one. Why else would he wait for Prim to come looking for Ruby when he could have just gone ahead and killed her? Prim's mind scrambled on what to do. She had no weapon and no plan.

"You know, people sneer at torture," Jace said, "but it's an artform when done right. It requires a certain skill." His hands moved across Ruby's body in a caress that showed ownership. "A novice thinks submission comes from brutality- a stroke of the knife, a snap of a bone. An apprentice thinks it comes from creativity-peeling off the fingernails, hot coals pressed on the heels. But a true master knows how to break the victim without laying a single finger on them. He breaks the mind, not the body. Torture isn't a success until every hope is cracked, every belief proven wrong, and every love betrayed. After that, the victims will crawl to the guillotine on their own bloodied knees, spilling secrets as they go."

"You're a novice then," Prim said, surprised at how calm she sounded. "You tried your best with Ruby. Worked on her for long enough it should have broken her, but she'd still spit at you if given the chance."

Prim goaded a beast, but Ruby was right when she said she did not want to give him the satisfaction. He kept a smile on his face though, as if he knew something she did not.

"You're cute, believing you understand cruelty just because you were exposed to Cato's mild type. You see," his eyes flicked up and down Prim hungrily, "I never intended to break Ruby in the first place."

The hair across her body stood on end. Prim stepped back, finally understanding the true game, the heart of the maze.

"You tortured her for me… to break me."

"Clever girl." He looked proud of her. "You should feel honored at the time and thought I've put into your destruction. Nearly as much as Cato's. Did you know you're the only girl to ever escape me? Broke my nose too. Surprise is an understatement." His arms tightened around Ruby until she cried behind his fingers. "When I was thrown in the pit, with Carthage smirking down at me, you were all I could think about. I tried to continue my fun with a servant girl after I managed to survive, but I couldn't." His smile turned into a sneer. "It made me rage until I understood the balance was upset. You were supposed to break and die under my hand, and you didn't… so now it's my duty to fix fate and give the Reaper the blood sacrifice he requires."

Prim made a step backwards, instinct instructing her to flee the predator in her midst.

"Ah ah ah, there will be no running from me. Not when I hold Ruby in my hands."

"You'll kill her if I stay or go, so why shouldn't I run?"

"Because I'm going to give you a chance to save her."

Prim's whole body shuddered, and she felt as if someone grabbed her stomach and dragged it to her toes. She wanted to cover her eyes and scream like she did in the cave, but she wouldn't be able to leave if there was even a sliver of a chance of keeping her alive. Besides, running from Jace would do no good. He would catch her anyway. She was locked into his mad game.

"How?"

"It came to me in a moment of inspiration while I cut into Ruby. Originally, I planned to use Theodora. But after seeing how sweetly you offered yourself in this girl's place, it made me change my mind. I almost drowned the girl, fucking up all my plans. But fortune smiles-"

"Just get to the point."

"Impatient as always. We'll get to the blood soon enough, but right now I'm enjoying your realization, like a bug trapped in a web, watching a spider inching closer."

"Fuck, I'm tired of your voice. Just get to it already. I'm done with waiting." Her voice cracked with desperation. She was done with the games, the endless mind fucks. She would rather he end it.

"Alright," he smirked, "I'll begin the show. You can blame Ruby in the end. She was the one who told me everything she knew about you with only a few slices of the knife. How you're trying to be such a fucking martyr, absolutely refusing to kill, even when up against a wall. So far, you've done beautifully, passing all the tests, making everyone love you, but I think I see who you really are under all the glamour." He gave another stomach-churning smirk. "And now I'm going to give the final exam."

He bent over and pulled out a spare knife he had strapped to his shin. He flicked it towards Prim, landing near her foot. She picked it up. It was a well-made piece, the hilt the same color and material as the blade, solid and cold. It felt alien in her hands, despite Lorcan Gabatha and Gale training her how to use it.

"You're giving me a weapon?"

It was so against what she expected she just stared at him with her mouth open, clutching the knife in a useless hold. Jace eyes sparkled with mischief, and all at once she understood the game he planned to play even before he proposed it. Her whole body rocked with terror.

"I'll give you one minute," he began, "One whole minute to kill me and save Ruby here. I promise on my honor and on the honor of District 1 that I won't even lift a finger to defend myself. However, once the minute is up, Ruby here will die."

He was serious too. Even to a terrible person like Jace, honor was an important thing. Jace did not abide by any codes, besides the ones required for pride in his district.

Ruby's eyes widened, and she struggled violently against his body. Jace growled like a wolf and slammed her to the ground. She gave a little scream that was unlike her and began scooting away from him, attempting to kick him. But despite reaching level six in training, she was no match for her district mate: a grown man three times her size with a taste for death and experience at victory. He fell on her, his body weight pinning her arms and legs to the ground, leaving his arms free. He caressed her face with the edge of the knife in his hands.

"In the meantime, I'm taking my trophies."

He brought his knife up, pressed Ruby's face sideways into the dirt so she could not move, and began to slice off her ear, taking small strokes like a surgeon. The sounds Ruby made were indescribable, almost inhuman. It went into Prim's veins, traveled the length of her body several times, before spilling out of her with her own cries.

Prim wobbled towards Jace, intending to kill him, even if it threw away everything she stood for. She was willing to do it to end Ruby's pain. Who was she kidding, anyway? It was the games. They all were forced to kill in the end, and if there was anyone deserving of death it would be Jacen Hartline. She wanted to kill him. For the first time in her life, she desired to hurt someone.

"Come on, Primmy," he taunted, "It's already been twenty seconds. You're losing your chance to save her." He gave a quick tug and the ear detached. Ruby bucked under him with a terrible scream ripped from her bones, the deepest section of her soul. He held up the bloody bundle of flesh and kissed it before dropping it next to him. "One down and now it's time for the real prize." He stroked the knife on her check. "Such beauty," he whispered then he dug in, beginning to flay the skin away.

"No," Ruby screeched.

Prim rushed forward and placed the shaking knife to Jace's throat. He did not stop or react.

"Press in," he taunted, still slicing "It's easy. Just a thin band of flesh is all that needs to be crossed."

Prim pushed, the knife biting into the spongy flesh but then pulled back and vomited on the ground. She cried in frustration swinging the knife but stopped just before the killing blow, inches from his skin, vomit again on her lips. She did this again and again, pressing and stopping, swinging with frustration, until with a sinking realization she dropped the knife, buried her head in her hands and screamed. She couldn't do it. She fucking couldn't do it.

She had pretended this whole time that she was doing the moral, sacrificing thing by not killing. Dressed it up as the right thing to do, but in the end, she was just weak. Fucking weak and pathetic. It wasn't a strength; it was a burden for her and everyone around her. It always had been. Katniss knew it. Gale knew it. Cato knew it. Ruby knew it. But she still somehow fooled herself into believing her goodness was an asset.

Jacen Hartline saw right through the disguise. He reached his fist into her chest and tugged out the thing she held most precious, the thing she believed she had to protect at all costs and crushed it in his palm. He deemed her worthless, and Prim believed him.

"I'm sorry, Ruby." She choked on her breath. "I can't. I'm not able to. I've never been able to, even when needed." She gave a wail of defeat and stabbed the ground in her anger, burying it in the soil with each cry, feeling on the edge of madness herself. She tore at her own skin with her fingernails with each of Ruby's screams, unable to rid herself of the self-loathing, the depth of destruction. She wished she could take the knife and stab it in her own chest, but she would just fail at that too.

She should have let Ruby die a long time ago. But selfishly, to fulfill something inside her, she saved her, as if they could walk out of the arena hand in hand. Ruby had morphed into Katniss in her mind, and she felt she had to help her, even when it served no purpose.

Jace finished with her cheek, peeling the flesh away like a piece of tape. It left a bloody gaping hole on the side of her face. Her mangled beauty would haunt Prim for the rest of her life.

"Time's up." Jace sat back on Ruby's legs, admiring his work. "It's a shame we couldn't spend more time together. I was growing fond of your bite."

Ruby whimpered. Jace placed both of his giant blood-stained hands on either side of her face. He gave a vicious jerk to the right. The snap of her neck, the blast of the cannon, and the crack of Prim's soul sounded in quick succession.

Thirty Minutes Later

Prim didn't lose consciousness, but she lost awareness. The night buried her, no longer a comfort, just a darkness. She quaked on the ground, hands over her face, unable to cry. Everything inside her mind was quiet. She heard her breath, heard her heartbeat, but the rest was a tomb.

Prim did not look up when the capitol hovercraft came and picked up Ruby's body; she did not look up when Jace came and scooped her against his massive chest; and she did not look up when he walked them deeper in the dark forest. Jace found a small alcove in the trees and lowered both their bodies still cradled together. He played with her hair, tangling his fingers. His back pressed against a tree trunk, and she was bent in his lap.

Jace gripped her chin and forced her to look at him, their faces inches apart, hot breath on her face. Only then did Prim's gaze snap back into focus, aware for the first time since Ruby's death.

"I want to see the cracks I created." He brushed his thumb over her bottom lip and stuck the tip into her mouth. She tasted copper on her tongue. "Weep, Prim. Let me feel it."

Prim finally broke. The silence in her head became a tornado. She felt the muscles in her face crumple and she balled his shirt with her fingers. He let her scratch his neck in her torment, unable to stop the mudslide of her emotions pouring out onto him.

He groaned staring deep into her eyes, breathing heavy. She couldn't break the contact, in a trance. His erection pressed hard against her leg.

"Your agony is exquisite."

He leaned forward and licked the trails of salt off her face.

She wept until she went to sleep, curling against his shirt, surprised to hear a beating heart. He rubbed her back in a way that mocked comfort, and she choked on the smell of decay that leaked from his pores.

Prim dreamed of severed ears and Ruby's empty cheek.

Six Hours Later

Prim gasped awake. Jace already stared at her, tracing the bones in her face. Once he knew she was awake, he flipped her from his lap. A pile of leaves crackled under her head as she tried to move away. He laughed and tugged her back under him.

"I may not be able to do what I want at the moment, but I can get a little taste."

He bent down and kissed her. It was devoid of fire or warmth. It felt like a knife as his teeth dug into her bottom lip, drawing blood as she whimpered. He sucked on it, like a vampire, tasting her blood.

"Mmm," he groaned and brought his hand up to her shirt and slipped it under. "I can see why Carthage is so pussy-whipped. You taste like sugar."

Prim brought the knife to his throat before he could do anything else. The metal dipped into his skin near his jugular. She had almost forgotten she still held the useless thing.

Jace smiled, knowing she wouldn't do a fucking thing even though she wanted to and leaned down and whispered against her lips.

"You're cracked, Prim, but I see you're not broken. Not yet, but it'll come soon." He peeled his body off her and curled upwards until he stood at his full height. His clothes were dry and stiff, smelling like mildew and decay, and dark blood covered him in random patterns. "Its's time to hunt a rat and a lion, and I promise that after they die, you'll welcome me into your body, just so you can die alongside them."

She was afraid he was right.

He reached out his hand, the same hand that sliced into Ruby, and Prim took it, allowing herself to be pulled upwards.

One Hour Later

They went to the Cornucopia first. Prim's shattered soul began to shake again, afraid to encounter Gale or Cato. Were there anymore tributes left? Prim had lost count of the cannons. She thought she heard one earlier, right before he carried her into the forest, but it did not matter anymore, not when her demon held her captive.

They stood at the edge of the forest. The pyramid glinted in the morning sun before them. A slight chill rose up from the ground, wet and living, and she shivered. Her bones ached with grief.

"What are you going to do?" Prim asked.

Jace flicked his fingers against each other, flaking away the dried blood in thought. She assumed it was a nervous habit, but his eyes were hard, and his hands steady.

"If I go out there, even with you, Carthage won't reveal himself. He'll wait until I've gotten bored or distracted and take advantage. No, it's better if he doesn't know I'm here. Which is where you come in, Rosie."

He pushed Prim forward, and she had enough instinct and sense left to force her foot over the thin red laser just in time, almost invisible under the trees and hazy morning light.

Prim could not see Cato, and she hoped he was already out and searching one of the sections.

"What do you want me to do?" Prim asked. She did not know how to carry her body anymore. A new burden weighed her down, a mass strapped over her neck, pulling her to the ground.

"Just imagine you're a bloodied rabbit, laid out to attract the carnivore."

One Hour Later

Prim stood there for an hour until Jace lost his patience.

"Come back. The lion isn't here, and we're wasting time." His voice was filled with violence.

Prim tiptoed back, again making sure to step over the sensor laser. Jace grabbed her shoulder and flung her in front of him as he stomped forward. He pulled a sword from a sheath across his back. The metal made a sound like cracking ice as it withdrew. And then in a fury he couldn't contain, he hacked at the tree next to Prim with a scream through clenched teeth. Prim jumped out of the way, her heart in her throat. She'd only seen him lose all control like that once before, a brief glimpse of the rage boiling in his mind, the turmoil of the storm.

It was the rage that made her remember. Her mind clicked and snapped, sliding the pieces into place, and she glanced up at the completed puzzle. It contained a secret that brushed her memory. She choked on the recollection of moldy sheets. Everything came alive at once, buzzing and burning.

Oh, her mind whispered.

And just like that, Prim knew exactly what she needed to do.

A darkness settled inside her mind. The monster in her thoughts grinned as she finally welcomed him to the games. Let's play, it said.

One Hour Later

Prim grasped the plant in her fingers. It was an ugly thing, situated next to flowers much prettier to pick. But Prim caressed this one as a friend. It had a bulbous top with tiny white flowers, dotted with purple, and leaves like a serrated knife.

Catnip, she heard her mother's voice. It was everywhere now that she was looking, growing beside giant trees and near prickly bushes. The Gamemakers knew long before she did. She gave a private grin for Quintus. Prim hated him by this point, but she would allow him this one concession. The secret knowledge felt like lightning under her fingers, powerful in its simplicity.

Prim snapped the flowers off, picking them off the stem to weave in her hair. She placed the leaves in there as well. For hours, she did this, until every section of her clothes that could be stuffed with something was overfilled with Catnip stems, leaves, and flowers. When done with her clothes, she focused on her hair, tangling and teasing the hair on purpose, until it resembled a bird nest, so that it held more. After, she rubbed it across her skin. It was capitol mutated, and oil burst from it to cover her skin.

Jace stopped and looked back as she put another tiny white flower in her hair. His lips turned up in wiry amusement.

"Maybe you're more cracked than I thought." He reached out a finger, brought a flower to his nose and then dropped it to the ground. "What are doing?"

"Planning your death."

Jace barked out a laugh.

"So fucking amusing. It's too bad I can't keep you for longer. I've always wanted my own toy. I was never allowed to have one as a child."

Prim assumed he wanted some sort of pity from his remark. Oh, that's why you turned out this way. But Prim never had a toy growing up either, and she didn't turn into a homicidal sociopath. She did nothing but give him an empty stare, devoid of compassion.

"Remember, madness won't save you. If anything, it'll make it more interesting."

"I'm not insane, but I think you'll discover I've broken in unexpected ways."

Jace stilled for a moment, as if considering her, but then he reached out and cupped her cheek.

"Are you hungry?" He had the audacity to look concerned. "Because you're starting to talk nonsense." He looked around. "This is as good as a place as any to get a quick snack. We can't live off anticipation, no matter how it fills me."

Jace reached around and pulled out a sack of beef jerky from his pocket. Prim was getting tired of the same type of food over and over, but her grumbling stomach couldn't refuse it. When he told her to sit, she sat, and then he handed her a big chunk of dried meat.

"I thought you were joking. You're really going to feed me?"

"Do you want me to starve you?"

"No," Prim said, stuffing it in her mouth before he changed his mind. She talked around the food. "It's just odd."

"Not so odd when you think on it." He crouched down. "I fed you the first time too. I've never liked starvation as torture. Too primitive for my tastes. It takes longer, if at all, and it usually makes them go mad in the wrong way, like a rabid animal. At that stage, there's nothing much you can do besides killing them. I've found the better alternative is denying water. Quick and brutal, and they don't have as much time to go feral." As if it reminded him, he unlatched the canteen on his belt and threw it at Prim. She picked it up, and the liquid sloshed around. "Don't worry, I won't deny you water either. I don't plan on keeping you alive long enough for it to matter."

Prim shivered at the answer he gave, as if he tortured enough people in his lifetime to know the ins and outs of each type. She heard the screams in his gaze, the multitude of people shattered and ripped apart, the river of blood under his fingers. The dead cried from their graves for justice. The thoughts must have played on her face, easy to read, because Jace responded.

"You can say many terrible things about me Prim, and they'll all be true," Jace said, "But in the end, I gave you food and water and I've never beat you, and for that you can thank me. I could have been much worse."

Everything in her wanted to deny his statement, but it was true.

Thirty Minutes Later

They ate the bag of jerky and then ate a couple handfuls of dried fruit and nuts, and then they guzzled down half the canteen. It left them still hungry and thirsty but sated enough to continue.

After Prim finished her last swig of water, she wiped her mouth and realized Jace stared at her. He had his head tilted.

"I wonder why the lion was not in his den."

"Maybe he came looking for us."

"That's true, but it still does not make sense. You find more things when you stay put. He knows this too, so it means I'm missing something."

His eyes narrowed on her for a second, before going into a smile that made her nervous. He never smiled unless he had a plan, and usually his plans ended in agony of some kind.

"Let's play a game," he said, "It's called truth and lies."

He got up and walked over to Prim. She wanted to scoot away, but there was nowhere to run or hide, and it would just make him more violent and angry if he had to catch her. He crouched down in front of Prim and picked up her hand. His fingers dwarfed hers.

"Here's how we play," he said, "I'll ask a question. If I believe it to be true, I won't do a thing. If I believe you lied, I'll break your finger."

Prim's teeth chattered in her skull in panic

"Question one: where is the rat?"

"I don't know," Prim said.

Jace pulled back her finger painfully.

"I don't know," she said again, her voice pressured, "Cato threw him in the forest for the trials. By the time I could get back, he was gone."

Jace seemed satisfied with the answer.

"Truth." He let up on the finger. A single tear slid down prim's cheek, but she gave him nothing else. "Question two: where is the lion?"

"I don't know."

"Lie." He bent her finger until it snapped. Prim screamed and bent forward in agony. Everything in her body revolted at the negative sensation zapping through her. It was several minutes before she could calm down enough to face him.

No more no more no more.

"Now, I'm going to ask again. Where is the lion?"

"The cornucopia."

He pulled back another finger to warn her.

"We've already been there, and he was nowhere to be seen."

Prim hated herself, but she couldn't withstand the torture.

"But we didn't trip the sensors."

Jace's smile widened, showing all his perfect, white teeth.

"Truth." He let go of her fingers and stood. "Now let's go bag ourselves a lion."

One Hour Later

They walked through the forest. Prim cradled her injured hand against her chest, trying not to whimper with the pain. She followed behind Jace. His body was wide enough that the branches did not snag at her. He hacked away with his sword. It was slow going, and Prim kept her eye out for Catnip. Each time she found it, she dared to stop and pick it with her uninjured hand. After the second time, Jace caught her, and his lips still jumped in amusement.

"Back at that again, are we?" He pulled at the blood-stained pouch that contained his trophies until it detached from his belt and threw them at Prim. "Here, if you need to do something with your hands, how about you make something with these. They're useless tucked away. What's the point of a trophy, if it can't be displayed?"

Prim caught the bag in her hand and swallowed the vomit that wanted to come out. Prim had sewed a man's belly before, pushing back in his organs. She had snapped back a broken leg. She had shut the eyes of a dead man. After a while, gore ceased to bother her in the natural order of things. It had to or else she would be shit at her job. But Prim found the idea of touching the ears worse than shoving guts back into a stomach. It made her want to throw them and run the opposite direction.

Instead, she reached around into her backpack with her good hand and pulled out the rope. She tugged apart the rope into individual strands. Once unraveled, the rope split easy with one slice of the knife.

"I'll need to stop if you want your trophies."

Jace turned and saw what she was doing and nodded. He crouched and watched with a rare serious face, as if this was a reverent moment. Prim understood that the trophies meant more to him in his warped mind than any other worldly good.

Prim opened the pouch, stiff and smelly, and pulled out the first ear. She made a hole with her knife in the cartilage. Next, she licked the edge of the rope string to pull together the frayed edges and pushed it through the hole. She added two more before pulling out the severed rose. She tried to keep her injured finger out of the way, but every few moments it would make a movement that made her gasp, as if touching a bolt of electricity.

Prim touched the rose like a holy relic. She did not know which ear belonged to Ruby, but as Prim cradled the mangled flesh of her cheek, she muttered, "I'm sorry," before putting two holes in the top and sliding the rope through, making it the statement piece. After, she finished off by putting the two remaining ears on the other side, flanking the Rose.

"Look at that," Jace said while taking the severed ear necklace from her hands and tying it around his neck, resulting in a grotesque imitation of jewelry. He pointed to the side with only two ears, "there's room for one more."

He reached out and brushed Prim's ear with tenderness.

"Aren't you going to ask me what I'm planning to take from Cato since I have no more room for ears?"

"What are you planning to take from Cato?"

"There's a saying the ancients used, an eye for an eye. I find I like their sense of vengeance." His finger tapped the edge of the empty eye socket. "He took mine, so it's only fitting I'll take his pretty blue one. Who knows, maybe I'll scalp his golden head as well."

Thirty Minutes Later

They reached the Cornucopia. The sun glinted off the gold so bright it almost blinded them with the intensity.

"Clever bastard," Jace said when he found the red laser. He stepped his foot through on purpose. His hand went up to Prim's hair, tangling inside it as he gripped it painfully and dragged her after him back into the trees. They stood just before the band of grass to the forest. It seemed everything on Prim's body ached or cried.

"I thought I was the bait?"

"That was the first time. This time I want him to know I have you under my control. He needs to know how his world will end, and that it'll be me to do it."

Not if I have any say in it, Prim thought. The monster in her mind bared its teeth. This was not going according to plan. She needed to find a way to force Jace back into the arena. Her plan would not work at the cornucopia. They were mere feet from the forest, a simple jump.

It didn't take long for the lion to answer the call. Cato walked out of the forest to the right, holding the alarm in his hand that sounded when the sensor tripped. He glanced around in confusion. Jace held them close to the bushes, and they both stood silent and unmoving. Cato walked to the pyramid and pivoted and took in the tree line. When his eyes reached them, he froze, dropping the alarm. Everything in him snapped straight, muscles tensing. The tendons in his hands rose as he clenched his machete. He gave her a devastated look, so deep she could drown in it if she stayed long enough.

"Hartline."

"Carthage."

"I'm going to warn you only once," he snarled, "get your fucking hands off her before I rip them off."

"But I can't seem to keep my hands away," Jace leaned down still looking at Cato and nipped at her cheek in a mock playful manner, "She's just so pure and agreeable. Funny too. She's made me laugh more than once. It's too bad I'm going to have to kill her." He placed the edge of the sword to Prim's throat.

Prim did not whimper or beg. She clutched the knife in her hand and placed it to his side.

"See, what did I tell you about funny?" He smiled. "She thinks she can hurt me even though I declawed her. Now where were we?"

Cato stepped forward with his hand out.

"Don't you fucking dare. If that sword even nicks her, I'll have your trachea ripped out and crushed in my fingers before you could even regret it."

Jace gave a booming laugh.

"You won't do a thing, Carthage. And do you know how I know? Because you're scared. Because you failed the first lesson given to us as yearlings during training: don't love someone unless you're willing to sacrifice them. It's why I'll win in the end. Because I don't give a fuck about anything."

"What do you want?" Cato asked with clenched teeth.

"For you to suffer."

"Fine, but you don't have to do the same to her."

Jace rolled his eyes.

"Dance to my tune, and I swear on my honor, I'll kill her quick."

"Without violating her," Cato amended.

Jace hesitated and she felt the sudden anger as he tightened his grip. He didn't seem to want to agree, but he wanted Cato more than Prim.

"Fine. Deal. But the moment you disobey, I'll kill her slow and painful."

The stared at each other for a few moments of silence.

"I'm curious on how far you'd go," Jace said, "Make a cut to your left arm."

Cato looked at Jace with a face made of steel. He let go of the machete, reached into the waistband of his pants and pulled out a small knife. Without hesitation, he placed the knife point at his bicep and sliced downwards. He didn't flinch or cry out as a trickle of blood welled up and dripped down, a tiny river on his arm.

"I expected better, Hartline. You're disappointing me."

"That's just the beginning. This next time you're going to cut your face, and I want you to make it ugly."

This time Cato hesitated, but only for a second. Once again, he placed the tip to the flesh of his left cheek and pulled down. It would scar terribly.

"Again."

He did it again, making a scar on his right to match his left.

"Again."

He kept going.

"Again."

Blood dripped from his wounds, as he continued the making gashes into his face. After the fifth time, Cato finally flinched. As if this was what he was waiting for, Jace changed his instructions.

"Now I'm going to take something precious, but first I'm going to need you restrained because it's going to hurt." Jace pulled out a shiny metal object from his pockets. He threw it to Cato, and it wasn't until he bent down and picked them up, did Prim recognize them as handcuffs.

"Put them on," Jace said.

Cato hesitated and clenched his jaw. His entire face was covered with blood and deep cuts, making him look frightening. If he did what Jace wanted, it would be his last action alive. He would be chained and disposed of at will.

"Don't," Prim said.

Cato gave her a long, tender look. His face was usually so hard and closed off, it took her breath way for a moment to see everything clearly. It soaked into her like a rainstorm.

"He's right. I should have been able to sacrifice you. I should have killed you a long time ago, once I knew you were a target. I tried, remember? For now, you need to trust me."

"No," Prim cried, her breath strangled. Jace's fingers tightened in her hair.

Cato latched a cuff on one hand.

"Behind your back and strapped to a tree," Jace demanded.

Cato glared but did what he said, bringing both hands behind his back and walking backwards, eyes on them the whole way, until he got to a small pine tree resting within the cornucopia boundaries. He leaned against it. Prim could not see his movements, but heard the odd clicking sound indicating it was tightened. Prim couldn't believe it. Cato, the strongest man she ever met, a man who broke necks with a flick of his wrist, willingly put himself in chains.

Jace laughed with victory. It was the sound that did it. It grated her soul, reminding her of severed ears and bloodied roses and cat piss sheets. She refused to let Cato do this to himself, refused to see him hurt or broken, refused to watch him die like she did Ruby. Not when she had the power and knowledge to stop it.

Prim's love for Cato welcomed the monster, begging it to do its worst. It filled her senses, feeding off the building rage. It seeped through every drop of blood in her body, becoming one with her. It would never have happened if she was in her whole state, but in her broken state, it came roaring out of the cracks Jace created, clawing for retribution.

"Now, that—"

Prim slid her knife between his ribs.

Jace gasped, a strangled sound as if air sucked from his lungs. A poof of air. He let Prim go, his fingers still tangled in her hair, and slid out the knife, dropping it to the ground. She yanked back, losing some of her hair in the process.

The wound bled, but Prim did not believe it would kill him. All it did was make him angry.

"I'm," Jace gave a gasp, "I'm going to destroy you."

"Not if I kill you first," Prim said and then she twisted and sprinted away. She wanted to go into the forest, but it would be too slow trying to hop over roots and run through brush. He would catch her fast.

Cato screamed her name and cursed frantically over and over, but he couldn't follow her, still chained to the tree. She was on her own, Jace at her back. She had no protection anymore, no one willing to hold the sword. She'd have to slay the beast herself.

Instead of the forest, she sprinted to the desert. She let her body take over, pushing the terror down, letting instinct guide the way. Feet up feet down. Breath in breath out. Faster and faster. Don't look down. Don't think.

Jace ran close behind her. She heard the thump of feet, the ragged breathing. If she slowed just an inch, he'd strangle her in his large hands. To Prim's advantage, Jace wasn't the fastest creature. His massive size made him lethal but slow enough to evade. She ran onward, feet sinking into the sand until her legs cried from exhaustion. A sharp pain in her ribs told her she was running close to empty on energy. Her body could only give so much more.

"I'm going to tear you apart from the inside out," Jace yelled at her back. "I'm going to drag you in front of Cato while I do it, and I'm going to cut him into tiny ribbons after and force you to drink his blood and eat his heart."

He was close behind her, fingers itching the back of her shirt when he reached out. Her pace slowed despite herself, and the next time he grabbed her, he pulled her down. They both tumbled down the crest of the dune together, rolling and flipping until they reached the bottom. Her wrist cracked sideways when she landed wrong, and Prim screamed and tried to scoot away. But the terror and pain blinded her, and her brain refused to cooperate with her body. He gripped her hard and tugged her down under him. They both panted, catching their breath, as he glared at her.

"This is the second time you've made me bleed," he snarled, "And now it's time to return the favor."

Prim almost spat in his face but didn't have to. The gong sounded, rumbling under their bodies. The sand shivered and spilled down the dunes. It vibrated Prim's teeth.

When it disappeared, Prim tipped her head back and laughed, the madness reflecting Jace. It came out like a broken howl, so loud, she began crying tears of mirth. Jace growled in her face to intimidate her, but it did nothing but make her giggle harder.

"Why are you laughing?" he said, mouth close to hers. When she didn't stop, he pulled back and stood up. He pulled a knife from a strap on his belt. "Why are you fucking laughing?"

She stood up as well, ignoring the knife pointed to her belly. She brushed sand from her body. She did not give the reaction to death that he wanted, and he no longer smiled.

"Because it's your fear."

Jace pulled back a moment in confusion but recovered quickly.

"I don't fear anything."

"Even pain and death?" Prim asked.

"I've been their friends for too long. I love them like brothers, and they love me in return" he sneered. His knife raised an inch as if ready to use it, but Prim was not finished.

"You're wrong," she said softly, "Maybe you've forgotten. It's been such a long time ago… But I haven't. I remember everything you've ever done. You were scared once, and I remember."

He backed away even further, and his smile dipped into a frown, as if finally sensing the danger in the midst. Prim sensed it too, a heavy feeling. It thickened the air with anticipation. She heard something moving in the distance. A clicking. A scurrying. The sand shuffled unnaturally. And it came closer

"You fucking hate bugs, isn't that what you said right before you tried to rape me?"

Jace stepped back and looked up. She saw them then, peeking over the dunes, darting closer to the only life in the section. They filled the horizon. The bright sun absorbed into their brown, slick bodies.

"No," Jace whispered, as if it was punched out of him, his eyes getting wider every moment that passed by, "Fuck no."

He twisted, but there was nowhere to run from them. They came in all directions, a shivering mass of roaches crawling closer. As they scurried over a dune not far from them, Prim could finally see the details. Quintus did not disappoint. The roaches stood two times the height of a normal man. The top of Jace's hair could brush their underbellies.

Jace grabbed Prim by the collar of her shirt and flung her around, clutching her to his body as a shield. The insects darted forward, their speed unhindered by the sand. They blocked out the sun with their bulk, moving as one. Their spindly legs crawled forward, their wings pulled close to their exoskeleton.

"Poor little Primrose, thinking she outsmarted the beast," Jace growled in her ear, "While they feast on your flesh, I'll make a quick getaway. It's too bad I never got to taste your true brokenness, but hey, a blood sacrifice is a blood sacrifice, and it's time you died for me."

Jace shoved Prim forward into the horde of insects just as they arrived. She skittered to a halt right in front of one. It had small mouth but powerful mandibles that quivered and clicked, giant scythes attached to the bodies, capitol mutated so they looked as if they could slice off a head. Prim gripped her injured hand to her chest and stood still as a statue. She didn't even breathe.

The roach bent forward and touched her head with the mandibles, as if sniffing. It did that for two seconds before skittering backwards. Prim's whole body deflated with relief, and she resisted the urge to laugh.

"They don't like catnip," Prim motioned to the flowers in her clothes, in her hair, and the oil that ran along her skin. "No, they're attracted to decay and rotting things, just like you."

The roaches ignored her, traveling around her body as they advanced on Jace, wearing an expression of surprise, finally understanding that she planned this whole thing. He shivered and slid out his sword, cracking like ice. He held it in front of his body in an expert position to fight off a man, but poor to defend against a real monster. Jace's face drained of blood and for the first time ever she saw his body tremble in complete fear. Prim looked on with an amused smirk on her face that resembled his.

"Maybe yesterday I would have died for you," Prim said, loud enough he could hear, "I believed everyone had something worth saving. But you stripped me of that belief, and now I realize some people deserve what they give the world. The reaper still wants a blood sacrifice, and this time I won't stand in his way. It's fortunate the ears of your victims can hear your doom."

He ripped away the rotting necklace, his precious trophies, and threw them into the hoard of roaches, understanding at the last second it called them to him like a beacon of light.

"You won't live, bitch," Jace screamed at her in fury, as he hacked at the first mandible that tried to close in on him. It sliced off, and the roach retreated, but another took its place. "And neither will Cato. He'll kill you; he'll kill you all!"

A mandible came down, and it pierced his shoulder. Jace made a shout of agony but sliced it off and kept fighting like a mad man, hacking and swinging. More and more came, and the mandibles began to pierce past his defenses, making him shriek each time.

"You were right all along," Prim said, "the screams are beautiful. I just needed to let myself feel them."

Prim watched the slow slaughter until satisfied, and then she twisted and walked away through the quivering mass of insect bodies. They parted for her, repelled by the Catnip. An odd calm settled in her body. With the threat diminished, the monster inside her mind gave a nod of its head and bid her good day. Prim did not believe it was the last she would see it, now that she had let it in.

Two minutes later, the cannon echoed across the sand, and Prim smiled.