Soon she found herself walking through the doors of another building and riding up to the "eleventh floor." She immediately walked out, heading for a room as the mask crumbled, "come, I'll show you to your room." She heard Reed talking, so she followed the footsteps into another room, she looked up first, seeing the bed and moving to sit down as the door closed, tears dripping down her face and sparkling on the skirts of her dress.
Her shoulders shook, and she sucked in a shaky breath, she thought she had come to terms with never seeing her family. That she would be dead within two weeks, most likely at the hands of another child. But she didn't want to die, she wanted to see her sister again, but how was she supposed to win?
She had no skills, at least none that would be useful in a death match against trained killers. All she could do was grow plants. She tugged off her shoes and climbed into the bed, her dress billowing across the dark blankets. She wanted to sleep, but she couldn't, the relief of dreams eluded her, so she sat up looking at her hands. Just yesterday, they had been caked in dirt, her nails cracked and scabbed. Now they were clean, her nails shining and whole, yet she felt hollow.
Her heart ached for her home. She wanted a warm hug from her father or a kiss on the forehead from her mother. Or to play with her sister in the single small maple tree by their house. She wanted to whistle out the end of a workday and go home to her family. Now, she was hundreds of miles away from them, in a strange world with little chance of ever seeing them again.
Her body stung, her skin still cold to the touch from the cream the prep team had used. She pulled the crown from her hair looking at it. Emilia would have loved it. Probably wouldn't have taken it off until it was so worn out it fell apart. Her eyes locked on it, and what had shattered in her hardened, forged anew as something she didn't recognize. Something she had never thought she would see in herself.
But she knew that whatever happened, she was going home. Rising to her feet, she pulled the dress over her head, leaving her body bare as she climbed back into the bed, pulling free the hair band almost buried in her curls. "I will see you again, Milly," then she set it on the nightstand along with the crown and pulled the blankets over herself. Tomorrow she had work to do.
Hey, if any of you are still here, I am so sorry for the lack of content over the last six months or so. I plan to upload a lot more content much more frequently now that I am done applying to college! Thank you so much for your patience, and yes, I am still alive and writing.
