Stay with me, always.

Chapter 34. Closets & Curtains

It's been a month since Soarynn locked us out. She eventually unlocked her doors, but we were still so very locked out of her mind. At first, I tried to help her, but you can't help someone who doesn't want to be helped, especially someone who looks right through you as you try to coax them out of their room.

I ended up going back to Academy, viewing home as a lost cause as long as Soarynn was roaming the halls. Everyone welcomed me back with open arms and a pat on the back, my peers and Professors alike. I had been keeping up with my schoolwork from home, so catching up wasn't an issue for me, but staying focused was. I began to watch people, I began to envy them. They surely didn't have to go through what I was dealing with back at home.

I watched the girls as they whispered to one another and twirled their hair when they walked through the halls; I began to think that Mother had been right to look for someone else to marry me to before the Games started. My future bride-to-be had officially lost it. I watched the boys, so oblivious as to how easy they had it, none of them had the future of Panem resting on their shoulders, or the future of Soarynn's well-being on top of that. And while Mother had grown desperate to reconnect with Soarynn, her attempts were futile.

When Soarynn first unlocked her doors, I heard a scream. Mother's. I had been doing some school work but rushed out of my room and down the hall to see Mother running out of Soarynn's room. Had she attacked Mother? I wouldn't put it past her. Father heard the scream too, rushing up the stairs to console Mother who had collapsed by one of the windows. "What happened?" I asked, rushing over, she shook her head, "Her room! It's a disaster!" She cried, looking back at Soarynn's doors which were still wide open. I looked at Father and hesitantly walked over to the bedroom, part of me wanted Father to stop me, 'Oh, no Coriolanus! I'll go instead!' But he just watched me as he rubbed Mother's back.

I slowly stepped into the room, Mother was wrong, it wasn't a disaster, it was a cry for help. Soarynn had ripped the wallpaper from the walls, shreds of it hanging off the walls, her bedsheets had been ripped off and her curtains drawn shut. I nervously walked farther into the room, Soarynn's dress from the crowning was on the floor, lying there like a carcass, there was a little bit of blood on it. I looked around, seeing no signs of life, and I didn't know if that was a good or a bad thing. Her vanity mirror was shattered, her school books thrown off her desk, and pillows scattered across the floor. Petunia walked out of the bathroom, meowing at me, and then running out of the room, Mother flinching as she ran past her.

I walked into the bathroom to find it in no better shape than the bedroom, but at least the mirror was still intact. The shower walls had traces of blood on them, and her hospital bracelet had been tossed onto the floor. Her bottles of perfume and lotions were knocked over and had spilled all over the bathroom counter. It looked like a crime scene. I turned towards her closet, noticing the door was slightly ajar, found you, I thought as I pushed it open. Soarynn was curled up on the floor, surrounded by a nest of fur coats and clothes. There were barely any clothes left on the hangers, she had used them all to make a little nest on the floor. She was sound asleep, her hair a tangled mess, pearls still braided in from the party, and makeup smudged but still intact. She was also stark naked.

I tried to avert my eyes as best I could, she was curled up in a fetal position, her right arm covering part of her face. I saw that she had ripped off the bandage covering her scar, now an open wound again, well that explained the blood everywhere. Not wanting to see what would happen if she woke up, I slowly backed out of the closet, closing the door and legging it out of her room and into the hallway. Eudora had joined my parents and gathered Mother from off the floor, "What happened? Is she alright?" Eudora asked me, taking in my face of disbelief. I scratched the back of my neck, "Well, she's...alive, but she tore up her room pretty badly, she's sleeping in her closet right now," I reported to her. Eudora bit her lip before looking at Mother, "What are we going to do?"