Scream [A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes Fanfic]

𝙿𝚛𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚐𝚞𝚎

I still remember the scent of smoke as it wafted through the air. The only smell stronger than the smell of the smoke was the smell of the blood. The blood that flooded the streets of District 13. My district. My home. A home that I had been stolen from.

Once, I could still hear the sound of the wind, even as I curled in on myself in the stone cell where I was contained. I could still hear the sound of the rushing river that ran beneath the little bridge that led from my house to the district's main market.

But now?

Now all I can hear are my own screams.

All I can hear is the sound of my own voice as my tormenter ripped my vocal cords to shreds with her cruel instruments of experimentation. I have no voice to paint over the screams. Nothing to ease the pain of the burning in my throat or the throbbing of my mind as I was forced to endure the sounds of my screams day after day.

Dr Gaul's voice was my only temporary relief. But even that was brief. And what relief it gave me always morphed into terror and anguish. She had been the one to buy me from the President. A man I loathed with every cell in my body. She had been the one to take my body and twist it for her cruel experimentations. She had been the one to take my voice when she corrupted my vocal cords for her twisted purpose.

When they had taken me from 13, I had promised myself that I wouldn't be broken. That one day I would be able to find my way back to my district. That I would be able to find my way back to my family.

But when they took my voice, they not only took my spirit, but my heart as well.

Now I am no more than a shell. A weapon.

A scream waiting to be released.