daylight

chapter eleven. . . i only see daylight

THE GOLDEN GLOW OF DAYLIGHT BREAKING THROUGH THE CLOUDS WOKE THE DISTRICT UP. However, two young girls and a boy were already well awake by this point. Thalia revelled in the beauty of it—grateful that there was at least something good in her life.

Her head hung, and she slowly walked through the quiet streets. Once she finally made it to the bakery, she crawled into her sister's bed and snuggled into her back. Dawn let out a choked sob, turning to face her older sister. "Did you visit Cas? And Ma?" she sniffled.

Thalia wiped away her baby sister's tears, nodding her head before pulling her in tighter. It wasn't fair. None of this was fair. Dorcas should be here right now. Lucy Gray shouldn't have had to run away—Thalia shouldn't have been the one to comfort Dawn after losing everyone they ever loved.

The bakery was closed for the rest of the day. Mr Mellark couldn't bring himself to bake anything after the death of his wife and eldest daughter. Thalia and Dawn spent the entire day in bed, hugging each other. Neither girl knew what to say, so they blankly stared at the ceiling; Dorcas would've known exactly what to say, but she wasn't here right now. She would never be here. She was gone forever.

When Dawn finally wrenched herself out of Thalia's arms, she walked over to the floorboards and pulled out Thalia's notebook. The blonde refused to look in the same vicinity as it, pulling the sheets up over her head. Ripping the sheets off her, Dawn stood awkwardly in front of her—now only—older sister. "Please sing me the song," she begged, thrusting the book in her sister's face.

Thalia sighed, sitting up and shaking her head, "I can't do it, Dawnie," she slapped the book out of her hands, "What I wrote in that book got Dorcas killed. And Travis. And Ma. I killed all of them," she spat venomously.

"No, you didn't. The peacekeepers killed them," Dawn replied, patiently picking the book up off the ground. She sat in Thalia's lap, relaxing as she felt he older sister's arms wrap around her.

Calming herself down, Thalia began to softly sing the song she'd written for Dorcas and Lucy Gray—trying to stop the sob threatening to escape when she realised both of them were gone. This proved to be much more difficult than she realised when the tears started streaming down her face. She stated shaking her head; she hadn't even gotten past the first chorus.

Dawn sighed, standing up and tucking the book back into the floorboards. "I should destroy it," Thalia mumbled.

Dawn shrugged, "It's yours. You paid for it, you wrote in it. Do whatever you want with it," Dawn replied, staring out the window depressingly. "Hey, I thought the peacekeepers were confined to the compound after yesterday's hangin'."

Thalia shot her a confused look, standing up and walking to where he sister was. Surely enough, as she saw a certain blonde peacekeeper making his way through the town square, from the direction of the meadow, warning bells went off in Thalia's head. Her heart raced as she realised that he wasn't supposed to be there. . . That what Dawn said was true—but also, hadn't Lucy Gray said she'd ask him to run away with her? If he was coming from the meadow then surely he had. . .

But when Lucy Gray was nowhere to be seen, Thalia felt her mouth go dry and her stomach sour. What had he done to her?

Thalia placed a haste kiss on Dawn's forehead, bidding her goodbye before she stormed out of the room, slamming both her bedroom and the bakery door shut. She didn't lose her pace as she made a beeline for him; he hadn't noticed her until she grabbed his arm and shoved him into an abandoned alley.

Thalia got up in his face before threatening, "Where is she? I know she was gonna run away with you. Why are you back and she isn't?" Thalia demanded, her voice edging on a scream.