𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗟𝗗 𝗙𝗨𝗟𝗟 𝗢𝗙 𝗗𝗔𝗥𝗞𝗡𝗘𝗦𝗦 ༄ 𝖿𝗂𝗇𝗇𝗂𝖼𝗄 𝗈𝖽𝖺𝗂𝗋

chapter thirty four

- TIPPING POINT -

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IF WATCHING PEOPLE she cared for die after any kind of misbehavior was considered special treatment, Nadia didn't want to know what straight up torture would look like. It made her worry for Johanna and Peeta who were subjected to such torture on a daily basis by the sounds of it.

Again and again, for an entire month, she's had to undergo watching the lives of her loved ones drain slowly from their bodies then be shoved in a room with a man and perform sexual favors all the while having to pretend there was nothing wrong or the cycle would repeat.

It had always worn her down, but after Sylvian was shot, it took its toll on her mentality worse than she could've ever imagined. Even in her darkest moments, nothing compared to the emptiness she felt now that she's lost more lives in this past month than she has in the rest of her lifetime.

Despite all this, she still had to put on a smile and a tiny piece of lingerie in an effort to keep Sonny, Clem and her mother alive. The last three souls she had left.

She hadn't seen her mother since her visit earlier this month and Clem had yet to walk in with her outfit for the night. She still had Sonny, the younger girl barely able to hold her own weight from the effects of the beatings she withstood earlier.

Nadia didn't have to wait long for her prep team to bombard her with makeup, the task of application getting more difficult the skinnier she got. The majority of her body was covered in touchups to make her look less ghostly.

Even with her eyes cast downward as they prepped her for the night, she could tell there was something off. Between Birdie's uncharacteristic silence and Dightery's many accidents he kept muttering apologies for whenever he'd have to dab her face with a towel to remove his mistakes, something wasn't right.

Unsure of what they would be upset about, she lifted her head and glanced between them curiously, trying to gather information without saying anything.

Sonny seemed skeptical too, the girl looking back at Nadia with a shrug. She still couldn't figure them out, so she decided she'd just ask them.

"Is there something the matter?" Her voice was groggy, the woman certain it'd never be the same after the events that played out only a couple hours prior.

Dightery halted his powdering as Birdie went still, the two exchanging a look that was anything but subtle.

"Everything is just how it always is." Birdie shook it off, but she quickly turned around to hide her face and an uncooperative sniffle gave her away.

"If you're trying to lie, please don't. I don't have enough energy to try and fish an answer out of you two." Nadia slouched imploringly.

"Sweetheart, it's better if you don't know." Dightery flashed an unconvincing smile that made Nadia more suspicious than she was before.

"What's there to know?" She asked, brows furrowed as she looked back and forth between them and even glanced to Sonny for an answer.

"We're not allowed to share, I'm afraid." Birdie tried to grin, but her lips gave out and the perky expression that she usually wore was anything but.

"Please, Birdie. I can't take anymore secrets, please." Nadia pled, her eyes bouncing between the two in wait for their response. To some extent she hoped it was a good secret, but she knew that sorrowful look like the back of her hand and whatever it was they were hiding was probably just another thing to shatter her from the inside out.