𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗟𝗗 𝗙𝗨𝗟𝗟 𝗢𝗙 𝗗𝗔𝗥𝗞𝗡𝗘𝗦𝗦 ༄ 𝖿𝗂𝗇𝗇𝗂𝖼𝗄 𝗈𝖽𝖺𝗂𝗋

chapter thirty five

- HOLD ON -

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     SHE SHOULD'VE KNOWN retaliation would get her nowhere. All holding a knife at her neck did was buy her a new cut, and now that she was refusing to continue in the Desirables program, she wasn't offered the luxury of having it mended.

     Nadia couldn't have been in the familiar cell for more than five hours and she was already put through the wringer with what she suspected to be a beating for each day of the month that she wasn't locked up.

     She was certain she cracked a rib or two, her skin swollen and purple like the bruises covering the rest of her. Head to toe, she couldn't move without whimpering, her entire body feeling a surge of pain if she were to move so much as her tiny, little finger.

     What made the physical suffering so much worse was the constant audio of the deaths she's come to memorize even better than the back of her hand.

     An endless loop of terror, one scream, one death, back to back to create a haunted cycle of her memories. It was horrifying and not a single one was left out.

     It didn't stop either. However long she had left, she was certain they'd keep the loop of her loved one's deaths playing until they found her lying dead on the floor.

     The only thing that distracted her from the echoing cries and pleas of mercy was the regret she felt for denying Julia's orders in the first place. She didn't know where Sonny, Birdie or Dightery were.

     She tried to get an answer out of a Peacekeeper, but they were unsurprisingly silent before kicking and beating on her until she was treading the fine line of consciousness.

     Nadia had convinced herself they were killed. There was no way they'd get out of there alive after what she did. Maybe if she hadn't been so selfish, she'd be sitting across from Sonny right now playing a game of war.

     The only certainty she had, which didn't seem like much considering her circumstances, was the two individuals occupying the cells to the left of hers. She never found herself searching for the silver lining, but all she had left in this world was Johanna and Peeta and she'd be damned if she were to lose them too.

     "I wish they'd just kill us." Johanna said lowly, the passion in her voice drained till there was nothing left but a rasp in her tone.

"They wouldn't do it. They get off on torturing us, I'm sure of it." Nadia's eyes were screwed shut as she tried to focus on Johanna's voice instead of the cries reverberating off the walls of her cell.

"It's no use." Peeta agreed, his weakness palpable even through the cement walls that separated them.

"Come on, Peeta. I could really use a little bit of that optimism you've got." Nadia pleaded with a head shake.

     "What's the point?" He sounded teary, completely defeated. "When dying looks to be the best option, there's no use in being hopeful."

     "Couldn't have said it better myself." Johanna agreed, scoffing under her labored breath.

     Nadia felt a tear run down her cheek and land on the tile beside her shaky hand that could only just barely support her weight.

     She was still a little shaken by her reality, leaving her to wonder where everything started to crumble. It's funny, she actually thought things would turn out right for her when she was promised salvation and a new life in Thirteen by Plutarch. She saw how much Finnick believed in it so she thought she'd be able to as well.