Bella: It's okay! I just wasn't sure what was going on. No worries. :)
Happy reading, guys!
29
My Ophelia
The interview was over and we could finally go home. The doctors scheduled Annie to meet with a therapist about twice a week until her symptoms became more manageable, also because she refused medication. I was starting to get the feel for her mood swings and crazy babble. At good times she'd just laugh in the wrong places, cover her ears if something upset her, and stay for the most part silent. When it was bad she would collapse, flail, hug herself, scream, sing, and say things that only made sense if you dissected the meaning behind them. Those times were hard for me to comprehend a life with, the other parts were unusual, but over time I could get used to them. Especially if it meant I didn't lose her.
We sat on the train, rocking slightly with the vibrations while Mags played some slow music on the stereo. Annie mostly refused to eat anything with meat, unless it was fish. If you put a steak in front of her she started freaking out and saying something about flesh and muscle and blood snakes. After lunch she went into her room and started taking a shower that lasted for probably three hours. Garcia filed her names and muttered that there wouldn't be enough water left on the train for the rest of us. I bit my lip to keep myself from telling her to shut up.
"Have you ever heard of Shakespeare?" Mags asked me suddenly.
"Erm...no, I don't think so."
"Ah, I guess you wouldn't. His works were banned after the Capitol took power-for the greater good, of course," she added with a certain bite when Garcia's head perked up, "Only the oldest people have heard of him, like me."
"Okay...so what about him?" I asked, folding my arms.
"Well, he had this character in one of his stories called Ophelia. It's just that she reminds me of Annie a lot."
Ophelia...what a broken name.
Later that night I went in to Annie's room to pull her out for dinner to find her curled up in the corner of her room with her head between her legs.
"Hey Annie," I said lightly, sitting down in front of her. It unnerved me, how dead she looked. "What are you doing?"
"Hiding," she whispered, lifting her head a little, but her eyes were focused down on something beyond the floor.
I placed a hand on her knee and gently said, "Hiding? From what?"
"The monster," she said in a shaky, hushed voice. Of course, how silly of me.
"There's no monster Annie."
"She was in my room. She opened her mouth and there was no tongue. She cut her tongue out because she likes to swallow her prey whole."
I sighed, "Annie, that's not a monster, she's an avox. She's your servant here, she won't hurt you."
"My servant?" she asked timidly. I smiled and touched her cheek lightly. She looked upset. "If I have a servant, than I'm a monster."
"She's the Capitol's servant, they instructed her to care for you. That's better than caring for a citizen, don't you think?"
She tucked her head back in between her knees and didn't answer me. "Besides," I added with a smile, "You're too pretty to be a monster. Come eat dinner when you're ready."
I got up to leave when she reached out and grabbed my hand, lightly though as if she wasn't sure if she could touch me.
"Please don't leave me," she whispered. Some warmth dripped into my heart and I said, "Come with me then."
