𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐅𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐍 𝐏𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐒 | hunger games ✓

chapter 25

━━･❪ 🌸 ❫ ･━━

"You're awake," was all Caelum said.

Daphne stared at him.

Stared and stared.

Caelum rose to his feet. It was slow, nonthreatening. His hands didn't reach for his bow and arrows. Daphne dragged herself into a sitting position, leaning shakily against the wall. She continued to stare.

Caelum began to cross the room. Daphne stared.

And right as he was no less than a meter away, Daphne pounced.

She propelled herself upwards like an unhinged spring, a shriek tearing from her throat. She shoved her palms against Caelum's chest, knocking him backwards. Anger boiled inside her. Red, hot, fiery. There was a molten soup of grief, despair and rage deep inside her. It had flooded her heart to the capacity and beyond, all in one night.

And now, the dam finally burst. She couldn't hold it in anymore, and it swept forward in a writhing, clawing, furious tidal wave.

Caelum regained his balance, surprise and fear twisting his features. Daphne immediately reached for her knives around her waist, a wave of fresh fire surging up in her chest. Her belt was gone. She was completely unarmed.

Trust nobody.

You can trust nobody.

Everyone is out to get you.

She bared her teeth and lunged for Caelum again, snatching the front of his shirt and shaking him violently.

"Where did you put my knives?" She screeched, voice cracking with rage and despair. She threw Caelum backwards with as much strength she could summon. He gave a yelp, his elbow striking the wall beside him.

"Daphne-" Caelum gasped. Instead of falling to the ground, Caelum simply stumbled back a couple steps. All it did was amplify Daphne's fury. Why couldn't he ever lose his balance?

Daphne launched herself at Caelum one more time, slamming into him with all her body weight. He finally toppled to the ground, exclaiming in pain.

"Daphne, stop." He begged, holding up a tentative hand as if Daphne were a scared, trapped animal. "Please. You're hurting me."

You're hurting me.

Daphne froze, the words seeming to tear a hole in some unknown chunk of her heart. Suddenly, all the fire was doused from her veins, washed away in a downpour of anguish and agony. Images flashed through her mind: Makani dead by her careless aim, Rye stabbed in the neck by the girl she'd brought to him, Azalea talking about all the ways Daphne had drowned her out, Azalea's shocked expression as Daphne had driven her knife straight into her best friend's heart.

Was she really her best friend? Azalea's last words had opened Daphne's eyes to the ugly side, the side that she'd been too ignorant to realize. Azalea's struggles had been invisible to her, and it killed her inside to realize that she hadn't done anything to ease Azalea's troubles.

You're hurting me.

Daphne had hurt so many people. She hated herself for everything. Everything seemed to be her fault. She only brought suffering to those she loved.

She gazed down into Caelum's eyes. Those beautiful chips of jade were washed out with worry. Worry for her. But she would only cause him pain. She would only drag him down, and soon, he's going to wish she'd left anyways. He was better off without her. Everybody was.