Culling

Part II • Chapter XIV

I remembered him from before, he was one of the first district six tributes that we had dubbed 'Not X'.

Now, in my mind, he was forever more to be called 'The Creeper Who Needs His Face Rearranged'.

No, he needed a shorter name.

I was great at nicknames. Just ask Mr Blackbourne. I knew he secretly loved it when I called his dad Mr Assbourne. Plus, Trouble. That was the greatest nickname ever. No one else had even come close to my genius.

I'd think about it later.

I had last seen Sang headed back towards the elevator, so I figured checking our room was the best bet.

Sure as shit, she was there.

"Trouble," I closed the door behind me as I took in her small form curled up on the couch. Something wasn't right. She was scared, and she met my eyes. She appeared to be unable to make a sound, and had tears running down her face. Her body shook like a leaf.

Suddenly, I knew.

"Shit, Sang." I ran to her and knelt on the ground at her knees, desperate to help her through the anxiety attack.

Out of all of my brothers, only myself, Dr Green and Kota knew how to really handle one. She was shaking and gasping for breath, and it was a miracle that none of the others had rushed to see what was wrong. However, considering that Dr Green might have recognized the signs, and that he knew I was with her...

In any case.

"Sang, sweetheart..." I grabbed one of her hands and touched her face. "Breathe with me, come on. We'll breathe through it, alright?" I began breathing in and out, as Dr Green had taught me for myself, and I could see Sang copying my actions.

Minutes later, although it felt like forever, her body began to relax and her eyes lost that terrified expression. Something that I never wanted to see again, but if she dealt with this now... then it was likely to be a repeat event. In either case, I'd be there. Finally, she let out a gasping sob and lunged towards me.

I managed to catch myself from falling over and moved us so that we laid on the floor together. She was wrapped in my arms, exactly where she fucking belonged.

I didn't know how long she cried, but my shirt was a damp, gross mess by the end of it. It was all I could do not to freak out and demand that she tell me what set off her attack, so I could fix it. Instead, I focused on brushing out that goddamn beautiful hair of hers out with my fingers - I could never get tired of touching her hair. Touching her.

And I sang.

I sang songs of anything and everything, even really sappy shit. My main goal was to comfort my girl after all, nothing was off limits. Then, in the middle of one of the more ridiculous songs I heard a muffled giggle against my chest. I stopped and looked town at her, was she laughing at me?

"Johnny Cash, really?" She said, her voice tired.

Holy fuck. I think I just fell more in love, she knew Johnny Cash! I wondered if she knew Elvis?

Before I had a chance to delve into this new discovery, she sat up and wiped at her eyes. "Thank you, Gabriel. I..." she looked confused, "I'm not entirely sure what happened."

She didn't? I wondered if she never had this happen to her before. I sat up and faced her. "You had an anxiety attack, sweetheart. Are you feeling better now?"

Slowly, she nodded, then spoke again. "I'm tired though."

"Yeah," I told her. "That will happen." I paused, I kind of didn't want to bring this up but I really wanted to know. I wanted to make sure that we did everything we could to prevent something like this from happening again. "Sang, what happened? You were sitting with Fabio and company, angry at us, and then suddenly you were running away and upset. Did they do or say anything to you?"