Her innocent doe eyes stared up into his in a trance.
This was not at all how she imagined him to look. Blonde hair, bright blue eyes, a smile that could stop a war. Or cause it. "You-you're..."
"President Snow. And what is a little bird like you doing lost in my city?"
Ember's eyes jumped erratically over his face before glancing down at the hand that still held a tight grip on her arm. Words, she had to say words. But none of them would come.
He felt what little patience he had wear thin, tightening his hold to get her to answer.
A slight gasp escaped and she whimpered out, "I was brought here." He looked down to see her bottom lip quivering. Whether it was from the cold or fear, he didn't know.
He chose the latter, shrugging off his coat with a sigh before wrapping her in it.
She looked up at him with a puzzled expression. It was a trap, it had to be. "What is your name?"
"E-Ember."
Ember... it was fitting. Looking over her once more, he was able to again notice the deep shades of red with the dark black. Like embers from a fire. Very fitting, indeed. "Well, Ember, it's usually polite to thank someone when they do a kind gesture for you."
Her silence was deafening, nearly making him snap before she whispered, "Thank you? Is that, like, kind as well?"
Coriolanus looked down at her, brows furrowed. At first he thought she was joking, trying to make a fool out of him. But this girl was not lying, and genuinely confused. "How old are you?"
"19, I think."
"You think? You don't know?"
She shook her head in response, and he just stared down at her with a blank expression, trying to piece this puzzle together. That was the second time today that he broke his composure. "Where did you go to school?"
"School?"
"Oh for the love of-," he pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. This was not what he was expecting in the slightest. "Where's your family?"
Ember's eyes began to water, and she quickly looked away. She would not allow him to see her in this way. "Don't have one."
Well, that certainly made this much easier on his end.
In his left pants pocket held a syringe filled with poison that would kill instantly. In his right, was a syringe with a sedative. Harmless. Which would he choose?
"Please. I want to go. I don't belong..."
"No, you don't." His words came out a little harsher than intended, making her flinch. "But I'm afraid that isn't possible."
Her head whipped back into his direction to meet stone cold eyes. Nothing like the fake empathy he had tried to wear as a mask earlier. This was the man she knew from his voice. The one who got off on people's misery. "Let me go."
Coriolanus was taken aback by her sudden fire. Lifting an eyebrow at her, he leans in closer, "No."
Jerking her arm as hard as she could from his hold, her fight or flight response kicked in. Unfortunately, it was no use and he didn't budge. "Ember," his voice deepened as he wrapped her struggling body against his, her back to his front. "Don't make this mistake."
She screamed out and kicked her left foot back, nearly taking out his knee.
As his hand twitched toward that left syringe, his other hand moved quicker to the right, plunging it into her neck. "You... you..."
"Shhhh, little bird. Someone has to put you back in a cage."
Her body grew limp in his arms and suddenly, she was pressed against him.
Looking down, he saw that his favorite coat had been dropped into the mud. With an exasperated groan, it took everything in him not to snap her neck for that.
He reached out and covered it over her body before picking her up, cradling her in his arms.
"President Snow!" The sound of Castor's voice echoed through the alleyway as he ran towards him.
"Your timing is just impeccable," he sarcastically grunted while looking back down at her.
"My apologies, sir. Is that her?"
"Yes," he whispered, not taking his eyes off of her. "What do you want to do, sir?"
What did he want to do? For the first time in his life, he had absolutely no clue. This girl in his arms sparked an interest in him.
She had no one. Literally no one. How she had survived this long, he didn't know. But one thing was for certain, she was his new obsession. "She's coming back with me."
"The car is right outside the opening here, so no one should see anything."
"Good work, Castor. Let's get this bird a cage."
********************
Her eyes squinted open, a pounding headache radiating throughout her skull.
Ember whimpered as she slowly moved upright onto the oddly soft surface below her. That's odd, her bed had never felt this-
And then it all came back to her.
The kidnapping.
The hiding.
Coriolanus Snow.
Her eyes shot open as she jerked her head around to look at her surroundings.
The bright white walls wrapped around her, creating a suffocating feeling. She looked down to find herself wrapped in red, silky sheets. Where was she?
She looked to her right to find a pill and a glass of water with a note she could not read.
Grabbing a hold of it, she squinted her eyes at the words written in front of her. But the words did not come together in her head. "Ugh!" She yelled out as she threw the piece of paper across the room.
"Why?", she whimpered to herself as she buried her face into the palms of her hand.
The sound of a door unlocking bounced off the walls, her entire body going still. "Good morning."
Slowly, she lifted her face to see that her nightmares were in fact, not just a nightmare.
Coriolanus Snow, dressed up in slim red pants, a white buttoned down shirt, and a tight vest that accentuated every curve perfectly.
Of course it did.
"I heard you in here. Did you sleep well?"
Her eyes glared into his as she tried to piece together the ending of last night. "Don't remember sleeping."
Locking the door behind him, he made a cool, collected expression with that same smirk. "Why, I had to help you, of course. The little bird was squawking too much."
"I don't know what that means," she mumbled as she absent-mindedly rubbed the soreness in her neck, and then it all came back to her.
The needle. He stabbed her with something.
"What did you do?"
His smile faltered for a second before continuing, "I helped you get rest."
It took her a second before she realized that he was holding a plate of biscuits in front of him. And it was as if her brain connected the image to the smell, and her mouth began to water. "Why did you throw the paper?"
Her eyes snapped back to his, not even realizing that he had picked up what she threw. "What?"
"You threw the paper. Why?"
Ember didn't want to tell him she couldn't read. It was embarrassing. "I don't know..."
Growing impatient once more, he sat the plate of food down next to her before grasping her chin and forcing her eyes to his. "Do. Not. Lie to me."
She didn't even know what the word, "lie" meant. But she understood the context behind its meaning. "I... I don't."
"Little bird," he began with a warning tone, "Don't even think about saying you don't know again."
He intimidated her. How could someone so beautiful be so harsh? "I can't read."
Not moving an inch from her, he cocked his head to the side and mimicked her words back to her in a questioning tone. "You can't read?"
With her eyes still locked on his, she lifts her hand to point at the paper. "I don't know what it says."
Coriolanus looked down at the paper, then back at her. "I see." Letting go of her chin, he picks up the pill and glass of water. "It says that this," he gestures to the pill, "is for the pain, and to wash it down with water."
"Oh..."
"Open your mouth."
Her eyes widened at him, jerking back at the request. "What?"
"For the pill."
She was confused. Why couldn't he just hand it to her so she could do it? She wasn't a baby.
Submitting to his request, she slowly opens her mouth for him to drop the pill onto her tongue. He gave her a satisfied smile as she swallowed it down with the water. "Good girl. Now, which district did you come from?"
"Ten."
"And you don't have anyone back at home?"
She shakes her head as she looks away from his stare. "Well, then I guess it's a good thing I gave you a place to stay."
Her jaw dropped as realization began to set in. "Wait... no. I want home."
With a sick smirk he whispers back to her, "You are home."
Panic swirled throughout her stomach and chest. What if he really was the one who was supposed to buy her? She has to stay here? Forever?
"No!", she screamed as she leapt from the bed and tried to get out of the door.
A dark chuckle sounds behind her as she attempts to open the door. "You won't get out without this," he proudly says with the key hanging from his fingers. "But, I'll make it interesting for you. I'll unlock that door and give you a head start. If you manage to escape me, I'll set you free."
Ember's eyes beamed with hope. She was a fast runner, so she was certain she could do this. "But if I catch you," his voice deepens as he slowly moves closer and closer until she's pressed against the door beneath him. "Then you will be my good little bird and stay here. With me. For as long as I please. Understood?"
He said each word slowly and carefully to make sure she fully understands what he is saying. "Yes."
Coriolanus reaches around her waist to put the key into the knob, and the clicking sound goes off like the buzzer for the Hunger Games.
"Run, bird."
He watched her burst through that door like her life depended on it. And it did.
Giving her a 10 second head start, he whispers to himself, "God I love a good chase," and sprints off after her.