The Reaper | F. Odair

Eighteen

Warning for this chapter: Torture, detailed blood / injuries

Aaron's eyes slowly roll back into her skull as her head falls back. More wheezing continued to escape, each strike just made it more difficult to breathe. How long had she been here? She woke up in what looked to be a cage just to be dragged out immediately and pulled back to some room. Her nose was bandaged up, her thighs, her ear. At least they seemed to take care of her. The rope holding her wrists was digging into her skin, she could feel blisters starting to form too.
The peacekeeper in front of her scoffs underneath his mask, turning away from the girl towards a table of blunt objects. Blood was dripping down the girl's nose and chin, slowly going down her neck or dripping onto the white shirt she had.

How much blood could one person even have?

"When are you going to speak?" The peacekeeper seethes, his fingers curling around a metal rod.

Another wheeze slips past her mouth as her chest heaves upwards -- the peacekeeper frowns. Aaron's insides were on fire, they burned and ached -- it was as if she could feel every nerve and every organ, exposed and raw. Her fingers barely twitch as the Peacekeeper grabs her left shoulder. "Stop..."

"I'll stop when you answer the question."

"I--" she forces her head forward, her eyes spinning from the loss of blood, "I don't... know anything."

"Bullshit!" the peacekeeper shouts, letting go of Aaron's shoulder and slamming the metal rod into it. A painful scream ripped out of her throat as she heard a crack, her fingers and toes curled in pain as she began to sob.

"STOP!"

"Not until I get an answer out of you." the peacekeeper spits, tossing the rod to the ground and causing Aaron to jump.

"Please--" she sniffles, "I-I don't know anything!"

"LIAR!" The peacekeeper shouts, bringing their leg up and kicking Aaron straight in the stomach and knocking her back.

"I DON-T KNO-W!" Aaron screams brokenly, her shoulder throbbing in pain.

The peacekeeper frowns even more. They walk over to the table again, fiddling with some cloth and medical supplies. Aaron let out another sob of pain, the chair was digging into her wrists. She didn't know anything -- she couldn't remember anything. She remembers seeing Finnicks bloodied face and that was it, she didn't understand her new injuries when she woke up, she didn't know why she was with Snow. Had the plan not worked? Did they even start the plan? Maybe she was dreaming, maybe this was all some horrible nightmare and she was with Finnick somewhere -- safe and sound. Yeah, that had to be right.

"Shit--" Aaron flinches at the peacekeeper's cursing. She can hear them putting everything down onto the table, followed by a large thump of a bigger object.

Another painful sob slips past her chapped lips. "Why...-- a-am I here?.."

"You know why."

"I don't!"

The peacekeepers boots stomp onto the floor and Aaron's shirt is tugged. She can hear the fabric rip as she's pulled back up, immediately she's met face to face with the peacekeeper, but now they had the mask off. She blinks, the peacekeeper before her was not some monster, instead it was a simple woman. She looked young, not even past her late-twenties. Her skin was pale and her hair was a soft ginger colour. She seemed like a normal person if you were to take off the bloodied armor. The woman had a look in her eye that screamed pure hatred. "I'll give you one chance."

"C-Come on!" Aaron cries, "you're from the districts, why are you doing this?" she croaks out, the woman scoffs as a strand of her loose ginger locks falls onto her face.  Aaron's blood runs cold as the woman pulls out a syringe, the yellowish liquid looks thick and dirty. What was it? She gulps.