Little Bird

Chapter 2

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..."