Bloodlust;

Hailing from District 2, Victor of the 71st Hunger Games . Cora Jane Barre.

[marsannastone]

Lessons | Tatiana & Cora

[cora--barre]

tatianavanoy:

Tatiana was not a naturally kind looking woman. Usually her expressions switched between serious and threatening, unless the Capitol was involved of course. Then she was all toothy smiles and light, airy laughter. But right now, with her arms crossed over her chest and her lips pressed into a thin line, she looked downright menacing. 

"I didn’t say a thing about Mercer," she replied in a tone that was formal but with just a slight edge to it. "I said if you have anger you need to get out, now’s the time. I’m right here, and there’s your knife. Have at it."

Cora looked surprised when Tatiana threw the knife, but that was to be expected. Out of all the options, she’d chosen one of the least foreseeable ones and wanted to see how Cora reacted. 

Of course she’d never hurt Cora, and she was glad that the girl had hesitated. That meant she wasn’t one hundred percent reckless, and that made Tatiana’s life easier. She had some lessons she needed to learn, and she needed to learn them quickly. 

"Go on!" she snapped, and narrowed her eyes.

       "I am not doing this. I get it, you are pissed at me. But what do you expect. You are from One! You know as well as I do that our instincts are differnet. That we cannot always control them!"Cora snapped back at the woman as she held the knife within her hand. Cora looked at the woman with a blank face. How dare someone from a career district treat her like a child. She was not a child. She was an adult and damn it if she did not earn her place within the Victor circle.

       "You want me to throw it at you, fine, I will." She spoke in a colder tone as she let the knife fly from her hand, and watched as the blade soared through the sky until it ripped through the clothing on Tatiana's upper arm, letting a small wound appear against her light skin. Cora's face was not sorry for what she had just done, no, she was emotionless.

If Tatiana wanted so badly to push her, Cora would let her. But in the end, it was Tatiana who was going to open the world back up to the monster.

[merceraberdeen-blog]

Mercer winced when he felt the knife drive in a little bit, but even as it did, he felt no fear. But he grunted when suddenly she shifted, and her foot was in his stomach, sending him flying off of the porch and onto his back in front of the stairs. He took a second to catch his breath before he quickly rolled onto his feet and crouched as if prepared to spring. If only he had a spear…

Her blade found its way to his neck, and the only thing he did was expose himself to her and let her make her choice. Mercer didn’t have that fear — he didn’t have the survival instinct as one normally would. He wondered if there were others who felt the same, who didn’t fear death as it stared them in the face. In the arena, he had shut down completely and let a monster overtake his body and take lives in ways that he normally would’ve never considered. Now here he was, with a knife to his neck, ready to die again for something that shouldn’t have been a big deal to begin with. 

"The one you loved also didn’t fight his battles very well," Mercer spat back at her, glaring at her, "At least Remus lived through his. And my sister. What do you have to show for your battles?"

[cora--barre]

[✠] - - -        Digging the blade farther into his flesh, but not far enough to break all three layers of skin, Cora's teeth clinched down to one another. How badly she wanted to cut him open, bleed him out and laugh as the red liquid coated the cement. How badly she craved leaving his body on Remus's doorstep. Or maybe his sisters.

            "He fought harder than the fuck up you call a sister, and a psycho shut in you call your boyfriend."       Cora spat towards him as she dug the knife in farther. Slowly, ever so slowly. For she wanted to make him suffer. Suffer for bringing Sams name into this. For this victor who lie there under her knife was someone who was lucky. He got lucky getting out of the arena alive. But even out of the arena he was not safe. And Cora was going to make sure she remembered that.

            "I have more than you know."       Her snakelike words slithered from her lips as the red, crimson liquid began to seep onto her skin.

[marsannastone]

Lessons | Tatiana & Cora

[marsannastone]

Tatiana pressed her lips together, not very happy with Cora’s tone. She ignored her and peeked her head into the house to see Cato. “Ah, Cato. I just have to borrow your sister for a minute, is that okay?” she grinned widely and grasped Cora’s hand before the boy had a chance to reply. She dragged her out to the sidewalk and let her hand go as they walked. “Come along,” she said, voice clipped. 

They came to Tatiana’s home, and she led her to the backyard. Turning to face Cora, she reached into her jacket and tossed her a knife. Then she placed her hands on her hips. She was unarmed. 

"Go on, if you have so much anger you have to get out," she said. "Come on, take a swipe at me. Let it all out."

[cora--barre]

Cato spoke no word to Tatiana as she grabbed Cora from her home and pulled her alone to the backyard of the District One Victor. Confused and albeit pissed at the sudden kidnapping, Cora looked at her with venom within her words as her dark brown eyes locked on Tatiana's.                                            "What the fuck?!" But before she could finish her last word, what Tatiana's meaning for all of this had come to a clearing. A knife flew through the air, her hand catching the handle with ease as she cocked a brow at the older woman. If Cora was so angry, take it out on her. The knife fit so easily in her hand, and it would not be hard to attack the older woman. But something told her, a voice that she had no heard from in what felt like lifetimes, she should not try it. That it was a trap.

"If this is about Mercer, he is the one that came to my door. I didn't do shit to him." She spoke as she pushed her hair from her face so she could see her Victor friend clearer.

[marsannastone]

Lessons | Tatiana & Cora

Tatiana wasn’t so naive to think that she’d made a lot of progress after her time spent at Cora’s house, lecturing her on the importance of self control and confiscating only a fraction of her huge knife collection. Still, she didn’t think that Cora would have gone and hurt someone so soon afterwards, and she couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed. Cora had to learn how to behave, and so perhaps it was time for a different approach.

She lifted her hand and knocked on Cora’s front door. There was no answer. She tried again, louder this time, and tapped her heel impatiently. Nothing. Cora had to be home, especially at this hour, and she felt her lips press together in a thin line. 

Her voice was clear and inviting: “Cora, it’s me Tatiana. Open up, or I’ll just have to break in. And you know how little I enjoy theatrics.”

[cora--barre]

After the fight with Mercer, Cora was more under house arrest by her brother than ever before. It was not the fact she just had gotten into a fight, no she pulled her knife and she broke skin. Making Mercer bleed and almost taking his life. It was the fact she was inches if not closer to taking his life that made Cato lock his sister inside the house until he figured out just what to do to keep her, and the rest of the village, safe. And as the day had started to come to an end as the night approached, Cato sat in the kitchen, working on dinner as he watched over his sister sitting in the living room, watching some random television show on TV.

Cato and Cora looked up as a knock banged against the door, and soon the sound of a voice. It was Tatiana. Looking back at her brother before going to the door, opening it just a bit, she raised her eyebrow. She knew she was in for it. As if she had not had enough from her brother already.

                                                  "What?" Cora asked in an annoyed tone. She knew what she wanted, she just did not want to deal with it at this moment.

[cora--barre]

[✠] - - -               "I don't get why you are trying to get through to me. I know where I stand and I know what I did was not wrong. " 

[marsannastone]

"Thank you," Tatiana said sincerely. "I’m taking these with me," she said, scooping them up. "And if you can’t control these little outbursts, I’ll be forced to take away the rest of them."

"I want you to give me your attention, and listen carefully to what I have to say. Fighting worked well in the arena, obviously. But not here, not in Victor’s Village. Everyone here has been exactly where you are, and most of us have been around a lot longer than you. Control yourself, or you’re only going to put yourself in danger. Now, why don’t we see to getting this place cleaned up."

[cora--barre]

[✠] - - -         She could hear the sternness within her voice. The woman was not babying Cora. She was being straight. Killing and fighting is what kept her alive through the arena, but this was not the arena. Sure, this was not real life, but this was not the arena. If she were to kill someone, there would be repercussions, not cheers. And that was something she had never had to experience. Killing and fighting was what gave her recognition.

     Nodding at Tatiana's statement at cleaning the house up, Cora began to look around. The house was anything but clean and tidy. Cora had pretty much been sleeping on the couch as well as living in the living room. For the past nights she had tried going to sleep within her room made for the nightmares to return. Lying within the large king sized bed that was just like the one within the Capitol made her feel alone. Spending the three nights in the training center with Sam next to her all night. With him gone, it was an impossible task. A task which lead to an outburst. And at least within the living room, living on the couch, she had the distraction. She did not have the large bed to feel alone in.

     Cora got up and walked into the living room, looking around at the mess. Blankets on the floor and the couch, pillows all over, cups and old plates on the coffee table, and other little bits of random trinkets covered the room. Cora began to pick up the blankets and pillows, throwing them back onto the couch as she spoke over to Tatiana;

        "I don't usually have people over other than Cato and I. So I have never had a reason to clean."

[marsannastone]

Tatiana didn’t so much as flinch when Cora produced a hidden knife and jabbed it into the table. She did, however, sigh deeply and rub her temples. Standing, she crossed her arms over her chest. 

"Give me the knives," she ordered, her voice clipped and formal. "Right here, on the table, not in it. And if I think you’re lying I’ll have to frisk you. This-these violent outbursts-it has to stop. Now.”

[cora--barre]

[✠] - - -         Looking up at the woman, part of her wanted to yell, to kick her out of the house. But at the same time, she didn't want Tatiana to leave. This was the only person it seemed in the Village that was not either scared or hated Cora. And she did not want to ruin that now. So, doing as she was asked, Cora pulled two more small daggers from her boot and butterfly knife from her pocket. Setting them all on the table between the two.             "Here. That is all that are on me."       Cora spoke in an emotionless and flat voice towards Tatiana. Sure, the only had the three on her, but within the house, weapons where everywhere. Mostly her knives, but swords of her brothers as well. They were both trained from birth and to just let it go away, that was almost impossible. Weapons and killing was in the blood of all District 1 and 2 citizens. Never to go away.

            "What else do you want me to give you?"

[cora--barre]

Unlocked.

[remus-ashcraft-deactivated20141]

Remus wasn’t sure what he had done to this girl.  It wasn’t the one that he had accidentally run over.  Or someone who he had sent something that had gone wrong.  In fact from what he knew nothing he had ever made had gone wrong.  Remus didn’t even know what he had done to the girl.  Or if he had done anything.  

Or there was a chance that the rumors sparked her interest.  The rumors that kept Remus from going outside.  The looks that he’d occasionally get from people.  Remus knew that Mercer wanted him to start going out more, but this was just proving him wrong.  If this happened inside of his house, how did Remus know what would happen if he went out?  This was practically Remus’ worst nightmare.  And if he hadn’t murdered his family, this would have been.

As she had him pressed against the wall, he was scared.  Scared that she was going to kill him, or that he would lose it and fight back.  Remus didn’t want to kill her.  He didn’t want to kill anyone.  Not in the past, not now.  And Remus knew that she wanted some sort of reaction, it had to be the only reason that she was pushing him so hard.  It was the only thing that made logical sense.  But Remus didn’t understand why.  Why she would want to find out, or why she seemed to want to hurt him.  Remus hadn’t done anything, and he didn’t understand why it couldn’t stay that way.

[cora--barre]

Standing there, her hand on his chest, her other ready to grasp his neck and cut all air going to his body off, Cora began to look into his eyes. She did not exactly know why she wanted to make him suffer so. Maybe it was for the fact he was able to leave the arena and still have the one he loved by his side. Maybe it was because he was what she was behind the mask and she hated seeing that. And why was she the only one that had to suffer through the way, why not make others as well?

It was as if it came out of the blue when she felt a hand grasp onto her wrist, pulling her away from him. Looking up in a thrashing motion, she saw it was Cato. His eyes were furious and his body ridged. He did not say a word to his sister, only pulled her off the boy and behind him, his hand never once leaving her wrist. Cato turned to Remus as he he'd his sister away from the Victor. "Are you okay?" Cato asked as his grip around her wrist tightened as she tried to escape. 

[merceraberdeen-blog]

Cora’s face morphed into that of a deadly serpent’s. That’s the only thing that came to mind as her hand came up and lashed out, slicing into his chest, cutting through his white shirt and into his skin. He winced and let out a small, pained noise, his hand reaching up and holding his hand over the wound. However, when he looked up to watch Cora make her threat, it wasn’t one of fear. Instead, it was one of challenge. His eyes were just as enraged and blood fueled as her own. 

"Then you’ll be getting what you want," Mercer challenged. His hand darted out like a cobra strike as he grabbed her hand that held the knife and put the knife point to his chest, staring at her in the eyes, unwavering, without fear. "You’ll set him off. And you’ll set Elisia off. And not to mention President Snow who values my services."

Mercer dipped his head further, his eyes unblinking as he challenged her by not once breaking his gaze with her, his hand holding firmly to her wrist, darling her to take the knife and plunge it. 

"Doesn’t feel good when people talk shit on the people you love, does it?" he hissed.

[cora--barre]

[✠] - - -        Cora smirked as she got a small reaction out of him as her blade sliced his skin. But it quickly vanished as she felt his hand grip her wrist, pulling the bloody blade to where the wound lied. The temptation was stronger than ever before. This was not Sam on the other end of the blade. She really had no reason to fight against taking his life right here on her doorstep. Hell, Mercer meant nothing to her whats so ever. She had no connection, no feelings, no nothing towards him. Taking his life would just be like taking the life of a tribute in the arena. 

      Pressing the tip of the blade into the wound a bit deeper, that evil, black eyed smile flooded over her face. She knew she could not just take a life and leave it at that, she had to make him suffer. Make hi wish she would drag the blade across his neck, releasing the blood out of his body in one swipe. 

              ”Trust me, I will finish off your little Elisia off just after I am done with you. And as for Snow, I have ways to get around things like this. You are not my first kill.”      Cora spat towards him as her foot lifted up from the ground, pushing his stomach out to throw him backwards. If she was going to kill him, she was going to make sure it was on her watch. Not have him holding the blade to his chest. 

              ”The one I loved could fight his own battles.”      She spat down towards him as she stood above him, her bloody blade hovering of his neck. 

[merceraberdeen-blog]

Mercer listened to everything she said before he even thought about speaking. But as she did drip every word with hateful rebuttals about Remus, the cracked grin on the corner of his lips only grew. As she finally stopped talking, he formed a coherent response, and his voice was eerily level, devoid of anger or sarcasm just as his last words had plainly been. 

"And what do you call yourself?" Mercer hissed, raising an eyebrow at her, his face becoming stoic and poised. "Do you know what I call people like you? Useless wastes of space." His fists clenched at his sides. If she was going to attack and kill him, he was ready for it. He’d fight back before he would die. This wouldn’t stand. Not with the people he loved. 

"He has use, unlike some rotting, animated corpses I’m currently talking to," Mercer said, his voice now dripping with venom. "When did you die in your arena, Cora? When your name was called for the arena or when the kid from Nine bled your bitchy boyfriend out for the whole world to see?"

[cora--barre]

[✠] - - -               ”I am not the shut in that is scared of his own fucking kitchen and needs his babysitter to take care of him. God he has you around his pathetic little finger so tight. What do you do, wipe his ass too?”       She spoke before her face went to stone.

       Every little bit of light that was one in her body shut off the moment his voice spoke about Sam. Every sense of self control was long gone and now the girl in the arena that took down all of District Seven within hours was rising from the ashes. How dare he even think about bring up Sam within the conversation. And without even knowing she was doing it, the blade that was one by her side soon went into the air. Slicing through his shirt, and breaking the fair skin over his chest. Watching as the crimson liquid started to drip from his body, she just smiled. That little evil smile.

              ”Either leave, or the next one will go in deeper and I will be sure to pay Remus a visit...with your dead body.”

[merceraberdeen-blog]

"It’s even more impolite to try to trigger my boyfriend, you bitter bitch."

Mercer fearlessly walked up to her, not even minding that her knives were well in reach of any vital organs. Of course, Mercer’s absent fear of death made this whole thing less daunting. If she pierced him with a knife or tried to kill him, fine. But something like this couldn’t go on. Not when it involved Remus and his already fragile state of mind. 

He thought nothing of the repercussions of his actions as he got into Cora’s face, his eyes like flames and his jaw set in anger. “If you so much as blink wrong at Remus again, I’ll break your neck.”

[cora--barre]

[✠] - - -         Trying to hold back a laugh was near impossible as Mercer Aberdeen crawled up into her face. Scolding her for her repercussions. For how she treated his boyfriend. But in reality, she just walked in, he was the one that left the door open after all.               ”You would think, if your little psycho boyfriend would not want guests he would lock his door once in a while.”        Cora spoke in a lighter voice, but a voice that held ice and venom behind the words. Slowly but surely that monster that Sam fought and would have willingly died to make sure it died with him, was making itself more and more prominent.

              ”I find it funny,  a kid who killed his whole family has to have his babysitter he calls his boyfriend come and fight his battles for him.”        Her voice was starting to lose it's nice appeal. More cold and hard as she looked at him within the eyes. Her hands gripping the blades as her arms were ready. Eyes finding all the easiest points of entry to bleed him dry and dump his lifeless body on the front step's of Remus's home.               ”Where is he Mercer? Hiding in his house again eating his pretzels as he cries over the fact he murdered his whole family for no reasons?”

[merceraberdeen-blog]

CORA!

[cora--barre]

[✠] - - -         The Victor's house was silent as Cato spent the afternoon out within the village, leaving his baby sister alone for a few hours. Figuring nothing much could happen within a small space of time, Cato had small doubts as he left. Leaving Cora sitting on the sofa as another pointless show played on the television in front of her eyes.         It was not until she heard someone yell her name from outside that she stood up, her eyes looking through the window to see it was Mercer Aberdeen. The boyfriend of Remus. The boy who had the little meeting with Cora just earlier that day. Pulling two small but very sharp knives from under the sofa cushion, she walked outside, shutting the door behind her with that smirk on her face. 

              "You know, it is more polite to knock."

[cora--barre]

tatianavanoy:

Cora’s body visibly tensed when Tatiana brought up the ring, telling her everything she needed to know. The people in the Capitol always fawned over a good love story, but it was dangerous to visibly mourn a fallen tribute. But there was no reason to rush these things; as Cora healed, she’d learn about how to make the most out of life in the Capitol soon enough. For now, Tatiana had to worry about those knives. 

She’d be a hypocrite to say she didn’t still fight; she worked out every day, and still trained to become better with weapons. There were many reasons for this: one, she’d trained all her life and it was simply part of her routine; two, it helped to intimidate other mentors come game time; and lastly there was still a large part of her that imagined one day snapping the President’s neck herself. 

"I understand," she said finally. "I still train everyday. It’s different for the Careers; fighting is in our blood, whether we want it there or not. But that can’t be the only outlet you have, it’s not healthy," she stood up and brushed her hands together. "But before we start talking about hobbies, let’s get this place cleaned up. Victors have to be disciplined in all aspects of life," she paused and grinned, mostly to herself. God, but she sounded like her dad. 

[✠] - - -         Shaking her head as the woman spoke about how she had to have another outlet within her mind, Cora could think of nothing. She had no other skills. It was Sam that had the skills. He was the one that could draw, play the piano. He was the one that had a more diverse future ahead of him, and it was taken from him. All because she let him take watch that night. All because she decided to let him go out alone. 

Her hand that sat upon her lap grasped the small blade from her boot, slamming it down into the table with frustration and anger. Not towards the woman but towards herself. Letting the memories come back was a trigger. The trigger to a loaded gun. A gun that was on the brink of going off. She was able to hold it from going to for years, but lately, it seemed to be coming closer. And when it went off, it was going to wipe out more than just her. 

"I should have died." Her words whispered before her eyes glanced up at the woman. "He should be here."

[cora--barre]

God's & Monsters

[amicusfinch]

As far as Amicus was concerned he was on a lovely stroll through the Victor’s Village. The Victor’s Village felt a bit crowded these days, possibly because of all the new victors stuffing up the place with their teenage woes and heartbreaking stories. Or, Amicus missed home which was frankly the more likely scenario. District Two had been by no means a barren wasteland, and it was filled to the brim with other young people, here everything was prim and proper. Everyone had more problems than they could count on however many fingers they’d retained during their games, and many of them barred their doors and locked themselves inside all day. Perhaps it was wrong to be upset with them, there were very few who made it out of the arena unscathed, but at the same time Amicus hardly felt like he owed anyone, much less his fellow victors who honestly tormented him more than the Capitol or the President ever could.

Days and nights were spent as far from home as possible and Amicus could easily say he knew the lay of the heavily manicured land. Occasionally he’d say hello to his least favorite neighbors, their glowering at him being the icing on the cake. But mostly he kept to himself, his reputations (he was far too important to have only one) preceded him and the older victors tended to leave him well enough alone. Which suited him in all honesty. Still, one could only go so long without a friendly face or a decent conversation that wasn’t sparked by curbside crying or someone complaining about how raw their deal was (pretty pathetic given they’d all been basically handed the same set of keys by the Capitol).

He heard talking and wandered over, sniffing. That was probably considered rude in some dusty old book stocked away in a private library someplace, but manners be damned. They were social standards impressed upon people and if the people of the District were going to keep on babbling about how they didn’t want the games to define them then he could damn well go around saying manners didn’t apply to him. It was about as ridiculous. Something about the older boy.. man… person and the younger girl who Micah presumed was his sister seemed familiar. He wouldn’t quite define them as striking but there was a flash of recognition. She was, his tribute at some point more recently than he liked to recall.

How dreary, his tributes never seemed to like him very much which was mostly why he counted on them dying during the games. He’d heard a deal about this one though, she’d survived, her name might be Cora, and she kept knives in her pockets or something. He wasn’t sure which bit was rumor or not. Still, as unpleasant as the interaction would most likely be, he’d regret not talking to her in the first place.

“Cora yea?" he said, moving closer. "Long time no see, where’ve you been off to? You seem a bit young to be off in the Capitol doing well… not sure what they’d want you to be doing but I’m sure they could think of something," he shrugged.

[cora--barre]

Taking a deeper breath as the man who was supposed to mentor her through the games, give her what she needed to survive. Sure, she lived anyways, but not by his help. Hell, she barely even saw the man much when she was in training. But she already did not like him. Something about him, something she could not place was something she did not like. And it annoyed her that out of every damn Victor and family member in this village, today was the day she was going to run into him. The very day she already did not want to leave the house. 

"That is my name. Yes." She spoke in a cold tone, even though her brother was right next to her. She could feel his eyes glance down at her to make sure she did not do anything to cause a scene. Hell Cato did not even know about her always carrying a knife with her. "I could ask you the same question." Her words were like ice towards the man in front of her, but as she spoke and her words grew venomous, Cato's hand rested on her shoulder. To remind her he was right next to her, and also not to do anything stupid to the other Victor. 

"It has been almost 5 years and I am just now seeing you here." She spoke once more as her arms crossed over her chest as her eyes took in the man he was. He was older, but not by that much. His games did not ring a bell nor did his face when it came to thinking back to his games. But she knew he was one that didn't care about anything but himself. In a way, it was overused and downright pathetic to her now. "Funny, I think I have talked to you more today than I have ever when you were my mentor." 

[cora--barre]

God's & Monsters

District Two. The District that was known for creating warriors. Blood thirsty monsters that killed for fun and wore the blood of the fallen with pride. They were the Career's of all Career's. Trained from the moment they could crawl for the ability to kill, how to manipulate, and how to win. They could spot a weakling within moments, and strike them down within seconds. That was the District that was the home to many Victors; including Cora Jane Barre. Victor of the 71st Hunger Games. Killer of 8 tributes. And none of her kills were fast. She was the girl that savored her kills. Made them suffer. Made them beg for her to kill them quicker. And it was the fact she was not afraid to kill that gave her the title of Victor.

Living within he village along side all the other's was not an easy or very welcomed transition for the girl. Other than being a blood lust killer, she was also broken. Completely shattered inside from the moment she found the body of the one and only person she ever loved lying in a pool of his own blood. And being around others who had families, or loved ones to go home to at night was one of the worst kinds of torture. Sure, she had her eldest and most beloved brother with her, but that was not the same. And it never would be.

Today was nothing different. Her brother - Cato - had to almost literally pull her from the house to get her to go out to the market with him. To get her off of the sofa and to interact within the world. Something she really didn't see the reason for. Every time she did, she either tried to kill someone, or attacked another. She was unstable, and that was clear. And it got to a point she did not even want to deal with it. But Cato pleaded and it was almost impossible to say no. So, following him out the door, the auburn haired girl stayed by her brothers side while the sun glimmered against the purple ring that was forever placed on her finger. Her mind was in another world as they walked until the sound of her brothers voice broke through. Asking her if that was one of the other Victors from Two. If that was one of her mentors. Looking up, she saw him ahead. Amicus Finch. "Fucking great."

[cora--barre]

Unlocked.

[remus-ashcraft-deactivated20141]

There was nothing that Remus could do to even attempt to control the trembling now.  It was everywhere.  With his hands, up through his arms.  It was getting harder to breathe, and his thoughts were practically screaming for him to get out of the situation.  But he can’t.  It was his house and he had nowhere else that he could go.  Remus had a feeling the girl would just follow him, and if he left, then it make him even more on edge than he already was.  

And she was talking as if Remus had wanted to kill his family.  As if he had wanted them gone.  When in all reality that wasn’t the case at all.  His sister had been his only friend growing up, his parents his only support system.  It took him years after the incident for him to even open up to Mercer, because of how afraid he was of doing it again.  Though he tried to avoid it, Remus started flashing back to when he woke up from the incident.  His parents in pools of blood.  Tessa’s scared dead eyes staring up at him.  But nothing of how it happened, that remained a mystery.  One that Remus never wanted to unlock.

"I don’t want to do anything," he mumbled, his voice trembling in time with the rest of his body, "I don’t want to hurt anyone.  I just want to be left alone."

[cora--barre]

Once again, her hands pushed him back against the wall, his time her hand staying firm on his chest. Her teeth clinched and her blood boiling. She did not know why she was so invested in this boy in front of her. He had done nothing to her. Had not attacked her. Had not really done anything. Literally this was the first time they met. And she already had a kill plan to take his life. 

"Welcome to the real world Remus. time to join it." 

Her words were cold and filled with ice as she locked onto his eyes. She wanted to see him break. To see just what was under his skin. Just who he was. Who was the person in the arena that won the games. She wanted to see it for her own eyes. 

[cora--barre]

Unlocked.

[remus-ashcraft-deactivated20141]

"Mercer doesn’t…….live here," Remus corrected, still staring at the floor.  It was reasons like this that he didn’t want to go outside.  The conversations that he wanted to avoid, the looks.  The fact that she seemed like she really wanted to know what happened.  And even if things were different, Remus couldn’t tell her.  He didn’t even know exactly what happened.  He didn’t remember it. 

And he didn’t want to. 

He was practically at his breaking point already, Remus didn’t want to know how he’d be if he could remember it.  It haunted him enough.  

"And….I……just….." Remus didn’t even know what to say.  Or how to defend himself.  He’d never had to before, and he didn’t think he’d ever have to.

[cora--barre]

Cora stood up, the smirk which was once painted on her face gone. Now it was just an emotionless mask. But her eyes scared something else. Something darker. And it was when she walked over, her hand pushing the bag of pretzels from his hand that the monster was now taken over behind those brown orbs. 

"You are alone. In this house. With a stranger and all you do is stand there. How does someone like you go out and kill….no…murder his whole family and then stand there like a scared little boy."  Cora pushed him back against the wall before standing up taller. She was not afraid of this boy. Of this older victor. Not just because she had her knife within arms reach of her, but because this man standing in front of her was someone who had completely lost everything and was barely standing. And in a way, he was just what Cora was deep down. Broken and scared. The one thing Cora refused to be seen as. And that was why she was pushing him. She wanted to see who he really was. 

"Do something."