"I'm going to find Peeta" I stated, getting to my feet. Heads lifted and turned in my direction from all around the room. Gale's eyes drooped with fatigue while, next to him, Haymitch looked around in alarm, because I'd apparently just woken him from a nap.
"What'd ya' say, Sweetheart?" He groaned groggily, stretching out his back and yawning.
"I said, I'm going to find Peeta," saying this with the utmost amount of courage that I could find, which I had to dig deep within myself to locate, I made my way toward the door. Since I'd been informed of Peeta's, er, situation, I'd found that every speck of joy, courage, or any other emotion along those lines, had fled my body. As several people had also brought to my attention, I noticed that I had been sulking. I rarely smiled, as I now had almost forgotten how to.
Haymitch let out a hearty laugh, slumping drunkenly back into his chair, "Alright. Good luck getting off the aircraft, sweetheart."
Without another word, I stepped out of the room and into the long hallway beside it. As I made my way down it, moving as stealthily and as quietly as my sore legs would allow me, I heard Haymitch mumble, "I hope she knows were still in the air."
I sighed, pushing myself further down the dark hallway, in toward the aircraft's piloting quarters. The halls were dimly lit; the only source of light came from swaying purple lights that hung above my head. This aircraft, I could easily tell, was nowhere close to as nice as the capitols.
"Katniss!" A voice called behind me. I could hear quiet footsteps trailing behind me. I kept walking, determined. No one was going to convince me to stop.
"Katniss, wait!" The steps were getting closer.
"My mind is set, Gale. I'm rescuing Peeta, and there's nothing you can do to stop me." I plunged further into the heart of the aircraft, turning corners when needing to, the steps following close behind me.
"Listen, Catnip," Gale said soothingly, "You know I can't let you do this." He reached out and put a cold hand on my shoulder. I shrugged it off, my pace not slowing. His steps faltered for a minute, probably shocked by my emotionless response to his loving gesture. "Besides," He continued, his voice hardening, "You don't even know if he's alive, Katniss! For all we know, he could be dead! If you go in there, you could get killed, too!"
I groaned, "Shut up!" I sprinted up ahead of him, forgetting that it was probably better for me to stay silent. He kept on after me, quickening his pace when I did.
"I won't let you do this!" He pushed on, "Catnip, You don't even need him! Why is it not enough that I'm here?! Don't go and get yourself killed! It'd all be for a lost cause. Pointless! Think about your Mom, and Prim, and everyone else," Hs voice faltered and he paused, "Th-think about me."
I shook my head, "Im sorry, Gale. I need him back. He's a part of me now. Even you couldn't fix it if I never got him back." I didn't turn to look at him, but I could feel the pain in his grey eyes boring into my back. I thought he'd understand by now that I could never let myself believe that Peeta was dead. Why did Gale think that I would stop and give up on him? Did he still think everything that happened between Peeta and I was for the cameras?
"Alright," He sighed, his jog slowing to a stop. "I-I can't make you come back… But, Katniss?" He continued.
"What?" I snapped.
"Remember that…I love you." And then, I could hear the sound of his legs carrying him back down the hallway in which we'd come.
"Peeta!" I called breathlessly down the hall, looking back and forth, searching for any sign of on-coming Peacekeepers.
"Peeta, where are you?!" I raced down narrow passageways, all leading to disappointing dead-ends. The capitals hover-craft was confusing beyond belief. I struggled to find my way around the numerous floors, searching for any sign of Peeta in one of the odd cage-like rooms that were spread around the hover-craft.
I heard loud, crashing foot-steps as I made my way up to another floor. Must be a Peacekeeper. I notched an arrow into my bow, spinning lightly on my heel. I came to face a tall, pale man who, as expected, was wearing a peacekeeper's uniform. I shot the arrow at the man's heart, watching heartlessly as he crumpled to the floor. I noticed that a silver key hung around his neck. I yanked it off its rope, slipping it into my pocket (just in case). As I receded down the hallway, I came across a large glass room, unlike the other cage rooms I'd seen everywhere else. In the middle of the room, stood a large, empty bed. The walls surrounding it were covered in pictures of people, and weapons, and odd machinery. The pictures were very well-drawn and looked as if they'd been drawn on with crayons. As I craned my neck over the bed, I could see someone standing toward the back of the room. There was a boy, looking at a wall in front of him, his back faced toward me. A skinny, but muscular, blonde boy. He was dressed in a white gown, and his blonde hair was matted with dirt and blood. I looked at his skinny limbs seeing that they had numerous scars all along them. He held a crayon in his right hand, and seemed to be drawing a picture. A blonde boy, art, on a capitol hovercraft…
No! It couldn't be Peeta. The boy in front of me was much skinnier than Peeta, and at least a half a foot taller. I shook my head angrily. It couldn't be Peeta. I sighed, and looked at the ceiling nervously. It was then that I noticed a golden plate plastered onto the doors frame. I stood on my toes to get a better look at it, and as I realized what was etched on it, my eyes widened in terror.
PEETA MELLARK,
DISTRICT TWELVE
HOLDING TIME: LIFE
"PEETA!" I screamed, fumbling for the key on the rope that I took from the Peacekeeper. I shoved it into the key hole, flinging the door open helplessly. The boy in the back of the room, Peeta, dropped his crayon and turned towards me. I gasped as I saw his face. The left side of his face had a red burn scar and another jagged scar ran from the middle of his forehead and straight down to his chin. The only thing that seemed untouched were his eyes. His big blue eyes. The eyes that always seemed so pure and full of love. That spark of never-ending joy had gone, now. Tears formed in my eyes as I saw what they'd done to him. And it was all because of me. "Peeta! What have they done to yo-" I began, but his confused, nervous words stopped me.
"You've brought her back?" He stammered, backing towards the wall he'd just been drawing on. "Anything but her… PLEASE!" He cried. What was going on?
"Peeta, it's me, Katniss. What's wrong?" I said, stepping towards him.
"NO!" his scream surprised me, "Your NOT Katniss! Katniss is dead! You kill her and then take one of your weird machines and make me believe that it's her!"
I held my arms open to him, "Peeta, it's really me! I've come to t-"
"GO! Just stop! Please, I-I can't look at this! You're messing with my head!" he continued, rushing at me angrily.
"Peeta, stop!" I cried, backing towards the door. "Listen, it's me!"
"It's not! That's what they said last time! You're not really Katniss!" He said, breaking into tears, "Please, President Snow, please. Just take this away. You've sent your sick robots in here enough. Anything but this!" He slumped to his knees, looking at the floor angrily.
"I'm not going to leave you, Peeta!" I said kneeling in front of him.
Before I knew it, Peeta's fist was swinging up towards me. The blow hit me in the face and knocked me backwards. "You're not KATNISS!" He screamed, "And I've had enough of your look-alike mutts, Snow!"
My eyes went foggy as I lay in the corner motionlessly. I looked up at Peeta sadly, watching while he banged his fists up against the wall. "Peeta…" I groaned.
"Shut up!" He yelled, shoving his fists over his ears, "Please…I'm begging you…"
To my right, I heard a door swing open. As the air rushed in, I caught the scent of roses and blood. I looked up feebly, my eyes landing on President Snow. A fiery wisp of anger rose in my chest as I looked at him in horror.
"Well, done Peeta." Peeta gazed down at him, confusion and anger shooting over his eyes. "You've done half the job we needed you to."
A sharp pain went through my head as I craned my neck to see the two.
"What do you mean?" Peeta said coldly. It sounded more like a statement than a question.
"You've finished off Katniss, over there…Partly." He smiled patting Peeta on the shoulder.
His blue eyes eyes narrowed, "That's. Not. Katniss." Snow laughed heartily, looking over at me happily.
"Oh, Peeta, you foolish boy," Snow walked casually and pushed my face over with his shoe revealing a long gash on the side of my head that seeped blood. "Our mutts don't have blood, silly."
Peeta's eyes widened in horror as he looked down at me, "...Katniss?" He inhaled looking at me, unsure.
Snow chuckled, turning back to the door in which he entered. Peeta rushed forward, swinging his fist down toward snows head, But before they could come into contact with it, Snow ducked, shoved Peeta aside, pulled out a pistol and shot him square in the forehead. Peeta gasped, slumping down next to me, his marred face agape in shock
"NO!" I managed to scream through choking tears. Snow swung his wrist around, his finger on the trigger.
"It's about time we get rid of the both of you. Once and for all." And with that, he shot the gun. I could feel the bullet lodge deeply into my neck. I rolled my face over to look at Peeta. I lifted my fingers to his eyes, finding the strength to smile as I looked at those blue eyes once more, and pushed down his eyelids respectfully. And as I lay on my death bed, I was content that they were the last thing I saw.