A/N: Hello, beautiful readers. This is my first story for the Hunger Games, and I really hope you enjoy it! Merry late Christmas for those of you who celebrate it, and yeah…That's pretty much it. Here goes nothing.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games, Panem, or anything of the sort.
Rue Mellark couldn't sleep for the life of her. It was too hot with her blankets on. It was too cold with them off. She would toss and trn and pummel her pillow and try to find a comfortable position to sleep in. But when she did find sleep, it was fitful, uncomfortable, plagued with nightmares full of faceless monsters.
It was well past midnight when she gave up on falling asleep. She kicked away her covers and tiptoes across the hall to her parents room wondering if she could squeeze in between.
She had barely cracked the door when she heard an ear piercing scream. It didn't wake her brother, who always slept like a log, and it wouldn't have bothered her on any other night because her room was too far down the hall for it to really have much effect on her. But she heard it right then, and she was terrified. Rue poked her head into the room to see what was going on.
Her mother's face was buried in her father's shoulder. It seemed impossible at first – the thought that her mother was crying was ridiculous at best. Her mother was the bravest person she knew. Her mother did not cry.not cry.
Whispering voices brought her back from her musings.
"Shhh, Katniss, it's not real," her father whispered. "It's not real." He repeated, half to himself, as he wrapped his arms around her.
Katniss let out a muffled sob. Neither of her parents noticed that she stood there, peeking in through the doorway, rooted to the spot with a sort of creeping horror.
"What was it this time?" He pressed gently after a silence that seemed to stretch on for ages.
"It was the mutts. From our first Games," Katniss whispered.
Rue took a moment to wonder what on earth she was talking about. They had studied the Hunger Games at school, but not in very great detail yet, so the idea of the Hunger Games was a bit foreign to her mind.
"But there were more of them this time. I mean, there were the original ones, but then there was also Prim, and Finnick, and Boggs, and Gale, and Haymitch," at this she broke off and shuddered, but valiantly kept talking, as if saying it out loud would make the nightmare go away. "There was one who looked like Cinna, gold eyeliner and all…" Katniss's voice dropped so that Rue had to strain her ears to hear the next part.
"You were there too, Peeta," she choked out. Rue knew she should leave, let her mother have some privacy, but she couldn't move. She could barely breathe. She was paralyzed with fear and curiosity.
"It's ok, Katniss. Look at me." The brunette raised her head and feebly wiped tears from her grey eyes. Rue could see tear tracks in the flickering lamplight. "I'm still here, alright? I'm still here. I'm never going to leave you again. Haymitch is just next door probably getting drunk off his rocker, and Gale is safe in two. And as for the rest of them, they are safe in a better place now. They're safe. It's not real anymore."
Katniss wasn't reassured at all by his words. "But it was real. It was a long time ago, but it was real. And all of them… they suffered because of me," Katniss whispered through her tears.
"No Katniss, they are free because of you. There are no more Hunger Games because of you. You were the Mockingjay, Katniss. You're the good guy," Peeta insisted. If there was one thing both her parents were, Rue reflected, it was stubborn.
"You were tortured because of me!" she whisper shouted. "You should hate me." Rue didn't notice that here knees were shaking so hard, she was in danger of falling over, but she didn't notice it. She was too engrossed in the scene unfolding in front of her.
"Snow, Katniss. It was Snow who hurt me. It wasn't your fault."
When Katniss spoke, it was the most vulnerable thing Rue had heard. "Only to break me, Peeta," Her voice took on a hysterical quality. "And kudos to them! It worked, right?" She sounded maniacal as she began giggling.
Rue had had enough. Shaking from head to toe, and shocked to her core, she ran back to her room, knowing that there would be no sleep coming to her anytime soon.
A/N: So, what do you think? Just leave your thoughts in the box below, because I would love to hear it. And I was bored, so I did some math and I figured out how many district children died in the Hunger Games total. It is a most ridiculous number. 1,742 kids…Just chew on that. I mean, it doesn't exist, but it's disturbing to even think about that.