Chapter 2
I sighed in anger when I turned over for the 20th time. I reached out till I grabbed a wire I followed it along till a found the switch. In seconds the room filled with light I squinted at the sudden brightness then as my sight adjusted I look at my clock. I had been tossing and turning for almost an hour now and I was fed up.
My dreams during the few minutes of sleep I was actually asleep, were riddled with nightmares each on connected to the letter, each one ending with me losing a family member or myself dying. Maybe it was a bit extreme after all it was only a letter but there was something about it that made my stomach churn. What I know would help would be to talk about it. As a child I would explain my nightmares to my father who always managed to make things better, but now I know that if I was to tell anyone that would tell me to stop being silly, just like they did when I was five. I was fed up and I know there is no use of me staying in bed.
I carefully stood up and tiptoed across the room not making a sound I walked as though I was hunting prey, unnoticeable. The house was silent, from my room all I could hear was the peaceful snoring from my brother, who was probably in a whole other world. Like every 10 year old, undisturbed by curiosity of a pearly white letter, and I didn't want to wake him. I open my door and cursed inside my head when it creaked. I silently tiptoed across the corridor and into the bath room.
Once Inside, I turned on the light and looked into the mirror. The person staring back looked completely different. Her jet black hair had knotted and frizzed up around her face her blue eye looked tired and confused, shadowed with heavy black rings, her olive-toned skin pale from sleep deprivation.
She turned the tap on and washed her face to try and calm down she had a headache from all the questions. She didn't understand why this letter wouldn't leave her mind. Suddenly she heard voices from down below. They where muffled by the floor so she couldn't make out words she could feel the blood leaving her face. Could they be the people behind the letter? What did they want? Even with her fear she couldn't dismiss her curiosity. Her body urged her to go down stairs to find the people behind the voices and listen to what they have to say. She would be safe as long as they didn't hear her. Quietly she opened the bathroom door and turned off the light slowly she took a step outside she tried to picture the layout of the house in her mind.
"Two steps forward" I whisper to myself forcing my body to move "one to the right" I obey my orders and find myself at the top of the stairs. Slowly I take one step down and another and another, until I'm at the bottom. I take a deep breath and sit on the bottom step closing my eyes I concentrate my senses and mind onto the intruders voices. But all I can hear was my hammering heart. I hoped that they wouldn't be able to hear it. Suddenly I heard a voice.
"What do you think it means?" I was shocked to hear my father's voice. Suddenly I realised there were no strangers roaming my house other than my parents. I cursed at myself for being so stupid
"I don't know." My mother's voice sounded tired, hoarse as though she had been crying. I've never seen my mother cry. Not a single tear. There have been many times when I have seen my mother close to tears; her beautiful grey eyes turn watery, with a broken expression cracking through her mask. But I have never seen a single tear fall. I've seen her afraid. Her mask still in place but I have seen it in her eyes. I've watched her hands grip tightly onto the back of a chair or my father's hand. I watch her zone out of this world into her place of nightmares, gone for no more than a couple of seconds before returning back as normal, as though nothing happened. But I've seen it. Curiosity from the conversation pulls me back.
"It's been so many years" my father sounded afraid as well as confused
"They never forget. Just like us" that was Haymitch whose voice sounded slurred. Damn it mother! You let him drink. I shouted at her in my head but it only made me more afraid. What scared her enough to let him do that? What had happened so many years ago? What couldn't they forget? And finally, why couldn't I know? I stood up and tiptoed up the stairs once on my bed again I turned off my light and closed my eyes. Tomorrow I'm going to find that letter and find out myself what was worrying them. I promised myself. Tomorrow.