A/N: So, to those of you who just randomly decided to read this, I'm sorry to say it is a sequel. You might be a bit confused if you don't read the other one first, which is "The Mentors."
Go forth and read it! And to those who have read the first one . . . well, here's the sequel!
Fighting to Forget
Chapter One
October
Dexter Kane (D3)
The baby's cries wake me every morning at 4 o'clock, it never fails. Being a single parent is the second most challenging thing I've ever been through, but it's also the most rewarding. Because on those days when I don't want to get out of bed, I do, for my darling daughter. She's four months old and the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. I'm sure she got it from her mother.
Diana. I close my eyes tightly. I wish I had been there to hold her hand as she . . . died. But I wasn't. That's another thing the Capitol has taken away from me. The doctor said if we would have had children a few years ago, then Diana most likely wouldn't have died. I wish sometimes that she had gotten pregnant earlier, but I'm okay with it. If she would have gotten pregnant then it wouldn't be Emerald that was my child.
I cling to my little girl and slowly the crying stops. "You hungry, Emmy?" My baby smiles a toothless grin. The good part about all this is that Connie and I are talking again. I didn't realize it, but I missed her so much.
I walk with Emerald in my arms into the kitchen and prepare a bottle of milk. Emerald drinks hungrily when I give it to her and I stare down into her beautiful brown eyes. The ones she got from her mother . . . I shake my head to clear away the sadness, but it doesn't help.
Soon, Emmy is sleeping again and I go to put her back in her crib. I lay down on my bed and try to sleep but the grief keeps me awake. Diana was so beautiful and sweet. I was such a dick to her. How could I do that to my first and only love?
I feel tears running down my face and wipe them away. I hear a knock from downstairs and rush to the door, hoping they won't ring the doorbell and wake Emerald.
I open the door to find my mom and dad standing there looking frazzled. "Dex!"
"Mom? Dad?" I ask as Mom pulls me into a hug. "What are you doing here?"
"I came to see you and Emmy!" she says with a grin. "Is that so wrong?" Mom barely ever comes to see me, and she never wants to see Emmy. I sometimes find it weird but I've brushed it off. I don't think Dad has ever even seen Emerald.
I give her a suspicious look. "It's 4 o'lock in the morning, Mom." I look to my father for answers and he frowns grimly. I notice a black smudge on Mom's chin. "You have something. Right there." I point it out.
She wipes and then looks at what came off in horror. I stare at her, perplexed. "What is it?"
Her face pales. "Dexter . . ." She glances at my father once more and then back at me. "Our house burned down."
"What?" I exclaim. "Are you okay? What about Fuze? He's okay, right?" Fuze is my younger brother by sixteen years . . . I'd like to say he was the accident, but I was.
Dad grimaces. "We're fine. Fuze is fine. He's looking for salvageable items at the moment, but he should be here soon." They need to stay here, I suddenly realize. I have four other rooms in the house, so there's enough room for them to stay here for the rest of their lives and Emmy to still have her own room.
"You have to stay here," I say. "I have room. A room for you two and another for Fuze. It's perfect."
My mother gives Dad a unhappy look and he gets an uncomfortable look on his face. He says, "Diana has only been gone for a few months . . . we don't want to intrude on your mourning."
I give him an aghast look. "Someone here is exactly what I need!"
He looks down, trying to find a way to fight with my logic. He sighs. "We won't stay here."
"But why?"
He is silent for a long time. "My religion says that if a baby kills its mother and lives, it is a demon come to destroy everyone around its lives. I won't live with that thing."
I'm confused for a second. What is he talking about? It suddenly sinks in. He's talking about Emmy. Thing? He called his granddaughter a thing. "What the fuck is wrong with you?"
My mother gasps and my father gets a cold look on his face. "What did you just say to me?"
"I asked what the fuck is wrong with you?" I yell. "How can you say something like that about Emmy? What has she ever done to you, you piece of shit?"
"She hasn't done anything to me yet." My father says coldly. "But she will, if not disposed of."
"Disposed of?" I let the question trail off. Does he mean..? No, he couldn't. Is he really suggesting that I kill my daughter? I punch him before my brain can tell myself I shouldn't. He falls to the ground and I look at him in shock. My mother comes at me at hits me in the chest with flat hands, effectively pushing me away.
"Get back in your house!" she hisses. "Go back to the demon!"
I stare at her in shock and slowly back away, until I'm able to slam the door in her face. I turn around, my back facing to the door, and slowly slide to the ground.
What the hell just happened?
Clubb Paige (D2)
"Clubb?" her voice asks on the other end of the phone. "Can you please come over?"
I sigh. "But . . ." I've been over three times already this week. What can be happening that is so urgent? Wait a second . . . I sometimes forget what happens behind closed doors at her house. "Sure. I'll be there in five minutes."
"Thank you." She hangs up. I stare at the phone and then slam in back onto the receiver, effectively breaking it. Oh well. I'll just put it on my shopping list.
I rub my temples. I can't believe all the changes in my life. First, I have sex with Hazel. Big oops, right there. Then both my tributes died and that stupid bitch from Eleven won. When I got home I kicked out Durian, which she threw a record-winning fit over. My finger is still a little crooked to prove it. And Aurelia begged me to befriend her father so I could "visit" at opportune moments. And I, of course, agreed.
So I grab my shoes, pull them on, and trudge out of the house. It's around seven in the evening and I probably shouldn't be calling at this hour, but Aurelia asked, so how could I say no?
It's hot, which isn't unusual, as it's mid-July. It's been four months since the Games came to a close. I walk though the tall green grass. The length is bothering me. Maybe I should I hire someone to cut it..? I wonder who I would ask since it's a problem all over Victor's Village. Maybe Aurelia's dad? It's the kind of job that would keep someone at work all day long. And that person would be too tired to do much else than sleep at night. It's an idea at the least.
I find myself at their house and knock. Ahala answers the door after a few second of waiting. Her eyebrows rise. "Mr. Paige? We weren't expecting you."
"I just thought I'd pay a visit." I smile. "I'm sorry it is so late, I've been busy ever since I decided to start working at the training center. I just got off." Big lie, right there. I got off hours ago. Hopefully she didn't stop by.
She grins. "It's quite alright, Clubb. We'd never turn away a friend who works so hard with the youth of District Two." I hate some of the shit she spouts. The youth of District Two? I suppress the urge to snort. She finally lets me in and I make my way to the living room.
Rex is sitting on the couch. I easily keep the snarl off my face, from lots of practice, but I still want to kill him for the things he does. "Clubb? How nice of you to come over!"
"Yeah," I grunt. Aurelia sticks her head in the living room and smiles at me before coming to sit down, as far away as possible from her father. If I look at her closely, it looks as if she has the beginnings of a black eye. I grimace, and quickly contort it back into a grin. All I want to do is punch her father's lights out and make sure this never happens again, but I can't.
"So what is it you want to talk about, Clubb?" Rex asks.
"I wanted your thoughts on who you think should volunteer this year." I grin. "I'm not really sure who I'll vote for. They're all so good." Not really. They're all worse than Anneliese and Zeke and we all know what happened to them.
"I haven't really poked my head in the training center this year," he remarks. "It reminds me too much of Zeke." I know he's full of shit. He never really loved any of his children.
Aurelia opens her mouth- probably to tell him off- but closes it seconds later after Rex gives her a death glare. She finally says, "It's a good thing I don't train, right Dad?" She puts emphasis on dad, as if mocking the fact anyone would ever see him as a father figure.
If her dad had superpowers, her skin would probably peel off, from the way he's glaring at her. "That's right. I couldn't possibly imagine you ever making a good fighter. You're too weak."
She glares, but I can see realization dawning that she shouldn't have said anything to begin with. She quickly tries to make up for her mistake. "You're right. I don't know how I ever became this weak, since you're so strong." I can tell she is hating everything that she's forced to say. Rex's face says he's not buying one word.
"Well, I know it's getting late. All I wanted to do was ask your opinion, Rex. So I'm going to go. I'll stop by again soon."
I get up slowly and Aurelia quickly stands. "I'll show you out, Mr. Paige." She follows me out and shuts the door behind us. We now stand on her front porch.
I turn to her, angrily. "You really have to stop doing that."
She looks frustrated. "He makes me so mad."
I sigh and run my hand through my hair. "I know he does, but you know what will happen when you go back inside. If you just stopped talking back, then he would have no reason-."
Her glare stops me. "If I didn't say anything, he would have won! I can't stop."
I look at the ground. "I understand what you're-."
"No!" she hisses. "You don't understand. I know you're trying to help, and you are. Really. But a few bruises and black eyes isn't going to break me." She gives me a half scared, half defiant look.
"I know that," I whisper softly. "But I'm scared of what's going to happen when he figures that out. Can you really deal with a broken arm? Or a leg? Let's say he kicks you so hard, you start bleeding inside of you. What are you going to do then? You can't die."
She gives me a sad look and sighs. "When that happens, we can talk about it. But when I go back inside, all he's going to do is punch me. And I can deal with that." She says goodbye and turns to go back inside. I watch her leave in dread. I slowly walk back to my own house and climb into bed right when I get home.
I don't know how to stop it. There has to be a way, though. I wonder about it for almost an hour and then fall asleep. My dreams are dark and frightening.
When I wake in the morning, I finally realize there's almost nothing I can do for her.
Locust Achene (D11)
I look at the girl I used to know. Her blonde hair is wild around her too pale face. She grimaces at me as I pull the cover off of her. "Nope. Not happening. No, no, no."
"C'mon, Laurel. All I'm asking is that you come to the market with me. Please?" I beg. She hasn't been out of bed in a week. Aurora and I have been keeping her alive, for the most part. Aurora doesn't like doing it and complains about it, but what are we supposed to do? Let her starve? We can't let that happen, we're all she has left.
She glares at me. "I am not going."
"Yes, you are." I glare back. A little tough love never hurt anybody, right? "Do not make me get the water bucket."
Her eyes widen but go back to normal seconds later. "I dare you."
I don't have time to go get a bucket of water, so I just begin to pull her out of bed. She grabs hold of the headboard, and kicks me in the head. I usually don't take very kindly to getting kicked in the head, but I let it slide just this once. I finally get her feet to touch the floor.
"See, isn't it nice to be out of bed?" I say through gritted teeth, while I restrain her from punching me. She gives me a nasty scratch to my left cheek. I haul her down the stairs very slowly.
"Lotus, I am going to kill your ass," she hisses.
"I don't think you're in any position to be making threats, sweetheart," I mock.
"Shut the hell up."
After I get her out of the door she calms down. She must not want the townspeople to think she's a crazy person. I don't have the heart to tell her that they made up their minds about her four months ago.
I point up to the sky with a grin. "See that? That's what we call the sun."
She rolls her eyes, reminding me of the old her, and then she glares, which effectively ruins the moment. "I hate you."
"Noted," I reply. "Remember when I used to get you an apple every time you hit the bulls eye? You used to love apples."
"Don't bring that up. I really want to forget all about anything to do with you."
"I know for a fact you used to like me." I remember almost every day perfectly.
She glares. "Never." I recall that she, in fact, didn't like me to begin with. I remember the first day she came to train.
I was eighteen- nineteen in two months as I reminded everyone that asked- when her father approached me one day about training her. He assured me that it was just a precaution and I accepted. It was very hot, some might say sweltering. Her father walked her to my house and told her to play nice, which I rolled my eyes at. What could an eleven-year old do? Once Jay Farley was out of eye-sight she berated me for agreeing to this, complaining that I was an idiot. I stared at her in shock and she gave me the "you're a fucking moron" look that she does so well.
It took me almost six months to make Laurel change her mind about me. But it was worth it. I suddenly remember a conversation. She was fourteen and I was twenty-one. It was deep into winter and we were sitting inside my house after practice for that day.
"So, who was that boy?" I asked with a mocking grin.
She blushed, but still smiled at me. "No one."
I shook my head. "He got you flowers. He's not a 'no one.'"
"It's not like I like him," she says with an aghast expression. "He's all . . . I don't know. Stupid?"
"So he's mentally challenged?" I say with a laugh. "How sad."
"I didn't mean it like that!" she said, blushing again. "He's very immature. That flower stunt he pulled was the most mature thing I've ever seen him do."
"He's only fifteen. How mature do you expect him to be?"
She shrugs. "I don't know."
"How mature do you want the person to be?" I ask, slightly curious.
"I guess I've had it in my mind that everyone should be as mature as you are," Laurel said slowly. "So I guess someone as mature as you."
"Not a lot of people are mature as I am," I tell her with a cocky grin. "It might take you a while to find someone like that."
"I'm patient," she replied with a mischievous glint in her eye. I don't think she's ever really dated anyone. She was determined to wait for that "special someone". She found him, of course, but he died. So that's not going to really work out. I'm still reeling over the fact that she would be stupid enough to even allow herself to fall in love. And with someone like-
I trip. I'm not the most graceful person, and this happens a lot, but I'm still embarrassed as I climb up off the ground. Laurel stares at me, trying not to smile, but she does anyway. She laughs and I smile at her. This is what I wanted, her to actually look like she wants to live for once. I'd fall millions of times, just to see this once.
She quickly goes back to the hostile bitch I really can't help but hate. "How about you learn to walk and then I'll come to the market with you, 'kay?" She turns to leave and I quickly grab her shoulder. She flinches and I let my arm drop.
She flinched? Like I was going to hurt her? I stare at her and she gives me the saddest look you will ever see before running away.
I let her go, knowing she can't run forever.
