The clear water splashes up on my boots as I wade into the lake. Silver flecks of fish dart away from my bare skin as I fully submerse into its cool depths. I swim a few laps around the pool, my body reveling in the feel of exercise after so many months of confinement.
No, not confinement.
Captivity.
From my best estimate, it has been approximately ten months since the final siege of the capitol. Since I killed President Coin. Since I was shipped off to twelve to rot, to fade into obscurity. Ten long months since I saw Gale. Since Prim.
For a while, I didn't care. The numbness was all consuming, all-encompassing that I just wished I was dead. Since I was not, the best I could hope for was to be left alone long enough for nature to finish the job. I was completely insulated from the outside world in my house on Victor's Square. I was visited once or twice a month by Haymitch. His visits were short and silent. I think he just wanted to make sure I was still alive and that his neighbor wasn't some rotting corpse in front of a fireplace. After seeing that I was still alive enough to make eye contact, he would leave.
The visits from Peeta started about three months ago. He helped me more than he could ever know, with his steady encouragement I slowly broke free of hopelessness that had held me trapped for so long. There were still nights when the sadness would come like a wave and leave me doubled over, body wrenching with half-suppressed sobs. He would not try to make some remark about how it was going to get better or how I should try to move past it. He would just hold me like he always had, the rock I could grab on to until the nightmares ceased.
I surface at the edge of the lake closest to the cabin, pulling myself onto one of the larger rocks. The patches of sun that have made it through the canopy of leaves above have made it warm enough that I don't feel the immediate need to get my clothes. Instead, I lay across the rock, letting my toes dip into the water periodically.
"Where the hell did you run off to?"
I practically fall into the water in my haste to get back in. I quickly swim out to the area deep enough that my entire body is submerged, leaving just my head visible above the smooth surface. Just in time to as no sooner do my shoulders sink below the surface, Haymitch staggers around the corner of the cabin.
"Free time is ove-"
He notices my clothes scattered along the bank.
"Get dressed!" He snaps, practically throwing my clothes into the water in an attempt to get them closer to me. "We have company."
"Company?" I respond, confused. In the entire time that we have been here, we have only had visitors twice. Once, my mother visited to ensure that I was recovering. The second meeting was vastly more awkward when Gale showed up unannounced at my doorstep.
Haymitch, however, refused to elaborate about the mysterious visitors. He made a noncommittal grunt before heading back towards the direction of the fence. Since the lake is about a twenty minute walk from the district edge, I have more than enough time to pull myself away from the lake and throw on my somewhat soggy clothes and quickly pull on my old hunting boots before catching up to his shuffling pace.
I wait for him to say something. He doesn't, however, and merely continues looking ahead to the fence that is now coming into view between the bushes.
"Haymitch, what's wrong?"
We're at the fence now, Haymitch holding back the new gate that someone (Peeta, maybe) installed recently. Apparently my mental state affords me some small degree of politeness for him as door-holding is highly out of character.
"Just get inside."
My palms start to sweat. This doesn't feel right.
My boots make an audible squish with each step I take. I am now regretting not drying off after the lake. The squelching seems to echo in the empty square.
I open the door to find Peeta there, smiling at me. But there is something different, something in his eyes that the smile doesn't quite reach. He glances at my squelching shoes.
"Don't worry, I'm taking them off here," I say and for a second, it is not Peeta in front of me but my mother, trying to wordlessly warn me of Peacekeepers in the kitchen.
And wearing that same strained smile.
"Don't worry about those," Peeta says quickly, snaking an arm around my waist and wordlessly guiding me to the study. Two men in blue-gray uniforms are standing in the room, their features as non-descript as the unadorned military jackets they wear.
"Katniss Everdeen," one says, stepping forward slightly. "Your presence is required in the Capitol."
"Yours too," the other one says looking pointedly at Peeta and at some point over my right shoulder. A quick glance proves that Haymitch has entered the room.
"No," I say quickly. I'll never go back there. That awful living nightmare of pain, misery, and death. No, I will not do it.
"This is not a request."
I open my mouth to argue but Peeta steps in, physically placing himself between the uniformed men and me as if to offer some sort of protection from them.
Or maybe it is to protect them from me as I notice my hands have balled up into tight fists, my jagged nails digging into my palms.
"When are we needed?"
"In three days," the man who had addressed me replied, "A train will be here in the morning to collect you."
Peeta seems to consider this for a moment before graciously replying, "Thank you. We will be at the station first thing in the morning."
The two men nodded and briskly walked out of the study. Moments later, a car whirred to life and they were gone.
"No," I say before anyone else has a chance to speak. "We are not going there."
"Katniss," Peeta begins but Haymitch quickly cuts him off.
"We are going. We have no choice. Pack your things." He turns to leave the room but pauses in the doorway. "And sweetheart," he says, his voice almost sickeningly sweet, "try not to get us all killed." With that, he left, slamming the front door behind him.
I round on Peeta. "What the hell was that about? What is this about getting us killed?"
Peeta looked at me and sighed. "This wasn't a request that could be ignored, Katniss," he started slowly, as if trying to explain it to a child. "The new government is shaky at best. There have already been whispers that dissidents have been thrown in prison or worse for crimes much more inconsequential than ignoring an official order."
I was shocked. Of course, I hadn't even thought about the state of Panem since I was dropped in twelve. Frankly, I hadn't cared. There were times I wished the whole country would have just blasted itself off the map.
"We're going to the Capitol, Katniss."
The realization started to sink in.
The games hadn't ended when I killed Coin.
They had only begun.
Thank you for reading! I apologize if it is a bit rocky; it has been A LONG time since I've written anything. Reviews are more than welcome!