Broken Promises- A Hunger Games Fanfic
Author: Drew Demeter
Pairings: Posy/OC, Madge/Gale, Rory/Prim, hints at Katniss/Peeta
Rating: T to be safe, but it may change as I get further into the story.
Summary: Takes place after MJ, but is pretty AU. Katniss has died in the Hunger Games; there was never a revolution and the Games still go on. Gale knows that he could be whipped again for poaching, especially with Thread as the Head Peacekeeper. And unfortunately, Posy knows it too. To keep her brother and family safe, Posy makes a deal with Thread. The fic is told in Posy's POV.
Warnings: references to sexual abuse/contact, minor violence (whipping, etc.), substance abuse.
Disclaimer: All characters, settings, etc. you recognize from HG belong to Suzanne Collins. However, the plot is all mine
Prologue
I am 7 years old when I see it for the first time.
Gale is walking with Rory and me on the long, dusty trip home from school, telling us jokes and making Rory's ears turn red from embarrassment when he mentions Prim Everdeen. Behind us, Vick pokes along, thinking about the sorts of things that 9 year old boys think about. He was always a sensitive kid. Once in a while, Gale or Rory throw a glance over their shoulder to make sure he's still with us, mostly for Mom's sake. She is always worrying that we're going to lose my older brother in the marketplace one day.
The days are getting shorter and colder with the coming winter months and since school lets out later, we have to walk home around sunset. I'm not complaining though- the sky is so beautiful, a mixture of reds, oranges and inky blues that run across the horizon like a watercolor painting. I feel a flash of pride as I survey the mountains in the distance with their green peaks reflecting all the colors of the sky. The Capitol may be extravagant, but it doesn't have this.
The walk from the school house -which is situated in between the Seam and the Town since children from both places have to attend- is almost a mile, and by the time the sunset is replaced by inky blue, we're more than halfway. Gale is tense, and he has all the reason to be. Nights in District 12 are dark and full of people you wouldn't want to run into.
His stiffness doesn't worry me until he stops abruptly in the middle of the road and cocks his head to the side, listening. On one side of the road is the Peacekeeper's residence, where all of the white-clad men lodge during their time in District 12, most likely hoping to be reassigned to a new district with more luxuries. Most of the Peacekeepers are out on duty now, but Gale must here something because his head snaps up sharply and he pushes us towards a straggly tree without a word, giving Rory a look that says, don't talk or you're dead. As Gale strides out onto the open road to get Vick, fear suddenly jumps into my throat and sticks there. Some of the Peacekeepers are known for getting into bloody fist fights with Seam children, usually boys, walking home from school. I don't want Gale to end up like our neighbor Thom, who ended up coming home three hours late with a bloody nose and broken fingers. Mrs. Everdeen was able to fix him, of course, but I never quite got over the sight of the lumpy, distorted fingers sticking out of Thom's hand at odd angles.
Gale, however, is more aware than Thom ever was and manages to get himself to the tree right as the slate colored door to the Peacekeeper's headquarters swings open.
Two shadows step out into the chilly night. One of them is quite tall and wearing a Peacekeeper uniform. He looks like old Cray, the head Peacekeeper of the district. I shiver involuntarily, remembering the rumors that circulate around school about young Seam girls being involved with the old vulture. I never quite understood what the older children meant by "involved", but it sounds frightening. Not something I would want to happen to me.
In fact, standing there next to the Peacekeeper is a girl who looks about Gale's age. Although it is dark, I can make out the outline of someone thinner than Cray, but definitely with curves. The rumors start to circulate in my head again and I feel sorry for the poor girl. What did Cray do to her? I can tell by the distance between the shadowy figures that it's nothing good.
"Same time next week, my pretty," Cray's raspy voice croaks, and I hear the sound of coins clinking as they transfer between the man and girl. Then the door creaks shut and the girl is enveloped by darkness as she hurries down the road we take to get back to the Seam. When her footsteps are barely discernable, Gale shuffles us out of our hiding place, all of us stunned into silence at what we have just witnessed. For the rest of the way home, even Vick hurries to get out of the ominous darkness and back to our warm home.
The door is open, letting light spill out onto the dark dirt path. Mom has planted herself right on the threshold, looking worried, relieved, and then agitated when she spots us. Letting Vick and Rory bound ahead on their clumsy, too-long legs, Gale pulls me aside, his face set in stone. Come to think of it, he's had that expression since we saw the exchange at the Peacekeeper's headquarters. Resting his large, callused hands on my shoulders, he kneels in the hard-packed earth in front of me so we can look each other in the eye. When he's standing, I barely come up to his waist.
"Posy." He sounds serious, not mad though. Maybe a little bit scared? I certainly feel more than a little bit jumpy. The dark has always given me the creeps.
"You see what that girl back there? With Cray?" he says gruffly, his voice lower than usual. "You have to promise me- swear on your life- that you'll never, ever do what she did. Okay?"
"But Gale-"
"Promise."
"But I don't even know-"
"Just swear it."
"Will you just explain? All the other kids at school talk about girls being involved with Cray, but I have no idea what it all means," I manage to get in before he can interrupt. Strangely, my big brother's eyes soften when I speak.
"Well, kiddo, she traded herself to Cray, became his slave, sort of. Because she needs money." He adds quickly, looking down at the trodden path. "But I don't want you to do something bad like that. No matter what happens to me or Mom" his voice cracks and he has to pull himself together before continuing, "you can't do what that girl did. Promise me you won't."
"Even if we're starving and you can't go hunting?"
He swallows deeply and exhales slowly, as if he's frustrated. "Not even then."
He looks so pitiful that I just want to gather him in my arms and tell him everything is going to be alright. Instead, I say what will make him happy.
"Promise."