I'm really pleased at how many people have read this so far! 45 in one day! It's good for me, at least. Enjoy!
My head was pounding. Like an elephant trying to tap dance.
I groggily opened my eyes. Only then did I realise that I was in a hospital. Did I win?
I sifted through my memory. But I never killed her? Did she die on her own? Maybe she committed suicide? She always did seem weak like that. She wasn't much of a competitor anyway.
I tried to sit up, but got restrained by something. I looked down to see black bands around my hands and feet. I pulled at them. Trying to get out. What was this?
But the damn things were strong. The more I pulled the tighter they got. How had I gone from about to win the hunger games to shackled to a bed?
The door swung open and standing in the frame was a very angry looking Brutus. "You better have a good reason for this, Kid," he muttered. Could he not see me? I was strapped to my bed?
"You took the words right out of my mouth," I spat. Now wasn't the time for pleasantries. I needed quick fire answers.
"You strangled that boy to death!" he yelled at me. The questions mounted in my mind. What was he on?
"Didn't you spend all possible training hours telling me to kill without mercy? Cause I'm struggling here!" I was alive and in a hospital. I was pretty sure that meant I won.
"That's it! That's the problem! You're too thick to sit back and think about something before you charge on ahead at something stupid!" he yelled. I pulled at the bands around my wrists, desperate to wring his throat. Just like Peeta's.
"Well, go on! Tell me what I did! I killed Peeta? That's the Hunger games, Brute, that's how we play!" I grunted a laugh at the irony in that. "I did everything you said! I won!" I wasn't sure of the last fact, but there was little else it could be?
He just looked up at me, disgusted at what I'd said. Like I'd told him to shoot the president. "The Hunger Games isn't just a war. It's politics. It's a lot more complicated than that."
He still wasn't making any sense. Politics? He never told me anything about that.
"The winner isn't the strongest. It's the one the capitol likes most. They wanted Peeta and Katniss to win," he mumbled angrily. In the same way as when he came in. he started pacing with one hand across his chest with the other leaning on it, using his index finger to stroke his bottom lip.
"So what was I supposed to do about it? It's not my fault they bought their petty little love story!" I tried to shrug but the bands didn't let me. "Christ! Can you get me out of these bands!?"
He just flapped a hand and resumed his pacing, after which an Avox girl came in, starting to take them off. We were being watched. I searched the walls for any windows, any sign of people watching, but I found none.
"You were supposed to make the crowd like you! Frame him! Or her! Kissed her! Make her look like a cheat! Let them kill each other for all I care! But you must be the good guy!" he screamed at me. Why didn't he tell me this before? Why didn't anyone. They told me it was a fight to the death, nothing more.
The avox girl unlatched the band around my second hand, so I started rubbing my wrists. "Well, I can't do that now! She's dead!" I spat. Again, I wasn't sure but it was probably true. She was weak anyway.
"Dead? You think she's dead?" he asked, in such a way that a normal person might even get scared. "You caused riots outside the presidents house! That's how bad they wanted her alive! That's the first time in 74 years! No, she isn't dead, and you better come up with something! I'm not even sure if it's possible for you, because I haven't got anything!"
I was used to his ranting. When he first saw the Fire Girl he thought she was a threat, but I knew that I was stronger. I didn't have any issues with her. She got a good stylist. Big deal. But I'd never seen him this bad.
"I bet she's acting like a bloody princess right now," I muttered under my breath. She may have lost her Peeta, but every rich man in the capitol must have been running after her. The Girl on Fire. The teenage widow, even though they never got married.
"No," a new voice at the door pushed in. He was more relaxed than Brutus. Though looking at the wobble in his stride he'd clearly had a drink or two.
"What?" I asked him, vaguely aware of Brutus raging on in the background.
"She's not. The President came and told her to end the riots or they'd execute her sister. She's spent more time trying to find a way out of this than the three of us put together," he said simply. I was in awe at how he could be so calm. I guess he'd already accepted fate. He'd given up.
He and Brutus started exchanging information. Well, it was more like Brutus was just asking questions. He often gave up without going the whole way. The avox girl finished unfastening the bands so I sat up and swung my feet round.
"Wait," I thought aloud. My naturally loud voice made them both look up at me. "You say she's desperate, right?" I asked the man in Katniss's defence.
He seemed surprised that I had spoken and just nodded as a response.
"She got the favour of the Capitol by falling in love. Why not play that card again?"
Please, please, please, review! I need to know that you all like this and don't get bored at the first paragraph! If you have any ideas about what you want to read in this story then tell me, but please note, it must be K+.