Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games
Chapter Two
" Katniss... Katniss.. Katniss...''
It's a soft and light voice with just the right amount of love and caring that has been absent in her life for so many long years. Maybe her mother talked to her like that, but she literally dropped her from her life for awhile after she had watched Prim and her turn to skin and bones.
" Katniss.'' There's the feeling of someone shaking her awake. She groans a bit and opens her eyes a bit. It's a familiar face. Pink cheeks, blonde hair. Blue eyes...
" Hi, Prim,'' she says tiredyly. She reaches up and tugs on the girl's loose blond hair. She's been doing that alot lately.
Prim kneels down a bit so her and Katniss are at eye level. She gently places the back of her hand on Katniss's cheek and smiles just the tiniest smile she can manage. " You should go back to sleep. You've had a really rough night-.''
Katniss springs up and immediately regrets it becasue she feels light-headed and she notices the painful pounding against her skull. Despite the feeling of having been drinking all night, she twist her lips into a smile. " No. I feel great.''
Prim frowns slightly. " Are you sure? You can stay in bed if you want. I mean, with everything that's happened we wouldn't be surprised if...'' Prim pauses for a moment as if waiting for Katniss's answer.
There's an airy feeling of tension between them. That, and the fact the Prm's gripping Katniss's arm so hard the blood flow has been completely cut off. Katniss chooses this is the time to speak. " What? You mean Peeta trying to strangle me? I'm... completely okay. I'm sure it was just a big misunderstanding,'' she says, but she's sure she's only saying this for her sake. No ones fine after their boyfriend just tried to strangle them. In fact, she's scarred for life by it.
" I know you're only saying that because you don't want to talk about, Katniss,'' Prim says, her grip on Katniss's arm loosening a bit.
" Actually, I'm saying that so I won't go off the deep end,'' Katniss grumbles. She looks up and sees that Prim's eyebrows are scrunched together with worry. " What? I'm kidding.''
Prim bites her lips and gently starts pushing Katniss back down on the mattress. " I still think you should lie down. You need rest.''
Katniss springs back up a little to quickly and her and Prim's skulls bang into eachother. " Ow.''
" I'm hungry,'' Katniss says suddenly, making up an excuse to get out of her room.
Prim laughs slightly. " Then I'll bring you up breakfast.''
Katniss grabs Prim's hand. " I have to use the bathroom.''
Prim points to the grey door by the closet. " Bathroom's right there.''
" I-.''
" Katniss!''
Katniss sinks lower into her pillow and starts playing with her hair. " Sorry.''
Prim lets go of Katniss's hand and plants a small kiss on her cheek. " I'll come by later, okay?''
Katniss manages out a '' fine'' and watches as Prim walks towards the door. It's not until she begins to tug on her nightgown does she realize that soemthings missing on her collar.
Her pin.
" Prim, wait!'' she calls out. " I- I lost something.''
Prim smiles. " I'll try to find your clothes later-.''
" No! It's not my clothes. My pin. The one you gave me in the hospital. It's not on my collar. I have to go look for it.''
Prim unconfortably shifts in her position. " I can-.''
" Come on, Prim. To the hospital ward and back. That's it.'' Katniss is pleading now.
Prim's composure breaks and she sighs. " Okay, fine. But that's it. No side trips. No cafeteria. No woods. Hospital and back, ok?''
Katniss smiles a bit to brightly when she says, '' Okay.''
The hallways are deserted and the lights are dimmed a bit. Katniss can't help but imagine what people make of the entire Strangled by Peeta thing.
She hopes they didn't kill him.
" Hey, Prim-,'' Katniss collides with something hard and lands on flat on the floor. " Oof!''
" Sorry, Katniss.''
She recognizes the voice and smiles a bit when she see the face. " Finnick..''
He's not the old Finnick she saw in the hospital or at the Quarter Quell. No. This Finnick has a sullen expression on his face and he's ghostly pale. He looks like he's lost about five pounds, too.
" You look... different,'' she blurts out and immediately regrets it becasue he's probably been getting comments like that all day. She hastily adds,'' Not in a bad way, though.''
He smiles slightly and she notices just how dry and cracked his lips are. " You too. The bruises are starting to heal"
He points towards her neck and she remembers that's where Peeta had wrapped his hands around. Her throat. " Um... thanks!'' She puts on a smile. " They're not sore anymore, either.''
She notices the way that his eyes have lost there color and the way they're now a dull green color, the black irises barely visible. His hands have a slight red tinge to them and she resist the urge to ask what happened to them.
" Katniss!'' Prim pulls her up. Katniss didn't think the girl was that strong. "Are you okay? Are you hurt? Oh my God!''
Finnick chuckles a bit and pats Primrose on the back. " She's fine, Prim. I just bumped into her, that's all.''
" I bumped into you actually,'' Katniss says under her breath but no one really notices.
" Where are you two headed anyway?'' Finnick asks.
Prim shrugs. " Katniss lost her pin. We're headed to the hospital ward to look for it there. You could come help if you want...'' Prim drifts off as if something important catches her attention and walks off, leaving Katniss and Finnick alone.
" It's nice to see you've gotten... better,'' Finnick says, taking in Katniss's face. " I mean, last time I saw you, you were-.''
" Suicidal? Depressed? Anti- social?'' Katniss forces her lips into a tight smile, trying to make a joke out of her not-that-okay mental state. " Yeah. I've been getting that alot lately.''
That's technically a lie since she hasn't seen anyone but Prim and her mother for the past few days, but Finnick gives her a small smile and pats her on the back.
" It's true, though. You looked so dead in that hospital bed. Took a few rises of your chest to let me know you were still with us,'' Finnick says with a half-hearted chuckle.
Katniss uncomfortably rubs her arm and lets out an uneasy laugh. " Ha ha! Yeah, I was a total wreck back then, wasn't I?''
Finnick bites his bottom lip and runs his fingers through his bronze- colored hair. " Total wreck. A train accident resulting in thousands of tragedies-'' Finnick looks at the expression on Katniss's face and stops. " I mean... Yes.''
" Katniss! Katniss lets go!'' Prim's voice fills the uncomfortable silence and Katniss thanks God for it.
" I better get going. Prim has me on a really tight lease today.'' Katniss smiles a bit. " Nice seeing you again, Finnick.''
" You too, Katniss.'' Just as he sees her walking off, he reaches into his pant's pocket and calls out her name. " Katniss!''
She turns her head back in his direction. He flips her a small golden token and gives her a lopsided grin. " Thought you might want that back.''
Katniss turns it over and over in her hands and lets out a sigh. " My pin. Where-.''
'' When you left, we cleared out your room. It got mixed in with your clothes.''
Katniss smiles and tucks it safely in her pocket. " Thanks alot, Finnick. I owe you one.''
Finnick shakes his head and presses a finger to his lips. " S'okay. But-,'' he points at Prim. " You might not want to tell blondie over there. I think you deserve a little fresh... well, air.''
" Yeah, your right. I'll um catch you later?'' Katniss watches as Finnick slowly backs away as he nods his head and quickly disappears down the opposite direction.
She wonders where he's going...
" I'm really sorry we didn't find your pin, Katniss,'' Prim says sadly as the walk down the empty corridors. " I was really hoping it had wound up in your clothes or something.''
Katniss dipped a finger into her pocket and felt the small Mockingjay's cool surface on her finger. She smiled and kissed Prim on the cheek. " Oh! No way! It's fine, Prim. I mean, we'll find it. I bet we will.''
Prim grinned a bit and looked up at the ceiling. " You really think so?''
Katniss pulled her in for a hug and kissed the top of her forehead. " I know so.''
They turned a corner and Prim let out a sigh and looked up at a clock on a nearby wall. " Lunchtime. You must be starving, Katniss...''
Katniss became aware of the painful gnawing in her stomach and nearly punched herself in the gut when her stomach made a low growling sound. Despite suffering from starvation, she pulled down her shirt even lower and laughed at Prim. " Of course, I'm not hungry. I've never been as full in my life. In fact-.''
Prim gripped Katniss's arm and looked into her eyes. " We can get something to eat if you want. I mean, Lunch starts in one-minute. There's still time to get to the cafeteria before it ends.''
Katniss slipped her arm out of Prim's grasp and put her hands in her pocket. " I'm fine. Besides, you look like you need wayyy more to eat than me.'' She jerked her head in the direction of the cafeteria. " Go. I can find our room by myself.''
" Katniss, I-.''
Katniss pushed Prim in the opposite direction, shaking her head and smiling. " I'm a big girl now, Prim. I can take care of myself. Go eat. I'll be fine.''
Prim had an uneasy expression on her face when she said,'' I don't know...''
Katniss pushed her. " Leave Primrose. I'll be fine...'' she cooed softly, desperate for some alone time.
Prim blinked and her body turned stiff. Then she relaxed a bit and sighed. " You sure you know where the room is?'' Katniss noded and Prim slowly turned around. " Get some sleep, sis,'' and then disappeared down the hall.
As soon as she was out of sight, Katniss ran down the hall, sprinting and jumping over air. She doesn't really care about where she is going. A long as she can be by herself-.
God! Please tell me that I hit a wall...
But she didn't. Instead, it's Haymitch. Good old drunken Haymitchen who was slinging the bottle of spirits in his hand back and forth, wasting it all over himself and his clothing. She wondered who gave him alcohol.
He's a mess. His clothing was tattered and his finger nails were caked with dirt. He leaned lazily against the wall, not being able to properly hold himself up. Katniss notices how swollen and puffy his face is and the way his eyes are ringed red, as if he had been crying...
" Well hello, sweetheart...'' he slurred loudly, not caring who'd hear. He runs his dirty thumb over Katniss's cheek softly and she jerks back violently, pushing him off of her and making him fall on his back. He cackeled loudly and spit out loads of alcohol doing so. " Someone needs a good drink.''
Katniss sneered and kneeled down on her knee. " I don't want anything that you drink,'' she said. Haymitch thought about her answer for some unknown reason and then slaps her across the face, sending her flying and leaving a burning pain on her cheek. She stared in disbelief before kicking Haymitch hard in his side. He let out a loud laugh.
" You should join me, sugar,'' he told her. " Alcohol does wonders. Makes you forget things blisfully.''
She was going to protest once more but though before she answered. Makes you forget things blissfully. I want to forget things blissfully..
She wanted to forget about Peeta.
" You have more?'' She asked, wondering if Haymitch had alcohol that strong in his bunker. He nodded, a frown playing on his face.
" You would join me?'' She shrugged and Haymitch laughed again, harder than before, a few tears streaming down his hollow cheeks. " Lets go then, Katniss.''
It was the first time he ever said her name, she noticed.
Haymitch leads her down numbers of winding hallways to his door. Nobody sees them thankfully and Haymitch is able to lead her into his room.
Beer bottles are sprawled onto the floor. That's all. A few trousers and shirts but that's it. Way cleaner than his home in Victor's Village. Katniss looks to Haymitch and huffs.'' Where is it? The spirits?'' She asked impatiently. She was always important. Haymitch points to a dresser and Katniss quickly darts over, snatching the first bottle she sees of the wooden furniture and shoving the bottle down her throat. She stops when she feels as if her throat is on fire.
" Easy there,'' Haymitch snickered, grabbing a bottle of his own and swallowing it all in a few seconds. " Don't want to get to... drunk.''
Katniss ignores him and drinks the rest, the burning in her throat becoming gradually less repulsive as she finished the rest of the bottles. She feels her head spinning and her vision blurring, barely able to make out a even drunker Haymitch, who's sitting lazily on the floor now, absent to the world.
This is what being drunk feels like? She frowns. She's been drunk before. But not this drunk. Maybe I'll just down one more bottle then leave..
She grabs another bottle off the dresser and gulps it down, ignoring the vile taste that invades her mouth. She feels dizzy, wobbling every few seconds. She feels extremely hot but ignores the feeling of sickness that is starting to overwhelm her. Besides, she is starting to forget things.
My name is... um
...Tried to...me
Do I have a sister?
She likes this feeling.
After her fourth bottle, she's hotter than ever, so she begins to strip. Haymitch has drunk himself to the brink of unconsiousness and is unaware that there is a seventeen-year old girl stripping in his room. Her pants go first and then her top. Then her tank so now she is in nothing but her bra and underwear.
As she wobbles to the bed, she falls and lands on her stomach on the floor, too weak to get up. Her sixth bottle of spirits is still in her hand and she downs it quicker than Haymitch did his. She suddenly finds herself crying for no reason.
Besides, she's so wasted, she doesn't even know what color red is.
Maybe she'll become an alcoholic like Haymitch. Screw this entire " Mockingjay " thing. She''ll just live with her bottles of alcohol. And what " Mockingjay" thing.
She blacks out before she can ponder it more.