I wake, curled up in my cell. Someone is whimpering beside me. I struggle into a sitting position, trembling violently, as the pain in my head floods my body. In a matter of seconds I'm rocking back and forth, the agony, the total complete agony I'm in taking over me.
Everything hurts. Everywhere hurts. Dark figures prowl my mind, things reach out and grab me. I'm batting away some bats that are tearing at my flesh. I'm blocking out the sound of my brothers screaming. I can't keep hold of myself.
But when her hand rests on my arm, I realise what is real and what is not. Real: I'm in a cell. Not real: bats trying to kill me. Real: I'm in so much pain. Not real: my brothers' screams. Real: someone is talking to me. Their hand is on my arm. They're shaking me gently. Not real: they're going to hurt me. Who are they? A girl, I can hear her voice now. It's soft, gentle, a voice that I vaguely remember but not a voice close to my heart.
She repeats the same phrase over and over again. Why that phrase? What is so important about those words, that name?
'Peeta? Peeta Mellark?' The words sound familiar. 'Peeta, can you hear me?'
I flinch away from her. Despite the lack of threat she gives, I'm pinning her to the floor, the shackles round my wrists digging into me. Feels as if I'm about to bleed. No, wait, yeah. I'm bleeding.
A pair of wide eyes stare up at me in the darkness, strangely illuminating. She doesn't make a sound. Her body is tense in my grip. Is she scared of me?
The only thing I know is that I shouldn't be scared of her.
I release her and climb off, still shaking. She immediately retreats into the corner, crying quietly, her hands over her ears. It seems like she's blocking out the world.
Unfortunately, honey, that doesn't work.
Damn, I'm beginning to sound like Haymitch.
Haymitch? I feel myself frown through my numb skin. The thought had appeared so quickly, so naturally in my mind, that I puzzle over it. Who's Haymitch?
The girl's muffled sobs echo round the cell. I try to ignore her, but eventually I give up. Throwing my hands up in frustration, repelling the knife of pain that slices through me at the move, I scream, 'Just shut up!'
In an instant she's quiet. I can't see much in the darkness but I see the tear that rolls down her cheek, I hear her bare arms scratch against her clothing as she moves her hands away from her ears.
'Who are you?' I ask, curious, crawling forward.
She raises her head slightly, and the tear drops off her chin. 'Annie,' she whispers.
The name rings a bell, which rings another bell, which then sets off a choir of bells tolling. I squeeze my eyes shut. Annie – Annie Cresta? Why am I in a cell with Annie Cresta?
'Why are we here, Annie?' I ask gently. She doesn't reply. She looks hurt - very hurt. Multiple bruises trail up her arms and her neck and what I can see of her chest. A couple of cuts are streaming blood. One look in her eyes and I know there's a past with Annie that's far worse than my own, and yet she had been the one trying to comfort me.
Annie stares at me, her eyes reminding me of the ocean. I've only seen the ocean once, on the Victory Tour.
The Victory Tour . . . the victors . . . the lovers . . .
Slowly my memory begins to return. I look at Annie, desperate, and whisper, 'Tell me who I am.' It's an odd request. But some things feel so slimy and unreal and shiny that I can't figure out what's wrong and what's right.
Unhesitatingly, she opens her mouth, and begins to speak in a high, tremulous, slightly hysterical voice. Everything she knows about me. The famous Peeta Mellark, star-crossed lover of Twelve.
'You're Peeta Mellark. You won the Hunger Games last year, with your girlfriend, Katniss Everdeen.' At the mention of Katniss I feel a sharp pain, but I let Annie continue. 'The Capitol was angry with you two – you're only supposed to have one victor. This year was the Quarter Quell; a reaping of victors. Katniss went back in and I think you volunteered to stay with her. I don't usually watch the Games, but Finnick was in there. I couldn't stop watching.' Another sharp pang at the mention of Finnick, but I still let Annie continue. 'You and Katniss allied with Finnick. Mags died.' I didn't bother asking who Mags is, or was, but she brought tears to Annie's bright, green eyes. 'Rebels attacked the arena. They left you behind. You, me, Johanna and Eno are here to stay, Peeta Mellark.'
Annie's last words make me pause. 'Here to stay,' I repeat quietly. 'What does that mean?'
'Oh, Peeta Mellark!' Annie's strange, unhappy laughter filed the room, bordering insanity. 'It means pain, interrogation and then death.'
