Chapter 4
As our eyes lock I feel rage burning in the pit of stomach, boiling over until my body can no longer hold it back. I have a sudden urge to sink my fingernails back into his flesh, and this time rip his body apart. Limb by limb.
"Well, well, well... Look what the cat drug in." Haymitch's voice is somewhere between a snarl and a slur. His eyes are bloodshot, his face puffy and red. Apparently war can't even make the guy sober up.
My hands find the wheels of the chair I'm strapped in, and I will my arms to push as hard as they can. I've caught Gale off guard, and my chair is rolling away, out of his reach, rapidly approaching the wooden table. "Katniss!" I hear Gale yell, but it's no use. This anger building inside me needs an escape. I make a quick turn on my left wheel, barely missing the corner edge of the dark mahogany, and come in for the kill. I have the chair moving at a rapid pace now, and manage to straighten my wheels out just in time to make full impact. "What the..." is all Haymitch can get out.
The chair Haymitch was reclining on flies backwards, and for a moment all that is visible are arms and legs as they flail for something to break the fall. He hits the floor on his back with a thud, his flask laying several feet from him, spilling out the vile contents on the white tile floor. If I were anyone else, I might have pity on this man who lays in front of me with disheveled clothes and horrid body odor. But, I know Haymitch, and his lies have cost me too many precious things in my life. My voice comes out in a hiss, "Don't you ever lie to me again, especially if you want to stay alive."
As I pull my eyes off Haymitch, I notice that the once bustling room is eerily quiet. All attention has been focused on us. I try to compose myself and take a few deep breaths to settle the remainder of the rage that lies just beneath my skin. A small laugh begins on the floor beneath me, then builds to a full belly laugh. Haymitch is clutching his sides, laughing so hard that tears are beginning to stream from his eyes. He's finally gone mad. He's been crazy for a long time, but now I think he's actually lost it, just like that Annie girl that Finnick was in love with.
"I'm glad to see that you two seem to be working things out." A cold, even voice comes from behind me. I turn my body around to see a woman of medium stature with dark gray hair and ice blue eyes. She is wearing a dark blue uniform that has numerous gold pins attached to the front on either side. She doesn't seem to be a whole lot older than Haymitch, but she is definitely in better shape. Her posture is perfect and, just the way she presents herself, demands your attention. She comes around to the front of me now and, in a very calculated way, looks me dead straight in the eyes. "We have important matters at hand, Miss Everdeen. And, if you can't seem to control yourself here, in my command room, I will have Boggs here escort you out." She looks over towards a man who is watching us. Although he has the same blue uniform on, his muscles look as though they are ready rip through the heavy suit at any time. I sense that he is not man to be messed with, although I still have a little fire in me burning to get out. I open my mouth to respond, but then realize I'm not even sure who this woman is. She seems to sense this and relaxes a little. "I don't believe we've had the pleasure to meet each other in person yet. Let me introduce myself to you, Miss Everdeen." And then I swear her voice turns to a purr. "I am Alma Coin. The President of District 13."
Shock. Embarrassment. Those are the first two things that come to my mind. Of course, I knew Gale was taking me to Coin's headquarters for the meeting, but I didn't plan on introducing myself in this way. I swallow and manage to get the words out, "Nice to meet you." Gale is at my side now, with a hand on my shoulder. I'm glad he's there, and instantly sorry that I tore myself out of his grasp earlier.
Haymitch is now standing up, and peers at me from behind President Coin, still chuckling to himself, "Good to see you've still got it in you sweetheart. After all your head banging, I was sure that you'd given yourself brain damage." My eyes have a flicker of rage in them again, and I'm on the verge of screaming terrible, terrible things but I catch a glimpse of Coin out of the corner of my eye and know that I'm seconds away from getting tossed out of here if I do.
This must seem fun to Haymitch, to try and taunt me into losing control. But, I've got bigger things to think about than ripping apart a drunk right now. I need to find out what they know about Peeta and his capture. Peeta. I still can't believe they left him behind in the arena. But that was because I was being played with, used as a pawn. Well, two can play at that game. I try to put the most sincere look on my face that I can muster and say, "I want to work with you. I already know what you want from me, but I need to know a few things first." I close my eyes and try to keep focus on what I'm going to say next. "I need to know if Peeta is alive or not." I can feel Gale's hand tense on my shoulder at the mention of Peeta.
"Surprise, surprise! Who wouldn't have guessed that the girl was going to wonder where her star-crossed lover from District 12 is? Why we haven't tried to get him yet?" Haymitch is making wide circles with his arms, as if trying to get the whole room to join in agreement with him. "Well, what do you think honey? You think the Capitol is playing nicey-nice with him, just for your sake?" The way he said that last line, that's exactly what I know they haven't been doing. I don't even want to try and let my mind wander to what tortures they've exposed him to, or to what type of hideous death they planned out for him. All I know is that Snow doesn't play fair. I don't want tears to come to my eyes right now, not in front of all these people, so I blink them rapidly as if to dare them to flow forth. For the time being, I've won.
"What I think he's trying to say," a smooth voice floats out from across the room, "Is that we don't really know where they are, do we?" Finnick is addressing Haymitch now, looking as dashing as ever in his dark blue uniform. I'm guessing that the rebels who are involved in fighting must all be assigned these same uniforms. I take a quick glance at Gale and notice that he's wearing one too. Finnick is taking long strides across the room towards us now, and as he draws closer I can see that his face looks pained. He said they didn't know where Peeta was? What does that mean? Finnick answers my questions before they're even spoken. "It seems, my dear Katniss, that Peeta has escaped along with Johanna and Enobaria and is hiding somewhere in the capitol. But," and I can tell that Finnick is trying hard to hold back tears, "Somehow my Annie has also disappeared." A big, slow tear starts to slip down his cheek. I have no idea what that means, what Annie has to do with Peeta, but I can hardly keep myself from jumping out of the chair and running down the stone halls. Peeta is alive. And, better yet, he's still fighting for his life.