So... new chapter is finally up! It might be a bit long, but it is the last one including flashbacks- it ends with the timeline catching up to almost where the story starts. The next chapter will be more Hayffie oriented and be following where Haymitch's storyline leaves off in this chapter. I hope you enjoy!
FLASHBACK:
Effie stared at the wall across from her. She breathed in an out through her nose, not moving a muscle. Her throat was raw and dry. She knew there had to be food on one of the platforms up above, but she didn't know what was edible and what wasn't. Of course, she figured it wouldn't be the worst thing if she got something poisonous. She even considered finding one of the weapons on the platforms above and…
No, Effie didn't even have enough energy to think about it. All she could do was lean her head back against the wall, resigned. She didn't know if anybody would ever find her, or if she even wanted someone to.
Effie just stared at the wall across from her until unconsciousness swept over her. Then, she'd wake up and keep staring. One time she passed out and had a nightmare about the arena and the mutt-Haymitch. She kicked and screamed, punching the wall in her sleep. When she woke up, her knuckles were bruised and she was lying down on the floor. She stayed there and kept staring.
Eventually, her hunger and thirst caught up with her. She attempted once at climbing the ladder up to one of the platforms, but she was too weak even for that, and she fell back to the ground. One day, when one of the mutts still in the arena found their way to the cornucopia, a platform went up. No one came down, and Effie figured they didn't realize she was down there. Otherwise, they would have found a way to her. Another platform rose the next night and there was only one left.
Desperate for an ounce of water, Effie climbed up the ladder the next day and reached a fragile hand up to the platform and felt around for a flask of some sort. She found one that was empty. Then she climbed up onto the platform and found another that was full. That's when the platform started rising.
Effie scurried to the edge and jumped off just in time, still clutching the flask. Effie heard a crunch as she landed on the ground. A jolt of pain shuddered through her numb body. Effie wanted to cry but there were no tears left. She instead opened the flask and brought it to her mouth with shaking hands as the platform latched to the ceiling above her. The room was empty and the flask was all she had. Whether it be water or tracker jacker venom, Effie didn't care- she tilted the flask and took a sip.
POST WAR:
After their discovery, Beetee went to inform President Paylor of their recent discovery. He printed out the blueprints to take to her and left Haymitch with the computer at his insistence. Haymitch was not the best hacker, but since the computer was already logged on, he figured he could find information easier.
After about an hour, Haymitch discovered video files- from the arena. He opened up the first one. It focused only on Effie. A barely recognizable Effie. The first clip is of her waking up in the tubes, then rising up into the arena. Her hair was in a perfect pony tail and her eyes had not yet lost their expressive nature, though they were alert and scared, they were still Effie's eyes. When he had seen her last in District 12, Effie's eyes were empty and had a permanent sadness in them.
He watched as Effie looked around at the tributes. Then, the countdown ended and she was running off her platform, her eyes set on something- someone. The screen changed angles and suddenly she was running towards him. The mutt looked so much like him that a shudder ran down Haymitch's spine. When the mutt swung his axe into Effie's shoulder, Haymitch paused the video and turned away.
If the entire footage of the arena was of this mutt attacking Effie, Haymitch didn't know how he could watch it. He didn't know how Effie was able to be in his presence after that. He took a breath and continued playing the video. He felt a desire for a drink bubbling in the pit of his stomach as Effie tumbled down the hill, the blood from her shoulder streaking the grass a dark red.
FLASHBACK:
It was water in flask. Effie almost wished it had been tracker jacker venom. Enough of it and she wouldn't have had to waste away so slowly in this room. Effie tried to drink her water in moderation- the flask held no more than 12 ounces- but even so, all the water was gone within 24 hours.
Then, Effie was back to her spot, staring at the wall. It could only have been a day since she finished the water.
"Effie?" A voice called to the right of her.
Effie looked and, sitting down against the adjacent wall was Katniss, still in her jumpsuit from the Quarter Quell.
"Katniss?" Effie's voice cracked at the name. She had not spoken since she left the arena- 5 days ago.
Katniss smiled at her escort. "Yes. Surprised to see me? I bet you thought I died when that arrow hit the arena."
"No," Effie croaked, smiling back, "I knew you'd survive- you're so strong. But what are you doing here, dear?"
"I came to find you."
"Where are the others? Peeta and Haymitch? Are they safe, too?" Effie asked. She could feel her heart racing.
"No one is safe, Effie. But they are alive. They sent me here to rescue you."
"Well, then," Effie felt her Capitol voice coming back to her as she fell back into her protective role of escort to Katniss. "How do we do that?"
"They sent me here to rescue you," Katniss repeated, "but I didn't say that's what I'd do."
"W-what?" Effie didn't understand.
"You see, you reaped my sister, which made me volunteer. Then you reaped Peeta. Then you reaped me for the Quarter Quell and reaped Haymitch, which made Peeta volunteer. It's your fault- you're the reason we were sent there. You don't deserve to get rescued. You didn't deserve to escape your little Games, but you did."
"Katniss- I-I'm sorry. I wish I could take it back. I didn't understand- I was foolish back then. I know what the Games mean now. I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Effie held her head in her hands.
"Save it," Katniss snapped.
Effie reached out a hand and went to place it on top of Katniss's, but it fell right through her. It dawned on Effie that the door was still locked and the ceiling was closed with the platform- Katniss couldn't have gotten in there. "Is this a dream?"
Katniss dissolved into the air and Effie was once again alone.
POST WAR:
Haymitch sped up the footage, so he didn't hear Effie's screams or cries. He skipped parts when she was sleeping and when her and Portia were just walking from one place to another. Even so, it took him the rest of that day, the night, and all of the next two days to get through all of the footage. Beet had let him stay on his couch, as he couldn't pry to computer from Haymitch's grip.
Effie was in the arena for a little under two weeks. The footage ended with her disappearing through the floor of the cornucopia. Tears were pooled in Haymitch's eyes through the whole thing. He knew after that she must have spent almost a week in that room completely alone before they found her.
Haymitch didn't know what he was supposed to say. But, once he finished the footage, Beetee had to turn it in to Paylor, and Haymitch knew he had to go back to 12. Only he, Beetee, and Paylor now knew the truth about what happened to Effie and he needed to find some way to help her, make things ok, even though he knew that "ok" might be impossible.
FLASHBACK:
After Katniss, Effie was visited by a hallucination of Peeta, blaming her in the same way that Katniss did. He had just dissolved into the air like Katniss had when Effie heard a voice from outside the door. Was it a hallucination? Probably.
There were footsteps and the door knob started twisting, though it was still locked. Effie used all the energy she had left to back herself into the farthest corner of the room. Its a hallucination. You're just dreaming, she told herself again and again. Then, there was a crash and the door swung open.
There were suddenly bright lights in Effie's face and she was being carried out of the room. Was she hallucinating? This felt so real. Suddenly, all of the sounds and lights were too much for her and everything went dark.
…
When she woke up again, Effie was in a hospital, multiple IVs in her arms. There was a thick bandage on her shoulder and a cast on her right foot. Everything came back to her- the arena, the room, the rescue.
A nurse walked up to her and put a hand on Effie's arm. "You're safe, Miss Trinket. This will be a lot to take in, but the war is over- the Districts overturned the Capitol and you were saved from the Training Center. You're scheduled to be transported to 12 once you are strong enough- some people there, your family, said they wanted to take care of you. We would let you stay in the Capitol, but things here are so chaotic since the war, you wouldn't have a place to stay. All of the hospitals are completely full." Finishing her speech, the nurse smiled and walked away, not waiting for a response from Effie.
The war was over and her family would take care of her. She figured that that meant Peeta, Katniss, and Haymitch were safe and wanted to see her. But, memories of the mutt Haymitch and the hallucination Katniss and Peeta flooded Effie's mind and her stomach churned. She didn't know if she could go back.
Effie was scared and she didn't know how she was supposed to go back to her life. There wasn't a way she knew how to. She played with the sleeve of the pajama shirt they gave her. It was a dark grey color. The flannel pants were black, grey, and white plaid.
After a few days, once Effie was healthier and stronger, the nurses tried changing her pajamas, but she ignored them, just staring at her sleeve. Her hands still looked and felt so delicate. She could still see pink and blue bruises on her knuckles.
She was told that Haymitch wanted to visit her, but he was watching out for Katniss in District 12. She was also told Peeta was also recovering in the Capitol. They tried explaining it to her, but Effie didn't exactly understand what had happened to him. All they said was that it could be dangerous if Peeta came to visit her.
So Effie was alone.
Once she was able to walk on her own, Effie was transported by train to 12. People stared at her and she stared out the window, still playing with her sleeve. The nurses had given her a small amount of money, in case she needed food on the train. But she wasn't hungry. When she got to 12, before she went anywhere else, Effie went to the nearest store she could find and bought all the liquor she could with the money she had. She went to the house the hospital assigned her and began drinking the arena away.
ALRIGHT! So that's that chapter! I hope you liked it. Please leave a review letting me know what you thought! Thanks for reading!
