Chapter 7: The beating.
I know I haven't uploaded in over a year. The truth is I got stuck. But with the new movie, I kind of got my inspiration back. Still the next two chapters were very difficult to write. Still, finally here they are, hope you'll enjoy
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or some of the lines in the following story. They all belong to Suzanne Collins and her Hunger Games trilogy.
Peeta POV
The days in winter are very short, it's hardly five pm and it is already getting dark. I haven't spend a lot of time with my family lately. Between the Victory Tour and the Harvest Festival I've hardly even talked to them. I might not have the best relationship with my mom and my brothers, but I love them and I miss them. I sometimes get lonely in big Victor's house.
I really miss my Dad and I want to know his opinion about my engagement with Katniss.
I'm having dinner with them tonight, I want to get there early so I can have a word with Dad before dinner. I haven't really talked to any of them about it. When we returned from the tour they were in the train station and in the Harvest Festival, but there were too many camera´s around so they only congratulated us. But even in front of the cameras my mom didn't hug me or Katniss. Nor that it really mattered to me.
I'm just leaving the Victor's Village, when I run into Katniss. She looks flustered and dirty. Her hair is not neatly in her signature braid. It's obvious she has been in the woods. It's Sunday of course, she must have been hunting with Gale.
Why does she still goes hunting? It is illegal and dangerous, and she doesn't need the game to feed her family any more. She could get caught or worse hurt. Besides she knows she's being watched, why give The Capitol any excuse to arrest her? The thing that affects me more is that she spends this time with Gale.
I know our engagement is not real, but she should be more careful, someone might see them together and get the wrong idea, or right idea maybe. The all too familiar feeling of jealousy materialises in my chest.
"Been hunting?" I ask her, even though I already know the answer and that it's a bad idea.
"Not really. Going to town?" She asks.
"Yes. I'm supposed to eat dinner with my family," I tell her. I consider inviting her for a minute, but I know she doesn't like my mother and I don't know if she wants to spend extra time with me. We haven't been really alone since that day on the beach, I still want to talk to her about it, but I'm not sure how to bring it up. Probably not the best subject to bring up during dinner with my family, and also I'm scared she might say no. I can't handle open rejection very well.
"Well, I can at least walk you in." she says. Wow, I'm a little surprised, maybe she does want my company after all.
She seems to be nervous about something, she is even shaking a little.
"Katniss, is everything ok?" I ask her.
"I'm fine, I haven't had the best day, that's all" she answers and her voice trembles.
I put my arm around her shoulder, she starts shaking even more. Her hands are in fists and she is biting her lip hard.
"Do you want to talk about it?" I ask her. She just shakes her head and look down. She is on the verge of tears. I really worried now, she is not the crying type. She is the strongest person I know. I'm really worried now.
We stop walking and I hug her. "It's ok, I'm here don't worry" I mumble. That usually calms her down when she is having a nightmare.
She breaths in and out a couple of times trying to regain composure. After a couple of minutes she seem better. We start walking again, I hold her hand and entwine our fingers together.
She seems to be concentrating very hard on something, she looks like she wants to tell me something, but she doesn't know how.
"You know thinking that hard will give you a headache, why don't you just tell me what you obviously want and stop over-thinking?" I tell her with a smile.
She takes a deep breath and let the words rush out. "Peeta, if I asked you to run away from the district with me, would you?"
I stop and make her stop with me. "Depends on why you're asking." I reply. Is this why she is worried? Does she found out something more about Snow? Does she think we failed?maybe we are all in danger. Or perhaps she has finally fallen love with me and wants to run away together to live our romance... I internally slap myself, get your head out of the clouds Mellark! That's stupid, it is more likely the first option and that we are in mortal peril.
"President Snow wasn't convinced by me. There's an uprising in District Eight. We have to get out," She says.
See, I knew it. Mortal danger is always more likely than Katniss loving me.
"By 'we' do you mean just you and me? No. Who else would be going?" I ask. She would never leave her family behind.
"My family. Yours, if they want to come. Haymitch, maybe," she answers.
"What about Gale?" I say, already knowing the answer.
"I don't know. He might have other plans," she replies. Oh now I see, she might have already asked him earlier today, and he blew her off. That is why she is so upset. Gale said no, so now she comes to her second choice, me.
Also I know Gale a little too from school, he was always picking fights. A lot of anger bottled up. I guess I would be like that too if I grew up the way he did. Probably wanting revenge for all the years he almost starved. I shake my head and give her a rueful smile.
"I bet he does. Sure, Katniss, I'll go."
I won't leave her alone. I said I would protect her and so I will; besides I don't want to stay here without her. She is my life after all, for good or bad. If she wants to leave I will follow her, but I'm not sure she will go through with it. She is not one that runs away from fights or leave people behind. If Gale is not coming, neither will she.
"You will?" she says hopefully.
"Yeah. But I don't think for a minute you will," I say.
She pulls away from me. "Then you don't know me. Be ready. It could be any time." She takes off walking. I follow a couple of paces behind smiling. After all she acts like a little girl throwing tantrums. She wants to escape everything, I can relate to that; but I know she will realise in time that the idea of running away stopped being a real option, the minute she took the berries out.
"Katniss," I call for her, but she doesn't slow down. "Katniss, hold up."
She stops and kicks a dirty, frozen chunk of snow off the path. I catch up with her and grab her hand again. "I really will go, if you want me to. I just think we better talk it through with Haymitch. Make sure we won't be making things worse for everyone."
I can see a crowd on the town square, that is weird. Specially at this time and on a Sunday. "What's that?" I say.
She looks up. A whistling, the sound of an impact, the intake of breath from a crowd sounds at the square.
"Come on," I tell her. That is the sound of a whip, I've seen it in some programs about law enforcement they sometimes transmit just to remind us one of the many ways the can punish us.
Someone is being tortured in the square. I lead the way to the square. The crowd's too thick so I can't see who it is. There are some crates outside the sweetshop. I reach them and climb one of them. I offer my hand to Katniss to help her up, while I try to see what is happening. As soon as I realise what it is, I panic.
There in the middle of the crowd, right in the centre of the square Gale is tied up a wooden post. A Peacekeeper I don't recognise continues to slash his back with a whip. He is unconscious already and his back is all covered in blood and what used to be skin. I wonder how long this has been going on. There is a turkey nailed on top of the post.
I knew hunting was dangerous, now more than ever. Katniss was with him earlier, thank God she wasn't caught and she brought no game with her today. Oh God! Katniss, she is going to go crazy when she sees this. She can't see this! She will get in trouble I know! I will try and help Gale but she has to get away right now!
I think all this in less than a second, she is halfway up the crate when I stop her.
"Get down. Get out of here!" I whisper with urgency.
"What?" she says, not backing down.
"Go home, Katniss! I'll be there in a minute, I swear!" I insist her, and I try to grab her.
She escapes my grip and pushes her way through the crowd. I try to follow her but the crowd is so thick it is very difficult. I can see people recognise her and try to shove her back. They know if she interferes it will complicate everything.
She reaches the centre of the circle and finally realises what it's going on. I'm a few feet behind her, fighting my own way in the crowd.
"No!" she cries, and springs forward. I see her run towards Gale and throw herself between the whip and Gale. She tries to protect him as much as much as she can with her own body. She receives the full force of the whip on her cheek. I run towards her, I want to kill the Peacekeeper for hurting her. I hear her shriek. "Stop it! You'll kill him!" but the assailant does not stop. He has a hard face, with deep lines, a cruel mouth. Grey hair shaved almost to nonexistence, eyes so black they seem all pupils, a long, straight nose reddened by the freezing air.
He is about to hurt her again, when Haymitch thank God stops him."Hold it!" he barks. Haymitch appears and trips over a Peacekeeper lying on the ground. From behind the crowd I can't really tell who it is, he seems hurt but he's still breathing. Haymitch ignores him and keeps going towards the centre of the square. He grabs Katniss by the arm with one hand and gets her up rather roughly.
"Oh, excellent." He says lifting her head. "She's got a photo shoot next week modelling wedding dresses. What am I supposed to tell her stylist?"
The man with the whip stops and ponders for a moment. I see now he wasn't aware who she was. It is true, with all the styling of The Capitol it is sometimes difficult to identify us in our everyday looks. I'm almost at the front of the crowd, when I hear the man "She interrupted the punishment of a confessed criminal."
Damn I knew he would get het trouble!
"I don't care if she blew up the blasted Justice Building! Look at her cheek! Think that will be camera ready in a week?" Haymitch snarls. I need to get up there, why won't they let me through?!
The man's voice is still cold, but I can detect a slight edge of doubt."That's not my problem."
"No? Well, it's about to be, my friend. The first call I make when I get home is to the Capitol," says Haymitch. "Find out who authorised you to mess up my victor's pretty little face!" My beautiful Katniss. Finally I manage to get to the square and I hurry the last few steps between us.
"He was poaching. What business is it of hers, anyway?" says the man.
"He's her cousin." I say while I support her other arm, she is seems she is about to collapse. "And she's my fiancé. So if you want to get to him, expect to go through both of us."
I stare at the now Peace Keeper. I know if we were any other person, we would immediately be shot, or at least join Gale for our nerve. But as it is, he can't touch us. We are too loved by the people in The Capitol, too well known. Ok yes, The Capitol hates us, but the people love us and he can't touch us without direct instructions, which thankfully have not come, not yet at least. I see he is thinking the same thing.
We will pay for this I know it, if he can't touch us, they will probably go for the rest of them. Just to teach us a lesson. But right now all I want is to get Katniss out of here, and even save Gale. I know he is not my favourite person, but no one deserves this fate, specially not for trying to feed your family. The new Head Peacekeeper glances over at his backup squad. You can tell by their expressions that they're not enjoying the show. Maybe they still have some humanity left.
One, a woman I think named Purnia, steps forward stiffly. "I believe, for a first offence, the required number of lashes has been dispensed, sir. Unless your sentence is death, which we would carry out by firing squad."
"Is that the standard protocol here?" asks the Head Peacekeeper.
"Yes, sir," Purnia says, and several others nod in agreement. I'm sure none of them actually know because, I can't recall the last time there was a public whipping and most of these men are regular customers of Gale and Katniss.
"Very well. Get your cousin out of here, then, girl. And if he comes to, remind him that the next time he poaches off the Capitol's land, I'll assemble that firing squad personally." The Head Peacekeeper wipes his hand along the length of the whip, splattering us with blood. Then he coils it into quick, neat loops and walks off.
Most of the other Peacekeepers fall in an awkward formation behind him. A small group stays behind and hoists the body of the Peace Keeper on the floor up by the arms and legs. Now I see his red hair, it's a man called Darius, one of the nicest of the lot; if there is such a thing like a nice Peace Keeper.
When they are gone, Katniss turns. "Gale," she mumbles and starts fumbling at the knots that holds him. One of the shopkeepers, a man named Dan gives me his knife and I cut the ropes. He collapses to the ground.
"Better get him to your mother," says Haymitch.
With the help of a couple of miners we take Gale to Katniss' house. On the way they fill us in on what what they tell us, Gale must've gone to Cray's house, knowing Cray always pays well for a wild turkey. Instead he found the new Head Peacekeeper, a man they heard someone call Romulus Thread. No one knows what happened to Cray. He was buying white liquor in the Hob just this morning, apparently still in command of the district, but now he's nowhere to be found.
Thread put Gale under immediate arrest and, of course, since he was standing there holding a dead turkey, there was little Gale could say in his own defense. Word of his predicament spread quickly. He was brought to the square, forced to plead guilty to his crime, and sentenced to a whipping to be carried out immediately. By the time we showed up, he'd been lashed at least forty times. He passed out around thirty. I have to give it to him, he is resilient.
"Lucky he only had the turkey on him," says one of the miners. "If he'd had his usual haul, would've been much worse."
"He told Thread he found it wandering around the Seam. Said it got over the fence and he'd stabbed it with a stick. Still a crime. But if they'd known he'd been in the woods with weapons, they'd have killed him for sure," the other miner respond.
"What about Darius?" I ask.
"After about twenty lashes, he stepped in, saying that was enough. Only he didn't do it smart and official, like Purnia did. He grabbed Thread's arm and Thread hit him in the head with the butt of the whip. Nothing good waiting for him," says the first miner.
"Doesn't sound like much good for any of us," says Haymitch.
We finally arrive at Katniss' house, her mom is waiting at the door.
"New Head," Haymitch says, and she gives him a curt nod as if no other explanation is needed.
In moments, the long kitchen table has been cleared, a sterile white cloth spread across it, and Gale hoisted onto it. Then Ms. Everdeen along with little Prim start working. I look at Katniss, she seems in a trance, she is nervous and very pale. I think she might faint.
"Did it cut your eye?", her mother asks her.
"No, it's just swelled shut," she answers.
"Get some snow on it," she instructs.
Katniss does not move, so I hurry outside and gather some snow.
"Can you save him?" I hear her ask. Her mother doesn't reply.
"Don't worry," says Haymitch. "Used to be a lot of whipping before Cray. She's the one we took them to."
Katniss is getting paler by the second and I think she is about to faint as she watches her mother begin to clean the mutilated flesh on Gale's back. I get a chair and make her sit, as I apply a cloth with fresh snow to her cheek.
Haymitch dismisses the miners who helped us, and gives them some money.
Gale's mother then arrives, breathless and flushed, fresh snow in her hair. Wordlessly, she sits on a stool next to the table, takes Gale's hand, and holds it against her lips. It takes a long time to clean Gale's wounds. And Katniss stares at his face all the time, never looking away. Her fists are closed and I can see her nails digging into her skin. I want to take her hand and to make her relax, but she is like this because of him, so I can't touch her. I feel like I shouldn't be here watching her like this. I feel terrible.
After a while, Gale starts to regain consciousness. A moan escapes his lips. Prim and Ms. Everdeen start discussing what type of painkiller to give him since they are hard to get and rather expensive. They decide on an herbal concoction he can take by mouth. "That won't be enough," Katniss says suddenly. They all turn to look at her. "That won't be enough, I know how it feels. That will barely knock out a headache."
"We'll combine it with sleep syrup, Katniss, and he'll manage it. The herbs are more for the inflammation—" her mother start calmingly to explain.
"Just give him the medicine!" She screams. "Give it to him! Who are you, anyway, to decide how much pain he can stand!"
Gale moves in reaction of her voice. Of course, I can relate. No matter how much pain I've been in, if she called I'd answer. The movement causes fresh blood to stain his bandages and an agonised sound to come from his mouth. Katniss begins to shout obscenities at her mother, so she tell us to take her out. Between Haymitch and myself literally carry her out of the room and we pin her down on a bed in one of the extra bedrooms until she calms down.
She just now lies on the bed, sobbing. I hate watching her like this, and not be able to comfort her. "So new Head Peace Kepper, makes you wonder the timing, doesn't it?" Haymitch whispers to me. He is right, this isn't a coincidence, it's our fault. "Katniss told me earlier that President Snow said we fail, there is an uprising in District 8. She wants us all to run," I whisper back.
He doesn't respond but gives me a look that it is not safe to discuss this here, maybe later. We stand her guarding Katniss, she seems a little calmer. Her mom comes in and treats her face. About time, I think. Haymitch fills her in on what happened with Gale.
Suddenly the door bell rings. Katniss jumps and runs to the door. "They can't have him," she says.
"Might be you they're after," Haymitch replies. "Or you," she says. "Not my house," Haymitch points out. "But I'll get the door."
"No, I'll get it," says Ms. Everdeen. Finally we all follow her down the hallway. On the doorway Madge stands covered in snow. She hold out a cardboard box to Katniss. "Use these for your friend," she says. In the box there are some vials of clear liquid.
Why is Madge here? I didn't know she even knew Gale. Being the Mayor's daughter I wouldn't have imagine her being friends with a boy from the Seam. I know she is friendly with Katniss. And that she gave her the pin of the Mockingjay she wore to the games as a District token. But to help a "confessed criminal" and risk getting into trouble seems to much. Maybe she is one of Gale's admirers. I know a lot of girls at school like him. Always gossiping and giggling when he passes by. Why couldn't he like one of those girls? Why did he went after My Katniss?
"They're my mother's. She said I could take them. Use them, please." She runs back into the storm before we can stop her.
"Crazy girl," Haymitch mutters as we return to the kitchen.
Katniss was right, the herbal concoction wasn't enough. He is clearly in a lot of pain. Ms. Everdeen gives him a shot of the new medicine. Almost immediately, his face begins to relax.
"What is that stuff?" I ask.
"It's from the Capitol. It's called morphling," she answers.
"I didn't even know Madge knew Gale," I say.
"We used to sell her strawberries," she replies rather harsh.
"She must have quite a taste for them," says Haymitch. Or the boy who sells them.
"She's my friend, they never talk" Katniss remarks. Well, maybe she doesn't like Gale, maybe Madge is doing it for Katniss. She does tend to have this effect on people. People want to help her. And they know she cares for Gale, her "cousin".
Now that Gale has drifted away on the painkiller, everyone seems to deflate. Prim makes us each eat some stew and bread. A room is offered to Hazelle, but she has to go home to the other kids. Me and Haymitch volunteer to stay and help out, but Ms. Everdeen sends us home to rest too. There isn't much we can actually do. Although I would like to stay with Katniss, it's painfully obvious she would rather stay alone with Gale, so I leave.
It's four in the morning, as usual I can't sleep. The nightmares tonight were particularly horrible. It was a mix of Katniss being whipped and finally killed by Thread, then Katniss running away into the woods with Gale leaving me behind and there attacked by the mutts with the tributes eyes. I was alone and useless. I woke up covered in cold seat and shaking and screaming her name. I wish she was here with me but then I remembered she was taking care of Gale. I'm restless so I go down to the kitchen and bake some bread to take my mind off things. Around seven, I decide I can't wait anymore. I have to see her, it was a particularly nasty dream, and I won't be able to breath easy until I see her.
I take the bread I just baked and walk to her back door. I let myself in, I don't know if her family is asleep and after last night I don't want to disturb them. I enter the kitchen and I find her just where I left her, next to him. But the sight of her doesn't make me breath easy at all, instead my chest tights and a terrible sadness devours me.
She didn't leave him all night. She felt asleep holding his hand. Their fingers are locked together and their foreheads are touching. She seems so peaceful. I never see her like this. When she sleeps with me, she moves around a lot and screams. And even when she isn't haunted by the nightmares, she still sleeps with a frown or with her fists tights. But now, she seems so calmed and relaxed. So after everything, he is the one she wants, the one she's happy with. It's not me.
No, I refuse to accept this. We still have a chance, we have special moments too. Like on the beach, that seems so long ago. And yet just yesterday she wanted to run away with me, we kind of. But now I know she will never leave Gale behind. And after seeing what they could do to him, she will stay and protect him no matter what.
What should I do? Should I go back home? Home… no my home is with her. Where I live is just a house a huge and empty house than scares me. I'm only happy with her. I see the cut in her face is inflamed. I guess I better wake her up, and I'll deal with my emotions later. I give her shoulder a shake and she opens her eyes and sits up. She seems stiff.
"Go on up to bed, Katniss. I'll look after him now," I tell her. She looks uncomfortable.
"Peeta. About what I said yesterday, about running—" she begins. "I know," I say. "There's nothing to explain." Of course, as I suspected, she will never leave him. She must sense the sadness of my voice, because she starts "Peeta—" but I don't want to hear it. I don't want her to say she's sorry, I don't want to hear she say it was always Gale… I don't think I will be able to bare it.
"Just go to bed, okay?" I say. She obeys and leaves me alone.
