Chapter 9
Johanna POV
It's been two weeks since the arena had been destroyed and Katniss had been rescued. Unfortunately Peeta was in the Capitol with me. It had also been two weeks since I had seen Iris die. I don't understand why it was affecting me so much. I had killed people, and I saw their faces in my dreams, but I couldn't seem to come to terms with Iris's death.
I dreamed about her almost every night. Her eyes were always white and lifeless. I don't know why it affected me more than anyone else. I didn't even know Iris. I had spent a few hours with her at the most, but she had never told me anything about her. I screamed and thrashed in my sleep, always waking up with my hands bloodied from the hard concrete floor of my cell.
They had just left us in these cells to die, or to talk; whichever came first. I would never talk. I would sooner die than reveal anything. In fact, I wanted to die. It was easier than seeing the lifeless eyes that sought me out every time my eyes closed.
Peeta had been dragged back and forth between interrogation and his cell, but like me, he wasn't going to crack. He couldn't reveal anything anyway. He didn't know anything about the plan we had to escape, and I would never tell.
We spoke softly through the small barred window that separated our cells. It was too close to the ceiling for either of us to see one another though. He always spoke of District 12 and his favourite things about Katniss. I spoke about what District 7 was like but I never shared anything personal with him. He tried to get me to open up, but I knew I never could.
The day came when they unlocked my cell instead of Peeta's, and I was dragged in the interrogation room at the end of the long row of cells. They cuffed my hands to the arms of a chair and President Snow sat opposite me. I spat into his face and smirked. The sickeningly sweet smell of the rose he had pinned to the front of his coat almost made me vomit.
He wiped off his face with a handkerchief and leaned back in his chair. "Are you enjoying your stay here, Miss Mason?" His voice made me want to throw an axe right between his eyes. "Fuck you, Snow." I replied. He smiled and rested his hands on the table that separated us. "Tell me, Johanna, what is it that makes you so determined to protect the people who left you behind?" I leaned forward and looked him in the eyes. "I will never tell you anything."
I was dragged back to my cell, managing to land a blow to the side of a peacekeeper's head after he unlocked my cuffs. I slid down the wall and leaned my head back. Fuck these people. I'd sooner die. I drifted off into an uneasy sleep, when I was woken by a rush of water that suddenly covered me. I coughed and sputtered as the spray hit my face with surprising force.
Two peacekeepers were standing with a fire hose, spraying down my cell. When the water was cut off I pushed my wet hair out of my face and laughed. "Thanks, I needed a bath." I said viciously to the peacekeepers. President Snow appeared on the other side of the small barred window that was cut out of the door. I grinned at him. "Really Snow? Is that the best you can come up with? Clean me to death?" He silently smiled and disappeared from view.
A wire was being fed through the window until it touched the floor. Before I could register what was happening, the wire was powered and electricity wracked through my body. The water made a perfect conductor, so no matter where I had been in the cell, I couldn't escape the shock. I convulsed and my eyes rolled back in my head.
The power was cut off and I was left gasping for breath. The peacekeepers entered my cell, hitting me across the face. One held me down while the other shaved my head. "It's just a matter of time.", one of them grumbled as they left. I curled into the corner of my cell, pulling my legs up to my chest. Just a matter of time. I rested my forehead on my knees as my body shook. The water on my cell floor was tinged with diluted blood. My hands were bleeding. The electricity had used my already grazed hands as an exit point, tearing open the skin on my palms.
"Johanna?" Peeta's voice floated through the small window between our cells. "Not tonight Peeta." I replied, sounding shattered and weak. There was silence throughout the night. Neither of us slept, and I was thankful that Peeta couldn't see me as silent tears rolled down my cheeks.
