Hey guys! Sorry I didn't update yesterday. I'm surprised I even updated today; mostly because I am going crazy waiting for the hunger games movie. Only 6 hours left until I see it, and I'm so excited! I'm finding it very hard to contain it now. Did any of you see it yet?
Anyways, I hope you like the chapter! Review? :)
I do not own the hunger games!
xXxXx
"There are much worse games to play..."
In order to 'Stay out of trouble' I decide I'm going to call Annie to see how she's doing. Normally you aren't allowed to make phone calls home, but my dear friend President Snow said Annie is an exception because she is a mentally unstable victor, just like myself.
"H-hello?" I hear Annie's voice whisper. She's obviously terrified, because I'm calling from a capitol number.
"Annie, it's okay, it's Gemma. How are you doing?"
"Did they get you Gemma?" She whispers again.
I sigh, "No, I'm fine."
I can feel her brighten up on the other end of the phone, "Good. I went swimming with Marina yesterday, Gem!"
"That's great, I wish I could have went with you two. Is Marina there with you now?"
"Yep, she's here!"
"Can I speak to her for a second, please?"
I hear Annie yell out Marina's name and then Marina's voice is on the line, "Hello?"
"Hey Ina, it's Gemma. How's Annie?"
She sighs; that's not good. "When she's in the water she's fine… but she keeps thinking that they are going to get us. I try to take her to the beach as much as I can…" She trails off.
"Thanks… I'm glad you're helping her. There's an avox here rushing me off of the phone, so I have to go. Tell Annie I said I'll see her soon. Love you two."
"Love you too." That's how all of us victors end our phone conversations, with 'I love you'. Cause I mean, you never know what day is going to be your last… There's no way to tell what's going to happen, who's going to get hurt…
I hang up the phone and walk back over to the couches. I missed something important, I know it. I go up to Wiress who is holding Trixie by the hand. "Wiress, what happen?"
In a hushed voice she says, "There's going to be a feast…"
My eyes widen and I run over to my spot on the couch next to Haymitch, who is apparently on Gemma watch duty according to Finnick. If I do anything that I'm not supposed to do, Haymitch is supposed to run and tell Finnick. I feel like a 10 year old.
"What feast?" I ask him.
"The game makers saw how badly Peeta's leg was, so they are going to hold a feast so each tribute can get something they desperately need. You okay now, sweetheart? Peeta's going to get his leg all better." He says the last sentence child like, so it comes out like 'Pweeta's going to gwet his weg aw betta'.
I role my eyes, "Thank god. It's about time."
I look up at the screen only to see that Peeta is protesting about Katniss going to the feast. He's telling her that if she goes he'll go and get himself killed.
Haymitch huffs in fusteration and walks over to the parachute stand. I follow closely behind, "What are you going to send them?"
"Sleep syrup…" He groans. He plugs the code into the machine, and then waits until the exact moment Kantiss is outside of the cave to send it.
She receives it, and she's confused for a minute. "Come on Katniss, you know what it is…" Haymitch whispers. Katniss takes a drop and puts it on her tongue and then it clicks to her. She looks into the sky and smiles, and I know it's meant for Haymitch.
She finishes mashing up some ingredients, and then she adds the syrup. She waddles back into the cave, and I feel arms encircle my waist. I start to panic, thrashing around, not knowing who it is.
"Gemma Gemma calm down! It's okay, it's only me!" Finnick voice. I sigh as my heart rate goes down, then I flip around to face him.
I smack him hard in the chest, "Don't sneak up on me like that!" I scream at him.
He smirks and bends down to kiss me, "Sorry…" He mumbles into my mouth.
We finally break apart and I see Katniss feeding Peeta the berries. He claims that it is sweet and unusual, but he believes it… until the last mouth full. He's about to throw it all up when Katniss clamps her hand on his mouth.
He's forced to swallow it, and then he drifts off into sleep.
"If you ever did that to me, I'd kill you in your sleep." I grumble to Finnick.
"Oh please; you'd thank me, gorgeous." He says, taking my hand in his.
"Whatever. I talked to Annie earlier, you know."
His eyes brighten a bit, "Oh, really? How's she doing?"
"Fine, I guess. She said she went swimming with Marina yesterday. Then I talked to Marina a bit, and she said Annie is no better unless she's in the water."
Finnick's normal smirk drops. "Oh."
"Yeah… How was your woman?"
He snorts, "She was a big fat thing. Purple skin, tattoo covered, yellow eyes. Quite the sight."
I burst out laughing at this, and so does Haymitch. Trixie runs over and climbs in under our arms so she's between us. "What's so funny!" She demands.
I bend down and kiss her forehead, "Nothing, sweetie. How has your day been going?"
"Great! Me and Wiress went shopping and then we went and got hot chocolate and cookies!"
I smile at my little girls excitement, "Oh did you? I'm glad you had fun."
She wiggles out from between us and she struts over to Haymitch. He isn't doped into the games now, because nothing interesting is happening. They are all just walking towards the cornucopia; some of them got a long ways to go. "Hey Hay." She says, pulling herself onto his lap.
He is unusually sober, and he doesn't stink at the moment. He put his arms around her, and she leans her head on his shoulder. "Hey, sweetheart, I haven't seen you in a while."
I really don't know why Haymitch won't have kids; he's actually a great father figure. He's wonderful with Trixie! "I know, I know. I've been busy! I got places to go to and people to see!" She says with a giggle.
He laughs at this, "Who could you possibly have to see?"
"All of my clients." She says. Wait… Clients? No Trixie No.
Haymitch stops, stunned, along with all the other victors who were listening. Me and Finnick are knelt at her side in an instant. "What did you just say?" Finnick asks her.
She giggles, "I see all of my clients every day, daddy! Just like you!"
My eyes widen and I stare at Finnick, "What do you mean, darling?" He asks her.
"Well, I always hear you and mommy talking about your clients; so you're a business man, right? You have your clients you have to see, and I have mine! Like Wiress and Enobaria and Beetee!"
The poor thing, she has no idea. I don't know what to do. Should we tell her? She's too young, she wouldn't understand. Or do we let her go on believing that Finnick is a business man. "You're right, I am a business man. But I don't want you to use that word 'Client' any more, okay?"
Her smile fades and she whines, "Whyyyyyy?"
Haymitch cuts in, "Don't whine to your father. Listen to him." Then he starts to tickle her stomach and she burst out laughing, "Are you going to listen to him and not use that word anymore?"
She's gasping from laughing so hard, but she manages to say, "Fine, fine! I promise! Stop Haymitch!"
"Good girl." Then he stops but she continues laughing.
I sigh and drag Finnick over to a couch in the far corner of the room. After we are sitting down I lean up to his ear, "When are we going to tell her?" I breath.
"Not yet… when she's older." He says back.
I nod, and turn my attention back to the screen. They all just got to the Cornucopia and an alarm is going off. The girl from 5, I don't remember her name, runs out super fast and grabs her backpack, darting away before anything can happen.
Katniss is next; she makes a run for her back pack, but the girl from 2, Clove, flicks a knife in her direction. She makes it to the backpacks and grabs her tiny one, sliding it down her wrist, right before Clove reaches her and pins her to the ground. She flaunts her many knives and slowly takes one from her jacket.
I'm on the edge of my seat watching, and Finnick grips my shoulders. "We're going to kill you. Just like we did with your pathetic little ally... what was her name? The one hopped around in the trees? Rue? Well first Rue, then you, and I think we'll let nature take care of Lover Boy. How does that sound?" Clove says to Katniss.
I can see Katniss fuming, and she says something about Peeta coming to save her right now. They bicker back and forth for a few seconds until Clove finally starts to impact pain on Katniss. She decides on her lips is the best place to start.
She is going to butcher her. Katniss's death is going to be just as bad as mine almost was. My hand flies down to the smiley face on my stomach, and the many scars making beautiful designs across my skin. I go back to that day, and I shiver.
Finnick brings me back to reality, though, right when the big guy from 11 throws Clove off of Katniss.
Katniss is stunned by Thresh's act of kindness, and Clove is shaking like a leaf. "What'd you do to that little girl? You kill her?" Thresh demands the answer out of Clove.
"No! No it wasn't me!" Clove screeches out.
"You said her name. I heard you. You kill her? You cut her up like you were going to cut up this girl here?" Thresh says.
"No! No I- CATO!" She cuts herself off from screaming out Cato.
It shows Cato on the screen now, and he stops straight in his tracks, trying to decide if he was imagining that or not.
"CATO!" Clove screams again.
He decides it's real, and he takes off full speed in the direction of Clove's voice, "CLOVE!"
Then it goes back to Thresh and what he does stuns me. He takes a huge rock, and smashes it down on Cloves temple. There's no blood, but you can certainly see the dent in her skull, and I know she's dead. There's nothing anybody could do to save her switching body now.
Thresh turns back around to the trembling Katniss, "What she mean? About Rue being your ally?"
"I-I-we teamed up. Blew up the supplies. I tried to save her, I did. But he got there first. District One," Katniss says.
"And you killed him?" Thresh demands, taking a step closer to Katniss.
"Yes. I killed him. And buried her in flowers. And I sang her to sleep." The tears drip down my cheeks, and I'm trying to contain my sobs, thinking about Rue's death.
Thresh looks confused for a second, "To sleep?"
"T-to death… I sang until she died… your district sent me bread," Katniss says. I can see the tears building in her eyes too.
What seems like dozens of emotions flicker on Thresh's face. He's trying to decide on what to do, "Just this one time, I let you go. For the little girl. You and me, we're even then. No more owed. You understand?"
That is the nicest thing I have ever seen in these games. I let the sobs take me, and I bury my face in my hands. I can feel Finnick rubbing my back, but I just can't bring myself to care anymore. Thresh has such a nice heart; I really don't want him to die.
I don't hear what anyone else says on the screen for the next few minutes, because I'm just focusing on trying to even out my breathing, not that it's working.
I curl up against Finn's chest, and he wraps his arms around me so I don't fall. "I-I don't want him to die Finn!" I wail.
"Sh… I know… sh…" He says, stroking the hair out of my wet face.
After a while I finally look up to the screen, and Katniss has just made it back to the cave. Cato has just finished mourning Clove's death at her side, and now he's running in the direction of the field in search of Thresh. It's very clear that he was revenge on Thresh for killing Clove.
I would do the same.
Katniss passes out in the cave, and Peeta is still sleeping. The girl from five is buried in the brush, nibbling on some berries and leaves. Cato is out hunting Thresh, who is bellowing through the fields.
Five left. Who's going to win?
