I ponder over Aramis's words on the train earlier today. How could Dad be so nice to me, yet be Aramis's worst enemy? He had always been the sane anchor, the one that everyone could depend on. He was the structural support in the building of our family; without him, everything has collapsed. It just doesn't make sense. My few friends would always comment jealously about how perfect my family was; if only they knew the half of it.
It's like a fruit that I once read about in a book. When it's ripe, the fruit looks perfect and delicious to eat. When you cut it open, you find a rotten core inhabited by maggots and tree worms. It's the perfect way to describe my completely dysfunctional family.
I finally fall asleep a few hours after midnight, but it feels like my eyes are only closed for a few seconds before I sit bolt upright in bed.
"Mom! Aramis! Wake up!" I say frantically springing out of bed and flicking on a lightswitch.
I hear Aramis groan from the couch and say, "What is it now, Mags? Another surprise trip?"
My mother sits up calmly and rubs the sleep from her eyes silently, watching me with big eyes that have a childlike curiousity in them. She's confused, but she will let me talk first before she asks questions.
"I know why Dad tried to kill me."
That certainly wakes Aramis up. He props himself onto his elbow and looks at me with wonder on his face. "What? How could you possibly know? Don't tell me that you've suddenly gotten mind reading powers or something."
"No, that's not it Aramis. Did dad ever tell you any old sayings? Like, from before the Disasters?"
"Uhhh, yea? Duh. He gave one like every single night at dinner when we were kids."
"Well do you remember any of them?"
"Not really..."
"Well I do, and one of them applies exactly to this."
"Which one of Dad the Great's proverbs is it exactly?"
"'Times change; people don't.'"
"... I'm sorry, I'm lost. How exactly does that apply to our current situation?"
"The tracker jacker venom never exactly left dad's system. He just learned how to cope with it most of the time, and his love for Mom is the only thing that kept him going. Meaning..."
A horrified look of understanding dawns on both of their faces and Aramis says what I was too afraid to. "Dad's still hijacked."
"That's impossible. I mean, he was fine for such a long time. He had therapy from Dr. Aurelius and everything..." My mother says, shaking her head. I can tell a breakdown is near.
"He was holding on to sanity for you. Something... Something must have happened to trigger the memories from the hijacking." I say, trying to keep my voice as even as possible. I run my shaky hand through my hair, trying to look as normal as possible.
"But-but he knows the difference between his memories then and those now. You weren't alive back then for Snow to be distorting memories of you!" My mother says, her voice rising.
"Mom, you have to be quiet. It's 4 in the morning." Aramis says quietly.
"I don't know why, how, or what is going on here, but I sure want to know who's behind it." I say, pounding my fist into the palm of my hand.
"We already know who's behind it, Mags. We've heard the story once, which is more than enough. Remember?" Aramis says with an exaggerated patience.
"The Capitol, I know I know."
"No, Mags. Not the Capitol. Snow."
"Holy crap..." I whisper as I finally put two and two together to actually make four this time.
"Nice choice of words, there. I'll go get the soap."
I wave his words away and say, "Great, great. Just great. Snow just had to be so cunning to think ahead like this, and and..."
"Rewind, I'm still not sure how Snow's playing into this still. He's dead."
"Mom, that's exactly it. Snow's taunting us from the grave."
After that we decide to find Gale as soon as possible and go back to bed. I of course don't sleep. Being taunted by a dead man only serves to make a person watch their backs at all times. I just lie on my back and stare at the ceiling.
At 6 I decide that I've waited long enough and pull myself out of bed. I get ready in the bathroom and run the hot water in the shower. I stand there for a while, just enjoying the calmness of it all. It's almost as if nothing could ever go wrong as long as I stay here, but I know that I can't spend the rest of my life here. I reluctantly step out and towel off. I pull on some clothes and walk as quietly as I can out of the bathroom, trying not to wake them. I write a note for them explaining how I'm going for a walk to see if I can find Gale. I tiptoe out of the room and close the door softly behind me.
I quickly bounce down the stairs and grab some hot oats from the kitchen, then I'm out and into the streets. I ask people if they know about a man named Gale Hawthorne, but none of them answer. They just speed up and walk past me. Rude much?
After about an hour and a half of being ignored I collapse onto a bench and just stare straight ahead. A boy around my age comes to sit down next to me and asks, "Why are you asking around about a government bigshot?" He barely even moves his lips as he does so.
"Why do you care?"
"Because nobody asks about him. You must either be new or crazy not to know him."
"And why is that?" I demand.
"Because he's the mayor of District 2." With that he leaves me on the bench sitting alone and fumbling for words.
With renewed spirit and excitement I can barely contain, I jump up and backtrack towards a building where I saw a map of District 2 posted on. It takes quite a bit of walking and I have to turn around a couple of times to find my way again, but I do find it eventually. I memorize the path as best I can and start off towards the District's Justice Building.
When I've still got quite a few blocks left before I reach the Justice Building I turn down a street that's nearly abandoned and start on my way, worry free. I just can't wait long enough to go get my Mother and Aramis; it would take too long. I just want to find Gale to make sure before I go tell them. There's no need to get everyone's spirits high.
I am walking past an alleyway, wondering if Gale has truly gotten over my mother or not when a hand slaps over my mouth and I am pulled into the alleyway. They press a knife against my throat and drag me deeper and deeper into the alley. Can this day get any better?
"Hello, Baby Mockingjay. Nice to see you again." I just had to ask.
I'm sorry if this story seems rushed at parts to you, I was just really excited to get all of this out and everything so I crammed it all into one of my short chapters and... Yea. This is what came out. Anyways, YAY! I have now told you guys why I made Peeta evil. And Cameron came back. BOO!
Review please! Also add to alerts, favorite, and PM me any suggestions. Thanks!
Over and out. ;D
