Chapter 20 is finally here! I had a REALLY bad writer's block… :( Sorry for the long wait! Hope the chapter makes up for it :/
Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games.
"Well, at least it looks like his fever's breaking," says Portia optimistically.
"Definitely an improvement," agrees Effie with a bob of her head and a sip of her champagne.
"You know, Katniss spent the whole night changing the bandage and a bucket of water so that his fever would go down?" says Portia.
"Really?" I ask. A bit surprising, but I guess that since Peeta was Katniss' ally that she would help him.
"Yup, she did. She was awake for the whole night," says Effie.
"Bet she's just be working on the star- crossed lovers angle," says Haymitch with a monotone voice. "If there were no star- crossed lovers, she wouldn't have even gone after him." Always the pessimist. Also, being drunk since 5 in the morning doesn't really help the attitude either.
Katniss walks out of the cave and gathers some berries, strips the skin off and mashes them in the broth pot with water. At that moment, Peeta murmurs in his sleep while his arms start fidgeting.
Suddenly, his eyes open and he's breathing heavily. He looks around the cave and calls out, "Katniss?"
He panics when she doesn't reply. He takes deep breaths and fidgets with his blanket. When Katniss finally comes back, the wrinkles on his forehead smooth out and he struggles to get up.
"I woke up and you were gone," says Peeta with a concerned tone. "I was worried about you."
Katniss laughs as she eases him back down. "You were worried about me? Have you looked at yourself lately?"
"I thought Cato and Clove might've found you. They like to hunt at night," says Peeta with a serious face.
"Clove? Which one is that?"
"The girl from District 2. She's still alive, right?" asks Peeta.
"Yes, there's just them and us and Thresh and Foxface," says Katniss. "That's what I nicknamed the girl from Five. How do you feel?"
"Better than yesterday. This is an enormous improvement over the mud. Clean clothes and medicine and a sleeping bag… and you," says Peeta.
Effie and Portia sigh like it was them that Peeta was talking too.
"What a charmer," says Portia with a smile.
"Quite the man," agrees Effie with a giggle. Haymitch rolls his eyes and mumbles under his breath; something along the lines of how annoying and love- struck women can get.
Katniss reaches out to touch his cheek and just as she does, Peeta takes her hand and presses his lips to the palm of her hand. Effie and Portia sigh again as I laugh at them.
"Sorry, ladies. Peeta's taken," I say jokingly. I earn a playful punch from Portia and an eye roll from Effie.
"No more kisses for you until you've eaten," says Katniss.
She props Peeta up against the wall and he obediently swallows the spoonful of berry mush that is being fed to him, but he still refuses the groosling.
"You didn't sleep," says Peeta with a crease of his eyebrow.
"I'm all right," says Katniss. But I can see that her eyes are tired and droopy and her actions are slightly slower and her voice seems to be a bit flat.
"Sleep now. I'll keep watch. I'll wake you up if anything happens," persuades Peeta. It seems to be working because Katniss hesitates a bit. "Katniss, you can't stay up forever."
Katniss finally caves in and says, "All right. But only for a few hours. Then you wake me." Peeta obliges.
Katniss smooths out the sleeping bag on the floor and lies down with one arm on her loaded bow, probably for security. Peeta sits beside her with his back against the wall, his bad leg stretched out against him and his eyes staring outside.
"Go to sleep," says Peeta gently. His hands brush the strands of hair on Katniss' forehead. Katniss' face relaxes and soon falls asleep to the slow rhythm of Peeta's stroking.
"Aren't they just the sweetest things?" says Effie with a smile.
Haymitch grunts as the remote blinks and beeps again. "More sponsors."
"Should I come with you?" asks Effie as she gets up from her seat.
Haymitch grumbles a no and walks off. Effie shrugs and sits back into the leather couch.
"Is he alright? I know he's drunk, but he's seems a bit off. Did something happen last night?" asks Portia once Haymitch is out of earshot.
Effie shrugs carelessly as she takes a sip of her champagne. "It's nothing." But I can tell by the look in her eyes and her movements that she's lying. When Effie's lying, her eyes twitch a bit and her hands get slightly fidgety.
"Effie, just tell us," I say. "Besides, is it that personal that we can't know about it?"
Effie sighs and places her glass down on the table. "I don't know what really happened actually. Last night, Haymitch was talking about whether the rule change was real or just a hoax. Then I said that of course it wasn't a hoax. The Hunger Games is something that involves the whole country and I can't see why they would make a joke out of it. Then he said that it never happened before and that there were plenty of other romances in other Hunger Games but they didn't change the rules. So I said that Katniss and Peeta were an exception, which is true. Then Haymitch got mad and started yelling at me and saying things like, 'I loved Maysilee too! They didn't make an exception for that! They killed her, Effie!' and then he left. I don't know. Did I say something wrong to offend him? If I did, I really didn't mean to…"
Portia hugs Effie and says, "Maysilee's death was really hard on him, Effie. It's his soft spot. I think he also feels that he could've saved her but he didn't. I guess he kind of wished that there was a rule change in his games too."
Effie nods and sighs. "I'm going to talk to him. See you guys later."
As soon as Effie leaves the room, Portia takes out her sketchbook and starts sketching while I watch her hand move quickly across the page to create a beautiful drawing of the Cornucopia.
"Very nice," I say to Portia as she's just adding the finishing touches to the tip of the golden horn.
"Thank you," she says with a smile.
I look at the screen and see that Katniss is still asleep and Peeta is still staring out of the cave. I decide that since there's nothing important going on, I'll go up to the roof to relax.
"I'm going to the roof, Portia," I say as I open the door. "See you later."
-xxx-
It feels good to be out again. As I lean on the railings, I think about how sometimes it's better to just be by yourself and just enjoy the view.
Just when I feel myself about to doze off, I hear soft footsteps coming towards me. I turn around and see a little girl walking towards me.
Well, you can't really say she was a little girl. She looked about 13 or 14. The sunlight bounces off her platinum blonde hair and making it shine and her startling, icy blue eyes bring out her high cheekbones. Her face is expressionless, no hints of happiness or sadness. Her eyes are flat and emotionless.
"Hi there," I say softly to her. "I'm Cinna."
The girl nods and says, "I'm Rose'.
"Nice to meet you." I extend my hand for her to shake and I'm almost taken aback by the iciness in her hands.
"Nice to meet you too," she says as she leans on the railing next to me. "You're the stylist from 12, aren't you?"
"That's right," I say. We stand there in an awkward silence and I'm tempted to ask her what she's doing here. But I'm also wondering about who she is. She looks extremely familiar and seemed to resemble someone I know. I rack my brain for the possibilities, but it doesn't send me any clues as to who she is. So instead, I ask, "You have a very pretty name."
Rose nods and says, "Yeah. It's my grandpa's favourite flower."
I smile and say, "That's lovely. Roses are beautiful flowers."
Rose smiles. When she smiles, she reminds me the ladies from one of those ancient paintings; porcelain skin, red lips and rosy cheeks. "Thanks, Cinna."
"For what?" I ask.
"I really appreciate the fact that you don't ask me a lot of questions. People always ask what I'm doing and saying that I should be some place else."
"Why is that?" I ask with curiosity.
"It's because they know my grandpa. He gets very worried when he doesn't know where I am, or if I'm gone too long. He says that it's dangerous. Once, a bodyguard went to the bathroom while I was waiting out here and left me to go back by myself, my grandpa was so furious he killed him right there and then."
I raise my eyebrows. "Wow, your grandpa must really care about you. He also must be a man of great power if he can just kill people like that."
Rose shrugs. "Well, I guess that you can do whatever you want, kill whoever you want if you're the president."
DUN DUN DUN. I was a bit uncertain about this chapter. Still am. But I'd like to thank Blinkandyoullmissit for the idea. Without her review, this chapter wouldn't be up.
I got an anonymous review asking when I'm going to finish. The Spark will probably end in around 3-5 chapters. I'm not sure yet. Also, I'm still extremely uninspired. And it really sucks. So the ending won't be anytime soon. :/
Anyway, review, favourite and alert please (: