[A/N: WARNING THERE IS VIOLENCE IN THIS CHAPTER, I'M NOT SURE QUITE HOW IT WOULD BE RATED BUT PLEASE DON'T READ THIS IF YOU THINK IT'LL OFFEND YOU. Thank you for the reviews and for sticking with the story!]

Chapter 21: Spiralling

I shoved Gale out of the way. I needed to be alone. He clearly wasn't going to help me.

"Where are you going you crazy girl?!" He yelled after me. "Women are such teases. You're all as fickle and insane as each other. Prim ain't dead. There's no such thing as a double bomb. ARE YOU LISTENING? Come back." He was yelling after me, but he wasn't following me. Can't have been that bothered.

I turned a few corners and found a corridor that seemed empty. I started trying door handles. I needed to be alone. One opened and revealed a small room full of cleaning supplies; perfect. I settled myself on the floor, using the bottom of a mop as a cushion, and opened my compact. Laurel opened hers within seconds.

"What the heck are you playing at Molly Dolly?!" I was taken aback. Why was she mad?

"Laurel, I-" she cut me off.

"No. My BROTHER dies. Proclaiming his undying love for YOU. No mention of me; his own flesh and blood. And then your brother survives. And you DARE to hang up on me and run off like you have some right to be upset?! I'VE LOST EVERYTHING. I didn't even get a goodbye from him." She broke down into tears.

"He loved you Laurel. You knew that. But I didn't know he loved me. That's why he had to say it." I sounded calmer and wiser than I felt.

"I don't know, sometimes I wonder. He never opened up to me the way he opened up to you. I remember eavesdropping on a phone call you guys had a few months ago. He was telling you about some oak leaf that meant the world to him. I didn't even know that thing existed." I remembered. I'd found it under his pillow a few days before and had brought it up on the phone. He'd told me this story about how he'd gone camping with his family and mine when he was four and had fallen out of a tree. He'd always been afraid of heights but that day his fear had ended, because he'd fallen and he'd been ok, so he kept the leaf as a reminder of that. Of the fact that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

What doesn't kill you . . .

"That was a daft example." Laurel continued. "But it's the point that counts. You knew him better than I did." Knew. Past tense. I felt sick.

"We can save him Laurel. He won't die." She looked at me like I was crazy. "How did Prim die?"

"I thought you knew."

"I thought I knew too. But apparently not."

"She was crushed. A wall fell on her. That's why I said that thing about the girl getting crushed in the hunger games reminding me of her. How can you not even know how your own aunt died?" I rolled my eyes.

"That's not important right now. Which wall. Where? When?"

"Ummm . . . Not sure. She was in the Capitol and some kids had been bombed and she went to help them and then she ran off after somebody. And a wall collapsed. And she died." I was literally going to have to follow Prim around to save her. Which could be difficult in the middle of a war zone . . . How was I even going to get to the Capitol? District 13 wouldn't send me unless I started training and I think it was too late for that.

"Maybe I should just abduct her? Prim's going to die soon. I need to get her out of the way."

BAM. A blow to the back of my head sent me flying across the room. My vision went blurry but I managed to maintain consciousness. I could hear footsteps approaching me. I needed to get up. I needed to fight. I started coughing and saw blood coming up out of my throat. I tried to push myself up but a jabbing pain in my arm sent me to the floor; it was probably broken. I felt somebody land a kick on my side.

"St-stop." I begged.

"What? So you can kill my sister?! I KNEW WE COULDN'T TRUST YOU!"

I recognised that voice . . . I was getting beaten up by my own mum. This was so bad. I had to explain. Why did she think I was going to kill Prim?! I played back my last words to Laurel: Prim's going to die soon. I need to get her out of the way. Katniss must have heard and assumed I was plotting against Prim. "N-no. S-save her. Save Prim."

"Yeah I am trying to save her." Katniss said, pulling me up by the scuff of my neck and dragging me out into the corridor.

"N-no, me save her. Y-your daughter."

"She's not my daughter. She's my sister."

"N-NO." I'd never been in this much pain before in my life. I felt as if every part of me was broken. I'd thought I couldn't hurt more than I already did when Taylor died. But physical pain is different to emotional pain. You can fight a broken heart with hope and distraction. This throbbing and burning was ever-present. How was I still conscious? And where was Katniss taking me? I tried to speak again but she stuffed a rag in my mouth.

"Be quiet. The last thing I need is them hearing this and stopping me from going to the Capitol."

Part of me hoped she killed me.

No. Then all hope of saving Taylor and Dylan would be gone. I had to survive. I was the last chance. I had to go on. I made a feeble attempt to shake myself out of Katniss' grip and was rewarded with a further blow to my head. The metallic taste of blood in my mouth made me feel sick. Suddenly I was lifted into Katniss' arms. Maybe she was going to lay me on a hospital bed? Maybe she believed I was now hurt enough to not be a threat to Prim? I prayed that was the case but in my heart I knew my mother too well for that. She wouldn't let somebody she believed threatened a loved one live. I tried to argue my case but the rag stopped me. My eyes widened in horror as I saw she was approaching the escape staircase; a spiralling set of stairs that went down ten floors.

"Goodbye Molly." This woman wasn't my mother. I had to keep reminding myself of that. This Katniss didn't know me. I miss my mum. I closed my eyes, and she threw me over the edge.

Everything went black.

[A/N: I know things are pretty dark at the moment but please stick with the story! There should only be a few more chapters and I know where I want this to go, reviews, as always, are really appreciated!]