Chapter 8: Finish Him

Haymitch's POV

A bright white light is piercing into the blackness of my vision. As I open my eyes, I can see sterilized, white walls all around me. The sheets covering my body are white. Turning my head, I can see a white, hydraulic door straight ahead of me. It must not be soundproof, for just from the other side, I can hear voices:

"Let me talk to him..."

"No, Indigo! I have to see him first!" That's Lucy Gray. "He's the first Victor I've ever had... and damn it, I have no idea what to do with him!"

"He's also a Quell Victor - you should be proud of yourself! But he needs help from someone who's been there."

An older man's voice joins the chorus. "I know you mean well, Indigo, but the two situations aren't at all comparable. The only thing different about your Quell was the Reaping, and maybe some enhanced arena twists. But yours had a normal field. Haymitch came out alive against double the odds - no one will ever be able to relate to that..."

An attractive nurse suddenly crosses into my line of vision, smiling prettily at me. "Welcome back, Mr. Abernathy."

I study her bemusedly, finally deciding on my tell-tale smirk. "It's good to be back." I cringe at the raspiness I hear in my own voice. "Hey, can I have a...?"

The nurse bursts out laughing wildly in the middle of my question. "Oh, Mr. Abernathy, you're such a card!"

I frown. "...glass of water?"

The hydraulic door opens just then, and in strides my mentor. The nurse nods to her as she exits in the other direction. "Miss Baird, congratulations."

"Thank you," Lucy Gray quips. She pulls up a chair next to my bedside.

There is a long moment of silence once we are alone. Finally, Lucy Gray speaks:

"You know why they're laughing at you, right?" She doesn't wait for me to answer. "It's strategic. To turn you into a joke. Because you made them look like a joke. In a way, you cheated. They don't like that."

Haymitch wrinkles his nose. "Well, then maybe they shouldn't have their infastructure designed so it could be a weapon..."

"Damn it all, Haymitch!" Lucy Gray slaps the railing of my bedside. "This is serious! Not just for you... they don't take these things lightly..."

I am released from the hospital the next morning. That evening, I have my final interview with Caesar Flickerman (who also seems to think that every single one of my answers - even the serious ones - are downright hilarious) and the Victor's Crown is placed on my head. I am also a given a gold meal - it is tradition for the final three finishers of the Games to receive gold, silver and bronze medals for their achievement. Lucy Gray has her own gold medal from her win decades before, tucked in a drawer in her mansion. Maysilee is also posthumously presented with a bronze medal, which is given to me. Upon return to District 12, I intend to privately give it the Donners. I just hope that meeting goes well.

At the Capitol station, Lucy Gray hugs goodbye one of the District 4 mentors, a woman who is about her own age. I didn't know that the mentors could actually be friends after having their students competing against each other. Lucy Gray and the District 4 woman (who is introduced to me as Mags) talk in low voices and there actually seem to be mutual tears in their eyes.

The District 8 mentors hitch a ride on the same locomotive back with us. On the way, Lucy Gray introduces me to the man who won the First Quarter Quell. "Haymitch Abernathy, meet Indigo Weaver."

"Wow! You're a Quell Victor too? Pleased to meet you!"

The train makes a refueling pit stop in District 8, allowing Indigo and his friends, Savera and Woof, to disembark. My predecessor hugs and pecks Lucy Gray goodbye on the cheek.

"Bye. See you on the Victory Tour."

Finally, we are steaming for home. With every mile, the smile on my face broadens and broadens. In a matter of minutes, hours, I will get to see Mom, Gregory...

And Rosemary.

We can hear the clamor and roar of a crowd awaiting us at the District 12 station before we have even rounded the final bend. As soon as the glass, hydraulic doors open, hands seize me and pull me into the crowd. The entire Seam itself seems to carry me away on its shoulders, leaving Lucy Gray in the lurch.

I am at last set down in front of my loved ones. The first one within my reach is the most beautiful girl in the world. Blond hair. Blue eyes. The smoothest face imaginable. And a bright, sparkling smile. "Hiya, handsome. Welcome home."

I grin so wide, it nearly breaks my face. "Rosemary..."

Rosemary drifts into my arms and pulls me into a deep kiss, to cheers. I melt into it, furiously kissing her back, even though Rose and I have never been so public. My girlfriend must sense my nervousness, for she chuckles into my mouth. "Let them look." At last, we break apart, Rosemary's eyes shining.

"I'd drag you into an alley and have my way with the newest Victor, but someone's been waiting to see you."

The massive, yet impossibly warm and soft, presence of my brother now darts up to me, leaning into Rosemary and making content squeaking noises. Rosemary just beams. "Yeah, it's OK, go talk to him!"

And then Gregory is grabbing my hand and tucking me into his side, still making the content babbling sounds.

"Brovey come home!"

I chuckle. "That's right, buddy, I did come home!"

"Snuggle..." he chirps.

"OK, we'll snuggle. But there's something I need to do first..." Extraditing myself from Gregory, I drift over to a crowd of Merchants, who are all giving me dirty looks. I feel Rosemary's concerned presence at my back, and as we approach the grieving Donners, I notice Mr. Donner presenting something to Belle Foley.

Belle Foley, the apothecary's daughter, turns back to Rosemary and I, a caged canary in her arms. "Hi, Belle," I say quietly. "I... I just wanted you to know that I'm sorry Maysilee didn't make it. I know you and she were close friends."

Belle gives me a watery smile. "It's OK, Haymitch. District 12 badly needed a Victor." She hurries away.

The Donners are not so forgiving. When I present them with Maysilee's bronze medal and explain its significance, Mr. Donner stonily takes it from my grasp, glowering at me.

"You should not have come back, boy."

I don't give him the satisfaction of hanging my head, despite the guilt I feel. "I know," is all I reply.

My family and I appear at my side, and we begin that long, first trek up the hill to Victor's Village.

Within a single week, Mom, Gregory and Rosemary have all moved their stuff into my new mansion in Victor's Village. Lucy Gray is a frequent visitor from across the street, and nightly dinners are soon quite common.

It is about two weeks after my Victory, the five of us gathered around the dinner table, when the door suddenly crashes in from the foyer. An entire squad of Peacekeepers swarm in, surrounding my loved ones and grabbing them.

My jaw drops. "Whoa, whoa, what the hell is this...?"

"This way!" a Captain barks, manhandling Rosemary. My girlfriend is wary with fear.

"Mitchy, what's happening?..."

"It's gonna be OK, sweetheart," I say, even though I have no clue what is going on.

Rosemary and Mom are forced outside and into the center of the village. The Peacekeepers are having the hardest time with my little brother, who is rapidly becoming upset that we cannot resume our dinner. Even though he has struggles learning, I know that when my brother wants something, his verbal abilities are as strong as those of any normal person.

"Go back in the house! Go back in the house!" he squawks.

One of the Peacekeepers trying to restrain him seems to think this is funny, smirking broadly. "No," he taunts Gregory. "You're coming with us, boy."

The fact that the Peacekeepers will not instantly turn them right around and take them back into the mansion gradually begins to further unravel Gregory's already fraying nerves. He now tries to physically run away from the Peacekeeper holding him. "Go back in the house!"

The Peacekeeper growls as he tries holding him down. Wrong idea. Gregory finally snaps. Letting out a high-pitched squeal of anger that clearly is his way of saying Leave me ALONE!, my brother actually throws the Peacekeeper off of him, the white-plated officer sailing across the street and into the wall of my mansion, sliding all the way down. His head lolls to the side, a pool of red staining the space behind his skull. I can't help but grin wide in smug approval. Were Gregory not a prisoner of his own mind, he could have become a Victor of the Games in his own right, like his brother before him.

It takes four whole other Peacekeepers to pin Gregory down, and I attempt to run to him. "Hey, leave him alone! He didn't do anything wrong -!"

BANG. Snapping my head to the right, I watch in horror as my mother is shot clean through the head.

"MOM!"

BANG.

"ROSEMARY!"

As two Peacekeepers hold Lucy Gray and I back, I struggle viciously, hot and angry tears streaming down my cheeks. "NO! LEAVE HIM ALONE! LEAVE HIM ALONE! HE DIDN'T DO ANYTHING WRONG!"

Eyeing the gun pointing at him, Gregory whimpers. "Brovey..."

BANG.

My brother crumples to the floor.

My vision swims red. "AHHHHH!" Breaking free of my captor, I rush the Peacekeeper who shot my precious little brother, tackle him, and begin to wail on his face. There is a CRACK and blood spatters up into my face, but I don't stop. The Peacekeeper's face rapidly becomes bloody and bruised. I seize a fistful of his hair with my free hand and began to slam it into the ground. He goes limp in my hold. As a final touch, I slash him across the middle with my knife, until I feel something ram into the back of my head and stars dot my sightline.

"Get up!" White-plated officers haul me to my feet and fling me back towards Lucy Gray. Other soldiers are inspecting the dead body of their comrade against my house. I don't know if the Peacekeeper I attacked is dead, though he looks close to it.

"You got what you came here for," my mentor glowers. "Take the bodies and get out!"

The three corpses of my loved ones are hauled away, followed by the officer my brother accidentally killed. The other Peacekeeper is lifted into a casket's hoist and raced to the med ward. It won't be until the next day that I hear he too dies from his wounds.

I take my first drink of alcohol that night.

Six months later is the Victory Tour. Being from District 12, we have the advantage of only having to criss-cross the country once, visiting each of the other districts in perfect reverse order before holding a big party in the Capitol.

Drunk and wasted as I am, I don't remember most of the places we visit. District 8 is my favorite of the whole trip, as Lucy Gray and I are generously put up in their Victors' Village. I spend the night with Indigo, my Quarter Quell predecessor, whom I enjoy very much.

District 1 is the final stop - home of Lipstick Vogue, my final opponent, and the oldest District 1 boy, both of whom I killed. Having defeat snatched from the jaws of a Quarter Quell Victory, the sight of me in One practically causes a riot. "The Victor of the 50th Hunger Games, or Second Quarter Quell: Haymitch Abernathy!" People boo and jeer.

"Cheater!"

"Illegitimate!"

"Trickster!"

A rotten tomato actually connects with the side of my face, accompanied by a sarcastic shout. "Hail to the Victor!"

The District 1 mentors don't even look embarrassed by their neighbors' behavior. Several people desperately attempt to bullrush the stage, prompting the Peacekeepers to hustle Lucy Gray and I away and into an armored car, back for the train station.

In the Capitol, my first order of business is to attend a doctor's appointment scheduled by Lucy Gray, to check on the healing progress on my stomach wound from Lipstick Vogue's axe. Dr. Volumnia Gaul is a kindly-faced woman in her sixties. We meet in her private office, where she takes an X-ray sonogram of my wound.

"Well, Mr. Abernathy, it appears that your injury is healing nicely," Gaul states. Approaching the wheeled-in TV screen, she pops a disc out of the player. "You can take this with you to observe, and we'll compare it at your next appointment, during the Games this summer." Gaul crosses to a safe, and opens it, placing some medical papers inside.

Just then, an intercom buzzes. "Dr. Gaul to Block D! Dr. Gaul to Block D!"

"Oh, excuse me, Mr. Abernathy!" Dr. Gaul hurriedly leaves. Left alone, I get up off the medical cot and observe the room. I am just crossing to the wheeled TV to remove my X-Ray DVD, when something catches my eye in Gaul's open safe.

Another disc lies in the safe, inside a case. And on the glass-case, written in black marker are the words 10th HUNGER GAMES.

My pulse starts to quicken. What is a copy of Lucy Gray's Games doing in Gaul's private safe?...

There is a creak from the hallway outside. I don't even really make the conscious decision. Quickly, I remove the glass-cased DVD from the safe, remove the disc from inside the glass case and swap it with the disc of my X-Ray sonogram. The case itself still has the words 10th HUNGER GAMES on it, and I replace the DVD case back in the safe. The disc of Lucy Gray's Games, I tuck into my sweatshirt.

I retake a seat on the medical cot. Moments later, Dr. Gaul returns, smiling.

"You're free to go, Mr. Abernathy. A car will take you across town to the Presidential Mansion. Your mentor will meet you there."

I nod and hurry out of the doctor's office. I am escorted into the stretch limo and hurried across town to President Snow's mansion. Admitted inside, I peruse the immaculate hallways as I am directed to what is known as the Oval Office. An elite squad of Peacekeepers (I hear they are called Secret Service agents) in tuxedos and with really dope earpieces stand guard everywhere.

Finally, I am standing outside the Oval, with the door to Snow's office ajar just a crack. I can hear voices coming from inside.

"Such spirit... such boldness... such ingenuity..." Snow's velvety voice wafts out to me. "Lucy Gray, if you cannot control your Victor, I will, and trust me, you don't want any part of that..."

"Coriolanus, haven't you done that already?" Lucy Gray seems to almost scoff, but there is a hesitancy to her voice. "Please don't harm Haymitch. He's just a boy. Sometimes too smart for his own good, but other than that, harmless."

"No Victor is harmless, Lu... Not even you..."

Lucy Gray snorts. "Clearly. I had a good mentor. But then again, you and I both know something about cheating in the Games, don't we, Coryo?"

A brief, almost ugly pause. Then I hear Snow again. "I did love you once..." His tone is almost... tender. And my jaw drops. Were Lucy Gray and the President once...? No, impossible!

I stride into the Oval at that very moment, stopping short when I see my mentor and the President of Panem wrapped into each other's arms and passionately kissing. My eyes bulge, and when Lucy Gray's closed eyes pop open and see me, she wrenches out of the kiss with a POP!, mortified.

"Haymitch..." she breathes.

I look from one to the other, holding Snow's dangerous studying of me. "I don't believe this!"

I storm from the mansion, ignoring the sound of footfalls as my mentor hurries after me. "Haymitch..." she pleads.

"Shove it up your ass, Lucy Gray!" I barely wait for her to climb into the limo after me and we race to the Capitol train station. A strained silence holds until I blast it out. I have to know:

"Do you fuck him every year during the Games?"

"No!" Lucy Gray squeaks, disgusted by my vulgarity. "Coryo and I..."

"Coryo?..."

"... are old friends."

"How?"

"Because he was my mentor!"

I lean back from her shout, eyes wide, the bigger picture now becoming all the clearer. As we exit the car and board the train, I spin to face my colleague. "Just answer me this:... did you know he ordered my family and Rosemary to be killed?"

Lucy Gray meets my stare squarely. "No."

I can tell from her eyes she speaks true. I nod once shortly, satisfied. "Let's go home."

I never tell her about the DVD of her Games hidden in my jacket.