What had just happened?
Artemis and Beau quickly jogged down the marbled floor of the justice building, passing by a number of well designed statues on display on little tables. They approached two dark wooden doors in the center of the building with several Peacekeepers on the sides of the door.
Artemis tuck a stray piece of hair that had fallen from her bun behind her ear as she tried to steady her breathing. She motioned for Beau to let the Peacekeeper know why they were there. With a questioning brow towards his friend Beau spoke up. "Hello, our names are Beau Hammond and Artemis Cross. We're close friends with Peeta Mellark, the Tribute."
The two guards turned and looked at each other before grabbing Beau's hand and pricking it with a needle and smearing his bloodied thumb print on a sheet of paper. Artemis's adrenaline was already pumping, she held out her thumb and let the Peacekeeper do the same to her. This time there was no jump when it pricked her. She just wanted to see her best friend.
As soon as they released them, Artemis grabbed on to the bronze door handle and flew the door open, leaving Beau to close it behind him. She barely heard the guard say "Four minutes."
Peeta's expression was shocked yet numb as he gazed up at his two friends. He had been leaning up against the back of the red velvet couch, staring at the forest scenery. He was certain it was the last he would see of it.
Artemis had never been so scared to let anyone go into the arena before. She couldn't help but suck in a stifled deep breath before letting a couple tears run down her face. "Hey guys." Peeta greeted with a hoarse voice.
Artemis couldn't make out whether the hoarseness came from him crying or if the fear had gotten to him. She couldn't hold it back. Her face felt like it erupted into a frown, her breath started staggering and more tears had become visible as they streaked her cheeks. She crossed the room, sat beside him, and wrapped her arms around his neck and sobbed on to his shoulder.
"I'm sorry. I'm so, so, sorry." She repeated herself over and over again as he began to run her back in reassurance. He gazed over her shoulder and up towards Beau who seemed to be looming over the pair. "Has anyone else been to see you?" He questioned the Tribute.
Peeta gazed away from Beau's eyes to look outside momentarily as he shook his head solemnly. It was a lie and of course Beau could see through it. "What did she do?" He hissed out.
Artemis wiped her eyes and scooted away from Peeta to see his expression as he told them what had happened. "She said maybe District Twelve would have a winner. Not me." He mumbled out.
Artemis could feel a fire start inside her, though they had not mentioned it directly his family had come to visit him before them and his mother was being as cruel as always. "One day she's gonna-" Artemis started with a heated tone but was interrupted with a knock on the door.
"One minute." Was all the peacekeeper stated from outside. Peeta quickly stood up facing his two friends. "Please don't do anything stupid while I'm gone." He addressed this more towards Artemis rather than Beau. He knew that if anything had happened to him in the Games she'd go after his mother.
"I'm a taunter, not a murderer." She snapped at him before she tightly pursed her lips. She shuffled her feet slightly on the wooden floor. "Wrong time to say that." She whispered. It drew what seemed to be a light smile on Peeta's lips for a moment but it quickly disappeared. "Stay safe. Fight if you need to." Beau instructed his friend as he shook his hand and pulled him into a one armed hug.
"I think, I'll miss you guys the most." Peeta said, his voice cracking a bit as the door creaked open revealing two Peacekeepers waiting to escort Artemis and Beau out of the building.
"Be careful!" Artemis blurted out, tears starting to sting her eyes as she latched her arms around his neck one last time. It was short lived as a Peacekeeper reminded her it was time to go, forcefully grabbing her by her upper arm a dragging her out.
Her feet skidded along the wooden floor in protest. She didn't like being touched. "Ouch." She hissed out as the peacekeeper let go of her arm abruptly. Artemis numbly rubbed the throbbing sensation in her arm as she looked up at Beau with a distraught look.
He gave her a worried look back, pursing his lips. It was more than clear that they were both upset that their friend was going into the games. A strong chance that he won't make it out.
"Move, Cross." A high pitched voice instructed the upset girl.
Artemis rolled her eyes, knowing that voice anywhere. She begrudgingly turned around and looked at Alix with a glare. "What're you doing here?" Artemis grumbled, wiping away whatever was wet on face away.
Alix made a triumphant sigh before smiling. "I'm here to see the tributes." She responded in a snarky tone while staring Artemis down. This caused Artemis to shake her head in dismay. "Do you always do this?" She wondered, an icy edge creeping its way into her voice.
Alix nodded her head, crossing her arms in irritation. "Mhm. So, you know, move it dirt breath." Alix pushed her way past Artemis with a forceful nudge causing Artemis's anger to tear its way through her body. She turned to go after Alix but, was immediately stopped by a peacekeeper enforcing that she needed to go.
She didn't want to go. All Alix was going to do was taunt them. She was never their friend. Alix believed she was always to good for them. A warm hand snaked its way around hers. Artemis glanced up at Beau with a frown. "Let's go." He whispered.
Artemis took a moment to look back at the door where Peeta was behind. Peacekeepers keeping an eye on her, moved towards the door. She looked back at Beau and nodded as she began slowly walking towards the front of the justice building.
This was the last place where she was going I see Peeta. And she hated it.
Beau rubbed Artemis's back as they neared their homes. The grey overcast of the afternoon had become a purple sky littered with dark clouds. Artemis couldn't get over how the day was going about. She had made everything seem okay, convincing herself that nothing bad was going to happen today.
Then disaster struck. What ate at her core was what Mrs. Mellark had told Peeta. She was also dying to know what Alix's conversation with him was. She couldn't rely on Peeta to tell her anymore.
After a day of silence, Artemis spoke up. "I just can't believe she'd say that to him." She spat out as a stray tear found it's way down her cheek. "He's her son." Beau made an audible hushing sound as he tried to calm her down.
They both glanced over at the bakery where there friend used to be. Only one light of the shop was lit. It felt almost eerie looking over into the bakery and knowing that their life long friend was not living inside it's confined walls. "Was." Beau spoke in a low and grave tone as he placed his hand on her shoulder once again.
Was?
Artemis shoved his hand off of her shoulder brashly. She stared at him with a hurt filled eyes, her thick brows furrowing. She was tired of hearing that Peeta wasn't going to make it home. What brought her even more pain was the fact that Beau was his best friend and he was putting the odds against him. "Is." Artemis growled out, earning an exasperated sigh from the Butchers son.
She was not going to give up on Peeta like everyone else. He had just as strong of a chance at winning as Katniss did. Peeta was known for his pacifist ways however, she didn't doubt that if he was backed in a corner he wouldn't fight. Beau numbly nodded his head in agreement. He'd rather not start a fight with her at the moment.
"Is." He bit the inside of his cheek after the word slipped out. He ran a hand down the back of his neck in a nervous and anxious reaction. Today had been a long day. "I'm," Beau started, snapping Artemis's attention towards him again. "I'm going to head in. I think my dad will want to speak with me." Artemis got the hint. He was depressed too, he just wasn't holding out for Peeta like she was. Her outburst had upset him somehow. She slowly nodded her head.
"Mine too." She said in a low tone, glancing over in the direction of her home. She could make out a silhouette of a person watching her through the window she just didn't know who it was. Artemis turned around to bid her friend goodbye but, he was already walking away from her in a solemn fashion. She still waved at him behind his back.
As she walked through the front door she was assaulted with a hug from her mother, her father following not to far from behind. Serena cooed at her while stroking her hair, assuring her that everything was going to be okay.
Artemis was numb at this point. She had already had Beau dawdled with enough reassurance to last her for the rest of her lifetime. She didn't want to feel like she was in pain by anyone. She didn't want to be perceived as a wounded animal but, so far everyone today has.
Artemis couldn't help but catch a glimpse of her sisters carefully watching her every move. They were smart enough to know when Artemis was going to crack, they kept their distance.
A loud ringing of an alarm caught their attention in their living room. It was their telescreen, beckoning them to watch the events of Reaping Day. Artemis was going to be forced to watch Peeta get selected again. Something she had been dreading since she had left him in that room. "Come along." Torq instructed, ushering her towards the screen where the Capitol's emblem was proudly being displayed with trumpeting music.
She sighed, sitting down in the center, watching the Capitol's seal vanish revealing a man with blue colored hair and blue lips named Caesar Flickerman, the host of the Hunger Games. Along side him was a much more stout man with a baby face, his co-host Claudius Templesmith.
Artemis couldn't help but roll her eyes as they fawned over the districts tributes. Of course the hushed heavily on Districts one, two, and four. Those three Districts were privileged enough to get special schools that taught children how to fend for themselves in the Games, they encouraged them to volunteer, making the games just as glorified to the District like it was in the Capitol.
What did Twelve and the other Districts get? Nothing. That's why they have only a handful of Victors who don't hail from Districts one, two, and four. Artemis couldn't help but, narrow her eyes at the male career from District One. He looked off, like his mind wasn't fully there.
One by one they watched the Districts choose their tributes. Most of them were crying. It was enough to get Katherine emotional, especially when they picked out a young girl from District Eleven. She almost looked too young to even be in the games. She was so small, and frail next to her District counterpart.
"That poor baby." Serena stated in a hushed voice before clasping her hands around her mouth uncomfortably. Baby. That's exactly what that girl was. A child being thrown to her death.
Artemis watched as Caesar clasped onto his heart with excitement as he announced the next and final clip. It was from District Twelve. "We saved the best for last!" He quipped with a stoic laugh. Not like he had a chance to save Twelve for last.
Artemis eyes seemed to glaze over as she watched everything happen again. This time she got to witness every single detail. She angrily swatted Katherine's hand away from the screen as she tried to point out where she was on it. "I volunteer! I volunteer! I volunteer as tribute!" Katniss' voice rang out.
Artemis squeezed her eyes shut as she listened to the screams made by Katniss's little sister Primrose as she was carried away. She hated reliving that moment, she was really going to hate reliving Peeta's. Thankfully Caesar paused it after Katniss walked up to the stage.
"Wow. You really can't ignore this. You really can't." He started to drone, Claudius absentmindedly agreeing with Caesar. "A volunteer from an outlying District? Well that's unheard of. Such courage, such passion in one girl. What a heroic turn of events we have this year. I know who I'm rooting for." Claudius dryly chuckled as the clip began to play again.
Artemis's head went directly into her hands. She heard Effie's shrill voice announce she was going to choose a boy's name. Then the unmistaken sound of Peeta's name being uttered out in Effie Capitol accented voice.
She watched as Peeta's face drained of color and hope, his eyes almost bursting out of his head in surprise, mouth agape. Tears began to flow to her eyes. You could see how scared he was. He doesn't deserve this.
The Peeta that was being broadcast on television throughout the nation was not the Peeta she knew. Peeta was never that timid nor shy but, here he looked like fish out of water. Unable to keep his hands from visibly shaking. Artemis couldn't bare to watch her friend like this.
She buried her head into her hands, trying to force back the tears that kept threatening to make an appearance. After the telescreen was turned off there was an uncomfortable silence throughout the room as the family watched the eldest daughter cry into her hands.
Torq looked towards Serena with worried eyes. He eyeballed from her to Artemis with an implication that she should try to speak with her. Serena was hesitant at first. Almost wanting to resist since the outburst may be irrational.
Slowly she crept an arm around her daughters shoulders. "Sweetie. Do you want to talk?" Serena calming stroked her daughters hair, hoping to relax her.
Artemis sniffled for a moment before lifting her head and looking at her mother with irritated green eyes. "N-no thank you, I'd like to go to bed now." Artemis excused herself, making no time for a hasty get away towards her room.
As she shut the door behind her, she leaned against it, her head leaning back against it. She wondered what Peeta was up to now or at least what he was thinking of. She wondered if he'd be in the Capitol training or if he was still sleeping on the train. All of her thoughts ran to Peeta.
She heard the thumping of feet get closer to her door followed by a small knock on the door. She didn't dare move. "Artemis?" Naga's voice was muffled from the other side. Artemis didn't answer.
After a moment went by Naga spoke up again. "You know, Peeta's really stocky. He's well built. And he's got people skills to charm sponsors. He still has a chance." Another moment of silence passed before her muffled voice came through once again. "I'm here if you want to talk. Good night, Artie." As the footsteps of her sister grew more distant, Artemis let her words sink in.
With a strained sigh she hoisted herself to her feet, closing the distance towards the window. As she looked out into the night sky she saw thousands of twinkling stars. It was calming to her. She looked across the way to the bakery, Peeta's old home. She smiled as she looked at the window that was Peeta's room.
He still has a chance.