Hi everyone! I don't really have much to say right now except that I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games.
I wake up to the sound of a fist pounding on our front door. I quickly get out of bed and sleepily walk over to the door. I look out the window and see a pair of peacekeepers on the doorstep and suddenly I'm not so tired anymore.
I cautiously open the door and greet the peacekeepers with a smile hoping they can't see the fear I'm trying to mask.
"Good morning, is there a problem?" I ask.
"No miss," the tall one says, "we were just ordered to inform you that your family needs to be in the square by noon tomorrow in order to do your interviews."
I freeze for a moment. I had completely forgotten about the interviews that family and friends of the tributes have to do once it's down to the final eight tributes. I hope the peacekeepers can't see my grimace as I think about having to relive the Games in front of a camera. Plus, my mother is very obviously not camera ready.
I plaster a smile on my face and tell them, "Perfect! We will be there at twelve o' clock sharp."
With this the peacekeepers leave and I'm left standing in the doorframe all shooken up. After staring out the door for long enough, I go into the bedroom to tell my mother about the interviews.
"Hey mom," I say as I shake her awake.
She slowly wakes up and seems to be a little better today because she manages to look me in the eyes as I tell her about the interviews.
"Oh," is all she says when I finish informing her of the peacekeepers visit.
"Do you think you can do it?" I ask her.
She just shrugs and begins to fiddle with her fingers.
"Well just remember to take your pills today," I say.
She freezes up when I say this and I look at her questioningly.
"Okay… I guess I'll get them," I say as I reach into her nightstand to grab the container of small pills.
As I'm about to grab them I have the thought that maybe my mother hasn't been taking her pills. I mean shouldn't she be better? The pills from the Capitol are supposed to start working after days of taking them unlike most treatments in the Districts.
My fears are mostly confirmed when I grab the container and it's full.
"Mom?" I ask her.
She looks at me and then lowers her head in shame.
"Why," is all I ask because I'm confused.
She is a healer. She will do whatever she can to heal others, yet she's not taking the medicine that she knows will help her. It hurts because she is leaving me to carry all the responsibilities myself just because she won't take her medicine for reasons that I'm not aware of.
She hesitates for a moment as she thinks out her answer.
"I don't know," she says, close to tears, "I just thought that it might be easier to get through it all without it, but obviously it just made things a hundred times harder for you and I just didn't want to have to depend on these little tablets in order to be okay."
It's the most words she'd said to me in a while and I have to take a while to process it.
"I just don't get it. You're a healer, you should know that it will help!" I exclaim. "You say that you don't want to depend on the pills to feel better but you've seen how much they help your patients! And I've been just trying to get through the day without breaking down, and you've just been sitting there watching! I could've used your help mom."
She looks up with tears in her eyes and suddenly I feel awful, "Oh I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell. I know that you've been in pain too-"
She cuts me off by putting her small finger up to my lips and kissing me on the forehead. She doesn't say anything but I can see the regret in her eyes.
And with that all the anger inside of me dissipates. I know that I could be very angry at her but she is in so much more pain than I can even imagine. First her husband died leaving her with two little girls, then her eldest daughter got reaped into the Games. I can understand why she could think that being stuck in her own head would be better than having to deal with the outside world. But even though I understand, I can't ignore the pain that's inside of me.
I quickly leave the room to grab a glass of water and come back to give it to my mother. I shake two little pills out of the container and then hand them to my mother.
She looks at me hesitantly and I beg her softly, "Please?"
She nods and sticks the pills in her mouth, takes a drink of water, and then swallows.
I can't explain the joy that courses through me as I watch her take the antidepressants. It seems to overpower the pain for a bit. She took those pills to help me even though she didn't want to deal with stuff outside of her own head. I kiss her on the forehead and smile as I think about the days to come, when my mother starts to feel better.
I check out the window and see that the sun is only just now starting to rise. Those peacekeepers have no sense of politeness waking up a family that early in the morning.
I go into the main room, grab Buttercup off the floor and plop down on the couch. Before I turn on the television I mentally prepare myself for what I'm going to see.
Last time I saw Katniss she was laying in a bush much too close to the Careers camp for my liking, but at least almost all their supplies are gone. The boy from District 3 was killed by Cato and that's when I left the house.
I turn on the television to find Finch laughing over the pile of ash that was once the Careers supplies. She smiles as she leans over and picks out a knife blade and a metal pot from the debris. I'm curious for a bit as to why she's laughing about the supplies being blown up because I've seen how she would get most of her food and supplies; by taking bits of the Careers supplies when they weren't looking. Now that her main source of food and more is gone, I would assume that she wouldn't be happy but the more I think about it, she's probably happy because now every one is on an even playing field. Even though her main source of supplies is gone, it also means the Careers main source of supplies are gone too.
The camera flips to show Katniss watching from the bushes. She smiles but then it turns to a frown when she sees Finch turn and quickly runs away from the Careers camp. I can't figure out what caused Finch to run because the camera flips again to show Cato hunting for tributes. I figure that they all split up because the camera also shows Clove and Marvel hunting separately. I cringe when the screen shows Peeta still lying in the stream bed.
I had completely forgotten about how severe his situation was. I saw Cato cut him and I know that he probably doesn't have much time left. All I can hope is that someone finds him and takes him as an ally. Maybe it's too much to wish for but I can't help but hope the person is Katniss. Then the camera is showing Rue walking through the woods, unharmed. Which is good because that means she can probably help Katniss.
Suddenly there is a loud knock on the door.
"Wow, I'm really popular today," I mutter to myself as I move Buttercup off my lap and walk to the door.
I open the door to find a smiling Rory Hawthorne waiting on the doorstep.
"Hi," he greets me.
"Hi Rory!" I say happily. "What are you doing here? Why aren't you at school?" I ask him.
"Look who's talking," he says with a smirk.
"Touché," I say with a grin.
He turns serious and says, "And I assumed that you probably want someone to watch the Games with you."
I give him a small smile and say, "That would be great, thank you."
I open the door wide and let him in and we immediately go to the couch.
"Have you watched the Games recently?" I ask.
"Oh yeah, Gale has them on all the time," he answers.
"Makes sense," I say before going back to watching the Games.
Rory and I watch the Games all afternoon. Not much happens until the late afternoon when Rue runs into Marvel. He notices Rue in the trees and begins to chase her through the woods. She has the advantage of being able to leap through the trees flawlessly, but Marvel still follows close behind, on ground, with his weapons raised.
I grasp Rory's hand and scoot close to him and he wraps an arm around my shoulders. Rue finally manages to lose him and jumps down from the trees then she begins to walk towards the meeting place.
Just as Rue whistles her four-note tune letting Katniss know she's alright, Rue gets trapped in a net the Careers placed there. She begins to scream for Katniss and Katniss hears and runs towards her.
"Katniss! Katniss!" Rue cries.
"Rue!" Katniss calls back.
Katniss reaches Rue just as Marvel does and I just have enough time to gasp before his spear enters Rue's stomach.
I scream as Katniss loads her bow and shoots Marvel in the neck. He stares in shock at the arrow lodged in his neck and then falls to his knees, cutting the remainder of his life in half by pulling it out and drowning in his own blood.
Katniss reloads and yells at Rue, "Are there more? Are there more?"
Rue has to say no multiple times before Katniss finally hears. She has rolled over on her side around the spear and is clutching it, her face twisted in agony. Katniss rushes over to her and shoves the boy away from her. She grabs her knife and quickly cuts through the net, freeing Rue.
Katniss takes a close look at Rue and seems to realize what I noticed when the spear first entered Rue's body. There is no surviving that wound.
Rue reaches out for Katniss's hand and Katniss clutches it like a lifeline.
"You blew up the food?" Rue whispers.
"Every last bit of it," Katniss says as she tries to smile for Rue, but her tears give away her true feelings.
Rue sucks in a breath and chokes out the words, "You have to win."
My stomach sinks after she repeats the same exact words I told Katniss after the reaping. I try to convince myself that it isn't real. It's all just some awful nightmare that seems all too realistic. Rue will be fine. She has to be. I can't watch her die.
I grasp Rory's hand and briefly notice that my knuckles have turned white. I'm surprised that he's not yanking his hand away. It probably hurts a ton.
"I'm going to. Going to win for both of us now," Katniss promises softly.
The cannon for Marvel, whom I already thought was dead, goes off causing Katniss to look up.
"Don't go." Rue begs.
"Of course not. I'm staying right here," Katniss says, pulling Rue's head into her lap.
"Sing?" Rue says so softly the microphones can barely pick it up.
Katniss puzzles over the request and sings the same lullaby that our father would sing to us called "Deep in the Meadow".
I begin to sob as she sings the song for little Rue who is too young. She doesn't deserve this.
Rue's eyes flutter shut and her chest moves up and down slightly. Katniss chokes up and let's out some tears but continues the song for the dying girl in her arms.
The last lines Katniss sings are barely audible to me because of the sound of my sobs and just how quiet Katniss has gotten.
"Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true. Here is the place where I love you."
Everything in the arena is still and quiet as if it's all aware of the awful thing taking place in their mist. After a few moments the mockingjays take up Katniss's song. She sits still for a while, letting her tears drip onto Rue's blank face then Rue's cannon fires.
I sit, shocked still for a moment just letting everything sink in. It could have easily enough been me. It could've been me! And if it weren't for Katniss it would've been me!
I lay my head down in my hands and cry. I don't know what else to say. I can't really explain my emotions because on one hand my sister is one step closer to winning but on the other hand, an innocent little girl is now dead. I'm so conflicted.
I feel Rory's warm hand on my back and I curl up into his side as he wraps his arms around me, and together we try to get through it.
So this chapter ended on a pretty sad note, but that is pretty much expected when writing about the Hunger Games. I still hope you enjoyed this chapter though. Thank you for all who have read, reviewed, followed, and added this story to your favorites. I appreciate ya'll so much! Please review if you can! Stay safe and healthy! :)