Chapter Ninety-Three; Unexpected News

(Stephanie's POV)

Stephanie awoke groggily, reaching across to the empty space where Haymitch should have been only he wasn't.

Her eyes immediately flew open as she bolted upright, silk sheets whispering over bare skin.

In the darkened gloom, Stephanie could just make out Haymitch as he did up the last buttons of his shirt and smoothed a hand through his hair.

He caught her gaze in the darkness and gave her a half-smirk before pressing his finger to his lips as a sign for silence.

Stephanie arched a quizzical brow, not understanding until…

"Haymitch pet? Oh dear you haven't drunk yourself into a stupor again have you pet?"

Stephanie recognised Isa's voice accompanied by a sharp continuous rapping – no doubt on Haymitch's door across the hall.

"What?" Stephanie hissed into the darkness.

Haymitch darted over to the bed, clapping a hand over her mouth.

"Haymitch?" Isa called in a sing-song voice before she sighed irritably and Stephanie could hear the clicking of her heels disappear down the hall towards the sitting room.

Haymitch removed his hand slowly.

"What is she doing here? I thought she was going home. And why is she looking for you?" Stephanie queried, her brow furrowed.

Haymitch however was still listening and so Stephanie sat silent, listening also.

A few moments later and Stephanie heard the hum of the television, the subdued chatter of something on the screen.

Stephanie turned to Haymitch now thoroughly confused.

Isa had turned up at the penthouse in the middle of the night looking for Haymitch.

If Stephanie didn't know any better she would have suspected Haymitch of past happenings between the two, but as of now the thought never crossed her mind.

Furthermore Haymitch looked just as baffled as she, evidenced by how he was still unsure whether to go out to Isa or not.

The volume of the television grew a little louder and Stephanie arched an indignant brow.

"Is she deliberately trying to waken us that way?" Stephanie whispered testily.

Haymitch chuckled quietly under his breath. "That's not Isa's style sweetheart."

Haymitch sighing in resignation got up from the bed, stealing quietly over to the door where he paused listening again.

Stephanie hated waiting and listening. It was then that her nerves were shot to pieces as her imagination went into overdrive.

"I'm going to make sure she hasn't woken Frenkin," Stephanie hissed slipping from the bed.

Haymitch glanced over his shoulder at her, a mischievous light in his grey eyes and a smug smirk toying on his lips.

"I'd recommend some clothes," he replied, having a moment to enjoy Stephanie's blazing blush and indignant glare, before he slipped from the room with one last wolfish grin.

Stephanie waited until he was gone before she let her own grin split across her face and shaking her head softly, she tip-toed over to the wardrobe to rifle through it for some suitable nightwear.

Dressed appropriately she peeked out her room door.

She could still hear the murmur of the television, could see the bright flickering lights of it reflected on the wall.

Frowning Stephanie tried to strain her ears further. She thought she could distinguish an undercurrent of voices; possibly Haymitch and Isa talking in hushed whispers, but that was as far as she could hear.

Sighing, a little irked, Stephanie darted across the hallway.

Frenkin's door was still lying open but when she approached the bed silently and was able to find Frenkin under the huge hump of blankets, pillows and blonde hair, she saw that he was still soundly asleep.

Stephanie was actually surprised. She expected him to be awake. Haymitch's room was only a little away and Stephanie had been able to hear Isa clearly from her room and her door was closed.

Stephanie perched herself on the edge of his bed, careful not to disturb the sleeping boy as she smiled softly. He really must be exhausted, Stephanie thought sadly.

She soon found herself becoming lost in what had become an almost therapeutic calming habit for her; counting Frenkin's breaths.

Ninety-Eight, Ninety-nine, One Hundred – Frenkin jolted awake with a small yelp and Stephanie almost fell off the bed with a louder cry.

"STEPHANIE! FRENKIN!"

What the hell was Isa doing? And why the hell was Haymitch letting her squeal like that at this time of night!?

As though in answer to her silent question, Haymitch suddenly shadowed the doorway to Frenkin's room.

Stephanie looked to him, her eyes wide in silent question but her expression fell when she saw Haymitch's face, something like cold dread coiling in her stomach.

The sickening, familiar nausea roiled in her very gut.

Why was there always something to dread in the Capitol? Why couldn't she have one night's peace in Haymitch's arms?

Stephanie stood from the bed on shaky legs.

Frenkin pawed about clumsily at the dresser for a moment for his glasses before he found them, and putting them on blinked owlishly as his eyes adjusted, before he too clambered out of bed.

Haymitch's expression was in one word conflicted. In one sense Stephanie could see he was absolutely livid in the rigidness of his shoulders, the tenseness in his jaw, how his eyes blazed with cold, steely fury.

However there was something else, something uncertain about him as though he was angry at something but didn't want to be or didn't understand it.

Stephanie silently followed him out into the hall and down into the main room. Somewhere in the short distance she felt Frenkin's hand clutch hers; a fleeting gesture of comfort.

Stephanie felt her mouth drop open as she looked and saw – Isa.

Isa usually impeccable, was well, not…perfect.

Her eyes were still unnaturally green and almost fluorescent in the pale light, but her dusky skin lacked its usual Capitol glitter and glow and golden swirls, and her hair hung about her shoulder in curly, black ringlets that were frizzed slightly and looked shockingly like they may be…natural?

Stephanie looked to the television screen, scouring it desperately for what sort of Apocalypse they were facing that would seriously make Isa leave her house without looking anything less than perfect by Capitol standards.

However she could see nothing in the two second glimpse she caught before another shock hit her square in the face.

The lift doors pinged open and loud chatter drifted in before Bright, Lashes, Silver, Tess, El, Mirr, Alba and even Ficen trudged into the sitting room; all obviously having been woken from some state of sleep judging by the slightly less than perfect appearances, and the huge electric blue 'snakes' Alba seemed to have twisted in his hair.

"Can you believe it?" Bright exclaimed in shock to her fellow stylists. Her skin looked practically dull in comparison to the glowing radiance she exuded during the day.

"I don't care. I don't see why we had to get dragged from our beds for it!" Lashes grumbled, miraculously her ridiculously long lashes still in perfect place though lacking their usual adornments of colours and gems.

Stephanie felt her breath hitch as she briefly locked eyes with Ficen. But the violet-eyed stylist showed no reaction and did not participate in the grumblings of the other stylists. Stephanie didn't know if her frosty look was because; A) there was something serious going on or B) Ficen always seemed at a remove and aloof from all situations, no matter the circumstances.

It was the first time Stephanie had seen the stylist from the disastrous incident at The Chandelier Rooms.

And Stephanie found her thoughts turning down a strange path all of a sudden.

Stephanie had told Seneca about Ficen. What would Seneca do, if anything at all?

"Everybody quiet! It's about to begin!" Isa suddenly exclaimed shrilly. Stephanie found that Isa's slightly panicked look did nothing to allay her own fears.

"Haymitch, what the hell is going on?" Stephanie muttered fearfully to Haymitch who stood at her side.

Haymitch gave her a strange look before he murmured, "Watch," and nodded towards the TV screen.

Stephanie turned towards the sleek screen that suddenly sprang from some droning Capitol report, to a live feed of Caesar Flickerman and Claudius Templesmith in some fancy studio.

But even though they were dressed up to the nines, it seemed not even all the make-up in the Capitol could disguise the slightly frazzled looks they had about them.

What the hell?! Stephanie's thoughts raced along frantically. Had the whole damn Capitol been woken up it seemed for…for whatever the hell this was?!

Stephanie glimpsed outside. It had to be the early hours of the morning, early enough even for the Capitolites to have finally hit the hay.

"I say maybe it's a good thing…" Caesar was talking, his expression so painfully sincere that it couldn't be anything other than false.

Stephanie grasped Haymitch's hand as her head began to swim.

"I agree Flickerman – certainly unexpected though," Claudius added.

Flickerman nodded animatedly, agreeing whole-heartedly with his co-host.

Stephanie felt a cold sheen of sweat begin to cling to her skin, her hands were shaking, her legs weak, her heart thumping fiercely.

Please, not now – Stephanie thought desperately.

But she could already feel it. She had passed that point where she was going to faint whether she wanted it or not. The only thing she was in control of now was for how many more excruciating seconds she was going to put it off for.

The camera zoomed in on Caesar Flickerman as he smiled brightly out to his unseen audiences; his smile too wide to be at ease.

"And now, to all those watching you have just heard the news that…"