Chapter One-Hundred-and-Twenty; To Murder a Murderer
As soon as the mixture of suspicion and jealousy had flared in Haymitch's storm grey gaze it had bled away, replaced with something Stephanie couldn't decipher and then it too was gone hidden behind a mask of cold indifference Stephanie had never seen before.
Well; she had seen it before – she had seen Haymitch use that look on Capitolites who had been trying to get him to tell them all about Stephanie's scandals. But he had never used it on her.
Stephanie swallowed the lump in her throat seeing the look of steely determination in Haymitch's eyes.
"You want to go to him?" Haymitch repeated, the slightest hint of contempt in his tone.
Stephanie felt indignation bristle in her but the brief flare of anger was drowning in a sea of bafflement and hurt that Haymitch could look at her so unfeeling.
"Haymitch it's not like that…" Stephanie began, forcing her voice to steady.
"It never is," Haymitch muttered, folding his arms while Stephanie gaped at him unable to believe her ears.
"Haymitch, I have never been unfaithful to you – not least of all with friggin Seneca Crane!" Stephanie's voice raised a few octaves and Dan stopped his snivelling at the other side of the room to stare at them in poorly concealed curiosity.
Stephanie shot the Capitolite a cold look seeing the stony expression on Haymitch's face never waver in its cold indifference.
"Haymitch!" Stephanie cried, half in desperation as she struck his arm, hoping to break through this apathy that was tearing her apart.
Haymitch's gaze slid over to her with eyes as cold as steel and Stephanie flinched by the complete lack of…anything in them.
"Go on to Seneca," Haymitch told her coolly as he turned swiftly and stalked towards the doors, "Dan make sure to get to your date on time," Haymitch spat scathingly as he passed the Capitolite.
Stephanie stared after Haymitch even long after the doors closed before she sunk to her knees, even Dan was staring at her gapingly.
Strange noises like a dying animal sounded into the room and it was a while before Stephanie realised the keening choking sounds were issuing from her own lips as she clawed at her chest looking for the gaping wound she was sure would be there.
Dan made his way over to her, "h-hey, I'm sure he didn't mean it," Dan said uncertainly, not at all prepared for Stephanie to have a full-fledged breakdown in front of him; especially not when the President's son was waiting for them with shortening patience.
Stephanie was shaking so badly it felt like she was going into convulsions and Dan was looking ever more increasingly alarmed.
Stephanie cursed whatever person had invented the serum still circling through her body a hundred times over; so many times in so short a space had her body been craving the comfort of total oblivion and never more so than now.
Dan's phone ringing demandingly tore a hoarse yelp from Stephanie's throat and only when Stephanie tasted the salt moisture on her lips did she realise she was crying.
With a reluctant whine Dan fished the phone from his pocket, grimacing at it before he answered it.
Dan was hunkered down close enough to her that Stephanie could hear the ever so recognisable icy tone on the other end.
And that immediate recognition made something in Stephanie snap.
Seneca Crane.
He had made her a murderer.
He had hurt Haymitch physically and had been hurting him for years before that.
And finally…finally it seemed Seneca had achieved what had appeared to be his goal all along; Haymitch and Stephanie were no more.
Stephanie felt a fresh wave of tears blur her vision as her mind recalled with perfectly painstaking clarity the cold look Haymitch had given her minutes before.
Blame, responsibility – whatever the hell it was it all rested on one person…Seneca Crane.
Stephanie realised she didn't need or want answers or excuses from the Gamemaker in those moments – she wanted something else from him and she was determined to get it.
And Stephanie saw red in those moments, as a rage so intense she could feel it in every pore of her body, until her very bones were shaking with it and she could taste it on her tongue like blistering heat tore through her body.
"Tell him I'm coming up now," Stephanie said in a voice too emotionless to be natural.
Dan stopped his hurried babbling on the phone that Stephanie hadn't even been listening to as he threw her a dubious glance.
But he relented after a moment, "I'm bringing her now," Dan said. There was a clipped response and then Dan hung up, replacing the phone to his pocket, all the while staring at Stephanie searchingly.
Stephanie returned his gaze unflinchingly with that same deadly calm; no tears were even streaming down her cheeks now.
Stephanie looked worse than ever; her make-up was smudged and smeared across her face as blotchy tear-tracks ran down her cheeks while her hair fell about her shoulders and down her back in tangled unchecked rivulets. Her clothes were torn and dirtied, the darkening bruises on her neck only highlighted her ashen complexion. She was barefoot, her fingernails were torn and her hands were stained with blood.
Dan took in her appearance with a grimace and hurried to retrieve the jacket one of her stylist's had placed around her shoulders.
He offered it to her along with throwing a pointed glance towards her shoes but Stephanie ignored both as she stood.
"Are you sure you shouldn't you know…cover up?" Dan suggested meekly. There was something eerily unsettling about Stephanie's deathly composure.
"Why? – Are you ashamed of being seen with me lover?" Stephanie shot back in a sneering tone as she stood waiting at the doors.
Dan sighed resignedly, a worried frown puckering his brow as he approached the door.
Dan placed his hands on the handles, looking towards Stephanie hopefully that she had changed her mind but there was no such relief to be had and Dan finally pulled open the door.
The guards were ready with another group of generally nosy looking Capitolite people loitering nearby. They all gave a collective gasp of horror as they looked towards Stephanie and Dan cringed though Stephanie didn't even seem to notice.
"Which way?" Stephanie asked immediately; she had been too in shock last time she was being lead down here by Haymitch to pay much attention.
A Capitol official with a clipboard that Dan recognised as the events manager approached them with an entirely business-like expression on his face. Dan swallowed nervously, thinking he was going to have to conjure some quick lines convincing the man to let the pre-scheduled date continue. But the man merely told Dan that there would be no camera coverage for the date considering the circumstances…and then the man had cast a clearly meaningful glance at the wild-looking Stephanie who was standing, tapping her bare foot impatiently.
Dan tried not to share in the man's disgusted look and instead tried to look like a man very much in love with the animalistic looking district girl but it was difficult and Dan moved them off as hurriedly as he could, guards escorting them of course.
They made it to the bottom of the stairs that led to the private boxes in utter silence with Stephanie walking so fast Dan almost had to break into a slight jog to keep up. At the bottom of the stairs the guards were dismissed for new guards that Dan knew were paid in Seneca's personal service and hence their secrecy was guaranteed.
Stephanie was at the top of the flight of stairs before Dan could even place a foot on the first one. He raced up after her, reaching her panting just as Stephanie had reached the door of the familiar box.
Dan knocked aside her hand before it could close around the handle though, "look, maybe this isn't…" Dan began to say cautiously when the door before them was whipped open.
Dan gave a yelp and then scowled as Seneca's personal bodyguard that was always close by Seneca at all times smirked at him from the doorway. The guard's gaze then flickered to Stephanie and his eyes widened but he said nothing. Instead the guard stepped aside allowing them to enter but again before Dan could even think to move Stephanie was already in the room.
Dan followed swiftly and was just in time to see as Seneca's entire expression crashed and he leapt to his feet as his gaze flickered from one wild aspect of Stephanie's appearance to the next.
"What the hell happened?!" Seneca yelled and Dan grimaced.
"Fetch a medic we can trust to keep silent," Seneca barked at his guard who immediately leapt to do his bidding.
"She's already been seen to," Dan blurted out and Seneca scoffed, "obviously not well enough," he replied scathingly.
"There's a car waiting for you to take you elsewhere out of the sight for the time being," Seneca told Dan, his gaze flicking pointedly towards the door.
Dan sighed half in relief to escape this whole surreal situation but he looked once more to Stephanie and frowned when he saw her dead expression or so it seemed…something far from dead blazed in Stephanie's eyesDan swallowed as he made his way to the door; he had never wanted to be involved and he wasn't about to change his mind now.
…
As soon as the door shut the last bars that were holding Stephanie's calm in check like a tiger in a cage broke and the wild feral animal burst forth.
A snarl past Stephanie's lips as her fingers curled like talons.
There was no Stephanie Trindlesworth with a family back home to live for, Games to win for a man she loved and a future stretching out before her.
There was no Haymitch, not anymore. No words had been necessary to say what she already knew. Haymitch believed she had cheated on him with Seneca Crane and that was something he could never forgive.
Something like realisation flickered in the clear cerulean of Seneca's eyes a split second before; perhaps he recognised the emotion in Stephanie's expression having seen it in countless tribute's eyes before; the instinct to kill.
And then Stephanie lunged for him with all the intent of killing Seneca Crane.
Thanks to all those that continue to read and new follows / & / favourites!
Especial thanks to girlworthfightingfor for the review; nope it's not bad at all – I think :P