Sorry for the lag in posting. School is keeping me very busy!

I don't own the Hunger Games.

Well, it turns out optimistic me is kind of stupid, because within a week Haymitch has a relaspse, Peeta freaks out over something (nobody will tell me the details, which is infuriating), and worst of all, President Coin cancels Finnick and Annie's wedding.

No matter how much Plutarch begs her, she remains unmoving and stoic.

"13 needs something happy to cheer it up after the bombing!" I hear him protest one day. "A wedding would be the perfect thing!"

It's quite safe to say I'm very alone here.

One night I'm just getting ready to climb into bed when I hear a knock at my door. "Who is it?" I call.

"It's me, Prim," Prim calls back.

"Come in," I say, sitting on my bed.

Prim opens the door and totes a blanket and pillow inside. "I thought you might like someone to keep you company. Keep your mind off..other things."

I smile. "That would be great, Prim. Why don't we sleep on the floor? It could be like a real sleepover."

Prim smiles back. "Okay."

Together we strip my and Peeta's bed of all its padding, including the mattress.

"Tell me a story," Prim requests as we hide under the blankets, blocking out the world.

"Okay," I reply. "What kind of story?"

"A scary one," she requests, pulling the blanket tighter.

Warning: Two scary/disturbing/really creepy stories starting now. Don't read it if you get freaked out by this sort of thing. Or, if you're going to sleep soon. Okay. Skip to the next bolded line if you want to skip it.

"Okay," I say again, racking my brains for a creepy one. Hanging out with Chris and Rye gives you a lot of these.

"Once upon a time, there was a little girl who lived in District 7. Her parents often had to work late at night, so they got her a dog to keep her company when she was alone.

"One night her parents were out working late, and she was asleep. Her dog was lying under her bed like he always did.

"In the middle of the night, she heard a dripping noise. She thought it might be that their faucet was on, so she went to the main room to check. She quickly turned it off and went back to her room. She stuck her hand under the bed where her dog was and he licked her hand. She got in bed and went back to sleep.

"A while later, she woke up and heard the dripping noise again. She thought it might be raining, so she went to check. She put a pot under the hole in the roof and went back to bed. Her dog licked her hand again and she went back to sleep.

"For the third time that night, the little girl woke up. She heard the dripping sound again. She realized it was coming from her closet door, so she opened the door.

"There, she saw the dead body of her beloved dog hung by a noose. Blood was trickling down to the floor, which is what had made the drip-drip sound. And on the closet's door in blood were the words, "Humans can lick too"."

Prim gasps and shivers. "Wow," she breathes. "That was a good one!"

"Thanks," I say.

"Can I tell one?" she requests.

"Why not?" I ask. "I don't think I'll be able to sleep anyways."

She giggles softly and begins. "Once upon a time there was a couple in the Capitol who were going away to a friend's wedding. They asked their friend and neighbor to house-sit for them. She agreed and the couple went away happily.

"The couple had a huge house and on the bottom floor, they kept lots of games and fun things. The only things that creeped their neighbor out was the clown statue on the stairs. It was quite creepy and seemed as if it would come to life at any moment.

"But she ignored it. One day, she brought her friends along to enjoy the games. They all passed the clown statue and shuddered. One of her friends said, "Can we move the statue?" The neighbor nodded. "I'll call them and make sure it's ok."

"So the neighbor called the couple. "I brought some friends over to enjoy the games," she explained. "That's perfectly fine," said the woman. The neighbor then said, "But the clown statue on the stairs is creeping us out. Can we move it?" The woman gasped and the man said, "Hon, we don't have a clown statue." The neighbor was flabbergasted. "But it's right there!" she said. "We don't have a clown statue," the man repeated.

"The neighbor quickly hung up and gathered her friends. "We have to go," she said."

End of scary/disturbing/really creepy stories. Feel free to continue.

"Nice, Prim. Who'd you learn that one from?" I ask.

She blushes. "Rory. He broke his arm and told me a lot while he was there."

"That was nice of him," I offer.

"Yeah, it was."

We're quiet for a while, until Prim speaks again. "Do you want to go see Haymitch tomorrow?

"I thought we weren't allowed to," I say.

"We are now," Prim says.

"Sure." I say, "I'm sure we can arrange time to visit dear old Grandpa Haymitch."

We're quiet again.

"Night little duck," I say softly, starting to close my eyes.

"Night, Katniss," she replies.

The next morning I wake up with a funny feeling. I can't place it.

It feels….strange. But nice, too.

I hurry getting dressed and going to breakfast. Prim's not there, but her stuff still is in my room. I assume she's gone to work in the hospital now.

After lunch I meet Prim. She's eaten as well and we're both looking forward to our visit with my dear old grumpy mentor.

We set off through the hospital.

Prim navigates easily to room 233, and I'm surprised by how many people seem to know her and the way she walks around so easily.

"How do they all know you?" I whisper as she pulls out a key.

"Word gets around," she replies just as quietly.

She pulls the key back out and opens the door. There's more than one person in there.

"Johanna."

It's quite short, but I figured you wanted an update NOW and besides, the next scene will make a great opener. :)

Review responses are now being posted on the Alone forum, link's in my bio if you need it.

Please review! If you read the scary stories, what did you think? Have any to share?

Adios

FuzzySocksAndWriting