I had such a problem! Haha! I was checking the stats for HOH and I didn't realize that they were updated monthly and I got really confused. It was one of my not brighter moments, lol. But I was doing summer homework all day, so I think I have a right to be a little dumb every once in a while. Anyway... I want to say CONGRATS to everyone! Thanks SOOO much for reading this story! June was the best month so far for views and everything like that. So let's make July even better!
Chapter 14:
Trinket is the Savior
We were walking. And we kept walking. We never stayed in one place for long, we were in constant movement. Somehow, mom and dad always made sure we were fed and had water, though. But because we were in constant movement, no one ever found us. No monster could ever find us because we moved so much. We were always on our guard.
"Kids, a friend of mine is helping us out." Mom said at dinner one day. I lost track of how long we were walking for, but I counted the sunsets. We walked for seven days straight!
"How?" Jason asked. He was looking quite skinny recently, but then again: so was everyone else. We all looked like we dropped some weight. For kids like Devin, Allie, and I who don't eat the essential amount of calories every day, that was bad. We didn't have much fat on our bones to begin with and now you could faintly see my ribs poking through my stomach.
Finnick let me have some of his food. So he lost weight trying to give it to me. We ended out eating like the same amount anyway, but it's the thought that counts. Maple handed me some of the foods she doesn't like.
"Well, she's letting us stay in her house temporarily. She said we can freshen up there." Dad answered. Good, we all started to smell really bad after going through the woods. But mainly, I was cold. Because well... there was no fat on my bones. Like none.
"What friend?" Devin asked as his stomach growled. It sounded like whale noises. I fell asleep listening to it, so I found it pretty calming.
"Effie Trinket." Mom answered leading us off.
"Come on, come on." Effie said in her ridiculous Capitol accent. She adjusted her bright bubblegum pink hair. Finnick and I shared a look and we fought off laughter. I cleared my throat and Finnick coughed to disguise his laughter. But I knew her from somewhere. I know her. She seemed very familiar with her loud and bold fashions.
"Let's see, there is Haymitch, Annie, and Johanna. I've met little Luna when she was that; little!" Effie said. So I did meet her somewhere.
I smiled.
"I remember you." I said.
"Impossible, you couldn't have been more than two months." Mom said shaking her head.
"I do, though. She had sunset orange hair." I answered. Effie pulled out a picture of her holding me when I was really little. She did have orange hair. She pulled me into a hug and sighed.
"Wow, Luna remembers when she was two months old." Dad said, nodding his head.
"Effie, do you think I can shower up a bit?" Allie asked.
"Sure, darling." Effie said showing us a tour of her house. It was luxurious and everything I didn't have. Jason showered after Allie did, and I went in the guest bathroom and showered while Jason did.
I think I stole the hot water, though. Oh well...
My hair naturally fell perfectly. And I dried off. I smelled like roses and the water was warm for once!
"You done?" Finnick asked.
"Yeah, up the stairs and to the left." I said as he nodded and went up to shower.
Effie had food and entertainment for us. Devin and Allie were watching TV, probably the news. Mom, dad, and Annie were making lunch. Johanna and Ash went for a walk together. Maple and Jason were playing with a puzzle. And I decided to explore for a bit. Effie's place was so huge, it was dizzying. I looked around, thoroughly overwhelmed, and kept going down a straight and narrow hallway.
I found a library.
"Wow." I said studying it.
I found a book and I started reading it.
"What are you reading?" Finnick asked, drying off his hair.
"Some old fairy tales." I said as Finnick smiled. He laid down on a lounge chair and patted the area next to him.
Except, there wasn't much room. We were cramped. Finnick wrapped an arm around my shoulders and took the book from me. My hair sprawled over his arm and the edge of the chair. He held the book while I read some parts out loud.
"Aren't you two cozy?" Effie asked entering.
"Hey Effie." I said casually.
"What are you reading?" Effie asked.
"Fairytales." Finnick answered.
"You remind me so much of your father." Effie mused.
"Effie." I said warningly. Finnick froze. Effie shot me a look and she studied my face. She understood everything now.
"You knew him?" Finnick asked.
"Of course I did. I wish I could describe him to you." Effie said. Finnick was shocked.
"Actually, I did find something." I said.
"You were reading fairy tales as a cover up?" Finnick asked.
"Yes, I was afraid of your reaction." I said pulling out a picture book from under the lounge chair. Finnick sat up and Effie sat on the other side of me.
"Yes, of course, Luna found the book I've been searching for." Effie said grinning.
"Is that your mom?" Finnick asked me.
"Yes." I answered.
"You look just like her." Finnick said.
"Except the eyes." I said as Finnick smiled.
"And that was her designer, Cinna." Effie said pointing to a man with gold eyeliner. Mom must've trusted him and had a close relationship with him.
"And here is your dad, Luna." Finnick said.
"Yeah." I answered smiling.
"And that was Portia, his designer." Effie said, nostalgically.
I flipped the page.
"That's my mom? When she was around our age?" Finnick asked in awe.
"Yes." Effie said.
"And who's that?" Finnick asked pointing to someone who was almost identical to him.
"Your dad." I answered.
"It can't be. Why does he seem so old compared to her? And who is that old woman?" Finnick asked.
"That was Mags. She was your father and mother's mentor." Effie said, "Your father was your mother's mentor, as well."
Finnick flipped the page and he swallowed gruffly. He was choked up. I moved my hand so it was on top of his and he smiled. He wrapped his fingers around mine. I stroked his knuckles with my thumb and he nodded.
"That is Gale with your mom." Effie said as I saw mom and Gale.
"And Johanna and Katniss." Effie said grinning, like the memory was too good to explain.
"And Johanna and Gale." Effie said chuckling.
"What?" Finnick asked.
"Gale and Johanna had a very interesting relationship, you could say. They were more than friends but not quite involved." Effie said.
"That's funny because Gale's son and Johanna's daughter are dating." I said as Effie smiled.
We flipped through picture and picture until Finnick found one of his favorites.
"It was your parent's wedding day. It was a small little thing. But quite adorable." Effie said to Finnick.
"Can I-?" Finnick asked.
"Of course. You may take whatever you please." Effie said.
"These are your pictures, though. Your memories." I said.
"I have plenty of copies." She said smiling to me.
Finnick took the wedding picture and one of his dad.
"You two are twins." I said studying the picture and studying Finnick's face.
"Really?" He asked.
"Exactly." I answered as Finnick smiled.
I put the book in my backpack.
"Effie won't mind. If she does, I'll mail it to her. But I can't decide what one I like." I said as Finnick smiled.
He kissed my hand and we left the library.
"Finnick, are you okay?" I asked quietly.
"I don't know what to say. But I'm glad you showed me this." Finnick said.
"Do you understand why I didn't want to? It wasn't because I didn't want to show you, I did. But it was just because I didn't want to upset you with this stuff. I was going to show you eventually." I said.
"I understand." Finnick said letting go of my hand.
"I just need to process this." Finnick said as I nodded.
"Don't look so sad." He said into my ear.
"How can I not?" I asked.
"Just try not to think about it." Finnick said going off to sit by Jason and Annie. I found Maple.
"What's wrong?" She asked as I hauled her up to a guest bedroom.
I pulled out the book and we flipped through pictures.
"Wow, and you didn't show Finnick these?" Maple asked raising an eyebrow.
"I did. But not in the context that I wanted to." I said.
"Effie made you?" Maple asked as I nodded.
"Look, some pages are stuck together." Maple said.
I grabbed a knife out of my backpack and pried it through the pages.
"Diary entries!" Maple said excitedly.
"Should we call Finnick up here?" Maple asked suddenly.
I thought about it. Should we? I mean, he could be helpful. But he would also be very distracted. He just found things out about the dad that he never knew.
"No, we can't bother him with this stuff now." I said.
Maple seemed to understand what I was saying because we just kind of went along with it.
I read the little scrap of paper quietly to Maple.
"December 2nd: The conspiracy has been going strong for weeks on weeks, but we can do nothing of it. We don't know their plans anymore. Everyone is disguised. This is getting ugly. Grandpa wants nothing more than to stamp out the Mellarks. No news on the pregnant Katniss Mellark. But Johanna Gardiner is leading an army attempt to squash us. She is doing very well. But it would go better if Katniss was involved. I have to go, something terrible just happened. My father was just stabbed in the eyeballs. Johanna got him. The head conspirator was taken out of the job. But I will have my revenge. I don't know how or when, but I will. –C.S." I read.
"That's your birthday." Maple said.
"Your mother took care of the main source of the conspirators. But she only took care of one. There could've been hundreds involved." I said.
"There's an address written on the back." Maple said.
So there was. It was right across the street.
"Was it always there?" I asked.
"I guess so. We should go investigate it." Maple said.
"I don't know. Maybe we should bring Finnick and Jason with us if we go investigate. We're not very threatening. I went mad last time I tried to do something threatening, it's only a matter of time before-." I said breaking off. Only a matter of time before you have to feel the grief I did. I am a murderer and if my friends murder someone, they will feel the same way I did.
"I don't think anyone is living in there." Maple said as we went down to where Finnick and Jason were.
"Can you two come upstairs? I have an inside joke to show you." I said grinning, like nothing was wrong.
"Can it wait?" Finnick asked.
"Fine." I said nodding and shrugging. He smiled appreciatively and I nodded. He and Annie were talking about important things.
"Why did you let him go?" Maple whisper-hissed.
"He's busy. He and Annie are talking about his dad." I whispered.
Jason followed us up though.
"So what's the plan?" He asked after Maple and I explained.
"Well, Luna can fit through the window, unlock the door, and we can investigate." Maple said.
"That's a high window though, I can't reach it." I said.
"Jason is here for a reason. And we need numbers. On an average day, Finnick would come along, but you had to be a nice person." Maple said.
"I'm not interrupting him from something that important." I said sternly. Maple didn't say anything back and I sighed in relief.
"So, Maple and I are going to lift you into the window, you unlock the door from the inside, and we investigate the abandoned house?" Jason asked me.
"Correct. Let's go. Try not to raise alarm. Everyone is out at parties now, but we don't know where the parties are, so we could be seen or heard." I said as we snuck out and ran across the street.
"Okay, one, two, three." Jason said.
Maple and Jason boosted me on to the window ledge and I climbed myself up.
"Now unlock the door and let us in." Maple said as I nodded and went to check it out a little. It was creepy. This place was haunted or something.
I unlocked the door.
"Should we split up?" Maple asked looking around.
"I'll take the basement." I said.
"I'll go upstairs." Jason said.
"I guess I'm staying on this level. Be careful, everyone. Does everyone have a weapon or something to protect themselves with? Because I brought an extra." Maple said pulling an extra knife out of her belt loop.
"I'm good, let's meet back here in fifteen minutes." I said as Jason nodded. I went down very old and unstable stairs. I actually fell down them. I tripped over a bad stair board. I pried it off and found a book of maps. It was all the Capitol! We would definitely need this.
Someone slammed the basement door shut and cut off my source of light.
There was someone down here.
A bathroom door magically opened and I went to investigate.
Stupid move, Luna. I should've escaped while I could.
I hummed a Beauty and the Beast song and looked around. Nothing was in here, but someone turned on the lights and stood behind me. I screamed.
"A fan of the classics, are we?" She asked with a grin, revealing all of her missing teeth.
"I think everyone should be a fan of Beauty and the Beast." I said.
She grabbed my wrist and held it so she could see the vein.
"What a nice story your blood tells me. It sings to me." She said sniffing my wrist. I pulled my hand away and her scraggly nail cut me.
"Sorry, dear." She muttered.
She grinned evilly and I plunged the knife into her cheek. While she was screaming, I ran upstairs.
"Jason, Maple! Help! Someone's in here!" I screamed as Maple ran out of the living room.
"Daughter of Johanna Mason and Ash Gardiner. What a nice surprise." The hag said coming upstairs with my knife sticking out of her face. Jason ran downstairs quickly and he had something tucked underneath his shirt.
"And the son of Gale Hawthorne and Madge Undersee. How charming." She said, stroking Jason's chin.
"Watch it, lady." Maple snapped.
The hag grinned at Maple's discomfort.
"What is your problem?" I asked.
She turned on me.
"My problems are meddlesome fools who force themselves to be included in something that doesn't include them." She said.
"Coming from a woman who has a knife sticking out of her face." Jason muttered. She turned on him and raised her ugly nail that cut me.
And then, something exploded. The front door did. And Finnick walked in.
"Son of Finnick Odair and Annie Cresta. How refreshing." She said stepping closer to Finnick.
"Do not-." I growled throwing the extra knife Maple brought. It went straight through her head and everyone looked at me.
"I get quite jealous sometimes." I said bashfully.
The four of us walked out. It was almost beginning to rain outside and it was foggy. No one could see us or recognize us. I couldn't even see Effie's house through the thick fog.
"So what's so important that you had to sneak into someone's house?" Finnick asked.
"A map of the Capitol. All of it. This could help us strategize." I said as Finnick nodded. We turned toward Jason.
"What?" He asked.
"We know you have something." Maple answered.
"Well, she had a hit list. Of people she would lure in the house. Luna's name was her number one priority under 'make these people go insane'." Jason said handing us a notebook. Sure enough, her plan was to drive me mad. She wanted to decapitate Maple. And she wanted to freeze Jason as an experiment. But Finnick wasn't on here.
Finnick grabbed my hand and I winced.
"Luna-." Finnick said slowly. His hand was covered in my blood. My cut was really deep.
"I know. My hand is mangled." I said.
"I'll take care of it." Finnick promised opening the door to Effie's house for us. We walked in the kitchen.
"Let's see what Dr. Finnick can do." Maple said.
"I'll be right back." Finnick said.
"Luna, sit down." Jason said making me sit on the kitchen table.
I kicked my legs up and looked at them.
"Alright, here we go." Finnick said bringing out the med kit from the closet next to the laundry room.
He played Dr. Finnick on my hand and Maple was his assistant. Jason was the sound effects guy. Jason pretended to be the heart monitor. According to Jason, I was dying because of my cut.
And then there was a low beep and I shut my eyes.
"Dr. Finnick, she's gone." Maple said gravely.
"No!" Finnick yelled dramatically, like the end of a soap opera. Maple and Jason clapped and I just pretended to be dead.
"Okay, your hand is fine." Finnick said.
"Great thanks." I said getting off the table and going to the library.
Happy Wednesday morning everyone! I had to include Effie in this, the temptation was too great :)
Umm... thanks for reading! I don't really know what to say, I'm just too happy that this is going so well. Thanks to all who favorited/reviewed/followed the story!
-GirlonFire