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DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Hunger Game s or the film/novel Don't Say a Word. This story is for entertainment purposes only. I make no profit out of this and all of the characters, unless otherwise no ted, belong to their respective owners, the great Suzanne Collins and Andrew Klavan.

Chapter 7: Don't Say A Word

'Papi!' yelled the eight-year-old girl as she jumped into the arms of her father.

'Mi princesa,' he said as he placed a kiss on her soft cheek.

The man walked further into the cold one bedroom apartment and placed her on a small table. He then ran over to turn the furnace on while his young daughter looked at him with strong admiration in her eyes.

She had lived with her father for as long as she could remember. Her mother died when she was only three years old, leaving her father to care for her himself. She did not remember much about her mother, but her father had said many times that there was a striking resemblance between the two. She had the same olive skin and the same nose and colored hair. Her facial features were her mothers as well. However her eyes, her piercing silver-like eyes were entirely her fathers.

Everyday, her father would leave her at school and go to work. She was left to walk home and do her homework alone until he came back late. She didn't complain though. She knew that her father was a very busy man and she loved walking and wondering around in Central Park. She wasn't a lonely child. In fact, she had plenty of friends at school. Sometimes, one of her friends would walk with her and they would have fun and play games with each other like they did at lunch. Other times she would go over her friend's house for an hour or two after school and they would either do homework together or watch endless movies of princess' and knights in shining armor. She would then go home and wait for about an hour or two for her dad to come home. They would make dinner together and watch some television. When it was time for bed, they would both have a small race to see who could get ready the fastest. Of course, he would always let her win but she never complained. After their 'race', he would tuck her into bed and read to her one of her favorite bedtime stories.

However, the past few days hadn't been the same.

Her father had come home later and more tired than usual. The day before, he had come home out of breath with dirt all over his face and red stains on his shirt. When she asked him about it, he simply said that he had had a bad day at work.

The young girl didn't exactly know what her father did. When people asked her what it was that he did, she would tell them that he was a police officer. After all, he had a gun, and only cops had guns…right?

'Cómo esta mi princesa?' he asked her while he tried to turn the furnace on.

'Very cold,' she replied.

She could faintly hear her father mutter some Spanish curses as he pounded on the furnace to get it to start working. Luckily, after a couple more pounds the furnace finally turned on. He stood up with a proud look on his face and turned to look towards his only daughter.

'There,' he said, 'that should do the trick.'

He suddenly walked over towards the door where he had dropped the bag he had brought with him. He placed it on the table next to his daughter and opened it. He then pulled out a small, Hispanic looking rag doll. It had a yellow dress with colorful stars embodied on it and pig tails that were each tied with a yellow ribbon. It was the most beautiful doll she had ever seen.

'Do you like it?' he asked her.

She quickly nodded her head as she reached out to grab it from him. However, she became confused when he took it out of her reach. She then looked up at him with wide, worried eyes.

'Hold on mija,' he said, 'I will give her to you, but I have to do something first.'

She nodded her head as he put the doll face down on the table and took out a pocketknife that he always carried around with him.

'Papi, no!' she yelled as she watched her father cut the doll open. Tears started to form in her eyes as the white stuffing sprang up from the doll's lifeless body.

However, she quickly wiped her eyes as she saw him take out a small bag from his pocket. He studied the bag in his hands before he took out its contents. A small gasp escaped from her mouth as three small bright red rubies fell onto his rough palm. He quickly studied them before he put them back in the bag and stuffed the bag in the doll. He then took out a needle with yellow thread attached to it and started to stitch the doll up. Once he was done, he gave the doll to his daughter who turned the doll around to look for the stitches. To her amazement, it was as if her father never opened the doll. The stitches he had made were very precise, making it seem as if he never tore it open.

She looked up at her father and gave him a bright smile as she tightly hugged the doll.

'Thank you Papi,' she said as she tilted her head up to give him a kiss on the cheek.

'You're welcome mija,' he replied as he watched his daughter jump off the table.

She was about to run across the hall to show off her new doll to her neighbor before her father stopped her. He turned her towards him and knelt down to her eye level.

'Before you go and tell the whole world about your new doll, you have to promise me something,' he said.

She nodded her head as her father took the doll from her hands and held it in front of him, studying it closely.

'This really is a beautiful doll,' he said before he looked at her and gave her a toothy grin, 'Promise me that you won't lose it. Take it everywhere you go and don't let it out of your sight.'

The young girl nodded her head as her father gave the doll back to her.

'And please,' he continued as he put his hands on her shoulders, 'don't tell anyone about what you saw me do, alright? It will be our little secret that no one will ever, need to know. You need to swear this on us, on our family'

The young girl nodded her head while looking into her fathers dark and mysterious eyes.

'Whatever you do mija…don't say a word.'

It had been four days since Peeta started working in the hospital.

It had been four days since he made a fool of himself by falling on his ass.

It had been four days since gray met blue.

Consequently, Peeta found himself longing for those deadly eyes more than anything in the world. He still didn't know why he felt this way, but he knew that if he didn't get rid of it, he would surely punch someone, preferably Gale.

The day after they 'met', Peeta was looking forward to going into her room again to sneak a glance towards the girl. However, he found that the very next day her room number had been removed from the list of rooms he had to deliver sheets to. This made Peeta confused. Why would they take her room off the list? When he saw that the room was no longer on the list, he seriously contemplated sneaking in to see her. However, that thought quickly left his mind when he noticed that there was never a moment when she was not being watched.

Things at home were good so far. His grandma had dropped by two days before to check in on them and to drop off some more food, which Gale had eaten in less than 30 minutes. His parents had called everyday to check in on them as well. Peeta suspected that the only reason they did this was to see if he had fucked up yet, but of course his dad reassured him that they did it because they're worried about him. Peeta of course, was not convinced.

On his fourth day of working in the hospital, Peeta was mopping the floor near the front desk when he noticed a woman of about 40 years of age with porcelain skin and blonde hair step out of the elevator. She carried a small package in her hands with the words Fragile written all over it. She walked over to the front desk and mumbled something to Effie. Effie then pointed down the corridor before the woman nodded her head and went in the direction she had directed her to.

That was strange. Visiting hours ended an hour ago.

About twenty minutes later, Peeta looked in the direction that the woman had gone as he picked up his mop and started making his way towards the custodial closet at the end of the hallway. As he passed Dr. Cresta's office, he couldn't help but notice that the blonde woman was in the room handing the package she brought with her to Dr. Cresta.

Odd.

Patients were usually not allowed to receive fragile things for fear that they may use it to do something regrettable. However, he brushed those thoughts aside as he continued on his way towards the closet. He left the mop leaning against the wall as he grabbed his cart with the fresh sheets and started to make his daily rounds.

"Dr. Cresta?" asked a voice coming from the doorway.

Annie suddenly looked up from her paperwork.

"Yes?" she asked as she saw a blonde haired woman standing in the doorway.

"Hello, I'm Alyssum," said the woman as she walked into the room and offered Annie her hand, "Katniss' foster mom."

Annie suddenly stood up and shook Alyssum's hand, "It's a pleasure to meet you Alyssum," she said, "please, sit down."

Alyssum gave Dr. Cresta a small smile as she sat in the seat in front of her.

"You can call me Alys," said the blonde woman.

"Thank you so much for coming Alice, "said Annie, "I had my doubts as to whether you were going to come at all."

"I know," sighed Alys, "and I'm sorry about that. It's just that…this thing with Katniss is really hard. I've had many kids come to live with me but never one like her. All of them were troublemakers or just troubled. But not Katniss. She was very shy and innocent looking. She was also very intelligent, more than me. When she first got here, I thought that maybe she would be one to stay. My ex-husband and I got divorced about seven years ago and we were never able to have a child of our own. I think that's probably why I decided to take in kids. So, when she showed up at my doorstep I thought that maybe she could be the one stay and that she could possibly turn into my daughter."

Annie nodded her head in understanding while Alys continued her story, "But then that night happened. She had been acting very jumpy the past two weeks. She'd jump at every door closing or every loud noise and she was constantly lost in her own thoughts. It was like talking to a stone wall sometimes. Then the nightmares came. Every night, she would wake up screaming and crying. There were so many times when I would try to break her out of it but it was useless. She was so lost in her head. Sometimes she'd be so scared to fall asleep. She'd stare at me with her big eyes, begging me to stay awake with her whenever I said goodnight."

Annie handed her some tissues as tears began to form in her eyes.

"That day, s-she came home from school again very flustered and very hurried, as if she was running from something. I asked her what was wrong but she just said that she had to go to the bathroom because she didn't have a chance to go at school, even though she usually stayed there about two hours after school let out. So, she just ran upstairs and I started making dinner. A few minutes later, she came downstairs again and started to shut every window and every curtain in the house. When I asked her why she was doing this, she said that it was better to just close them now because we would forget to do it later. Again I just simply shrugged and went back to cooking and she went back upstairs to freshen up for dinner. When everything was ready, I called her but she never answered. I waited for a few more minutes but she never came down stairs. So I went upstairs to go get her. I knocked but there was still no answer so I walked into her room and found it empty. S-So, I-I-I looked towards the b-bathroom and I saw water seeping through the door. I-I went to open it and when I did, I-I couldn't believe m-m-my eyes."

By this time Alys was sobbing. Annie walked towards her and began to comfort the woman by putting her arm around her.

"I-I s-saw the empty b-bottle of pills and the c-cup s-shattered on the f-floor. T-There was b-blood d-dripping from the t-tub. T-That's when I saw h-her at the b-bottom of the t-tub with b-blood f-flowing out of h-her."

Annie began to stroke Alys' hair, "Its ok Alys." she said.

"I-I called the a-ambulance. I-I didn't know what else to do. I've never been so scared in my life. Seeing her in that emergency room sacred me so much. I started to blame myself. I started asking myself if it was my fault. Maybe if I just tried a little more or maybe if I was home more then she wouldn't have done this."

"You did the right thing Alys. Katniss is fine now."

"H-How is she?"

Annie sighed as she went to sit back in her chair.

"She's doing better than when she first came in, that's for sure. Would you like to see her?"

"I-I don't think that's a good idea. She probably hates me for leaving her. But I j-just can't do this."

"The only reason she would hate you is because you didn't let her die. You could've just left her in that tub, but you didn't."

"I know," whispered Alys, "I just can't do this. Please understand Dr. Cresta that I'm not a bad person. I truly loved her as my own in that short time she lived with me. But, I don't think I could handle the depression and the suicide. It's just not my cup of tea."

She then looked down at her lap and grabbed the package that was resting there, "This is Katniss'," she said as she handed it to Annie, "I found it in her closet before I came."

Dr. Cresta reached across her desk and grabbed it from the woman.

"I think its one of her most valuable possessions. When she first came she placed it right next to her bed and I would watch her play with it when she thought I wasn't looking. But then, for some reason she wrapped it in this box and put it away."

Annie stared at the box before she began to unwrap it. She opened the box and took out the object hidden beneath crumbled pieces of paper. Annie's eyes widened as she took out a round snow globe. In the snow globe, there was a miniature Statue of Liberty along with a mini empire state building, the MET, the Washington Memorial Arch, and various other famous buildings. At the base of the snow globe was a miniature version of the New York City subway that moved around the globe. Annie suddenly found herself shaking the snow globe and watching as the snow fell over the New York City skyline with amazement.

"Alys," she said as she finished watching the snow fall, "the reason I asked you to come was because we need information about the social worker that assigned Katniss to you."

Alys nodded her head as she took out a small card from her purse and handed it to Annie.

"This is his card," she said.

Annie took the card from her and studied it.

Cinna Parker.

She would have to call this Cinna guy right away.

"Dr. Cresta?" she heard Alys say.

Annie looked up at the woman.

"I-I wasn't going to say anything else. B-But, I think there's something you should know."

"What is it?"

"T-The night that Katniss came to the hospital, s-some one broke into my house."

Annie's eyes widened.

"I-I came home from the hospital and found that my door had been broken into. But, the odd thing was that they didn't take anything that belonged to me. Nothing I owned was touched. But then I went to Katniss' room and it w-was completely destroyed. There were clothes everywhere and her stuff was on the floor. It was as if they were looking for something."

"Looking for what?"

"I-I don't know. I wasn't going to say anything b-because I-I got this phone call on my phone from an unknown number. The voice said that I couldn't say anything about what I saw and that I should just forget everything that happened. That's why I wouldn't come earlier. B-But then I found this and I just knew that I couldn't stay away any longer."

Annie nodded her head as she looked at the clock and sighed.

"I'm sorry Alys, but I really should get back to work."

Alys nodded her head as she stood up.

"Are you sure you don't want to see her?"

Alys quickly shook her head, "No," she said, "I think its best that I don't. Goodbye Dr. Cresta and thank you for seeing me."

Dr. Cresta rose to shake her hand. Alys turned towards the door and started to walk out. However, she suddenly stopped and turned once again towards Annie.

"Please doctor," she said, "Let Katniss know that I still care for her and that I wish her the best…tell her that I won't say a word about this, to anyone."

Dr. Cresta slowly nodded her head as Alys walked out the door.

After almost an hour of dropping off sheets to 'crazy' people, Peeta was rolling the cart back towards the closet when he noticed an open door that led to an empty conference room. He quickly looked around before he peeked his head into the room. His eyes widened as he stared at a completely transparent wall that let him see into the next room. He walked closer to it and let a small smile form on his lips.

There, in the next room, staring at the wall was the girl whose eyes constantly occupied his mind.

This was his chance. If he ever wanted to see or speak to her again, he would have to sneak into her room now. He wouldn't have to worry about getting caught. Dr. Cresta was talking to that lady and Dr. Odair was no where to be seen.

He quickly walked out of the room and went next door. He looked through the small window and saw that she hadn't moved at all. He slowly opened the door and snuck in.

This was it, he told himself. He was about to talk to her, the girl who had somehow captivated him with a cold, dead look of her eyes. He suddenly took a deep breath.

It was now or never.

So, I know the book doesn't specify what race Katniss, but in my story I decided to make her Hispanic. Here are the Spanish Translations:

Papi: Daddy

Mi Princesa: My princess

Cómo esta mi princesa?: How is my princess?

mija: a term of endearment that derives from the word 'hija' which means daughter. There is no direct translation, but when 'mija' is used, it may be used in the same way as someone would use 'my dear.'

If you are interested in seeing what Katniss' doll and snow globe look like, go to my new tumblr page where I will be posting pictures and videos that I will use for this story:

(Delete the spaces/parentheses)

(http) : / / blossomonatree91 . tumblr (.com)

Hope you guys enjoyed it. Please leave me some valuable feedback :)