I really do apologize for the delay in this story. Life unexpectedly got in the way. I hope you can forgive me and enjoy this chapter. Things are about to get a lot more interesting.
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 9: Nothing's Gonna Change My World
"Peeta, I'm going to give you one minute to explain what the hell you were doing in there," said a very frightening Dr. Cresta as she stood in front of Peeta with her hands on her hips.
Peeta did nothing but sigh and look down at the floor. Everything was going so well. Sure, he may have made a complete idiot out of himself again, and sure, he was probably going to have to answer to his probation officer or even worse, his dad. However, none of that mattered now. All that mattered was that she spoke to him.
Katniss Everdeen…the Katniss Everdeen had finally spoken to no one other than him. Although a normal teen in trouble would probably be shitting in his pants right about now at the thought of being sent to a juvenile detention center, Peeta Mellark couldn't help but smile at the fact that she had spoken to him.
He remembered the deadly, somewhat sweet melodic voice. To him, it sounded like freshly picked honey that one would not be able to get enough of. It was a bit scratchy from all those days of not talking, but still sweet. He wanted to hear that voice again.
No.
He needed to hear that voice again. However, he was disappointed when he heard people run through the door. Once Effie, Dr. Odair, and Dr. Cresta found him in Katniss' room, he noticed that the young girl quickly turned around and faced the wall once again as if nothing had happened. He then felt himself being dragged away by Dr. Cresta and Dr. Odair into the next room where he had been getting lectured for the past 15 minutes.
"Well?" she asked him, "What do you have to say for yourself?"
Peeta looked up at the woman with a smile plastered on his face, "She spoke to me."
This clearly caught Annie by surprise as she looked over at the other adults who were still in the room.
"S-She spoke to you?" she asked in a much calmer voice.
"Yea." he said as he looked over at the transparent wall where he could clearly see Katniss sitting, facing the wall. However, his smile was suddenly wiped off his face as a look of confusion replaced it.
The adults quickly noticed this and looked towards Katniss' room.
"What the hell?" asked Effie as she turned towards the transparent wall as well.
Needless to say what they saw stunned them all. Katniss, who had shown no sign of life since the moment Peeta fell on his ass four days ago, was suddenly moving her right hand…well…more like her right index finger. She was making sharp swift movements with her finger as if she was writing something in the air while slightly mouthing words no human ear would ever hear.
"What is she doing?" asked Finnick as he stared at the girl in the next room.
"I-I don't know," said Annie as she turned to look at Peeta.
Peeta's eyes widened as he realized all eyes were on him.
"D-Don't look at me!" he said, "She was fine when I was in there."
"She was fine before you went in there!" yelled Annie.
"Ah-hem," Finnick cleared his throat before Annie could physically hurt the young boy.
Annie looked at her friend, "What?"
"Annie, can I talk to you outside? Please?"
Annie sighed and rolled her eyes as she walked out of the room with Finnick following closely behind her.
Once she was outside, she turned towards her friend.
"What?" she asked, "What the fuck is so important that you can't wait until after I tear him apart?"
Finnick rolled his eyes.
"Look," he began, "I know that this is hard for you to grasp, but I think its time that we test out our little theory."
"What theory?"
"Remember what we talked about a couple days ago?"
Annie tilted her head a bit as if to think about the question he asked her. When nothing came to her mind, she shook her head.
"Remember how I suggested that Peeta might be an asset in helping us with Katniss?"
Annie's eyes suddenly widened as the memory replayed in her head. Yes, she did indeed remember that, but she never actually considered the fact that that theory would become a reality.
"I think that now's the time to test it out," continued Finnick as he looked through the small window on Katniss' door, "I-mean, think about all the things Peeta could get her to say in one day. Then we could finally diagnose her and help her."
"I thought that we decided she was psychotically depressed."
"No, you decided she was psychotically depressed. I still think there's more to her than meets the eye."
Annie sighed as she too looked through the window on Katniss' door. She inhaled a quick breath as she noticed that Katniss was no longer facing the wall. She was now lying on her back on the bed while still continuing to make the sudden swift movements with her finger.
"C'mon Annie," whispered Finnick in her ear, sending a small trail of goose bumps down her neck, "Give the boy a chance."
Annie was about to speak when the sound of her pager started to go off. She reached into her white coat pocket and got her pager. It was from Dr. Aurelius. She let out a small groan as she walked away from the door towards her office with Finnick behind her.
"Annie, you can't just ignore me like this," he said while they both stepped into her office.
She sat down at her desk as she picked up the phone and dialed Dr. Aurelius' number.
"Annie," said Finnick before she held a finger up to him signaling him to be quiet.
"Hello Dr. Aurelius, its Dr. Cresta," she said into the mouthpiece.
Finnick crossed his arms as he patiently waited for her to get off the phone.
"Yes," said Annie, "I understand…no, it wont be a problem…you too…bye."
Annie hung up the phone and looked up at Finnick.
"Dr. Aurelius is leaving to attend a conference in Florida early tomorrow morning and he wants me to be in charge while he's gone."
Finnick smirked as he sat in front of Annie.
"What's this?" he asked as he grabbed a package sitting on her desk. He looked inside and took out the snow globe that he assumed was the one Annie had mentioned back in the break room.
There was a sudden knock at the door. Both adults turned to see Peeta standing in the doorway.
"Effie wanted me to let you guys know that she contacted a Cinna Parker and it turns out that he's in the area, so he'll be stopping by any minute now," he said.
Annie nodded her head as she stood. She was about to speak when Peeta suddenly cut her off.
"Dr. Cresta," he began, "please don't be mad. I really am sorry about what I did. I said that I wouldn't talk or get involved with any of the patients and I went against my word. I completely understand if you want to call my probation officer or even worse, my dad. Just know that…I…I needed to talk to her. I don't know why but…ever since I saw her eyes…I just can't seem to get them out of my head. I…I want to help her. I need to help her."
Finnick looked between Peeta and Annie. He stood and handed Annie the snow globe.
"You know what to do," he whispered as he left the office.
Annie sighed and looked at the boy in front of her.
"L-Look Peeta," she began in a soft voice, "I'm prepared to give you an offer which I hope you won't refuse."
Peeta arched his eyebrow as confusion spread across his face.
"I'm willing to let you slip by and not call your probation officer or your father."
Peeta's eyes almost popped out of their sockets. Was she serious?
"I'm willing to let this all slip, completely erase your record, and finish your hours earlier only if you agree to help us."
"W-What do you have in mind?" asked Peeta as he nervously scratched his back.
"We want you to help us with Katniss. Obviously, we haven't been able to get through to her. It seems like you're the only one she'll pay attention to around here."
"So, what exactly is it that you want me to do?"
Annie walked around her desk and stood in front of him, "We want you to talk to her."
"Talk to her?"
Annie nodded her head as she suddenly noticed that she still held on to the snow globe. She gently shook it and watched as the snowflakes gently fell over the entire city.
"B-But, why me?"
"Like I said, you're the only one she pays attention to. You're the only one who can actually get a reaction out of her. Why? I have no idea. But for some reason, she won't listen to anyone but you. We just need you to talk to her and see if you can get her to open up. Maybe she'll let us in on some secrets about her past. So, what do you say?" she said as she gently spun the subway train around the base of the globe.
Peeta looked at Dr. Cresta to look for any sign that she could be bluffing. When he saw that she was giving him a truly genuine offer, his mind went into overdrive.
Not only would his record be completely erased, but he would be able to talk to Katniss. He would actually be able to have real conversations with her and get to know the real Katniss. How could he possibly say no?
"If I help you…you can guarantee that my record will be clean and that I can finish these hours faster?"
Annie once again nodded her head.
Peeta gave her a grin, "Alright," he said, "I'll do it."
Peeta slowly walked into Katniss' room while she laid on the bed, never ceasing to move her index finger in the air. He turned towards the two way mirror on the wall and let out a deep breath as he stared at his own reflection. Although he could not see Dr. Cresta or Dr. Odair, he knew they were there, watching and listening to everything that went on in the room.
Before he had entered the room, he was stripped of any sharp objects that could be harmful to Katniss. Although, he did get a chance to check his watch before they took it away from him and made a mental note that it was barely noon, which meant he had two more hours until he could go home. However, it also meant that he had two hours with Katniss. It meant two hours with the girl he could not get out of his mind. Once he realized this, the nervousness he felt earlier had suddenly returned.
What was he thinking? Why the hell did he agree to do this? How the hell was he supposed to do this without making an ass of himself? He scratched the back of his head as he thought about what he was about to do.
"You know they can see you right?" he heard the deadly melodic voice ask.
Peeta suddenly turned around and stared at the girl who was now sprawled all over the bed.
"What?" he said in a somewhat squeaky voice.
He quickly covered his mouth with his hand.
'Cool, calm, and collected…yea, right.'
"I…uh…I-mean, what?" he said in a voice somewhat deeper than his normal one.
"They can hear you too," she said as she stopped 'writing' in the air and looked at him.
"Yea?" he asked as walked a little closer to her, their eyes never leaving each other's.
"Yea. Those doctors think I must be some kind of dumb ass or something. They think I don't know."
She suddenly turned back to stare at the ceiling. Peeta tried not to let the disappointment show on his face when her eyes left his. He grabbed the chair he sat in earlier that day and sat next to her bed.
"You're right." he said, "They do think you don't know. But I for one happen to know that you are in fact not a dumb ass that they think you are."
"But you don't know me," she said as she arched her back off the bed.
Peeta suddenly looked down at the floor, "N-No. But I would like to."
She suddenly stopped and turned to look at him. Their eyes met once again. This time, Peeta wondered if she could feel the same thing he felt whenever they looked at each other, whenever gray met blue.
"You never seemed to care before.," she said as she suddenly sat up, "You think I don't know who you are? Why, you're the infamous Peeta Mellark. You walk around the whole school like you're the shit. You think everyone should bow down to you every time you speak."
Peeta suddenly looked away as he tried to hide the guilt on his face. Was he really that shallow?
"You think you're so much better than everyone else," she continued in a small somewhat threatening voice, "Well guess what? Nobody gives a shit. Five, ten, maybe even twenty years from now, no one will care about you because they'll be moving on to the next best thing. Fuck, you'll be lucky enough if they even remember your name."
She suddenly let out a small giggle as she stretched out her arms and laid back on the bed.
"So why the fuck would you suddenly want to know me? Why the fuck would you suddenly care? Unless, they offered you something."
Peeta looked down at his hands, suddenly finding them more interesting than anything else in the room.
"That's it isn't it?" she exclaimed as she suddenly sat up, "They offered you something and your trying to accept their offer by redeeming yourself."
"Redeeming myself?"
"Yea, by actually pretending like you want to get to know me."
She let out another giggle, "Oh, this is priceless."
A small smirk appeared on his lips, "Well I'll tell you one thing. You easily are the smartest person I know."
She shrugged her shoulders and matched his smirk with her own, "What can I say? I can't go to twenty different schools and not expect to learn something."
Peeta arched his eyebrow.
"Twenty different schools? That must be quite the experience."
She shrugged once more and fell back on the bed. She let out a deep breath and looked at the ceiling. She then began to hum softy before she suddenly began to sing,
"Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup, they slither while they pass, they slip away across the universe."
Peeta was suddenly rendered speechless as he heard her voice flow out like sweet and endless honey. He couldn't help but think that she had the voice of an angel; a voice that he swore even the birds would stop to listen to. He looked down at her and was shocked to see her staring back.
"Pools of sorrow waves of joy are drifting through my opened mind, possessing and caressing me."
She suddenly arched her back, and began to rub her hands sensually over her bare stomach, all the while never breaking eye contact. He found himself mesmerized by her voice as well as her eyes and couldn't help but stare at her frail body. Did she know what she was doing to him?
"Jai Guru De Va Om nothing's gonna change my world, nothing's gonna change my world."
She unexpectedly sat up again, "Nothing's gonna change my world…not even you Peeta Mellark."
Annie watched the scene between Peeta and Katniss intently. The words Katniss spoke surprised Annie, for she never knew the young girl held that much anger and annoyance towards Peeta or anybody for that matter. But then again, she never really heard the girl speak before.
There was a knock on the door just as Katniss began to sing. Annie looked towards the doorway as it opened and revealed Effie with a few papers in her hands.
"What is it Effie?" asked Annie.
Effie looked towards the transparent wall and gave a small smile, "She has a beautiful voice."
Annie nodded her head. Indeed, Katniss did have a beautiful voice. Although it was scratchy and dry from all her days of not speaking to anyone, Annie couldn't help but to think that Katniss had a beautiful and somewhat mesmorizing singing voice.
Effie then looked back at Annie, a look of nervousness evident on her face.
"I-I have something for you."
Annie nodded her head as she stood up and walked towards the wall where buttons for the intercom were. Silence suddenly filled the room as pushed the off button and motioned for Effie to continue.
Annie placed the papers on the table as Katniss' voice disappeared from the room.
"I know that I told you that Cinna Parker said he would come…but…it turns out that he had an appointment on the other side of town. So, he sent his assistant to come and drop these off."
"What is it?" she asked as she looked towards Peeta and Katniss to see if things were still going smoothly.
"It's something I think you should see."
"Should I be worried?" asked Annie as she reached for the papers, "The last time you had something to show me, I found out that Katniss doesn't exist."
She gave a small laugh as she started to look through them. However, her smile was quickly wiped off as confusion spread throughout her face.
"What's all of this?" she asked as she read over all the papers, "Bristel, Victoria, Rory, Bonnie, Venia, Cecilia, Posy…w-who are all these people?"
"W-Well that's just it," said Effie as she turned towards Katniss' room, "they're all the same person."
Annie looked towards the same direction that Effie did. Katniss was still lying on the bed as she once again moved her finger while Peeta was talking to her. That was when it hit her.
"It can't be." She said as she walked closer to the wall.
"But it is." said Effie, "You are looking at Bristel, Victoria, Rory, Bonnie, Venia, Cecilia, Posy, Katniss Everdeen."
Please leave me some feedback, you don't understand how much it means to me to receive positive thoughts, comments, and suggestions.
P.S. The song Katniss sings is called Across the Universe by The Beatles, arguably one of the best bands to ever walk the earth. The lyrics are credited to John Lennon and Paul McCartney. A link to the song can be found on my tumblr blossomonatree91 . tumblr(.com). Katniss's snow globe and doll can be found there as well. I will also be posting other links that I will use for my story.
Thanks guys :)