A/N: I was wondering if there are still people out there reading this. I got no reviews for last chapter and I honestly don't think many people like it. I have like 60 members who have viewed it and only 11 follows and 4 favorites and 7 reviews. Doesn't seem like anyone likes it, does it? I don't know. This is kind of discouraging me. I guess if no one reads this, I'll focus on my other story, Divergent High, since I have a lot of feedback for that. I have been focusing on this and Sold Out, my other Hunger Games story since I hated how I wrote it and deleted the chapters I had. I have been rewriting these chapters for you guys to read and I would like it if I at least got 1 review per chapter. It at least lets me know what you guys think of that chapter and how to make the next chapter. I am going to try to post an update on Mondays, Wednesdays (If we make it to a goal that I set, and most like Saturday and or Sunday. Sorry about my rant.
Some saw the sun
some saw the smoke
some heard the gun
some bent the bow
Being this far away from District 12 hurts. It like sends this sensation to my heart and soul that I'm just not home. That I may never be home. This man standing in front of my soaked body will do whatever he wants to do with me. He will always be able to do that too. When did we allow him to become our ruler? Why didn't we rebel sooner? Was everyone really waiting for me – the spark? I can't add fuel to this fire if I am a monster. I can't. Everyone knows that. Is that why Finnick and Johanna look so sunken down? That the snake succeeded in stopping the rebellion?
My face is thrown into the water again. This is my chance. A voice screams in the back of my head and I know exactly what it means. I breathe in as much water as I can. My lungs scream for me to stop, but they are holding me under longer this time. My lungs would scream even if this didn't happen. I breathe in again, this time sucking in more water than last time. I gasp for air. My mind may be set on dying, but my body's instincts are set on survival. Old habits die hard.
My attempt is stopped suddenly as my head is thrown out of the bucket. The guard is lying in a pool of his own blood. Blood? What? He has a bullet wound in his lung. Bullet? Who shot him? When Snow orders a guard out of the corner, I see that he has a gun in his hands. The barrel has smoke coming steadily from it. The guard – or should I say, torturer – must have disobeyed one of Snow's orders.
"Why do people think they can get away with rebellion?" Snow screams, obviously losing his cool. He storms out of the room after telling the guard with the gun to continue with the hijacking, that they need to finish that business so they can send me to 13 already.
The needle doesn't even hurt anymore when they stick it in my neck. Maybe this one won't be so bad.
I guess I spoke too soon. Pictures fly across my mind from that dreadful substance. District 12 lying in smoke, bodies, oh, bodies lie everywhere. Peeta killing my family members again; that one I see every time. This time there is something different though. This older woman comes in. Gray hair, gray emotionless eyes that make you wanna turn away and hide. She walks out of the corner towards the middle of the room, where suddenly a light turns on, as if it is controlled by that woman. Now that I think about it, it probably is.
I gasp when I see who is under the light – a bruised, bloodly, and extremely thin Prim.
"Primrose Everdeen. When Peeta agreed to become our advocate, he set some terms. Do you know what they were?"
Prim shakes her head. It's very clear that she doesn't know what they are, just by her expression.
"Well, I'll tell you then. One of them was that we made sure all of Katniss's loved ones died, so that he would have her all to himself. You are one of her loved ones. Do you know what this means?" That woman's tone is very mocking.
"Yes, President Coin, but are you sure that this is what Peeta wants?" Prim says very confidently all of a sudden. That must set that woman – President Coin – off. She leans very close to Prim's face, nose to nose.
"I am very sure. I have it on video to prove it. Now shut your mouth right now, or you will be punished."
"No." There comes the stubborn Prim who was around before my dead died. I can't help but feel proud for her. She needs to stick up for herself. She also needs to never listen to any tyrant. But no matter what proud feeling that comes, all I can do is worry for what she just got into.
I know my real self is screaming when Prim is punched and kicked repeatedly. My internal self definitely is.
I'm pulled out of the hallucination right then – when Prim finally falls unconscious. I can't will myself to stop screaming. I will kill her – President Coin – and Peeta when I am in 13. I will. I will.
That Coin will die with an arrow through the eye. Peeta, well, he will die the first second I see him, I don't care how. I will bend my bow.
Do you know how much it hurts seeing your sister beaten up because of your lover? The guard tosses me into my cell, making me land on the concrete straight on my shoulder. That fall sends ripples of pain throughout my body. I can't even stand; the pain is too much to bear. I lay there, right where they tossed me. I don't even look up to see if anyone else is here. My question is answered when someone picks me up. I'm set down on one of the beds instead of the floor. My eyes start to droop, despite my protests. There's this low groan that comes from dead inside of me telling the person that I don't want to sleep. They help me with this problem by splashing some water on my face.
"Kat, if you don't want to sleep you might want to open your eyes." Finn. I try, I desperately try to open them. They won't budge. I would give anything for them to open so I could see and get out of these images of Prim.
Instead, since I know my tries for my eyes aren't going to work, I try my voice. "Finn." Can he understand that? Did it even sound like a word?
"I'm here." Pressure is added to my hand, signaling that he is holding my hand.
"Johanna?"
"They still have her." Sadness is reflected in his words, he feels sorry that she is still enduring endless tortures.
"Eyes."
"Can you open them?" There is urgency in his words that I don't understand.
"No."
"Okay. Try speaking more than one word, go on."
"I don't thi-" I can't go any further than that. My voice just cracks and leaves for oblivion.
"Darn it! The effects of the venom." He sees, probably in my expression since that is the only thing I can control, that I am confused. What venom? What effects? "Katniss, hijacking is done by tracker jacker venom. I'm surprised that they are just hitting you now. Most people have the effects either the first or second time they are injected with the stuff. You have had it, what? 7 times, I believe? You got a strong immune system! But that's not the point. What did you see?"
I can't answer him. I open my mouth several times, trying to at least utter a word, a sound.
"C'mon, Katniss. I need you to answer my question. How about I try yes or no questions?"
I nod my head with my approval.
"Okay. Was it about Prim?" I nod my head severely, hurting my neck. "Easy there, sweetheart. Was she…umm…beaten?" Yes, is my answer, obviously. "Okay. Katniss. Katniss." His voice is beginning to sound more and more distant. "KATNISS!" I can tell he shouted that, but it still seems distant. He continues yelling my name, at least I think it is my name, I can't make out the words anymore. The words grow more and more distant and muffled as time passes. There is a loud screech that makes its way to my brain, though. The cell door – Johanna.
There is obviously conversation going on between the two of them, but it is too muffled and distant for me to hear. My chest is growing tighter and tighter, making it nearly impossible to breathe. My nose feels like it is on fire. Maybe it is. My limbs start shaking involuntarily. There is an ear-splitting scream echoing throughout the cell. They are probably mine.
Suddenly, Prim is in front of me. Her body is mangled and lifeless and she crosses the room. Am I dying? Is this the afterlife? It can't be. Can it? When she is right in front of me, she screams and I scream back. Yet, while her screams stop, mine don't.
Then, like a sun rising in the distance, I can see again. My body shoots up and falls down again. I am not stable. My legs feel like jelly, wobbling and wiggling when I move or try to stand. Johanna makes me sit down again. She looks funny. Did the Capitol drench her in blood? She is all red. Funny, the wall behind her is red. Finnick comes into view, he matches Johanna in color. Is this supposed to happen? Is this what the sun looks like up close? I can't breathe again. My chest tightens and constricts, sending me into convulsions. I am seeing red. That must mean I am dying.
A/N: Sorry about the sucky chapter. Tell me how it was! I actually had fun writing this, so maybe it is good. It might have to do with the fact that I am listening to iTunes Radio:First Play- The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. In other words, I am listening to the Catching Fire soundtrack for free!