Katniss POV:
I stand and watch horrified by the amount of blood that has already been shed. The girl from five isn't really putting up a fight and she must have ten different cuts on her body that are pouting with blood. The boy from two seems unharmed and fights as he probably has done for the past however many years at his training school. I see the boy stab the poor girl with his sword through the chest I know that my best option is to act now when he doesn't know I am here. I creep up to him and draw back my arrow, I let the string of my bow rest on my lips, I breathe in slowly, and then out. I make sure I am aiming perfectly at my target and I let the arrow fly. It soars through the air and hits the boy in the centre of his back. I quickly load my bow again just in case he is alive, I slowly approach him but when I am halfway the cannon sounds pronouncing his death and trumpets blare out of hidden speakers. Claudius Templesmith's voice boomed through the arena. "Ladies and Gentlemen I give you the winner of the 74th annual hunger games, Katniss Everdeen." I can hear the Capitol crowds cheering and relief runs through me because I know that I am going home.
A hovercraft comes down and collects me, the ladder drops and as soon as I grab onto it I am instantly frozen into position. I fly through the air and I am so happy that I can't stop the smile on my face. A doctor slips down the ladder and injects me with something on my right arm and I am instantly knocked out. I go into a world of unconsciousness. I am powerless to the nightmares that come now. Any happiness I had from winning is drained from me because I hear every cannon, I see every face in the sky and realise that whatever attempt I made in the arena not to remember any details of them failed because now they all look straight at me. I see the boy from one die and then I have to watch my arrow fly through the air and puncture Gale's chest, blood seems to pour out his wound at double the rate I remember from in the arena. I stand and watch the light leave his eyes and still cannot see what he says just before his death is pronounced by the cannon. I see the girl from five killed and then I see myself kill the boy from two.
After what seems like years I arouse and I scream, but as I try to thrash my arms around me I realise that I am trapped into position by my wrist being held by cuffs. I look around the room and all I see is white, nothing isn't white, not the floors or the ceiling, not the bed or the skimpy cloth that covers my frail body. I continue screaming until a nurse comes in and clicks a button by my bed. I immediately fall into my disturbed slumbers again. This time I see every tribute from this year's games chase me into oblivion, I am scratched my trees that fill my surrounding and every time I try to apologise for what I did I cannot make even a sound. Gale is at the forefront of the pack and he says nothing but I can feel his eyes on my back, as if his looks could burn a hole straight through my body.
When I am awake again I make an effort not to scream, if I do they will just knock me out again and I will have to go through all that pain again. Not even a wisp of my initial happiness has remained since the nightmares. I look around me and confirm that I am still in the same room as before. I look to my wrists and realise they have freed me. I inspect my hands and not one scar is there. I look to my legs that were covered in burn marks from the fireworks and see that there isn't a mark. My entire body is covered in a layer of perfect skin. My hair is no longer scorched from the fire and has a gloss to it that I have only ever seen when my prep team cared for me. My nails are all in uniform shape and painted with fire colours that glistening and flare when I turn them.
A woman brings me a tray of plain food but I don't want to eat, I barely look at the food and just turn on my side and face the blank white wall. The tears that I have prevented from falling until now begin to tumble down my face and I am powerless to stop them, I am broken. I think I am completely broken beyond repair. I have killed more than the worth of my life and now I am a creature that nearly all of Panem will hate. All the districts but twelve will hate me; the Hawthorne's will all hate me. The only people who will care about me will either be in the Capitol or be my family in twelve and of course Peeta who one day I hope will be my family anyway.
When I land we are on the roof of the training centre, once I am released from the ladder I see Cinna, my prep team, Haymitch and one overly happy Effie. My prep team immediately bursts into a mix of applause, compliments and chatter about how excited they are about being one TV tonight. Haymitch gives me an awkward hug and Effie gives me an air kiss by each cheek. Cinna then opens his arms to me and I fall into them, relieved by his presence. These are the people who not hate me for what I have done, they have helped me so much throughout these past weeks and I owe them so much, even my prep team. I am so afraid of the person I became in the arena but I know they won't judge me so I am happy they are with me.
Instantly they whisk me to one of the many rooms in the training centre and my prep team turn me into a phenomenal vision. All this is for the interview I have with Caesar Flickerman when I will see everything that happened in the games but it will be condensed down into a three hour viewing. Cinna comes in and dresses me in a black floor length dress with fire patterns that dance around me. He gives me a long hard look after this and says,
"Are you ready for this?" I nod but I know I am not, I will see twenty three people die today and I know it will tear me apart. "Promise me you will do whatever it takes to remain strong and show the world that no one will break you, not ever." I look at him quizzically but he just leads me out the door and behind the stage.
Caesar Flickerman bounds onto the stage and welcomes the crowd; he then introduces my prep team, Cinna, Haymitch and Effie. They have a quick chat on stage but all too soon they are shown where to sit and Caesar introduces me. The stage director steers me onto the stage and pushes me forwards. The crowd erupts into a huge mix of cheering and there are chants of my names. Lights blind me slightly and I stumble into my chair. I want nothing more than to run off stage and never come back but I can't do that and I can't stop the horrors that are about to unfold in front of my eyes.