Tortured but Together (A Hunger Games Fanfiction) [UNDER EDITING]

Chapter Eight

A/N: Usual PSA that the Hunger Games characters don't belong to me, they belong to Suzanne Collins! Also, the seriously angsty stuff starts now so be prepared!

(Katniss POV)
"Get up!" A sharp and clipped voice shouts at me. When I don't immediately respond, I feel someone roughly grab my arm. "Are you stupid or something? When I say get up, you get up!" I glare in the direction I think the voice is coming from.

"I was gonna get up. You could have waited another five seconds before manhandling me!" I say angrily. With how dark things are in this cell, I can't tell what time it is, but I do know that I haven't managed to get a wink of sleep.

"Or you could just keep your mouth shut for once. If you don't cooperate, all this will be much more painful. Just tell us what we want to know, and maybe we'll let you live."

"Maybe you'll let me live? Is that some sort of sick joke? There must be some reason that Snow is keeping me alive, I doubt it's disappeared all of a sudden. Otherwise he would have just executed me!" I don't know where this reckless streak is coming from, all I know is that I'm sick and tired of the Capitol and President Snow being the puppet masters in my life.

Letting out a sneer, the peacekeeper tightens his grip on my arm. "If I were you I'd keep my mouth shut, unless you fancy becoming an Avox that is."

"Cocky bastard." I mutter under my breath.

Apparently, the peacekeeper hears that, and in response he punches me in the jaw, hard. "You'll shut up one way or another, you fiery bitch. Oh, and next time I won't be so gentle."

By this point I've been dragged into a dimly lit corridor. Now that I can see my surroundings, I turn to look at this man who thinks he can just drag me along like some sort of rag doll. Sadly, he has his helmet on, so I can't see his face.

A few minutes later, we get to an unmarked white door. There could be anything in here, any sort of torture could be waiting behind that door. I place a determined look on my face. I survived the games, twice; it'll take more than a little torture to break me.

The door opens, and I see...a normal chair? A doctor with a lab coat stands off to the side, as if she's waiting for something. When she sees me, she speaks, and her voice reminds me so much of Effie that it's uncanny. "Hello Miss Everdeen. Why don't you take a seat? We just have a few questions for you, this shouldn't take too long at all."

Before I have a chance to object, I'm shoved in the chair, and I feel restraints clamp against my wrists. These aren't normal restraints though, it feels like there are knives on the inside of them that cut into my hands and wrists. Then there's an IV forced into my arm, I can already tell that this is going to be painful.

"Let's start with something easy, shall we? How about this, tell me how the rebellion contacts you Miss Everdeen."

A rebellion? There's actually an active rebellion? Would they try to come save me and Peeta? "This is the first I'm hearing about a rebellion. I didn't think that there were lots of other people out in the districts who were as brave and reckless as I am." I let out a light chuckle.

"I'm afraid that's not what we were looking for Miss Everdeen." As she says this, she presses a button, and I feel the restraints tighten as the blades cut into my skin. After she presses another button, a liquid that could very well be honey starts running through my IV. The second it enters my bloodstream, the pain is so intense that I can barely keep from screaming out.

"Maybe if you let me know what you were looking for, then I'd have a better idea of how to answer your questions." I mutter angrily.

She sighs again, I can already tell that this is going to be a long day. "Alright, next question. What would it take for you to denounce the rebellion, say, call for a cease fire?"

A cease fire? Is she insane? "Why the hell would I do that? So that President Snow can just go back to exploiting and abusing the districts? There's no way in hell I'd just stand by in the face of his cruelty!"

"Wrong answer, again. You really must learn to stop being so hostile Miss Everdeen. It will definitely get you hurt one day." Another push of the button, the restraints become tighter, and by now I can see my blood dripping to the floor. The honey like liquid runs through my IV, and the pain gets a hundred times worse, just like last time.

"Would you denounce the rebellion to protect Mr. Mellark? Or would you be willing to lose him for your precious cause as well?" Somehow, this psycho still has the same bright and cheery voice she did when we started. There's something very wrong with her.

"Stop saying you'll kill Peeta! He didn't do anything! You kill him and I promise I'll kill you right back!" I scream through the pain, gritting my teeth. Tighter restraints, more pain, there's always more pain.

"If you hurt him then I'll hurt you right back! I'll shoot an arrow in your eye, I'll shoot one through your heart! I'll make you pay if you even do so much as touch him!" By this point, the pain is almost unbearable, but I do my best to scream through it.

"I'll kill you! I'll kill you if you hurt him! Hurt me all you want but I'll bring you down with me!" I shout. By this point, the restraints have practically sliced through my hands and wrists to the bone, and the pain becomes too much to scream through.

It's probably only a few minutes, but it feels like a few hours by the time the restraints are released and the IV is taken out. The same woman who was interrogating me then proceeds to bandage me up, covering my injuries with multiple layers of gauze. "Why are you doing this? I thought the goal was to hurt me. Why aren't you just leaving me with my pain?" Maybe it's just the blood loss, but at this point I'm quite confused.

She grins at me, and her smile reminds me of a smile on a doll, painted on, fake, and utterly disturbing. "We want to be able to keep going next session of course. If we don't heal you up then this process would end rather quickly, and we couldn't have that, now could we?" Yep. Definitely psycho.

Before I'm given a chance to respond, the same peacekeeper as before grabs my arm and starts dragging me out of the room. I can only hope we're going back to my cell. By now, I'd be glad to be alone, at least then nobody could truly hurt me.

Sure enough, my wish is granted. I'm thrown roughly into my cell and the door is slammed shut behind me, the lock clicking into place. At this point, my stomach starts rumbling, but I have the feeling it'll be a while till I'm given the chance to eat anything. Curling up in the corner of my cell, I try and force myself to sleep, and desperately hope that my nightmares don't start becoming my reality.