Author's Note: I know that some of the things I'm going to mention in this upcoming chapter are wrong due to the events in Mockingjay. Please keep in mind that in my story, Mockingjay never happened. There was no rebellion and therefor Finnick didn't display some of the secrets he has.
Also, this is dedicated to Lysseal for helping me with this chapter and for being a supportive fan!
Finnick's POV:
Katniss and I sat together, side by side, in President's Snow office. My knee is bouncing up and down impatiently. We've been sitting in this office for three hours, waiting for President Snow to come and speak to us. It's been two and a half months since Katniss and I sneaked into the Hunger Games headquarters and found the clips. We found out that Luke killed Atos to get the position of Head Gamemaker and that he rigged the games.
"Katniss, maybe we should just go," I suggested.
"No!" She yelled. "I've been waiting way too long for him to speak to me. I can't let the opportunity slip by."
I sighed. Katniss has been obsessing over the clips. I understand why, since Luke purposely put her son into the games, but it's been an unhealthy obsession. She's been trying to contact President Snow daily. When he finally answered, she begged to have a sit-down with him so they can talk. He agreed, but now we've been waiting here for hours.
Finally, the door to President Snow's office opened up. President Snow walked out, a smile on his face.
Instantly, a chill ran up my spine. I hate President Snow. After I won the Hunger Games, he sold me into prostitution. That's something I've kept secret for years. Only Annie knows about it. It's been over for 25 years, but I remember those ten years of prostitution very vividly. I also know that President Snow poisons his allies out of paranoia. But to avoid suspicion, he takes the poison too. Despite the antidotes he takes, the poison still gives him sores on the inside of his mouth. That's why he always smells like blood and roses.
I really don't want to be here. But I am. For Katniss. She needs to speak to Snow and expose Luke. If there's anyone I hate more in the world than Snow, it's Luke. President Snow does some awful things. But what Luke does... It's unspeakable. Even President Snow will shy away from Luke when he hears the clips.
"Aw... Katniss, Finnick, how nice to see you! You guys must still be in touch! How nice to keep your friendship up after all of these years!" President Snow stepped to the side, opening up the doorway. "Please, come inside."
Katniss got up and walked into the office. I know she hates President Snow, too, but she sure didn't seem like it. She walked into that office with such confidence. I wish I could do the same. Slowly, I stood up and walked into the office. I avoided looking at President Snow. As I walked by him, the smell of roses and blood came to my nose. I bit my tongue to keep my insults back.
President Snow closed the door behind him and walked over to his desk. He sat down on one side. On the other side, there were two chairs. President Snow motioned for us to sit down. Katniss took the chair on the left. I took the chair on the right. I kept my hands folded in my lap and stared down at them.
"So, why were you so urgent to speak to me, Katniss? You usually don't favor my company," President Snow said.
"There's something I need to show," Katniss replied. She reached into her bag and took out a disk. The disk contains the things that Luke said, that night he visited the arena. "It's about Luke."
"Luke? My nephew? Head Gamemaker?"
"Yes, that Luke," Katniss replied. She sounded surprisingly patient. "Do you remember the night that he visited the arena to see Willow? It was about two and a half months ago."
Snow's eyes darkened. "Yes, I remember. He's not supposed to do that. I couldn't stop him, though. They're his games. I can only interfere in direct law violations. And we never thought to put in a law that would stop a Head Gamemaker from diving into the games."
I laughed a little and brought my head up. Snow was looking at me with his angry eyes. Katniss looked panicked.
"Panem is your country and you can't intervene in the Hunger Games? Mr. President, I know for a fact that you have intervened in the games before," I said.
"Sure, I can intervene in the games. But I can't stop something that the Head Gamemaker does," President Snow replied. I was relieved that he didn't sound angry.
"We need you to intervene, President Snow," Katniss said. She pushed the CD across the desk. "That night, Luke said some things that were inaudible. Too quiet for even the speakers to catch the words. Finnick and I took it upon ourselves to aquire what Luke said that night."
President Snow picked up the CD and put it into some speakers. "Mrs. Everdeen, what did you do to get these CD?"
Katniss smiled. "I think you know exactly what I did to get that CD. But I think you'll overlook our minor avoidance of the law when you hear this."
"You better hope so," President Snow replied. He pressed the play button on the CD, and Luke's voice started to play.
"I killed Atos to get this position. I killed him so that I could have control over whether you live or die." Luke's voice paused for a moment. "You know, right after you dumped me, I was heartbroken. I was very mad. So I rigged the Games. I made it so that Gale and Titus got Reaped. I'm realizing now that maybe that was a bit mean."
Snow's face stayed very emotionless the entire time the clip played. He clicked the rewind button and it played again. He listened to it three times before he spoke.
"So Luke is the one who murdered Atos. And then he rigged the games," Snow stated.
Katniss nodded.
Snow sighed. "What do you want me to do, Mrs. Everdeen?"
Katniss looked shocked. "Do I really have to tell you? I want him punished! He put my son into the games! Gale Hawthorne's son too! I'm sure you made a law against CHOOSING THE TRIBUTES!"
"I understand that, Katniss! I would love to kick him out of his position. But it may not be that easy," President Snow replied.
For the first time, I think I'm hearing President Snow be reasonable.
"Luke is my nephew. Not to mention the Head Gamemaker. The Capitol loves him. It was hard enough when Atos died. I can't kick Luke away without some sort of explanation," Snow said.
"Then explain!" I replied. "Show Panem the audio. People will want him kicked out."
Snow sighed again. "Then there will be questions. How did I come across this? I don't want to have to drop your name. Then you two will be in trouble."
"I think they'll overlook it," I said through clenched teeth.
"I'm sorry, but I can't just remove him. We need to approach it differently."
Katniss smiled. "Well then we'll just develop a new plan."
Willow's POV:
Talon and I, when we finally woke up, just lay together on the ground, staring up at the tree's leaves. Neither of us wanted to get up. There was good shade underneath the tree. Talon had already fetched some food and water. So technically, we didn't need to get up.
"We should keep on moving. We need to get out of this climate," Talon said.
"Fine. Then get up."
Neither of us moved.
I laughed. "Yeah, that's what I thought. Where are we going to go, anyway?"
"Back to the tree house?" Talon suggested.
The smile dropped from my face. The thought hadn't even crossed my mind. Going back to the tree house would mean seeing Tetrick. That's not something I want to deal with right now.
"Where else are we going to do, Willow? There's nothing here for us. That alliance worked out very well for six months. I'm afraid that if we spend too much time without them..."
"That we're not going to make it on our own," I finished Talon's sentence. "Yeah, I get it. But do you honestly want to see Tetrick again? What's going to happen when you and I show up, hand and hand? He's going to get pissed! Last time you saw him, you punched him in the face. Last time I saw him, I screamed at him and broke up with him." I shook my head. "We're not going."
"We're both friends with Tetrick. I bet we can smooth things over. It's not like they're going to reject us. Titus and Gale have nothing against us. And despite Tetrick's anger, I have a feeling he won't turn a pregnant girl in need away."
I put my hand on my stomach. "Well he let the pregnant girl leave on her own."
"Probably with some argument, right?" Talon asked.
I nodded.
"We mine as well try, right? If they really turn us away, then we find somewhere else to go."
I sighed. "Okay. We'll go."
Talon and I got up, grabbed our backpacks, and left the comfort of the little tree. The second I stepped out of the shade, I regretted it. It's easy to not realize how hot it is out here when you're under a tree. I frowned, but continued to walk in the heat. Talon reassured me that we would be in the rain forest soon.
Luckily, he was right. We reached the rain forest in an hour. Instantly, I felt cooled down. I smiled and grabbed Talon's hand.
"I don't think we've been to this section of the rain forest before," Talon said.
"I don't think so either. None of this seems familiar," I replied.
Suddenly, Talon halted in his tracks. I did the same, looking around frantically.
"Why are we stopped?" I whispered.
"I heard something," Talon replied, slowly pulling his Sickle out of his belt.
A moment later, a bird came flying out of one of the trees. Talon flinched and raised his Sickle. When he realized that it was just a bird, he lowered the sword.
I started to laugh. "Nice one, Talon. You got worked up over a bird." I continued to walk on.
Then suddenly, there was no ground beneath me.
I was falling. No, not falling. Skidding. My butt was skidding along some dirt. I was on a downward slope and going very fast. I could hear Talon yelling my name. There was complete darkness around me. The only light came from the hole in which I fell. There's also more light below me, where I'm headed.
As quickly as it started, it was over. I landed on the hard ground. In front of me and behind me there's a large wall of rock and dirt. To the right and to the left, there's narrow passage ways. I stand up and turn around to see the hole that I fell out of. I looked inside of it. It seems that I fell through a really long tunnel.
I looked up. The walls extend on either side for about sixty feet before stopping. From the ground, I can only see a thin strip of light coming in through the walls. It looks small from all the way down here, but it's probably about ten feet wide up there.
Then I realized where I am. I've fallen into the chasm.
I've almost died at this chasm, trying to cross the bridge. Tetrick has almost died here twice. And now I'm inside of it. Somehow, there's a tunnel from the ground to the bottom of the chasm and I've fallen through.
Suddenly, I could hear a noise coming from the tunnel. I took many steps back. A second later, Talon fell through the hole.
I sighed. "Talon, I don't think following me was the best choice."
He stood up. "I wasn't going to leave you alone in here, Knives." He walked over to me. "We're in this together."
I smiled. "Are we?"
He smiled back. "Yeah, we are." He grabbed both of my hands and kissed me. "So, what's the plan now?"
I shrugged. "Look for a way out?"
"Do we really want to find our way out?" Talon asked. "I mean, for the moment, we're good on food and water. We don't need to leave. Plus, what are the chances that somebody else is going to come falling through that hole? Maybe this is the perfect spot. We're safe down here."
"What happened to the idea of going back to the tree house?" I asked.
"I don't actually want to go back to the tree house, Willow," Talon said. "I was just trying to be the bigger man."
I laughed. "Seriously, Talon?"
"Don't laugh at me!" He replied, followed by a kiss. Then he looked up. "Hey, look! There's a sponsor gift!"
I looked up and saw the parachute slowly floating down. When it finally reached us, I opened it up. There was a small cupcake in there. A chocolate one. There was also a note that said Get out! Then it was signed with an F.
"F?" Talon asked. "F for who?"
I smiled. "F for Finnick. He must've been in charge of this particular sponsor gift." I took the cupcake out and took a large bite, then handed it to Talon. He took another bite.
"We should probably take Finnick's advice," I said.
"But how? We can't crawl back out the tunnel. It's way too steep," Talon replied.
"Well if there's a way in, then there has to be a way out, right? Let's venture around a little bit." I put the parachute down on the ground and grabbed Talon's hand. Together, we started to walk to the right, between the two large walls of rock.
The more I walked, the more uneasy I became. I bad feeling crawled into the pit of my stomach. Every noise I heard made me jump. Why did Finnick warn us to get out? What menace is hiding in this chasm?
Suddenly, I could hear noises coming from farther ahead. The walls above us were now sealed together at the top, so it was darker here. I couldn't see what the noises were coming from. For a moment, I thought that I imagined it. Then I knew for sure that it was real. I halted in my tracks. Talon did, too. He pulled out his sickle and let go of my hand.
"Who's there?" Talon called out. There was no response.
"Talon, maybe we should..."
My words got cut off by the sound of a yell and footsteps. Instead of doing the brave thing (which I would've much preferred,) I turned around and started to run. Once again, the pregnancy was slowing me down. As I ran, I heard a loud thud behind me. I turned my head to see someone lying on the ground, dead, with an arrow in their back. I instantly recognized the body, even though I couldn't see the face. It was Reid. But Reid had already died, right? Then I looked a little closer and saw the differences. The skin was grey, as if it had been rotting away for a while. His hair wasn't as thick as it had been; large portions of his head are now bald.
This isn't Reid. It's a mutt.
I turned around to face my enemies. I pulled out a few throwing knives and chucked one at the nearest mutt. It was a Tribute I didn't even recognize. She fell down to the ground, dead. The next one is someone I do recognize. It was Jessica, except a dead version of herself. Her eyes were all black, as if her pupils were over dilated. She had a cruel smile on her face. I took a deep breath and threw another knife. The knife lodged itself right in between her ribs. She died, too.
"I have no problem watching you die a second time," I said to her dead body. For a moment, I wondered if these mutts were actually the dead bodies of past tributes, or if they were just modified creations. I shook my head to get rid of the thought. I don't want to know the answer.
I turned my body a bit to face the next mutt. I was so ready to throw another knife, until I saw the face of the mutt. It was Chris. Well, not really Chris. Chris doesn't have extremely pale skin, black eyes, or rotting teeth. She looked a bit healthier than this zombie thing walking toward me right now. But the face structure, the bright blonde hair and even the graceful way she walked remained. I lowered my arm. I could never throw this knife at her, even if this is just a fake creation. Because this is Chris. I will never hurt Chris.
"Hey, Chris," I said as the mutt walked towards me. She didn't seem to be in any hurry. She had a cruel smile on her face. I could almost pretend that it was actually Chris and that she was just giving me her best mocking smile. The one she would always give me after calling me "Preggers."
"Willow, no! It's not her!" Talon screamed.
The mutt started to break out into a run. Still, I kept my arm down. I can't bring myself to harm her. Luckily, just when the mutt was about to reach me, a bullet lodged straight into her side. The mutt dropped to the ground instantly.
"Willow?" Talon called out. I couldn't see him. He was too far into the darkness.
"Yeah, Talon? I'm right out here," I replied.
Talon came running out of the darkness. Sweat glistened on his forehead. He had blood on his face. A few minor cuts, nothing big. He was breathing heavily. When he saw me, he frowned. "Oh, Willow... I can see your hands shaking from here." He put his sickle away and came running over to me, wrapping his arms tightly around me. I hugged him back and started to sob into his shoulder. Seeing Chris like that again was too much for me. It's like seeing her die all over again. That was hard enough to go through the first time.
"I just couldn't do it. I couldn't kill her," I said.
"I know, I know. I get it. I couldn't have killed her either," Talon replied.
I pulled away from him. "Wait, what? You didn't kill Chris?"
"No, of course I didn't. How could I have? That was a bullet that hit her. Guns aren't allowed in the Hunger Games."
"Well then who hit her with a bullet?" I asked.
Talon turned around and walked towards Chris. "She got hit right in the side." Then he turned and walked over to the rock wall. He placed his hand on the wall. "Well, would you look at that? Bullets can be shot through this wall."
"What?" I asked.
Talon turned and looked at me. "Looks like Luke is still looking out for you."
***
NEW CHAPTER! Probably not very exciting. But the events in this chapter are very important for future events! I swear it!
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