Hijacked (Peeta Mellark Fanfiction)

Chapter 10 - Redheads

I am forgetting things.

I always wake up so confused and terrified, I never know where I am when I first open my eyes. Then I finally realize I am in the same place as I was before. Haven't I been here all this time? No, they take me out of my cell, they take me to that dark room, but I always have to think back hard to remember it. Over time I can think of it more clearly, but the cycle starts all over again repeatedly.

I never seem to remember when I leave or arrive anywhere. Sometimes I don't even remember when I'd gotten the fresh bruises on my face. The same thing happens every day, you'd think I'd get used to it but instead I am even more confused with the passing of time, and how fast it really goes.

Hearing footsteps thundering outside my cell, I roll around and blink blindly at the darkness. Pain in my head beats dully, then increases rapidly. Clanging metal breaks through the dead silence and distracting pain. My tired eyes squint at the door; the dim light shines on two heads with bright red hair across the hall.

They are entering the cells across from mine. There's never been anyone around my cell that I can see, but suddenly I realize that even through boredom I was probably still too afraid to look there. I crawl over to my door, curiosity overpowering the fear in my discombobulated state.

Time goes by faster than I do, the new prisoners are already chained up in their cells, with peacekeepers accompanying them. When my eyes adjust more to the darkness, I can briefly identify who the two new inhabitants are.

Darius and Lavania, I recognize them, they're the Avoxes that served me and Katniss at the Training Center during the Games. Why are they here?

Darius' cell is closer to mine; it's almost directly across, I can just barely see through the door to see him. Lavinia is farther away, and cell isn't lit up as well. I can see two peacekeepers in each cell move around tauntingly.

At first I hear mumbling, then I hear them shouting brutally. The Avoxes make an overwhelming attempt to answer back. It's the most broken sound I've ever heard. It's like a mixture of dying animal sounds with unmistakable desperate human noises. The awful sound becomes even harsher after the guards start beating them mercilessly.

Darius is chained so much that he can't move forward even a little bit. The Peacekeeper hisses some threats I can't hear and orders the Avox to reply. Why are they doing this? Everyone knows Avoxes can't talk.

Darius whimpers again, and the peacekeeper whips out a sharp knife from his belt. He grabs the one of the trembling hands of the Avox, and then demands for an answer once again. When no answer is given, he drives the knife down onto Darius' hand.

What came next was the loudest inhuman shriek I've ever heard. It's like sharp fingernails scratching a chalkboard. A wave of cold chills across my skin. I didn't notice my hands flying over my ears. Blood spurts rapidly from his hand and drips onto the floor, creating a puddle at their feet. The peacekeeper's pure white uniform starts getting stained with it, but he doesn't care, he continues sawing away at Darius' fingers. I tear my eyes away from the scene, but the shrieks are impossible to block.

When I look into Lavania's cell, I cannot see into it as well, I can see a little wire and puddles of water. I can hear something humming in her cell, followed by a zap, then a scream. Something splashes onto the floor, probably water, or maybe even blood. My hands are pressed against my ears so hard that I think I might crush my skull.

Maybe that would be better.

It feels like my ears are bleeding, no matter how hard I cover them, I can still hear the screams and cries. I can't take it, I'm shouting through clenched teeth and grueling anger,

"Stop it! Can't you see they can't talk?! They're innocent! Just STOP IT!"

My headache gets worse. The peacekeepers don't stop. They don't even notice me. Their torture continues, the Avox screaming continues, my screaming continues.

"He can't answer you! Stop it! STOP IT!"

My fingers are clawing at the bars, like I could rip apart the metal and save the day. But I can't. I can't help them. They're so close but so far away. I can't do anything. I am no hero.

I blacked out after hours of screaming my throat raw and drowning my eyes with tears. The last things I remember seeing are bloody fingers hitting the floor and a skeletal body flopping onto the floor, motionless, dead. That had been enough; whatever food left in my stomach was brought up immediately.

When I woke up the next morning, they were gone. Was it all just another nightmare? Maybe they both died. I have a sudden flashback reminding me of Lavania's high-pitched shriek coming to a sudden stop and her dead body smacking onto the bloody floor, her wide eyes staring back at me...

I decided that it was just a dream because I didn't want to believe it was real. When you tell yourself something isn't real, then everything is better and we move on right? But the next night, they were back. Lavania wasn't there though, she really did die, and she's lucky.

Darius desperately tried to form words through his empty mouth as the peacekeepers sawed off more and more parts. Raw clumps of flesh piled on the white pristine floor. I finally backed away from my door after watching and shouting so stupidly for so long.
Darius died that night; they left him in a pool of his own blood. I knew he was gone when the harsh choking and whimpering finally stopped.

The next morning, when he's not there, the images come back more clearly than anything else in my mind. I can't stop myself from thinking about it all. Was there really a reason for any of it?

President Snow claims that he always has a reason for killing, he's made that clear. The Avoxes were already punished for any wrong doings they'd done by losing their speech and serving as a slave for the Capitol. We weren't allowed to speak to them at all unless it was an order; I doubt they would do anything rebellious after all that. So what is besides that point?

There were Avoxes serving in every floor, Darius and Lavania were specifically from mine. Also, there could be tons of empty cells around here; they picked the specific ones across from mine.

They knew that they didn't have answers; they knew that they didn't deserve the torture; they did it just for me to see it. They know my instincts and weaknesses. Maybe they did it because I didn't do what they wanted me to; maybe they did it just to torture me in such a sickening way. Either way it's my fault. Darius and Lavania are dead because of me.