Deep In The Meadow

Chapter 17

During breakfast River told me about her family. Her mother worked in the fabric factory, her father worked in the cotton fields, her only other family member was her two sisters. They were twins, not much older than Prim's age. I kind of forget about Prim, I remember giving her the necklace her sister had taken from the shop. I'm not sure how I knew it was for Prim, maybe it was the dove that had given it away.
River's mother died when she was only eight, her dress had gotten caught on one of the machines. Her father became an alcoholic, leaving her to take care of her sisters. Not long after her mother died her father did as well, from alcohol poisoning. River and her sisters were pretty much homeless, trying to run away from anyone who tried to take them to the orphanage. When her sisters turned twelve one of them were reaped, leaving her to watch in horror as her baby sister fought to the death.
"She died of course," River said. "A boy from one slit her throat when she was sleeping. I watched her choke on her own blood," she looks at me, her green eyes soft. "I watched her die, Peeta. And I couldn't do anything about it."
I took her hand.
I knew how it felt, I still can't get the image of Katniss dying out of my mind. Every time I fall asleep, she's waiting for me. I scream out her name, try to run to her, but I can't move and the words get caught in my throat.
"What about your other sister? What happened to her?"
River closes her eyes, almost as if she's trying to remember.
"She stole some fabric, a peacekeeper caught her. I'm not sure what they did with her, all I know is that they either killed her or turned her into an Avox." she squeezes my hand. She doesn't cry, her eyes don't even water, the memories of her dead family are too painful for her to cry.
"Is that why you hate the Capital? They killed your sisters, and this is your revenge?"
She nods. "I just don't want them to have died knowing that this is our world, that it's never going to change and that we're going to live in fear for the rest of our lives. I had to do something...after Kya got taken away, I ran. I didn't stop running, I couldn't. That's how I found Thirteen. Snow has been lying for years, causing us to fear for the worst, dictating us.
Coin let me stay here whenever I wanted, I've been going back and fourth between District Eight and Thirteen, trying to get people to join."
She looks at our intwined fingers and let's go of my hand. She wipes her hand on her legs.
"You want people to get out before it's too late. Before Snow kills them."
She nods and looks at me. The softness from her eyes is gone, instead they're full of pain, guilt, and vengeance.
"He's taken too much from me, he's not going to take away my home too."

• • •

I walked her back to her room. We hadn't talked much on the way, but when I dropped her off we were both smiling. Before I left she kissed me. Not a full on kiss, of course, but on the cheek. I smiled all the way to the conference room.

• • •

She was waiting for her, sitting in a chair, playing with- what was it? A small metal ball?
No, it was a pearl.
"Did you kiss him?" She asked, pain in her voice.
"Yes, just on the cheek. I wasn't sure how you'd react." The girl just shook her head.
"It was my idea, River."
"I know but you still love him."
She looked at River, her watery grey eyes glowing.
"You do too, don't you?"
River brushed her firey red hair back. Did she love him? She had only known him for a few months, but now she had told him everything. Her sisters and the Captial made who she was, and he accepted her for that. He saw how much pain they caused her, but did she love him?
She looked at the grey eyes girl, without any hint of lying in her voice she said,
"I do."