(4)

248 11 8
                                    

*Elissa's POV*

"Who are you?" I ask the strange man on my couch.  

"Don't recognize me?" His voice sounded familiar, then I realized, 

"You were that guy! The one who wouldn't tell me his name." I say.  

He smiled. "Well I guess you remember me." 

"What are you doing here?"  

"I'm waiting for everybody to reunite."  

"Everybody who? Can you answer my questions for once!?" 

"Just wait until your mother gets home, and all your questions will be answered." 

I was hit with joy at the word 'Mother'. I haven't seen her since I left for the games, and I needed to see her. But she thought I was dead, and she wont expect me to be here. And Haymitch and Effie, It was just a feeling of happiness that filled me throughout my entire body. "Okay. But in the meantime, who are you?" I ask.  

He drops his head but soon brings it back up to meet my eye. "My name is Gale." He says standing up and putting his hands in his pant pocket. "Gale Hawthorne." 

I feel sympathy for him. He seems like a good genuin guy. I gave a slight smile.  

"I'm the father of Kal." He tells me. My smile immedietly fades. There's no longer sypathy, just hatred. "You're the father of a traitor." I say.  

His face stays firm and strong. "Elissa, what Kal did-" 

I cut him off. "I dont care. To be honest I dont even want to hear his name. So whatever you need to say about him to try and defend him, stop." We look deep into eachothers eyes. I loved Kal. Not in that sense, but I loved him like a brother. But because of him everybody thought I was dead. But a rush of panic went racing through my body all of a sudden. I had to ask. "Did somebody win the games already?" If somebody did win, I really wanted it to be Kal. Even if he was dead to me, I didn't want him to be in real life. Gale just kept his eyes on me then sat back down on the couch. "Lets just wait for your mother to get back." He says.  

I'm still standing with memories and thoughts all mixed into one for a full 5 minuets until I come to my senses and run back up into my room. I lock myself in and I try not to cry. Even though I can feel a huge lump in my throat. Kal being dead was a hard thing to deal with just by the thought of it. He didn't want to tell me who won, he didn't seem so happy or upset. He was emotionless. Could Kal have won? A bit of hope makes its way back in me, but Kal actually being dead makes it all go away. I'm stuck between dead or alive for about 15 minuets laying on my bed until I walk to the window and open it to see all of District 12. There's nobody. No cars, no people, no shops open. Everything is dead, just as they knew Will was, and just as they think I am too. I think of Trey. How he must have taken it seeing me die, and seeing my body get carried away. Then theres Rayla. How it must have felt for her. Then there was Johanna and Annabell. Everybody. They all saw me die. They all heard about Will dieing. I confirmed it to all of Panam that my father was dead. The only one who was left to them was my mother. But I was going to prove how that wasn't true.  

I see a car making its way towards my house and I know it has to be my mother. They stop, and I'm ready to run down to the door, but the person who steps out isn't my mother. It's someone else I've never seen before. The woman looks about my mothers age, maybe older. Dark brown hair with grey hairs already making their way and from where I'm standing she looks like she has green eyes. She looks decent, isn't wearing clothes from the capitol, but she definetly isn't from district 12. She approaches my house and I race down stairs, but I'm stopped mid way down. I see Gale already at the door, signaling me to hide at the top of the stairs. I don't know who the woman is but she doesn't seem like a threat to me. But just to stay safe, I go back up the stairs at sit down hiding from view. He opens the door, and I can see her smile so bright once she see's Gale. Could it be his wife?  

"Gale!" She says, giving him a big hug. He hugs her back and smiles as well. "How are you?" She asks him.  

They let go of eachother. "I've been good. How about you? I haven't seen you since Adam was born." He says.  

I try to be as quiet as I can, trying to listen as best as I can.  

"I know." She starts taking off her coat, "Where's Katniss?" She asks. 

She feels at home, and she knows my mother. I dont know why Gale would want me to hide from her. "She'll be here soon. I was told to wait here for everybody." Says Gale. By who? I think. My father? How could they possibly know eachother? There is another knock at the door and soon enough, one familiar face pops up.  

"Johanna!" The woman says all happily. 

"Hey." Johanna responds. "Still crazy?" She asks. The woman laughs. "No, not at all."  

"How's Adam?" Johanna asks her. 

"He's doing great. Has another grandchild of mine coming along." She says. "How's Annabell?"  

"She's not doing so well. The death of Elissa has taken a toll on her." She answers. But I'm not dead, I want to scream it at her and prove how I'm not. "But she'll be happy to find out how she's not." Johanna says. My eyes widen and my jaw drops. She knows I'm not dead. I look to Gale and he's trying to look my way without them noticing. He didn't want Johanna to say that, but he couldnt control the truth. "I just dont like how Katniss was the only one left out of the plan." She says.  

Another plan, I think. Another one of those plans.  

"Haymitch planned it out very well, and pulled it off clean. But I agree." Says the woman who's name hasn't even come up. Haymitch? Of course. I should have known.  

"Lets just-" Gale is cut off by another knock on the door. He goes to open it, and some man in a wheel chair is being pushed in. He is about Haymitch's age only without alterations. The nurse wheeling him in stops him infront of everybody.  

"Beetee!" Says the woman. She's so cheery and gleeful and I'm just, blank. The name sounds familiar.  

"Ahhh Annie!" He says while they hug eachother. Annie, the name sounds so familiar as well, so known. "How are you?" Beetee asks her.  

"Much better, thanks for asking." She says with a smile.  

"It's been years." Says Johanna, giving him a hug.  

"How are you Gale?" Beetee asks.  

"Very good." Gale answers, giving him a handshake. "How are you?"  

"Well, I come bearing very upsetting news." He says. Could he be talking about my death? "Paylor has just been announced dead." He says.  

Everybody stays quiet. Not a single word, and everybody holds their breaths, including me.  

"How?" Johanna asks. 

Beetee looks at everybody. "They executed her. And by 'they' I mean Fallon." He says.  

Everybody seems frozen in time. Annnie's happiness fades, and Gale looks up at me and I see in his eyes something dark. Something I can't understand or describe.  

"This better not be like Elissa," Says Johanna.  

"A fake death." Gale finishes her sentence.  

"No. I assure you, she's gone." Beetee says. The room stays quiet as I slowly get up and go to my room. I rub my face with my hand. I have no idea what was going on and I feel as if I'm going nuts. Gale is the father of Kal, Kal might have died, Johanna knows I'm alive, Haymitch planned it all out, Parlor is dead. Things couldn't be more clear yet they were so blurry. I hear the roar of an engine, and I look out the window. I see Haymitch step out and help Effie out of the car. Then I see my father help my mother out if the car as well. I'm so excited to see them, so happy. But now there is so much I need to understand, so much I want to know. So much that has to be said. I'm not going to be left in the dark anymore. No, not anymore

The Return of the Hunger Games [FALLEN ASHES] Book IIWhere stories live. Discover now