No Hope Left-A Mockingjay Story

Chapter 22

I sit in the darkness, trying to find sleep. It doesn't come. From the even, slow breaths that I can hear I know that everyone else has fallen asleep and I shouldn't bother them. I should also apologize to Vince the next time I see him. The darkness seems to calm me down, but the more I think about her, the more it takes different shapes that make me want to crawl under my now-dirty blanket and hide. I sit up straighter and yawn. This is becoming boring. Annie mutters something about seashells under her breath. I smirk. At least she is having a good dream. I look down at my stump and furrow my eyebrows. Will they give me my leg back? Sighing, I feel around me to find the remains of my chalk. My fingers close around the cold material and I am relieved. I try to draw something in the darkness. I feel an urge to draw a primrose. I don't know why it feels so right. Maybe her favourite flower is a primrose. I force myself to think happy thoughts. I lay down, with the chalk in my left hand, and close my eyes. It is so quiet that I can feel my heart. I have one new reason to hate her. I nearly killed Vince, one of the only decent human beings in the Capitol. If anything, he deserves a home in the Victor's Village. I yawn again. Hopefully, Katniss gets what she deserves too.

After what seems like forever, the lights turn on. I shield my eyes at the sudden brightness. Sitting up, I look around to see that Darius is already awake. He clutches at where his finger was. When he sees me he waves and I wave back. Neil sits up.
"Morning," he grumbles.
"Shut u...up," Johanna yawns, but she sits up too. Enobaria mumbles something and rolls over, facing away from us. I turn to look at Annie. She is curled up in a ball, as always. I wonder if that's how she always sleeps. She looks so peaceful now, when she is not crying or screaming or scared out of her mind. The door slamming shut jolts me back into reality. Hadrius walks in with glasses of water for us. When he reaches my cells he puts the water down so hard that half of it sloshes out of the cup.
"Where's Vince?" I ask. Hadrius sneers at me.
"Why d'you ask? So you can break a couple more ribs?" he snaps before moving on to Annie's cell.
"I...I broke his ribs?" I gawk. Hadrius ignores me and finishes giving out the water. He stalks out of the room. I hang my head in shame. I broke Vinces ribs? Johanna senses my feelings.
"Oh, come on, Peeta," she chides. "You've done worse than break ribs! I mean, you pushed that District Two kid off the Cornucopia."
"This is different," I explain. "Cato wanted nothing more than to kill me. Vince wanted nothing more than to help me."
Neil gives me a sympathetic look but stays quiet as he gulps down his water.
"Well...," Johanna starts. "You know what? Just shut up and drink your water."

Snow arrives shortly after. On his heels are Hadrius and the other guard. Vince is nowhere to be seen. A pang of guilt hits my chest. Snow stops at my cell with his hands behind his back. He smiles at me and I look away.
"Good morning, Mr. Mellark," he says. "Ah, Miss Mason. Sleep well?"
Johanna lunges at the bars and stretches her arms through them. She grabs Snow's collar and pulls him closer.
"You son o-"
The guards break Johanna's grip and pry Snow away from her. The old snake wheezes dramatically. I watch in anticipation. Snow stands up and rolls his shoulders back.
"Why...Miss Mason," he coughs. "What a temper you have."
He snaps his fingers and Hadrius walks over to Darius' cell and unlocks it. Darius crawls back on all fours. Hadrius kicks at him but Darius somehow dodges it and rolls out of the way. I can see Hadrius' cheeks heat up. He jumps onto Darius and pins him down just like last time. He takes out his knife and brings it down to Darius' left ring finger and...Darius yells out something that sounds like "Please stop!" Red spots dance in my vision as I try to stand up, and instead crawl on my available limbs to the bars.
"Stop it!" I scream. "Let him go you dirty bastard!"
But Hadrius keeps going. I back away slowly (as best as I can) as blood pools around the Avox. Hadrius steps away from him and closes the cell door. Snow turns back to me.
"Good day to you, Mr. Mellark," Snow says. He walks out the door with the guards on his heels. I look back at Darius. His left hand no longer has any fingers. I lean my forehead against the bars, wishing for death.