A Blooming Rose (hunger games fan-fic)

Chapter 26 (the Discovery)

The group met up with Gale and Pollux and descended down another flight of stairs. After a few minutes, Enobaria sighed.

"Shouldn't we have reached this floor by now?" she asked.

"My guess is that whatever is down here," Cressida said, "is either extremely dangerous or important. Either way, we have to figure out what is down here."

They finally reached the bottom of the stairs and found themselves in a poorly lit hall. Doors lined the walls.

"Try the doors," Katniss said. "See if there's anything inside. Find anything worth knowing, signal me."

They split into groups of two, with Katniss being the only solo member. Cressida took Pollux, Johanna and Enobaria partnered, and Peeta and Gale went together. Katniss stayed towards the front of the hall while the others moved further down. Katniss had opened five doors and seen nothing so far. Suddenly, she got a call from Johanna and Enobaria.

"Hey, Kat!" Johanna said. "Think we found something you might want to see."

"Be right there, Johanna. Don't touch anything."

Katniss ran down the hall until she met up with Johanna and Enobaria.

"What'd you find?" she asked.

"You'd never guess."

Johanna opened the door and Katniss stepped inside. The room was a light grey and there were claw marks on the walls. In one corner of the room, was a curled up figure. Katniss pulled out an arrow and placed it on the string of her bow. She hoped she wouldn't have to use it, but she wanted to be safe. She slowly walked over to the figure, Johanna walking behind her.

"Hello?" Katniss said. "Can you hear me?"

The figure moved slightly, telling Katniss it was still alive, whatever it was. The figure's head moved and turned to look at her. Hair covered her face, so she couldn't see the expression.

"We aren't here to hurt you," she said. "We're here to help."

The person did not respond. Katniss put away her weapon, but signaled Johanna to stay ready incase the person wasn't in their right mind. Katniss knelt down by the person, who slowly sat up. Katniss recognized the form of the person; it was a woman, but was thin. She hadn't had much to eat in a long time.

"My name is Katniss Mellark," she said. "I'm from District Twelve. This is my friend Johanna Mason from District Seven."

The woman looked at Katniss.

"Twelve?" she asked, her voice rough.

"Yes. I'm from Twelve."

"I knew people from Twelve. Good friends of mine. But their gone."

"Do you remember where you are?"

"I'm in the Capitol. I've been here for years. Some time ago, people stopped coming. Snow stopped coming. Thought they forgot I was down here. I couldn't get out."

"What did all of this?" Johanna asked.

She pointed to the claw markings.

"I did," the woman said. "Trying to escape, but couldn't."

The woman sat with her knees to her chest. She lifted her hand and brushed away bits of her hair. Katniss looked at her face. The woman looked to be about Haymitch's age. Johanna watched Katniss study the girl. The 'girl on fire' froze, still looking at her face.

"Johanna," Katniss said after a moment. "Call Paylor and the others. Tell them they need to get down here as soon as they can. And to bring food and a medical kit."