The Hunger Games - Through the Fire and Flames - Book 1

Chapter 27

I was back in the arena, running from the tributes trying to kill me. It was just me against 22 others. Just me. Then I was trapped, all the tributes circled around me like a pack of wolves ready to attack. The biggest of them all rose his spear and threw it. I could see it as it flew at me in slow motion before I heard someone shout. My brother appeared out of no where and put himself between me and the spear. In the next second a cannon blasted and then all around me, one by one the tributes began to disappear as if a mist evaporating before my eyes.

I dropped to my knees and took my brothers dead body into my arms and began crying. My brother was dead, he was gone. Just like the other tributes River began to dissolve in my arms as well. No matter how tight I gripped his body he still slipped from my fingers.

Then I was alone.

I sat up quickly in my bead screaming, my arms flailing and my body shaking in a fit.

"RIVER!" I screamed before I could catch myself.

I looked around panting, my body soaked in sweat and tears. I was safe, I was at home. No one could hurt me I kept thinking to myself. I rose to my feet and stumbled through my dark room to try and turn on my light. Suddenly something caught my ankle and I found myself falling. My falling ended shortly when I fell into my bed stand causing everything on it to go crashing to the floor with me.

I began crying as I felt the pain in my body but I didn't care. I didn't care anymore. Suddenly my bedroom door opened and my light came on. The smell of bread wafted in my room and I knew it was my father. My mother normally smelled like pine and other forest scents.

In the next instant my father lifted me carefully from the floor and took me downstairs to where all the medical things were. Silently he sat me on the examination table and then began plucking the glass out of one of my wounds.

From the little bit of medical knowledge he learned from my mother, aunt and grandmother he was quite handy now in being a healer. Not as good as my aunt and grandmother though but sightly better then my mother.

Once I was all bandaged up my father moved me into his arms and held me. We were silent for a few minutes before I broke into tears.

"I'm so sorry daddy." I cried as I threw my arms around him. "It's my fault he is gone!" I wailed.

My father began rubbing my back as he pulled me closer. "Shhhh, no Aloe, its not your fault." he said trying to sooth me.

There were more footsteps and I looked up just intime to see my mother enter. Her eyes were red rimmed and her face puffy. In just that one glance I knew she had been crying. Nightmares again, that could explain why my father was awake. My father was the soother, though he mourned he did it differently. He expressed his emotions in his paintings.

My mother looked me right in the eye and then crossed the room to embrace both my father and I. Suddenly the room was filled not only with my cries by my mother and fathers as well. That night we didn't sleep, only cried. Early in the morning my mother left to go and do her hunting. She did this more so when she needed to keep her mind busy or whenever she wanted to cry away from eyes and ears.

Over the next few days that passed by  there were nothing but interviews, photographers and crowds of people clapping everytime I walked by. They clapped because I had won. Clapping, not tears. No one in the crowds of strangers cried for the lives lost from District 12. No one cried for my brother who had died in the arena or for his would been future wife and child. They only clapped as the only happiness they saw was the happiness that benefited them. I had won meaning free food for the District. The only acception to that was family and family friends, they cried, I could spot the remanents in their eyes easily.

All together I stopped going to school because being around others was too much for me. The constant clapping, the questions about whether or not I missed my brother. I didn't want to be reminded every minute of the day that my brother was gone. That I had once been a contestant in the games that had failed to kill my parents.

Every night I woke up screaming my lungs out of crying for my brother and each time my father or mother was at my side soothing me back to sleep. Even though it was soothing, the only thing that would make things better would be if my brother was the one to hold me. But it was impossible, he was dead.

It was the longest, dreadful week since my life had started 12 years ago. The Capitol finally sent my brothers body back home and with it came the medalion that read, "This is how we remember our past. This is how we safeguard our future"

My mother, father and I had picked a nice spot by the river in the meadow behind our home in the Victors Village. This spot was a perfect immitation of the exact location I saw my own grave in my dream I had before my brother and I had entered the Games.

On the stone was the familiar hologram that was on every stonehead to those that went into the games and never came home. It showed the hologram of him in his training uniform. The picture that was shown as they were giving out scores. His face was saddened and I knew why, these pictures were taken the moment we were finished in the remake center. The news of his girlfriends pregnancy was clearly still on his mind. Under his hologram was his name and engraved near the bottom were a few words that I had helped choose.

Here lie's River Mellark, a beloved son, brother, lover and father. May his spirit never run dry in our hearts.

Sure he wasn't married and his child would never be he still was just. He was my hero. My idol. Over my shoulder was my own personal bow and arrow. I took it from my shoulder and layed it over his grave. My father placed a bowl of water of and squirted some paints in it before he emptied the rest of his paint into the river and watched the colors flow down stream. Lastly was my mother who placed on his grave a her mocking jay pin that she had let me wear into the arena. After a moment of silence we left and headed back to the house.

Things were definitely going to be different. Just like the games everyday was a survival except the only person that could kill you was you.