Rising Rebellion [#3]

Chapter 15 - Jabberjay-Hour

The scream triggered something in Katniss. It was the voice of a little girl and it triggered her to run into the jungle after it. “Prim!” She yelled as she ran into the woods. After a while Finnick followed her to make sure that she was alright. As Katniss got into the woods, she saw that the voice originated from a jabberjay flying above her head. The screaming stopped as she shot it down. Finnick got to her and asked if she was okay, when there suddenly was another scream. “Finnick! Help me, Finnick!” From outside the jungle, both John and Sylvia recognized that voice as they turned around. Finnick reacted at an instinct and ran even deeper into the woods, with Katniss trying to convince him that it wasn’t real. “Annie!” He yelled. John and Sylvia heard him from the outside. They knew how vulnerable Finnick was if anything happened to Annie.

“Should we go after them?” John then asked the ones who were left there with him. They looked at each other, not so sure if to say yes or no. John on the other hand wasn’t going to dwell on it just sitting there and went to find Finnick and Katniss. As he got in deep enough, he found them sitting as Katniss was trying to convince Finnick that the voices weren’t real. John saw the jabberjays flying above them and shot a few of them down with his own bow, but more and more just appeared. Katniss kept trying to convince Finnick that they were just jabberjays, but it was hard to believe once one heard the voice of a loved one. One would immediately turn scared that it was real.

Just as John was to pull another arrow up, he heard a familiar voice. “John!” He looked up at the jabberjays not sure which one the name came from. “Help me, John!” He heard, but he refused to believe it. It couldn’t be her. She was supposed to be dead. “Marge?!” John tried out. The voice called back at him, and for a moment, John was just as scared as Finnick. He knew what Katniss had told Finnick, and now John was telling that to himself. It was only jabberjays. The voices weren’t real. He tried to repeat it to himself but it didn’t work. The jabberjays were coming down on his level. “John, help me!” John covered his ears, trying to convince himself. It wasn’t real. It couldn’t be real.

Not too far away from the three of them, Peeta and Sylvia were banging on the invisible walls trying to get through to Katniss, Finnick and John. “John, you know it isn’t real! Lock it out!” She yelled through, but she was almost sure that he didn’t hear her. Peeta did the same with Katniss, but the jabberjays were swirling around the three of them making it impossible for any of them to hear anything else. All three of them were sitting on their knees on the ground bent towards the ground while trying to block it all out. “It’s not real…it’s not real.” John kept murmuring to himself, but he found it hard to believe in the middle of the intense attack from the jabberjays. “It’s not real!” He yelled out loud, but he still found it hard to believe.

He had fallen into his own trance even though the jabberjays had gone away. Katniss and Finnick were also blocking it all out, not realizing that the jabberjays were gone. Sylvia ran over to John the minute she was able to. “John, it’s over. None of that was real, you know that.” She said as she removed his hands from his ears and he rose up. She stood up and looked at the others. “Princess, that couldn’t have been your sister. The nation adores your sister, if they killed her…let’s just say the nation wouldn’t be happy with that.” She started. “How can you say that, Sylvia? They were jabberjays, they mimic real people!” Finnick argued back as he was still shaken. “Finnick, it isn’t real, any of it!” She answered back. “The nation adores both Katniss’ sister and your precious Annie…” She then started before she turned her attention to one of the cameras. “No, because that would start a real rebellion, wouldn’t it Snow?! You wouldn’t want that on your hands when you had all so neatly under control, am I right?!” She yelled out.

She calmed down. “Come on, let’s get back to the beach and get some rest. It’s going to be a long night.” Sylvia said as she offered her hand to Katniss who took it. Back at the beach, Finnick wouldn’t stop asking Beetee questions about whether or not the voices from the jabberjays could be real. Beetee reassured him several times that back in District 3 they learned how to manipulate human voices at a very young age. John on the other hand, was deep in his own thoughts as they walked back. He was still weak and tired and decided to lie down and rest. Sylvia had seen that look in his eyes as they were walking.

It was getting darker by the minute and they were setting up shifts for who was going to take watch. It wouldn’t be for many hours because they had to get to the lightning tree before the lightning hit the tree. As John was just lying there in his own thoughts, Sylvia walked over to him after a short shift and sat down next to him. “You know that wasn’t her, right? Marge is dead. They killed her before we even got to the Capitol.” Sylvia said as she gently touched his face. John was in deep thought before he lightly shook his head. “How can we be sure of that? We only know that they took her. We never heard anything about them killing her.” John then asked. “For all we know, that could’ve been her real voice.” He said.

Sylvia took a deep breath as she looked at the two lovebirds. John turned slightly to see them and then looked back at Sylvia. “Do you still think they’re faking it?” He then asked. She looked down at him with a weak gentle smile. “Yes, I still think that, but Finnick seems to be convinced by it.” She then said. “How is that?” John then asked. “He mentioned it before we found you with the monkeys. Peeta hit the forcefield head first, which caused his heart to stop. Katniss was all hysterical, crying for him to wake up while Finnick was trying to get his heart beating again. He said it was if Katniss deep down did love him, she just hadn’t admitted it to herself yet. That she’s hiding it from the rest of the world and from herself.” Sylvia then said.

John grabbed her hand. “I’ve had my fair share of that…with people hiding their true feelings.” John then said as Sylvia looked down on him. “You do that with me sometimes. I can tell by the different ways you avoid topics or turn insecure. It’s as if there’s something there, but you won’t allow it yourself.” John then said. She took a deep breath as she laid down closely next to him. She kissed him gently on the cheek. “I haven’t gotten rid of that nasty habit, have I?” She then surrendered. John shook his head weakly. “In the last five years, you’ve only truly opened up to me that one time. I’ll admit there was a lot for you to get out, but at the same time, since then, it’s been accumulating again.” John answered. “It’s like you’re too scared to be that weak and soft girl that you are somewhere deep down.” John added. “There’s no need to be, not with me. I told you, I’m here for good.” She took a deep breath as she leaned her forehead against his. “It’ll come down soon. With you here with me, I can guarantee it.” She said as they shared a small kiss before they fell asleep tightly together.

It would be their last good sleep in a very long time.