Prim's Games-The Sequel

Chapter 8

"So, what are you good at?" I ask Connor at the dinner table as I take a bite of my salad.

"Um...I can use a dagger. That's all I know." He replies.

"Okay. You should practice other things, like knifes, or hand to hand combat. What about you, Willow?" I ask her.

I already know what she's good at, but Haymitch needs to know, too.

"Mom taught me how to use a bow and arrow. And a knife." Willow says.

"That's good. Maybe you could practice using a dagger. Do you have any advice, Haymitch?"

Haymitch burps and a puff of beer gets in my face. He said that he would never drink alcohol again when the kids were born, but I guess he broke his promise.

"Find a source of water, and then grab the things that you need. Oh, and stay alive." Haymitch laughs, remembering my games.

I frown. "Go to bed, Haymitch." I then lean into his ear. "Remember your promise about the alcohol."

He laughs at me and stumbles over to the hallway and closes the door. I hear a thud.

"Let's watch the Reapings, shall we?" Effie suggests.

I sit down next to Willow and start braiding her hair as Caesar Flickerman comes on tv.

"I thought he died." I mutter.

"They did surgery on him to make him look younger." Effie answers.

The tributes from the career districts, for once, actually look scared. I see Finnick and Annie's children confidently walk up to the stage, and tears fill my eyes. There's a little girl from District 11 named Rose, who reminds me so much of Rue. And then there's District 12. Caesar Flickerman pauses the recording right after I tell the peacekeepers to leave Layla alone.

"Here's Primrose Everdeen, a previous victor, who told the peacekeepers to leave a little girl alone when she was crying? Who is that?" The camera zooms in on Layla. "It looks like her 5 year old niece, Layla Mellark." Caesar grins. "How brave of her."

"Did he have to do that? Now they could hurt Layla." I say.

Willow's eyes widen and she stares at me. Realizing what I just said, I try to cover it up.

"I mean, they won't do that, hopefully. Don't worry Willow. If they hurt a hair on her body, they're gonna regret it." I say.

She nods and turns back to the tv, but I can tell that she's unconvinced.

*****

I wake up to a loud scream. I open the door of my room and hear sobbing, coming from Willow's room. I open it and see her hair stuck all over her forehead, and tears streaming down her face. I turn on the light and sit on the bed.

"What happened?" I ask Willow, pushing the hair away from her face.

"N-n-nightm-m-mare." She stutters. I pull her in for a hug.

"What happened?"

Willow takes a deep breath and wipes her face. "District 12 got bombed and people died. You, Mommy, Daddy, Aunt Lizzie,-(yes, Katniss's children call Liz Aunt Lizzie)- Leo, and I were running away from it. Then Leo tripped and you went back to help him, but the new president came and killed you and Leo. " Tears stream down her face as she continues. "Then he killed the others. He smiled at me and show me a screen where it showed Layla being tortured by men with white gloves. They were beating her with a hammer or something and she was screaming for me." Willow starts to sob. "And then...h-h-he killed me!"

She leans against me as she cries. I just hold her, remembering how Katniss would do the same for me.

"I'll be right back." I say as I stand up. I head over to the bathroom and wet a cloth with warm water. When I come back Willow is still crying. I gently wipe her tears with the cloth and she stops crying. Afterwards I put her hair into a braid.

"It's okay, Willow. It's not real. They'll pay if they hurt you, or Layla and Leo, and everyone else. Okay?"

"Okay, Aunt Prim." Her eyes start to close.

"Goodnight. I love you."

Just as I'm about to leave the room, Willow grabs my hand.

"Can you stay with me, Aunt Prim? I don't wanna have any more bad dreams."

"Okay." I say as I climb into bed with her. Willow hugs me tightly as she falls asleep, reminding me of myself when I was her age, terrified of the world.

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