Broken Pawns

o n e

"Gale..." I look at the man standing feet away from me. His dark brown hair is messy and he is in a bloody military uniform. His grey eyes are dead as they look into mine.

"I hate you too."

"N-No...You....You.."

"Your nothing more than a mutt."

"N-No! I-I'm not a...a..mutt!"

"You killed me, you killed Finnick!"

"No!!"

"You killed me!"

   I awake with a start. I reach my hand out to feel Gale's warmth next to me hoping it was just all a dream instead I feel someone's arm. Not Gale's. This arm is skinny and smooth. I turned my head to see Prim laying next to me fast asleep. I swing my legs over the side of the bed we share and let out a small quiet sob. Every night. Every night I hoped it was a dream and that when I woke he would be next to me. Awake and ready to hold me just like he always had been when I had a nightmare or needed to take my mind of something but, instead it's Prim. I don't have a problem of it being my sister I just miss him.

"Katniss?" Prim whispers.

"I-I'm okay, go back to sleep Little Duck." I whisper and close my eyes pushing down all my feelings.

I'll save it for the woods. I get out of bed and pull the blankets back over the sleepy Prim. I hurry from my room down the hall to the room Rory and Vicky share. After coming home I made Hazelle and the kids move in. I needed someone to help me with my depression. Prim would have helped but she's only thirteen and shouldn't be taking care of her older sister so Hazelle moved in with the kids and is helping me with everything.Prim, Rory, Vikcy, and Posy shared a room until we all started having nightmares. Posy now sleeps with Hazelle. When the night mares are bad she usually crawls in with me or Rory. It's me most of time. Prim and Rory used to sleep together holding each other. Now Rory, Vicky, and Prim still sleep together. Not tonight because Prim is laying in my bed. 

I open the door to Rory and Vick's room and slip in. Rory is sitting up in bed looking at a picture of Gale. Of course he is. This is how I find him most of the time.

"Ready to go hunting." I whisper.

   His head snaps up. I bit my lip on how much Rory looks like Gale at the age of fourteen. He nods his head and puts the picture on his nightstand. I'm not surprised to see that when he pulls back his blankets he is already in hunting cloths. I look at the sleeping Vicky who is fast asleep. I see a small figure in Rory's bed. I walk to his bed and look at the sleeping six year old in is bed. Posy. Her hair is messy, face red, and she is wearing one of Gale's shirts. I remember all those days in D13 when she would take that shirt form him and wrap it around her small body the hide form Gale and I. It never took us long to find her but it still made Gale and I smile when we were down. She liked to take my shirts as well. It was her way of making Gale and I smile when we were down. I stroke her cheek lightly and kiss her forehead. I notice that her face in buried in the shirt and small hands have fistfuls of the collar of the shirt. To be honest it's like she's a snail. The shirt is her shell and she is hiding form the danger of nightmares. Her legs are tucked up to her chest, face is buried in the shirt.

"G-Gale." Posy whimpers.

Tears run down her face. I turn to see Rory standing by the door. He can wait. I sit down in his bed and pull the curled up six year old on top my lap stroking her hair lightly, and whisper soothing things just as Gale had done to me all the nights I had night mares on the train, in D13, and in the house. Her body tenses as she starts to cry. I pull her up and closer to me as I hold her tightly. I felt so bad for Posy. She was only four years old when the war started and she lost another person that she loved. First it was her father and then it was Gale who acted like a father.