Hijacked (An Everlark Fanfic) (Plot twist/After Mockingjay story)

Chapter 7

No one really says anything on the way back. At one point Haymitch asks me about the at and the bags, but I let Effie answer, as I pretend that I am asleep. Even though it isn't the correct answers she gives.

---

When we land, I grab the cat and the bags. It's a lot to carry but I don't trust Buttercup to walk on his own, or anyone else to carry anything.

I walk into my room and place the bags on top of the dresser. I place Buttercup on the bed and lay down besides him.
He is awfully calm, even though we never really hit it off, I guess. I pet him on the back, and realize how dirty and thin he's become. I guess it makes sense, since he came all the way from District 13 to District 12.

As I inspect him closer, I can tell that he is pretty beaten up after the walk home, and he is probably hungry too. I decide to make my way out of the room, to find something for him to eat.

I walk to the kitchen, and ask one of the chefs if they have anything for very hungry, out-starved cats.

"That's a pretty weird request, Katniss," says Nyx, a cook from thirteen.

I walk over to her and say: "While I was in Twelve, I found my family's old cat." It hurts too much to say 'my sisters dead cat'.

"Oh, well, since we weren't allowed to have pets in thirteen, it's not really my specialty, but I can try. Cats like fish, right?" She smiles to me.

"Yeah," I smile back to her.

She quickly cooks up a fish, and then cut it into tiny pieces, that Buttercup can chew. She puts the treats in a bowl, and fills another one up with water.

"Heard they like water too," She grins.

I thank her for the help, and walk out of the big kitchen, and head back to the cat.

I walk past Peeta's room and stop up. When I was heading for the kitchen, I didn't want to hear anything, so I quickly ran past his room. But not this time.
This time I stop up, and listen after the screams.

Nothing.

At first I am relived, but then the fear starts kicking in.
What if he attacked someone?
What if they did something bad to him,

Or the worst possible thing:

What if he's not there?

It could give him access to kill anyone. Everyone.

Then I realize something else horrible: The guards are not guarding the door.

I place the bowls down, and burst through the door.

I spot the guards hovering over the bed, with a doctor by their side, I make my way over to them, and they look up with sorrow in their eyes as they see me.

No.

Peeta is laying completely still on the bed.

Something he never does, thanks to the nightmares.

I rise my hand up to my mouth, to stop a mix between a sob and a scream.

One of the guards opens her mouth:

"After you left, all of us were still sleeping, and somehow, we don't know how though, he broke free from the bed, and escaped. We have been watching the camera footage from the security cameras," she tells me.

"He went out of the door, we think to find you, and when he realized you were gone, he went back to his room. He attached himself to The Machine, and sent in some very, I don't know how do describe it, specific thoughts. It was a mix between his real and fake memories. If you want to, you can hear them later, becuase we think that it is better to hear them for yourself."

"We? I ask, and realize that Haymitch, Plutarch and Beetee is also in here.

"Yes, we. After he was done, he got out of the room again, and, he, well, hurt himself. Badly," Plutarch explains.

"He jumped off a balcony, sweetheart," Haymitch says coldly.

That's one of the reasons why I like Haymitch. He doesn't sugarcoat it.

I walk over to Peeta, to see his body almost completely covered in bandages. It looks like every single bone is broken.

"Is he dead?" I ask, already knowing the answer. No one can survive such a fall.

"Not yet. But he is in a deep coma. And with almost every bone broken in his body, he is probably not going to make it.

Tears make their was into my eyes, making them glossy.

"But," Haymitch continues. "We're in the Capitol. Not District 12. We'll just have to pray for him."

"If he survives, what will it do to the hijacking?" I ask.

"There has never been a hijacked person survive a jump like that, because the Capitol didn't really care for them, when they attempted suicide. But, it could be for the better. Or for the worse. We'll just have to wait and see," Beetee explains.

Without a word, I walk out of the room. He's dead. I already know. He won't survive this time.

---

I get to my room to see Buttercup playing with the birthday present from Haymitch, that I still haven't opened.

I take it from Buttercup and decide to open it up, finally.

I unwrap it, and find a card that reads:

Hey sweetheart, congrats!

I don't know whether this will make you love or hate me, but I need you to remember something.
Peeta loves you,
And I know that it can be hard to believe, but trust me, I know.
You are not the only one Peeta opens up to, and in this gift you will find some stuff to help you remember, when you both forget.

Love, Haymitch.

I place the card on my nightstand, and it reveals three little frames with sentences in them. There's also a locket, that looks like the one Peeta gave me in the Quell.
I open it up to see a picture of Peeta holding me, one of him kissing me on my left temple, our kiss on the beach, and the picnic that we threw on the rooftop, before the Quell.

I close it again and squeeze it tightly, so I won't cry. With glossy eyes I look at the frames. It's not just sentences. It's quotes that Peeta has said to Haymitch about me

"I don't know what it is, but whenever I see her, I want to kiss her, but then at the shining memories return, and I can't tell what's wrong from right."

It hurts to read it. But I still want to read the next one.

"I love her, and I hate her at the same time, and it scares me."

The last one hurts the most, because I know that it left Haymitch speechless.

"She loves me. Real or not real?"