The Runaway Victor | Book II

Chapter Thirty | A Story

|AUTHORS NOTE|

Gotta be honest, this chapter made me angry. I feel so sorry for her. In the comments, I would love to know what you think she would have been like if she had known her family well and hadn't lost them!!

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Quinn and Otto Samuals slowly began to make their way to the cafeteria. There was something about actually being able to stand and walk beside someone who had the same DNA running through their veins. She had spent so much time as a orphan. She wasn't sure she knew how to exactly have a family. She had become so used to not having one, she had become so used to being alone...how was she supposed to just accept a family?

Sure, she was glad she had one. But they didn't know just how much the games messed her up-- Finnick, Annie, Mags, and Orion were the only ones who did. They were the only ones who understood that being the Capitols puppet was the worst punishment possible. How was she supposed to explain that to a family? How could they understand her nightmares? Or the fact that she only had a handful of friends to even talk about-- most of which were dead?

Otto suddenly let out a big sigh as they stepped into the elevator. "I just can't believe it," he sighed. "I knew you'd make it. But..."

"I didn't think so." Quinn stated blatantly. "I shouldn't have, to be honest. If it wasn't for Orion, I wouldn't have."

"We knew he'd make it too," he replied. "He's...he's something else." he said, chuckling a bit.

Quinn felt a smile tug at the corners of her lips, "Yeah, he is." she agreed. "What about you? How'd you get here?"

Otto sighed, scratching the back of his neck for a moment. "A few years before you were born, your grandparents had just died. So I was trying to convince your mother to come with me..."

The streets of District Four were a bit more crowded than usual. Mainly because everyone was going home early from the docks, warehouses, and the boats. There had been a storm on its way, and it was just beginning to roll in. White caps turned into waves the crashed up onto the beaches and rolled back in to the sea. The wind was fairly strong, and small drops of water hit Otto's face almost like little needles stabbing into his skin. So he watched the ground like others around him with his jacket hugged around himself tightly.

He said his goodbyes to a few men he worked with when he turned and began making his way up the fairly steep hill that was still really muddy for the rain storm a few days earlier. His work boats were already caked with mud, his jeans had a fair amount of mud on them too from his clumsy steps. But the dreary weather seemed perfect considering the circumstances. A few months earlier, his mother had died. She hadn't been in good health for years. Now, only a few days earlier, his father died. Athennia, his older sister, said it was probably because of a broken heart. Their parents had been perfect for one another, they'd gone through horrible things and got through it together. The were the backbone of the family.

Otto knocked on the wooden door to the house, he waited not too long before his nephew, Athennias' only child opened the door. Quentin wasn't that old, about eight years old. But he was pretty tall for his age. He must've gotten that from his fathers side, because the Samuals weren't tall, but they weren't too short either.

"Hi, Uncle Otto," Quentin smiled up at him.

"Hey, kid-oh." Otto replied as he stepped past him into the house.

"Is my dad on his way home too?"

Otto nodded, "Of course, he had to stop by the Justice Hall though." he said simply as he slipped off his jacket and hung in on the back of a chair.

"The Justice Hall?" Athennia echoed as she walked into the room. She had dark hair, and light eyes with freckles that their mother had too.

Otto nodded as his sister gave him a small hug.

"Que, shouldn't you be finishing your school work?"

Quentin rolled his eyes and grabbed his bag and hurried into the bedroom to work.

Otto chuckled, "I'm glad I don't have to deal with that stuff anymore."

Athennia smiled a bit but then pulled a chair closer to Otto. "His birthday is next week, Otto..." she said softly. "After dad's bills...I don't think we can afford anything for him..."

Otto shook his head and held up a hand, "Don't worry, Nia. I can ask Elijah at the market for a favour. I snuck him some fish last week."

Athennia sighed and nodded a bit with relief, "I just can't believe he's going to be nine, Otto. So close to the Reaping age too..." she sighed quietly, Otto could see a few tears welling up in her eyes. "I don't want to make him enter his name in extra, Otto. I don't want to lose him, but we need the supplies--"

"Athennia," Otto stated sternly. "I told you, the fences are still off. The four of us could make it. There has to be something else out there besides the Capitol."

Athennia looked like she was seriously considering it for a moment. Like she was considering actually running away. But she quickly shook her head to shoot his offer down.

"Then I left a few days after that storm, didn't look back once..." he sighed. But his face looked like it was full of pain. "I wish I could have been there to help her when she got sick..." Otto said, staring out of the elevator for a moment before looking back at her. "I'm so sorry you lost all of them, Quinn."

Quinn frowned, shuffling her feet uncomfortably for a moment. "It's okay...sometimes I think it's better they didn't have to see me be in the games-- or any of this really."

He remained quiet for a moment, "I think they'd be extremely proud of you for everything you've done to help start a rebellion."