Rosemary

0.2

My eyes snapped open. I was in a different room. Replacing the glass walls were white ones. I was strapped in a white hospital bed, its scratchy, thin sheets rubbing up against my bare legs. I was wearing only a simple hospital gown, the end of it falling just above my knee. My eyes shift to the human that sat in a chair across the room. There, sitting on a gray, plush sofa was the man Johanna called Thiket. He had his white peacekeeper uniform on, but it wasn't fully white. Splatters of crimson blood splattered in a line across his chest. I can feel my heartrate picking up.

"Please don't hurt me," I whisper.

Thiket walked up to the side of my bed, "Now, Ms.Birk, Snow said I could do anything to you unless I kept you alive," he seethed.

"Oh no, oh no no no no no!" I whimper, "Please, please no!"

A sickening, sadistic grin spread across his face as he began speaking into the microphone in his chest pocket, "Bring them in."

"NO!" I scream, thrashing in my restraints, "HELP, SOMEONE! PLEASE! PEETA! JOHANNA!"

"ROSE!" I hear the faint voice of Peeta from a few doors down.

"HELP ME PEETA!" I sob, thick tears pouring down my cheeks.

Suddenly three doctors rush into the room, two big needles in their hands.

"NO! NO! PLEASE STOP!" I cry, one of my restraints snapping as I push against it.

I tug off my leg restraints and rip off the last band holding me to the bed on my arm. I stumble out of the sheets attempting to bolt out the door when a large needle is plunged into my back. I screech, slumping to the floor. I desperately crawl on the cold, white tiled floor, trying to make it out the door, but my limbs start to go numb.

"YOU'RE A CRUEL MAN THICKET!" I howl, "YOU'RE A TERRIBLE, TERRIBLE MAN!"

Two of the doctors placed me back in the bed, tying my limbs down tighter this time.

"Now Birk, you will cooperate or I will get out the taser," Thicket fumes.

My lips shut tight. I was almost choking on the fear I was feeling right now. It twisted up inside of me like a snake squeezing around its victims.

"Good," Thicket smirks.

I whimpered.

"I just want you to know that I will never show my kindness to you!" I snarl, "You don't deserve it!"

Thicket's face got closer to mine, "You're lucky I don't have you in the electrocution tank with Ms.Mason right now!"

"DON'T HURT JOHANNA!" I howl.

"I'm gonna enjoy this. Fill the needle up more!" he sneers.

"But sir, we are only supposed to use-"

"Do what I say Atticus."

The doctor left the room for a few minutes and then came back with an even larger needle.

"NO!" I gasp.

The needle plunges into my arm. My cries fill the small room but I'm paralyzed. I can't move. Suddenly, the TV turns on, it's white noise blaring through my ears.

"I'm going to show you your life, Ms.Birk," Thicket said.

Thick tears globbed down the side of my face, my lips quivering. Suddenly, my body began to convulse uncontrollably. Intense pain racked throughout my body, making my limbs jerk around in their restraints. My screams filled the small room making even Thiket wince at how much agony was in my voice.

"STOP!" I shrieked, as my vision began slipping away, "WHAT'S HAPPENING TO ME?!"

"That is Tracker Jacker venom, my sweet Rosemary," Thicket said, "Oh, this will be fun."

Just then everything went black. I could still hear and feel everything, but I was in the dark. I was not in control of my own body. It still twisted and curved in unnatural ways as the tracker jacker venom spread throughout it. Suddenly a noise blared from the TV. It was me.

"Mama? Can you play with me now?" I asked, but my voice was smaller, younger.

A picture appeared in my head. It was me, when I was six, maybe. I was wearing my flower dress that I remember so dearly. It was my favorite dress. I skipped into my mothers room, a bouquet of wildflowers in my small hands.

A smile formed on my lips.

"You think I have time for a worthless wretch like yourself? Get away from me Rosemary," my mother scoffed.

"NO!" I sobbed, "THAT NEVER HAPPENED!"

The TV continued to play.

This time, I was in town square. I was in a small blue dress that fell just below my knees.

"The female tribute for District 9 is Rosemary Birk!" Evelyn boomed through the speakers.

The picture shifted to inside the justice building. I sat on a red plush couch in a gold-wallpapered room. Adorning the walls were golden candleholders and red curtains covered the big, open windows. I waited there for my mother. Would she say goodbye to me before I left for the games? The doors bursted open.

"Mom?" I whispered.

A peacekeeper walked in. No mom.

"Let's go," he said in a gruff voice.

I hopped off the couch, a single tear sliding down my face.

My eyes slowly opened slowly. Dried tears staining my cheeks.

"That ne-never happened.." I say, quietly.

"Oh, Ms.Birk, but it did," Thicket bent down, whispering into my ear, "After your mother died, you were so distraught. The fact that she never loved you made the pain worse. We altered your memory's to make you happier. Worked like a charm."

"No- you can't- you're not telling the truth," I gasp.

"We also erased all memory of killing people in your games," Thicket chuckled, "You play this sweet and innocent character, when it's all an act. You killed the most people ever, in the history of the games."

"You- no!" I shriek, "I'm good! I'm kind!"

"No, Rosemary," he hisses, "Your evil."

gif of rosemary waking up