I'm Rue Mellark *VERY SLOW UPDATES*

Chapter one

I peeked outside my room, just to make sure everyone was asleep. I mean, it was four in the morning, but I had to be extra careful. I hesitantly walked down the long hallway. Once I got to one certain door, I leaned my ear against it. I heard banging and soft crying. Franklin.

The next door I came up to was the master bedroom, my parents' bedroom. I leaned my other ear against the door. I heard whispering and footsteps. I slowly crept onto the ground, getting on my hands and knees. I peered into the gap from the bottom of the door to the surface of the floor. I could faintly see feet going back and forth. Almost as if somebody was pacing. Everyone was up, but at least occupied with something.

I scampered down the stairs, making sure I made no noise, and entered the kitchen. There, I rummaged through the pantries, looking for any food that would not be missed. If I was seen giving food out to the hungry, hopefully I wouldn't get into trouble for sneaking out.

As I was about to leave, I noticed an empty wine bottle near the side of the trash can. I made a mental note to ask my mother about that later, and made my way outside.

My house was right next to the woods, so it was easy to sneak in and out of them. I checked my surroundings. All was quiet until...

"Where you going, Rue?"

I turned to my right to see a completely haggard looking Haymitch, sitting on a bench near his own house. He looked disheveled and his eyes were bloodshot, but not because he was drinking too much; almost as if he yearned for more.

"Hello Haymitch," I replied, trying to avoid his question.

"You know you're not supposed to go in there without adult supervision," he said, clearly dead set on getting more information out of me. It's obvious he hasn't been drinking lately. If he had, I could've easily changed the topic to something else, like butterflies or flowers.

"Here. I'll make you a deal," Haymitch continued. "I won't say anything about this, and you get me a bottle of some of that fancy stuff... Wait, no. Make it two. I want to at least make it through the day. See, they took it all away from me, even if it had a pinch of alcohol." He stared almost right through me. "I know you're mother keeps a few bottles in case of an emergency. Just get me whatever will be missed the least. At this point, anything will work." I didn't move at all and just stared at him.

"Well, are you going to go?" he asked.

"You really think I'm going to give you alcohol, huh? Haymitch, just the other night you were streaking outside, and running around and screaming. And you wonder why they took it away from you."

"I know you will if whatever you get up early to go to so that nobody knows is worth keeping as a secret. And trust me, I know this isn't the first time." Yup, he got me.

I hurriedly ran back inside, grabbed two bottles of the cheapest wine we had, and quickly gave them to Haymitch. He immediately grabbed one of them and opened it.

"Oh, that hits the spot." He gulped down nearly half of the bottle. "Now that that's out of the way, why are you even going in there?"

"No no no no no. No! I don't have to answer anymore of your questions. I-"

"Remember who you're talking to." I clamped my mouth shut. "Good. So, are you meeting a boy out there?"

"Nope," I answered, starting back to the deep forest. "I'm meeting two."

~

I followed the little pebbles to the giant lake. For some reason, someone always ended up getting lost on their way there, so we made an effort to make a little path. It's like Hansel and Gretel, only we were smart enough not to leave a path of food.