Mockingjay: Peeta's POV

Chapter Three

Chapter Three

The pain shoots up my arm. The pain feels like when I was stung by the tracker jackers in the Seventy-fourth Hunger Games. Wait, I overheard Snow talking to the guards about using venom on me. Could the venom be from tracker jackers?! The pain certainly feels like it. The pain is so familiar. The guards let me go, and I slump back onto the bed.

"Mr. Mellark, I have some questions for you," Snow says from his chair, a smug smile on his face.

I don't answer, only glaring at him. What did injecting me with venom have to do with asking me questions? I already told him all that I know.

"Mr. Mellark, do you know where Miss Katniss Everdeen is?" he says.

"You told me she was captured by the rebels from District Thirteen," I say through gritted teeth. The pain from the injection racks through my body.

"Yes. Yes, I did. But where is she?" he asks.

"I don't know. District Thirteen maybe," I say, the pain starts shaking my body.

"Hmm. So you do know where she is?" he questions.

"No. Any fool can put two and two together. District Thirteen captured her so that's most likely where'd the bring her," I say. My arm starts to swell where I was injected.

"Are you calming me a fool?" he demands.

Before I can answer, he snaps his fingers. I brace myself for another injection of venom. Instead, I get a slap across the face. The guard's harsh gesture is sure to be evident on my cheek. The skin starting to burn where he made contact. I'm almost sure it's going to bruise.

Snow nods his head at the guard before talking to me again. "Where do you think Thirteen is? We destroyed the entire thing years ago. They're not there, we send someone from the Capitol there every year to remind you poor, pathetic citizens what the Capitol is able to do. That we'll be able to get rid of you easily. Just like we did to Twelve."

"You don't send someone there every year," I say, tapping my hand rapidly so I can try to block out the pain.

"Oh?"

"You reuse the same footage from the District every year. You just have someone stand in front of the picture talking," I say.

"How do you know that?" His arms rest on his lap.

"In the corner you see the wing of a bird. Same spot every year. That's not a coincidence," I say. The pain now searing stronger in my body.

"I've never noticed that," he says, cold eyes staring down at me.

"Top left hand corner," I say.

He doesn't answer after that only stands up pushing his chair against the wall before leaving. The metal door clanging shut behind him with the two guards. I slump against the bed, curled up in a fetal position as the hallucinations from the venom in my system start taking over.

*****(HALLUCINATION)*****

The jungle surrounds me back in the arena. The giant leaves offering protection from the glaring sun. Ahead I can hear fighting. Cautiously I walk forward, hanging back in the vegetation so I'm not seen. Two people are fighting. One with half an arm missing. Chaff. The other long brown hair in a braid. Katniss. Why are Katniss and Chaff fighting? I rush forward meaning to help Katniss but Chaff slices her neck before I can reach. Blood pools on the ground. He turns to me slitting his own throat before falling to the ground dead. A cannon fires. Rushing over to Katniss, I kneel down by her side. My hand caressing her hair, her breathing no longer.

"Katniss!" I cry.

She doesn't answer, her eyes turning glassy. The blood flow too much. She quickly lost too much blood. A cannon fires as soon as Chaff takes his last breath a few feet away. I hear a howling in the distance. I ignore it. Holding my love in my arms. Pain shoots down my back. One of the orange monkeys attacked me. Where it came from I don't know. I don't care to know.

I shoot to my feet, backing away slightly. The monkey advances; I raise my knife trying to defend myself. The monkey lunges forward raking it sharp claws down my torso. I fall back onto the hard ground. The monkey jumps landing on my chest. The next thing I know pain is shooting around my neck and the warmth of my blood is trickling onto the ground underneath me. 

Edited