Mockingjay: Peeta's Story

Seven

They must've shot something pretty strong into me, because it's almost a day when I come to. Bright lights blind me and I can tell that there are too many people in the room, crowding me. 

"Hello, Peeta." someone says. I blink my eyes open a few times, looking around the room until my eyes find an old looking man. His face is wrinkled and short grey hair scatters around his head. I can tell something is off about him as he adjusts his posture. 

"Who are you. Where am I. Where is Johanna." My voice doesn't sound like my own as it escapes my lips. It sounds panicked and angry. The man moves closer to me, sitting on a chair next to my bed. 

"My name is Dr. Jethroe Dexx, or just Dr. Dexx. I'm here to help clean up your wounds." I start to shake angrily as he ignores my question.

"Where are we." I say again. He turns to look behind me, and I follow his gaze to a mirror. He sighs before facing me again.

"We are in district thirteen. Johanna is safe as well. You have no reason to be afraid, Peeta." Thirteen? What am I doing here? Why did they take me? Are they going to kill me?

Dexx shifts, standing and turning to the mirror again. "You'll be safe her Peeta. Don't worry. Now, a few of my colleagues and I need to check your vitals, make sure you're doing alright on the inside." He says, looking over his shoulder to two or three other doctors. 

They flood me with lights and touch my neck, checking my pulse I assume. When they surround me, I feel that thing in the tips of my fingers. Hallucinations block my eyes as they move away from me. I hear the door open and my head snaps up.

My eyes register the features on her face. The grey eyes. The dark hair. The scar above her eyebrow. I'm blinded by the memories. She killed my family. She destroyed my home. She tried to kill me. 

I feel my legs moving towards her as she moves in my direction, her arms open, trying to grab my throat. 

So as soon as she's close enough, I lunge at her, my fingers locking around her neck

I see her eyes roll back, revealing the whites, and her hands wrap over mine, trying to pull me away from her. My grip only grows tighter. I can feel people yanking me backwards, away from her. My grip finally loosens as a larger man picks me up over his shoulder. I watch Katniss's body drop to the ground and she coughs violently. I can see tears forming in her eyes just as she is whisked away.

I thrash around until the man puts me down, but even then I still scream at the pain in my veins, when I drop.

~~~~~~~~~~

I wake to loud, angry shouting outside of my room. "Just let me in there with him for five minutes!" The voice is unfamiliar, but angry. 

"Soldier Hawthorne, President Coin has prohibited any contact from familiar faces for the time being."

"Bullshit! Did you see what that thing did to her neck? He deserves to pay for it! Hijacked or not!" There is banging on the door as the yelling continues. Soldier Hawthorne? The banging continues for a moment or two before the door swings open violently.

I launch to my feet as Gale enters the room, one arm in a sling and the other one clenched by his side. He grabs the collar of my shirt, slamming me against the concrete wall.

"If you ever, touch her again, Peeta, so help me god. I will kill you. Got it?" He spits. I feel my body shake and my jaw tense in rage. Gale is suddenly pulled backwards by two guards. He scowls at me one last time before disappearing out of the room. 

~~~~~~~~~~

I spend the next three days in the quiet room, visited by only unfamiliar faces like doctors or guards to check on me. It's not as bad as the Capitol was, obviously. But I'm still alone the whole time, and my nightmares still happen. 

Doctors come in every six hours or so to try and flood my veins. During this process, I am strapped to the bed by my wrists and ankles. I see glances of the liquid they are draining me of every now and then and recognize the dark, thickness of it...

My room is soon flooded with people with clipboards and pens, and a large man who moves towards me.

"Peeta, I need you to lay down on the bed please." I do as he says, and he cuffs my wrists, latching them to the bed. He moves away and opens the door. A girl with long yellow hair steps inside. She looks familiar as she speaks.

"Peeta? It's Delly. From home." I register the name, matching the name to a face in the back of my mind. Delly.

"Delly? Delly it's you!" she smiles as she moves closer to me.

"Yes. It's me. How do you feel Peeta?"

"Awful. Why are we in district thirteen? What's happened?" I ask her. Delly tenses, straightening her back.

"Well... We're in Thirteen, because we live here now."

"That's what people have been saying, but it doesn't make any sense. Why aren't we home?" I press. My patience wearing. She bites her lip, looking down at her shoes.

"There was... an accident. I miss home badly too Peeta. I was just thinking about those chalk drawings we used to do on the old paving stones. Yours were always so wonderful. Remember how you used to make each drawing into a different animal?" She rambles. I reminisce the drawings when I was young, spending my afternoons with Delly on the schoolyard with the chalk.

"Yeah. Pigs and cats and things," I say, my thoughts training back to what she said before. "You said something about... an accident?"

"It was bad Peeta.... No one... could stay." She pauses, looking back up at me with her bright green eyes. "But I know you'll like it here Peeta,The people have been very nice to us. There's always food and clean clothes. And school, it's much more interesting." She smiles. 

"Why hasn't my family come to see me." I ask. I notice tears forming in her eyes.

"They can't Peeta.... A lot of people didn't get out of Twelve, so we'll need to make a new life here. I'm sure they could use a good baker Peeta. Do you remember how your father used to let us come to the bakery to make dough girls and boys?" I ignore her statement about the bakery. Bakery. Fire.

"There was a fire." I feel rage growing inside of me, and the flashes beginning behind my eyes.

"Yes," Delly whispers.

"Twelve burned down didn't it? Because of her! Because of Katniss!" I feel my body thrashing at the cuffs.

"Oh no, Peeta! It wasn't her fault."

"Did she tell you that?" I hiss angrily. I see the door open slowly as Delly moves away from me..

She didn't have to. I was-" I cut her off with my animalistic screams.

"Because she's lying! She's a liar! You can't believe anything that she says! She's some type of mutt that the Capitol created against us!" I scream at them. My wrists yank at the restraints and I thrash around on the bed.

"No, Peeta. She's not a- " Delly tries to talk again. 

"Don't trust her, Delly" my voice sounds frantic as I lean towards her. "I did, and she tried to kill me. She killed my friends. She killed my family. Don't even go near her! She's a mutt!" Delly is pulled through the door, leaing me with the doctors. But my screams continue. "She's a mutt! She's a stinking mutt!" My screams echo around the room for what seems like forever, until I feel a needle in my arm and the world goes black.

~~~~~~~~~