hunted • haymitch abernathy

five

five; NO MATTER WHAT, SHE WOULD RETURN TO THAT HELL

She opened the door to her home and stepped over the threshold, closing the door quietly behind her as she entered, spinning on her heel and entering the kitchen where her brother sat at the counter, a glass of whiskey in his hand.

Staring at her brother, she was startled by the bruises on his face and the way he held himself slightly off balance as if there was more to the injuries on his side than what she could see. From what Aspen had told her, there probably was and more.

"Hey." She murmured as she took a seat across from him. She quickly grabbed the bottle from next to him and poured some of the contents into an empty glass next to him.

"Party alright?" He inquired as he downed the rest of his drink.

"Awful." She replied, her voice dropping to a whisper, "Pretty much just sat at the bar with Haymitch all night, he told me about the uprisings in the other Districts."

"Glad to know I did something right." He replied as he watched his younger sister take another sip of her drink.

"You can't be so vocal about this, Thread." She hissed at him, "They're just waiting for a valid excuse to kill you and you're practically waving one right in their faces."

"What?" He laughed, both his tone and expression bitter, "Like they killed Paige and Bon?"

Ember recoiled back slightly in shock, unable to conceal her surprise over her brother finally uttering the names of their sister for the first time in weeks, more of a shock to hear him say their nieces because it had barely been a week.

"Exactly like that." She whispered harshly, causing the older man to flinch, "I can't lose anybody else, Thread. So, please, I am begging you to just be careful with everything you're doing."

Her older brother's expression softened at the anger his sister expressed and he lowered his nearing empty glass to the countertop.

"I'm sorry." He murmured, "I was supposed to protect both of you and now P-Paige is gone and what I did had Bondi killed and you're constantly under Snow's attention. I couldn't protect any of you."

Ember's eyes glistened with tears as she reached across the marble bench to grasp her brother's calloused hands in her own and when that didn't feel like enough, she got to her feet and rounded the counter where she threw her arms around her brother tightly.

It was the first time they'd seen each other since the morning on the day Bondi had died, they had been alone in their grief and so Thread remained lax for a moment before she felt him return the embrace.

"You did absolutely everything you could to protect us growing up and if Paige's death is anyone's fault..." Her voice broke as she trailed off, before steeling herself, "If her death was anyone's fault, it was mine."

"Ember, if I hadn't put..." Thread sighed.

"I told him no." She suddenly cried, cutting her brother off as she removed herself from his arms and stepped back, "I told him no even though I knew what would happen because Mom died the first time I said no to a request. It was my fault."

"I told you to refuse." Her older brother told her, "She told you to refuse. Because we both knew that you would have lost yourself completely should you have agreed. I thought he would have taken me and I blame myself because he didn't, because I should have known that he'd only punish me and..."

He trailed off, making a small gesture to the bruised face he hadn't had the last time she saw him.

"I think we should both try and stop blaming ourselves," Ember whispered as she wiped her tear-stained cheeks, "I think we should blame the person who took them from us."