𝐒𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐬 ☘︎ 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐇𝐚𝐰𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐞

𝐌𝐎𝐂𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐉𝐀𝐘 ☘︎ 1

I sit in an abandoned, dark room in Thirteen, hugging my knees to my chest as I whisper to myself hurriedly. "Start simple. Start with what you know is true. My name is Willow Hawthorne. My home is District Twelve. There is no District Twelve. I was in the Hunger Games. Austin..."

I start to cry. "Austin was left behind..."

I jump behind a neighbouring wall as a torchlight appears. "Miss Hawthorne? You can't be in here."

"I had a nightmare," I say, forcing my voice to be straight and level. "Just five more minutes."

"You need to sleep. We can help you sleep."

"Just five more minutes!"

She doesn't take no for an answer, running up to me and grabbing me. "Don't touch me!" I shout, yelling more profanities at her. "No! No! Get off me! Off me!"

They take me to my bed. I've been sleeping in the hospital since I arrived here a day ago. This time, though, I decide to go a walk about. I get up from my bed and leave the room, when I hear the sound of crying. The first room I look in, I see him. I speak in a hard voice. "Finnick!"

He looks up, eyes glazed. "I wanted to go back for Austin and Johanna, but I... I couldn't move."

He looks me in the eye. "They have Annie too, they took her. She's in the Capitol as well."

I know he speaks the truth when he says. "I wish she was dead. I wish they were all dead and we were too."

I take this in. Because I, too, wish Austin was dead, rather than the life he's living right now. But, above all, I wish I was dead. And Austin, in all his glory, was alive.

☘︎☘︎☘︎

The next morning, I sit on my bed as Prim brushes my hair. I probably haven't touched it with a brush since I left for the Quell.

This is my last day in the hospital. Then I get to move in with my mother and my siblings.

"Miss Everdeen?" I look up to see a black, formally dressed man come into the hospital. He introduces himself. "Colonel Boggs, District Thirteen's head of security. I know you've been discharged but President Coin's requested you speak with her immediately."

President Coin. She was the 'ruler' of Thirteen, but in my opinion, she was shifty. She was better than Snow at any rate but, there was definitely something going on there. I needed to find out what it was.

"Is there any news?" I ask, getting up.

"I'm just here to escort you," Boggs shrugs.

District Thirteen is underground. This is natural, of course, as the Capitol blew the surface to bits. But somehow, a strand of life surfaced, and the population has nourished over time.

Anyway, Boggs, Coin's second in command, leads me to the lift, which we go further down on, and I get a full look of Thirteen and all its magnitude.

"We were always told there was nothing left here," I say.

"Capitol bombed the surface to rubble, but we're military so we learned to survive down here," Boggs explains. "The war never stopped for us."

I sigh. He acts like it was a big deal that Thirteen struggled. But I, personally, think our deal of watching twenty three kids get killed on TV each year was worse.

We get out at the centre of Thirteen, which is a huge dome that looks kind of like a bee hive, with lots of balconies for standing at during an assembly.

I get taken up some flights of stairs and pushed into a room with a large table and a smart board inside it. Beetee, Plutarch Heavensbee, and President Coin, who has grey hair and Thirteen's grey uniform on (this is mandatory, as even I am wearing it).

"There she is, our Girl on Fire!" Plutarch, who I barely know, acts like we've been pals my whole life. "Madam President, may I present you with, the Mockingjay."

"What an honour it is to meet you," Coin says, taking one of my hands in both of hers. "You're a courageous young woman. I know how disorienting this must be. I can't imagine what it's like to live through the atrocities of those games."

"I hope you never can," I say cuttingly.

"Willow," Plutarch says behind us. "President Alma Coin."

"Please know how welcome you are," Coin assures me. "I hope you'll find some comfort with us, we've known loss in Thirteen, too."

Plutarch sits down again. "This is history, right here, at this table."

Coin jumps in. "I apologise, I wish you had more time to recover, but, please, have a seat." She pulls one out and I sit down. "I take it you know what is going on. When you threw your axe at the forcefield, you electrified the nation. Even I was impressed, I have to admit. There has been riots and uprisings and strikes in seven districts. We believe that if we keep this energy going, we can unify the districts against the Capitol. But if we don't, if we let it dissipate, we could be waiting another seventh five years for this opportunity. Everyone in Thirteen is ready for this."

But I don't care about her petty ambitions or her big words, I turn straight to Plutarch when she stops talking. "What about Austin? Is he alive?"

"I don't know. I wish I did," Plutach answers, tapping his hands on the table. "I am truly sorry, Willow, but there's absolutely no way for me to contact my operatives inside the Capitol."

"The Capitol has always suppressed communication between the Districts, but I know their system very well," Beetee speaks for the first time and I turn to him, my last thread of hope alive. "I managed to break through. All we need now is the perfect message."

I internally beg that I will be the one to send that, when Plutarch lays out the plan. "Willow, here's what we need to do. We need to show them the Mockingjay's alive and well and willing to stand up and join this fight. 'Cause we need every district to stand up against this Capitol the way you did. So we're gonna shoot a series of propoganda clips, propos, I like to call them, on the Mockingjay. Spread the word. We're gonna stoke the fire in this rebellion, the fire that the Mockingjay started."

I stare at them. They're thinking about little films and happy clappy fun whilst Austin's in the Capitol fighting for his life? "You left him there," I say, staring at them with dark eyes. "You left Austin in that arena to die-"

"Willow, there are so many..." Plutarch begins.

"Austin was the one that was supposed to LIVE!" I shout, slamming my hand on the table, tears on my face.

"Miss Hawthorne," Coin says in a calm voice. She leans forward. "This revolution is about everyone. It's about all of us. And we need a voice."

I don't move a muscle, leaning towards her as well so our faces are inches apart. "Then you should've saved Austin," I get up and leave. I have nothing else to say to them.

Nothing else to say to anybody that can't help me get to the one I love.