CHAPTER TWO
murderer

content warning - graphic violence

WORKING SOMEHOW BROUGHT ELEANOR PEACE. The gentle nature of fixing wounds and checking for illnesses soothed Eleanor, grounding her back to Earth. It was the ability to finally have control over something in her life, not being forced to watch as something unprecedented happens. She carefully opened the door, smiling as she saw Mr Ives and his wife, Martha. In her hand, she held her nearly one year old baby who was nearly a direct replica of her mother.

Eleanor smiled softly, her smile already greeting them as she welcomed them in. The brunette cooed as Martha handed her the baby girl, who gurgled excitedly. The baby was the spitting image of her mother, with curls already unmanageable with a soft pudgy face. Her chubby hand gripped Eleanor's index finger tightly, firm. She was healthy, so healthy, and Eleanor could have cried from joy. The Ives had named her Ellie, Mr Ives proudly expressing that he wanted to name his daughter after a survivor and a kindhearted woman.

Eleanor hoped Ellie lived up to her name and more. She deserved to be so much more than what the girl she named after was.

"Aw, she's getting so big." Eleanor smiled at Martha, who sat down with a limp in her step. Eleanor concernedly looked her way, her face scrunching up in confusion. Martha smiled exhaustively at the teenager, taking Ellie and holding her close. The woman pressed a gentle kiss on the baby's new head. "But, I'm assuming you aren't here to show me Ellie."

Martha sighed heavily, nervously fiddling at her dark curls. "Unfortunately no," A hand reached up to rub her eyes, exhaustion evident with the defined dark circles. "A few days ago, I got... in an accident." She revealed the nasty wound on her leg, the skin ripe and raw as it glared up at Eleanor. "I returned back to the docks a few days ago, since we really needed the money and— well I fell. Cut my leg open... I thought if I put a bandage on it would- you know... be okay."

Eleanor nodded, her eyebrows furrowed together. "Can I touch it?" Martha nodded, allowing Eleanor to gently feel her leg. The woman winced audibly, Mr Ives immediately taking her hand and pressing a small kiss on it. "Definitely infected. Some antibiotics will quickly clean it up."

Martha's eyes widened. "I-It can't be that bad?" She shook her head adamantly. "Is there any quick solution?"

Eleanor shook her head. "You can't speed up a recovery, unless we're talking about some insane Capitol invention. Unfortunately, there are limitations, even for victors when it comes to asking the Capitol something." Her eyebrows furrowed together as she eyed Martha once again. "Why do you want to speed up the recovery period?"

Martha breathed out heavily. She leaned her head back with a heavy look in her eyes. "I can't stay off work long. They'll sack me."

Eleanor's eyebrows furrowed together in complete confusion. "I didn't think they were sacking people."

"Peacekeeper orders," Mr Ives grumbled out with a frown on his face. He rested a hand on his wife's knee, giving it a reassuring squeeze. Eleanor softened as she watched Martha move a hand to rest on top of his own, squeezing immediately. "They've been getting stricter and stricter."

Eleanor didn't know what else to say. She hadn't expected to hear anything of the sorts, especially since Peacekeepers had usually been relaxed in 4. A gut feeling told her that she may be the reason for all of this, for the strict changes in 4.

She rested her hand on Martha's shoulder. "If you get sacked, come here and I'll help you out with anything. Food, clothes, anything you need, I'll help."

Martha's eyes softened, a hand immediately grabbing onto Eleanor's. She gave Eleanor a firm squeeze, Eleanor mimicking her as she held onto her tightly "Sweetheart, you don't owe us anything. You have done so much for us..."

Eleanor shook her head. "Please? It's the right thing for me to do with the amount of money I have." A sympathetic smile wound up on her face, her head shaking side to side as she assured the couple. "Listen, us folks in 4 need to stick together. You haven't got yourselves to care for anymore, you have this little one." Eleanor tickled Ellie gently, practically laughing at how contagious her squeal was. The little baby immediately reached for Eleanor's hand, her fist wrapped tightly around Eleanor's index finger. "If not for yourselves, do this for your daughter. I don't want either of you in here with pneumonia or hypothermia when winter finally hits."

Mr Ives nodded, though his frown was prominent. "Thank you." He leaned in and pulled Eleanor close. "You don't need to do any of this."

Eleanor nodded. "I know," she took a hold of his hands. "But it is the right thing to do."

"Bless you, Eleanor Eves." Martha pressed a kiss on Eleanor's cheeks. "Bless you."

With a sheepish grin, Eleanor grabbed onto some penicillin, placing some in a pill box. It was handy being a victor when you could actually import the medicine personally. Now it meant Eleanor was able to stock the cupboards herself and have the most essential drugs at hand. She wrapped the drugs up, handing the paper bag to Martha.

"This is for two weeks," Eleanor explained gently to both adults. Listening to her words, they nodded at every second. "If your infection doesn't go away, we'll have to discuss other methods. But, we will tackle that if the time comes." Quickly, Eleanor rushed to open a draw, pulling out a bandage. "The cut isn't big enough for stitches, so it's best to wrap it up."

She grabbed onto Martha's leg, sliding the bandage underneath. "Best bet is to change the bandages after every 3 days." She moved the bandage under Martha's knee, wrapping it upwards, and then repeating. She handed it to Mr Ives, who eagerly awaited instructions. The moment they finished wrapping Martha up, the woman pulled Eleanor into a hug. "Okay, now, don't put any unnecessary strain on your leg."

Before anyone could say anything else, the echo of several gunshots practically shook the entire building. Eleanor flinched loudly, especially when the shrieks of people stampeded around The Trawler. Immediately, Ellie began to wail, despite Martha's efforts to sooth her.

"Stay here." Eleanor quickly instructed, her eyes wide as she immediately rushed out the room. Mr Ives tried following, but Eleanor pushed him in the room. "No, I'll be fine."

He adamantly shook his head in protest. "You heard those gunshots?" He scoffed at her, as though Eleanor was being ridiculous.

She nodded. "Stay with your wife and daughter." She sternly instructed him, closing the door quickly as she rushed out. The other women working had already rushed out, quickly met with the horrific sight of frantic citizens scurrying for their lives.

Annie and Finnick both immediately rushed to Eleanor, eyes wide and frantic. "There was an accident. A man hit a peacekeeper." The red haired girl briefly elaborated the moment she came into contact with Eleanor. Her voice was shaky, her eyes widely open in a disturbed manner. Finnick stood nervously by her side, clearly sickened by the pure chaos. "They just fired-- seven got shot."

Eleanor nodded frantically, breathing heavily as men and women were laid on the ground. She turned to Finnick. "Find some dressing please?" He nodded immediately, knowing exactly where to look since he had spent a lot of time here anyways. He quickly disappeared in the building, leaving Eleanor with Annie. Eleanor turned to Annie. "Are you okay dealing with blood?"

Annie nodded. "Of course?"

With a firm nod, Eleanor elaborated. "I need you to clean the blood and help stop any of the bleeding," Annie grimaced, though showed no hesitation the moment she pressed down on a woman's chest. The woman groaned, her eyes turned quickly into a sharp glare as she saw Eleanor. "Hello ma'am, it's oka-'' Eleanor shrieked as she felt herself get shoved back.

"Monster!" The woman yelled, her fist being brought down to Eleanor's nose as she slammed down. Eleanor coughed, winded, as she crumbled to the floor. Tears pricked in her eyes. Annie tried pulling the woman off her, but the red haired girl was immediately knocked down. "You killed her! You disgust me! She was my baby and you killed her! Monster!"

Eleanor didn't know what to say. She was too busy focusing on the ringing in her ear as the woman spewed more hateful things. Eleanor didn't bother pushing the woman off, knowing she deserved every ounce of her hate. She was a monster, she was disgusting.

Annie managed to hastily pull the woman off Eleanor, a loud yelp leaving the red haired girl's lips as yet another gunshot sounded. Hot red blood pooled near Eleanor, as thick black blood fell down her cheek. "Ma'am? Are you- Shit- oh my god." Eleanor yelled as she reached to feel the woman's pulse, not caring at all for the aching pain that flooded her entire body. Her body was warm, yet remained unmoving. Eleanor stared into the women's wide brown eyes.

The same brown eyes Celine had.

Oh my god. Eleanor's body went rigid as she dropped the woman's dead arm. No.

She was dead. Just like Celine. Just like her daughter.

Eleanor froze on the spot, shaking as she stared at the corpse. Her knees were dyed in the woman's blood, which seemed to flow as though she had an infinite amount to offer. Eleanor had not even realised she froze, until Finnick's cold hand cupped her cheeks.

"Nel, shit, Nel," his thumb rubbed soft circles gently. Eleanor remained out of focus, her eyes blinking rapidly but her body still. Her lip wobbled with a quiver. "Come on, hey, you're okay. Hey," He didn't even care that his hand was being dyed the same disgusting shade as Eleanor's tainted blood. All Finnick cared about was Eleanor. "Come back to me, come on, please?" His thumb rubbed soft circles on her cheek, careful to not touch the wound.

"Ele? Shit, Finnick, she's bleeding!" Annie reached up to hold her palm against Eleanor's cheek, softly whispering assurance to her friend. Her lip trembled, a desperate look locked on Annie's face as she turned to Finnick, "She's-- Finnick is she going to be okay?"

Finnick didn't have an answer for that. He just continued to softly plead for Eleanor to come back to him.

That's all he could do at this moment.

When Eleanor had finally come around, she found herself in Finnick's house. Her mind was still fuzzy, the moment still replaying in her mind. His house was identical to hers, pristine white walls, leather furniture, a dullness that only victor homes seemed to possess. Her knees were bouncing on the floor in a nervous jitter, on par with the nervous pacing from Finnick and the anxious nail biting from Annie. Viola had also come over, offering to stitch her face up. It was a kind offer, though painful (despite the ice cubes they had used to numb her face).

Viola clenched her jaw when Eleanor winced once more. The red haired victor did not like this at all, but Finnick was useless at medical aid and Annie was too shaken up to do anything. As an adult and fellow victor, she had a duty to uphold and she couldn't shatter right now because of a girl wincing. Still, soft apologies left her lips,  before resuming to senseless muttering. "I can already see the headlines. Savage district beast attacks The Capitol's beloved siren.  Fucking thrilling, least they shot the woman or we'd be watching a hanging right-"

"That was Cel's ma." Eleanor whispered to herself, though her voice was loud enough to be heard by both Annie and Finnick. It stopped Viola in her senseless rambling, the woman cutting the stitch and moving to sit besides Eleanor. "They had-- they had the same colour eyes. Celine always said she looked more like her Pa."

"She shouldn't have attacked you though, Ele." Annie replied immediately, filling the silence since none of them actually knew how to reply to Eleanor's remark. "Just because you may have mentored her daughter doesn't mean she can assault you."

Eleanor shook her head, chuckling. "Would you be able to look at the person you trusted your child's life to and not want them dead when you have to spread your baby's ashes across the ocean?"

Everyone went quiet.

"Thought not."

Viola shook her head. "You don't deserve that though," the woman reached forward and grabbed ahold of Eleanor's hand, giving it a small squeeze. Eleanor looked up with dulled eyes. "Believe me, a lot of people in this district would throw themselves at peacekeepers for you. An odd rage of fury doesn't mean the universe hates you."

Eleanor shrugged. "She'll never hate me more than I hate myself."

Finnick scoffed. "You don't genuinely believe you deserved to be brutally attacked, do you?" He studied her, watching as she barely reacted. "Nel?"

"At least it's gonna scar." Her index finger gently touched the maimed skin, the girl relishing in the tight sting that blared through her flesh. She gave a thin smile, a skewered, broken down smile that made Finnick Odair want to disappear at that very moment.

HAPPY NEW YEAR MY LOVES

right so... i'm trying to write act two as we speak and i've got the planning done, now it's just writing.

i'm gonna take my time with updates - i am in my final year of college (highschool for the americans out there) and i have my a level exams coming up

im hoping act two will be written fully by february / march time.

then updates will be done for act two by end of may ish?

idk

but january is gonna mainly focus on writing this act fully + my college work

i hope you all are excited for this book bc shit will go down !

happy new year all of you <3