CHAPTER sixty-seven|RAIN DROP

Two door cinema club ~ changing of the seasons
❝So it's over? I didn't realize, It's so much colder, but it was no surprise❞

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NOTHING HAD EVER really left me alone. Not my past, not the feelings that would stick to me like toxic chemicals stuck to the walls of my lungs, and certainly not the lessons I had been taught before school became so pointless the world had sharpened its' sword into a sphere. It had been a reminder to me of all the things I had missed- all the things I could of had.

Like the thoughts I could of owned instead of stolen from those around me, and the feeling of pride when somebody wrote notes about a good idea I'd had between moments of talking and silence. The memories of writing and reading and maths, and the knowledge of the power plants around our District that they would shovel into our minds like fresh dirt everyday. The days when I would of been allowed to rest if I hadn't of needed to work, and the nights when I would have something other than my sister to look at.

There were so many things I didn't ever have, and those seemed to follow me closer than the things I'd been doing since I was born.

I knew Finnick missed it too- sometimes when I looked at him I noticed how he'd glance at Katniss using words large enough to fill up her entire mouth, or when one of the squad members began to talk into a walkie-talkie with a code he had never learned. Although, unlike me, he never really looked ashamed to loose an argument to intellect we couldn't have, instead it only seemed to draw him further towards the things he knew best.

With me, each unanswered question was a slap towards a childhood I could of had. Each equation that I could of discovered, or each precious resource I could have understood so well it would of actually helped; maybe I would have discovered a drug so powerful I never would've been forced to swing a sword ever again. Maybe I would have memorized the whole underground passages in the Captiol for future use, or how to use the technology that was being thrown from one cameraman to another as we walked along a covered street deep within the city.

Maybe then I would of lead us to the destination we had chosen, instead of having to follow. Or maybe I wouldn't have felt eyes on the back of my neck as I looked down streets I didn't know, as if each dead body was supposed to remind me of what happened when you weren't smart enough. I held onto Finnick as we went, even if he didn't know either.

Because for him, that unknowing only reminded him how quickly he could stop a heart.

Other than the occasional light stuck within strips of plastic, darkness kept control of everything I could lay my eyes on for more than a short glance. It was typical of the Capitol to leave the bottom of the city with shades instead of colour, but as I sat in a tube thinking about just how I had gotten where I was, I still felt stupid for assuming that the floor we walked on wouldn't have be stained by work and rust. Or that I could see anything other than the outlines of those who walked in front of me.

As we were guided along circular tunnels I heard instead of watched, but even then it seemed to show just how little I knew about what was left.

When a vehicle's engine jumped from wall to wall I ran until my hand hit a corner to hide within. At the time I didn't even consider that the Peacekeeper could of seen us all in the darkness, but now that we had been left to rest I could imagine how easy it would of been to spot a strand of my white hair. To some it would of been easier than others, but I knew that I would of seen each little smeer of blonde between the cracks of the concrete walls, and perhaps with the right light the Peacekeeper could of seen everyone else from the shine of it.

"We're too exposed here." Katniss had called as the Peacekeeper kept on moving forward. He hadn't seen it; my hair remained as dull and stripped back as the rest of me.

That much was obvious, but I couldn't help but think that I might of been able to come up with a solution if I had been given the time to learn. I could of made it easier than it had been before, instead of just balancing myself on the edge of uselessness as another team member pulled us all along a string of maybes and mights.

When the machine in Katniss' hands beeped its' usual steady rhythm she had come to expect, the Girl on Fire drove us deeper into the dark.

After that, each step was accompanied with a pool of water that made us sound like we were walking on hot glue. The noise wasn't much, but to me it had been louder than the ideas I had come up with in my head, and more fulfilling then the shock of stupidly that came through me when I realised it would never work. And yet as I watched Finnick twirl his trident in his hands to ensure he could be more intricate than the other Victors, I still tried to think of something else.

Air shot out of the pipes we were walking along just as I drew my two blades.

I no longer screamed, instead it made me grip the leather tighter.

"Everybody ok?" Paylor had called along the line as the cameramen stumbled in shock. I didn't stumble with them, and as I glanced towards Finnick neither had he.

"We're fine." I could almost still hear how rigid my reply had been when I called out with enough strength for only the people around me to here. It didn't reach any further than Remy (who was near the front of the group) but it still sounded awfully loud when it bounced off the walls impatiently.

As the water got deeper, the sound of our breaths began to override each other into a symphony when we were called to stop. That was how it had been since then, after hours and almost enough sleep between us to function a single human who was trying to finish our task. That was all we had to share, and as I heard the faint patter of water from the tunnel we came from it was enough to drag me to my feet.

"Do you hear that?" I hissed towards my husband as he watched me stand.

The others were just as alert, but I felt them discard what I was trying to say as quickly as they rose their heads when my own noise bounced around the walls.

"The tunnels leak- it could be anything." Mercy was the one that muttered out a lazy reply. Remy nodded his head, but I could see a little less restraint in it as I glanced from him to the girl I needed to see.

Katniss turned to look into the darkness we emerged from, and then pulled the ends of her face towards the water we were standing in.

"No, it was larger than that." I insisted.

"These paths haven't been updated in years Lorna."

"But it wouldn't be that loud."

"Hey." Katniss finally hissed as she whipped her hair around so that it lightly brushed against one of the rusted walls. Her ears had turned pink at the tips, as had the bottom of her lips, but I couldn't see much other than that as she glanced between the two of us. Finnick hadn't stood, but his head was tilted over to the side so he could really listen to the echoes we were hearing so feverishly.

"She's right." The boy finally established as he looked directly at me.

The patter seemed to keep going even when the entire group directly looked its' way. I expected it to stop- to hide from the group when I pointed it out so it once again proved my intelligence wrong- but it kept on going. If anything with the stale breaths everyone had harboured for themselves, it made it seem louder.

"What is it?" Paylor asked.

Once again, the knowledge I needed escaped me so quickly it left the distinct feeling of an entire balloon that had been deflated. I didn't know that much; there wasn't a single brain cell I could call apon to explain the noise except the ones I used for war.

"Snow." I offered grimly, right as Finnick stood up.

"Or a faulty pipe."

"Or nothing at all."

I hoped they were right. As I glanced into the inky wall in front of us for what felt like the thousandth time there was nothing more I could of wanted. And yet, unlike the other times that day when I almost offered something to people who had learned far more than me in their life, I was so sure I was the one that was right.

When Finnick twirled his trident in his hand, and placed a gentle kiss to my shoulder in the process, it only made that feeling stronger.

That, and the sudden ruffle in the water.

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1592 words.