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𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯𝘦 : 𝘳𝘦𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨
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things were burning, people were dying, and she could do nothing to stop it.

useless was an understatement for how hattie was feeling.

"how could you do this to these innocent people?" she cried to her father, pacing back and forth as he sat in a chair behind his desk. he picked up a pair of scissors off the surface and shut it away, "it's what needs to be done to keep the peace, darling." "no, don't 'darling' me ! people are dying, things are burning, and people are being raised to know fear, not happiness." she argued loudly, starting to look for anything she could use to solidify her statement. "sometimes, it's what the people need." "no, it's what you need because you can't bare to have anyone having a single thought that isn't like yours." "well, you have different thoughts to me, and i bare you." hattie scoffed, "i'm your daughter. you wouldn't kill me. unlike your other one, who you seem to be just fine with letting die." he didn't respond. he stayed quiet.

"you are injecting fear into these peoples veins. that's not normal ! you threaten to kill people's families if they don't listen to you, don't think i don't hear you talking. you are a fucking psychopath, and i can promise you, i never will love you." hattie finally found a mug sitting on his desk, full of coffee. she picked it up with a mocking smile and read aloud, "awh, 'world's best father' !" she then threw it on the ground in front of her, splashing coffee all over the floor and on herself. she didn't care.

"you never were a good father. i should've never given that to you." she leaned in close to her father, making sure their faces were a couple inches apart from each other. "my biggest accomplishment of my whole life, would be if i got to kill you myself."

« « « » » »

the girl sat begrudgingly in her father's office as she watched a hologram of him standing in front of the capitol.

"ladies and gentlemen, this is the 75th year of the hunger games. and it was written in the charter of the games that every 25 years, there would be a quarter quell to keep fresh for each new generation the memory of those who died in the uprising against the capitol. each quarter quell is distinguished by games of a special significance. and now on this, the 75th anniversary of our defeat of the rebellion, we celebrate the 3rd quarter quell," the crowd cheered, but hattie's face just sunk in sorrow. the cycle would never end. not in this world.

"as a reminder that even the strongest cannot overcome the power of the capitol." she let a breath out, the gears starting to turn in her mind. as the president continued his speech, hattie quickly looked around for a notebook, an empty one, her head whipping left to right. "on this, the 3rd quarter quell games, the male and female tributes are to be reaped from the existing pool of victors in each district." hattie stopped in her tracks, pausing her search for a notebook, and looked at the hologram. "no." she sighed, staring at her monster of a father, before turning back and looking for a journal quicker this time around.

"victors shall present themselves on reaping day, regardless of age... state of health, or situation." hattie finally spotted a grey notebook in the corner of the room, and ran to it. she fumbled it in her hands, and realized there was decades worth of dust on it. inside, only a few pages were occupied. she flipped through the whole book, and ripped out the ones already stained in ink. she crumpled them and hurriedly set them on the desk, picking up the lighter that president snow used for his cigars. she lit the lighter and pressed the fire against the crumpled pages. she watched the paper go up in small flames and soon turn to ash, leaving nothing but hot char.

no evidence.

hattie grabbed a tissue and wiped the ash into the trash bin. she blew the dust off the book's cover and ran out of the office, swinging herself into her room and closing the door shut behind her. she stole a blue pen out of her drawer and started to write the victor's names of each district in a rush. within a minute, she had written all the victor's names, and the handwriting in the notebook was still quite neat. after, hattie slowly started to predict who would be playing in the hunger games. one by one, she went through the names and picked out the two most likely. when she finally arrived to district 12, though, she had realized that there was only one woman victor, and her name was katniss everdeen.

"this is making my job harder already," she mumbled, underlining the girl's name and flipping the page to show a blank slate.

and at the top of it, she wrote :
"HOW TO OVERTURN THE CAPITOL. STEP-BY-STEP."

« « « » » »

peeta mellark and katniss everdeen.

those were the two tributes, and from what hattie had heard, peeta had volunteered in place for haymitch. "what a stupid sweetheart. an idiot, but a sweetheart." she remembered herself saying.

at the front door, hattie heaved her duffel bag over her shoulder while cypress picked up the other two of her bags. hattie looked at the three gold rings across her left and right hand, when she heard footsteps behind her. "darling, before you go," she turned and saw her father standing there. "i would like to request you do something for me." "no." hattie plainly said. he hesitated, before letting out a chuckle, "but i would just like to ask you—" "no. i am not doing any little request you ask of me. you said i would get to go and help the tributes, and that is exactly what i intend to do. purely and solely." outside, she heard a train whistle, and without another word, cypress opened the door for her and she walked out.

out on the streets, tanks and cars drove by, and the train stopped right in front of hattie's house. "here," cypress handed her the bags, and she took them. they stared at each other for a moment, before hattie abruptly dropped her bags and grabbed onto her best friend. he coiled his arms around her tightly, and squeezed her waist like he always had. she rested her head on his shoulder and breathed in, smelling the cleaning chemicals he used and the faint smell of his cologne that smelled like wood.

she always told men that she wasn't used to male physical touch, which is true and the fault of her fathers, but it was different with cypress. it smelt of home.

finally, the two pulled away and hattie suddenly felt that the hug was too quick. "don't miss me too much." she joked, picking up the bags once again. cypress smiled down at her. he knew she coped by making sarcastic jokes. "i have a feeling that'll be hard," he told her. she smiled at him one last time, before walking towards the train. she stopped in her tracks right before stepping inside, patting her left back pocket. the grey notebook sat in between her pants and underwear. she didn't forget it.

the first thing the teenage girl saw once inside was the two district victors that she recognized as gloss and cashmere from district 1. as she stepped onto the train, they both looked at her and parted their mouths when they saw harriet fire standing in front of them. "no way. no way !" cashmere laughed, getting up and walking to her. "hey !" the blonde hugged hattie. "what are you doing here?" gloss asked. "surprise, i'm a mentor for district 12." the brother and sister gave each other a look. "the noobs." "good luck with them." they said. "thanks, i'll see you guys in a bit."

after multiple more interactions, she finally walked into the room filled with effie, haymitch, katniss, and peeta. they all turned to the girl, and hattie saw katniss' eyes widen. "hattie, sweetie  !" haymitch let out a hearty laugh, getting up and rushing to the girl with a drink in hand. hattie put down her bags and embraced the man that she missed so dearly. she felt herself flinch as the man wrapped one arm around her waist and the other around her neck, but he didn't seem to notice. he smelt of apples and alcohol, scotch, specifically. they held each other gently and rubbed one another's backs until they came apart. "oh, hello, hattie !" effie cheered, rushing towards her. "hi, effie." hattie smiled, hugging the extravagant woman.

"what is she doing here?" katniss asked, standing up. "guys, let me introduce you to a good friend of mine, harriet fire. or hattie." haymitch began, putting a hand on her shoulder. she softly jumped at the contact, but quickly calmed down. "hi." she meekly smiled. "the president's daughter?" katniss inquired incredulously. "she's here to help mentor you two. after last year, i realized i needed some more help for the quarter quell." "but we're victors. we don't need help." the pale girl defended. "what does she do?" peeta asked curiously. "i've been fencing for 13 years, and i've been in combat classes for 6." hattie answered herself, and the boy nodded slowly.

"i have my bow." katniss said. "but the chance of not being able to acquire the bow is possible." haymitch reasoned. katniss turned to the brown girl. how was she even more beautiful in person? "what's even your weapon? a bright-colored lipstick?" hattie's eyebrows raised, "what am i, a 12 year old girl? like a normal person, i use a machete. and i'm more of a nude-color girl, anyway." "how is that normal in anyway?" haymitch murmured.

"how do we know she isn't just spying for her father? checking up on me and peeta." katniss turned to haymitch. "trust me, she wouldn't do that." he shook his head. "how do you know that?" "i hate my father more than anyone could hate anyone else in this god damn  universe." hattie almost spat out the word 'father'. "see ! she's good. just... give her the benefit of the doubt." haymitch told them, sparing an extra glance at katniss.

effie let out a sigh, "all right, now... everything will be different, because it's a quarter quell. the capitol has spared no expense." "that's for sure." hattie mumbled, leaning onto the back of an empty chair. katniss threw a glare to her. "a new training center. new tribute living quarters. and of course, a very special arena. but this year you'll be facing other victors. capitol favorites. smart, cunning, skilled. and they all know each other. you two are outsiders. that's partially the reason haymitch called hattie to be your mentor. she knows all about these victors, as well as she knows a good lot about combat and the strategies of the capitol."

for the first time since she had answered peeta's question, hattie lent a glance to the baker boy, and realized he was still looking at her. he must've been staring at her since she walked in.

she smiled, then looked away.

a / n :
hi everyone ! i hope you're liking this book so far. i felt the need to let you guys know who hattie is and how she acts before she got introduced to peeta. anyway, vote and comment ! i love you ! take care of yourselves.
xoxo,
mel 💋