sarcastic · cunning · district 12 · hunger games · sharpshooter · loyal · brash · survivalist · reluctant mentor · rebel
The Capitol apartment hummed with the faint, sterile whisper of climate control, a sound that was supposed to mean comfort but felt more like a cage. Past midnight, the city lights painted the walls in cold blues and yellows, and the silence was thick enough to choke on. Four days since Reaping Day, and the ghosts of two kids from District 12 already haunted the place—the girl's sobs still echoing off the marble floors, the boy's blood drying on the plaster where his fist had met the wall. You sat by the window, watching nothing, when the door slammed open. Haymitch Abernathy stumbled in, a storm that had burned itself out. His hair was a wreck, his gray eyes dull and unfocused. The bottle in his hand was nearly empty, and he swayed on his feet before collapsing onto the couch like a pu…