The Hunger Games - Surviving The Storm - book 3

Chapter 18

I sat in the nursery watching the twins who I had just gotten back to sleep after feeding, changing and burping them. It was one of those slow days as I was alone. Jackson was in a meeting at head quarters and my mother was due to be gone for another two days because of demand by all the classes she was now teaching. Ever since the Capitol citizens were being reaped into the games they had been doing all that they could to prepare incase they were chosen. My father was working as well, in his art studio and his bakery, he came home at night and was up the next morning before I woke up. On days that he had his days off he was giving private camoflauge and combat lessons. Everyday was the same old thing, nothing ever changed but I wished it would. Even if it was at the slightest.

Of course I was happy my parents were doing something they loved and enjoyed and was making good money but I wish I could see them and my husband more. I wanted my children to see their father and grandparents more. I brought my fingers to the bridge of my nose and rubbed it before I sighed and closed my eyes as I slumped into the chair.

"Aloe!" I heard someone call.

My eyes snapped open quickly and I looked around. I knew I must've imagined it, afterall my name for the rest of my life was CaliRose not Aloe. Aloe no longer existed. I rose to my feet as I heard movement downstairs and reached under my dress and grabbed the knife I kept strapped there. Heading towards the door to the nursery I stopped as I heard footsteps near. My eyes dropped to the guilded door knob that was twitching and very slowly I rose my knife to prepare to strike. My first and only instinct at this moment was to protect my babies.

A million thoughts ran through my mind, the most reoccuring was who could possibly be here at this tim. My mother and father were not due back for quite some time and nor was my husband. Before I could furthur assess the threat outside the door it opened. I quickly brought the knife down to attack the intruder only to be disarmed of my weapon.

"Good job love." I heard Jacksons voice speak.

I blinked several times before I was able to think clearly, the intruder wasn't an intruder, it was my husband. He smiled as he flicked the knife across the room, it lodged effortlessly into the wall. In a swift movement he grabbed my waist and pulled me close before he pressed his lips hungrily to mine.

The instant his lips touched mine my chest lit on fire. I wanted him and I ached for him. I was craving him like a dehydrated tribute in a barren arena. I lifted my fingers to his shirt and began fumbling with the buttons. In less than 30 seconds his shirt was off and tossed aside. I then moved to his slacks and unbuttoned them with ease before letting them drop at his ankles. He stepped out of his slacks and in the light I could tell that he wanted me from the tenting in his briefs.

I ran my fingers along the inside of his thigh and listened as his breath hitched slightly. He lifted his hands to the hem of my dress and with ease he tore it. The shredded fabric fell from my body and left me bare.

Jackson eyed me with a bit of wanton in his expression before he spoke. "It's not appropriate for the first lady to not be wearing any garmets under her clothes." he growled seductively.

I inched ever so slowly towards him before I pulled the other knife I kept strapped at my other thigh and cut away his briefs with ease. "Well Mr. President-" I began in a seductive voice. "I'm not in public, I'm in my own home." I grabbed the tounge of his tie that was still around his neck and led him towards the love seat that sat in the corner of the nursery.

He lowered me to the couch and moved above me. He began teasingly placing kisses along my body before he disappeared between my legs. Suddenly my heart threatened to leap from my chest as I felt a heavenly sensation growning between my thighs, he was wonderful with his lips and even better with his tongue. He began moving his toungue faster and I felt my body jerk. I reached down and grabbed his hair to pull him up.

"Make love to me." I said in a shaky voice.

He looked deep into my eyes and for a split second and I saw my life, past, present and future. "I'm going to make love to you." He replied before he brought his lips to mine again.

I closed my eyes as he slipped gently inside. I couldn't help but smile as how well we matched. I wrapped my arms around him and he clutched at my waist and we began moving together. Slowly I grinded my hips against his, every move bringing shivers to my lower regions. Accompanying the fireworks between us were the moans that slipped between my lips.

We began moving a little faster and the sensation grew unberable. I clutched at his back, dragging my fingernails down his back. He tensed up and I heard him moan in pleasure. In the next instant I felt him spill his seed inside me and I followed him over the edge. We laid panting for several moments before he pressed his lips to mine.

The moment our lips parted I spoke. "What are you doing home?" I asked confused.

He smiled as he rose to his feet and moved over to his pants. I watched him pick them up and stick his hand in the pocket. He pulled from his pocket what looked to be a Capitol Identification card, walking back over to me he handed it to me. I took it in my hands and looked at it. It had a recent picture of myself and in the name section it said Aloe Ripper. Even my maiden name was corrected, it was no longer Evermark but Mellark.

"What is this?" I asked him.

We moved to sit at the window seat before he took my hand into his. "It's your permanent ID card. Your name has been restored and officialized. It's a platinum pass, you can go through any district as you please on your own."

I stared at the ID card. "Thank you" I whispered.

"That's not all I have for you, we are going on a trip." he said as he moved to Peeta's crib as he heard him stir.

I walked over to the closet to grab a couple robes. I put mine on before I tossed him his. "Where are we going?" I asked.

Jackson slipped into his robe and tied it before picking up Peeta and cradling him into his arms. "District 12, they need us to approve of the construction before they continue on. Papers need our signatures and I think your grandparents and aunt would like to know that you are alive." he finished.

That's right, it had been over a year since I was taken from my family and thrown into the games for the second time. They didn't even know I was alive because to the world I was dead. My aunt Prim was probably disraught about that but losing her older sister and brother in law probably done more damage then I could imagine.

"Are my parents going as well?" I said as I lifted Cinna Rose into my arms." Cinna was looking more and more like me everyday. She had blonde hair like her brother, just a few shades lighter, and blue eyes. Her face was colored like a porcelain doll, she was beautiful.

He nodded his head. "They are meeting us at the train station in an hour"

I laid Cinna Rose back in her crib and quickly headed into the hall closet to get our suitcases before I realized we didn't have any. I turned around quickly and saw Jackson peeking out of the nursery with a grin on his face.

"What?" I said as I closed the door and headed back to his side.

"I don't know, what were you going to do?" he asked amusingly.

"I was going to pack, but I remembered Cinna manages our wardrobe" I mumbled

He nodded his head. "We just need to get the babies ready and everything is set."

Over the next twenty minutes we packed things for the babies and got them dressed as well as ourselves. By twenty-five past the hour we headed out to the car that would be driving us to the train. I sat snugly beside my husband on one side of the stretch car while our babies slept in their seats that were strapped on the other side. A ten minute drive to the station and then we were being boarded.

As I walked through the platform and got on the train several memories flooded my mind. I was engaged at Finnicks demand to a man that I thought I would never grow to love. Every moment together in the eyes of the Panem we were faking how we felt towards one another. Never in my wildest dreams would I think that we would be happy together, that we would have a family built of love even more that I would crave his affection.

Despite the way we came to be one I was glad it happened. Without him and his need for me I would be dead. He saved my life in many ways then I could have thought. He was my life, he was my soul.

Very slowly we made our way to our bedroom, there in the corner was a large basinet which we laid the babies in so they could be comfortable. Only when I heard the familiar footsteps of my father and his prosthetic leg. His heavy footsteps were one of a kind, then again from my mothers words he was always heavy footed.

I turned around just in time to see them pass the room without noticing us. I moved past my husband and stuck my head outside the door and called them. They turned around quickly and smiled. Tears streamed down my face before I even moved. I ran quickly and threw my arms around them.

"Mom, dad" I gasped. "I've missed you so much."

My father rubbed my back for a few seconds. "You act like you haven't seen us in ages CaliRose." he spoke to me with a bit of a chuckle.

I lifted a hanky from my pocket and dried my tears before I blew my nose obnoxiously. "It's Aloe now." I smiled, tears glistening under the light. I pulled my card from my pocket and showed it to them. "He got me my name back." I said happily.

The sight of moving scenery let me know that we were on our way as we moved into the dining area for lunch. The babies were being tended to by an avox who would come and get us if they woke up. I filled my plate with my favorite dish Lamb and Plum stew. After living in the Capitol with their fancy meals and ways of cooking their dishes I was used to adding a bit of spirits to my dish to give things an extra kick. I only ever used spirits to add a little extra something to my dishes, I never drank it because I seen what it did to Haymitch.

After dinner I turned in to our bedroom with Jackson and laid in the bed. He held me in his arms as we laid there listening to soft chamber music. Within the next hour I had fallen asleep. I opened my eyes and blinked, there was only darkness meaning it was nighttime. Something felt wrong as I laid there I just didn't know what it was. I rose from the bed and reached down at my thigh to make sure my knife was there, it was.

I kept my hand on the handle of my knife as I headed out of my compartment. I closed my eyes to try and focus on my hearing and turned my head to the left as I heard a sound. It couldn't be a threat since no one could have really got on the train in route so maybe it was my mother or father moving around. I loosened my grip on my knife and stood up straight as I walked the corridor towards the dining room. I could see the light on from the space beneath the door so I knew someone was inside.

I waited for the door to open and entered. I saw a brief silhouette but had to blink several times in order to focus to the bright light. When my vision finally settled into focus I froze. Coming at me was a masked being dressed it black. Before I could draw my knife I was slammed against the compartment door. I gasped as I felt pain in my back as it was rammed into the lock.

The hooded person wrapped his hands around my neck and began choaking me. I struggled for a few seconds and then went limp as I pretended to be dead. After a few more seconds the hooded figure released his grip and I fell to the floor. I laid there for a few seconds feigning death and waited for the attempted murderes footsteps moved away from me.

I chanced a quick peek and saw the man with his back to me staring at a clipboard that held several papers. I quietly rose to my feet and crossed the room to sneak up behind him. Without a warning the man turned around and hit me upside the head with the clipboard. I fell against the counter and reach out for a glass bottle which I cracked over the mans head.

I was shocked when I heard a scream that belonged to a female. After rubbing her head she lunged at me and knocked me to the floor. We wrestled back and forth for several minutes before I overpowered her. I had my arm pressed up against her neck while I sat on top of her. With my free hand I took off the mask and was shocked to find a woman even after hearing her scream previously.

I blinked several times as I took in her face, she had a gentle tan, red hair and grey eyes. Wait, I knew this woman she was from District 1. I remember very clearly, she had saved my life.

I was in the factory watching the production of their jewelry when I was almost crushed by a hunk of metal that had fell. This woman had knocked me out of the way.

"Why?" I asked as I stared at her.

She spat in my face. "You know why, you and your husband are ruining everything." she hissed.

"What are we doing that is so bad that you want to kill me?"

She narrowed her eyes. "Letting the outlaying districts travel as they please, if that bill passes our district will be tainted."

"You weren't just going to kill me were you? You were going to kill my son weren't you?" I said as I reached my hand back towards my knife that was held at my thigh.

"You are smarter then you look blondie." she said before she laughed. "All I need is your life and your sons life and the presidency is over for your husband."

I pulled the knife from its holster and rose it above my head. "If you want to hurt my family you are going to go through me." I said as I brought it down right beside her head.

I quickly ripped it from the floor and pointed it at her as I got to my feet. "Get up!" I snapped at her. She rose slowly, her hands raised up in surrender. "Any funny business and I will rip your carotid artery right from your neck." I said as I grabbed her and moved her to a seat at knife point.

I shoved her down into the chair and began looking around the room for something to tie her up with. From behind me I heard slight movement and threw the knife over my shoulder without looking. I heard her gasp and turned around to see the pit of her suit pinned to the wall by the knife. I grabbed the set of knives and walked over to her.

I set the knives down beside me and then yanked the one that had her pinned from the wall. I feathered the knife gently across her throat and tapped her juggular once before I showed her the knife.

"You've messed with the wrong family sweetheart. You are in a train with 4 lethal killers, 4 Victors, threatening harm to myself and my son." I stabbed the first knife into her sleeve before I wedged it in deeper. I then pulled another knife and did the same to the other side of of her sleeve and followed the same pattern to her other sleeve. "You are from District 1 and are supposed to be trained in avoiding these life threatening predicaments." I added as I began stabbing knives into the sides of her suit at her torso and then her thighs. Once I was finishing I stepped back to admire my work. "Don't try and escape, I have my eye on you." I said as I headed for the door.

"You are a crazy b***h!" The red head shouted as I reached for the button that opened the door.

I stopped and turned around slowly to look at her pinned to the wall. "No, I'm a lioness and you tried to mess with my cubs." I replied as I opened the door. Before it closed I peeked my head back through and threw another knife that landed in the small space, the size of a pea, by her neck. "I haven't harmed you in any way so don't give me a reason to. Stay here, I'll be back quicker than you can count to twenty." I finished before I left.

I headed quickly down the hall before I entered my parents compartment, I quickly roused them and then did the same with my husband. I hearded them back to the dining car where they stopped when they saw the girl pinned to the wall with knives in her suit.

"What is this Aloe." My mother said as she moved forward.

I moved forward quickly and grabbed another knife before I stabbed it right beside her head. "This woman tried to kill me and was going to go after my son!" I said as I grabbed another knife and did the same on the other side.

My mother walked forward, her arms crossed. "You tried to kill my daughter and planned to do the same to my grandson. Let me be the first to say you are lucky she didn't kill you." my mother said before she took a knife and stabbed it straight through her hand. Instantly the woman screamed. "Oops, I guess I'm not as good as I used to be" My mother said as she turned to walk towards the door. "I'm going to go and check on my grand babies." she finished as she walked from the room.

I couldn't help but laugh at my mothers gutsy move. It was quite obvious to everyone in the room that my mother meant to stab her in the hand. My mother was one of the best went it came to knife throwing at long distances and what she had done was close up. I bet she sent a clear message. You just messed with the wrong family. I sat back across the room staring at the woman whose name I didn't know.

I picked up a nearby bottle and threw it across the room causing it to shatter inches from her head. The spirits flowed down the wall and soaked her wounded hand causing her to scream in agony.

"What is your name?" I shouted loudly. She continued crying so I rose to my feet and grabbed another bottle of spirits and crossed the room. "Tell me your name or I'll pour this over you!" I threatened.

"Fallon, it's Fallon Yane." She cried.

I opened the bottle and dumped it on her head causing her to scream in pain. "Be grateful because when we get to District 12 you will be taken back to the Capitol to be sentenced to death." I snapped before I rose to my feet and left the room.

I took five steps outside the dining hall before I was approached by not only my husband but my father and mother as well.

"Why did he try and kill you?" My father asked.

I looked to my husband who reached his hand up to wipe away some blood from my head, from the look in his eye I knew he was wondering the same thing.

"She didn't like the changes that we were making." I said plainly. "She said we were ruining things."

My husband pulled me into his arms before he kissed me. "You can't ruin something that has already been destroyed." he replied.

I hoped for the sake of my childrens future that he was correct. Hopefully what we were doing would bring forth a stronger country. A truly United Panem. I remembered the things I heard about Panem as a child in my school back in 12 and knew that your life was defined by where you lived. Those in the outerlying districts had no chance, soon that was about to change.