“Close your eyes,” I tell Madge as she sits on my bed. She’s hesitant and I smirk. “Just do it.” Her eyelids flutter shut and a smile graces her face. It takes everything that I have to not kiss her again, the way she sits patiently although obviously wanting to peek.
She leans back on her hands and sighs, a sound that gets my stomach twisting. “What for?”
By now I’m rifling through the drawers trying to find that necklace. I know she’ll be happy to see it, she has to remember it. Her dad gave her the golden token so maybe it will remind her of home. Maybe it’ll remind her of me. After that kiss tonight… I want more. I just don’t want to rush. I don’t want her to think I’m forcing her into something.
“I hadn’t wanted to give it back yet,” I say quietly, shoving aside some shirts I’m not even allowed to wear anymore. I know it’s here somewhere… “I was always scared that you’d never remember me, any of me. So I kept it just in case.” A piece of her that could be with me if she decided she didn’t. “So I could hold on to it… a piece of you. But now I think.. I think you’re remembering more every day. I want you to have it.” I travel across the room and she sits up straighter. “Lift up your hair.”
“Why?” she laughs, bunching her hair into her hands ever so gracefully. “Can I open my eyes yet?”
I sit next to Madge and lean over her gently. “Not yet,” I whisper. She bites her lip and I can’t stop this time, can’t stop from pressing kisses up her jaw. She’s still my Madge, still able to get my heart racing from one simple action. Her skin is soft as I suckle lightly and she shudders, her face flushing lightly. God, I love her. Everything about her. The necklace drops onto her chest. “Okay, now.”
Madge’s eyes flicker open and I lead her gently to the mirror. “Where did you get this?” she snaps. The tone of her voice causes me to step backwards.
“You told me to hang on to it,” I frown, my stomach clenching. Her eyes turn cold.
“Well I don’t want it,” she hisses, reaching up and pulling the necklace with such force that the clasp breaks. Her hand slams it down on the dresser. “Why on earth would you think I’d want a mockingjay? Katniss Everdeen ruined my life.”
“Madge, what are you…” her eyes lock with mine. Angry, sharp, black and empty. “Madge,” this isn’t Madge. Madge was just here, where did she go?
“No, stop, stop…”
“Stop what?” I reach for her but she pushes me backwards.
“Get away,” her voice cracks. “You… you…”
“Madge,” she was just here, my Madge. “What’s happening? Look at me, what’s going on in your head?” Her eyes flicker across me but she’s unseeing. She doesn’t see me anymore, just as I don’t see here. Everything was great… it was all going great, she was remembering me.. her hand lashes out and makes contact with my cheek. Madge’s nail scrapes across my skin, a stinging overwhelms me. I lift my hand up and feel blood, my stomach dropping.
“You left me,” she chokes out. “You left me and you let them take me.” I shake my head and rush for her again. I thought she was dead, I had no way of knowing… “I said get away!” Madge slinks back against the wall, her eyes darting everywhere. “Stop! Stop, stop, stop…” but she’s not talking to me anymore. Her hands cover her ears and she squeezes her eyes shut. “Stop…” She collapses on herself, and then all hope is lost. They’ve really, truly taken her from me.
