A/N chapter 5 yeah! Okay so a special thanks to anonymous reviewer katniss everdeen for reviewing! Hope you enjoy!

A Darker Future

Chapter Three

Annabeth's POV

We had landed next to…a black market? Malcom arrived seconds after me, and I was thinking about how we could time travel. I mean, if we had this all along, why didn't we use it before? We could've stopped so many things from happening. I guess if we didn't have some of those-

"Who are you, and are you okay?" asked a guy with black hair and grey eyes (not as grey as mine though).

"I am Annabeth and this is Malcom, my brother, and yes we're fine. Now, can we know who you are?" I asked.

"I'm Katniss and this is Gale," a girl with long brown hair braided down her back and grey eyes like the boy replied.

"Stop right there!" a man in a white suit, a weapon strapped onto his belt, and a harsh and cruel face yelled.

"Come on Katniss, let's go," the boy-Gale replied.

The man was heading toward us, and I shook Malcom and jerked my head to where the man in the white suit was. Malcom's eyes widened and I could tell he was thinking of a way to get us out of this situation. I met Malcom's eyes, and we had a silent conversation. Then the peace keeper came up to us and asked, "What are you two doing here?"

"We were just waiting for some people to take us to the orphanage, but it appears we're lost," I lied smoothly. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Malcom nodding his head.

"Alright, let's get you two to the orphanage," he said in a gruff voice then muttered something which I couldn't catch. He led us through the black-market and soon we arrived at a shabby, one story house, that looked like it had poor insulation.

"Here you are, just go in, and there will be a woman inside," he said in a stiff voice.

"Thank you officer," I told him.

"Thanks for taking your time to bring us here," Malcom said. I saw that the man had a pleased look on his face. Guess he doesn't get very much compliments, I thought. Malcom opened the door, and we walked in. Inside, there was a very old looking wood desk with cobwebs and moth-eaten holes on the sides. Sitting at the desk, was a woman who was probably as old as the desk, with black hair tied up in a messy bun, a long gray button shirt with a matching long gray skirt, and black flats.

"Hello officer, thank you for bringing these two children here," the lady said really sweetly.

"Just doing my job, have a nice day," and with that the man left.

The lady turned to us and said, "My name is Ms. Smith. There are two rooms, one for boys and one for girls. We have lunch at exactly noon, so do not be late. Now come, let me show you your rooms," Ms. Smith said rather sharply. I exchanged a look with Malcom. We probably weren't going to have the best time here. I sighed and thought, Oh well; maybe I'll make some new friends. Ms. Smith showed me to the girls' part of the orphanage and ushered me in, then took Malcom to the boys' part of the orphanage. As I walked in, I saw one girl with blondish, brown hair and gray eyes. She heard me walk me in and looked up. She smiled at me and said, "Hi, I'm Mirabelle, but you can call me Miri, " she stuck her hand out, and I shook it.

"Hi, I'm Annabeth," I smiled at her. I could tell we were probably going to be good friends.

"That's a pretty name," Mirabelle said.

"Thanks, I love your name too."

"Thanks," she blushed, "let's go to the lunch room, you can meet the others there too!"

"Alright, lead the way."

5 minutes later…

All the girls sat on the right side of the table, and the boys sat on the left side. I was sitting next to Mirabelle while she introduced me to the others.

"That's Flint, the one who's sitting next to your brother," she said, Flint waved to me, then continued chatting with Malcom.

"How do you know that he's my brother?"

"You two both have the same gray eyes, except yours are a bit more startling,"

"Oh, well, you're a good guesser then,"

"Thanks, I just like to observe my settings,"

"Me too, so what do you guys usually get for lunch?"

"Usually stale bread and a little bit of soup,"

"Oh, is Ms. Smith really mean?"

"Yeah, she'll beat you if you're late to any of the meals, and if you're not in by curfew."

"Wow, the nerve of people these days…"

"Yeah, she's coming in with the food, say thank you to her when she gives you your food. We have to 'mind our manners at the dinner table',"

I laughed, and when she came around with the food I told her thanks. As soon as she left, everyone started talking. I turned to Miri and asked, "Is it always like this?"

"Yup," she said, taking a bite out of her stale bread.

"So, what do you usually do around here?" I asked her, slurping a little bit of my soup.

"Don't tell Flint this, okay?"

"Sure," I said wondering what was so secret that Miri had to keep from Flint. They were practically brother and sister.

She lowered her voice down to a whisper, "Well, you know the forest that's cut off by the fence?" I nodded. "It's illegal to go in there, but I still hunt in the forest. I use my knife."

"Well, where I come from-"

"Wait, you're not from here?"

"Long story, I'll tell you later. Anyways, I ran away when I was seven, and while running, I met some people who were also running away. They gave me a dagger as my weapon and from then and on, I've always used a dagger."

"Wow, I can tell you're not telling me the whole thing, but I'm still amazed," she said, and I blushed.

"Thanks, but you've probably gone through much worse," her eyes changed my happy to sad, and then back to happy in the time it takes to blink of an eye. I didn't want to ask her here, so I decided to ask her later. We finished our food in silence.

"Where do we go now?" I asked her.

"We go back to our rooms, and we talk for a little bit and then it's curfew time, so we have to go to bed."

"Okay, let's go then," All the girls headed to their room, and the boys headed to their room. Once we reached we sat on Miri's bed.

"I have a question for you, when I said that you've probably gone through much worse than me, your eyes got all sad, but then they went back to happy. Why?"

I could tell this was a kind of touchy subject for her, but I could tell that she need to tell someone, and if she didn't she would break down. She took a deep breath and began her story. She told me everything, how her parents died, how she and Flint are basically brother and sister, and the Hunger Games. By the end of the story, I had tears threatening to spill out of my eyes. I hugged her because I knew that no words would help her. She hugged me back, and I pulled away.

"I know that saying I'm so sorry about your loss, isn't going to do anything."

"To tell you the truth, I hate when people say that to me. It's just not sincere, and then it's all awkward."

"I hate it when people say that too."

"Since I've told you about me, you should tell me about yourself!"

"Okay, you might think it's a little crazy though…."

"You seem pretty trustworthy, I might think its crazy, but it doesn't mean I won't believe it!"

"Alright, now let's see…."

I started from when I ran away, and how I got to Camp Half-Blood with Luke and Thalia. Then I told her about learning about the gods/goddesses, who my parent was, and my quests with Percy. After that, I recounted how Percy and I got together, the second Giant War, and how Malcom and I got to District 12. When I was done, she looked at me in amazement, and I blushed.

"It wasn't that great…." I said. Miri sat there gaping at me, and finally said something, "Are you kidding me?! You are amazing! I could never do what you had to do! You are just, wow!"

By this time, I bet my face was red as a fire truck.

"Honestly Miri, you've been through much worse!"

"Oh come on Annabeth, you know that you've been through WAY worse than me!"

"That is so not true! Let's put it this way: we've both been through many bad things?"

"Yep, we've both been through many bad things," she nodded her head. I was about to say something, but Ms. Smith came in and turned off the lights and said, "It's time to go to bed," and then left. I got off of Miri's bed and slipped into mine.

"Night Miri," I whispered.

"Night Annabeth," she said. I drifted off to sleep, and as usual there were nightmares.