Fire is Raging On (A Hunger Games Fanfic) [#Wattys 2016]

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen

Peeta's POV

The silence is the room makes the pounding in my ears all that much louder. The blood is racing through my body, making my heart thump harder in my chest. I can actually feel my heart pumping blood through it with as harder as it is pounding in my chest. The pounding in my ears echoing my heart's erratic beat.

My breath is coming as shallow puffs through my slacked open mouth. It's much colder than it should be. I suck in more air, but can only release it in the same shallow breaths. I can't seem to draw in the great deep breaths my lungs are craving to have. My body will only release the shallow breaths as my body shuts down into a deeper state of panic.

"Peeta," Katniss whispers. She's lying against my side, curled into the fetal position. My arms that have been around her since we've moved to the couch in the early hours of morning, wrap around her tighter now at the sound of my name. "Peeta," she says again.

I know she's waiting for me to speak, but my throat is dry. So dry it hurts to swallow the saliva in my mouth. The dryness in my throat reminds me of sandpaper, just the rough, coarse texture of it. It must be replicating in my mouth and throat. I swallow down some more saliva, a slight burn in the back of my overdry throat. "Yes," I whisper hoarsely.

"Peeta," she repeats, but this time she moves from her position. The position she was in for hours. I can tell by the way she moves that her muscles are stiff. I want to reach out and help her. Help her remove the stiffness from her muscles by gently pressing against the different knots and cinks, but I'm too numb to move. My whole body feels numb like someone stuck me in a freezer or outside in the snow. "What are we going to do?"

What are we going to do? Vada took one of the most precious things from me, my daughter. My little Willow. The only other precious thing to me is Katniss. They were my two girls. My two wonderfully, caring, brave, loving girls. They were the sunshine to the darkness that clouded my world before. The two people in the world that brought me absolute joy. Before them joy was rare in my life. It wasn't until I saw Katniss outside the bakery in the downpouring rain all those years ago that I had even a semblance of joy again. Before that my life had small moments of light, ones filled with Katniss. Katniss on our first day of school when we were small children, Katniss's hand shooting straight up at the mention of the Valley Song, the way Katniss sat in class seemingly paying attention when really her mind was elsewhere drifting between the worlds of her mind, the way Katniss interacted with Gale the gentle smile gracing her beautiful features.

Those were not my truest moments of joy. Those moments of truest joy are reserved to the moment she said real to me not all that long ago, the moment she told me was pregnant with Willow, the moment she said she would be my wife, our wedding day, the moment Willow was born, and all the days afterward of raising and taking care of bundle of joy.

Then, all that came crashing down so easily. So easily like crushing a grape between your fingers. She was in my reach, in my grasp one minute, and then . . . ripped away from in a heartbeat. My chest aches at the thought, half of my heart reserved to her ripped from my body.

What are we going to do? The thought flits through my mind. What are we going to do? My baby girl missing, taken by the Capitol. What are we going to do? What are we going to do? What are we going to do? The thought repeats through my mind.

"Truthfully, I have no idea, Katniss. I have no idea," I whisper softly after minutes of silence.

Three loud raps on the door stir us, KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! They are loud and pounding, insistent. I glance at Katniss and she at me. I can see the look of confusion and fear on her face. The same look must be on my face. Who could be at our door? Capitol Peacekeepers serving Vada?

I steel myself, taking a deep breath that my lungs are still burning for from my shallow breaths. I swallow past the lump in my dry throat and rise from the couch. There's an indent from I have been sitting for hours, but that hardly seems relevant in a time like this.

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

The knocks more insistent now, more urgent and demanding. My legs feel like lead as I move toward the door. My body trembling with thought of what I might find on the other side of the door. Vada wouldn't do anything to Willow, would she? She wouldn't harm a defenseless child, would she?

My hand rests on the door knob now, the metal cool in the palm of my hand. I take another deep breath and glance back at Katniss. She's moved from her position on the couch and now stands by the wall at entrance to the foyer. I look back at the dark oak door in front of me and begin to turn to knob.

KNOCK!

I open the door enough to see out right before another knock can ensue. A man stands on the other side of the door. A hand shoots out before I can shut and lock the door.

"Peeta Mellark?" he says.

"Yes?" I say, my arms ready to snap the door shut in a moment.

"May I come in?" he asks.

"Who are you?" I ask. I'm not just going to let a stranger in my house.

"Dominuc Lewis, agent in the London Armed Forces."

"What?" I say stunned. London Armed Forces?

"I've been instructed to help you. If you will let me I can explain some, Mr. Mellark."

I look the man up and down, before deciding that if necessary Katniss and I could take him down. I step back and open the door enough for him to walk through.

"Thank you," he says, tipping his head. "Mrs. Mellark," he says, tipping his head once again toward Katniss.

"What do you want?" Katniss says, not moving from her spot by the wall.

"I can help you," he says. "I hear you have a daughter. Where is she?"

"What do you want with your daughter?" I say, defensively.

"She's not here. She was . . . taken by the Capitol last night." Katniss says quietly.

"Damnit," Dominuc swears quietly. "I"m too late, then."

"Too late for what?"

"I've been instructed by the London Armed Forces to bring you and your family safely to London with me. It would appear I am too late to get you all out of here."

"Why are you supposed to bring us to London?" I ask. "What does the London Armed Forces want with us?"

"The London Armed Forces aren't in charge of it. They are under orders from the Majesties themselves. You are being called to London to stop the Snow Regime under the aid of the flag of England and her allies." 

I deleted the announcement part, but if you didn't already see it, part of it's also in chapter 5. If you didn't see, you're not seeing this unless you followed me. The issue is resolved now, but I'm still keeping all but the first 5 chapters of my actual stories private. It's easier that way. Also if you didn't see as the slight change in what's after the title. This is entered in the Wattys2016 and joshhutchersonlover2 has nominated me for Best Hunger Games fanfic in the 2016 edition of the Wattpad Yearbook. 

Side not, I almost forgot today was Saturday. The only reason I remembered was because I came on to update the part called "My TBR List" on Ask Me Questions. Well, now that I updated and got all the writing things I wanted done for the day, I'm going to read probably a whole book today. Because I've already read 27 of 36 books on my goodreads reading challenge. Mind you the challenge runs from January 1 to December 31. I'll probably finish it before I go back to school. -- Alexis