Sparks

Chapter 20

CHAPTER 20

I walk slowly out the door and onto the sidewalk in the depths of the night. I rub my fingers against the pins in my pocket nervously. I make my way to Haymitchs house and pound on the door. After a few knocks he opens it.

"Why hello my good lovely. What do I owe this wonderful surprise?" he smiles.

"We need to talk, now." I command.

He smiles and opens the door, gesturing inside. I walk in and he closes the door.

"What's up?" he asks.

I pull out these pins. "What's going on? Why aren't we doing anything?" I ask.

"Katniss, I told you already. We are working on it." he says.

"How do you expect me to believe this? For all I know, Snow may not even be alive." I say.

"Do you honestly think that I'm lying about something that could kill us all?" he asks.

"No." I mumble between my teeth.

His face goes soft. "Now, hows this baby boom coming?" he asks.

"We had a false alarm yesterday." I say.

"Well keep trying and trying." he smiles.

"This isn't something we can do on a deadline." I snap.

"Well you better hurry up sweetheart. Times a tickin." he taps his imaginary watch.

I hold out the pins. "What about these?" I ask.

"Once the Districts are back to normal we can get in inside to cooperate with them. Then we will know." He says.

"What's going on in 7?" I ask.

"What?" he asks.

"Johanna's staying at our house. She says there's something going on in 7." I say. "Haymitch, what is going on. No ones telling me anything. You promised you would tell me everything."

"I promised I would tell you everything you would need to know." he says.

"So what about 7?" I ask.

"Nothing that concerns you." he says. "So, if you'll excuse me, I have a very important meeting with my bathtub." he walks up the stairs.

I walk out of the house and walk to mine. I .stand outside the door to my house, trying to process everything before entering. Peeta will be up and upset. I take a deep breath and walk in and find Peeta on the couch waiting for me. He stands when he sees me.

"Where have you been?" he demands.

"Sorry, I stopped by Hazelles." I say.

"At two in the morning?" he asks

"Yeah." I say.

"Katniss, don't lie to me." he demands coldly.

"Alright. I was talking with Haymitch." I say.

His hands ball up into fists and he looks away. He looks back and drops his head then loosens his grip. "Listen Katniss," he looks up with his face all soft. "do what you want. I'm not gonna stop you, because it seems like I couldn't even if I tried."

"Haymitch isn't going to hurt me Peeta. I know we've been over this already but I know he would never hurt me. He looks after me, like you. Look at me. I'm fine." I say. "I can take care of myself."

"I know that Katniss." he says then walks upstairs.

I stand there frozen for a while, then walk out the door slamming it as hard as I can to make sure Peeta heard. I sprint down the street as fast as I can, ignoring the fact that it's the mid of night and I'm probably waking up others. Once I reach the fence surrounding 12, I kick the post. I kick as hard as I can until it falls to the ground. I jump over it and sprint into the woods getting deeper. I ignore the coldness that surrounds me as I run faster. I trip over something and fall face first to the ground. I turn my head to see what tripped me only to hear footsteps coming closer. Then I black out.