AN: I originally submitted this as an entry for Write-Me-A-Story HG Challenge out of fun. Thank you to Ro Nordmann for the lovely opportunity. Thank you to the judges for choosing it as Best Non-Canon FF. Seriously I wasn't expecting that. *sobs gratefully*. To check out all the wonderful entries, check out wmashgchallenge dot tumblr dot com.
I wanted to explore the idea of hijacking Peeta in a modern AU setting and this is what I came up with after seeing the prompt on my tumblr dashboard. (I'm biopolarism on tumblr.)
This story has dark themes and graphic scenes. Be warned. I don't own THG, but if I did that would really be awesome.
Ten year-old Peeta trusted his mom with his life.
His mother always told him, "I want you to be perfect, son. I don't want you to end up like those dirty filth in the Seam. You need to be washed clean."
He always believed his mother.
He didn't whimper when she scrubbed his whole body until his skin feels raw.
He didn't protest when she gripped his neck too tightly, submerging him in the cold water of their bathtub.
He didn't fight and gasp for air even when black spots danced in his eyes until he lost consciousness.
"There there, you are all clean now." Peeta's mother smiled when he woke up, coughing water out. Peeta slumped, feeling weak yet clean, just like his mother said.
Peeta trusted his mother. He truly did.
His friend Katniss didn't.
"What happened to your neck Peeta?" Katniss asked him once when she saw dark, angry bruises on his neck. They were playing by the lakeside behind Peeta's house, which they did secretly whenever Peeta's mom is still out for work.
"Just an allergy. It's nothing." Peeta replied, avoiding Katniss' concerned stare.
Katniss knew it was a lie.
Katniss visited Peeta's house a week later. She knew his mother would throw a fit at her very presence. His mother's deep hatred for anyone from the Seam wasn't exactly a secret, and Katniss was one of those "dirty filth" as she would call them.
Something in Katniss' instincts clicked the moment she entered the house. It was eerily quiet, but she knew there was something wrong.
"Peeta?" Katniss called out nervously. No response. She tiptoed up the stairs to check if Peeta was in one of the rooms, but the open bathroom door caught her attention. Katniss peeked in, but what the 10-year old saw would haunt her for the rest of her life.
Katniss watched in muted horror as Peeta's mother clutched on the young boy's neck, drawing him out of the bathtub water before mercilessly shoving him down once more. Katniss's heart pounded as she waited for a few agonizing minutes before the older woman pulled out a nearly fainting Peeta by the neck, propping him up and dressing him while he coughed and wheezed for air.
Katniss remained rooted in her spot in shock when a disoriented Peeta looked straight at her, blue eyes widening. "Kat...niss..." Peeta croaked.
It only took a split second for his mother to turn around and land her eyes on Katniss. "What the..."
Katniss was a quick little girl. She was able to bolt down the stairs and run out of the house. She ran and hid underneath the wrap covering half the boat tied by the lakeshore.
Peeta's mother ran out of the house a few minutes later, screaming profanities in the air as she wielded a small axe.
"Wretched scum... Filth! How dare you step in my house! I will fucking kill you when I see you!"
"Mom, please." Peeta whimpered as he followed his deranged mother. Something snapped in the woman at Peeta's voice.
"You ungrateful bastard! A Seam filth? You are just like your father!" She screeched, grabbing Peeta by his hair, dragging him towards the lake. The boy only cried and held onto his mother tightly. The older woman threw the axe on the small boat, followed by Peeta. His mother started rowing the boat out further into the lake before stopping.
"I'll teach you a lesson, but first I need to clean you of the filth you acquired from that mutt," Peeta's mother said darkly as she pushed the boy out of the boat. The woman gripped Peeta's head down the lake's surface while the poor boy struggled for air.
"Let Peeta go!" Katniss screamed as she pushed the woman out onto the water. With adrenaline pumping in her veins, Katniss quickly reached out on the side of the boat to pull Peeta up. Waves rocked the boat as Peeta plopped into the boat, gasping and choking on deep gulps of air. Katniss took the oars to steer them out, but her hands were shaking. She stopped and approached Peeta instead, rubbing his back until his caught his breath.
"Peeta, are you okay?"
"I guess." He rasped. "We have to get out of here."
"Not so fast." His mother spoke as she held on the other side of the boat. Her hands fisted in Katniss's hair as she tried to pull the girl.
Something snapped in Peeta's mind as he grabbed the abandoned axe on the boat floor, and swung it on his mother's head with all his strength. He didn't bat an eyelash when he felt something warm in his hand as he retracted the axe. His mother wriggled in a funny manner as she slumped, clutching her head in agony. For the first time in his life, Peeta felt satisfaction as his lips curve up in a grin.
Katniss seemed to have gained her strength at the sight when she suddenly pushed Peeta's mother out, holding the woman's head down the water. Katniss turned to face him, her usual silver eyes turning to almost black.
"Help me Peeta."
Peeta's hand automatically stretched out to push his mother's head further down the water. Both of them watched in fascination as blood swirled in the water. Bubbles rose from the water for a few minutes before they slowly disappeared. The two children felt the woman's head slack underneath their hands as she sank down into the lake.
Katniss and Peeta turned at each other, hands trembling and bodies shaking as they realized what they had done.
18 Years Later...
It was nearly dusk, the sun descending slowly behind the 24 hour sign of the store.
Peeta Mellark waited, albeit impatiently. He ran his shaky hands through his messy curls, eyes darting nervously at the store's exit. His blood hummed in anticipation and nervousness as a certain itch grew in his consciousness.
Long dark hair. Olive skin. Slender and petite. So much like her, he thought to himself.
Peeta hobbled slowly towards the unsuspecting woman he had been observing for hours.
"Excuse me, could you help me unload my cart? My leg isn't cooperating well right now." He said with a charming yet cold smile.
Thrashing. Coughing. Pleading.
The woman wriggled and flapped wildly in desperation as water sprayed from a contraption in the ceiling, filling the tank inch by inch. Her face contorted in horror as realization seemed to sink in her features. She wasn't going to survive this.
Something stirred in Peeta's pants as the woman cried in agony, her sobs choked by the water swirling around her. Peeta smirked as he stepped nearer to the glass tank, his long fingers touching the moist surface of the glass. He smiled charmingly, eyes glazed as he murmured to himself.
"Be strong my love."
The woman's eyes widened and bubbles came out her mouth as she pleaded wordlessly. Minutes later she ceased to move, sinking further to the bottom of the tank as she clutched on her throat.
Peeta's eyes narrowed as he walked towards a set of lever and pulled one down. The sides of the tank lowered, water gushing out along with the unconscious woman, her eyes half open in an eerie dead stare. Peeta approached the woman and started resuscitating her. The woman sat up and coughed out water from her lungs. She wheezed as air hit her lungs painfully. She looked up to see Peeta standing over her, clucking his tongue in disappointment.
"You aren't as strong as I thought you were... Katniss."
"I'm... Not... Kat..niss..." the woman rasped brokenly. "I'm Bristel... I have a family... Please. Why.. are… you doing… this." The last part came out as a hiss.
Peeta's jaw flexed. He grabbed hold of Bristel's hair as he dragged her out of the room. The woman didn't have any strength to fight anymore. She just held on to her head, begging for her life.
The last things she remembered before darkness consumed her were a pair of crazed blue eyes and splatters of fresh, wet crimson against dark tiles.
A crowd gathered around the scene as police shuffled around the area. It wasn't new for the people in this part of the city commonly known as "Seam" to see the area surrounded by bright yellow tape marked with the usual boldfaced "Police Line Do Not Cross". The Seam is well-known throughout Panem City as one of the most crime-ridden districts inside the city.
Serial killings, however, have never happened. Not in Panem City, and not even in the filthy criminal streets of the Seam.
If Police Officers Katniss Everdeen and Officer Gale Hawthorne didn't grow up in the Seam, their stomachs might have churned at the sight of the dead woman who was disposed of here in this dark alley.
Katniss examined the body carefully. The victim was pale and blue, a far cry from the pretty olive-skinned woman named Bristel pictured on the ID they found in the left breast pocket of her blue dress, along with a single dandelion flower. She glanced at the reddish stain seeping through the left part of the victims's head and the angry purple marks on the victim's neck. The victim seemed almost peaceful in her sleep.
"Four bodies in two months. I'll be damned if the FBI doesn't notice this soon enough." Gale commented, interrupting her thoughts as he took pictures of the crime scene.
"I think that's the FBI over there." Katniss said, gesturing towards the two men engaged in a conversation with the Panem Police Chief.
Gale shrugged. He started taking pictures of the victim. Katniss stepped aside, eyes still focused on the victim.
"You know what baffles me Catnip?" Gale asks as he focuses his lens.
"It's Officer Everdeen during work, Hawthorne." Katniss chastised.
Gale ignored her. "In all these cases, each victim was dumped in the same manner: dingy alley in the Seam, cleaned up, hair braided, clothes changed to the same blue dress, dandelion in the breast pocket. He even leaves them with their IDs just so we could identify them immediately." Gale stopped, staring at the dead victim in pity before continuing. "I hate to say this, but it seems these women were used as substitutes before being offered up as sorry gifts."
Katniss' eyebrows perked up. "Gifts?"
Gale huffed. "Think about it Everdeen. Who do you think they look like?"
Katniss looked at Gale without blinking. "Me." Gale's eyes widen, and before he could speak Katniss continued. "I knew the moment the second body came in."
Gale's eyes darted from Katniss to the scene surrounding them. "I know that risks are part of our job as police, but I'm worried for you, Catnip. The Seam was placed under your supervision as district team leader only three months before the crimes started. Whoever is behind this, he's escalating fast, and he's coming for you."
The bell chimed as Katniss entered her favorite hole-in-the-wall bakery, which was just right by the corner of the street where the Panem Central Police Station is. There were no customers inside the cozy space. Her nose feasted on the fresh smell of bread and coffee as she strode to her favorite seat by the counter.
"Officer Everdeen." A deep masculine voice greeted her, sending shivers through her spine.
"Mr. Mellark." Katniss greeted back.
"Please, just Peeta." He smiled at Katniss, who felt her cheeks burn up. "The usual?" Peeta asked in a warm tone. He didn't wait for Katniss to reply and went to the counter, getting a cheese bun and a cup of warm coffee for Katniss. His messy blond hair bounced as he hobbled back to Katniss. Katniss would never admit how incredibly attracted she was to this mysterious baker.
"Here you go." Peeta placed the tray on the table. Katniss took the plate from his hands, their fingers brushing. Katniss felt a jolt of electricity surge through her fingertips. She cleared her throat to ease her thoughts.
Peeta sat down in front of her as she bit on her cheese bun in silence. Peeta always took the time to sit down and make small talk with Katniss whenever she frequents the bakery. This time Katniss is grateful for the silence. She looked up at him secretly through her lashes. He was poking on a stain on his apron. Katniss swallowed her cheese bun as she watched his arms flex. His blue eyes shot up to meet her silver ones. Peeta's eyes reminded her of something… She closed her eyes as she tried to swim through the dark memories in her head.
Peeta interrupted the comfortable silence a few minutes later. "Any problems?"
Katniss sighed before she took a sip of her coffee. "Nothing serious… Just stressed at work, I guess."
Peeta's head tilted as his eyebrows furrowed in thought. "I heard about the cases in the Seam. People kept talking about it yesterday. They're calling whoever's behind this as 'The Seam Killer'."
Katniss shook her head. "I can't comment on those cases. We cannot disclose details to the public until we finish preliminary investigation." Peeta nodded in understanding. She sighed before straightening up in her seat. "People think its all fun and games being a cop."
Peeta just smirked mysteriously at Katniss before responding. "There are much worse games to play, after all, Officer Everdeen."
Katniss met his cold blue eyes. She felt a shiver run down her spine.
They watched in fascination as his mother's blood bubbled up to the surface. They pushed her head further down the lake as she struggled weakly. They felt her head limp as her last breath broke out in tiny little bubbles on the lake's murky water. They let her go, watching as his mother's dead body sink further into the depths of the lake. Peeta turned to Katniss. She was all grown up, but she donned the same blue dress she wore when they killed his mother eighteen years ago.
"Katniss." Peeta whispered.
Katniss only smiled as she glanced at the lake surrounding them. Peeta's blood turned cold at the sight of all the dead women who resembled Katniss, floating in the water with the same blue dress. He turned back to Katniss, who was now pale and blue, blood trickling from her mouth.
Peeta's eyes shot open as he woke up drenched in sweat. Same dream again. He muttered to himself. Peeta touched his forehead gingerly as the pain seared through his head. He bit his bottom lip in pain as he slowly stepped out of the bed, his numb left leg screaming in protest at the weight pressing down on it. He hurried to the kitchen, popped two pills in his mouth and drank water. He stared at his reflection on the kitchen window. His face looked hollow and pale. His eyes sunk deep in their sockets. The itching feeling in his consciousness crept up in his thoughts as he thought of the day Katniss Everdeen saved his life. Peeta gripped the counter tightly, looking straight at the reflection of his eyes.
His friendship with Katniss soured because of his mother's death. Both of them had nightmares, and Katniss ended up traumatized by the incident. Peeta, on the other hand, had to move away to his grandmother's a six-hour drive away from Panem. He wasn't able to do anything back then. Peeta did everything to keep himself posted with Katniss' life. The simple curiosity he had for his best friend became a full-blown obsession.
It took him seventeen years to face his fears and move back to Panem City after the ruled 'accident' of his mother's death. Peeta still vividly remembered the moment Katniss stepped in his bakery three months ago. The moment she introduced herself as Katniss Everdeen, he felt something shift in him as if the planets were aligning for them. Peeta wanted Katniss, but she didn't remember him.
Apparently, her trauma caused her to forget her memories of Peeta.
Distraught, Peeta sought out for female company, someone who could take his mind off Katniss. He did find someone. He also found something else.
Peeta found release.
Guilt and pleasure flowed into Peeta as he killed every single one of those women. But they weren't enough. This time, the only thing that could satisfy Peeta is her.
Katniss.
"You don't deserve her, Peeta. You… You are a monster. She is a strong woman who deserves more than a monster… A weak and cowardly mutt. Mother was right. I am nothing but filth now." He laughed bitterly. Peeta punched his reflection on the window, shattering the glass and scraping his fist and arms.
He smiled as he watched his bright red blood drip slowly from his hand.
Katniss stared at the investigation board. The Seam Killer's cases flooded the board: crime scene evaluation, autopsy reports, lab results. Katniss pieced every common detail together by pinned red strings.
Gale mocked Katniss earlier for being too obsessed with the Seam Killer. She is obsessed. More than how a cop should normally be.
Katniss bit her lip as she touched the picture of the blue dresses.
Fuzzy memories of a wet blue dress, blood-stained hands, and cool blue eyes passed through her mind.
Katniss would never admit it, but a twisted part of her felt an intimately deep connection with the Seam Killer. Like she had been waiting desperately all this time for him. Katniss knew the answer lies deep down the childhood memories in her mind, repressed and locked by years of therapy.
She clawed on her scalp as a vivid, stinging memory of a boy with blond hair and blue eyes assaulted her mind.
"Peeta." Katniss gasped as she opened her eyes in realization.
A few weeks later, Peeta couldn't contain the itch any longer.
He hummed as he drove towards the deserted area on the other side of the lake. Peeta gazed at the beautiful moonlight seeping through the clouds. It casted a shimmering silver on the water which reminded him of Katniss' eyes. He smiled.
A dull thud came from the back of his van, followed by a muffled screaming.
Peeta's smile grew wider at the sound.
Tonight's fun will be much different.
Peeta parked behind the dark trees and pulled a flashlight. He opened the van's rear to pull out the woman he abducted a few hours ago. She struggled weakly in his grasp, her hands and feet tightly bound with duct tape and her mouth gagged shut. Peeta dragged the woman to the lake's edge, illuminated by the van's headlights. The woman's eyes widened in fear as he dropped her on the deep part of the lake. Peeta grasped her hair and held her down the water's surface for what seemed like eternity before pulling her head out, body still submerged in the cold lake.
Peeta felt an extreme rush surge through his body as he stared at the woman, now pale and shaking from the cold water and the lack of air. He removed the gag on her mouth as he looked at her in a mesmerized manner.
"So beautiful..." Peeta murmured as the woman took desperate gulps. He felt that twitch in his groin again.
The woman stared up at him with bleak eyes. "Please... Don't... Kill me..." the woman pleaded hoarsely.
Peeta cocked his head and smiled crazily at the woman. "I won't... If you prove you're as strong as her." His face blanked as he pushed her down the water once more, riding the delicious high coursing through his veins by watching the woman struggle underneath his grasp, air bubbling up the surface as she fought for air. After a few ten minutes, Peeta felt the woman become limp under his grasp. He pulled her unconscious body out of the water and stood above her.
The high was too much for Peeta to take. Peeta spun around to get his axe from the van, but he froze, blood draining from his face.
Katniss stepped in front of the headlights, her silhouette outlined by the bright lights. Peeta gulped as Katniss approached him, taking slow steps. He wasn't sure if she was only a figment of his deranged imagination.
"Peeta. I'm sorry." Katniss whispered. She stopped right in front of him and looked straight into his eyes, recognition reflecting from her silver orbs. Peeta felt like his chest would explode as he stood frozen, unable to move a single muscle.
Katniss walked past Peeta and went straight behind him. She gazed at the woman lying at her feet. The woman moaned incoherently. Her eyes opened, glassy and unfocused. Katniss looked back at Peeta with an unreadable expression on her face.
"Peeta. Why?" Katniss asked him, concern laced in her voice.
Peeta felt guilt pool in his stomach as he hung his head down in shame. "I don't know why. All I know is that I had to do it. Otherwise…"
Katniss rushed towards Peeta and cradled his face in her hands for a few moments, silencing him. Her face was full of mixed emotions as they stared at each other's eyes. Katniss didn't say a single word when she dropped her hands and ran towards the van. Peeta's eyes widened when Katniss emerged, axe clutched tightly in her right hand. She walked determinedly towards the woman who was now slowly crawling on the ground. Katniss kneeled down and raised the axe high in her grasp before Peeta stopped her, gripping on her right wrist.
"What are you doing Katniss?" Peeta questioned, pulling her up. His heart pounded nervously as Katniss remained silent. Her face showed determination as she opened her lips to speak.
"I'm saving you. I'll take care of this." Katniss gestured towards the woman before brushing her fingers on Peeta's face, planting a soft peck on his lips. "I'll take care of you. Now go, run."
Peeta stood by and watched as Katniss struck the woman's head with the axe, coating her hands with blood once more.
Katniss emerged from the gated confines of the prison compound with nothing but a small bag and a proud look on her face. Two years ago, Katniss surrendered herself to the Panem authorities, claiming responsibility for the Seam Killer's crimes. She caused a major uproar in the community upon her arrest.
She lost everything that day; her title, her job, her friends and family, and her dignity, but she gained something in return.
Today, she was released much to the dismay of the public. The evidence on all the cases was too weak to pinpoint her as the Seam Killer, or anyone else for that matter. She also maintained a good profile whilst inside prison, which made it easier for her.
She walked on the deserted road for an hour before she saw him standing on the side of the road.
Peeta waited patiently, his hands tucked in the pocket of his jeans. Katniss smiled as she approached him. Peeta smiled back.
"Two years." Peeta whispered as he took hold of Katniss' hands.
"Two years." Katniss whispered back.
They started to walk slowly for hours in silence, hands clasped together. Their eyes would meet frequently with tiny smiles creeping on their lips.
The sun was already descending when a car stopped beside them. The windows rolled down to reveal a middle-aged woman.
"You guys want a ride?"
Peeta and Katniss smirked mysteriously at each other before entering the car.
The games have only just begun.
Thanks for reading!
Note: I know I haven't updated "In All These Changes" yet, and I am so sorry. Real life caught up to me and now I am swamped with a lot of things. I hope I could post the next chapter by August. This is it for now. *scratches head*