Chapter 1: The Cry
"Goodnight, my darling," I say to the little boy closing his eyes and turning in his bed. "Goodnight, mama," he says back to me before I close his door. As I'm walking quietly down the hallway I hear a noise coming from downstairs. My home is usually so quiet at night it's deafening, so I instantly become worried. I take off my shoes and run towards the closet in the spare bedroom making sure not to make any sound. I get the spare bow and sheath of arrows that I stashed up here in case of an emergency. I keep the other set downstairs in the study, but I don't want to take a chance. I slowly make my way down the steps, skipping the ones that I know squeak when you apply pressure to them. As I near the bottom of the steps, I reach behind me and feel the cool metal of the arrow. I load my bow with the arrow and pull back ready to let it fly. My mind is envisioning where the arrow will go, right through the heart. My fingers are ready to let go as I turn the corner.
"Woah, what are you doing," Peeta almost screams at me as he sees my arrow pointed directly at his chest. I let my bow down and put the arrow back.
"I heard a sound, but I thought you were upstairs," I say back to him trying to defend myself.
"My leg was hurting me so I had to get out of that bed. I wanted to walk around or do something so I came down-"
"Mama! Daddy!" I turn my head to the sounds of my child screaming. I run upstairs this time not caring if I make a sound. I load my bow before I even know what I'm doing. My hand reached for the doorknob, but it jerks away almost instantly from the heat. I look down and see the smoke coming from under the door. I back up and run into the door with my shoulder but it doesn't budge. I drop my bow and run downstairs and into the study to get the lamp that sits on the desk by my mother and father's wedding picture. I run back upstairs, but Peeta is already up there and the door is open. I walk into Baylor's room and see that it's as black as charcoal. I walk towards his bed, but see that there is no one in it.
"He's not here," I say with tears in my eyes.
"Where is he? We just heard him," Peeta looks at me with concern in his eyes.
"I don't know..." I walk towards the open window.
"Peeta...that window wasn't open when I put him to bed." I look at Peeta and I fear that
what we are both thinking might be true. Our son has been kidnapped.
I go downstairs and walk into the study. I move the carpet that has been hiding the loose floorboard where I put my extra bow and sheath of arrows, except I only grab the extra arrows. I head out of the study and I am ready to walk out of the front door when Peeta stops me.
"Where are you going? What are you doing?"
"I'm going to track whoever took him!" I don't even notice that I've been crying until I hear that my voice is raspy.
"Katniss you can't. It's too dark, and you could get yourself hurt," Peeta is pleading with me.
"I can't just do nothing! We have no idea who took him! We have no idea where he is! I can't let his voice be unheard. He's probably so scared Peeta," I am full on crying now. Peeta walks over to console me, but my tears are not sad tears they are tears of rage. I'm filled with a fire hot rage that is consuming my being. I feel as if I'm about to explode. I brush Peeta off and walk out of the door. I hear the door shut behind me and hear the loud crunching of snow. I look back and see that Peeta has followed me outside.
"What are you doing? Just go back inside. I can do this by myself," I am so filled with hatred that I am practically screaming at him.
"No Katniss," I stop dead in my tracks. Peeta very rarely says no, so I know that he isn't going to go back inside. I turn around to look at him.
"He's my son too! It seems like you always forget that. We are a team Katniss, and it's not like in the Games. We both have to work together to keep him alive, so that means that if one of us does something, we both have to do it." Peeta has determination in his eyes and it's not letting up. My anger subsides and I realize that I am freezing.
"You're right. I'm sorry. I'm just scared, okay? I've lost too many people and if I lost him I don't think that I would be able to recover from that." He walks over to me and takes me in his arms. I can feel the warmth seep back into me. I slowly breathe in his scent, he must've been making bread. It feels like an eternity before we pull away from each other. We walk back inside the house and start our plan. After hours of planning and replanning what to do we hear a knock on the door. We both answer the door hoping to find Baylor, instead we find the head of his stuffed rabbit with something burned into it.
"Is that-" The words were just beginning to form in Peeta's mouth before I cut him off. "A mockingjay."