I woke up to my mom screamming again i sigh and turn over in my bed to see my little brother gale looking at me with wide eyes. i crawl over and sit next to him "prim why does mommy scream"he asks "i dont know dad says were not old enough to understand" "but your 10 and i am 6 i think we are plenty old eough" gale pouts i lie there stroking his blonde hair as i listen to dad wake mom up to comfort her. i listen carefully and hear dad singing to her. its the same lullaby that they sing to gale and me when we go to bed, but gale and i know it means somthing deeper then that. the only thing we are told is that mom and dad used to be in the hunger games. we learn about the hunger games in school a little bit,but tomarow are teacher said we would be learning alot more and even some stuff about mom and dad.i was excited at this but once i told mom and dad they were very serious and scared it looked like mommy would faint. all i know about the hunger games is that a bunch of people were picked to go fight to the death. i have tried asking before about when they were in the hunger games but they just say that they will explain when i am older. once gale falls asleep i climb out of bed. quietly i tip toe to mommy and daddy's bedroom i listen as my dad keeps saying things like the hunger games are over that she is safe. i knock on the door but no one answeres so i knock louder "mommy daddy are you ok" i ask my dad opens the door then steps into the hall closing the door behind him. "prim did we wake you?" he asks niceley i nod my head and dad pulls me into a welcomming hug. "go back to bed ok? do you want me to come tuck you in" i nod again daddy picks me up like i am a feather then takes me to my bedroom he lays me down carefully on the bed. he tucks me in and kisses my forehead. "are you going to be okay?" he asks, but i am alreay asleep waiting for what tomarow will bring. what i will learn that haunts my mommy so much. i sit in history class fidling with my fingers. today is when we learn more about the hunger mom had tears in her eyes when she sent me off to school. she had turned to dad who was staniding there stifly"there too young peeta"she said. dad had just nodded back. our teacher and principal comes in "goodmorning class" she says in a singsong voice. "goodmorning " we reply back. "ok lets get started so as you all know" stops when she sees someone knocking on the classroom door. i turn and get my best view at who is there and to my suprise it is mommy and daddy. opens the door and steps into the hall to talk to my dad. my mom comes in and kneels down right next to me by my desk so we are eye to eye. "prim we are going on a vacation ok" she says "vacation really?" i reply"yep we are going to go get your brother ok and then we are leaving" "ok mommy"i say but then stop mysself"wait what about the hunger games lesson""i dont think you will be having that lesson anytime soon" she reassures. i get out of my desk as my classmates watch with envy. mom takes my hand and we go into the hallway where dad and now haymitch is talking to . they look like they are arguing but mom takes me the other way to get gale from his leads me to gale's classroom and i wait outside while she gets him. we walk down the hall towards daddy and haymitch. i run towards haymitch "haymitch" i yell while hugging his picks me up and spins me around"hey prim" he says then gently sets me down. then he does the same to gale. "peeta did you get it figured out"my mom nods and mom breathes a sigh of relief. "well we best be going to meet effie" says haymitch. we walk for a wile towards the train station until i get tired then daddy carries me. we reach the train station and climb abord. i see effie sitting there and she greets us. we all sit down and the train starts to move. "mommy where are we going" i ask breaking the silence it was starting to scare me. "to district 2 where gale lives" "gale is right here" i giggle "yes but we named him after this person" "does he know were comming" i ask mom looks at dad "no he doesnt even know you exist"the train ride was pretty boring we all tried to play games but one question kept nagging at me. who is gale? and why are we going there now? mom and dad notice when i space out thinking about this and try to keep me occupied they dont like answering any of the questions i ask they try to avoid them. finnaly after a long time the train pulls to a stop i start to fall asleep and dad carries me. it is strange as soon as we step off the train a crowd of cameras envelop us. haymitchpushes them aside as effie is yelling at them to move that this is private family buisness and they have no right to interfere. we push past the crowd until they all disapeer leaving us alone. i glance groggily over at gale who is sound asleep in my mothers arms. we walk for a while. "we are almost there" chimes effie after 10 min. we slowly come up to a house hidden within some trees my mom holds her breath and my dad sets me down i stand up and look all around it looks like a forest. i try to run around the trees and into the woods but my dad stops me."not now sweetie" i nod as we walk up to the house .

Effie knock on the door and it swings open. A man stands there with dark brown hair he has a scowl on his face I gasp and hide behind daddys legs. "hello?" the man says mommy steps forward biting her lip "gale its katniss" the man stiffens at this. He turns and looks at me with a questioning look "prim?" he says my eyes widen as saucers he shouldn't know about me. Daddy squeezes my hand and looks down at me but I hide even further behind him. "she is my daughter gale" says mommy "her name is" my mom swallows like she does every time she tries to say my name "prim" she whispers. The man turns to look at me his face softening. Then he turns to look at gale "and him?" he asks. "I… I named him gale" mom stutters

Gale sighs "katniss why are you here?" he asks harshly. And that was it my mom never cried in front of me and gale before I knew she cried but she always pulled herself together around us. My mom shook with sobbs racking her body. The mans facial expression doesn't even change. Daddy walks over to mommy and takes her away to comfort her so now its just gale me haymitch Effie and the big scary gale. Big scary gale kneels down so he is eye to eye with me and gale he stares at me for a long time I try to avoid eye contact though he reaches over to tough my and gale's shoulder but I recoil at his touch. I pull gale behind me protectively. "I don't think you made a good impression" says haymitch. Scary gale looks mad "well I didn't show up on somebodys doorstep how many years later" he yells I start shaking fiercly why does momma want to be picks up gale who now looks ready to cry. I stand firm and this time look the man right in the eye "you hurt mommy you're a bad person I don't even know why she wanted to come here" I yell. Scary gale looks tortured from what I just said. Good I think he deserves it for hurting mommy. "I uh well swee.." he begins but I cut him off "you are terrible"I yell "mommy has a hard enough time getting to sleep as it is I knw this cause I wake up every night to her screaming and I have to wait until daddy calms her down you just made things worse. I HATE YOU" I yell and it seems to echo around bouncing off the trees and the house. I run to where mommy went with tears in my eyes.

"mommy" I sob as I run to where mom and dad are both sitting on the ground. Mommy and daddy look up at me then envelop me in a big hug. "why are we here" I say muffled by sobs. "he was our last hope' my mom says."katniss we must go back" daddy says mommy nods and stands up I grip her hand tightly not sfraid of letting my tears show from when they ran down my cheek earlier. We walk back to face the big scary man named gale who my mom must care about enough to name my brother after him. Her words echo through my head he was our last hope Haymitch appears to be yelling at this big scary gale but gale pays no attention he is watching us closely as we walk back up to the house. "katniss I…." he starts "save it gale" mom snaps "this is what is going to happen we are going to all go inside and have a long chat because there are some things we need to figure out got it" gale nods his head. "my wife and kids are out of town they will be returning in a few days" my mother nods as gale opens the door and steps inside we all follow In behind him. It feels like your at a log cabin with the huge windows over looking the trees. My brother is still in haymitch's arms and I grab mom's hand tighter as we sit down on the couch. Big scary gale sits across from us. "katniss I explained a lot already" haymitch says."ok so gale you know whats happening and that we are staying here for a couple of days wile hopefully things settle down back home" "ya sure" gale mumbles "gale" my dad speaks up "this is important we are in danger and I cant afford to loose my family all because of your attitude"gale grabs my arm and squeezes it hard I struggle to get him to let go of me "I thought you said you weren't going to have kids katniss and why would you want a kid that you cant even say there name properly. He squeezes my arm harder certainly cutting off circulation "daaaaaadddddddyyyyyy" I scream in gets up and pushes gale away from me just enough so he backs off. Then he croushes down to examine my arm that is now turning beat red. Mommy glares at gale who just stands there."don't worry prim it will be okay the pain will only last a minute" but he looks worried at my arm so I don't find much comfort. I see haymitch come back carrying some ice in a bag he hands it to my dad who then puts it to my arm "can you hold it there" he asks me I looks furious "you just hurt my child" she yells "I cant believe you who are you" gale looks guilty now. But quikley he shrugs it off "when you live here you have to abide by my rules" .We all got 2 rooms to share both rooms had two king size beds in them apparently these were the guest rooms. I wake up again to mommy screaming like every night but its louder now that were in the same room. I hear footsteps come running down the hall and the door flings open. There stands gale holding a knife in hhis hand now is my time to scream. Daddy had just woken up and was trying to wake up mommy. When I screamed he looked up and saw gale standing in the doorway. Mom sat up in bed still screaming for a second then she wakes up her eyes shoot open and she looks around the room then at gale who has dropped the knife and it is now laying at his feet. I don't know what his intentions were but they probably weren't good. So while gale is paying attention to my mom I quikley slip out of bed and grab the knife. I point it at his neck. Now gale looks at me afraid which makes me smile. "I wasn't planning on hurting you" he says "then why did you have the knife" I looks at my mom who now is getting out of the bed with dad right behind. "katniss I.." he starts but I put the knife closer to his neck. "prim"my dad says softly "put the knife down. "no he going to hurt us" I yell "prim sweetie give me the knife" says my mom reluctantly I back away from big gale and put the knife in mommy's hands. "well she sure knows how to protect herself" says gale jokingly but then stops when he sees the look on my parent face. I charge at the man and tackle him jumping on his back. He falls down and I pull on his hair " why are you soo mean to mommy" I yell. Quikley gale jumps up and I slide off his back and hit the ground with a bang. "owwwww" I cry daddy comes over and picks me up. Then I see haymitch come in the doorway "gale" he says "she does this every night you'll get used to it go back to bed" "but I…. It sounded like.." "I know what it sounds like it sounds like I am dying I get it" my mom yells "peeta I want to stay someplace else." says my mom softly "lets go to annie's" daddy says. So that was that we all packed and headed to the next person's house annie whoever that is. It was hard to leave considering big scary gale kept begging mom to stay and that he was sorry. My mom didn't buy it though "what happened to you gale?" she asked "I torchered myself" he replied "everyday I think about prim every single day" my mom softens at this but she isn't changing her mind "were still leaving gale my kids are terrified of you" scary gale nods back."she looks a lot like her you know" he says " "I know" mommy replies as they both glance at me.

"I am sorry about that day I didn't know" "its fine gale I have forgiven you" "I know I just feel terrible that prim had to die" I drop my suitcase witch rattles with a loud clang as it hit's the floor. Gale glances at my mom "u didn't tell her" " they don't know much" mom sighs "only a little about our past" "katniss u have to tell them"

"there too young gale" my mom says looking away "they wouldn't understand" "if this rebellion is rising I think they deserve to know" I just stand there rebellion I ask myself who would be rebelling the hunger games are gone everyone is free. Just then haymitch walks in "annie said that we can come tomarow morning but we have to spend the night here: he says my mom nods at him."rebellion" I finally speak up " why" dad is siitting down by me "they want the hunger games back" he says I fall back at this. those horrible games? they want them back. Why? "O no peeta" my mom suddenly says "I forgot it's prim's birthday today" " ya I forgot I am turning 11" "o no how could we forget your birthday" my dad says. He picks me up and swings me in a circle I laugh. "happy birthday prim" he and my mom say."it's not the same without daddy's birthday cake but I think I can manage" I say."but I ask of you one thing" "whats that sweethart" says my dad "I want you to tell me everything" Mom bites her lip and looks at dad they both nod and daddy goes to get gale he sets him down right next to me and mom begins "you see I used to have this sister her name was prim and we were close but when my dad died I had to take care of the family but we were slowly starving and one day i was going towards the bakery and….." mom tells us this huge story about getting picked for the hunger games through dad's hijacking and finally ending with prim dieing. I look at mommy and feel very bad for her I get up and hug her tightly she hugs me back. I never knew why she had her nightmares now I understand. Gale sits thre taking all this in he is pretty young so he doesn't fully get it but he gets the point. I don't know why big gale was soo mean he seemed nice when mom was telling the story but he blames himself a lot and I see that now. I must just haunt him remind him of prim that's why he acts also explained that capitol people are rebeling for the games they miss the entertainment. I was scared with mommy now would they come after me because mom was the face of the first rebelion. That was why we were here everyone in district two agrees with us. that's why those cameras were following us. Suddenly the door bursts open and a women jumps in with two kids behind her she slams the door shut and leans against the door panting. Big gale stands up and walks over there in distress "Amelia are you okay what's going on?"

"there coming" she pants out then she notices us "who are they" she asks "no time to explain everyone get to the cellar" says big gale we are all rushed down into a small room I am holding onto daddy tightly wile mommy carries gale lights a small lamp and shuts a huge metal door with a big lock I hear it clink when he locks the door. "gale what is going on" says my mom

"the rebels are coming" says gale "who are these people gale" Amelia asks again"peeta mellark and katniss mellark" replies gale the women gasps slightly at this. Daddy hold out his hand and she shakes it "nice to meet you" he says the women simply nods."why are the rebels coming" I ask big gale he sighs then looks me right in the eye "they want you and your family" I stumble backwords at this and run into to dad who grabs me in an embrace I can still smell bread and flower which reminds me of the bakery witch reminds of home. So they are coming for us they want us why? What do they want why do they want the hunger games again so badly tears stream down my cheeks as dad holds me and says reassuring words. I didn't get much sleep so I eventually cry myself to sleep in dad's arms.I wake up and notice most of the other's are passed out, but I notice the woman and the kids she was with are missing. I figured they left to hide and protect each other. I sit up and look around mom and dad stir a little as I walk around trying to Think things through. We never heard any loud banging so I guess the rebels left I see now that gale my brother is watching me carefully "prim" he whispers I crawl over next to him "I'm scared" I know I say stroking his blonde curls which always comforts him. Gale looks aalot like my dad and I look a lot like mom but we still have little of both in small ways like our eyes I have my dads blue while gale has mom's mom and dad wake up after a couple of minutes. Also big gale wakes up slowly after we all sit in silence not sure what to say. I forgive big gale a little I guess I still am cautious of him. Without anyone saying anything we quietly climb back upstairs. Gale and I both cling to mom and dad who hover over us protectively. "where do we go now mommy" gale asks I don't know sweetie" mom replies. Effie and haymitch trail behind us as we enter the living room. Everthing seems so calm and peaceful that I am not worried but after a wile I realize something isn't right there are no bustle of people outside heading to work. It only takes a second for my dad to realize this too because he turns to mom with a look of utter horror on his face I can tell we are just about to turn and go back downstairs when the door busts open and there standing is a women with a bunch of men in uniforms beside her my mom gasps and my dad hovers over her protectively."it's time I get revenge for you killing my father" says the woman. "snow was a great leader" this time it is time for me to gasp and the woman looks at me and my brother gale with a sly grin on her face. This cant be good.I see my mom's face drain of all her color. "what.. Who are you?" she asked "I am krysta snow's daughter." replied the woman. I hear my mom gasp as dad hovers over us all protectively. "and I am here to restart the hunger games. And the people who are being used are the children of other tributes or other friends from the rebellion."I watch as a man in a white uniform pushes two kids that look oddly familiar. It isn't until I hear big gale gasp that I know who it is. It's the children who were with the woman whom I expected to be gale's wife. So that would mean these are his children."danny chris are you okay?" says gale. I strain to make out the characteristics of the people, but find it hard when it's so dark from the lack of electricity. I can tell though that the two children are slightly older then me probably about 13. They also have brown just stand there shocked about what is going on."so are we doing this the easy way or the hard way?" the woman sneers. I dig in my pockets and find a small rock then I throw it right at the lady's head. She looks at me with an amused smile, but I can tell there is slight aggravation."they are not even 12!" my dad yells. I see mom turn to us."don't worry prim everything will be okay, but you must take care of gale ok?" I nod a little and my mom envelopes me and gale in a hug. I see tears stream down her eyes as she is yanked off of me. Before I can do anything I feel the cold rubber of a glove touch my arm and then a pinching of the skin which I realize is a needle. They are drugging us I yell in my head. Then everything goes black, and the last thing I heard was my mom's sobbing muffled by my dad's shoulder.

katniss

:"peeta they cant do this" I sob. Peeta just holds me. As I look up I notice there are silent tears running down his cheek too. I hug him tighter too afraid to let go as images of the games fly through my head." we best call and see what is happening at the capitol" says haymitch taking charge,but clearly distressed at the situation. Gale nods and Effie quickly leaves the room to make the strokes my hair saying comforting words to me."why?" I ask peeta looking up to meet his eyes. Peeta looks at me sadly"I don't know" he says running his hands through his own hair in comes back looking distressed."she took over" she says. The words rattle through my mind as I cry again. Sobs racking my body. Gale just stands at a distance looking out in space clearly distraught. I walk over towards him."I'm sorry" I say choking on a sob. Gale looks at me sympathetically."I should be apologizing I was the jerk." he says I just shake my head and go back to peeta." we should find annie" haymitch says gruffly. We all turn towards him then realizing annie could have lost her son finn we nod in leaves the house not turning back ready to save our children from the wretched games that have somehow made there way we walk up to annie's I already have a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach before we even reach the door I realize that they took her son. The only proof I need is a silent annie opening the door with swollen eyes. I rush up to her and hug her."I'm so sorry" I say. She pulls away from the hug and looks directly at me."we will get them back" she says with more confidence then I feel. I just give a slight nod then enter the we gather around a small t.v. when we hear it flicker to screen I see krysta. She is talking about the games returning. Then she names off the tributes most I don't know the only ones are prim and gale, chris and danny, gale's sons and finn. All others are just sad children being forced to do things so young. The worst part is that the oldest child is 14 and even they are shaking with is like the opening except there are no costumes only scared goes on to explaain that they get an interview tomarow night then are sent into the games already the next morning. After the t.v flickers off and the whole room is silent.

prim

:I sit in the dark cell with my brother next to me. He just stares somberly at the wall not ever breaking concentration. He has been like this ever since he realized what is happening. I hear our names being called because there are some districts with more then one kid. I was lucky my brother and I could do the interview together. I shuffel my feet towards the door then realize my brother isn't coming. "come on gale lets go" I hissed. Slowly he stood up then walked out like a robot. I press my lips together in a thin line but keep we reach the main hall I realize that all the other children are sitting around staring at a t.v. I turn my attention and see a boy about 14 sitting in one of the round chairs near caesar flickermen. I hear Caesar say the boys name as he exits off the stage. It's finn annie's son. I look somberly at the floor thinking about home.I snap out of it when I hear my name being called. I grab gale's hand and drag him with me too the stage. Caesar immediately stands up and comes to hug us both before we reach the stage. He whispers something in my ear that I make out to be a mumbled sorry. I look back at him and smile saddly. He returns the same look. He leads us to the chairs and sits us down. He asks us about our family and I have to answer all the questions because gale is as quiet as a mouse."and what about you gale? What do you think about being here" Caesar asks I tense immediately and turn my neck towards gale. Gale just sits there unfazed not talking at all. Caesar quickly drops the issue, but doesn't get his next word out before the buzzer goes off telling us the interview is the children our sent back to the cells, but finn catches up with me. "we'll get through this" he whispers putting his hand on my shoulder. I look up at him with a hint of hope shinning through my eyes. "ok" I whisper back. With that finn drifts back into the crowd as we head to what may be our last night of reachj our room and immediately I lie down on the small cot and sleep hoping to sleep my worries is one of the oldest kids, and I know that he will try and protect me, gale, chris, and danny. He told me tonight in his own way. I kenw this would be tuff mom and dad had told the basics of the games, but never fully explained. I also knew there were some career children here, and they would probably pose the only threat except for the game makers and surviving.