Author's Note

Disclaimer: I do not claim or wish to claim any of the characters I have mentioned and or portrayed. 'The Hunger Games' trilogy is copyrighted to Suzanne Collins and I have no intention of copyright infringement. This is written strictly for entertainment purposes only. Thank you.

Rather short chapter to start off, but this is my first Everlark fic so I thank you for reading ^^ Sorry if anyone comes out as OOC on the way. Trying to get the feel of the characters.

Please review and tell me what you think, whether you like it or not! It helps me write better in the long run.

Prim.

That's the face that conjures up into my mind. Who is standing before me, expressionless, unmoving, her shirt still having the back end poking out like a little duck tail. She doesn't blink, she doesn't show any sign of recognition towards me. I clear my throat and in a hushed voice whisper, "Prim?"

Her eyes lose the glaze, her head snaps up, and she finally seems to see me for the first time, even if she was only looking at me just as she was now a second ago. "Katniss?" She says, slowly tasting my name, a hint of confusion in her voice.

And that's when I see the bomb in her hands.

"Prim, no, drop the bomb," I say, eyes widening, taking a step forward, desperate to get to her. But I only realize too late that I've stepped off the plate before the 60 seconds. It explodes, the bomb in Prim's hands explodes, and we're engulfed in fire. "PRIM!" I screamed, feeling my heart being ripped from my own chest.

"You...you did this.." I hear her voice hissing through the flames. "You left me to die... you didn't save me.."

And that's when I hear her voice joined by another. "You're just another one of the Capitol's mutts." I feel the fire rake across my back, my leg, forcing me on my knees and staring into the eyes that could only be recognized as President Snow's. "Now, Katniss, I thought we promised not to lie to each other?" His voice boomed as he smiled. I felt my left ear go silent followed by an overwhelming smell of blood and roses.

Jolting out of bed, emitting the first scream of the night and trying to swallow the rest. My chest rises rapidly as I remember where I am, that it wasn't real, that it was only a nightmare that torments me. I'm almost startled to find that Peeta isn't with me. But I can hear him, banging on something, shouting my name, his voice flooded with urgency.

And that's when I turn to see the fire.

It had slowly just started to creep into my room, licking at the walls, desperate to spread the destruction I'm sure it was already doing to the rest of my home in Victors Village. Jumping up and out of bed, I'm already running, throwing open the door and immediately getting an up close and personal feeling of fire. Already the smoke hits me like a wall and fills the room, intent on suffocating me and anything else living. "Peeta!" I cough, stumbling out in the hall, trying to see as much as escape. "Peeta!"

"Katniss!" I hear him shout, hearing me, and a sudden huge crash tells me he probably just busted down my front door. Why did I decide to lock it, of all nights? "Katniss, hold on, I'm coming!"

I'm not sure when I reach the stairs, but I know I do because I trip down the first steps. Barely gaining my footing enough to continue, I hear something creaking and my heart nearly stops with dread. And smoke. The ceiling is going to cave in at any second; I have to get out. Coughing, I ignore my agonized lungs and continue to press forward, moving faster and with a more fleeing way of doing so. "Peeta," I sputter, trying not to cough or vomit or anything that would slow me down. Apparently he's close enough, because I can hear his own coughing and he tries to return my call.

The book. It catches the corner of my eye as I nearly run past it. It's the book Peeta and I have worked on for ages, recalling everyone and anyone who we know died for the rebellion, including Prim. The ceiling cracks and groans, threatening to fall on me and even possibly Peeta, who I know can't be far away because I can still hear him trying to plow through the smoke. "Peeta-" I try to call again, but I'm cut off by my own severe choking and coughing. Eyes watering, I make a split decision to grab the thick book full of untouched yet slightly singed pages. It was only luck that as soon as my fingers secured it a strong arm snaked out of the smoke and grabbed my shoulder. "Katniss!" Peeta shouts again, trying not to allow his body to have a coughing fit. "Come on, we need to get out of here!"

He somehow manages to figure his way out, nearly having to drag me along into the cool night. The house is beyond saving now; the majority of it is too destroyed beyond recognition. The adrenaline seeps away for just a second and I'm stuck coughing, heaving, my body wracking itself as it tries to get the smoke out and the air in. Peeta seems no better off; I'm pretty sure he's still gasping for air when he pulls me up into his arms, the two of us still both miserably coughing. "Are you alright?" He asks, his voice hoarse and rough. I can only manage a small, brief nod, but that seems enough for him.

Haymitch, who we hadn't seen, comes drunkenly running up to us, breathless from the 'trek' he had to make to reach us. "What the-?" He starts to yell, but a large groan of wood cuts him off sharply. Grabbing at us, forcing us up on our feet, away from the house, he sputters utter nonsense, but I turn back to look.

The house came crashing down, and in that moment, so did the rest of my world.