DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE HUNGER GAMES! If I did, Gale would be with Katniss and Peeta would be withering up in a little hole, crying his wittle heart out…

CHAPTER 2: THE NIGHTMARE

Katniss POV:

His answer is the last straw. I start to cry. I drown myself in my misery and self-pity and how much he must hate me. After Peeta tried to kill me all those times, he was sent to the Capitol to be put in the insanity ward. After he left, I felt the fiery hole that he tried to fill up, but completely failed at doing, burning through my chest, consuming my entire body.

"Katniss Everdeen, the girl on fire!" I mumble to myself through my now silent tears. Suddenly the door rings, probably Greasy Sae, trying to make me eat again, but I pull myself together and answer the door.

"Hello Katniss!" Sae says.

"Hey Greasy Sae."

"Did you eat today, or do want me to cook again?"

"Would you cook something for me?"

"Of course! That's what I'm here for!" she says with a smile on her face. I manage a smile and while she cooks, I tell her about my conversation with Gale.

"It's great that he's coming home after so long."

"But the thing is that he seems pressured into coming. I don't think he even wants to see my face again! His tone hurt me! It made me feel horrible and worthless!"

"Sweetie, it will be okay. You two were the best of friends. You'll work it out. Don't worry" says Greasy Sae. I sigh.

"You're right. Besides, even if he doesn't forgive me, at least I'll have been able to see his face again, one last time before I die."

"That's the spirit!" After eating, I go to bed and dream about Gale and my reunion with him.

~~~~I'm running through the woods outside of District 12. I'm not even sure why I'm running when I hear the ear piercing cries of pain. I know where he is once I hear the song. I hear the mockingjays around me singing 'The Hanging Tree'. I run towards my destination, the ancient hanging tree which was retired once the electric fence was put up, enclosing the entire district. The faster I run, the louder the music gets and the screams of pain become softer and weaker. Before I even get there, I know that I am too late. When I get there, the music stops and I see Gale Hawthorne's dead body, covered in bloody marks left by the whip from when he was caught hunting, hung up on the tree. His necklace of rope, and his heart, is scorched and burned black by my fire. Suddenly, the mutts with the tributes' eyes leap out at me and before I can run, they slowly scrape their razor sharp claws down my body. My vision is clouded by the intense pain I feel and the blood running down from my face. The last thing I see before I scream myself awake is Gale looking at me and without warning, he says, "Now do you see why I left? Why I couldn't be near you any longer? You, Girl on Fire, have burned me beyond recognition and left me behind you to suffer and die. Please, just leave me alone and let me die in peace."

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" I scream at the top of my lungs.

"It was only a dream, it was only a dream" I mumble to myself, trying to keep myself sane during one of the worst nightmares I've had in a long time. I try to forget the painful reverie and go back to sleep, but I can't. When I look at the clock on my wall though, it's only 5:43 AM so I would've been up now anyways hunting and preparing the house for Gale's arrival. So now I have to get to work. Suddenly I realize what a horrible task it's going to be. I haven't cleaned the house since I've come here years ago. I inwardly sigh to myself and begin the dreadful duty.

The first room that I start with is the worst- my bedroom. I have dirty clothes, half eaten plates of food, and empty bottles of alcohol. I even find dead animals hidden under my enormous piles of trash. I start by washing all my clothes and throwing away all of the trash. My room is considerably clean now. I rearrange everything and BOOM! I've got a damn good room! Once I clean all of the other rooms which were much easier than the first, I take a long awaited shower. As I watch dead skin fall off me like snowflakes, the phone suddenly rings and I quickly grab a towel and race to the phone. When I pick it up, I get one heck of a surprise. It's Gale.