Thanksgiving flies past. We don't celebrate.
Christmas flies past. We don't celebrate.
Valentine's day flies past. We don't celebrate.
The snow starts to melt, and Easter rolls around. We don't celebrate that, either.
The cops say their dead. That whoever took my babies killed them.
Everyone is beginning to accept it, but I refuse.
I went to college, not only for teaching, but to be a detective.
I didn't tell anyone, because I thought it was pointless.
But now, in late May, past my thirty second birthday, I sit, staring at a family photo on the wall.
We don't talk much anymore, but the family doesn't go home.
We still hope they're going to show up on the doorstep one day.
I will slowly murder who took my family. Who took my babies.
Who look my life.
But as I stare at the family photo, that was taken when Peeta and I were nine years old on Christmas, a thought occurs to me.
A thought so brilliant that I can't believe I never thought of it.
A thought that makes me crack my stiff joins and set my legs on the ground, leaning forward with my elbows on my knees.
They all notice my change in demeanor,and they follow my gaze.
Those mother fucking asshole cunt ass bitches.
I'm going to kill them.
I will murder them.
My mind starts to whirl, back to when Hallie was just a small baby, only about two, three months. Back when Peeta and I were in bed, and Hallie was taken. The people that took her only made it to downstairs before I woke to her crying. I told them to put her down and they threw her.
I was deathly afraid she was going to die.
And the went to jail. They went to jail for five years.
On Thanksgiving week, when the kids were five, that was the week they got out of jail.
Surely, if they were to get revenge on me, they would do something that would break me.
"Katniss, what are you thinking?" Johanna whispers. I narrow my eyes, staring at my Aunt Megan, Uncle Andrew and my small cousin, who is now twenty, Jessica.
The only thing that could break me is to take my kids, all the kids in my family.
Which will destroy, not only me, but Peeta, and everyone else in our families.
My lips purse slightly in concentration.
Let's see…I tick off the months from November to September.
December…January, February, March, April, May, June, July,August, September…
Ten months.
I think back to detective school, back when I was in college.
In ten months, you can out together a plan and complete it.
The police did say that they think it was a man, a women and a younger women and a child that took them.
Uncle Andrew is the man, Aunt Megan is the women, Jessica is the younger women, and the child is Jessica's younger kid, who is six, if I'm correct.
Whatever, I know he's around Hallie's age.
I know them enough to know that they won't kill a child, but they will nearly kill them.
My heart surges with anger as I sit up.
"Katniss, you look like your ready to kill someone." Peeta says wearly.
"Those fucking bastards." I hiss as I rise.
"Katniss?" Prim whispers.
We're all broken, but it's made us a million times closer. I shake my head in pure anger and pick up the knife from dinner and send it flying at the photo, where it wedged right into Uncle Andrews forehead. They all gasp.
I've been angry, but I've never thrown a knife.
Then, without a word, I stomp upstairs and get my laptop. I lock myself in Brennan's room and block the door with his dresser. For days, I research everything. I search through their Face Book, I hack their emails, I find their address and I look through their photos after I hack into their computer with my own.
I search for a long time, occasionally exiting the room to eat and shower, ignoring the questions thrown my way as I lock myself in my son's bedroom.
I find a picture of Brennan, Hal, Bai, and the others on the floor.
They're pale and unhealthily skinny.
This was taken a few days ago.
Its Junetwenty first. Brennan and Bailee's birthday was six days ago.
Tonight. Tonight is when I will strike.
When I'm positive everyone is asleep, I get up and pack anything and everything I could need, I get a first aid kid and all of it. I buy a plane ticket to the place they live, which is in Montana and sneak out of the house, leaving my phone at home with a small note that just says "I love you all"
I don't know if they're planning to kill me when I go after them, but I will fucking destroy them.
The entire country knows about the kids being kidnapped because it went public, and I'm recognized as mother of three of the children.
…..s…..
I land in Montana with a hundred and eight missed calls. I put my phone on silent. It's only five in the morning here, but its eight at home.
The house is an hour from here, according to my GPS on my phone.
It's still dark when I get there, and my heart is racing.
I keep all the doors open so we can make quick escape. This house is fucking creepy at nighttime. There's windows are cracked and there's cobwebs. I set up the path, and the stairs creek underneath me, making me freeze. I hold my breath and wait, but nobody comes. I can hear whispers of scared children.
"I miss Mama," that was Bailee.
"Bailee, shut up or they're going to come down here and beat you again!" Audrey hisses. I open the door a crack and peek inside. They're all sitting around the living room, but there isn't a sign of any of them. I push the door open all the way, and all of the children look up, and I put a finger to my lips and slowly step into the house. I take them out of the house, two at a time.
All of them are crying silently. I get them all in my car, only Audrey left. I sneak back into the house.
"Katniss, you're going to die today." Uncle Andrew hisses.
"Am I?" I have a knife in my pocket, and I won't hesitate to kill him. I pull the knife out of my pocket. "Audrey honey, go get in the car," I smile. She swallows and sneaks past me to the car.
"Yes," he shows me his shotgun. "You are." He replies.
I will let him kill me, if it means my kids and family get to live.
"Go ahead, asshole. You're going back to fucking jail anyways," I snarl.
"Grandpa?" A little girl asks, who I can tell is Jessica's daughter. He looks away for two seconds, but that's all I need. I throw my knife and it lodges in his arm.
He shouts in anger and the gun goes off, but it misses me. I sprint out the door, down the driveway, into my car, start it and slam down on the gas.
"Shut the doors!" I order, slamming my door shut. Audrey shuts hers, and Brennan manages to shut his, and then he shuts Bailee's. I dial the police and explain everything, looking in the rearview mirror to see the jackass is following me. "Seatbelt on." I order. All the kids put on their seatbelt. "Did I ever tell you guys that Uncle Haymitch taught me to drive?" I ask with a grin.
"Which means we're going to lose them," Audrey says.
"Correct," I reply. I look in the rearview mirror to see that all of them are right on my tail.
Thank god for Jeep Wranglers. I push down on the gas, going over a hundred as I swerve around cars. I turn sharply down an ally and lose my mirror on a dumpster, and then I make a sharp left, making them think I'm going to actually go that way, but at the end of the alley, when they're just turning down it, I go left again and get right back into the alley and blow straight out of it and make a right, heading down a busy street as fast as my car can go. My phone starts ringing with Peeta's ringtone.
"I'm kinda busy right now babe," I sigh.
"Where are you? When are you coming home?" he asks.
"I'll be home sometime this week and I'm on the way now. Just bear with me, okay?" I ask.
"Fine…I love you." he says
"I love you too," I hang up and turn a sharp left onto the highway and swerve in and out of cars, knowing I've officially lost him.
Then I head for home. "When did you guys eat last?" I ask.
"Two or…no, three days ago, we haven't showered since we left, we haven't eaten in three days, and even then it was just a single piece of old bad lunch meat. We haven't drunken since that long and it was toilet water."
"Okay, in the back there's a cooler and there's fresh water and a ton of food in there." I say. The kids are covered in dirt and they look so unhealthy and their lacking sleep.
I wish I'd have killed that bastard. "You guys are safe now, I promise." I say.
"Mama?" Hallie whispers.
"Hmm honey?" I ask.
"I love you." she mumbles. I look at her in the rearview mirror, my eyes welling with tears.
"I love you too. I love all of you."
…..s…..
When we get out of Montana and into South Dakota, I know that the kids need a bed and a shower and a place with proper, healthy food.
I pull into a five start hotel, not caring about the price. I manage to wake everyone but Brennan, so I just pick him up. He wakes up, panicked at first, but them he sees its me and he un-tenses and rests his head against my shoulder, drifting back to sleep. I get my wallet and the bag of stuff I packed and head inside, booking a room with only two beds, because I know the kids want to share.
When I lady recognizes me as the mother of three of the kids, she refuses to let me pay a cent and tells me she can't imagine what it's like and informs me she has six of her own.
"Thank you," I say. She hands me the room key. All of the kids stay really close to me as I lead them upstairs and into the room.
"Can I take a bath, mama?" Hallie asks.
"Of course honey, go ahead." I smile. I lay Brennan down on the bed. Hal hesitates in the doorway of the bathroom, tears sliding down her cheeks.
"Will you come with me?" she whispers. I rise add follow her to the bathroom, leaving to door open. She goes potty first, and then she gets in the bath and just stares at me. "I thought you didn't love me no more." She whispers.
"Oh honey, you know I love you." I whisper. I help her wash her body and her hair, and then get her fresh panties and one of my shirts and put them on her. I lift her up and carry her to bed, taking Brennan in and washing him, next.
I do Bailee then, letting Brennan sleep in one of Peeta's tee shirts, which makes him cry. "I miss Daddy." He whispers.
"Daddy misses you, too. You can see him when we get home." I kiss his forehead and carry him to bed.
I keep bathing all the kids, only Audrey saying she's fine to go alone.
When I leave the bathroom though, after my own shower, all the kids are asleep, my three in one bed and the rest in the other. I walk over to my children.
"Mama?" Bailee whispers.
"Hmm honey?" I ask, planning to sleep on the floor.
"Sleep in our bed. Please Mama, don't go," she whispers.
"Yeah Mama, come." Brennan says.
"Please?" Hallie asks. I smile and climb in with them, laying in the middle.
All three of them cuddle against me, and I swear to god, I sleep better tonight than I have in my entire life.
…s…
When I wake, the TV is on and my three are lying against me, all of them awake.
Nobody complains that the show is on Disney Channel.
"Does my Mama still love me?" Olivia whispers. She's Prim's three year old.
"Your Mama still loves you very much. They just don't know I found you guys." I run my fingers through all three of my kid's hair and sit up. "Let's go home." I say.
We get food first, a huge meal, and together, we all eat it. They get their favorites, and I even stop for ice cream for them. The next night, the kids sleep with me again, refusing to let me go anywhere else. I beg people that see us not to say a word because I really want to surprise them.
When the "Welcome to Vermont!" sign appears, the kids realize they're going to see their parents, and they all start to bounce excitedly.
It's three in the morning when we get in the driveway. "Everyone quiet." I whisper. I sneak up the front door and into the house, where everyone is asleep. "WAKE UP!" I shout, flipping on the light. The kids are just in one of my shirts, or Peeta's. Everyone stirs. Peeta comes downstairs, and his eyes widen from shock.
"Daddy!" Brennan, Bailee, and Hallie all run for Peeta.
"Mama!" Audrey runs for her mother, Justin runs for Gale and Madge, Olivia and Chase run for Prim, Nick and Alyssa run for Finn and Annie and I just watch. Eventually Peeta just kneels down in front of the kids and hugs them all at once.
"How?" Prim demands, staring at me.
"Yeah Kitty! What the heck!" Finn exclaims. Everyone goes silent, staring at me.
"Well…" I begin. "I was sitting on the couch staring at that photo…I was Megan, Andrew and Jessica and I realized something. They got out of jail in November. If they wanted revenge, they would do something to break us. So, they used the time from Thanksgiving to September to plan, they took the kids, but they wouldn't kill them, just about. So, I researched everything and I went to their house and I took the kids, and I may have um…thrown a knife at Andrew and…yeah, I think I got it in a vein in his arm…" I mumble.
"Have they slept, eaten?" Finnick asks.
"Not much before I found them. They hadn't showered since September, but I took care of that," I say.
"You…I love you so much!" Finnick picks me up and then everyone swarms me, freaking out.
Peeta makes up a ton of food and forces the kids to eat, and he realizes he made them eat too much when Brennan throws up.
"Alright, bedtime!" Peeta says. "You too, come on." He pulls me and the kids upstairs at five in the morning. He doesn't let the kids to their room, and they don't ask.
The five of us curl into our bed and we all fall asleep.
….s…
I wake up to screams, coming from Hallie, waking up Peeta, me, Bailee and Brennan.
I'm blasted back in time, to when I would have 9/11 nightmares.
Everyone looks scared and confused, but I shake her awake. She takes one look at me and bursts into sobs. "Oh Hal, come here," I hug her and she sobs into my shoulder as I run my fingers through her hair.
"He killed me Mama, he killed me."
"I know baby, but he didn't." I whisper.
I think I'm going to put this story on hold until I get another idea because I'm out. If you want to recommend something, I'll consider it, but for now, I'm going to start a new story.