A/N- I've said it once and I'll say it again, thankyou so much for all the positive feedback! You have no idea how much it means to a beginner to be told all of these amazing things. Another big chapter for this fanfic here, so I won't keep you waiting! Enjoy! :-)
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I can still hear Peeta lashing out on my front door, making the hinges squeak under the pressure. I can hear him screaming at me, screaming obscene words to me that makes me fear what would happen if the door was in fact to give way. I can't bare to think of what he would do to me if he found me in the state I'm in now. Haymitch is to the rescue- a bit late, yes, but rather late than never. I admire Haymitch's courage. If the situation were flipped, I would be too concerned about myself getting hurt than Haymitch or Peeta. I hear Peeta slowly, very slowly, begin to calm down. He's getting tired now but I can still hear the rage in his voice. As if Haymitch knows what I'm thinking, he attempts to carry Peeta away by the sounds of it, but in the end he decides to drag him. Peeta must be throwing some sort of fit. By this point, I'm so horrified by this day in general that my clothes are soaked in my own sweat and tears. I scream out my tears for a few more minutes until exhaustion takes over my body and I drop into a nightmare-less sleep.
When I wake up, my eyes are glued together from the tears of the past evening and my clothes are clinging to my skin. I take this as a sign to shower. I keep up my routine, I scrub my still patchwork skin and my slightly matted hair. Whatever stuff I'm using on my body is doing me some sort of good. I change into a green shirt and some black trousers and gently tie my hair in it's usual braid down my back. I step down the stairs cautiously, checking that my front door is still on it's hinges. Thankfully, it is. I prepare myself a small breakfast and plan out my day. I don't really have much to do anymore. Days like these I would usually see Peeta but I somehow think that would be a mistake right now, or I would see Gale. I think he left, though, after he'd told me about what the Capitol are doing to Peeta. I decide on one thing that I could do that would proabably while away some hours and give me some time to think- hunting. I finish up with my breakfast, clean my dish and grab my game bag, bow and arrows. I throw on my hunting jacket and my pair of leather boots that have moulded to my foot shape. I feel like the old Katniss all over again.
I exit my house quietly, planning out what I will do first, going through the stages of gutting and skinning animals in my head just to be sure that I remember from all those months ago. I still do, of course. Those kind of things stay with you. I'm kidding myself really; just trying to distract my brain from Peeta. It's not working too well, if I have to be honest. Just as I'm trying to shake the thought of him out of my head, I see him. Just sat there looking at Prim's memorial. I stop and stare for a few seconds until he notices me, too and smiles. I whip my head away from him and pick up my pace a little as if this will make him not see me. It's too late obviously as he's already calling after me, screaming for me to come back. This time, it's a different kind of scream. The screams he let out last night whilst calling me awful names were crazed, mental screams. But these are more like pleads, I can hear the sorrow hanging in his voice, the fear. These words are too much for me, right now, so I begin to run away from him and let his cries become distant. I find myself slowing down to a walk next to the ruin of District 12's Justice Building. I feel sick brewing up inside of me, trying desperately to push away all of my memories about this place. I'm running again, towards the woods. I finally meet the place where I used to crawl under every day- it's still there, the gap that I made. I slide under it and feel right at home all at once. I know this place. I know the way that the animals move from tree to tree, I know the way that the plants grow, I know the way that the wind hums out a soft tune as it sways through the trees causing them to dance along. This is the one place that I am certain I can find my way back to who I was before. Along my walk, I've been keeping a sharp eye and ear out for any signs of wildlife. A lizard, a squirrel, even a deer. That's pushing my luck slightly. Suddenly, there's a rustle in a cluster of berry bushes to my right. I fall into the shadow a tall tree is casting and quietly raise my bow to what lies behind it. A squirrel. It darts out with a haul of berries carefully stashed in it's cheeks. Ultimate focus is required. I release the arrow and I know that I've missed my usual target as soon as it leaves the bow. It's a few centimetres from the eye of the squirrel, but it's giving it enough pain to slow it down a relative amount. I've loaded another arrow into my bow before the animal even has time to try and scramble away. It's too late for it, I've released the arrow, and this time I know that I have it. And I do. I lurch forward and grab the squirrel which is, sure enough. dead. I pack it into my game bag and decide on carving a small target onto the trunk of a tree to help with my target. Besides, it couldn't hurt for a bit of practice, I haven't been hunting in months.
It takes me a while to hit the bulls' eye 5 time in a row, but I get there. I take this as a sign that I'm ready to continue with the hunting I'd already started. After a few hours of searching, loading and killing, I've managed to catch another 3 squirrels. This is a fantastic haul for me, seeing as I haven't been hunting in such a while. I decide to cook one now, as a reward for my efforts. I've finished preparing my fire and start to toast my skinned and gutted squirrel when I allow myself some thinking time. I don't want to allow myself to think that Peeta is still under the influence of the Capitol, but it does make sense. I mean, remembering how Peeta was when I saw him in District 13. Mad. Crazed. Hijacked. I could understand why Peeta would have to be tracked and forced to act like he used to. It just doesn't seem right. The way Peeta was acting towards me before I found out about this seemed so real and… Right. I mean, it didn't seem fake at all. But maybe that's what the Capitol are doing so well. they chipped him, forced him to pretend to love you or he'll pay the price. I remember these brutal words Gale said to me about Peeta. I don't think my brain really knows what to think for itself now, it's all such a mess.
Without any warning, I hear an enormous disturbance in some foliage behind me. The animal instinct inside me kicks in as I grab my bow and load it whilst getting to my feet. I can hear my heartbeat ringing in my ears again and I've gone hot all over. All of my senses are working at high alert and even higher right now, fearful of what could be about to lurch right into my chest at any second. When Peeta stumbles out through the bushes he looks bewildered. Like he wasn't expecting to see me here or something. 'Careful now, Peeta. Wouldn't want to get too close to a mutt now, would we?' I mock. It may have come across as a dry humoured joke, but I know that I meant it.
'What is it?' Peeta asks me sternly, flexing his jaw and tensing his arms, 'What have I done that's made you go from kissing me one day to threatening to shoot me in the chest with an arrow the next?'
'You think I don't know, don't you? Well Gale told me all about it, so there's no need in pretending anymore. Go ahead and hate me, try and rip out my throat. I'd rather be dead than alive right now, anyway.' I confess to him through gritted teeth. Peeta's expression turns from dark, to confused.
'What do you know?' he asks me wearing an almost believable confused expression on his face, 'What is it that Gale told you?'
I go along with it, finding this act more humorous than it should be, now. I explain to him all about him and the Capitol and the way that he's been blackmailed into loving me or he'll be murdered. Peeta looks horrified. 'Katniss, you're not actually going to believe all this are you? Because you know that it's not true, right?' he steps towards me when I don't answer his question, reaching out for my hand but I pull it away briskly.
'Don't even think about touching me!' I snarl to him in absolute disgust. I kick dirt over my fire and the toasted squirrel that I left on it. Before turning my back on him, I manage to spit out, 'I can't believe I trusted you.' and I run out of the woods, leaving Peeta calling and chasing after me.
The last thing I hear him say cuts through me deeper than I had imagined it would.
'I can't believe I loved you.'
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A/N- What a way to end! I know, I'm evil ;) what do you think of all of this? What do you think Katniss will do next and finally come to her senses? Drop me a message or a review on what you think of it all so far. Am I rushing it too much? Would you like me to do Peeta's POV? Let me know, I'm always open to all of your opinions! :-) xx
