Hello lovlies and Happy (almost) Halloween! Personally, I'm more excited for Christmas, but I'll never say no to a good scary story and free candy! In celebration of this holiday, I'm getting this chapter up at midnight! (Or, just after… it's exactly 12:00 as I type this note…) Please enjoy what is probably the spookiest chapter yet, (spooky, not scary).

TheEmeraldQueen: What Haymtich and Beetee did… that's going to be fun to write about… I'm super pumped to see reactions to it. It'll be a few chapters before that is revealed, though. I see your point on the puppet being the child outside, but I believe it's the same child, because we see the child cry all the time, anyway. It could all be symbolic. I'm hoping the Halloween DLC clears a few things up. I'm glad you like the chapter! I love most kinds of music, too. Great beat is always important!

wouldratherbeaunicorn: You just listed off, like, half of my iPod? Lol. I like them a whole lot, too! Taylor Swift was actually number one on the charts exactly one year ago this week with Shake it Off. This week number one is actually Wildest Dreams by her as well.

MiaBelles: For some reason Jo is the one I tend to knock up… Not sure why…?

MiaBelles: Ghost… well, you're on to something there. He's not a ghost, at least. You're on the right track though!

MiaBelles: Answering where Annie is would take a second story explaining the actions of the character who made her this way… but basically it was an alternate dimension spirit world, type deal. It's not hugely relevant for this particular story, though. :)

Spectrobes Princess: Honestly, Annie's kind of a stubborn dumbs who is too trusting and not always thinking of the potential dangers. She's like me in that way. Luckily I haven't been turned into a shadow… She wasn't dragged away by force. It was all free will. As for music, I've got too much on my iPod to just randomly shuffle, so I make playlists. I literally love all the randoms you said, expect for Spectrobes, because I've literally never heard of that… :/ but everything else is totally love! I wish Young Justice wasn't cancelled for such a stupid reason… Don't worry about being chatty! I love chatty reviewers!

March 1st

I wake up the next morning and walk down the stairs. Peeta is sitting on one of the armchairs, reading the medical textbook he was given. Katniss is rummaging through the fridge, trying to find something to have for breakfast before she goes hunting. Johanna is grabbing a pair of rather large knives to use in her gathering, and Gale is looming over her, making sure she doesn't strain herself. All of this stops, of course, as soon as I make my presence known. There is an awkward tension in the room that makes me want to retreat upstairs and just pretend I didn't wake up. I don't return to my room, though. I stay, knowing I need to find a way to save Annie. I try to walk out the back door, towards the dock and the jetski, but I'm stopped by Gale. "Aren't you going to say anything?"

I shrug. "What is there to say? Annie's in trouble and I'm going to get her."

Gale crosses his arms and gives me a stern look. "You shouldn't go alone. You could get yourself hurt, as well."

I shake my head. "If I'm not back in forty-eight hours, then come and look for me, but for now, you guys need to get working. Snow is already on our ass and if don't start meeting quota on deliveries, then we'll be royally fucked. Gale, you're in charge. Johanna, make sure Gale doesn't do anything stupid, Katniss, make sure Johanna is sensible and Peeta, make sure everyone actually does what I say." I don't have time to look at their faces, or hear their responses, because I'm already out the door. I put the journal, my only hope in finding Annie, inside the glove compartment of the jetski and ride to where the other one is still parked.

I make my way to where I found the shadow of Annie yesterday and sit, looking through the journal, dissecting every page. I've been sitting there for about an hour when the shadow that wasn't Annie makes a reappearance. "Didn't I tell you to scram, kid?"

"Not without Annie."I dismiss the shadow with the tone of my voice, but he continues to speak.

"I told you, lad, it's too late for her. Run along and find another girl. Surely there are prettier ones out there, anyway." I feel myself starting to get annoyed. Annie's perfect, beautiful, a wonderful person, besides her knack for getting into trouble. "She's going to be gone soon. Not really a chance to save her. You couldn't do it, anyway."

The shadow grabbed my attention. "Save her? You mean, there's a way?"

The shadow nodded. "There's always a way. I just doubt you have the guts to do it. Even if you did, that lass of yours would hate you for it."

I shake my head. "What is it? I'd do anything!"

"Rude, kid. Not even asking my name, or if there's a way to save me?" I say nothing, not sure if the shadow was trying to trick me or not.

Hesitantly I play into his game. "What is your name, then?"

I hear a slight chuckle from the shadow and can almost imagine teh grin on his face. "Haymitch Abernathy."

I look down at the journal, remembering him as one of the survivors of the ship wreck. "What do you want?"

"Same thing you want for your lass, to be alive again, to have a corporeal form, once again. I've been stuck as a damn shadow for too many years. Don't fancy seeing anyone else get turned into one of these." Haymitch's shadow looks around, as if he's trying to make sure nothing is following him. "Kid, wanna know how to save her?"

I nod. "Like I said earlier, I'd do anything."

If shadows could frown, this one would be. "Go into the mouth of the cave, just over that way, and say, 'Avarice, dabo primogenitum meum pro tenebris teneas.'"

"That's it?" I cross my arms and can't believe what I was just told. "If I do that, I'll have Annie back?"

"If it works, you'll not only have her back, but I'll get to be a human again as well." I shouldn't complain. I'd get her back. Maybe I could put Haymitch to work on the island as well. "Wait until nighttime, though. That's when Awarice is awake."

"Who's Avarice?"

"The thing in the forest." I feel chills go up my spine.

It was a few hours before the sunset, so I decided to pass the time by looking more into the journal. While skimming the pages in the back, I manage to find the words Haymitch told me, barely legible, but there. A translation appears to be on the side, but the elements have done too much to make it recognizable as words. I don't care what it says, anyway, as long as it works. Finally, the moon starts to rise up in the sky. There is no sign of Annie, or Haymitch for that matter, but I do what I was told anyway, walking toward the mouth of the cave where I was told to go. I start to speak, "Avarice-" my voice is quiet, strained. I release a quick cough, and try speaking once again. "Avarice, dabo primogenitum meum pro tenebris teneas." At first I think nothing happens. The crickets keep chirping and the breeze continues to make the tops of the trees shake. It's as if nothing changed. Then there were the screams. One was high pitched, sound of pure terror and pain mixed together. I recognize this voice as Annie's. I feel my heart drop to my stomach and feel myself resisting the urge to run into the cave and search for her. The second scream deeper, also a scream of pain, but mixed with giddiness as well. This, I'm sure, is Haymitch.

The two of them emerge from the cave, as if nothing had happened to them. Annie looks exactly as she did when she disappeared, and I guess the same about Haymitch. He looks like he is in his forties, fifties, at the latest. Annie comes out, tears welling in her eyes, but a smile on her face. She runs to me and I catch her in my arms. "I'm so sorry! I'm so, so sorry!"

She apologizes over and over and I kiss the top of her head and promise her it's okay, she's safe. I almost miss the words hissing in my year. "You have one year, or you become mine as well."

I look around, as do Annie and Haymitch. They must have heard the voice, too. "One year? What did I promise, Haymitch?"

Haymitch crosses his arms and a sly smile comes across his face. "I told you that you wouldn't like it."

My voice grows harder. "Haymitch, what did I promise?"

The grin on his face is almost mocking. It would be cruel if it weren't for the sympathy in his eyes. "You promised to give him your firstborn child."

Thank you guys so much for reading! Writing this particular chapter has made a lot of cogs spin in my head and I'm super pumped to see you guys reaction to them! The "spell" I used was google translate latin, so it's not grammatically correct, sorry, but I don't actually speak Latin… Being a dead language and all… Thanks so much to my 32 faves and 60 followers! You guys are wonderful!

Please leave a review and tell me what y'all thought!

Question of the Day

What are you guys doing/being for Halloween?

With Love,

-Juliet