Prompt: Reincarnated!Everlark, Salem Witch Trials

Rated Mature for Major Character Death, Violence, and Sexual Situations

Salem, Massachusetts 1694

The air is dank and frigid as the breeze enters his cell through the cracks in the wood. He holds onto his body tightly desperate for warmth and when he looks down to his bare feet he can see the tips of his toes turn blue. Peeta reasons that he's more likely to die from pneumonia before they have the chance to put him to death for witchcraft.

He looks over to the corner when he hears scratching before watching a rat scurry along the wall. His eyes follow the vermin but his attention is brought to her when the rat runs through the bars of his cell. She's huddled in the corner with her knees tucked into her chest and he can see the slight tremor in her hands. Her cell is just as damp and cool as his and he hates that her heavy wool dress had been taken and instead she'd been made to wear the thin cotton gown that all the accused were given before execution. She's shaking more than before and he can hear her teeth chatter from the distance that separate them. He wants to hold her in his arms. He needs to feel her up against him as he takes in her scent of pine and wild flowers. Peeta wanted to be better for her. Braver. Stronger. Smarter. Just more for his Katniss.

He never thought that she would fall victim to the hysteria of the last couple of years. Everywhere you looked there was another member of the community being accused of witchcraft. It always seemed silly to Peeta as he listened to his father the Reverand Luka Mellark talk of the acts of black magic that the women from Salem Village were suspected of taking part in. He reasoned that it was more about the merchants who lived in Salem Town wanting more control over the poor farmers than any dealings with the devil. However, he was raised to be respectful of his father and the power that his family held in the Puritan community. When he was younger he never questioned what he was taught in church or the social hierarchy his family put their belief in. It wasn't until he saw her gathering in the woods when he was sixteen.

Her garments were torn and thread bare as she kneeled in the mud. Peeta was hesitant to approach her at first but he couldn't stop watching the way her dark hair caught the light as it streamed through the leaves and branches. He hadn't seen many women without their bonnets and he could feel his fingers itching to weave themselves through the strands. He was only a few feet from her when she turned around before her eyes widened in surprise. She rose to her feet and he felt his heart burst at the way her silver eyes seemed to glow. They stood in silence as his gaze took in the slight curve of her body and he could feel warm stirrings begin in his breeches. She was so beautiful.

Peeta began to stammer when she wordlessly bent down to take hold of the basket she had been using and turned around to walk toward Seam Village. It had taken some effort on his part to gain her trust enough to learn her name. He smiled around the sound of it as it left his lips. Katniss.

She was from the poor farming community, Seam Village, where she lived with her ill mother. He had learned that her father and younger sister had taken sick three winters before and had died leaving her with a mother consumed with grief and a farm that she could no longer maintain on her own. Peeta was entranced by her spirit and determination. He had never met anyone like her before. The girls in his town were always so well mannered and boring. Katniss was like some wild forest nymph from the stories he had heard the natives tell. It seemed that everything that appealed to him about her went against the morality that had been forced upon him.

It had taken a while to convince her but soon they would meet in the woods. At first it was simple as he helped her gather berries and kindling, but as they spent more time together alone among the trees he found his feelings growing. Peeta would notice the way her olive skin would flush underneath the sun and his mind would wonder what it was like to taste the sensitive flesh. At first he would go home and pray for forgiveness, but as the weeks went on he stopped kneeling down at night and instead began to touch himself as he thought of her. His hands only ever felt his own body until the day he leaned down and kissed her below the canopy of leaves. The warmth that over took him was enough to make him forget everything else that existed, but it wasn't till later on in the month that he understood what it was like to be completely lost in her as he pushed into her.

He can still feel Katniss's legs wrapped around him as he joined their bodies. It was unlike anything he had ever felt before and as she panted in his ear while he pulsed around her walls he knew what it was like to feel content.

Peeta placed his forehead against hers as he thrust once more. "Everything that I feel for you goes against everything I was taught to be true."

Katniss reached up to frame his face. "I know my love, but I'm willing to learn another way. If you are."

Peeta loved her and he wanted to make Katniss his wife. However, his father wasn't all that pleased to hear of his plans to marry a fatherless girl from the poor farming community.

It was a sunny morning when Peeta looked out the window to see a crowd had gathered in the town square. He left the home he shared with his parents and two older brothers to see what the commotion was about. Peeta dreaded that another woman had been accused of the dark arts and he prayed for their salvation. When he pushed his way to the front of the crowd he felt his blood run cold as he saw her kneeling down on the ground. Her dark hair matted with sweat and a thin layer of blood, most likely from being struck on the head. His father read out the accusations toward her as the crowd yelled for her blood. Katniss Everdeen was being tried for the practice of witchcraft.

Peeta felt ill as his father announced that the girl had been seen in a compromising act with a man in the woods. His father's gaze fell on him and he knew that he wouldn't reveal his identity from fear that their family would be judged. Peeta clenched his jaw before he rushed toward his father and begged him to spare the girl's life. When he refused Peeta revealed that he was in fact the practitioner and that he had bewitched the young woman to be his bed mate. The crowd went wild around them as Peeta fell to the ground and brought her battered body against his. It had taken at least three men to tear them a part as the two lovers held onto each other.

The trial hadn't taken long as witness after witness had come up to tell of the evil acts they had seen the young couple partake of. Peeta didn't recognize most of the people and he doubted if any actually knew he or Katniss.

He's broken out of his reverie when the door on the other side opens and a few men he recognizes as pillars of the community come walking in, his father among the men. When they approach Katniss's cell and begin to drag her out, he knows what's about to happen. He's seen it happen far too much in the last couple of years and his heart begins to race. Peeta stands up and runs to the front of his cell, clinging to the bars as he begs his father to do something. His cries are ignored as Katniss is dragged from the cell before she rushes to Peeta.

He reaches for her hands as the men attempt to pull them apart. "We will see each other again, my love."

Katniss's eyes are blood shot as she clings to him. "How can you be so sure?"

Peeta forces himself to give her a reassuring smile. "Not even death can keep me from finding you again."

She yells out his name until her throat burns as the men take her out of the jail. Peeta can feel the exact moment that her body is hung from the rope and her legs cease to kick out. It's when every bit of hope leaves his body.

The sun is high in the sky later in the day when he's laying on the ground nude and heavy boulders are being placed upon his body. His legs have already been crushed and when he reaches out he can see her waiting for him in the distance. Her dark hair is free and floating in the breeze and she's never looked more beautiful. Peeta closes his eyes when the last rock in lowered onto his face and he knows he'll see her again.

Not even death can keep me from finding you again.

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Pennsylvania 2014

He's looking up at the stacks of books when he's nearly hit with one that comes falling down. Peeta rolls his eyes and he's about to yell at the moron who clearly can't use a step stool when he looks over and sees the most beautiful eyes he's ever seen. She's looking up at him sheepishly and he's frozen in place as he notices how her dark hair frames her sharp features perfectly. He feels like a dope when he realizes how long he must have been staring at here before he bends downs to pick up her book. She's smiling at him when he stands up and hands it to her. "Here."

Her silver eyes seem to shine more and he thinks he might be falling in love right now. She takes the book from him and presses it into her chest. "Thank you."

Peeta nods as he looks at the title. "Salem Witch Trials, huh?"

She turns the cover around to look at it. "Yeah. It's for a history project." She presses it back against her before leaning toward him. Her voice nearly a whisper in the used bookstore. "To be honest it all really creeps me out."

Peeta chuckles. "Yeah me too." She joins in and he's positive it's the most beautiful thing he's ever heard. When she reaches up to tuck a piece of hair behind her ear nervously, Peeta is struck with a sense of familiarity. "Do we know each other?"

She shakes her head as she sizes him up and he tries not blush underneath her gaze. "I don't think so, but it's weird. You seem familiar."

"You too." He offers his hand to her. "I'm Peeta."

When she folds her fingers around his he's struck by how warm they feel. "Katniss."

Not even death can keep me from finding you again.