6.

Encouraged by Prim's frantic shouts for the two of them to stop, Katniss tossed aside Peeta's crossbow and dove into the fray. She tried to pull Peeta off Gale but he flung her off with a distracted shrug of his arm as if she didn't weight anything – and as if she didn't have supernatural strength.

She fell flat on her ass and stared at the brawling boys who were rolling in Haymitch's overgrown weeds, throwing punches at each other. Her pride was smarting because she should have been able to stop them, worse though was the dread that made her stomach churn. What if one of them got seriously hurt? What if they died? What if…

Breathing became painful, every breath a sharp stab to her lungs…

She could have wept in relief when she heard the roar of the bike in the distance – in part because she knew her Watcher would take charge and in part because that meant the two teachers were most likely alright. She sat there and stared, wincing in sympathy when Peeta landed a particularly brutal hit to Gale's cheekbone.

Haymitch and Effie barged into the backyard, weapons blazing as if they were expecting a huge fight against a demon army. They both froze at the same time.

"What the hell?" Haymitch spat, glaring at the boys who were still fighting and then at Katniss. "You're gonna get off your ass any time soon?"

Katniss didn't answer. She couldn't get past the thought that Peeta or Gale was going to get hurt because she wasn't strong enough to stop it.

Faced with her lack of reactivity, Haymitch cursed and sheathed his cutlass, glancing at the witch. "You wanna do something or you're gonna sit down and enjoy the show like this one?"

Effie pursed her lips in reprobation and slowly extinguished the fireballs that were still burning in her palms. It looked difficult. Almost painful. After a couple of seconds, she shook her head. "I cannot guarantee I would not seriously hurt one of them."

"Fine, then." Haymitch grumbled and stepped forward. He didn't kid around. He grabbed the back of Gale's collar and pulled him off Peeta, narrowly avoiding an elbow in the guts. "Now, Peeta…" he warned.

Peeta cut him off with a war cry when he ran and tackled Gale, tearing him right off Haymitch's grip.

Katniss still didn't move. Peeta looked enraged, possessed… At that second, she was half-certain he would kill Gale.

And then water splashed everywhere, making Effie jump out of range with a panicked yelp. It was cold and the pressure was so high that it hurt when it directly hit Katniss' arm. It had the desired effect on the boys though: they stopped fighting to jerk away from the stream of water.

They all turned toward Prim who stood next to the outer wall of the house, the hose held firmly in her tiny hands, a deep annoyed scowl on her face. "If you don't stop, I will do it again."

Katniss gaped at her sister, Gale and Peeta stared, Effie quirked her eyebrows up…

But Haymitch laughed and the sound was so rough and shocking that it jolted them all out of their shock.

"Oh, you're definitely my favorite, sweetheart." the Watcher chuckled. "Alright. Back inside before you all catch your death. You too." That last part was directed at Gale with a sneer. "I'll get you some dry clothes."

"No need." Effie objected and waved her hands.

Next thing Katniss knew, her wet clothes were dry again. She got back to her feet, about to thank her for her help – because it was a neat trick – when Gale took several steps back, pulling his suddenly dry shirt away from him. "Don't you fucking do magic on me!"

Haymitch's sneer deepened but before he could say anything, Effie sniffed disdainfully. "Very well."

A careless spin of her finger and water poured down on Gale.

Katniss bit down on her bottom lip to stop herself from laughing. It wasn't that funny and there really wasn't anything amusing about the whole situation.

There was a glint of murder in her – former? – best friend's eyes, though.

"I'm sorry." Peeta whispered, breaking the tension. He was staring at his hands, his bruised knuckles… "I'm sorry, I… I don't know… I…"

Haymitch's face softened as he reached for his shoulder. Peeta flinched very badly when he made contact. "It's alright, kid. Just a demon messing with your head."

"Alright?" Gale hissed. "He almost killed me!"

Peeta's whole body shuddered and he ran a hand over his face, immediately wincing when it bumped against his injuries. "I'm sorry."

"You should not have been here anyway." Effie pointed out to Gale, her gaze darting from him to Katniss. "Are you alright, dear?"

"I…" she started but she didn't have time to finish explaining that she felt shell-shocked for no good reason that she could see.

"I shouldn't be here?" Gale interrupted. "Katniss's my friend. Who are you?"

"My fucking guest. On my fucking property." Haymitch spat. "Not to mention a fucking teacher in your fucking school so watch your tone, boy."

"Can we all stop screaming?" Prim demanded, still armed with her hose. The threat must have convinced everyone because Haymitch lifted both hands up in a peace offering and Effie suggested they all stepped inside and nobody objected.

"How did you think about that?" Haymitch asked her sister, leading her inside the house with an arm wrapped around her shoulders.

Prim's cheeks had grown slightly pink. "It works on Buttercup when he fights with strays."

Haymitch laughed again. At least someone was having a good day, Katniss mused bitterly. She hung back, not quite surprised when Gale stubbornly stood his ground, arms crossed over his soaked clothes.

"I'm sorry." Peeta said again, looking miserable and not meeting either of their eyes, before disappearing inside. Effie lingered for a couple of seconds, long enough to share a glance with Katniss. Her lips were pursed and her expression disapproving when she closed the backdoor behind her.

Katniss sighed and sat down on the steps that led to the back porch, watching Gale warily. "Why did you come here?"

"You're kidding, right?" he scoffed. "Your mom's gone, the trailer's empty, you and Prim are nowhere to be found… You don't answer my texts, your sister doesn't answer my brother's… I was worried, Katniss."

Guilt gnawed at her guts but she pressed her lips firmly together, reminding herself that there was a reason she hadn't called Gale in the first place. "You were going to use magic on me, to steal my powers away."

"Not this again." he sighed, sounding tired and exasperated all at once. "I just wanted to protect you. You…"

"The Seam might not be safe at all soon." she cut him off. She found she was both tired and frustrated by the empty excuses he kept presenting her with. "You should take your family and go."

Gale studied her for a long time. "If it's not safe, we should all leave. My family, you and Prim… We could make it, Catnip."

Wasn't it exactly what she had had in mind just two nights earlier? Leave? Run away? Protect her loved ones and hell to the rest?

They had made their choice though…

She had made her choice…

Come hell or high water, she was staying with Haymitch. She was going to do her duty, make sure her sister had a world to live in that wasn't infested with vampires and demons.

"I'm not going anywhere." she answered. And it was only once she had said those words aloud that she actually believed them, let them sink in… And the panic didn't come. "Prim and I are going to live here with Haymitch for a while."

Gale shook his head. "This is a mistake."

She shrugged. "Maybe. But it's mine to make."

Gale stared at her for a long time and then slowly crossed the distance between them. When she didn't protest, he slumped down next to her on the step. "I can't help but think you're going to get yourself killed."

"Eventually." she whispered.

She had read a few Watchers journals by now. She knew what to expect. If she was good, the best of the best, she would last a few years. And she would fight, of course she would, for Prim if nothing else, but realistically she knew her chances weren't good to even last that long.

"I'll fight with you." he offered.

She scowled. "That didn't work out that well."

"Katniss…" He hesitated, reached for her hand… "I lov…"

"Don't." she snapped. "Don't."

He had kissed her right after telling her that she wasn't cut out to be a Slayer, that she wasn't capable of doing the job she had been called by fate for. And now he would tell her he loved her right after telling her she should quit while she was ahead – alive – and she didn't want to hear it. She didn't want to.

Gale wanted her to choose him, it came down to that. And it wasn't a choice she could make right then.

He slowly let go of her hand, linked his fingers together and stared at them hard. There was blood on his knuckles. Peeta's blood. It made her angry. Even if, really, it was Peeta who had started the fight.

"Is this about Mellark?" he asked slowly.

"It's about me." she hissed. "That's what you don't seem to get. Peeta has nothing to do with it."

Gale's gaze traveled up to her face. Her cheeks were burning but she stubbornly kept staring at the overgrown yard and the makeshift targets they had been using to practice their aim.

"I don't believe you." he said quietly. "But when you need me, I'll be there. Be it for a ride out of town or because you need another archer."

She wanted to give the right answer to that but, as usual, the words weren't forthcoming. In the end, faced with her silence, he nodded to himself, stood up and left the way he had come.

She rubbed her eyes and told herself it was from lack of sleep and not because she wanted to cry. There was nothing to cry about.

She stood up, took a deep breath, squared her shoulders and went back inside. The kitchen was empty, she followed the sound of voices to the library, not quite surprised to find Haymitch pulling books from the shelves and handing them to Prim so she could pile them on the big round table. Peeta was sitting on the side, facing Effie whose hands were glowing gold again. The witch was healing his injuries.

"Do you ever check your phone?" Haymitch spat in her direction once he had spotted her.

"Pot meet kettle. You are both black." Effie muttered. Then she hissed and took her hands away from Peeta's face, shaking her fingers. "I am so sorry, darling, I seem to be having some troubles containing my magic again… I do not want to accidentally hurt you…"

"It's fine, Effie. It already feels better." Peeta answered in a dull voice. "Thanks."

"It was not your fault." the woman whispered. "You were under demonic influence."

"Then why did it feel so good?" he retorted.

"Oh trust me, I cursed people before and it felt very good indeed. Some people just get under your skin the wrong way…" Effie sighed and then winced. "Plus, of course, demon. It feels good only to make you feel worse later."

"What's with the phone?" Katniss frowned. "Did you find something ? Do you know if the Careers…"

"Ain't the Careers. It's a Lachnoc demon." Haymitch cut her off. "Which I texted you about so you could get a head start on research."

"I haven't checked my phone in a while." she admitted grumpily. "It's upstairs. I'm gonna go grab it. Peeta, want to come with me?"

She wanted a word with him in private. To make sure he was alright and to find out what had happened outside.

"No." Haymitch snapped, slamming the next book on the pile in Prim's arms so hard the girl stumbled. He flashed her an apologetic wince but his face didn't soften. "No more boys upstairs." Then, his eyes darted to Peeta and he amended. "Unless you're staying over. Okay. No more boys in your bedroom. Or girls in his bedroom. Nobody goes into any bedroom that ain't theirs from now on."

Katniss blinked. It took a few seconds for the whole thing to sink in and then she sneered because it was unfair. She hadn't done anything wrong and Haymitch had no right to try to parent her like that. "Does the rule apply to Effie too?"

"You can have Effie in your bedroom." he deadpanned. "No problem." She glared at him and opened her mouth but he pointed at the stock of books on the table. "Lachnoc demon. Let's kill it before it kills us, yeah?"

There was a long silence and then Effie cleared her throat and grabbed her IPad, presumably to search for the demon in question. Peeta ducked his head and grabbed one of the old dusty books. After a moment of hesitation, Prim put her pile of books down and picked one at random. Haymitch immediately snatched it away, looked over his selection and handed her another one Katniss supposed to be more child friendly.

"I've got him." Effie announced a few minutes later. "Lachnoc demon." She skimmed through the text, her finger flying over the tablet and then made a face. "Immaterial unless forced to manifest through a ritual. Oh… Absolutely not nice. It seems the sharp pain we experience is the demon slowly eating away at us through our panic… Preys suffer a slow agonizing death… Brings forth a person's worst fear and plays on it until the subject grows obsessed and loses their mind…"

"Nice." Haymitch mumbled, his grey eyes darted to the side where there was nothing but empty air. At least for Katniss. She supposed he was seeing some dead people from his past.

She didn't envy him.

Her fears of losing everyone didn't, at least, throw back her failures in her face.

"How do we kill it?" Peeta asked, sounding far more serious than usual. Then again, it had become personal for him.

Effie was silent for a moment longer as she read through the entry. "The first step would be to make him corporal. After that… Well… I suppose some arrows and a sharp blade would do the trick."

Haymitch nodded. "Start grabbing what you need for the ritual. Peeta, help her. I'm gonna go get a good sword. Katniss, get your bow. Prim, go upstairs and don't come out of your room."

Prim, to Katniss' relief, didn't discuss the order. She scampered upstairs after a whispered request for her to be careful. The moment she was out of the room and Effie and Peeta left to grab whatever magic stuff they needed from the witch's house however, Katniss felt the panic rise so hard she couldn't breathe anymore.

Separating was the worst idea.

"Haymitch…" she called in a strangled voice.

But Haymitch didn't answer her. Not even when she fell to her knees because every time she breathed in, sharp daggers stabbed her lungs. She clawed at her own throat, desperate for some air…

Black dots danced in front of her eyes…

She was going to pass out.

She was going to pass out and because of that, everyone else was going to die.

°O°O°O°O°

Haymitch rushed down the stairs to the basement where he kept the special weapons, the good weapons.

He regretted it the moment he let the door slam shut behind him and the lights flickered.

He forced himself to keep moving, to reach for the sword that was hanging on the wall… It had been his mother's weapon of choice and he had used it enough times over the years… He preferred knives but he would need enough range to distract the demon until Katniss could work her magic with her arrows. A sword seemed like the right choice and he needed the emotional attachment to this one because…

Because the moment his fingers closed around the hilt, the ghost of his mother appeared right next to him, close enough that he would have felt her breath on his face if there had been a breath left in her body.

There was an angry sneer on her face.

He took a few hasty steps back, telling himself she wasn't real, that none of them were real…

And yet they were all there, encircling him, fencing him in… Various expressions of rage and betrayal on their faces… He whirled on himself, tried to find a breach in the circle… Jo was snickering in a cruel silent way. His brother's face turned into a vampire's and flashed him his fangs… Mabel had the familiar bloodthirsty glint in her eyes she would sometimes get after a particularly violent fight… They were all looking at him like he was the enemy.

Seven Slayers and one vampire.

He was the enemy.

He was going to die.

They were going to drag him straight to hell.

He was going to die.

He couldn't breathe anymore.

The pain was sharp.

Too sharp.

Daggers in his lungs.

He fell to his knees.

He was going to die.

°O°O°O°O°

The moment she closed the bedroom door, Prim wished she hadn't obeyed. She tried the handle but it wouldn't move under her palm. She was trapped. Alone. Forgotten.

Nobody would come for her.

She was going to die there.

Alone.

She tried the window but it was stuck.

She worked herself up into a full panic and she couldn't breathe anymore… It hurt too much.

Every time she breathed in, it felt like someone was stabbing her in the chest. Daggers in her lungs.

She fell against the wall, slid to the floor…

She didn't get back up.

Gale experienced the friend zone XD So... Are we in troubles yet? What do you think? Who will save the day? Let me know! I live for feedbacks!