13
"Rory!" Gale suddenly shouted, startling both Peeta and Madge.
The two of them exchanged a look and, without any word being uttered, Peeta left her to usher the children who had escaped toward the bus while he ran back to his truck. Gale hadn't jumped off the roof yet but Peeta could see it was imminent. First because his quiver was slowly but surely emptying and then because he had glimpsed his brother and…
"Where?" Peeta asked, grabbing two plastic water guns from the backseat. He slugged one over his shoulder and switched the other one to his non-dominant hand. He pulled out a stake with his free one. "I'll get him."
Gale shot him a dubious look but then made a face, probably realizing that if he stopped shooting, the people in the thick of the fight would not have any cover anymore.
"With Prim." the other boy said, pointing in the direction of the Hellmouth. "Near the hole. Right in front of the tree."
"Got it." he said with a nod. "Cover me."
"Be careful!" Madge shouted, ushering a shaking girl toward the bus.
Peeta flashed her a smile. "When Gale's out of arrows, get to the bus, drive out of here."
He didn't wait to hear Gale protest his instructions, he ran into the fight, never hesitating to shoot his water gun full of holy water in the face of any vampire that tried to grab him.
°O°O°O°O°
"No, no, no, no…" Effie muttered.
Her hands hastily looked for purchase but her body kept sliding down the slow slope that led to the glowing Hellmouth.
"Euphemia!" her mother shouted, sounding slightly alarmed.
A hand grabbed her wrist and pulled…
She hadn't been sure Elindra would care enough to try and save her. She supposed it was gratifying to know she loved her at least that much.
She kicked her legs, tried to push…
The Hellmouth was sucking her down.
It was like a whirlwind.
"Break the spell!" Effie screamed to be heard over the chaos. "Break the spell now!"
Elindra shook her head and pulled harder. "It is too late!"
A shadow appeared right behind her mother, a stunning vampire with long silky dark hair dressed in leather and Egyptian cotton who Effie knew at once was Enobaria.
Too late was one way to put it, she mused.
°O°O°O°O°
Haymitch's muscles were so exhausted he was shaking.
He had gotten the sword back but lifting it demanded more and more effort.
He found himself on the ground again, his mouth full of grass…
"Don't worry, I won't kill you." Brutus snorted. "The Master likes his playthings… Maybe he can toss you in his new arena, see how long you last… Your mother was a big hit back in the days, I heard."
Haymitch gritted his teeth and reached for the sword that had slipped from his fingers again…
Brutus might not want to kill him but he had no problem with hurting him. The spear went through his shoulder.
Haymitch screamed in agony.
It was a flesh wound, nothing but a flesh wound, carefully designed to hurt more than anything. And it was his non dominant shoulder so he still closed his hand around the hilt of the sword…
A foot weighted down on his back, the spear was drawn back…
He didn't have enough air in his lungs to scream this time, his ears were ringing, he felt like puking…
It had been a long time since he had become a torture plaything for a vampire's sick enjoyment. He was getting too old for this shit.
Still, he rolled on himself, ignoring the pain, tried to get back to his feet and barely managed to lift himself to his knees… He put a foot on the ground, leaned on his sword to haul himself up…
Brutus stood looming over him, a nasty smile on his vampire face…
There was a hissing sound.
Suddenly, an arrow was protuberating from the vampire's throat.
The Career groaned in pain, pulled out the arrow as if it was nothing but a splinter…
Haymitch didn't stop to think. With a last desperate effort, he swung the sword while the creature was distracted…
He didn't manage to get his head off in one clean swipe but he didn't let that stop him, he swung the blade again…
The look on Brutus' face looked appropriately stunned when his head rolled off… Then it turned to dust and Haymitch collapsed back on the ground, clutching his injured shoulder…
He saw Katniss lowering her bow but the girl didn't stop to check on him.
He followed her with his eyes, the fighting had cleared enough that he spotted Prim and a young boy trying to hold off two vampires…
He allowed himself a second of lying flat on his back, a few deep breaths through the pain, a fleeting moment to think maybe the master vampire was his best kill yet and he would need to tell Chaff about it if he survived this…
Then he was up again, determined if not ready to face the music.
°O°O°O°O°
The two vampires looked resolute to get them and Prim stepped back toward the hole. They were fencing them in toward the Hellmouth despite Rory's brave attempts at swinging the telescope leg in front of him like a bat to keep them at bay. They didn't look worried. Why would they be, though?
She glanced around with desperation, hoping to get a glimpse of an ally or even to get an idea…
They were close enough to the Hellmouth to have a front row seat to the Reaping, and it wasn't pretty. It wasn't just the pile of dead kids that made her want to retch, it was the fact that the witch – she now could see – was Effie's mother and there was a vampire arguing with her. Effie… A quick look around finally located her in the hole that was glowing brighter and brighter, trying to hold on to the edge but slowly sliding down the slope with every attempt to push herself up to safety… There was a dead woman not too far from them who Prim didn't know.
And…
She spotted Cinna's body a few feet away. The warlock looked unconscious, his face bloodied…
They were losing.
They were losing and…
"Stay back!" Rory shouted. He sounded so obviously terrified that the two vampires chuckled at him.
At least until an arrow drove itself into the ground right in front of the one on the left.
Prim looked around again, hoping…
But she couldn't see Katniss in the dark. She saw Haymitch lifting his sword, facing a huge vampire… And, in the distance… A figure on the roof of Peeta's truck shooting a bow… Not Katniss though. Gale. It had to be Gale.
But Gale was too far.
Another arrow landed in the dirt at the vampire's feet.
It made them chuckle like it was all a good joke.
At least until a stream of holy water hit the one on the left in the face.
°O°O°O°O°
"Let her die." Enobaria demanded dismissively.
Elindra huffed. "I would rather not, if it is all the same to you."
Effie's arms were killing her but she managed to get her upper body up the edge… Her mother pulled…
She would have made it.
If Enobaria hadn't attacked Elindra, she would have made it.
As it were, she slumped back down, sucked in by the Hellmouth's power and barely managed to avoid sliding all the way down the slope.
The smell of magic was acrid in the air, clogging her lungs, but she honestly couldn't tell if it came from her mother's defensive spells or from the Hellmouth itself.
"Well, if you insist on being aggravating." Elindra snapped from somewhere above her. It was answered by a growl.
She focused on trying to climb back out of the hole.
It was all she could do when a force far stronger than gravity was pulling her down…
But then, as if by magic…
The darkness became lighter and, when she looked up, she saw that the sun was shifting…
Elindra must have lifted the spell that prolonged the eclipse.
At last, a sliver of hope…
°O°O°O°O°
The vampire started smoking and screamed in pain from the holy water…
Peeta didn't hesitate, he slammed the stake into his chest, praying that he wouldn't miss the heart – because he missed the heart one time out of three on patrol.
The vampire burst into dust.
He turned toward the other one, the one who was already readying his arm for a punch, but before he could do anything – and he was going to order Prim and Rory to run – an arrow hissed by his head, narrowly missing the flesh of his earlobe, and found the vampire's heart. He whirled around, a rant already on his lips because he had told Gale to…
But it wasn't Gale.
And Katniss rushed past him to hug her sister with obvious relief.
"Are you okay?" she asked Prim who could only nod and hug her sister back.
Gale's brother looked dazed and on the verge of tears – which was very understandable in Peeta's opinion – so he patted his shoulder.
"You did very well." he told the kid. "That was very brave."
And, right then, the sky started lightning, like an omen that the battle was finally turning in their favor…
The vampires didn't notice immediately but, when they did, they all turned to run at the same time, tossing their coats and jackets over their heads to protect themselves.
"Katniss!" came the shrill scream in the distance.
Madge's scream.
When they turned, it was to see Gale trying to pry Gloss off Madge's throat. With a sweep of the vampire's arm the boy was hurled in the air, he slammed into the side of the truck and collapsed on the ground.
He didn't get back up.
Madge grew limp…
"Stay with them." Katniss ordered Peeta before running to their friends' rescue.
It was almost completely light again now and Peeta let himself relax because there was no more immediate danger. Haymitch was limping toward them, clutching his left shoulder, but… No more…
"Effie's in trouble." Prim said, tugging on his shirt.
His gaze darted to the Hellmouth and…
What was Effie's mother doing here?
And more importantly where was Effie…
He had thought the eclipse finally being over meant that she had succeeded and… He eventually spotted her, struggling to climb out of the hole, to escape the glare of the Hellmouth…
Enobaria was clearly trying to stop Elindra from helping Effie.
He glanced around but Katniss was now too far, Haymitch was injured and was taking too long to get to them. The Watcher had seen it though, Peeta could tell, because the man's face grew hard and…
"I'll try to wake up Cinna." Prim declared, pointing at the prone form of the warlock a few feet away. "Go help her."
Peeta didn't let himself hesitate, didn't let himself think that Katniss would kill him for leaving her sister without protection, because… Well, Prim was Katniss' sister and he loved the girl, he loved Katniss, but Effie… Effie was his mentor, the closest thing he had to a true mother and he wasn't ready to lose that yet.
So he ran, dumping his water guns on the way because they were slowing him down and he had no hope of taking on a Career by himself. All he could hope for was distracting the vampire enough to keep her in place until the sun entirely appeared and took care of her or until Elindra finished her.
When he was close enough, he jumped on the vampire's back…
°O°O°O°O°
Effie didn't have a good view from the hole but she saw Peeta jump from the corner of her eyes and she screamed a warning for him to… To stop.
The idea that the boy could get killed…
°O°O°O°O°
Haymitch saw it all happen as if in slow motion.
Peeta's running…
Elindra – friend or foe, he couldn't tell – trying to battle Enobaria…
Effie's head poking out of the hole only to disappear back down again and again…
He tried to get there.
He tried to run but…
His body was tired, too old, too bruised.
The better he could do was a hopping jog that didn't get him there in time…
He saw Peeta jump on Enobaria…
He shouted a warning…
He saw Enobaria shrug him off as if he weighed nothing…
He saw the boy disappear in the hole…
Elindra Trinket let out a magic wave of… something. But it was already too late.
The Hellmouth's glow increased until the light… There was a flash… And just as Haymitch reached them, he found himself nose to nose with a very familiar face.
Snow was thinner than he remembered, frailer, diminished… How long had it been for him in whatever hellish dimension he had found himself banished to?
He should have slammed a stake in his heart right there.
But Effie screamed and Haymitch dropped on his stomach to better reach in the hole with his good arm…
Effie had slid down almost too low for him to reach and she was holding on with only one arm. Peeta dangled from her other hand.
The boy was too heavy.
Her face was a mask of pain and the two of them were sliding down…
°O°O°O°O°
Effie knew Snow was free.
She felt it.
The moment the Hellmouth spat him out, she felt it.
And she felt that It wanted to swallow something in return and that the blood of all the dead children wasn't quite enough to satisfy it.
Her arm was growing slack.
She wasn't even sure how she had managed to grab Peeta as he fell but now her body felt torn in two.
The pull from the Hellmouth was irresistible and Peeta was moving too much, kicking his legs to try to find a purchase where there was none…
Sweat stung her eyes, making her blink… The most horrible feeling was twisting her stomach…
And, suddenly, Haymitch's face appeared and he reached down.
She couldn't reach back.
It was all she could do to keep herself and the boy from falling down.
And still they were sliding.
An inch at a time they were sliding toward hell.
"Magic! Use your magic!" he screamed at her.
Magic…
She had none left to use.
She was empty.
Her nose had stopped bleeding, the blood had dried on her upper lips, but every time she tried to summon her power… She had reached her limits.
"Effie!" Peeta screamed. "Effie, let me go! I'm dragging you down! Let me go!"
She would not.
Never.
But it wasn't her choice to make.
His fingers were slipping from her sweaty hand…
She tried to use her magic again and screamed at the pain it wrecked through her…
"Effie!" Her mother called, kneeling next to the hole. She lifted both hands…
Effie felt the familiar tendrils of her magic wrapping around her…
But the Hellmouth…
The Hellmouth swallowed everything… Magic included.
°O°O°O°O°
"Can you get me down and back up?" Haymitch asked the witch kneeling next to him.
He would figure out if she was with them or against them later – against them seemed a given since there was a dead woman he didn't know a few feet away and Cinna had screamed himself raw earlier but he was willing to trust her with his life if it meant saving his family.
Elindra shook her head, her features schooling into stern resolve.
Haymitch wasn't ready to give up.
He lowered himself over the edge even more, stretching his arm as much as it could go…
"Grab my hand!" he ordered.
But before Effie could at least try, she lost her grip on Peeta.
He watched, horrified, as the boy was swallowed by the glowing mouth of hell. Peeta didn't even have time to scream.
Effie looked up at him, teary blue eyes that saw straight into his very soul… Sad eyes. Determined eyes.
"Don't you dare!" he snarled, her words about fate and bad feelings echoing in his ears. "Don't you fucking…"
I'm sorry.
He read the words on her lips more than he heard them because his ears were ringing.
I'm sorry.
She let go.
She let go and let herself be swallowed.
And all he could do was watch.
The blinding light disappeared and all he could see was the carved runes on a metal seal.
No Peeta.
No Effie.
The Hellmouth had closed.
To Be Continued…
And this Season 1 concludes... XD I know, a lot of you hate me. HAHAHAHA I hope you enjoyed this finale anyway!
As for what's next: I'm currently writing the next episode (it's going well and fast so far, so fingers crossed) so I don't have a definite date for S2. I'm thinking a nice month long hiatus at least though. Hopefully I can get a few episodes done in advance this summer. I will, of course, keep everyone updated on tumblr but you might want to suscribe to the series if you want to be notified when next part is up ;) (And let me know in comments if you would prefer having it on this story directly or if you want me to close this one and open a new story for the next season! I think it would be easier to do it directly here but, you tell me!)
Don't miss out my new hayffie story on Friday "When it rains it pours" to fulfill your hayffie needs ;)
And now... COME AND SCREAM AT ME! Tell me everything you liked! Everything you disliked! I was so nervous about this episode as a whole! So many stuff to work in! There are lots of little details for stuff I have planned later too, lots of foreshadowing in previous chapters if you want to try and guess at what will happen next... Give me ALL the predictions!