6

Breaking in The Capitol was surprisingly easy.

It was alarming how easy.

The staff door was unlocked and while they both braced themselves for an alarm, there was no loud siren alerting anyone a burglary was happening.

Not that this was a burglary, Katniss mused as she picked her way a little bit at random.

The only time she had been inside the hotel was during that party so many months ago, a little after she had been Called. It was the night she had met Cashmere. The night Peeta had found out her secret.

Her heart clenched when she thought about Peeta. Had he woken up yet? She hoped he was alright.

Gale lurked behind her, dutifully following in her footsteps and all she could think was that she would have liked it better if it was Peeta with her, which was neither fair nor nice. But, she supposed, she wasn't a fair nor a nice person.

They wandered down a few corridors without meeting anyone – which was good because she wasn't sure how they would have explained the bows and the quivers full of arrows. The plushy red carpet muffled their footsteps.

It all looked so pretentious…

The red carpets, the golden moldings… She was pretty sure the rooms were more luxurious than anything she would ever be able to afford… She didn't know how they stayed in business in the Seam though. Most of the tourists were hikers or hunters… A resort like this…

Gale tugged on her sleeve lightly and she frowned at him in question.

"Is it me or is this place spooky?" he whispered.

"No, it's not you." she confirmed.

There was something in the air.

The more they wandered around, the worse that feeling got.

At some point, she pressed her ear to one of the rooms' door.

There were noises inside. Nothing alarming, though. There were definitely people inside the hotel but…

"It isn't that late, is it?" she asked, a bit puzzled.

Gale waved his bare wrist in answer. No watch. She didn't go to the trouble of rummaging in her pockets for her phone – she hadn't charged it anyway, chances were the battery had died again. But it couldn't be that late.

Were hotels this dead so soon after sunset?

They were up to the third floor when they heard the sound of a rolling cart.

There was nowhere to hide and no time to do anything.

They remained standing there like idiots while the bellboy rolled an empty room-service cart out of the next room…

Even the uniform was ridiculous. Red and gold, like something out of an old movie.

"We're… We're lost." Katniss stuttered. It was the first excuse that went through her mind. Not a great one if the way Gale's mouth twitched with amusement could be believed.

"Yeah." He nodded anyway. "We were hunting in the woods and we got turned around and…"

The bellboy didn't answer them or even look at them, he pushed the cart, his gaze straight ahead…

It was like he didn't even hear them.

"Hello?" Katniss hesitated, walking right next to him.

His eyes were glassy, distant. Absent.

Gale frowned. "What the fuck?"

Eventually, she chose to let the bellboy go on his way.

She shook her head. "I don't know. Let's check out the lobby."

They met a maid on their way down there and she had the same weird expression on her face as the bellboy. She didn't seem to notice them either.

"They're walking around like zombies…" Gale remarked. "You think… It almost looks like they're hypnotized."

And then it clicked.

"Enobaria has a thrall." she realized. "She must be keeping the staff and the guests under her control…"

Snow had a thrall too, though. Was it possible he wasn't as weak as they were hoping for and had cast a thrall on everyone already?

"A what now?" he asked.

"Some vampires have powers. It's rare though." she explained quickly. "Thralls are like hypnosis, I guess. I've never seen it. Haymitch said you could learn to resist them."

But she hadn't trained for that and now wasn't the right time for a crash course.

"So if she's keeping the staff and the guests prisoner up here with her thrall thing… Maybe we could get them out." Gale suggested. "If they're not in the basement, it's not as dangerous, right?"

She hesitated. "I don't know. I don't want her finding out we're here. There's no way she's going to show up without back up and it's going to be hard enough to kill her. If Gloss's around too…"

She didn't like her odds.

She didn't like leaving innocent people behind either.

She hated hard decisions like this.

It was easier when Haymitch or Effie were there to take them for her.

"Let's check the lobby and then head out." she said. "This is their turf. I don't want to fight them on their turf."

It was one thing to light a fire and let the place burn with vampires inside during daylight.

It was entirely another to go charging in at night without one single skilled fighter at her side.

The lobby was pretty much what she had expected though. There was a guy behind the gleaming mahogany counter who was standing there, rod straight, apparently not aware of his surroundings.

The prickles at the back of her nape warned her there was also someone else hiding in the shadow on the other side of the entrance and she quickly dragged Gale back down the corridor toward the staff room.

"It doesn't feel right to leave those people…" her friend insisted.

"I know. But right now, it's the smart thing to do." she replied. "We'll see what we can do for them in daylight. I've got a bad feeling, Gale. We need to leave. Now."

She kept expecting a vampire to jump out of a dark corner and into her path but nothing happened.

They reached the staff entrance…

"Don't be locked." she muttered under her breath when she pushed the door they had used on their way in.

It wasn't locked.

They spilled into the cold night, breathing in equally relieved gulps of air.

Relief didn't last long though.

Her hairs rose on her arms, goosebumps erupted on her skin…

She whirled around just in time to parry the fist that was aiming for the back of her head but the instinctive kick she launched only hit the air because her target was faster and far more skilled than she was.

"Shh…" the Career ordered, her hand closing around her throat. "How kind of you to fall on my lap. I was just about to go looking for you."

Her eyes met the golden feral ones of Enobaria's vampire face and she immediately settled, letting her push her against the wall, letting her tighten her grip on her throat because…

Well…

There was a voice in her head that told her she didn't want to fight, that she was tired, that she just wanted to rest…

At least until the vampire's attention abruptly switched targets and she lifted her free hand in Gale's direction. "Drop the bow. Pretty thing like you, it would be a shame to kill you. I like my playthings…"

Gale resisted for about two seconds before dropping the bow.

It was the only respite Katniss needed.

A little more clear-headed now that Enobaria wasn't staring straight at her, she kicked the vampire's right leg, took out her stake and stabbed her.

The angle wasn't right for her heart but the stake dug deep in her shoulder and the vampire let her go with a scream of pain.

Katniss didn't try to take advantage of that.

Enobaria was too strong for her and she didn't like the fact the rest of the vampire army – or Gloss – could join her.

So instead of trying to fight her, she ran, grabbing Gale and half-carrying him out of there because the boy was as unresponsive as the bellboy and the maid had been. It took almost a whole minute before he shook out of it and started running on his own. He was holding his injured side though, so whatever Cinna had done to his ribs, it hadn't entirely fixed them. She was going to insist the warlock get a crash course in healing magic.

Enobaria was hot on their trail even as they barreled through the woods with no thought for stealth.

The vampire was gaining ground.

They wouldn't make it to the car.

"Road." Katniss tossed.

Gale switched directions without hesitation, following her lead.

A few minutes later, they left the cover of the trees to burst on the road that led to The Capitol and the Hellmouth.

Katniss stopped running and whirled around just in time to see the vampire duck beneath a branch.

"Go get the car." she ordered. "Be as quick as you can."

Because she wasn't sure how long she could hold her own against her.

Gale hesitated and Katniss was so certain it was the moment he would disappoint her yet again by refusing to trust her.

Maybe Gale could learn though because he started running again, toward the crossroads where they had left Peeta's truck. How long would it take for him to reach it? How long before he drove back there?

She didn't have time to truly ponder the question because Enobaria attacked her without pausing for breath – not that the vampire needed breath.

Enobaria seemed to favor her bare hands and fangs to weapons, which was good in Katniss' book. Easier.

The vampire was too fast, too powerful.

It forced her to be on the defense instead of on the attack, to avoid punches and flying feet rather than try and land kicks of her own.

It was a fight that demanded all her focus and that left her out of breath and sweaty. The bow, the quiver, the leather jacket… All of that was slowing her down but she didn't find time to chug them off because the onslaught was unrelenting.

And yet she had the strange feeling Enobaria wasn't trying to actually kill her, as if she was holding back a little…

She hadn't slept, though. She hadn't slept or rested and the Reaping and the castle attack were still fresh in her body's memory.

It was inevitable she would make a mistake.

And that mistake sent her flying.

She skidded on the asphalt for a good three feet.

Everything hurt.

She tried to get up but a kick sent her back down.

She crawled back but Enobaria just followed her, standing a few inches in front her, towering there with a smug look on her vampire face.

"The Master will reward me for this." Enobaria hummed.

She reached down to grab her just when Katniss heard the sound of the engine.

They barely had time to turn their heads before the headlights blinded them.

The truck was going too fast and showed no sign of slowing down.

Katniss got it a second sooner than Enobaria and scrambled out of the way.

The vampire was slower and didn't manage to avoid the speeding truck. It hit her with a sickening crunch, she rolled over the windshield, was flung off the roof and to the side…

With a growl of pain, Katniss got to her knees and then to her feet and staggered to the truck that had stopped a few feet away. She climbed on the backseat because it was the closest door.

"Go!" she said. "Go!"

Gale had the truck back in motion before she even closed the door.

That was good.

She lied on the backseat, panting, and stared at the ceiling because it beat staring at the cracked windshield.

"You're okay?" Gale asked, sounding worried.

"Yeah." she lied.

"Any chance that killed her?" he insisted.

"Not unless it beheaded her." she mumbled and then swallowed hard. "Thanks."

"Please. Any time you need me to run over a creepy vampire, I'm your guy." And then he started laughing as if it was funny but it really wasn't and, mostly, she thought it was laughing or screaming in terror. She could relate.

"I meant for following my lead." she clarified when he was done laughing like an idiot.

"Sure." he acknowledged, a little more soberly.

The car was going too fast still and she would have liked to lie there forever but she forced herself to grab the passenger headrest and haul herself to a sitting position. She didn't have a good view from there but at least one of the headlights was dead and the windshield would need to be replaced.

On the bright side, it was still running.

That truck was sturdy.

"So…" Gale snorted. "You think Mellark is ever gonna let me borrow his car again or…"

She laughed.

She couldn't help it.

Maybe it was exhaustion…

Or maybe she was a bit terrified too.

Well... That went well. Except for peeta's poor truck XD What did you think? Let me know your thoughts!