Chapter 26
GALE
When the pounding started on my front door, I'm in my first hot shower in two days. I close my eyes and let out a groan. I'm supposed to have the night off so I can visit with my family but by the intensity of the pounding, I'm guessing that not going to happen. Throwing open the shower curtain, I grab my robe from a nearby hook and shrug it on. I snag a towel and rub it against my wet hair as I make my down the hall towards the living room of the small apartment, I call home whenever I'm in the Capitol. The pounding intensifies. "I'm coming! Hold your horses!" I yell. Yanking the door open, I'm almost punched in the face when I replace the door in the jam. I dodge the hand and glance up in the face of the last person I'd ever expected to find on my doorstep. "Why are you banging on my door Mellark?" I grind out.
Peeta's eyes travel over me and I see his eyes narrow and his jaw clench. He pushes past me into the apartment, "Katniss," he yells, marching into the living room.
"Why don't you come in," I snark, pushing the door closed. I watch him march into the kitchen then back out. "Katniss," he bellows.
I cross my arms and watch him search the living room. "What are you doing?" I ask irritated but perplexed by his behavior. He disappears down the hall and into my bedroom, before returning back to where I stand by the front door.
"Where is she Gale?" he demands.
"Katniss?" I ask sarcastically.
He growls, "Of course Katniss! Is she with your family?"
I glare at the blonde man. I despise him, but there is only one reason Katniss would run, the mutt. "What did you do?" I demand, clenching my hands into fists.
He seems to fluster but recovers quickly. "Where is she?" he asks again, undeterred from his mission.
I march over to him until I'm within l inches of him and look him straight in the eyes, "If you hurt her…" I warn through my clenched teeth.
He laughs humorlessly. "She's the one who drove off and left me stranded in the middle of the woods. Where. Is. She?"
I smirk at the thought of him watching the car drive off without him and his jaw clenches when he sees my amusement. "I'm sure she's back at the hotel, but thanks for thinking I'd be her first stop," I say tossing my towel on the back of a chair.
His eyes become alarmed, "She didn't come here? Where's your family staying, maybe she went there," he says, sounding worried.
The hairs on the back my neck stand up. "You've already checked there," I ask rhetorically. He nods.
"I'll call them," I say, going into the living room to retrieve my army-issued phone.
"Phone lines are down, that why I'm here," Peeta informs me as he begins pacing around my living room.
I dial the portable phone, "Being a Captain has it advantages, like my mother having one of these," I say showing him the phone before putting it to my ear. My mom answers after a couple of rings, "Gale!" she excludes, "When are you going to be here, we're starving!"
"Mom, is Katniss there or has she come by?" I ask.
"Katniss? No dear, I've not seen her since this morning. Why? What's wrong?" she asks, sounding worried.
I shake my head, "No, it's probably nothing," I assure her. "I'll call you in a bit." We say our goodbyes and disconnect the phone.
"She's not there," Peeta says, running a worried hand through his hair. "Where could she be? I was sure…" he trails off, his face betraying his spinning thoughts.
"I'm sure she just went for a walk before coming home," I state. "Let me get dressed and I'll drive you back to the hotel," I offer. I have no desire to spend a second more in this particular person's presence, but I need to be sure Katniss is safe.
Peeta nods, "Yeah, sure," he says distractedly.
I dress quickly and we head off for the hotel.
PEETA
Panic isn't a strong enough word to express the feeling that's filling my chest as Gale speeds us across town. I crack my knuckles as we wait at an intersection.
"She's back at home man, try to calm down," Gale says. "Don't need you mutting out in my car," he adds under his breath.
I glare at him, "Just drive," I growl pointing at the green light. He hit the throttle, but keeps glancing over at me, his eyes flashing. I know where this is going, there is no way he lets his suspicions from earlier go that easily.
"What did you do? There is no way she would run off without the great and wonderful Peeta Mellark unless…"
"What? Unless she felt threatened?" I snap.
"Was she?" He demands, his knuckles white on the steering wheel.
"Of course not," I scoff.
"Then what did you do?" he demands as we pull up the hotel.
"We had a talk, it got…heated," I admit. Then pushing open the car door, I'm out of the car and running for the hotel.
Gale gets out of the car and quickly catches up to me in the lobby. "What does that mean?" he demands as he following me into the stairwell.
I glance back at him as I take two steps at a time, "It means you're not the only one she's kissing these days," I say flatly.
He grabs my arm and pulls me to a halt, "You kissed her because of the pictures," he accuses.
I yank my arm from him. "No, she kissed me," I return.
He laughs humorlessly, "And then she ran away, leaving you standing in a field."
I just shake my head. "All that matters to me right now is that she's home safe," I say and then turn and run the rest of the flights to our floor.
I burst through the door the hotel, Gale right on my heels, praying I'll find her lounging on the couch, but only find Haymitch and Effie, looking worried. "She's not here?" I ask, breathing hard from the six-flight run.
Effie wrings her hands, "She didn't come to you Captain?" she asks, looking at Gale.
Gale shakes his head and looks worried for the first time.
"Did you find the car and the driver?" I ask Haymitch.
"With the phones down, I can't call anyone. I asked Fredrick but he says he didn't even know Carson was working today," he says, pacing the room.
I turn to Gale but he's already dialing his portable phone.
"I have a bad feeling about this," I whisper.
Effie comes over and hugs me. "I'm sure she's just out for a drive," she says into my ear.
I close my eyes and hug the small woman tightly. "I hope you're right."
**********************************
an
KATNISS
Before I even open my eyes for the day, a pounding headache is raging behind my eyelids. I groan aloud and bring a hand up to rub my temple. I sit up in bed and swing my feet over onto the floor, but when I feel cold wood under my feet and not plush carpet, my eyes snap open in spite of the migraine. I'm in Peeta's bedroom back in twelve. I try to piece together how I can be here, but I can't, not with the pounding my skull. I stagger to my feet and head for the bathroom, looking for not only aspirin but the owner of the room.
"Peeta?" I call, my voice is hoarse. I pad across the cool marble of the bathroom floor to the medicine cabinet. I pull it open and find the bottle of pain pills he keeps for when his leg hurts. I dump two in my hand and wash it down with a swig of water from the tap. I look over at the shower and decide to wait for the pills to start their job of relieving my headache in a hot shower. I quickly disrobe and step into the stall.
Turning the water on as hot as I can stand, I let it run over my head and body. The heat slowly loosens my muscles, including those around my skull and I sigh in relief. I grab a bottle off the shelf and dump some shampoo into my hand. The lemon-thyme scent Peeta likes fills the shower. I lather my hair, rinse and then rub in some conditioner. The mixture of pain pills, heat and soothing scent of the bath products starts to push the pain away. How did we get home? I wonder. I try to recall the last thing I remember but it's all kind of blur behind the pain that still lingers in my brain. Shutting off the water, I grab Peeta's robe. I pull on the oversized item, cuddling into the soft terry cloth and then pad silently out of the bathroom as I pull the tie tight around my waist.
I make my way into the hall, "Peeta?" I call out as loudly as my head will allow. I don't get a response but two doors down I see light creeping out from under the door of Peeta's studio. I pause at the door, giving it a quick knock before pushing it open and barging in. "Peeta how did we get…." I start to say but pull to stop when the tall blonde man in the room turns around to face me. I stumble backward in surprise, hitting my head on the door frame. I raise a hand to rub at a spot that made contact, "Carson, what…how…" I stammer in utter confusion.
He drops a paintbrush and runs to my side. Taking my hand, he guides me over to a stool in the corner. Setting me down, he starts inspecting my scalp. I brush his attempts at comfort away, instead of taking his hand in mine. "Carson, how did we get here? Why are you here in 12?" I ask, noticing that his eyes seem different in this light, bluer than before.
He tilts his head and gives it a shake. "The doctor said to expect confusion, but forgetting my name didn't come up," he smiles.
"What are you talking about? You're Carson, my driver," I say, confusion creasing my forehead.
His faces becomes one of concern. "You're driver? Not your district partner, your friend, your neighbor, your fiancé? Wow, you really hit your head harder than they thought. I should call the doctor," he says, placing a palm to my forehead.
I stand quickly, knocking the stool over. "Where's Peeta?" I demand.
He smiles softly at me, approaching me like an injured bird. "I'm right here," he says reaching for me.
I pull away from his grasp. "No," I say shaking my head.
"Katniss, maybe you should lie down. I 'll call the doctor. Concussions are nothing to play with," he says gently.
I back away from the imposter before turning and running out of the room and down the stairs. "Peeta!" I scream, racing through the living room and to the kitchen. Fresh bread is cooling on the counter, bowls from the work in the sink. All signs that he's here but he's nowhere to be seen. I hear footsteps on the stairs and dart for the back door. I run across the yard to Haymitch's backdoor. Yanking it open, I stumble into the dark interior. The room is still, white liquor bottles lined up on the table undisturbed. "Haymitch!" I call out but as I move into the living room I find the house is dead silent; so much so that I startle when the backdoor creaks open. I spin around and find Carson standing in the kitchen. "Where is Haymitch," I demand.
He raises his hands in a defensive gesture, "He's in the Capitol. He's with Effie," he says.
I shake my head. "No, no, he can't do that," I stutter.
"Katniss, he's in love, we need to let him move on," he says.
I shake my head and back toward the door. None of this makes sense. Peeta knows that Haymitch couldn't stay outside of 12, not without us. I grab the door and yank it open. "I don't know what's going on here, but I want to see my friends, NOW!" I shout.
He sighs, "Katniss, I'm right here," he says.
I shake my head, "You're not him." I turn and dash out the door towards my house. I need to barricade myself in and call for help. I stumble up the stairs and through the door but come to a screeching halt when I find the living room devoid of all furniture. When I hear Carson out on the lawn, I shut and lock the door anyway. I make quick work of running to lock the back door too. I go to the phone in the baren kitchen and pick it up as banging starts on the front door. I put the receiver to my ear, but find it is dead, just like my house. Fear drives me back to the living room to the other phone in the house, but I find it in the same state. I begin to panic.
"Katniss, please open the door. You need to come home," Carson begs.
"I am home," I shout, though I'm beginning to wonder.
"No, you moved in with me, don't you remember?" he soothes.
"I don't live with you! I don't live with Peeta. I don't live with anyone," I state, going over to the window. Pulling back the curtain, I look out at the square. It's empty, which is strange for this time of day. "Where is everyone?" I demand.
He laughs, its a light-hearted sound. "They finished the houses in town while we were gone. Everyone moved out of Victor's Village and into their own homes," he explains. "I mean they were pretty crammed in those houses."
I shake my head. It's true that multiple families were sharing houses until they could get into their own modular houses. But that man outside is not Peeta. I know Peeta's face as well as my own, that is not him.
Tears form in my eyes as I slide down the wall onto my butt. "Carson, where is Peeta," I beg.
"I'm right here," he says, his voice pleading for me to believe.
I just cry harder.
"Katniss, I didn't want to have to do this," he says.
There's a mechanical sound to my right. I turn my eyes towards the fireplace and see a small white pipe descending down into the firebox. When a white fog starts to seep out of it to fill the room I know instantly I should have run.