Chapter 4 -

I walked home with lighter steps, encouraged by what happened with Gale. Now I just needed to fix things with Peeta and life can get back to normal. I can finally put the Games behind me and move on. As I approached Victor's Village I saw Peeta running towards me. I guess there's no time like the present to start mending things.

"Hey Peeta... listen, I think we should ta..."

"Katniss! Come with me!" Peeta grabbed my arm and started pulling me.

"What? Where? Ouch! Stop, slow down, what is going on?" I shouted.

"No time, just come!"

One look at his face and I thought I better just follow him. I thought he was taking me to his house, but we passed it. Peeta slowed steps from Haymitch's house.

"We're here? What is wrong with Haymitch?" I tried to run towards the door.

Peeta grabbed my arm. "No, wait, maybe this isn't such a good idea after all. I don't know if we should just barge in."

"What is going on Peeta? Just tell me!" I demanded.

"I don't know! I saw some people come here, and it was clear that Haymitch wasn't expecting them."

"Well maybe he was just surprised. They could be old friends."

"What? Do you even think he has friends Katniss? When have you ever seen Haymitch with anyone who wasn't trying to get him to go home or leave them in peace?"

"Not here maybe, who knows, maybe he has friends from other districts."

"You're not listening to me!" Peeta shouted. "These people forced their way into his house! They had weapons! They pushed him in and shut the door before I could see what was happening!"

"What? Ok, we have to go in there. He could be in serious trouble!"

"But what if they're dangerous? What if they use their weapons? What if they hurt you? I would never forgive myself if anything happened to you. I should never have told you, I'm sorry. I just wasn't thinking and you were the first person I saw, I.."

"Peeta, stop! Let's just decide what we should do." I frowned. "Ok, let's go around the back and try to see if we can get in without anyone noticing."

"Ok, let's go!"

We ran to the back of the house, and were trying to decide whether to climb up a tree to get in through a window or just try the back door when we heard the door open. Two men came out, talking.

"Get down," I whispered, pulling Peeta down into the bushes. "Be quiet."

"I can't get ahold of them. We should've waited for the command," one of them said.

"No, we had to act now. We don't know when things will erupt," the other countered.

"But.."

The door opened again and a third person came out, a woman.

"We can't find her. She's not at the new house or the old shack," she declared.

"How hard can it be to find a child?" the first man asked, rolling his eyes.

"She's not just a child, as you both should know by now. You saw what she did during the Games."

Peeta and I looked at each other, our eyes wide. They were obviously talking about me!

Yet another man walked out the door. "We need to go, we can't risk being here any longer."

"But we haven't done what we came here for," the woman argued.

"Then we'll come back. But we must leave now." He started walking back into the house, the rest of them following him. A few seconds later we heard loud sounds and we looked up to see a hovercraft ascending the sky.

Peeta and I both had our mouths hanging open, speechless from shock. Where did the hovercraft come from? Who were those people? What did they want with me? What could possibly be going on?

Peeta finally said, "How can he... why would.." He had trouble completing the sentence.

"Don't know," I sighed. I felt exactly as he did, too confused to form a coherent thought, much less finish sentences. Because the last man who came out that back door was a familiar face.

Haymitch.