Chapter 4:

District twelve was different when she returned, she felt it the second she stepped off the train. The wind was colder, there was a heavy fog covering the town. She almost thought they had gone the wrong way, and somehow ended up in district eight, but the familiar buildings and the heavy air told her that this was home.

There was no one there to greet them, and as she and Peeta walked toward the Victor Village there was not a sound to be heard from anywhere, the town seemed deserted. It was early morning, the time was just after seven. She increased her pace, and heard Peeta do the same to keep up. As she reached the village she broke into a run, she took the steps up to the door in two's, and threw the door to her house wide open. She was breathing rapidly, and her hand was shaking as she felt the doorknob to the living room. She opened it slowly.

"You're home!" Something collided with her stomach, she looked down; it was buttercup. He hit the ground softly, and hissed at her before he stalked off, out the door. She had never been so happy to see him as she was right then, she even refrained from hissing back.

Arms enclosed around her, it was Prim; she was the one who had spoken. Katniss hugged her tightly, and murmured words into her hair. They were okay, and that was all that mattered.

The next day, Katniss went out to hunt, she had yet to calm down from the tour. Hunting had been one of the most frequent things on her mind for the last two weeks, and it was where she was most comfortable. It was just before dawn, the darkness hid her from prying eyes. She snuck past two peacekeepers on the way there, two more than normal.

She reached the electric fence, and looked around for a stick. The fence was normally turned off during the early morning hours, but she always double checked, her father had taught her that. She found a small twig and threw it at the fence.

There was a menacing buzz, she stepped back a few feet, the power was on; she glanced around. She could still go through it, there was a hole in the fence, further down the road.. She started jogging towards it, it was risky, but she really wanted to hunt.

She found it easily and crawled through it, it was a tight fit and she almost touched the fence with her left foot. As soon as she was on the other side her body was lighter, her chains were removed, she was free here; no one could touch her. The sun peeked over the horizon.

She ran on, the bow already in hand; her eyes searched for game. The further she got from the town the fresher the air, even the surrounding trees looked healthier. Still, there was no sign of any animals.

Fifteen minutes later she stopped, there was movements on her left, behind an old oak tree. A squirrel, she drew an arrow and put it on the string. She pulled it back quietly and aimed. She let it fly, it hit the squirrel dead in the eye.

She jogged back to the house, easily avoiding the two peacekeepers, who were still standing at the same spot. There might be more of them, but that did not make them any smarter.

She met Prim in the living room, she was eating breakfast. Katniss placed two dead squirrels on the dining table, and dropped down beside Prim, she was worn out from the hunt.

"What are you doing up?" Katniss asked, it was still early in the morning.

"Wanted to see you off; slept too long." Prim said, her voice drowsy, she stifled a yawn.

Katniss laughed quietly, "Well, here I am. The fence was on, but I managed to get through."

"Oh, right. I forgot to tell you," Prim said, then took a big bite of her sandwich, and forced Katniss to wait. "There's been a lot of changes since you left. There is a new head peacekeeper, he arrived a few days after you left, and brought a lot of new peacekeepers with him." That explained the two peacekeepers she had seen.

"He gathered us all in the square and told us that things were changing. The next day, the people in town found…" She got up and walked out to the hallway, she returned a few seconds later, now with a paper in hand. "These nailed on the doors." Prim gave it to Katniss, who immediately started to read. It explained a number of new regulations, among them, no one were allowed to walk outside other than under specific errands, and never after ten or before eight.

Everything was starting to fall into place. There was no one outside because they were not allowed to. "The rules don't apply to us, not in the victor's village." Prim said. Katniss nodded, still focused on the paper in her hand.

"Mom will be up soon, she is going to teach me how to mend a broken leg today." Prim said, and looked excitedly up at her. The sudden mood change caught Katniss off guard, but she smiled back.

There was a knock on the door, Katniss glanced at the clock; it read seven-thirty. She looked at Prim, who shook her head, she did not know either.

Katniss walked up to the door slowly, something smelled really well, it was cinnamon. She opened the door, it was Peeta; he was carrying a basket with a small blanket covering it. This was strange, they did not speak much on the journey back, what was he doing here so soon?

She glanced at the basket, and leaned closer to smell, definitely cinnamon.

"Peeta!" Prim said excitedly from behind Katniss.

"Hey, I brought you something." Peeta said, and smiled kindly at them.

Katniss narrowed her eyes at him, she was not going to accept any charity. As if he was reading her mind Peeta spoke up, "It's not charity, I made too much, and would rather you have it then throwing it away."

Prim moved past her, they were still standing in the doorway, she reached into the basket and took out a cinnamon-bun. She held it up to her face, smelled it, and took a bite.

"This is really good." She exclaimed happily, she grabbed another and snuck past Katniss and back into the living room.

"Do you want to come inside?" Katniss asked, and took a step back. He nodded and stepped inside, closing the door behind him. She moved into the living room and heard him follow her. He put the basket down on the dining table, some distance away from the dead squirrels.

Katniss sat down on the sofa, next to Prim. Even from here she could smell the buns, they smelled delicious. Peeta did not sit down, he stood awkwardly beside the table.

"I saw you come back, did you hunt already?" He asked. Katniss realised that he did not have anyone there to explain it to him, he lived in the house alone as his family had chosen to stay in town. She told him about the new rules, when she was done talking he closed his eyes tiredly, and sighed. He did not look shocked, just resigned, an expression mirrored on her own face.

"Something was bound to happen," Peeta said.

"Yeah…" Katniss said and trailed off.

They sat in silence.

"I need to get back, I have a bread in the oven." Peeta said, and stood up. Katniss got up too and followed him to the door.

"Thank you, for the buns." She said awkwardly, she was holding the door, he was a few steps away from her, outside.

"No problem," he said, and smiled. "You should eat them now, they are best when they're warm."

He left, and she closed the door slowly. Back in the living room, Prim was standing by the windows, she turned when Katniss walked in.

"What are you doing?" Katniss asked.

"I was watching your goodbye," Prim said. Katniss narrowed her eyes at her, she glanced at the basket.

"I'm going to wake up mom. Oh, and Gale was by yesterday, he wanted to see you." Prim said, she had a strange look on her face, she closed the door behind her.

Gale, she had almost forgotten about him. Gale needed to hunt, the new regulations would hurt him a lot; his family would not survive without the game brought in from hunting. She sprinted out to the hallway, and put on a brown coat, it was heavy, made of excellent quality; it was the only thing she had bought since the Hunger Games.

She glanced at the clock, it was ten to eight; she should probably wait the ten minutes. She took off her coat and moved back into the living room, she sat down heavily on the couch. She stared out in space, the seconds ticked by slowly. She eyed the clock again, five minutes had passed, five minutes to go. Finally it was eight, she got up from the couch, and walked out; she grabbed the coat on the way.

Just to be safe, she kept to the shadows, avoiding the peacekeepers. Before long she found herself standing on the doorsteps of the Hawthorne household.

She knocked twice and stood back to wait.

There was loud noises from inside, she smiled; this house would never be silent. Black hair appeared out the upstairs window, soon a face became visible. It was Rory, Gale's little brother.

"Hey," she said, and waved up at him.

"Hey." He waved back, and turned around and yelled," Gale! Katniss is here." She heard some more sounds from inside.

"He will be there in a sec," Rory said.

Katniss thanked him and stood back to wait, there was not much else to do. The door opened and the tall, strong figure of Gale Hawthorne stepped out.

"Catnip," he said, and smiled slightly.

"Hey." She stepped back, to signal that they should talk alone. Gale nodded, and closed the door behind him. She raised her hand, to wave goodbye to Rory, but he was already gone. She shrugged and walked away. She did not stop until they had reached the outskirt of the Seam, they took cover behind a small shed which hid them from the main road.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Gale asked, his tone formal.

"I'm back," she said, a bit hesitantly.

"I can see that." He folded his hands across his chest, and stared at her, his grey eyes unblinking.

She frowned, she had not spent a lot of time with Gale after the Hunger Games, but that was not her fault, he was always in the mines.

"What's your problem?" She asked.

Gale nostril's flared, and his eyes narrowed. "Why are you even here? Got bored of the fancy house?" His voice was harsh.

"Screw you," she said, her voice rising. She spun around, he had asked for her, she was not ready for this. She walked away from him.

"Wait." He called after her. She stopped but did not turn back.

"I'm sorry, it's just a lot. You and him, on TV and everything. " He sighed.

She closed her eyes, her anger gone. She went back to stand beside him. "I know, it's not easy for me either." She said.

"Rory has been asking me to teach him how to hunt, he told me that he was old enough to help." He smiled grimly, proud yet concerned.

She smiled, Rory had always reminded her of Gale. "He is going to be a great hunter." She said, even though she knew it was not what he wanted to hear.

"I know," Gale said, "but it's too early." She did not argue, and for once was happy that Prim had chosen to follow in her mother's footsteps instead of hers. Hunting was dangerous in the best of times, right now, with the increased surveillance, it could possibly be deadly.

They stood in silence, it was nice.

Gale shifted his weight between his feet, he was looking at the ground; his eyes sharp, focused. He suddenly turned to her, she was worried; he never acted like this.

"Katniss," he said. His attention was entirely on her. She adjusted her braid, wary of whatever was coming next.

"I love you." He blurted out. She froze, he did not just say, why would he do that?

"What?" She asked.

"I love you." He said again, more assuredly. Silence, it was not the nice, peaceful silence from before, she was still frozen, her mind a mess of conflicted thoughts.

"I just needed you to know," he said, and finally looked away. She let out the breath she had been holding. Her heart was racing.

"I'm sorry. I don't…" Somehow she managed to stumble on the words.

"That's okay, in my heart I always knew." He smiled at her, it was a sad smile. "But I had to give it a go you know?" She did not really know, and did not ask.

"I need to go back, work soon." He said, and started walking away.

"Wait," she said, loudly. She halted, she did not know what to say. She did not feel the same way, to her, he was a friend. He understood her better than anyone except Prim, she did not want to ruin that.

"Best friends," she said. "You are my best friend. I can't give you any more than that."

He winced, it was not what he wanted to hear.

"Want to go hunt on Sunday?" she asked.

"Sure," he said, and left. She was alone, maybe that was the best. What was it with the boys in her life, they always made things so complicated.

The months passed quickly, and the Hunger Games were approaching fast. The day of the quarter quell announcement was here. The entire district was in low spirits, as they always were at this time a year, but this time would be different from normal.

It was an anniversary year, seventy five years had passed since the creation of the games. It was time for the third quarter quell.

So, in addition to the fear they always felt, now, they also felt dread.

The games would be different this year, as they had been the two previous quells. For the first quarter quell, the district had been told to decide their own tributes. For the poor districts that meant they had to choose who would die. The second quarter quell had been worse, there was no clever rule change this time. For the second quarter quell, they merely doubled the amount of tributes, four from each district, two boys and two girls.

Katniss spent most her time hunting, the money she got as a victor meant that she never had to hunt for herself. The people in the Seam were not so fortunate. Things had gotten so bad that they had even stopped making a fuss about the game she brought them. The people living there was proud folk, they normally did not want to accept charity from anyone.

The rest of her time she spent with Prim, and occasionally Peeta. He would often come by around breakfast, and bring them freshly baked goods. They ate together, Prim and Peeta got on well with each other.

"It's today isn't it?" Prim asked. It was early in the morning, Katniss had just arrived back from a fruitless hunt, and sat on a chair by the dining table. She had not even tried to sleep the night before, she had too much on her mind.

"Yeah, today we'll know." Then in the afternoon they will come to collect, she added silently to herself. It was the day of the reaping. The front door opened; a delicious smell of cheese and bread filled the room. Peeta had arrived.

"Hey," he said as he walked in, he sat the basket on the table in front of her. She lifted the blanket, cheese buns; her favourite. She eyed him, he was too kind. He spoke with Prim, and had his back to her.

"Thanks," Katniss said, and grabbed a bun. Prim had pointed out the irony of her resistance; that she gave food to the poor in Seam, but refused to receive anything herself.

"My pleasure," Peeta said.

She made sure to drop off some game at his doorsteps from time to time, he needed to eat meat too.

"What do you think it will be?" Prim asked, her voice barely audible. She had moved away from Peeta, and stood in the middle of the room, she was so young. Her eyes were fixed on the television, it was turned off. Katniss clenched her jaw, something horrible she knew.

"I don't know." She answered. There were no words of comfort, she reached out and brought Prim close to her for a hug. Prim did not react to it at first, her body was tense, but eventually she relaxed into it.

"I'm going to get some air." Peeta said, she nodded in acknowledgment, her face still burrowed in Prim's hair.

"You should go with him," Prim said.

"No, I need to be here, with you." Katniss mumbled, and shook her head.

"Then be fast." Prim pushed away from her and faced Katniss.

Katniss frowned, she did not want to. Prim was looking at her with a firm look on her face, she was just as stubborn as Katniss when she wanted to be. Prim gestured towards the door. Katniss sighed, she stood up and went to find Peeta.

She found him just outside, he was sitting; his back against the house. She walked over and sat down beside him. He raised his head as she approached, and opened his mouth, but no words came out. The victor's village was always so quiet, it was disconcerting.

"What do you think will happen to us?" He asked.

"We will survive," she answered. Their shoulders were touching, she leaned against him.

"We will be mentors this year," he said.

"Yeah." She answered. They had not discussed this, but it was obvious to her, they could not trust Haymitch to do a good job.

"We will have to prepare them, to die; to survive at all costs." He said, his voice weary.

"We can do it," she said. Neither of them believed her.

There was silence, it lasted for too long. She shifted uncomfortably, there was so many unspoken truths. See and you will believe they say, she wanted to close her eyes.

"Let's go," she said, and got up. She reached out to him, he took her hand and she helped him up. "It's time for the announcement." It was a sunny day, it did not fit with her mood. Katniss loved the sun; it kept her warm.

Prim sat with her mother, who had a hand around her, keeping her safe.

Katniss sat beside them, Peeta brought a chair over from the table.

The television was already on, it was showing a video montage from earlier Hunger Games. She recognized several of them, there was a boy who died from starvation, which had been in the seventy-first games; then there was a young girl with golden hair, she died from an arrow through her neck, the sixty-ninth games.

The video faded out, and Snow appeared on the screen; she almost preferred the video from the games. He was standing on a pulpit, and waved to the live audience.

"Thank you," he said as the applause died down. "The seventy-fifth Hunger Games, the third quarter quell. " He spoke slowly and distinctly.

"People are born different, the hunger games taught us that. The capitol and the districts, the strong and the weak. The rebels want you to believe that there is strength in beliefs, there is not. Only power can grant strength. Even the most gifted need help from the capitol to survive, this time, we will give the tributes even more help." Snow paused, his snake like eyes were staring right at her.

Katniss leaned forwards in anticipation, she was tense, uneasy about what he would say next.

"For the first time in history, the viewers will influence the games from the beginning. There will be four tributes reaped from each district. Then the viewers will have one hour, to decide who they want in the hunger games. Only one will be chosen in the end, to fight for honour in the arena. The rest, will be discarded." He smiled, a cruel smile. The screen went dark.

Katniss ground her teeth, her eyes narrowed, she stared at the dark screen. The sofa cushions moved and she sunk a little deeper into it. Her mother had stood up and taken Prim with her.

"We have to get you ready," her mother said. She looked at Prim with critical eyes. "We have to do something with that hair."

"I will do it," Katniss said. Her voice louder than she intended.

"Good," her mother said, she gave Prim a kiss on the top of her head and left.

"I'll see you at the reaping," Katniss said to Peeta, who nodded and he left too.

Prim sat down on one of the kitchen chairs, Katniss started to work on the hair. Katniss always kept her own hair in a single braid, Prim styled hers in two.

Katniss split the hair down the middle, and then drew one half to the left and the other to the right. She began with the left.

"Could I have it in one? Like you do." Prim asked, Katniss stopped working and glanced at her. She was standing behind her, so all she could see was the back of Prim's head.

"Of course," Katniss said, and brought the hair back together.

Katniss stood beside her mother, behind the fence which separated the possible tributes from the rest. She looked over at them, they were divided by age and gender. Four names would be called, four people would walk up to the stage, likely to their doom.

Prim was at the right, she wore a light blue dress; it reached down to just above her ankles. It had been Katniss's once, she had worn it to her first reaping. This was only Prim's second, the odds were on her side. Katniss shuddered, it did not make a difference the last time.

Peeta was standing a good twenty feet to the left of Katniss, with his father and two brothers beside him. They were all too old to be reaped. She did not see his mother anywhere, which was one thing to be happy for.

She could not see Gale anywhere, nor anyone else from his family. They probably stood at the back, Katniss was standing in the front, in the middle of everyone else.

Effie appeared at the stage, she was wearing a green dress, and had two big leaves of the same green colour, in her hair.

"Welcome, welcome." Her hands were kept together in front of her body, like they always were when she was nervous.

"To the third quarter quell." An obligatory pause, in case of applause, there was none.

"Well, let us get started." She said, an uneasy smile on her face, she went over to the glass bowl on her left. "Like always, ladies first." She reached into it and stirred, the small pieces of paper moved around her hand. She grabbed one, she pulled it out deftly and brought it up to her eyes.

"The first female tribute candidate is, Lettie Skire." The name rang out across the crowd. Katniss tried to find her amongst the other girls, but no one moved. Then suddenly a young girl stepped forwards, tears were streaming down her face and sobs rocked her small body.

She was young, at Prim's age, or even younger. Katniss looked around frantically, hoping that someone would volunteer, this child would not stand a chance.

Lettie reached the stage and stopped beside Effie, who smiled down at her.

"The second female tribute candidate will be, Madge Undersee." Effie said and her eyes scanned the crowd.

Katniss swore loudly. Madge had been her best friend growing up. She touched the Mockingjay pin, it had been given to her by Madge, when she was chosen as tribute.

Unlike the girl before her, Madge did not hesitate, she moved swiftly to stand beside Effie. She was beautiful, her dark blue dress fit her perfectly. The two girls looked like total opposite of each other. Madge was tall, beautiful and daughter of the mayor, Lettie was short, crying and from the Seam.

Effie moved over to the other bowl. Prim had not been chosen, Katniss was only slightly relieved.

"The boys." She said simply. She stirred the bowl, and grabbed one of the pieces. She held it between her thumb and forefinger.

"The first male tribute candidate is, Pope Gray." She said.

He was a burly boy, with dark hair and a crooked nose. He moved toward the stage with long confident steps. Katniss had seen him around, he had been in the same year as her in school; yet she could not remember ever speaking to him.

Effie looked so flimsy where she stood beside him.

"The second male tribute candidate will be, Brannock Keene." Effie said.

A tall boy walked up to the stage, he had long, thin limbs and his face was drawn. His skin tone and hair colour told her that he too was from the Seam. Katniss studied the four candidates, the two boys had no chance; the capitol would never go for dirty and rough. That left the two girls, it would be close. Would they go for pitiful and innocent, or prideful and attractive?

"Thank you." Effie said, her bubbly voice irritated Katniss. "Now to allow the votes to come in, we will wait for one hour. " She took a step back, away from the microphone, but made no move to leave the stage. The tribute candidates were forced to stand motionless, on display, waiting for the judgement of the filthy rich. Katniss was cold, she could do nothing, and it was eating her up inside.

The young girl had stopped sobbing, she fell to the floor and now sat with her knees tucked up to her chest, she held a firm grip around them, her eyes were glazed over, she was living the nightmare.

The two boys were also affected, she noted that they were shaking, their body protesting because the muscles had been tense for too long, a grimace spread across the tall boy's face, he looked ready to fall.

Only Madge seemed unaffected by it all, her face was blank, neither happiness nor sorrow could be found. Her posture was upright, she held her head high.

The minutes ticked by, two peacekeepers picked up the girl and made her stand again. Her legs were shaking horribly, and her head was facing downwards, she had shrunken in on herself.

The only sounds came from the shuffling of feet. After a long time Effie stepped forwards again, she was holding an envelope in her right hand.

"The moment of truth." She said, and ran a hand along the envelope. She opened it slowly, her fingers barely touching the paper. Finally, she reached into it with two fingers and took out a small slip of paper. She held it up to her eyes and read.

"Madge Undersee."

It was over, resignation was plainly visible in the two boys, their heads had dropped, tears ran down the burly boys face; they knew what was coming. The young girl made no movement, there was no indication that she had heard anything.

Peacekeepers walked to the stage and escorted the three of them away, there was no resistance. Katniss watched them disappear, she closed her eyes; she never wanted to open them again. Katniss was starting to get an understanding for Haymitch, and she did not like it.

Madge stood alone on the stage, she had been moved to the middle, all eyes rested on her. Two peacekeepers walked over, she followed them out the back door; it closed loudly behind her. Katniss's eyes found Peeta, his eyes were downcast and his shoulders hunched. Their earlier conversation came back to her, Madge's life would be in their hands; Katniss was determined to make her survive.