Here's Chapter Four! Let me know what you think.

Rekindling

Chapter Four

When I woke up, I was facing the fireplace, which looked grey and dull with no fire blazing inside of it. The rug pressed against my cheek and when I lifted my head, I could feel the indents it left in my skin when I brushed my hand against it. I didn't feel Peeta next to me, where he had been when I fell asleep, but when I turned he was on the couch, watching me from his spot on the couch. The kids were still sleeping because it was still early morning and I realized the only reason why I was up was because of the thunder coming from outside.

"Have you slept?" I whispered from across the room.

When he shook his head I sent him a disapproving look because he wouldn't be able to help anyone if he was exhausted. I stood up from the rug and sat down in a chair across from the couch.

"You should sleep," I said, seeing a flash of lightening just beyond him through the windows lining the family room. I knew the thunder was coming, so I didn't flinch when it roared overhead.

"I'll sleep when I'm dead," he said, resting his head on the back of the couch.

I shot him a look at his choice of words.

"Sorry," he mumbled.

The phone rang then, just before I could say anything else to Peeta about getting some sleep. The ring was just enough to wake up the kids, who opened their eyes and appeared to have an instant supply of energy. When I got up to grab the phone, I saw the slightest expression cross Peeta's face as Rosemarie said something about Cinnamon Roll Sunday, like maybe he wished he had gotten at least an hour of sleep. I grabbed the phone off of the kitchen wall, but stretched the cord that attached it to its mount so that I was standing in the family room, my eyes on the kids.

"Hello?"

"Katniss, its Gale."

Unlike most times he called, goose bumps appeared suddenly on my arms. There was no sign of distress or worry in his voice, but the last time he was here, he said he'd call if he got any news on the former Capitol citizens. He hadn't called since so I had a feeling I was about to hear something I didn't like.

"Did you hear about what happened last night?" I asked him.

"Peeta called a few hours ago."

I glanced at Peeta from across the room, who was trying his best to seem happy around the kids as they climb all over him while he sat on the couch.

"What's the news?"

"I'm not sure you'll believe me."

"I'll believe just about anything right now."

"Well… I got word from Effie this morning."

Except maybe that. Effie died a few years ago after she went off of her scheduled routine and got hit by a car. She always said that unscheduled days were dangers, and after hearing about her death years ago, I figured she was right.

"She's dead," I said, creasing my forehead in confusion. "She got hit by a car, right? She left Haymitch, of all people, her wigs."

Even under the circumstances, Gale had to laugh. He always said he had a hard time picturing Haymitch opening the box with a hand written note from Effie's attorney to find her hair pieces.

"It was her," Gale said back. "And she could tell me everything we need to know about the people watching you."

"Hold on, Gale," I said, shaking my head at myself because I couldn't understand what he was saying. "How did you even know it was her?"

"I quizzed her. Asked her questions I knew only she could know."

"Like what? What did you ask her?" I asked.

"I asked her what hair color she had during your first Games," Gale said.

"Anyone could have guessed that. It was broadcasted on live TV."

"So I asked her a few other things," Gale said, sounding as if he didn't want to get into a thorough conversation about the questions he asked her. "But that's not what's important. That's not why I called."

"Tell me what she said."

I still couldn't believe that Effie was alive and well because I had seen her wigs in Haymitch's house, lined up in a row so that Haymitch could knock them off his upstairs banister with his empty beer bottles. I let Gale go on though, because at least we were getting some kind of information, even if it wasn't true.

"She staged her death," Gale said simply, pausing because he knew I would protest, which I did.

"This isn't true. Effie doesn't stage deaths. Why would she, anyway?"

Peeta looked over at me as he and the kids made their way to the kitchen. I let the cord of the phone slack slightly, but stayed in the family room because I didn't want my family to see me as Gale told me what was going on.

"To protect you," Gale said. "She staged her death when she got wind of a small group of Capitol people wanting to take revenge out on you for taking their good lives away from them."

I got chills hearing him confirm the suspicions we had about people going after us.

"Why though? No one would have come after her because of us. She could have let them kill us and pretended not to know a thing to ensure she wouldn't get hurt."

"She said she felt that she owed it to you after you made sure she wasn't killed when the rebellion happened," Gale explained. "Since she herself was from the Capitol, she knew she could get the people who are after you to trust her. She's been compiling evidence ever since."

"And what does she know?" I asked.

I heard him take a deep breath and let it out before saying anything. It was what he always did before he was about to drop unpleasant news.

"I don't know how to tell you this."

"I can handle it," I said, although I wasn't sure that I could.

I was almost tempted to call Peeta in to hear the news himself, but then saw him helping the kids make cinnamon rolls when I peeked into the kitchen, so refrained from dragging him to the phone. Then, before Gale said anything, I had a feeling Peeta already knew.

"If you don't do something yourself soon, there won't be anything left of you within the week. They've been finalizing their plans for you."

I didn't say anything, instead just listened to Gale breathing on the other end of the phone. He didn't say anything either, because I guessed he knew I was taking it all in. What was I supposed to say to him, then? Would it be a waste to sink to the floor and curl up in a heap, plugging my ears like Annie would when she remembered something from her Games during the rebellion?

"Gale…"

"Look, Katniss, I'm trying to get Paylor to do something for you. I'm on the train there, actually, but you have to… I don't know, come up with a plan."

"To do what?"

I wasn't sure what Gale was suggesting. Did he really think that Peeta and I would dress up in our black and red District 12 uniforms from the Games and sneak around our town waving weapons around? We'd be killed just by our neighbors when they saw us coming.

"You have to kill them first," Gale said.

"No," I said, shaking my head as if he were right in front of me and I was communicating face to face with him. "Peeta and I… we don't do this stuff anymore."

"Fine," Gale said, mad almost. "Then you die doing nothing. Rye and Rosemarie too."

"We don't even know who we're looking for!" I said, sounding just as mad back. "Where do we go to hunt these alleged Capitol people? What do we do after we kill them? Go to prison for murder?"

"Paylor would pardon you," Gale said. "Even if she doesn't want to bring any of her men to keep you safe, she wants angry Capitol people around just as much as you do. You'd be doing her a favor by killing them."

"Where would we even find these people, Gale? I don't know who they are!"

"When I meet with Paylor, I'll send you the information about the people who are after you. Effie has a very organized list about these people… she has every hideout they'd ever occupied located on a map."

"Are they close, Gale? To the house, I mean."

"No. They're just past District Twelve's boundaries."

Even though everything I'd just heard was bad news, I felt the slightest bit of relief at the fact that there weren't people camped out in the woods in our front yard, watching the house as we slept.

"I'll call you again later, Katniss, but for right now I have to go."

"If you hear anything else, please call right away."

"I will," Gale said, his voice wavering a little bit. "And, Katniss?"

"Yeah?"

"Maybe you should talk to Haymitch."

"Why?" I asked, wondering why Gale thought it was necessary for someone else to know about what was going on. The fewer people who knew about what was happening, the better, I thought.

"Because he's done a good job at keeping you alive in the past."

I cleared my throat as a response, not sure what else to do. His words stung and caused my heart to beat even faster than it already was. Gale thought we were going to die, and if he thought so, the chances were, he was probably right.

"Bye, Catnip," he said, and he hung up the phone, letting the buzz of the disconnected line ring in my ear.

I listened to the buzz of the phone in my ear for a while, standing in the family room while I watched the rain pelt the windows from outside. I don't know how long I was standing there for, but only snapped out of it when I felt a pair of arms wrap around my legs. Rosemarie was staring up at me, a smear of flour stretched across her left cheek.

"Mama, breakfast is ready," she said, giving my legs another tight squeeze.

I picked her up and set the phone back on its spot in the kitchen. There were four plates, each with their own cinnamon roll, set at the kitchen table. Peeta raised his eyebrows at me when I sat down at the table after setting Rosemarie in the chair next to me. He was holding Rye in his lap.

"What did he say?" Peeta asked me, watching as I took a bit of the roll.

"Nothing you don't already know," I said, looking over at him.

When he didn't deny knowing about what was going on, I knew that he had been up all night, figuring out everything with Gale, telling him to see Paylor, wondering if Haymitch could get us out of this. The bags under his eyes and the look of pure disbelief on his face told me that he, like myself, had no idea what the hell we were going to do.

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unknownbyhim22