Beacon of Hope

Chapter Twenty Five <3 Fog

" Peeta!" I shriek. Mags gives my hand a reassuring squeeze. Finnick reaches the floating body, and rolls it over.

It's not Peeta.

I sigh in relief, and Finnick ducks under the water to retrieve Peeta. He pulls out a spluttering Peeta, and drags him over. Mags and I pull them up, and I embrace Peeta. " I though you were dead," I whisper.

" I'm not," he says. I laugh lightly, then pull away from him.

" Come on!" A standing Finnick says, and we head towards one of the green forests. We stumble in and head in the direction of the trees. We collapse on the floor, and I arm my bow, and point it at Finnick's chest. He puts his hands up, " Woah there, I'm not going to hurt you."

I get up and back him into a tree. I put a hand on my belly. " I can't risk it," I say. He frowns slightly. Peeta pulls me off him and I kick and scream. He forces me to the ground and puts his hand over my eyes, his hand pressed under my arm. I know very well that this is a trick to get me unconcious, but it happens before I can fight it. My world goes black.

I'm awoken by Peeta saying my name, shaking me. I open my eyes and mumble something about being thirsty. " I know, Kat, me too," he says. " But we can't find any."

I frown slightly, and feel a twinge in my stomach. " Are you okay?" He asks.

" Fine," I say, as Finnick comes rushing over.

" This came." He hands Peeta a long, metal tube. " From Haymitch."

Peeta looks thoughtful, then says, " It's a spiel!"

" A what?" I mumble. Peeta gets up and I see him run over to a tree. He stuffs the spiel in the trunk, and waits a moment, with bated breath.

Then water runs out of it.

" Oh my god, Peeta!" I say. " How in the world did you know that?"

" I don't really know," he says, taking a long gulp of water. I stand up, and waddle over then take a big gulp myself. I am followed by Mags and Finnick.

" We should rest," says Peeta. Mags and I nod, and Finnick agrees.

" I'll take first watch," he says.

" Pfft," I laugh. " In your dreams."

Finnick sighs and rolls his eyes. " Katniss, you need your rest," Peeta says. " I'll take the watch."

" No, I'm staying with you," I say. Peeta sighs, then nods in agreement. We sit down, and Finnick and Mags curl up together. When they're asleep, I turn to Peeta. " Can we trust him?"

" I think so," he says. " To be honest, I'm not sure Katniss. We should give it a go. You can't really protect yourself and I'm no good. He's our best shot." He puts his hand on my stomach and smiles a little bit. " You and our baby are going to have a great life."

" No," I say, snuggling into his arm.

" Katniss, I know Haymitch made you promises, but he made me promises too. And I intend for him to keep those promises."

I yawn. " Stay with me?" I ask, my eyes drifting closed.

He smiles widely. " Always." And then I'm asleep.

I'm awoken by screaming. Peeta. Peeta! I sit up in a flash and someone pulls me to my feet. " The fog is poisonous!" Peeta shrieks. He takes my hand and we begin to run. Finnick and Mags are just ahead, but we're not far behind them. We get pretty far before Finnick falls to the ground, Mags on top of him. I yell for him to move, but it turns into a scream as the fog hits Peeta and I. I fall to the floor.

" I can't carry her!" I hear Peeta plead frantically.

" You take Mags!" Finnick says, and then I'm swung onto his back. He runs, and I feel hot, burning blisters rise up on my skin. I yelp in pain.

I look over to see Peeta carrying Mags. He would've been such a good Dad. I'm cut out of my thoughts as we all tumble down a hill and I land in soft, yellow sand.

The fog is rolling towards us and I prepare for the pain. But it never comes. The fog rolls upwards, as if there is a clear wall blocking our path. I frown slightly. Strange.

It's then that I roll over. It burns everytime I move, so I look at me hands. Puss filled warts have come up all over my skin, and I yelp as I try to burst one. It's no good.

I crawl forward painstakingly till I reach the water. I put my hand in and scream in pain. But the capsules come off, like the fog itself, and I'm left with extremely smooth skin. " The water helps!" I yell hoarsely. I feel Peeta slide beside me and he puts his hand in. The fog evaporates and he screams in pain.

I slide my entire body in slowly, shrieking out. Peeta does the same, until we're relaxed and have skin clear of puss gems. " We have to get Finnick and Mags in." I say.

Peeta nods. He takes Finnick into the water, who thrashes around but soon relaxes. " Thank you," he whispers. We both nod.

" You should clean up Mags," I say to him. He nods and gets out of the water. I take Peeta's hand and float on my back till I hear a yell.

" Mags!" Finnick screams. I run out the water and over to where Finnick is. Mags is staring up at him with ice eyes, frozen in one position.

She is dead.

- - - * * * - - -

Hello, guys!

Short, excruciatingly boring chapter, I know. But it's really is gonna get exciting in either the next chapter, or the chapter after that!

Y'all are gonna hate me for what's about to happen and what will happen.

It's confirmed! There will be a sequel to this story! Mockingjay; If Katniss Loved Peeta! The prologue will be released when the final chapter of this is! Eeeek!

Love you all!

- J x 💋🍞