The Avox (ON HOLD)

Chapter 8- Surprises

*DEDICATED TO FROSTFIRETNPD FOR HELPING ME WITH THIS CHAPTER. THANKS FOR YOUR ADVICE! I MADE THIS CHAPTER A BIT LONGER, AND I HOPE YOU LIKE IT! PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS! THANKS!*

As I open my eyes, the first thing I see is Peeta. He is lying on the ground with a knife stuck in his chest, blood surrounding him. “Peeta!” I scream. I run over to him and sob. My body was surely out of fluids. Then, out of nowhere, comes a gray rat. It looks up at me, and I stare down at it, tears still in my eyes. He pounces at me, clawing at my face. As he rips me apart, I see him suddenly transform into a peacekeeper. Then into Layla. And then, into Snow. He makes one more swing with his hand, and as it comes down to my face, my eyes flash open.

“Shh, it’s ok. I have you. It’s alright. Shh, sweetheart. Everything’s alright.” I hear Peeta say. I am in his lap and he is hugging me tight, stroking my hair. Apparently I was crying during my sleep, noticing that there are tears at the corners of my eyes. “It was just a nightmare. It’s ok.” I say. I get out of Peeta’s lap and sit down in the grass. Haymitch was still sleeping, and I know we had to move soon, so I decide to wake him up.

I walk over to him and shake his shoulder. “Haymitch, we have to wake up and get moving.” I say, in a soft voice. “Haymitch…” “Ah! Take the liquor, leave me alone!” he shouts as he opens his eyes, panting. “Ummm, I don’t know what to say to that, except for, we have to get moving.” I say, walking back over to Peeta. “Right…” he replies, his cheeks flushing red. I gather our things into Haymitch’s bag, and we start walking.

“Ok, so we will be able to make it to District 12 again today. It’s only about 4 miles from here.” Haymitch says. “But, is that what we want to do? We came all the way here, and almost got killed, and we are going back home?” Peeta asks. “Yes. I don’t want you two risking your lives again. We’re done with that. We will get home and report this to President Paylor. She will take care of it.” Haymitch says. “No! I can’t just sit at home and watch other people fight for us. We already went through so much; we can’t just give up Haymitch! Plus, I told Katniss that we had to finish what we started. We have to kill Snow.” Peeta says. Haymitch thinks it over. “Fine. This is what we are going to do. We will go home, get weapons, supplies, and anything else we need. Then we will inform Paylor about this, and she can send whomever she wants out there, but we will go with her. Sound like a plan?” Haymitch asks. Peeta and I both nod our heads, and then we start for home.

As we approach home, I notice a sudden stirring in my stomach. I stop and breath, trying to calm down. “Are you okay, sweetheart?” Peeta asks. I reply by kneeling over and emptying the contents of my stomach. Peeta holds my hair back for me. Once, I’m done, he takes a leaf and wipes my mouth with it. “It’s probably from all the stress we’ve had lately.” he says and hugs me. I think about it, and I’m not so sure about Peeta’s theory…

“We’re home!” Haymitch yells as we approach the fence. Haymitch tells us to go wash up and get changed, and then meet us by his house in ten minutes. As we walk into our home, my stomach starts to churn again, and I run towards the bathroom. I lock the door behind me, and kneel over the toilet. I release the rest of my stomach fluids and wipe my mouth, sitting down and resting my back against the wall. “Katniss, sweetheart? Are you ok?” Peeta asks from behind the door. “Yeah. I’m fine.” I reply. Then my heart skips a beat. “Peeta?” I ask, my voice shaking, “You don’t think this is because…” Panting, I open the door for him, and he stands there, his eyes wide.

“Here you go. Check. Now.” Peeta says as he hands me two tests. I walk into the bathroom, my heart racing as fast as light, and open the first test, then the second. Once I am done testing, I slide down the wall, burying my head in my hands. Tears start to form in the corner’s of my eyes as I check the first test. Two positive signs look up at me. I start to panic, and then tell myself that I have to check the second test to make sure it’s correct. I close my eyes and when I re-open them, two more positive signs form in my blurry, teary vision.