Pure Torture: a Hunger Games Fanfiction

Chapter 98

Katniss

"Cause I'm bleeding out, so if the last thing that I do is to bring you down, I'll bleed out for you." -Imagine Dragons

"Peeta?" I yell for him. There's no answer. I try to whip my head around and pry the hands away from my throat, but this person, this man is stronger than I am.
"Peeta!" I cry out, my throat starting to throb and my breathing starting to become harder to carry out.

"Shut up!" A voice says to me.
But it's not just any voice. It's Peeta's voice.
I throw my elbow out at him and fight back as hard as I can, trying to break free from his grasp.

When I do break free, my worst fears have been realized. It's Peeta. He's the one attacking me.
"Peeta!" I yell, backing away from him. "What's going on with you?"
"You monster!" He screams. "You did this to her! You're the reason she's broken! You messed her up! You did this to her!"

The words are scared right out of my mouth. I can't do anything but keep trying to back away from him.
"Peeta, stop! This isn't real!" I yell. I don't know what he's seeing, but he thinks I'm Snow.
"Shut up!" He yells again, this time coming for my throat again.

He slams me up against the wall of the kitchen, knocking a picture of us on our wedding day to the ground. He's holding me up against the wall by throat, pinning me there with his sheer strength.

I feel my breath escaping me and tears start to pour down my face.
"Peeta! It's me! It's Katniss. We're married Peeta, our daughter is at school and I'm pregnant. Peeta, it's me! It's your wife, you... Love me!" I rasp out the last part.

My breathing sounds labored and wheezy and is becoming harder and harder.
I kick and kick until he finally lets go. I run out of the kitchen to the living room and keep the distance between us large.

"Peeta, stop! It's not real." I sob rasping as he comes near me again.
I can feel my throat and neck already starting to bruise and swell.
All I can do is back away from him. Maybe if I keep out of reach for long enough, he'll snap out of it.

But once I've backed into the corner of the room, I know I'm in trouble. I squeeze my eyes shut so as to not watch my husband coming to attack me.
"You put her through this! It's your fault she's sick like this! You bastard!" He screams as he gets closer and closer. Soon I can feel his heavy breathing on my face. I can practically feel him move his arm to swipe for my neck again.

And for some reason, I don't fight back anymore. I don't know why I don't bother to fight this Peeta for the sake of my baby, my daughter, and for the real Peeta, but I don't.
"Fine." I try to whisper.
"What did you say?" He yells.
"I said fine! Kill me, then. I'm not going to fight you, Peeta. But I want you to know that the real you is in there fighting to stop this you from doing this. Peeta, fight this. Please. I'm so scared. I'm so scared." I try to get out. But there's already too much swelling in my neck for me to speak normally without my voice cracking and breaking.

"I am going to kill you, you bastard. You deserve to die like this!" He says.
I try to remember that this isn't Peeta and that he thinks I'm someone else, but I'm still stung by these words.
The next thing I know, my face is throbbing with pain and I'm on the ground staring at the ceiling. He's on top of me and I can feel the relentless pain and pressure of both his hands on my neck again.

It's not like before. This time I can't breathe at all. My lungs ache and I feel all the pressure rushing to my face. It hurts so bad, I think I'm clawing at Peeta's hands and forearms. I'm trying to do anything to get air into my lungs. I wouldn't be surprised if my eyes popped out of my head. And it hurts. It hurts so bad and I'm trying to scream for help. Peeta is screaming at me. I want Peeta to look me in the eyes. He needs to see my eyes and maybe he'll snap out of it. But he's not looking at my face anymore.