In This Together (The Hunger Games Fanfiction)

Chapter 18: Rescue

"Mommy?" Maia blinked up at me.

"It was nothing, dear. Don't worry."

But I knew my eyes told a different tale.

Adam had never been threatening toward me before. I didn't know if it was the fear of intruders that was making him act this way, or the thought of less meat for dinner. Either way, it was a side of him I didn't want to see.

Adam resurfaced in the entrance way to the kitchen.

"How long until dinner?"

"Whenever you are ready, hun," I managed to spit out.

"In that case, I'm just going to pop outside and see what all the fuss is about. Crowds seem to be gathering again," He turned to leave.

"We'll be waiting!" I called after him.

"Come along darling," I helped Maia gather the two extra plates and glasses. "We need to slip these to Tristan and Celia while we have the chance."

With Maia's assistance, I managed to open the cellar door and hand the food to Tristan.

"How is it down there?"

"Awfully dark," Tristan responded heartily.

"I've counted at least five spiders," Celia added, and Maia shivered at the thought.

"Well, hopefully you won't have to be down there for much longer. I-"

I was interrupted by an urgent banging on the living room window.

"Maia... stand back," I urged, unsure of who would disrupt us at such a peculiar time.

Cautiously, I made my way over to the window and pulled back the curtains.

I was met with the face of a lady I had never seen before. She seemed quite ordinary, except for her eyes, which were a colour I had never seen before... a vibrant violet.

She began to frantically gesture for me to open the window, and I obliged.

"H-hello," She sounded as if she was out of breath-perhaps she had been running.

"Hi..."

"Is Celia here?"

I wasn't about to fall for that.

"Celia?" I said the name slowly, as if it were unfamiliar. "No, I don't know anyone of that name."

"Oh, please. Don't play dumb with me. I saw them come to this house. Please, you can trust me. I'm related to Celia," She pleaded.

This strange lady spoke with an even stranger accent, and I wasn't about to let her an inch closer to Celia than she already was. Celia had become almost like a second daughter to me, and I would protect her until the end.

"I'm sorry, m'am," my voice was laced with sarcasm. "But considering I don't recognize you from a town of under 300 people is reason enough to not let you near my family's home. So if you could kindly scoot along-"

"Please," I narrowed my eyes as she interrupted me. "Please, just let me see her. She-she'll recognize me, I know she will. I'm her aunt-please."

All the while the stranger was saying this, Celia crept out of the cellar and slowly made her way closer and closer to the window.

"Aunt Iris?" She poked her head under my arm.

The lady's eyes lit up at the sight of her niece.

"Celia!" She tried to hug her through the window, but I yanked Celia back. "Oh, you don't know how happy I am to see you!"

"How did you get here?" Celia pushed out of my grip and ran back to the window.

"I stole one of the Capitol's hovercrafts. That was no easy task, let me tell you. Now hurry up, President Dellya won't be caught up in the square forever. Is Tristan there with you?"

"At your service," Tristan brushed off the cobwebs clinging to his shoulder from the cellar.

"Wait... where are you taking them?" I asked, amazed that this was happening so fast.

"Back to their homes in District One, of course. Thank you for everything you've done for them while they've been here, but I'll take it from here," Iris answered as she helped Celia crawl through the open window. Tristan hopped out after her.

"Thank you for everything, Amy. You too Maia!" Celia waved. "We'll miss you!"

"We owe you so much," Tristan added. "We can never repay you."

Maia ran to the window.

"Is this goodbye?" Tears shone in her eyes.

"Not goodbye for ever," Celia promised, grabbing Maia's hand. "We'll see you later, sometime."

"Celia, we need to leave," Iris urged.

"Thanks again!" Celia and Tristan waved as they ran off behind Iris to the large field on the outskirts of New World.

"Farewell, friends," I whispered, wrapping an arm around Maia.

It was difficult to adjust back to the eerie quiet that enveloped the house after their departure. We had the window closed and the cellar door covered by the time Adam came back from the meeting. He never suspected a thing.

I think that this is a secret Maia and I will take to our graves... the day strangers came to New World.

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An early update just because you are all so awesome! I can't believe this is the last real chapter. . . But don't worry, on Monday I'll post the Epilogue! And then we'll be done with 'In This Together'! Can you believe it?

I'm sorry if this chapter was a bit confusing. . . I think the Epilogue will clear things up :)