Chapter 1 – An Uninvited Guest

As I walked home I could smell the bread and pastries as I passed the bakery. My stomach growls and I try to keep walking but my legs feel weak and I collapse to the ground. I need food, not only for my mother, but also for my little sister, Prim. The smell draws me in closer and I start digging through it for scraps when a shrill voice yells at me to move on and I obey. A few feet further down the road I stop and a tear fills the corner of my eyes as I think of my family and how we will all starve, but at that moment the same voice that was just yelling at me seemed to have another reason to speak. The back door of the bakery opened and a little blonde boy walks out with a loaf of bread. As he gets closer to me he throws the loaf and runs back inside. Then I remember seeing what seemed to be a bruise on the side of this face forming a black and blue mark, but for whatever just happened, I'm eternally grateful for what had just happened. Next thing I know its some years later at the reaping for the 74th Hunger Games and Prim, my little sister just became a tribute. Before I know what to do with myself I volunteer in her place. Effie then reads the boy tribute that is Peeta Mellark, he was the boy who gave me the bread when I was younger. Now, I'm in the arena and I stand before Rue, helplessly entangled in a net. Her eyes look at me and I sense it as a call for help but I have no clue how to, I'm paralyzed. Then a spear goes through her. I start screaming and then I feel arms around me, trying to calm me. Peeta. This has been my fifth nightmare in a row. It's truly amazing how I've been getting enough sleep.

"Shh, its alright Kat." Peeta whispers into my ear as he hugs me tightly, trying his best to comfort me, "You'll wake the kids."

"Mom?" Asks Klarissa, my beautiful daughter who is thirteen years of age. "Are you alright? I heard you screaming again…" She mentions standing in the doorway of our bedroom. Unable to speak Peeta reads my mind and answers for me, "Your mother just had a bad dream, just go to bed before you wake your brother." Apparently it's too late because I see my eleven-year-old son, Teagon trying to hide behind Klarissa. Peeta removes himself from the bed and then picks up the kids and puts them in bed with us. It's a calming night so everyone's asleep but me. I start to doze off, as there's a sudden knock at the door. I try to get out of bed without disturbing anyone but I guess I failed when Peeta picks up his head and asks "Katniss?" He sounds funny when he's half asleep.

"Someone's at the door." I reply as I tiptoe to the door, careful to not wake up anyone else. I turn back for a second to see him out cold lying next to his son who resembles him oh so much. I smile to myself as I open the door.

"You." I say quickly and coldly, "What do you want?" All the joy and happiness that I had collected over the years have left my body as I stand there staring at what could have been.