Pure Torture: a Hunger Games Fanfiction

Chapter 104

Peeta

"And everything we used to know crashed into the great unknown. One step closer, we're going to be alright." -Eric Arjes

"Where the hell is she?" Katniss asks.
It's been two hours of looking... And still nothing. We've got every attendant searching each little spot on the train. We've personally examined every single inch of the train. There's no sign of Willow.
None at all.

The next morning, the train is only an hour from District 12. Nobody's seen Willow. Nobody. She just...disappeared without a trace.

Katniss is practically catatonic. She's shut down totally. She won't eat. She won't sleep. She won't stop searching. She's combed through every train car at least 10 times. Last night, we talked through everything that we could remember happening before she disappeared.

I was scared she'd blame me for Willow disappearing. I left her there, but the attendant promised to not let her out of her sight. I explained it to Katniss over and over, crying, begging her not to blame me. And she didn't. But she's blaming herself now, because if she hadn't wandered off and fallen asleep in the closet, I would never have had to leave Willow.

I've explained to her over and over that it's not her fault, but it's not like Katniss to understand it.

I called Haymitch a few minutes ago to tell him what happened. He sounded somber, but immediately requested to speak to Katniss. She sits with the phone held to her ear, hearing him, but not listening to him.

"Have you eaten?" I heard Haymitch's voice asking her at first.
Her reply, of course 'no,' was barely even a whisper.
Now I can't hear what Haymitch says, but Katniss sits silently, stiffened up like she's made of stone. Her eyes stare unfocused into the distance.

"Everything's going to be fine, Peeta," Haymitch says after I take the phone from Katniss. "She's fine, I bet. We've got people all over the town square ready to look for her."
"Why would you be looking in 12?" I ask him.

"Peeta..." He starts, as if he doesn't know how to break something to me.
"What? What is it?" I ask, my voice rising.
"Haven't you thought about it? Peeta, a 5-year-old can't just disappear from a train like that. She must have been... You know? And who could it be?" He says.

"No. No," I say, realizing what he's talking about.
"The Gold Hinge,"  Haymitch says anyway.

I get up and walk to the next car so Katniss won't hear me. The last thing I need is for her to know that a group of resistance has her daughter.

"You really think it's them?" I ask him.
"Peeta, I know it's them," Haymitch says.
"How? How do you know? How do you know that The Gold Hinge has Willow?" I ask skeptically.
"Because, Peeta," he says. "They said it themselves."

--

Katniss

"How? How do you know? How do you know that The Gold Hinge has Willow?" I hear Peeta say.

I have my ear pressed up to the door connecting this train car to the next.

The Gold Hinge has Willow? The question...the words themselves are enough to crumple me to the floor. I feel tears sting my eyes and my whole body starts shaking. This cannot be happening.

Peeta stops talking, so I assume he hung up.
The door opens from Peeta's side.
He looks down and sees me sitting on the floor, knees drawn up close to my body.

"Oh, Katniss," he says. "You heard me, didn't you?"
A noise comes out of my mouth, something like a whimper.
"Listen, Katniss. We'll be home soon and we can find her. Everyone in town is looking for her," Peeta says.