The Girl Without Fire

Chapter One

"Autumn slow down!" Katniss Malarck called to her daughter. The little five - year - old was too busy chasing after a butterfly to hear her mother. She was intriguied by the beautiful colors splashed over its wings.
"Autumn! Listen to your Mother!" Peetah was right behind Katniss, sprinting after his daughter before she went too far. The forest loomed before all three of them and Katniss smiled as she remembered illegaly hunting with Gale. Her smile immediately turned into a frown. Gale. During the war with the capital, Gale had become... not himself. Katniss shuddered and tried to forget about him once again.
"Mommy look what I got!" Autumn reached into her pocket and pulled out the dead butterfly. Its head was bent to the side and the wings were almost completely ripped from its body. Katniss gasped and her mind flashed to a dead body, mangled and the eyes vacantly staring into nothing. She dropped to her knees and swallowed a scream that threatened to escape from her gaping mouth.
"Sweetie..." her voice sounded shaky and restrained. Katniss cleared her throat. "Autumn, you can't just take a living creature from its home and put it in you pocket, okay? That butterfly had... has a family too and they probably miss her very much." Peetah came up behind Autumn and glanced at the dead butterfly in her hands. He clapped his hand over his mouth and turned quickly away.
"Daddy?" Autumn stared at her father with concern. "What's wrong?" He slowly turned around to plaster a fake smile on his face.
"Nothing sweetie. Nothing at all. How about you carefully put that butterfly back on the ground and come back to the house. It's time for dinner anyway." Autumn placed the insect on the ground in front of her and jumped up. When she was far enough ahead of them, Peetah turned to his wife.
"When are we supposed to tell her? She has to know soon! Autumn is clearly not ready for what is going to happen." Katniss stared at him and shook her head.
"Are you crazy?! She is only five years old! Do you expect a five - year - old to understand President Snow's gruesome ways? No. Autumn needs to be at least a teenager when she finds out." Peetah sighed and nodded.

Five years later, Autumn was about to start fifth grade and Katniss was a nervous wreck.
"Peetah what if she runs into that... that monster?! Mary Snow definitely knows what she is destined to do to our daughter!" Peetah sat down next to Katniss and rubbed her back.
"Honey, it's going to be fine. The only thing we have to do is warn Autumn about Mary."
"But how?! We can't tell her the truth! She's only ten!"
"Mom?" Katniss jumped and whipped her head around to find Autumn standing in the doorway, dressed in her school uniform. A cute button down top with a matching short green skirt.
"Oh sweetie! You look adorable! Are you excited for your first day of school?" Katniss tried to steer her daughter's mind away from anything she might've heard. Autumn gave her mother a look and rolled her eyes.
"Who is Mary Snow? And why do you guys have to warn me about her?" Peetah looked at his wife and nodded.
"Sweetie, Mary is... a girl a couple grades ahead of you. She might try to come up and... threaten you in some way. You see, Mary comes from a family that is pure evil and-"
"Okay that's enough from your father." Katniss interrupted and Peetah laughed. Autumn wasn't laughing, she needed to know who this Mary was and if this girl might be a threat to her. "Just stay away from any girls named Mary, okay honey?"
"What if I meet a girl that's super nice?! And what if her name is Mary?"
"Do not talk to her." Peetah growled. "Young lady, do you understand me?" Fearfully, Autumn nodded and scampered back upstairs.

Later that day, Autumn walked into her homeroom and looked around. Near the corner, there was a short blonde girl sitting alone. She had ice - blue eyes and a cold expression on her face. Towards the front of the room, a cute dark - haired boy sat in his desk talking to Autumn's best friend, Asher.
"Hey Asher!" Autumn grinned at him and sat down beside her friend.
"Hey little A!" He laughed and poked her arm. "This is my friend, Connor Hawthorne. You might... uh... you might recognize him. He's Gale's son." Autumn stared into Connor's warm green eyes. He looked exactly like his father with a strong chin, golden specks sparkling in his eyes, and soft brown hair.
"Wow. Um.. I mean hi! I'm Autumn Malarck. Katniss and Peetah's daughter." she nervousley waved at Connor. He smiled, lighting up the room and turned back to Asher.
"Excuse me." a cold voice from behind her startled Autumn. She turned around to find the blonde girl staring right at her.
"Yes?" The girl stuck her hand out for Autumn to shake.
"Hi. I am Emma Lynn, what's your name?" Autumn let out a sigh of relief. It wasn't Mary, thank goodness.
"Hi! I'm Autumn Malarck. Nice to meet you!"
"Class! Silence please!" the teacher ordered, striding into the classroom. "Asher Stone?"
"Here." Asher replied.
"Okay, good morning Asher. Connor Hawthorne?"
"Here." Connor replied and Autumn felt all the girls in the room turn to stare at the handsome boy. She rolled her eyes.
"Autumn Malarck?"
"Here!" Her voice sounded super high - pitched and squeaky. She felt her face turn beat red and slid lower in her seat.
"Very good, thank you. Mary Snow?" Autumn leaped to her feet and the entire class gaped at her.
"Here." She whipped her head to where the voice came from. No way. It was Emma Lynn. She had lied about who she truly was.