Hey everyone!

So I have been trying to edit what I've written of my story because I don't think the quality was very good before. So I tried to improve the grammar when I could, and I changed a few details so it would make more sense. I hope that you guys think this is a better read, I just want you all to enjoy it. I also wanted to say a big thank you to all of you who have favourited or followed my story, it means a lot to know you guys are being patient with my story and want to read it more, so thank you, thank you, thank you!

Please review and tell me what you think.

WorldOfMyOwn24

xxx

p.s. If you have already read my story so far try not to give away what happens to those who haven't. ;) Thank you!

Disclaimer- Suzanne Colin's owns the Hunger Game

Chapter 1- The 'Accident'

"Where there's smoke there's fire... And I'm not staying cause I'm gonna get burnt."

~Demi Lavito

Katniss POV

I sit at the wooden dining table in the kitchen, as I anxiously tap my fingers on it's surface. I glance at the clock. Only a few minutes until he arrives. A few minutes until the terror starts… A few minutes until the games begin.

When Gale walks through the front door, I stand up from my chair, and walk out of the kitchen into the hall to greet him, and I am surprised to see he seems relatively cheery. I take a deep breath and force a smile, wary of Gale's ability to change his mood like the flick of a switch. He hangs the keys on the hook by the door then strolls over to me.

"Hey baby" he says before smashing his lips against mine. I kiss him back without thought or feeling. He then walks to kitchen, and as usual to the fridge, to take out a beer. I lightly brush past him to get a glass from the cupboard before walking over too the sink and avoiding his gaze. While I am filling up my glass with water he comes up behind me and places his arms around my waist, and I instantly straighten up. After taking a sip from my glass, I take it over to my previous place at the table, not sure where in the room to look.

The kitchen is quite small, with only an old cooker, warn out fridge, leaky sink and a few cupboards, but it does the job. In fact the same applies to the whole house. It isn't very big as we live in a terraced house in London, but our street do have small gardens at the back and front of our houses so we are lucky. I even managed to put in a little pond at the front when we first moved in. Our house is definitely bigger then the house I grew up in though, which was only a basic 1 up 1 down, on the outskirts of Seam (a small town in the south west of England, in a county called Wiltshire). I lived with my mum, my dad and my younger sister prim. We weren't rich, but we were happy. In fact, my childhood was in my opinion, better then most people's. For a while at least. My mum was a nurse, originally from a richer town nearby Seam, but she left it for my dad, who was like most men in our town, a farmer. He was devoted to my mother and thought the world of me and prim, so even though we didn't have much, he made it feel like we had the world in our hands.

But one day, my father died in an accident with some machinery at work. They said there was a malfunction or something, and that the engine exploded. Both my father and Gale's father were caught in the blast. They both died that day and part of me, and any happiness I was capable of died with them. My mum went into a deep depression after that so I was left to provide for the three of us. I was only 13. I got a job on a market stall, and worked over time whenever I could, I even went hunting on occasions when I payed the pills and had no mony left over. I brought up prim as best as I could. I may have had to grow up too fast but I didn't want the same to happen to her. At the time Gale was the only friend I had in the world. I thought he loved me, and I thought I loved him. But things have changed since then. Mum got better, I found it hard to forgive her but I did it for prim. As soon as my mum could look after my little duck, gale wanted me to move in with him. Of course I said yes, expecting a happy life being the ignorant 16 year old I was that was 3 years ago. Now I can never leave gale because of that one decision. He controls me and my whole existence and if I slip up he makes sure I fall.

Suddenly snapping out of my deep thought I turn my attention to gale again.

"How was your day Gale?" I ask, hoping to keep him in a good mood by talking about him. He walks to the table and takes a seat and gulps down his beer before replying.

"Great, I caught 5 rabbits on my snare line, and I've been asked to get rid of the fox that's been trying to eat next doors chickens." While my hunting skills were only used for survival when times got tough, Gale has used his talent with snares to make a living. He sets up traps all over the forest a mile or so away from our house, and sells the meat and fur. He also gets rid of animals for people willing to pay for his services. So it means we always have have enough money for the basics, and some extra for gale to splash on himself.

I then hear Gale squish his can and throw it into the bin before turning back to me.

"Now, what are you making for dinner?"

"I..I thought I would make beef stew" I say tentatively, as sometimes even the wrong meal can set him off.

"there's a good girl, now hurry up." I go to the bottom draw and get out a frying pan. I then put it on the hob and fill it with oil, before turning the gas on. I go to the freezer and get out some beef. One of the few good things about the way I live now is that no matter how much business Gale gets, the snares ensure we are never short of food. I start to chop up the beef which I intend to brown off before putting it with the other ingredients needed to make stew. But first the oil needs to be sizzling hot.

I chop in silence thinking about what I plan to say, when suddenly Gale interrupts my thoughts.

"what are you thinking about, you're too quiet, Catnip?" I take a deep breath and turn to face him

"I..I was wondering if maybe... I could go visit Prim. I mean I haven't seen her in a year and it is her 13th birthday soon, and she is gonna be a teenager and.. And.. Well I was just hoping I could-"

"What?" gale cuts me off."You want to visit your brat of a sister do you? You actually expect me to believe that crap?"

"I... It's true-"

"Do you think I'm stupid Everdeen? Well?... DO YOU?" I jump at his sudden out burst. I look down and reply in a cautious voice

"I promise it's true Gale"

"Just shut the hell up, you seam slut. I know what you are really going to do, your going to go visit a guy, you want to leave me don't you? Do you think I am going to let you drop me for something better?" he stands up and comes over to me and stands right in my face, pushing me against the marble counter top.

I look up at him and say "I would never do that Gale, I promise-" I am cut of by the sudden pain of his hand slapping my face with intense force.

"don't lie to me!" he then looks at me with disgust before saying "I don't know why I waste my time on a whore like you anyway." I go to place my hand on his shoulder and he grabs my wrist and twists it to the point where he could snap it if he wanted to. I bite my lip trying to stop myself from crying out in pain because I know if I do he will brake it or do something worse. It wouldn't be the first time he's broken my bones.

"I am telling the truth gale I swear!" he just laughs and says

"Your no better than your slutty mother, I hear she had quite a thing for that baker from town before she married your scummy father. Seeing as it runs in the family, I wouldn't be surprised if your stupid sister working the streets to get some extra cash. You know what, maybe you can go visit her, but I'll come too. In fact you can watch, as I get a freebie off her, we are family after all-" Before I can stop my self I slap him, my nail catching his cheek and cutting it a little, making it bleed slightly. For a moment he looks shocked, but he quickly regains his composure. Before I can do anything, he punches me in the stomach and throws me across the room where I crash into the wall and slide down. I try protect myself as much as I can by turning a way from him, shielding the parts of me he goes for the most (such as my arms or stomach).

"You just made a big mistake bitch, obviously you have some fire in your belly. I could easily put that fire out, but you need to learn your lesson." he turns to the stove where the frying pan filled with oil has been left to heat up, and is now boiling hot. He picks it up and turns towards me with a menacing look in his eyes.

"how would you like to be the girl on fire?" my eyes widen and I try to move but before I can get away he pours the fiery oil on my back. The pain is excruciating, I feel like my back is being ripped from by body. I scream out and try and to move, cause twice as much pain. This just makes gale laugh as he walks up stairs and slams the bedroom door. I have never experienced so much agony before, and I know that I have to get this treated. I some how manage to get up, though I feel I could black out at any second, and I stumble to our cheap cordless house phone hanging next to the front door. The only thing I know about burns is you have to put them in water, so while dialling 999, I push my self out the front door and try get to the pond out front. I half fall, half throw my self in the pond, and feel like I am going to pass out from the pain when the burning flesh on my back sizzles in the water. I don't know what to do. I can still hear gales laughter ringing in my ears as the world spins around me. I am struggling to stay conscious when a voice comes from the phone in my hand.

"hello emergency services, which service do you require?" I feel so drained, that I struggle to raise the phone to my mouth.

"Please, I..I...I need and ambulance, I've had an ...accident and I have severe burns all over my back." everything is spinning and I barely get my words out as tell her my address. I hear the lady on the phone asking if I am still there. But to be honest I don't even know. Everything starts to getting muffled and quieter, and I know that this is it. Gale has finally done it. This is how I die.

I think of my mum and prim, knowing that I will never see them again, never get to say goodbye. Suddenly everything is starting to go dark, I feel my eyes closing despite my protests. I hear the faint sound of an ambulance, in the distance, knowing it has come to late as I take my last breath before the darkness takes me, and I completely black out.

So that was the edited version of chapter one. I hoped you liked it. Remember to tell me whether you thought it was better, was it too dramatic, not enough? Was it easy to follow and understand, or was it confusing? Just tell me what you think! Xxxxxxx