MORE Hunger Games

Just before Mockingjay came out, I started to read Hunger Games and Catching Fire again, so everything would be fresh in my mind. Okay, so I only made it through Hunger Games, and I was overcome with the desire to write a Gale POV for Lolashoes' upcoming birthday. It will be posting soon.

Then I started having Cinna in my head! No idea why, but he was quite chatty and demanded to be heard, so I started to write little notes that then became drabbles, and then became a LOT of drabbles!! (I told you he was chatty!) So, to shut him up, here's his story... Cinna

Apologies for the delays

In a recent A/N I asked for patience as I got through what I knew was going to be a busy time for me. Sadly, once I got past that time, and got the bug to write, I was hit with the death of a friend who succumbed to complications from cancer. And hot on the heals of that, I was hit with the death of another very close friend. It has sapped all my energy away.

I'll do my best to update as soon as I can. I'm very close to having the next chapter done for you, but the creative process has come to a grinding halt.

Your patience is greatly appreciated, and I hope you all stay happy, healthy and safe.

-gkk

Absolución teaser from chapter 20

He wouldn't meet her eyes and after a long moment of silence, Bella nudged his shoulder with her own.

"Hi," she said.

The flicker of a smile showed that he knew what she was trying to do. "Hi."

"How have you been?" Bella asked, hoping silly pleasantries would help put him at ease.

This time the faint smile lingered longer. "Oh, you know; same old, same old. Depressed, lonely, a psychotic rampage here and there. Nothing new."

Bella nodded, keeping her nerves in check. "Same shit, different day?"

"Pretty much," he muttered and with a labored sigh, he shook his head.

Absolución teaser from chapter 18

Aro recognized the stony expression and laughed at the irony. "You're as stubborn as their teenagers, and just as self-absorbed." He ignored the flash of annoyance on Carlisle's face. "You assume I'm too old to understand, to set in my ways to appreciate what you're going through. Yet you fail to appreciate that perhaps in my age and wisdom I might have a larger base of knowledge to draw from?

"I have touched the lives of hundreds of thousands; known their secrets, their sins and their dreams. I have seen parts of the world that I have never travelled to, and watched those places change over the years. I know the location of treasures unheard of. I know the answers to mysteries that have long since lost their questions. The people who have died at my hand took nothing to their graves.

"Have you never once considered that I would have seen atrocities so heinous that even I would be surprised?"

Absolución teaser from chapter 17

Carlisle fell to the floor beside his wife, grunting in pain as a split second before the sound wave pulsed through the air. Spiderweb cracks formed across Carlisle's hands again with the impact as the sound waves literally destabilized the molecules of his body. Fear for Esme's life ripped through Carlisle. What had made her jump out of the scant safety? He ignored the pain and pulled Esme to him, wrapping his arms around her shoulders to shelter her with his body. Why had she put herself in danger like that?

But even as the terrorized question burned through Carlisle's mind, he realized he knew the answer. Esme was a mother in her deepest soul. She was caring, nurturing and selfless to a fault when it came to protecting anyone she felt maternal towards. She had been a grieving mother the day she died and Carlisle had frozen that grief in her for eternity.

She was trapped in that grief ... Esme had found a way to redirect her anguish by substituting her lost son with an entirely new family.

Hunger Games!

Thanks to several friends from Twitter, I have discovered "The Hunger Games" Trilogy by Suzanne Collins. I found myself particularly captivated by the last several pages of the story and decided to write a one-shot of that moment from Peeta's point-of-view.

I hope you enjoy it! The name of this story is the page number in the book. Three seventy-one

Absolución teaser from chapter 16

"You know, as well as any, that an unstable vampire is a danger to us all," Aro snarled. "We can not tolerate any that would break our laws and risk exposure!" he enunciated, angry that Carlisle was being impudent.

"I will not go in there to stop him knowing that you only wait to outside to destroy him!" Carlisle shot back. "I believe in his strength of character. I believe he acts only out of a will to do good."

"Do you now?" Aro sneered, growing thoughtful as he looked around the room at Carlisle's family. "And exactly how strong is that belief, hmm? Would you risk your family?"