Safe and Sound || Hunger Games

Chapter Twenty Six - The Spark of the Flame

NOTE: I'm sorry for how tremendously awful this chapter is - I had a tiny bit of writer's block and I think it is quite obvious :( Ach well, I do hope you enjoy it all the same I guess :P But I swear, the next chapter is going to be so much better! I promise :)

Chapter Twenty Six - The Spark of the Flame

That night, it was hard to sleep. I was comfortable lying against Grayson and my head felt better after having some cream rubbed into it and being wrapped up in a bandage. After a few gulps of water and a relatively good meal, I almost felt as good as new. But despite all this and the fact that I could hear Grayson's steady heartbeat, I couldn't sleep. Maybe it was when the faces of the two dead tributes that had looked down at me came up. It had certainly made Grayson tense up from beside me.

But it may have also been the fact that there were seven tributes left. When one more tribute died, there would be a feast for the six remaining tributes. This feast could vary from a variety of things such as all six of us fighting over a single backpack, or we all get our own supplies that we have to fight to get. Whatever it was, it would be a great bit of entertainment for the Capitol. But not for us tributes. It was just like another bloodbath and every tribute would hate to have to go through one of those again.

However, the family interviews had probably already taken place, which was an odd thought. Did my parents have hope for me, maybe even Grayson, because normally no tribute from 12 ever got this far, let alone both of them...

I looked over towards Grayson who looked peaceful in his sleep, but also quite uncomfortable. I knew he must have been having a rough night, with bad thoughts and shadows plaguing his dreams. I reached out and gently ran my hand over his cheek, feeling the warmth of his skin underneath my fingers. My fingertips moves from his cheek to down his neck and eventually to his collarbone. I pulled the collar of his t-shirt down a bit and saw the damage to his right hand shoulder. There was a bloody gash from where Angora had caught him. It was also the same shoulder that I had scraped with my arrow accidentally. My fingers hovered slightly above this gash and I looked over to Grayson's face. His eyes were closed and he was sleeping, but now he had a small smile on his face, as if he was smiling at my touch or something.

I turned slightly and picked up Grayson's backpack, which had some sort of healing cream that we had collected from the Cornucopia after being chased by fire. I unzipped the backpack and found the small pot. I undid it and dipped my first two fingers inside it, the cool and jelly-like substance feeling odd yet soothing beneath my fingers. I carefully put the pot down and stated to rub the cream into Grayson's shoulder. It must have stung a bit, because he jerked back slightly, but he didn't wake. All antiseptic creams stung at first, but they always worked wonders later on. Especially ones from the Capitol, instead of homemade ones from, well, home.

I then put Grayson's backpack back where I had got it from and then put his t-shirt back into place, letting it fall naturally over his collarbone, which stuck out somewhat considerably. I then moved the hair that had fallen into his eyes back, feeling its softness actually quite relaxing. This moment felt peaceful, even though we could have been put under attack at any second.

Grayson wriggled in his sleep slightly, his head turning away from me in the process. I smiled slightly while looking at this boy. He looked so innocent and young in his sleep, even though he had turned sixteen before me. He was older than me, but when sleeping, he looked like a child, lost in his dreams. I hoped he wasn't having anything like nightmares. I wouldn't be able to have to coax him out of it, I just wouldn't be able to. Maybe because nightmares in his mind are much calmer than the nightmare we were currently living in.

"Get some sleep, Harper," I heard Grayson mutter, "You'll be exhausted in the morning."

I smiled and rested my head on top of his arm. He allowed me to and allowed his hand to rest on my shoulder, a comforting gesture that sent some sort of shiver down my spine. And, lying next to Grayson, I allowed myself to drift off to sleep.