Enter iF You Dare

Task Four

Seaver Parish: Task Four: "The Key is in the Heart"

I feel pain coursing through the injection site on my left shoulder, where a needle was stabbed into my body and I was knocked unconscious. A strange sensation has come over my heart, it beats slower than it normally would and my chest - it seems to burn with an itch. My head swims as I try to force myself awake, terrified of what lie beyond my closed eyelids. If I wake, where would I find myself? My eyes finally flutter open, I fly up into a sitting position and immediately scan my surroundings; I'm in a room, well lit, beds surrounding me in every direction. I feel like this is a dream, like all of it is. From the time I stepped foot in the arena nothing as made much sense. I feel something rattling my right arm and twist my head around sharply, only to find Lumen, one of my allies, unconscious on the bed next to me. I trail my eyes down to find our hands have been chained together with handcuffs. I groan, already annoyed by my chosen companion. He's an ally, I can't kill him. I would, but then the others, they wouldn't trust me. I'd be killed or kicked out of the alliance, and I can afford neither of those right now. So, I guess I'm stuck here with him. For awhile, at least.

I hear moaning coming from all of the beds in the room as each tribute awakens from their slumber. Above us there is a balcony, upon which a painfully familiar woman with strawberry-blonde curls stands, gazing over us like her prize cattle.

"Yes, that's it, wake up my dears." She coaxes in a motherly tone. I feel terror running through my body; didn't I kill her last night? I could've sworn I did. Unless that was a dream, or this was. Oh, I'm confusing myself. Just shut up Seav! I whispered internally.

"I'm sure a great many of you are surprised to see me." She pauses, glancing around at some of the other baffled faces in the crowd. Her eyes grace over me very quickly, and I scowl. It must've been some sort of trick, she was never really there.

"Well, it's a new day, therefore I've presented you with a new challenge. I'm sure by now you've noticed the cuffs linking you to one another. And most likely you've felt the itch in your chest..." She trails off. My eyes widen, fear coursing through me; how did she know? What had she done?

I hear a moan from beside me, and see Lumen trying to sit up groggily. "Where am I?" He murmurs.

"Don't know." I reply. "But Occisora is giving a speech." I nod to the balcony, and Lumen follows my gaze. He subconsciously scratches his chest, and reveals black strings under his shirt. Terrified, I gaze inside my own shirt, finding the same black strings. A scar runs down the center of my chest, the black strings are stitches holding it together. I begin to go cold, and feel my heart pumping faster and faster. What did she do to me?

"I'll get to that later." She mocks, seeming satisfied to have made us all so angry. I get a rush of something through my body, anger, resentment, something - and it makes me want to kill her all over again. I'd do it in a heartbeat, I know I would. If only I had some sort of long-distance weapon, but unfortunately, there was no cornucopia, thus there were no weapons. Did she plan all this? No cornucopia for just this reason, to leave us helpless to defend ourselves against her? I snap back to attention as she begins speaking again; however cruel she may be, I don't want to miss any of her instructions.

"Through those doors is a forest in which you will have to survive until noon tomorrow. At noon you will gather at the flag, all of you, for the next portion of the Games. If you do not get there within the hour..." She pauses, again, listening to the murmurs of anxiety flowing through the crowd and reveling in it. She enjoys torture, I can see it.