Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
the fear ; a fear like i never felt once in my life run through my veins — the sound of the cannon bounds in my head, echoes in my heart and i already feel a painful twist in my stomach.
willow ! yells my voice — and it echoes around me between the trees.
i push down ares as i try to stand up, but my legs can't seem to support my body and i stay on my knees, my heartbeat throbbing in my throat and my thoughts, and the name of willow engraved in my mouth. i try to think straight but it's impossible — i just see willow, lying dead in a bush, blood all over her body — an unbearable fear took me whole at the sound of the cannon.
next thing i know, is me against a tree trunk, my head smashed against the bark and ares' hand around my face — then he turns around to grab his machete, and the next blow is for my stomach.
it was always going to end like this, he says while picking me up as i cough all the air i had in my lungs.
he doesn't wait for me to catch my breath, to organize my thoughts — he hits me in the face, violently, again and again, and again, until the only thing i can cough is blood and the world turned in a black-hole around me. but the pain in my body is nothing, compared to the thought of losing willow.
at least, ares is gonna kill me and i will be with her, not having to face a life where she doesn't exist anymore — maybe our parents wait for me there, with her ?
all ares has to do, for me to find out, is ending what the fuck is going on.
ladies and gentlemen, ares barks suddenly — and when i raise my head, i see him walking around, his machete in one hand and both his arms raised in the air.
he struts, because he knows he won.
today, a hero is about to be made, he tells the cameras in the trees — is all panem watching my imminent death ? i hope the show will be a fail, i hope they will not see anything or that the fact i don't fight back disappoints everyone, i hope my death will be as useless as the ones of micah and lizzy and that no one will remember me or the way i die.
only two are left and i was always going to win.
ares is on and on with his show but i don't listen to him — i don't wanna go with his voice in my head and his clear victory as a regret. finally, he turns back to me.
he rises his machete — the blade sparkles in the moonlight and i fix my attention on this little detail, because it's shinning like mom's necklace always did around willow's neck. a final blow —
stop !
i turn my head as ares does the same, to the little girl's voice yelling. and there, a bandaged bow in her hands and the arrow pointing in our direction, her brows frowned upon her blue eyes and her fingers splattered with blood, willow stands on her two feet, not dead at all.
willow... i say softly — and relief take away the pain instantly, clearing my head as i straighten up. get out, get out of here—
ares' machete goes to my throat when i speak, the cold blade shushing me. he doesn't force, just place it on my skin with a victorious smile.
stop, yells willow once more.
well, well, the girl is a killer after all, laughs ares and i get what he means only then — because if willow is here, with syd's bow in her hands, that means she killed her to survive and that was why we heard the cannon.
the machete, put it down, she says calmly, turning the arrow to ares and still standing right there, like she was not frightened by all this. and she put on an excellent show, almost playing me too in her confidence and her bravery — but it's there, finally, right there in her eyes, her fear, and i don't want her to risk anything or to witness my death and have to live with it the rest of her life, or to kill another kid, even if he's ares.
willow, run, i gasp,
and as i was about to take ares down, he rises his machete once again — and the arrow fly between us suddenly, missing ares from a few inches. not thinking anymore, i grab his arm, but this time, he's stronger — his fist takes me down, knocking me out on the ground,
the blade is going for me for real this time and i hope with all my heart willow ran as i told her to do — the steel splatter with blood as it lodges in the abdomen and emerges violently, leaving me gasping for air, but i don't feel the pain instantly.
her hands on her stomach, her blood flowing between her fingers, willow fall on the ground with no sound, as if she was just lying down. ares stands between us, turned to her and his weapon stained with my sister's blood, looking at his new work.
my body is fine because willow didn't run and took the hit by trying to protect me — my body is fine, but pain flows suddenly in all my limbs and with a scream, i rise from the ground, tackle ares at the waist and we both roll around while trying to fight each other. i yell, mad with burning rage but ares, well-fed not sleep deprived ares, takes the advantage,
and i find myself with his arm around my throat, him against my back, forcing me to look at willow lying still on the ground,
poor little girl, growls ares in my hear as i try to break his grip on me, you can't save her and we're here fighting—
i don't want to hear more of his bullshit — my elbow meets his stomach with enough violence to make him let me go and trip back, my hand grabs the machete lying on the grass and with a scream, i turn around to jump on him. the blade finds its way to his throat and his chest, he doesn't even grasp for air that he's already dead and the cannon echoes in the forest. the machete gets a place near his head when i let it go.
on my hands and my knees, unable to stand up, i crawl to willow — the blood on my hands stains the grass under me. with shaking fingers, i grab her shoulder to roll her gently on her back. her hands are still pressed against her stomach, scarlet red now — her breath is just a slight trickle of air, whistling with pain and she's so pale it's terrifying. even her lips lost all color.
she grunts, fighting to keep her eyes open ; i grab one of her hand in mine but she's as cold as steel. she looks so tiny, lost in a sea of blood and dirt.
you were supposed to go home, i whisper, trying to catch her gaze — but she doesn't answer.
only her second hand move slowly to her neck, trying to grab something which is not here — mom's necklace.
o-okay, i stutter and i move on my feet, i stumble while trying to run to ares' corpse. everything is blurry around but i try to stay focus on my hands, searching the body for the stolen jewel. finally, i find it in his pocket.
grabbing the necklace in my hand, i get up, ready to turn around.
but the sound of the cannon rip through my eardrums.
