The verdant green of the arena beneath Percy shifted, morphed into a bright, shimmering blue. Something was wrong. Blue stretched on for miles in every direction, and the ground kept undulating. He knew where he was in an instant: at sea. He wanted to move, but his body was in a paralysis of sorts. What had the Gamemakers done to him this time? Immobilized him for someone to skip along and make an easy kill?
He may have been incapable of movement, but his senses were in working order. Even his normally useless ears could pick up the lap of waves against the wooden surface of the small boat he sat in. His hands brushed along the sides of their own accord and he felt splinters dig themselves in his palm.
Percy's body sat straighter and he was able to see behind him. Another boat of the same build as his sat in the water beside him. When he saw who was in it, his breath hitched in his throat and he found his limbs freed from their incapacity. "Nigel?" he said. His own voice was hoarse, as if he hadn't spoken for days.
"Yeah?" the boy asked, facing him directly. There was no doubt this was his brother. But why is he in the arena? He was safe. He was safe, what's going on?! Percy found his breaths coming and going rapidly, a sign he'd familiarized himself with. "Percy, calm down, what's got you spooked?"
Those were Nigel's chocolate brown eyes, there were his freckles sprinkled across his tiny nose, that was his concerned expression. No, this can't be right. I volunteered and he's safe at home. "This is a trick," Percy said. He looked down at his hands. He was shaking. "You're an illusion."
Nigel let out an exasperated sigh. "You must've fallen asleep. I'll bet you haven't caught anything yet, have you?" This was all too familiar. Percy just couldn't put his finger on it... "Bad dream? You look like you're gonna wet yourself."
Could he have possibly been dreaming the whole time? The reaping, the training, the Capitol. Killing Demetriot and Caina at the Bloodbath. The mutts. Was it all just a nightmare? Nigel's soft smile confirmed it. A smile like his couldn't be recreated with any of the Gamemakers technology.
"Yeah, must've been a dream..." Percy dropped his face in his clammy hands and laughed for the first time in seemingly forever. Just a dream. Nigel is safe, I'm safe. Everyone is safe. It's calm, calm, calm. He looked back at his brother, who was checking his fishing lines. His face was free of worry or stress, the way it'd always been. A strange feeling stirred in Percy's stomach. A mix of something between relief and fear. Relief that he'd been dreaming, fear of going back to that dream. "Nigel?"
"Yeah?"
"You know I love you, right?"
Nigel furrowed his brows. "You never say stuff like that. Must've been a freaky nightmare you had." He turned to his lines again, a lopsided grin sneaking on his face. "But yeah, I know. Love ya too."
Percy checked his lines, too. Each had some scaly creature attached and he reeled them in, going through the usual process of fishing. He'd never felt so happy to be handling fish. Routine. Normalcy. Calm.
"Percy, I'm bored," Nigel said. "And now I'm stuck waiting for you to catch your share. We can't go back until we've met the quota."
"Yeah, I know." Percy waved him off. "I'll be done soon." Nigel groaned and rested his chin on his fist. The only sounds between them were the waves rushing by their boats, and the occasional splash of a flying fish plopping back to sea. Seagulls squawked overhead. A few feet from Percy's boat something dropped from the sky and landed in the water. Gross. Bird crap. He crinkled his nose in disgust but went along with his work.
After a few minutes there was a rustling in Nigel's boat. Percy thought nothing of it, until the kid shrieked in terror. He whirled to face his brother, who promptly screamed, "Shark!"
Percy snatched the emergency spear from the bottom of his boat and stood, poised to toss it at any creature hunting them. Weapons were prohibited amongst the citizens of District Four, but spears were, thankfully, permitted. He scanned the sea for anything that would tell him where the shark was. "Where is it?" he asked. If anything comes within ten feet of him, I'm killing it. "Tell me where it is!"
Nigel stared at him, eyes practically bulging from his head. He kept this visage up for a few seconds, and Percy was convinced the kid was shocked into silence. That is, until he let a round of boisterous laughter escape past his lips. "What's so funny?" Percy growled. He should've known his brother was only messing with him. He was constantly pulling stunts like that. The kid sure knows how to get on someone's bad side within seconds.
Percy sat back down, his weight rocking the boat. "That's not funny, Nigel."
"Of course it's funny! You looked so serious, and you never look serious." Nigel struck a feminine pose and puckered his lips. "Why soserious?"
"You really scared me. Sharks are no funny business. You heard of the neighbor's recent accident with them, didn't you? Arm ripped clean off. Died of blood loss by the time someone got her to shore. If something like that happened to you, I would--"
"I got it, I'm sorry. It won't happen again," Nigel said. Disappointment flickered in his eyes. Percy knew the kid just wanted to have fun, but lying about something as dangerous as he did...unacceptable. His heart rate was finally slowing down from the fright that had flooded through him. Nigel leaned back in his boat, an elbow propped against the side so he could watch the ocean's steady waves. Silence settled again like a blanket of dust.
Percy began humming a familiar tune as he reeled in the next batch of fish. They flopped and struggled for life at the bottom of the boat, their fins smacking against his ankles in a vain attempt to convince him to throw them back. It was a curious sight. Why do they still try when they know they probably won't get back to the ocean? I wonder if they have families that they wish to see again? Once the creatures ceased movement, he tossed them in a box and dropped the lines again. I would hate to be a fish. Or to even be in a similar situation as one. Being plucked out of everything you knew and laid out in the beating sun, waiting to shrivel up and die.
"P-Percy?"
"Yes, Nigel?"
"I think I see a sh-shark..."
Percy rolled his eyes. "You can quit the act. I'm not falling for it this time."
"But I'm not kidding!" Nigel squeaked.
This is way more believable than last time. Did he take acting classes in the last five minutes? Percy shrugged and hummed louder, continuing his work. "Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice, shame on you."
"But there really is--" Nigel's boat crashed into Percy's, sending the both of them crashing to the bottom of the craft.
"What's all this about?!" Percy shouted, feeling for bruises on his head. There was one already, just above his brow... He could've sworn he'd gotten one in the same place in his dream. I'm freaking myself out. Just a silly coincidence.
He sat up and shot his brother a scowl. "Kid, the joke is..." Percy trailed off. Every portion of Nigel's pale skin was covered in goose-bumps and he trembled vehemently, eyes darting every which way. His bottom lip quivered. Maybe he wasn't joking.
Percy bit the inside of his cheek and stood carefully as to not rock the boat. The spear had found itself in his grasp. The rise and fall of the ocean was steady, undisturbed, and the environment had been submerged in a deafening silence. I don't see anything. That rascal tricked me again! He was about to put a good word in when he saw it. A dark blob under the surface of the waves. A fin protruded from the sea, advancing at Nigel with unimaginable speed.
Everything clicked in Percy's mind. He remembered this moment. Everything that had happened up to that point had been engraved in his memory as the most petrifying moment of his life. He knew the fear that would attack him at any minute, he just didn't remember how.
The blob rammed into the side of Nigel's boat. Having been so close to it, Percy's rocked too, and they both fell again.
Nigel didn't fall within his boat, though.
Percy scrambled to his feet and leaned so far over the ledge he almost fell in himself. The boat opposing his was empty and the surrounding water was still. There was no sign of the shark or his brother. Don't be dead, don't be dead, don't be dead. Panic rose in him like a volcano prepared to erupt. He placed a foot on the ledge, tilting his craft slightly. He had no idea what he'd do if Nigel were dead. He'd go nuts, he'd embark on a rampage through District Four. Honestly, he cared for no one other than his brother.
Just as hope was flitting away, Nigel broke past the surface and began gasping wildly for air. Percy nearly hopped out of the boat. "Swim to me!" he screamed. The boy paddled with vigor towards Percy's outstretched hand. He was an arms length away when a set of jaws burst from beneath the ocean. The razor teeth clamped down on Nigel's arm and they both disappeared once more. The glistening blue of the sea dyed to a deep red. That's my brothers blood. Percy was shocked into the paralysis he'd been in when he woke up. That's my brothers blood.
He had no control over his actions as he dove into the ocean after his brother. As soon as the water consumed him, darkness took over. There was no sign of Nigel or the shark or the surface. The liquid he was in wasn't salty like it should've been. Light should've been shining through the water but there was nothing but black.
He knew he wasn't anywhere near an ocean.
Still, he struggled to find Nigel. Dark blue clouded his vision and stung his eyes. Images flashed before his eyes before fading to black. There was his brother being dragged under, his arm caught between the beasts jaws. Percy kicked towards the sight only to lose his way. A spear flickered in and out of his hands; he could feel the smooth metal materialize and vanish.
The dark blue was getting brighter, but not by much. If he ascended he'd eventually make it to the surface, but who knew how long that'd take? Not to mention he couldn't leave his brother behind. On cue, Nigel appeared a few feet in front of him, kicking and punching at the shark with his free hand. So much blood spread around him like an aura.
Percy propelled himself at the shark and plunged his spear deep in its eyeball, shoving and jerking it around until it released Nigel. The great white thrashed about in the water, distracted with the object protruding from its head. Wasting no time, Percy grasped Nigel's arm and shot to the surface. As soon as he broke through the water, the feeling of Nigel's skin vanished, just like that.
The ocean was gone. To his right was a gushing waterfall, and he floated in its runoff. The night sky sparkled with stars, and in between those stars were familiar faces. Tributes.
As he hauled himself back to land, he realized he'd been reliving his worst memory. And now he lived through the progression of a new nightmare: The Games.
-DISTRICT 4 MALE: PERCY COLE