Author's Note: Hey! Dedicated to Unikque99. Thanks for fanning! Remember to check out the chapter called 'CONTEST' and PLEASE TELL ME YOUR FAVORITE!
"Deep in the meadow, under the willow."
Crystal's soothing and nurturing voice lulls away the pain, easing me into sleep. I recognize the song, a very common nursery that has spread all over Panem. I believe it was first originated in the mountains of District 12, and has spread ever since. The lyrics are simple but beautiful, promising the next day will be better than today.
"A bed of grass, a soft green pillow.
Lay down your head, and close your sleepy eyes.
And when again they open, the sun will rise."
On the floor of the living room, I imagine myself back home. My eyes begin to close, and I take a deep breath of the air. Smells just like it before I was a tribute. Crystal begins to rummage her fingers through my hair, reminding me of home. Her sweet, charming words take away all of my pain, and I smile.
"Here it's safe, here it's warm.
Here the daisies guard you from every harm.
Here your dreams are sweet, and tomorrow brings them true.
Here is the place where I love you."
I love you.... The words play again and again through my mind. "I love you," I mutter, half asleep. I smile once again.
"Deep in the meadow, hidden far away.
A cloak of leaves, a moonbeam ray.
Forget your woes and let your troubles lay.
And when again it's morning, they'll wash away."
I stifle a yawn, relaxing on the tough floor. Through the slits where my eyes are open, I see Crystal smiling down at me, running her gentle fingers through my hair. I'm so tired I barely hear the last verse.
"Here it's safe, here it's warm.
Here the daisies guard you from every harm.
Here your dreams are sweet, and tomorrow brings them true.
Here is the place where I love you."
I love you.... I love you....
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I wake up with a jolt, sitting upright. I didn't even think about how bad my chest still hurts, and now, I groan out in pain. It's not nearly as bad as yesterday, and a different kind of pain. It's extremely soar and feels more like a bruise then anything else. I gently put a finger to my eye, where Cody slightly cut it. I close my left eye, the bad one, and look through the right eye. Perfect. I close my right eye, but have difficulty seeing through the left one. The world looks as if it's constantly moving, moving very slightly, but moving. In addition to the spinning, my vision has taken on a blurry outcome. I open my eyes and find Crystal looking at me. She grins.
"Well hello sleepyhead!" she exclaims, obviously eager to see me still alive. She fights the urge to come hug me, because my chest is still recovering. I rub my eyes, but then instantly pull them away. I wince and clutch my left eyeball, finding it extremely soar.
"While you were asleep, I treated your eye and chest, and also some other cuts and bruises you had." I am taken by surprise, never thinking Crystal would be able to treat me and my cuts. I always imagined protecting and caring over her every second, but it turns out, she's just as handy and vicious as the rest of us tributes.
"You killed Crash, didn't you?" I simply ask. I have to hear it from her own mouth, or else I won't be able to believe it.
"Yes," she silently states. She looks down at the ground, as if guilty. But still, I can't help but be glad he's out of the competition. He would've been a huge threat to us in these Games. He could've easily been the cause of both of our deaths. She turns her head to me, her eyes wide open.
"Do you think people will look at me differently now?" she asks. I open my mouth to speak, but she interrupts. "Honestly?" I close my mouth and look at her, curiously. I know the answer, but I don't understand why she would care about that right now, in a life or death situation. I slowly nod.
"Honestly," I whisper. "Yes. They will." Her eyes fill up with disappointment and shame, and she looks at the ground, hiding her face from me. But it's not hard to miss a tear drip from her eyes and plip onto the ground. She snivels up, and looks back at me.
"I feel awful," she says, tears still dripping off of her nose. I stare at her, tilting my head. "I killed a boy I didn't even know!" Her voice cracks, and she chokes on her words. She looks back at the ground, tears falling every five second.
"I murdered him!" she cries. She looks back at me, her eyes glossy with tears. "Somewhere, back in District 1, he had a happy life, with friends and family. He probably told people to vote for him, because he wanted to go before it was too late. He was 18, you know. Maybe he wanted a chance to show people how tough he was, but he really thought he could win! And now," she chokes on her words and snivels. "He's not even alive." She breaks into tears and begins to weep into her shirt. She wipes her face with her hands, but the tears keep coming. My heart is torn into pieces, seeing Crystal like this. I never thought I would see this. I sit there, looking at her, confused. I never saw it like she put it. I always just thought he was an obstacle in the Games, something I had to overcome. I never thought that really, when I avoid an obstacle, somebody's life ends. I took the Games like a deck of cards, something that no matter if you win or lose, everybody goes back to their regular lives. I never thought of it for what it really is. I've been blinded by the Capitol, treating this like a game show. Capitol citizens celebrate for the deaths of poor, innocent children. They cry when their favorites die. But somehow, Crystal has been able to see things for what they really are.
I gain my feet and walk over to Crystal, sobbing into her wet shirt. I sit next to her and pull her close to me. She doesn't resist. She begins crying into my shirt, wiping her face off every few seconds. Finally, she snivels up enough to speak.
"Why did this have to happen to us?" she asks, looking up at me. I look back at her, nearly in tears. Her face shows me how cruel the Capitol really is, for making kids just like Crystal enter a fight to the death. I shake my head.
"I don't know." I pull her back to my chest, ignoring the aching pain throbbing throughout me and rocking my body back and forth. I use my fingers to comb and straighten her hair, playing with it while she cries out all of her tears.
"I hate them," she chokes out. Taken aback, I pull away and look into her eyes.
"Who?" Her sea blue eyes reflect my own face, filled with worry and distress for Crystal.
"The Capitol," she stammers, fighting back tears. I pull her back to me, rocking us back and forth. I hold onto her tightly, so nobody can take her away from me. I struggle for words, not knowing how to respond.
"I know," I stutter. We rock back and forth, creating a bond here in the Games. A bond that I don't want to ever break. I just want to live this moment over and over again.
"We're going home, aren't we?" she asks, still choking on tears. I remind myself that I told myself to send her home, not me. But then, Cody's words play through my mind.
Did you not here the announcement? After the massacre you caused, President Snow gave in and declared their can be two victors from the same district for this year. He said it was part of the Quell, but we all know, he didn't want a rebellion.
I still haven't decided whether to believe him or not, so I choose my words wisely.
"You are." Crystal pulls away from me, grabs my hand, and stares at me with wide eyes.
"Are we going home? Together?" I take a deep breath of air, and then take a quick note of my condition. How many tributes are left? I take a look outside. It's just getting dark. That means that I haven't missed the dead tributes yet. I look at the orchards, remembering this morning. It's hard to believe that just this morning, Veronica was with us, walking into those orchards to hunt. Oh, Veronica...
"Two tributes are aloud to win this year, you know," Crystal interrupts. "From the same district. Cody wasn't lying." We can both win. Rhett was right. I owe it all to him. But still, who knows if I'm going to make it? I take a deep breath and tell Crystal the truth.
"Crystal," I start out, not sure how to say this. "When your name was first called at the reaping, I told myself I would do anything to bring you back home. I vowed to myself that you would be the victor this year. And whether or not I go with you, that I didn't know. So-"
"I won't go without you," she interrupts, again. I cock my head at her, questioning her. "I just won't. If I watched you die, I don't know what I'd do. I guess I would kill myself. But I just can't go without you. I wouldn't be able to live." I stare at her, taking this in.
"Crystal, you have to catch up with reality."
"But-"
"Sshh." I put my finger to her lips, silencing her. "Just listen. I want you to look at how injured I am." She studies my body, and then looks at her own. Guilt instantly takes over her face, and she looks up at me, realizing that she's not hurt at all. She opens her mouth to speak.
"No," I state firmly, glaring at her. "Listen. You're not injured at all. But look at me. I can barely walk, never mind run. And you, you're great at healing people, hunting, tracking, defending for yourself. I mean, for cryin' out loud, you killed Crash Tian when even I couldn't! Not many tributes can do that." I realize I chose the wrong words, and those words stung. Her eyes tear up again, and I sigh. "No..." I bring her close to me, and although she may be mad at me, she comes back to my chest. We're a team. We can't survive without one another. We're siblings.
"Right now, you would be victor. I'm a goner, like this. There's still ten more tributes left. You've already played up the whole 'little weak girl' strategy, so tributes won't bother you until the end. You'll win without a doubt, Crystal. But me, it won't be so easy."
"But the whole reason you started a rebellion was so we could win together!" she protests. "That's why you committed the massacre, wasn't it?" The massacre. I forgot I did that. I flinch, and then begin to back away. But Crystal hangs on to me, not letting go. It's the truth, and I know it. I'm just trying to ignore it.
"Yes, it was," I sigh. She does have a point. Finally, I give in. "I'm going to do everything I can to bring us home, Crystal. Just remember that." She slowly nods, but we stay in our position: her in my lap, us rocking back and forth. We sit like this for five minutes, before words come to my mind.
"I didn't know you could sing." She looks up at me, slightly laughing. Before she can say anything, a cannon booms somewhere, and Crystal and I look at each other. Both of us have the same questions. Who was that? Why did they die all of a sudden? It could have been a tribute against a tribute, or a tribute against an animal. But we've been here for one and a half days, and in this sun, it doesn't take long to dry out. If this tribute didn't get any water from the Cornucopia, and didn't find the underground river, it's almost a fact they died from thirst. Yes, it's most likely that. Got to be.
Just that moment, the Panem anthem plays, and the first tribute appears on our ceiling. Crash. Crystal gasps, but seems to collect herself and move on, not thinking about what she did. The next dead tribute is Gret, smiling down at Crystal and I from her place on the ceiling. As if a truck just hit me, I am totally shocked. Just hours ago, I killed her without a care in the world. I didn't even mind the fact I murdered her one bit. I killed her and then left without a thought. I shudder, scared of what I am becoming. This is not the normal Zac Brennon. The Capitol has changed me, proved to me that they are all-powerful, and they can manipulate us any way they want, showing that we're nothing more than pieces in their games.
Veronica suddenly flashes in the sky, and Crystal and I cry out in unison. Tears flood into my eyes, just thinking of her. I had chose to not think of her, but now staring at her, it's impossible. My mind flashes to Kate back in District 9. I wonder what she's thinking now. She's probably sitting somewhere, since she's paralyzed, grieving over her lost sister. District 9 is now out of the competition for good.
I can't help but feel guilty. She saved my life, costing her own. Why would she do that? She had jumped in front of that spear, just to save me. Shame creeps through me, and I am forced to look away. My eyes begin to burn from the tears pouring out of them, so I wipe them away and say a final goodbye to Veronica, who I had wanted to win since the interviews.
The girl from District 10 flashes up on the ceiling, and I realize Veronica and Crystal weren't the only ones to save my life. Atlas saved it just as much as Veronica did. It slowly dawns on me that the Lovebirds weren't the only ones with hope of going home together. I had no idea that the tributes from 10 were also in love. If that's the case, then how many other districts have tributes that are in love? Or maybe some of them are best friends? I know that Crystal and I are the only siblings here, but not the only ones who wish to go home together.
As the final face appears in the sky, I feel relieved that Atlas survived. But so did Cody, and he's calling for my blood. The boy from 12 was obviously the one to die from thirst. And he won't be the only one. Tomorrow, the third day, tributes with no water will drop like flies. No water, no survival. It's as simple as that.
I force Crystal down into Veronica's sleeping bag, telling her I'll take first watch. After a lot of arguing, drowsiness gets the best of her and she drifts off to sleep. My bow and arrow leans against the wall, and I creep over there to grab it. Surprisingly, Crystal had managed to carry my bow and arrows, my pack, her pack, and Veronica's pack to the house. I pick it up and get comfy, my bow loaded in case we have unwanted visitors. It won't be long before Cody comes for us. I better watch extra carefully.
At Crystal's orders, I wake her up after what I suspect to be four hours. I ease myself into the sleeping bag, drifting off into a dreamless sleep. But before I completely fall asleep, I remember to tell Crystal one thing.
"Crystal?" I mumble.
"What is it?" she asks, turning around to look at me, a knife in her hand.
"I love you."