lethal
012 ─── monsters .
" the chase has just begun "
rowan's view
𝔐y feet were killing me. I had been walking all day, and the shoes I was given weren't that durable. They didn't seem to have insoles, and the miles I had traveled were wearing down on me. My chest was beginning to ache from the heaving breaths, the trek taking a toll on me. I wanted to get as far away from the nearest tribute as possible, and wait for the opportune moment to strike.
I thought I was coming into the Games prepared. I thought that I was ready to kill, if it meant getting back to my family, but replaying the Bloodbath in my mind made me sick. I couldn't even think about hurting anybody like that. I couldn't think about being a monster. But I was going to have to be.
The weight of the backpack dragged down my shoulders as I kept hiking further and further, no hesitation. A few miles back, I had killed and cooked a squirrel, the meat being the only thing keeping me going. The only thing that was keeping me relaxed was the fact that I had the knife belt fastened around my waist, the metal glinting in the sunlight.
I hadn't run into any tributes since the night before, which was a blessing. I heard one cannon in the morning, which marked thirteen dead, eleven left. I wasn't sure who it was who died, but there was little doubt in my mind that the Careers were responsible. They were ruthless, leaving me to worry about the fate of people like Rue. I was even a little worried about Peeta, because even though he had betrayed me, I couldn't forget that he was from District 12.
I tried my best to look straight ahead and focus on the terrain ahead of me. I walked across a rocky ledge, trying my best to keep my balance. Against my better nature, I looked to the left, my breath leaving me as I gazed upon the view of the entire Arena from the cliff I was on. Masses of forest, and, in the center, a field with a glinting metal structure: the Cornucopia. I was further away than I thought, perhaps around the edge of the Arena, seeing as mountains were surrounding the Arena in a circle.
Later that night, it was revealed during the Fallen that the person who died earlier during the day was the girl from District 4.
𝔛
I had been hiking for another full day. It was about midday when I felt hunger and thirst rising in my chest, the meat stick I had eaten in the morning just not doing it anymore. Even after hiking for a full day and a half, I still hadn't run into any tributes, which surprised me.
I might have been surprised by the blood spilled at the Bloodbath, but I still knew the Games. I knew that, in order to survive, I didn't need to avoid tributes. I needed to avoid the Gamemakers. Staying off their radar was the best thing I could do for myself. I knew who the real enemy was.
So I was afraid of the other tributes. I was armed, and I was prepared. The shock of the bloodshed had worn off, and I was ready to do whatever it took to get home to my family. Even kill.
It was when my stomach rumbled, and my throat closed and opened, that I realized I needed water, and fast. I hadn't had any liquid since the previous morning, and if I went for much longer without hydration, I'd die.
I immediately started looking around for any signs of nearby water sources. The sound of running water, the dampness of mud, or growing moss. I was once again thankful for the Arena the Gamemakers had picked. There really was no better environment for me to survive in.
I let out a sigh of relief when among the birds chirping, and the wind blowing, I heard the faint sound of water rushing. There had to be water nearby. With conviction, I set off in that direction, moving faster than I had before.
I had hope in my heart, and a newfound purpose in my chest. That was, until an arm wrapped around my neck, cutting off my air flow.
I let out a choke, immediately reaching down towards my belt. The arm was tight and muscly, telling me that pulling at the arm wasn't going to do anything. I struggled, slamming my elbow back into the torso of whoever had grabbed me. I heard a muffled 'fuck' right before the arm let go of me, leaving me to stumble forwards.
I whipped around, grabbing a knife out of my belt. My eyes were murderous when they landed on a boy tribute that I hadn't yet met, from a District I couldn't remember. It didn't really matter. He had no weapon but his brute strength. He didn't have a chance.
He didn't even have a second to scream before I launched forwards, tackling him to the ground. I pinned him, looking into his frantic eyes before slicing the knife across his throat, cutting his skin like butter.
Blood sprayed out of his artery and onto my face, making me blink rapidly. I kept him pinned, the knife like hot metal in my hands as his struggling ceased, and his eyes went cloudy. It took a minute for me to realize: he was dead.
I had killed someone. In a second, he was gone. It wasn't even hard.
He had tried to kill me, and that mistake had cost him his life.
I suddenly became acutely aware of the warm blood that was sprayed over my face and neck. None had neared my mouth, thankfully, but my hands itched to rub it off. I looked down, my stomach dropping when I saw that my hands were covered in the same, thick, red liquid. My hands were scarlet with blood.
My breath shuttered, and I closed my eyes for a split second before sheathing my knife, standing up. I remembered the river that I had been in search of before I was attacked, so without hesitation, I turned on my heel and continued after the sound of rushing water.
𝔛
It wasn't a river, after all.
My ears had led me to a lake, surrounded by an expanse of grey stones. It was all too open for me, but I was too numb to object. Too thirsty.
I walked over to the edge of the lake, shifting my body so I could grab the water bottle out of my backpack. The cool metal touched my hands, the blood that was nearly dry rubbing off on the silver metal. I stared at it for a second before submerging my hand underwater, watching as the blood seeped off of my kin and into the water, careful to make sure that none of the blood entered the water bottle.
As soon as water stopped flowing into the bottle, I pulled it out of the lake, taking a grateful sip. The liquid was like ash in my mouth, tasteless, but I could feel it replenishing my energy. I quickly refilled the water I had sipped before shoving the water bottle back into my backpack for later use.
I then reached both hands into the water, curling my nails so I could scrape off the remaining blood from my hands. I didn't bother doing the same to my knife, as it really didn't matter. As soon as my hands were once again a creamy olive colour, I cupped some water in my hands and brought it up to my face.
I splashed the water on my face, hoping it would get rid of most of the blood that had dried on my cheeks. I scrubbed with the water, turning my skin an irritated rouge, while staring at my reflection in the lake, watching the blood disappear. It wasn't until all the blood was gone that I stopped, letting my hands drop to my sides.
I settled on a nearby rock, taking a breath for the first time since my encounter with that boy. I couldn't close my eyes, afraid that I would picture the reactions of his family, and the grave that would be dug for him. All my fault.
No. Not all my fault. Their fault. The Capitol's.
I tilted my head to look at the sky, fixing it with a glare. I wanted to scream, but my better nature told me not to. I wanted to cry, but I could not show weakness. All I could do was stare, hoping that President Snow would see me. All I could do was picture his death, comeuppance for the countless others he had murdered.
My fists clenched, my cut nails digging into my palms with the pressure. I raked my nails through my scalp, pulling out the elastic that had been holding my curls back into a ponytail. My locks fell down and around my shoulders, crusty from the days in the woods. I wanted to wash it in the lake before thinking better of it; it would make me too vulnerable.
I pulled the elastic around my wrist before moving my right hand to take a piece of my hair in between my fingers, twirling it around. I narrowed my eyes at the colour, the exact same shade as Katniss', the exact same shade as my father's.
I let out a sigh before taking all of my hair in my hands, letting my fingers flow through the locks in a pattern that I had memorized.
My hands deftly formed a braid out of my crusty hair as the time passed, nothing rushing me. The blank eyes of that boy kept appearing behind my eyelids every time I blinked, prompting me to blink as little as I could. I just focused on the braid while staring out at the still water, listening to the sound of the rushing river.
I was startled when my hands reached the end of my long hair, and looked down at the braid before tying it with the elastic that I had pulled out of my ponytail. My hair reached all the way down to my elbows, so the braid was past my shoulders. I ran my fingers over it, letting out a breath. I started to relax for the first time since I killed that boy, started to calm down. That was, until a loud shriek startled me, snapping my gaze up and tensing all my muscles.
I hovered off of the rock, ready to run as my gaze scalped the area where I had heard the noise come from. My mind rushed through the possibilities, praying that it was some sort of bird. The trees on the other side of the lake rustled, pushed, and finally parted, revealing the last thing I wanted to see.
The Career pack. Marvel, Clove, Cato, Peeta, and Glimmer, the creature that had made the shriek. She was laughing her head off sadistically, cackling like a witch while Marvel and Clove laughed along with her; they were probably reminiscing one of their kills. In the meantime, Cato was staring ahead, his eyebrows furrowed as if deep in thought, and Peeta was trailing behind him.
I glanced down to the backpack I had discarded, grateful that I hadn't taken off the belt as well. I could grab the backpack and run before they noticed me, until I made any noise that would draw them to me. I could hide behind the rock, but without taking the backpack, they would surely see the bright orange.
I bent down as far as I could, disappearing behind the rock before reaching out softly grabbing the backpack, dragging it towards me. I flinched when it made a shuffling sound, but everything in me froze when I heard a cry.
"Over there!"
As soon as I knew that I had been discovered, I shot to my feet and started running, pulling the flying backpack over my shoulders. I could hear the rustles of the Careers following me, and their cries when they saw my hair.
"It's fire girl!" one of them exclaimed, making me curse under my breath as I ran for my life.
"She's mine!" I heard Glimmer shout.
"Not if I get her first!" Clove shouted back.
'Not if I kill you all first,' I scowled while deftly jumping over a log, thanking whoever was listening for the endurance I had picked up in twelve. My muscles stretched as I pushed myself forwards faster than I had ever ran. I may have won against that boy, but I knew my limits. There was no way I could go up against four Careers plus Peeta and survive.
I choked on the air I sucked, taking in the leaves around me as I kept running. There was nowhere I could go. No caves, nowhere to hide. And then I stumbled through a clearing, my eyes immediately drawn to the biggest oak tree I had ever seen in my life, most likely genetically engineered by the Gamemakers.
My solution found me.
I barrelled towards the tree, clasping the first hold I could find before hoisting myself up. I scrambled at the knots, climbing that tree faster than I had ever climbed. I could hear them nearing me, but they hadn't yet broken into the clearing, giving me a bit more time. I looked up, noticing a wry branch that would usually be mistaken for a hold, but I saw how weak it was, so I grabbed a nearby knot instead.
I was halfway up, a safe distance away from the ground and anyone on the ground when the Careers broke the tree line. I flinched at the volume of their cheers as soon as they appeared, but forced myself to continue climbing, not even glancing back.
"We got her!" I heard Glimmer say. I could picture the sick smile pulled across her features.
'You don't 'got me' yet,' I thought with conviction, motivating me to continue pulling myself up even when my muscles shook.
"There you go, Girl on Fire!" Marvel scream, his voice straining. I suddenly despised the Capitol for giving me that nickname, and putting a target on my back in the first place.
"That's not going to help you up there, Rowan!" Clove shouted, making me roll my eyes. It took all my willpower to not whip around and send one of my knives hurling in her direction.
"Where are you going!" I heard Cato shout, making me flinch. But the hurt at him shouting for my death motivated me enough to pull myself up one more time, swinging over a large, sturdy branch so far up on the tree that the Careers looked like little figurines. The height didn't faze me, however; heights never bothered me.
I looked down, surprise running through me when I saw that Peeta was standing back, just watching, right before I realized that he hadn't joined in with the shouting. I wanted to smile at him, at least thankful that he wasn't jeering at me as if I was a wild animal in a cage, but I didn't have time to, because Cato moved towards the tree.
I watched, my stomach twisting in knots as Cato started pulling himself up, driven by the malicious words of Clove and Glimmer.
"Get her, Cato!"
"Kill her, Cato!"
"Fuck off," I muttered, nowhere near loud enough for them to hear.
Cato used some of the holds I had used, too focused on the tree in front of him to look up and see me staring at him, and that was the way I liked it. I wasn't sure how I would feel if my dark brown eyes connected with those bottomless pools of deep blue in this moment. It would summon emotions of gratefulness that I couldn't spare.
He got halfway up, making all of my muscles scream at me. I was cornered if he could reach me, which it looked like he might, despite his muscle mass.
It was then that he looked up, his eyes searching for another hold, but instead finding my gaze. I saw him freeze even as the other Careers kept screaming at him, and it took me a second to realize that I had stopped breathing.
"Get her, Cato!"
"Come on, Cato!"
While keeping those azure eyes on me, he reached up. I felt nauseous when I realized that he had grabbed for that faulty branch without realizing it, and as soon as he put his weight on it, the branch snapped, sending him tumbling down to the ground. I lurched forwards, my eyebrows pulled together as Cato landed on the ground, letting out a grumble. I let out a small sigh when I realized that the grumble was of discontent instead of hurt, and he was fine.
But why did I give a shit about that?
I didn't have time to ponder that question before Glimmer scowled and grabbed an arrow, not hesitating to shoot it upwards towards me. I leaned back, watching as the silver arrow flew past me and up into the air, past the tree canopy. I let a small smile pass my lips when the fact that I was safe up here registered.
I glanced back down to see that Cato had grabbed the bow, his eyes alight with fury. He snatched an arrow, shooting it up at me and missing me by inches.
I felt anger boil my blood when I realized that Cato had shot at me, even after saving my life the night before. Letting that anger motivate me, I let a cackle rip through me much like Glimmer's before gripping a branch and hanging over the tree so I could smirk down at them.
"Would you look at that!" I jeered, grinning feraly. "Trained since birth, and you can't even kill a measly girl from 12!" I smirked victoriously.
Glimmer let out a yell of frustration and went for another arrow before a voice stopped her. Peeta's. "You know, let's just wait her out. She's got to come down at some point. It's that or starve to death."
My smirk disappeared, my alight eyes quickly turning to a burning glare that I sent at Peeta. Hatred for him curled like a python in my stomach, itching to strike. My left hand hovered near my knives before I thought better of it, moving back to my perch.
"We'll just kill her then."
xxx
a u t h o r ' s n o t e:
Seeing as a few of you have asked for an update, here you go! Next chapter coming soon... Rowan has a little surprise for y'all...