Chapter 25: Day Fifteen/Sixteen in the Arena
Stars explode into the most vibrant colours – all the colours of the rainbow. Blue and pink and yellow and purple and then muddy brown. The muddy brown of a dilapidated shack, with windows caked with the dirt and the roof tiles falling off. It's my house, but it's not my house. It's too bright, too shiny, like the gleam of the sunlight bouncing off a mirror.
Mother, father, Laurel and Luca – they all lie in a pool of blood on the living room floor. I scream at them, begging them to wake up – they don't. I spin round and catch my appearance in a dusty mirror that I've never notice before propped against the wall on the mantelpiece. I'm caked in blood head to toe. Even my spear. Looking back down at my dead loved ones, I notice they all have identical gaping holes in their sides.
The sound of the spear clattering to the ground reverberates through the room as I take it all in. The people I care most about in the world have been murdered and the evidence points to me. I couldn't have. I wouldn't have. A sob creeps up my throat and threatens to choke me. I hope it does. I'm a monster.
As if I wasn't confused enough, Cleo chooses that moment to skip through the room, take my hand and lead me through to the bathroom. Her straight blonde hair turns into dark curly hair and her face somehow morphs into Alexis's. This doesn't make any sense. I'm going crazy. My brain is so frazzled I can't think properly.
I attempt to run away Alexis grabs my hair and shoves my head into the bathtub. I thrash in the tub until she releases me. Just before I can regain my breath, Antonio appears and forces out the open window. Landing with a soft thud, I access my injuries. The pain is surprisingly minimal.
When I manage to rise to my feet, Eric bounds towards me and hurtles me to the ground. He pins me to the ground and stabs me repeatedly in the chest. It's long and excruciating. Something's wrong. I should die, no human being can withstand this much pain and blood lose - not to mention major organs being punctured.
Eric finally stops when Coral's giggling starts echoing through the neighborhood. He releases me and runs off to apparently find his sister. Coral isn't in whatever direction Eric is headed - she is at the bottom of the street, beckoning me to join her. When Coral realizes I can't, she becomes aggravated and stomps away.
I don't want to be alone. Death is near. I can feel its dark presence hovering over me. No wait; that's the girl from district 11. I drag myself away from her hatred filled glare, but she crawls after me, her limbs jutting out awkwardly.
"I'm dead because of you" she hisses.
"No" I croak.
My denial seems to infuriate her more. So much so that her eyes roll to the back of her head and her skin turns scaly. Her limbs dissolve into her body and she transforms into a giant slithering creature of darkness. Something inside my head is screaming at me to run. But I can't. I'm paralyzed with pure terror. There's nothing I can do. She spits green froth, slithers towards me and swallows me whole.
I wake with a start. It was just a nightmare, but the fear is still coursing through me. Where am I and how am I still alive? This is no time to panic. I must access my surroundings and figure out how to get back to my camp.
There is a burning agony in my hand that seems to spread throughout my whole body. I roll over with a groan.
"Hey. I wondered when you were gonna wake up" Alexis laughs.
At the sound of her voice, I jump up, despite the dizziness making my head swim. The blurriness has taken over my vision so I have to force my eyes to focus on Alexis. No snakes for hair, no claws for hands – she looks completely normal.
"Hey take it easy. You've just been stung by a tracker jacker" Alexis says, putting a hand on my shoulder.
I flinch away from her hand.
"You-you tried to kill me" I accuse her.
"I saved your life. You would've drowned" Alexis exclaims.
If the snakes and the claws weren't real, is it possible that Alexis's murder attempt wasn't real? It seemed so real.
"No. You were holding me down. You tried to kill me" I say, backing away.
"You were hallucinatin'. It was brought on by the tracker jacker sting." Alexis explains.
"I don't believe-"
"Listen here. Do you think you'd still be sittin' here if I tried to kill you?" Alexis asks.
"Alright, alright don't scare the poor girl" Mason says emerging from the trees.
I remember meeting Mason for the first time after the tributes parade. He was the one dressed as a Roman emperor, which is quite fitting because he has broad shoulders and towers over everyone else.
Then Luca comes scampering after Mason, carrying an axe. His appearance has changed dramatically since the last time I saw him. His eyes are hollower and the bright spark seems to have left him. He moves with force and purpose and he is on edge as if he believes something might jump out at him.
Throughout the games, all I wanted to do was talk to Luca, be with Luca and more importantly make sure nothing happened to him. It feels like the whole games have been leading up to this moment.
As soon as I stand up the trees start to go blurry again and I'm swept off my feet by dizziness.
"Are you okay? What happened?" Luca says right beside me an instant.
Luca's words are soft and harsh like a winter's breeze.
"Don't shout at me like that. I'm fine!" I say, clasping my hands over my ears.
Everyone crowds round me like walls enclosing in on me. This only makes my heart rate go up.
"I'm not shouting" Luca says, looking incredulous.
"What's wrong with her? Is she high?" Mason says.
"Don't be so stupid. It's the tracker jacker venom" Alexis chides.
"I'm fine" I insist. "I just need to refrain from doing that again"
"What? Standing up?" Luca says.
This makes me giggle, which is weird because I never giggle. My giggle sounds so funny that it makes me laugh even more. But Luca isn't laughing with me. Instead, he looks extremely concerned.
"Whatever she's on, I want some" Mason says.
Alexis sighs, and then says:
"First things first. We need to get those tracker jacker stings outta your hand. Otherwise it's gonna be pretty painful by tomorrow."
"What are tracker jackers and why did they give me hallucinations?" I ask.
"They're genetically engineered wasps created by the Capitol. They're all around the Districts I'm surprised you haven't seen one." Alexis answers.
"How do you know so much about tracker jackers?" Luca asks Alexis.
"My mom got stung once. Nearly died." Alexis answers quietly.
"Oh" Luca ducks his head, no doubt remembering his own mother's demise.
Knowing that someone nearly died from the same sting that I have makes me feel woozy again.
"Hey you look a little pale" Mason says, rummaging through his bag of supplies.
"Catch!" he shouts, playfully.
I was unprepared to catch the water bottle flying towards me, so it smacks my forehead, making the world fuzzy again.
"MASON YOU IDIOT" Alexis shrieks.
"What is the matter with you?" Luca shouts.
"I'm sorry...I didn't-I didn't mean to..." Mason stammers.
"It's okay, but I think I'm going to lie down now." I say.
"Don't you think you've had enough sleep?" Alexis says. "You were out for two days."
"Two days?" I exclaim.
Is even possible that I'm still alive? They must have thought I was dead. And what about my family at home? What must they be feeling?
I hope the Edenthaw family is doing well too. They've had tragedy after tragedy. It's like a dark cloud constantly looms over their household. Will they ever see the light? I hope they do. They all deserve it so much.
What must they have thought of me running away from Luca at the start of the games when he clearly needed help? Well I'm going to make up for that. I'm going to make sure Luca survives to the very end.
Although it seems like Luca doesn't need my help. It seems like he and Alexis and Mason have things covered. Their camp isn't visible from the lake but close enough that it is easy to access. At night, they bury under a thick canopy of leaves and branches. It's not exactly my tent, but I don't I'm ready to go back there yet.
The amount of supplies they have is astonishing. Apparently, they raided the cornucopia at the start of the games and got a huge stash of supplies, which they hide in a hollow tree. Flashlights, water bottles, weapons, blankets and the most exciting, snack packets each containing little chunks of different meats. The kind only we could dream of back in District 12. Chicken, beef, pork, lamb. Unfortunately, they mostly keep the snack packets for emergencies and get most of their food from the lake.
Apart from the knife I received from a generous sponsor, I don't have much to add to their supply stash. I almost forgot about the two cylinder tubes that were meant for April. Alexis examines them and concludes they are used to indicate if water is safe to drink or not. The solar panels attract sunlight which heats up the water. When the water is past boiling point, and therefore safe to drink, the wax melts. It's very handy but not needed. They have as much bottled water to do them for a lifetime.
It didn't matter that I didn't have many supplies with me; they already have a bag made up for me. A yellow rug sack containing two bottles of water, three snack packets and night vision sunglasses. We all have a rug sack each. Luca's being green, Mason's being blue and Alexis's purple.
After I recover from my dizzy spells, we all head down to the lake, making small talk on the way.
"I really miss Cooper." Mason says. "I wonder how he died. I guess we'll never know"
Dread seeps through my previously happy mood.
"I know how he died" I say quietly.
"Excuse me" Alexis exclaims.
"Cooper and I were heading to the camp when we were attacked by tracker jackers. I guess he got stung worse than I did because he never made it" I explain.
Everyone is silent for a moment; they all look astonished. Finally Luca says:
"Poor kid"
Once we arrive at the lake, Alexis suggests I douse my hand before trying to take the stings out to minimize the pain. She seems to know what she is talking about, who am I to question her advice? I sit in the lake trying to dig the tracker jacker stings out my hand. The water is longer blood red, although that was probably a hallucination.
"Here I'll help you" Luca says taking my hand and trying to pull the stings out of my hand.
A burning pain shoots up my hand and I wince. Alexis treads over and grabs my arm.
"For god's sake, Luca she's not a little kitten." She says.
Alexis rips the stings from hand with a painful lurch.
"Alexis!" Luca cries.
"Well that's one way to get 'em out" Mason laughs.
I nod, gritting my teeth trying not to show how much pain I'm in. It's hard to forget the image of Alexis attempting to drown me, but now I am clear-headed, she seems to be trying to help me in her own strange way. Maybe it was just a hallucination.
Mason mostly tells bad jokes and is an idiot, but in a likable way. I don't know much about them, but I know I don't want to watch them die.
Dusk falls and we head back to the camp. As soon as we arrive back, Luca scampers over to the hollow tree and pulls out a spear.
"Look what I got from the cornucopia" Luca says in a sing-song voicc.
The spear shimmers gold in the sunlight – just like one that I used to kill Eric. His death flashes across my mind and wipes the smile off my face.
"Thank you so much. I lost my other one" I say.
I don't want to say I tossed mine away so carelessly and the last time I saw the other one it was lodged in Eric's chest. It will come up some time, but it's too late at night. I curl up in the blanket that was given to me and fall asleep on the hard grass.
The next day while we're all down at the lake, we attempt to kill more fish for dinner.
"Ever tried fishin'?" Mason questions me.
"Yeah, but I wasn't any good at it" I reply with a laugh.
"Just like Alexis" Mason says, pointing at Alexis. " She couldn't catch a fish to save her life"
"Just like you and girls, eh?" Alexis teases.
"That was uncalled for!" Mason exclaims.
I find myself smiling, which quickly fades when I spot Coral in the distance. She approaches the camp tentatively, as if she doesn't know how we're going to react.
"You're back?" Alexis exclaims.
Coral catches my eye and her expression change from uncertainty to fear.
"SHE KILLED MY BROTHER! SHE KILLED MY BROTHER! GET HER AWAY FROM ME" Coral shrieks.