A/N: This might be my only theme today. It took me forever and I'm too distracted by my new contacts (finally) and my piano recital tomorrow. I had no idea it was possible to be this nervous.
Hope you like this one! And it could fit as my piece for the "darkness" theme as well, but it's here, so there.
Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games.
10. Silence
When the blackness clamps down on my vision, it's all I can do not to scream. I break out in a cold sweat and I feel my heart hammering in my chest so loudly that I'm surprised no one finds me. In a split second, a thousand deaths run through my mind, but I only remember a few. A slit throat – a clubbed head – slow mangling of my limbs – choking – any number of things could happen in this darkness.
As it is, I don't make a sound. Somehow I keep the shriek locked in my chest even as my throat tightens in terror and I almost vomit with the stress of this fear. Was that a footstep? A breath, over there? I can't see anything. It would be so easy for someone to sneak up on me right now. My blood is roaring in my ears and I know I wouldn't hear a murderer if one came for me.
I stand, stock still, not daring to move. My muscles are frozen and taut. But then – what's that? I spin around, the slight scuff of my boots on the ground sounding much, much too loud. I thought I saw someone's torch, but I guess not. Clutched by a wave of hysteria, I shuffle my feet so that I'm constantly turning. Too loud, too loud, too loud! But I can't seem to stop. I can feel my eyes stretching wider than ever, searching for a speck of light that isn't there. The darkness is absolute.
Hoo, hoo? Hoo, hoo?
I scream in panic and whip to the left as the owl takes flight. Still my cry echoes in the calm, cool night air, a fading alarm that's just told everyone in this arena where I am.
There's no time for me to second-guess myself. I'm already gone, scrambling up a tree, clinging to a branch in the darkness that presses in on all sides. I can't see anything, can't even sense where the ground is. It's absolutely silent. No wind. No more owls, please.
I still can't relax, because I need to know that I truly am safe. That's impossible, I know, but I'm still breathing hard and I'm still hot all over in a haze of fear.
Right after I give in to the obvious fact that there's no one here and close my eyes, the world explodes.
It's most definitely not silent anymore.