AN: This idea came into my head from who knows where, and I was so eager to get it down that it's not all that polished. Hopefully it makes some sort of sense. I might come back to it later.
The screams pierce the calm air of the beach like a knife. They're screeching Katniss' name, and it takes a split-second for her to recognise the voice.
"Prim!" she screams, eyes widened with terror. "Prim!"
I leap to my feet immediately - I have no doubt that this is just another one of the arena's many cunning tricks - but Katniss has already disappeared, yelling madly to her sister as she tears carelessly through the trees.
"I've got this," I say, volunteering myself for the pursuit. I don't wait for a reply before I run from the beach as well. The duty of protecting Katniss was trusted to all of us a while ago, but more recently I came to my own realisation that I'd never forgive myself if she got hurt, even if there wasn't so much depending on her survival. Something about her caught my attention from the very first time I saw her on my TV screen.
Her sister's screams get louder with every stride. I look up and I see where they're coming from - birds. Jabberyjays, to be precise. I should have guessed. All of them are yelling Katniss' name, and I feel a little sick at the thought of how much distress they must be giving her. I've heard the tortured cries of the people I love. I've watched as the peacemakers drag out their deaths, stretching the pain thin over what feels like an eternity. Grief and guilt still sit heavy on my shoulders. Even now I'm haunted by the past at night.
They can't touch me anymore, though. I'm invincible in that aspect. There's nobody left for Snow to hurt in order to hurt me.
I suppose that's why the jabberjays are still only calling her name - there are no voices they can use with me. It makes it easy to distinguish Katniss' cries to her sister from the rest, and I will my legs to go a little faster so I can get to her sooner. She must have realised that it's a trick by now. She must have seen the damn birds circling above her in their ominous swirls of black feathers. I open my mouth to shout her name before realising it would be in vain and that my voice would simply be lost in the overpowering cacophony. I just need to get to her.
And then I hear it - her scream. My blood runs cold. Were the jabberjays simply bait towards another threat? Have the careers found her?
"Katniss!" I yell, unable to help myself.
I hear her scream again, but it comes from behind me. How is it behind me? I whip around, disorientated. Suddenly every direction looks the same - trees, trees, and more trees. Which way did I come from? Where - where -?
"Johanna!" Katniss cries another time. I call back to her.
"Katniss! Katniss, where are you?!" I'm panicking. I don't know where to run. She sounds like she's right behind me, but miles away at the same time. Damn those stupid birds, still imitating Prim! If they could just shut the hell up I might be able get my bearings, and she might be able to hear me!
I can't stand turning helplessly on the spot any longer. I pick a random direction and run, hoping it's bringing me closer to her. I don't stop screaming her name. It's tearing my vocal chords raw but that's really the least of my concerns right now. I don't want to picture what it is that's attacking Katniss to make her scream like this. I just know I have to find her.
"Katniss, it's me!" I cry. "Katniss!"
I run like I'm being chased, like the ground is disappearing behind me. My legs are on autopilot and my centre of gravity is so far forward I feel I might fall any moment. Adrenaline is rushing through me like like an electric current. It all serves to make me push myself harder. Faster, I urge my muscles, faster.
I don't know how long I run before I decide I must have gone the wrong way. I curse and I swear and I shout, utterly overwhelmed by frenzy and rage. Her screams are the only thing I can hear now; I can no longer make out those of her sister. I'm about to run back the way I came - or at least I think I came - but my legs suddenly burn up with pain and I can't stop myself collapsing to the ground, lungs heaving.
I can't do it. I can't.
Her screams are getting louder. Each one sounds more and more pained, and desperate, and it feels like they're tearing me apart from the inside out. I curl myself up in the dirt and clench my eyes shut, willing the world to go away. My ears are ringing. Flashbacks are flooding into my mind. Soon Katniss' screams morph into her screams - and just like that I see her face again, that face I felt nothing but love for, but now one contorted with unimaginable pain. I feel helplessness, so much of it that I'm drowning. I can't breathe. She's dying. They've killed my family and now they're killing her, and it's all because of me. I can't stop myself from screaming with her. I scream and I scream and I-
"Johanna!"
Strong hands shake my shoulders and I gasp.
"Johanna, breathe, you gotta breathe."
It's Finnick. It's Finnick and he's towering over me. I can hear birdsong from the treetops.
"It's all right, the hour's up, it's all over."
"Katniss," I demand hoarsely but urgently. "Is she okay?" It's the only thought my clouded head can handle right now.
"She's fine, completely fine. I mean, she's shaken, of course, but other than that, no, not a scratch."
I blink. I'm relieved, but the feeling is heavily diluted by confusion.
"But I heard her, I heard her -" I can't believe how much my voice is shaking.
"Trust me," Finnick interrupts gently. "You don't need to worry. She's back by the lake, with the others. I found her in a pretty similar state to you." He extends a hand, revealing the gentleman he really is underneath the cockiness. "Come on, we gotta get back as well. I don't like it here."
I feel like enough of a failure already so I get back onto my feet without his help. Nothing's making any sense. I heard Katniss scream for help - I know I did. I've had my fair share of nightmares over the years but never hallucinations.
Finnick was telling the truth, though. When we arrive after a pretty long trek, Katniss is by our newly set-up camp at the edge of the forest, being held in Peeta's arms. She's not hurt in any way. In fact, when Finnick announces our return, she looks up at me and she's the one with the look of relief on her face.
Our eyes make contact and I feel something shoot through me, but it's not relief, or confusion, or anything I've felt in a long time. It's then that it all clicks into place.
There's still one person left that I love.