Follow Him
This is for the Starvation All Hallows Eve contest. Horror, so don't expect this to be all frilly and cutesy, which you should know.
Cashmere's POV
My long golden hair blows behind me. I'm standing in the dead forest in the arena of my hunger games. "Cashmere..." voices whisper. "Caaaaaaashmere..."
Then, it happens. A bloody skeleton walks out of the trees. Everything's familiar about her. Her wavy black hair, her bright green eyes with a hunger for death.
It's Teri.
The girl who betrayed the careers, the girl who killed her own district partner. She walks toward me. "Cashmere..." she whispers in her snakelike voice. "You could have come with me. You could have had an even more spectacular victory. If you didn't follow him..."
My brother. Gloss used a good strategy for the games. I used it for my games.
Another skeleton appears. This time it's Lucas, her district partner. His bronze hair glistens in the stale sunlight.
"Don't listen to her..." He hisses. "You should have protected me. You had to follow him. Family isn't everything. You should know that, Cashmere."
The trees waver in the wind, and my long white gown ripples. Teri steps forward, fingering my ringlets. "Why did you do it, Cashmere? Why did you follow...Gloss."
I shiver as her cold, lifeless fingers touch my shoulder blades. I'm beginning to think they're right. Why did I follow Gloss? Why did I choose him over friendship...
Stop it, Cashmere! I tell myself. Don't listen to these horrible killers.
But I'm just as much of a killer as they are. I killed just as many, maybe even more.
A smaller skeleton comes out of the trees. It's Ruthie, the only 12-year-old in my games. Her curly brown hair is tangled, and her hazel eyes are sad.
"You killed me, Cashmere," she says in that horrible snakelike voice. "I had my whole life ahead of me, and you cut it short. Why?"
I choke back a sob. "I-I didn't want to kill you, Ruthie. I had..."
"You had to follow him," Teri hisses. All the tributes appear out of the trees. Han, the boy from District 4. Gemma, the girl from 6. And Gloss...
He's not a skeleton. He's just normal Gloss. But his eyes...they've disappeared. There are just empty pits of darkness. They seem to be burning holes in my body.
"They're right, Cashmere." He sounds so disappointed in me, his little sister. "You had to follow in my footsteps. You didn't consider the consequences."
They close in on me. "Cashmere... You followed him. You doomed all of our lives. You killed us."
"Stop!" I yell. "Please stop!"
I wake up drenched in sweat.
Gloss is standing over my bed, waiting for me to wake up. "Time for the reaping. Get dressed. It's time to volunteer. You ready?" He has a grin on his face, the one where he's about to come in for the kill.
I climb out of bed. The dream was right. I disappointed him. This time, I'm not following in his footsteps.
"Ready," I reply.
Cashmere! That was not the point of the dream! It was to tell you not to kill AND that! Oh, well. Merry christmas to all, and to all a good...hey! It's not Christmas, it's Halloween!