Chapter Seven
While I slept I had nightmares. I'd only ever met Maverick once in my life and he scared me even then. He played the lead in my nightmare. I was running through the woods. Kaleb and Ryn were just ahead of me standing in a clearing. I ran faster yelling their names. They just looked at me and laughed. That's when the arms around me woke me up. Kaleb was next to me. "What is it?" he whispered. I guessed Ryn was finally asleep.
"It was just a nightmare…" I say.
"Do you want to talk about it…?" he asked sounding unsure of his question.
I shake my head. "No, it was stupid." I say.
He started to get up to go back over to wherever he'd been before I woke him up.
"Um, would you mind staying over here…" I asked feeling my face get hot.
He looked at me. I didn't understand his expression. "Sure…" he said. He walked back over to me and sat down.
I fixed my jacket so that I could lie back down. My head was beside his leg and I looked up at him. "Thank you." I say.
He's looking at the sky. "It's no problem… It's just a piece of ground. I'm convinced it's going to be just as comfortable as it was over there."
"That isn't what I meant… Thank you for everything." I say. His hand is resting on his leg. I reach out and put mine over his. "I mean it…everything. You're a good friend."
He flips his hand over so his palm is against mine. "Go back to sleep, Rose…" he said. I nodded and closed my eyes, but I didn't go to sleep. Instead I listened. I listened to his breathing change as he finally fell asleep.
My mind wandered listening to the rhythm of his breathing. Who had thrown the knife? As I thought about it the pain came back. There was a throbbing every time my heart beat. I didn't know anything about wounds, but I knew that this wasn't good.
I was interrupted from my thoughts when a smell caught the attention of my nose. I stood up. My leg was stiff from sitting for so long. I walked over to our fire and knelt down beside it. There was no heat coming from it, it'd been long since extinguished. I walked along the side of the mountain. The smell was definitely coming from in front of the mountain.
The walk to the front of the cave seemed longer than it had been this morning. I suppose I was being carried then though. As I neared the edge of volcano the smell grew stronger. It wasn't like the rotten egg smell of the magma. This was something else, something sinister, but I kept walking. I could almost hear Katniss in my head. "What are you doing?! You know it's dangerous and you're alone. Kaleb can't save you this time." My thoughts stopped me dead. I had been depending on Kaleb too much. I was going to get him killed. I walked faster and I could see the base of the mountain. I scanned the trees in front of me for an indication of what the smell might be. My eyes stopped when I saw a figure lying on the ground in front of the trees. It was a girl that much was obvious. I walked closer as I realized I knew that silhouette. I'd just seen her less than a week ago. I reached the girl and it became clear. "Gabriella?" I say. Her body is motionless. I say her name again in a frantic whisper trying not to be overheard by an enemy that may or may not be nearby. I kneeled down beside her. "Gabriella?" I said again. She still didn't move. I put my hand on her shoulder to turn her to face me. She was still in the outfit I put her in when I was chosen as a Tribute only now there was a new addition to that outfit. It was stained in blood; her blood. I widened my eyes in horror once I'd found the knife in her chest. "Gabriella!?" I said more frantic. What happened to my sister? Why was she here? She can't be here she wasn't chosen. I lifted her in my arms holding her as if she were a baby. Tears streaked down my face. "Gabriella… Why?"
I looked at her face and her eyes were open, but they were dead. I watched as the features of my sister transformed. Now I was holding my mother in my arms. She was wearing the last thing I had seen her in too only there was also a new addition to her. It was the same wound that had been inflicted upon my sister, but how? My mother was already dead. Next was my father. I dropped the body as it switched to Nessie and then Ryn and finally Kaleb. They all had the same wound in their chest. I ran away from it.
I watched Rosemary on the monitors. What was happening to her? Once she passed the mountain she started freaking out. Finally she just ran. She ran the completely wrong way; a way from the safety of Kaleb and Ryn. Why? Was she trying to get herself killed?! I turned to Peeta and he had the same bewildered expression as I did. "What's happening?" I asked him.
He blinked a few times trying to regain his composure. "I think Plurtarch made a few adjustments to the Games, Katniss…" he said with a hint of worry in his voice.
"Adjustments?" I said staring at the screen now showing a different Tribute. "What does that mean, Peeta?"
"Traps Katniss…like the jabberjays in the arena the second time we were in… Those kind of traps. She saw something they knew would break her. It's either Plurtarch or Diamond from District 1. If it's connected to the knife that she got hit with earlier that means the two from 1 are finally working together… This is not good, Katniss. Kaleb can't protect her now. She's going to get lost out there."
I stared back at the screen in shock again. What could I do now? Think Katniss…
When the sun came back up I stood up and went to get a drink from one of the canteens, but something caught my eye. Something was missing. I looked back down at where I had been laying and something was definitely missing. Rose was missing, but she left her jacket behind. I looked all over behind the mountain. She was nowhere. I ran back to where Ryn was sleeping. I shook her arm and her eyes quickly blinked open and she was on her feet. She looked at me. "What is it?" she asked seeing no obvious danger.
"It's Rose! She's gone!" I say.
Ryn's eyes widen. "What? When? When did she disappear?" she asked looking around again.
"I—I don't know. I fell asleep, but when I woke up about fifteen minutes ago she wasn't here! Her jacket is here, but she isn't." I absentmindedly ran my hands through my hair. "This is all my fault… I should have stayed awake and kept watch." I felt Ryn's hand on my shoulder.
"It'll be okay, Kaleb. This isn't your fault you can't be expected to stay up all night. If she dies it isn't your fault it's hers." She says. This makes me spin around to face her.
I did something I've never done in my entire life. I slapped her. I wasn't in control of myself now. "Don't you dare say that to me again! How can you stand there and say something like that? I thought you were her friend!?" I yell.
She laughed. "Me be her friend?! You've got to be joking! Ever since she stole you from me I've hated her and to top it all off she can't even see you like her! Why waste your time on her when you can have anyone else? You can do way better than her!" she says.
My temper only worsens. "You know what Ryn?" I say. "She didn't steal me from you. I was never yours and I knew I didn't like you for some reason. Now I know why. You're a heartless…." I couldn't make myself finish it. "You're on your own. I'm leaving because unlike you I love Rose and I care if she lives or dies. Got it? I hope someone kills you soon. I hope they put you out of your miserable life." I say. I grab my bags and weapons and walk away, my hand still stinging from how hard I had slapped her.
I continued to stumble through the trees. I was already dehydrated and hungry again. I was lost. "At least Kaleb won't have to protect me anymore…" I say out loud. "He can protect Ryn instead." I stumbled into a tree. It was damp. I wished I could somehow drink the water from it. I slid down against the tree. Katniss's words ran through my mind. "…this is also important. If you need a drink and you can't find any water stay near the plants. Where they are greener there is water nearby. Sometimes you can feel it in the trees…they'll be damp from the humidity and water combining…" he words faded. I jumped up ignoring the jolt of pain it sent through my leg. I had new energy. The tree was damp! I ran again watching the plants. They were getting a darker shade of green. Soon enough I could hear it. The babbling of a river and soon after that I could see it. The waters sparkled in the sun that was beating down on my skin. I was sweating, so I decided I would take a short swim. I impaitiently looked up and down the river to see if I had to wait due to another Tribute being there and I was relieved to see that there was no one. I waded in the water. The cool water felt good on my sweating skin. "…don't risk drinking much if you don't have iodine…" Katniss's words warned me. I ignored it. I put my head under water and drank the water by the mouth full. It tasted better than usual. I kept drinking it until my stomach was full.
When I finally decided to get out of the water I went to sit in the shade of a tree. That's when I heard a scream. I quickly hid in a dark green bush and watched covering my mouth. I saw Ryn running away from something. I wanted to jump out of the bush and help her, but there was someone chasing her. I would never be able to kill someone. Pretty soon I saw the boy representing the same District as her chasing her. She tripped and he cut up with her. I closed my eyes and I heard her last scream; a desperate scream for help that would never come to her. I waited until he left but I knew I was too late when the cannon fired. She was dead and this time it was real. I ran over to her and pulled her out of the water. I knew it was stupid but part of me did it so she wouldn't drown. I knew this was pointless. She couldn't drown, she was already dead. I stared at the woods where Xavier had left. I remembered where I was and I knew that I couldn't be as careless as I had before. I could have died too if I had been still in the water.
I felt terrible as I took her jacket. I needed it though, she didn't. I left her body so they could take it. I headed back through the trees for somewhere to hide. I wasn't safe anymore.
I found a tree with low enough branches to get a startup and dense enough limbs to hide in. I would be safe up here for a while. I couldn't stay long because my stomach reminded me that I needed food. It rumbled and I felt like it was shaking the tree with it. I knew that was an exaggeration, but I didn't think too much into it because the next thing I saw took away my attention completely.
My stitches had reopened and the blood started seeping into the bandage. This wasn't good at all. I felt my heart drop. I needed Kaleb now and more than ever.
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~Miki 3
