Chapter Ten

Ian POV

God, these ties were hard to tie!

I had been struggling for the last five minutes attempting to get this tie right. I had walked into my huge, capital room and found a suit laid out for me. I put it on and found it to be the perfect size and everything.

I had the black pants and blue shirt on and was now struggling with the tie. The jacket was laying dormant on the bed.

I stood in front on the mirror, attempting to get the capital tie to look good. I was used to old cloth ties, not shiny slippery, silk ties. I could not tie this.

It had to be perfect. I had to look nice. The suit in general helped but it didn't really look complete without the tie.

After my fifth attempt, I got so angry, I ripped the tie from around my neck and threw it to the ground. I just stared at it, trying to come up with a solution.

I sighed and picked it back up, throwing it around my neck again the way Kyle had taught me. I sat on the bed and began to try again.

That was when I heard it.

It was a blood curdling scream. The kind of scream that sends chills the size of daggers down your back. It was a terrified scream.

It was a scream that came from Wanda.

It took me a second to recover after the scream, and I was moving. I ripped my door open and ran across to hers. It was unlocked, thank god.

I found her curled up in the fetal position, bawling on her huge bed.

"Wanda?" I said, reaching out for her but not touching her.

She raised her head. The tears streamed down her face like rivers.

A second after her eyes met mine, she was up and had her arms wrapped around my torso. I held her tightly.

I could feel the sobs come through her chest and into my body.

"Shhh...Shhh..." I consoled, "I'm here. I'm here. You're safe. I'm here."

There was only one explanation. Nightmare.

Every person in Panem has them. Whether it's because of fear for themselves, their children, or any child that they are close to, we all experience them.

They were bound to get worse for Wanda and I. I wasn't expecting a good night sleep ever again.

Wanda and I were now living our worst nightmare.

I felt the salt water from her tears sink into my shirt. I slowly lead her to her bed and I sat down. I brought her onto my lap and wrapped my arms around her waist. She continued to sob into my shoulder as I held her.

I rubbed circles on her back, hoping to calm her.

We sat there for a long time. Finally her tears dried, and she leaned back and looked up at me. The silver of her eyes seemed almost faded.

She took in a deep, low breath that seemed to travel throughout her body and bring life to her again.

She reached forward and touched my tie, that was now hanging loosely around my neck.

"What did you do to this tie?" she whispered, the tears still clear in her voice.

I smiled, "It doesn't like me."

She smiled, looking up at me, "That's no reason to beat it up." She held the dark blue fabric between her small fingers, seeming to try to smooth out the wrinkles I had put in it, while trying to tie it.

"I didn't mean to," I told her.

She continued to try to flatten the fabric. Her nose scrunched up and her eyes stared intently at the tie.

"Wanda," I said, quietly.

She looked up at me, "Yes?"

"Do you want to talk about it?"

She looked back at the tie and whispered, "Will it help?"

"It might."

She took a deep breath.

The beach was peaceful. The seagulls flew and the sun shined like always.

I lounged in the sand as I watched Mel and Jamie play in the water. She splashed him and he screamed, trying to get her back.

Uncle Jeb was back by the house, cleaning his old boat, watching us.

I closed my eyes and relaxed.

The the coldness hit.

I felt the sun leave my skin and opened my eyes to see the sky go completely dark except the small moon. I stood up and shouted for Mel and Jamie. I couldn't see them and they didn't reply. I looked back for Jeb but he had disappeared too. The house and District Four were gone too. I was surrounded by water, standing on a ten foot circular island.

I turned in circles looking for something. Anything.

I spotted huge figures coming from the ocean. There looked to be ten or so tall broad shouldered, men.

They walked towards me, coming at me from all sides. The moonlight shined just right so I could see the weapons in their hands, but not their faces.

Knives, hammers, clubs, swords, and daggers shined against the blue glow of the moon.

I started to panic, screaming for help. No one came.

I spun in circles trying to figure a way out.

I lost my footing and I fell backwards, my tail bone hitting the ground, accompanied by a thud and a shooting pain up my spine.

The men were suddenly standing above me, weapons ready. They're faces were blank. No features, faceless.

The weapons slowly came towards my face.

I screamed.

"There was nothing I could do," she whispered, still toying with my tie.

"It was just a dream," I said, using my free hand, the one that wasn't massaging her back, to grab and hold her hands.

"It's about to become reality," she whispered, barely audibly.

"No, next time, I'm going to be there."

"I don't want you to get hurt," she whispered again.

"Don't worry about me," I told her.

"Are you worried about me?" She asked looking up at me.

"Of course," I said.

"Then why can't I worry about you?"

I sighed, "Because I'm worried about your worrying."

"Well this is just a vicious circle."

I laughed, "Yeah, I guess it is."

"So what do we do?" She asked. Her silver eyes shined as she titles her head and laid it on my shoulder.

I sighed, "We worry. I worry about you, and you worry about me."

"Deal."

Deal. We had a deal that I could worry about her if she could worry about me. We had a deal that I wouldn't give up as long as she didn't.

I was okay with these deals.

Then there was a knock on the door.

AN: Review please! I really want to know what you think!