I sat in the cave, tossing the water canteen back and forth between my hands. A few hours earlier, I had slapped Stearic. Twice. Now it was evening, and the swamp was finally cooling down. Frogs croaked in the distance, it sounded like there were hundreds of them. And unfortunately, evening is mosquitoes' favorite time of the day. For the past fifteen minutes I've been slapping the daylights out of my arms when the stupid bugs landed on me.
"Blahh! Get away from me!" I said aloud as I wave my arms in the air, trying to shoo them away. I wasn't used to mosquitoes! They looked like long sticks that had wings and would suck your blood. Finally, I stood up and walked out of the cave; away from the mosquitoes. Or so I thought. My arms were already itchy from the bug bites before, and now there were hundreds of mosquitoes everywhere!
"Ohmigosh!" I huff and I storm back into the cave. There was no escaping the little demons! I crossed my arms, looking at the ground. Then it hit me. "Where is Stearic?" I think to myself as I look around. He wasn't here! Where had he gone? How long had he even been gone? And why did I not notice this before?!
"Stearic?" I say rather loudly as I cautiously walk to the entrance of the cave, looking around. No reply.
"Stearic! Where did you go?" I mutter under my breath as I grab my knife and my jacket. I paused before I swung it on. Would I rather be hot and sweaty or covered in mosquito bites? Ehh... I hate bug bites. I swung the jacket on and made my way out in search of my ally partner. I stopped in my tracks when something caught my eye.
"Footprints!" I whisper to myself, spotting the silhouette of a shoe print in the soft ground. I cautiously began to follow them, only hoping that they belonged to Stearic, my friend. Well, was he my friend? There was something about him that just I don't trust, yet I can't put my finger on it. He's always been nice to me, but there was just something weird about the whole situation! Why in the world did he come up to me in the Training Center? Obviously, I wasn't very good at anything except poison; which I hadn't tried until after I met him. So why did he want to be my friend? Why did he ally with me? Why, why, why?!
"Snap!"
I spun around, startled by the sound. I let out a sigh of relief when I saw it was just a raccoon, scampering under a bush. "Ah, just a raccoon." I say, laughing a bit. "Just a... RACCOON?!" I stumbled backwards, making sure the masked animal didn't come near me. Or eat my face off. I kept walking, following the footprints. Suddenly, I heard voices in the distance. I froze, wondering if I should run back to the cave or dare risking to see who it was. I glanced down at my right hand, just to make sure I still had my knife. My big awesome knife! I clutched it tightly, deciding to not be a wimp and go see who was talking. This time, I could tell that the voices were coming from the left. I crouched down and tried to be as quiet as possible as I sneaked toward the voices. The voices got louder and louder as I neared them. I slowly crawled under a big bush, pulling a few leaves out of the way so I could see. I raised my eyebrows when I saw who was there. It was Zeke and his District partner, Yopa. Yopa was tall and slender, but she's more toned than I am. She has short, dark red hair that came to her chin. She had dark blue eyes and she had a really deep voice, for a girl.
"He's not going to find us," Zeke chuckled, crossing his arms and leaning against a tree as he stared at his District partner.
"Well, what if he does? What if he decides he wants to take us out?" Yopa argued, stomping her foot. Zeke leaned his head back and laughed.
"I don't think he would be stupid enough to go two-against-one," He replied with a smirk.
"He's ginormous! His biceps are bigger than my entire head!" Yopa frowned. I knew they were talking about the boy from District 4, he was the only one big enough to have biceps as big as her head. But, Zeke was about just as big as him.
"Hey, Yopa, I can take him if he acts up. Same goes for anyone else," Zeke answered, shaking his head with a smile. "They must have allied with a bunch of people or something." I think to myself as I watch them.
"Yeah? Whatever, Zeke!" Yopa hisses, turning her back to Zeke. I ducked deeper into the bush, hoping she wouldn't see me. Zeke still had a smile across his face, but his expression changed to something I would have never, ever thought I would see on his scarred face. Mercy.
"Yopa, you know I'll protect you no matter what," Zeke said softly. "Oh my gosh! Is he flirting with her?" I thought to myself as my jaw dropped. Yopa still looked mad.
"Let's just wait for the signal," She snapped, not looking back at him. Zeke grinned and gently reached his foot out, lightly tapping the back of her foot. "Is Zeke's unbelievable cold heart even capable of liking someone?!" I think as I try not to gasp. Yopa didn't respond, and Zeke casually leaned against the tree in defeat.
"Signal? Signal for what?" I accidentally whisper out loud. Zeke shot up, looking around in alarm. Snap! He had heard me! I clasp my hand over my mouth. "What is wrong with me? Why do I always talk when I'm not supposed to?!" I think to myself.
"Did you hear that?" Zeke said, puffing out his chest to look intimidating.
"Hear what?" Yopa hissed, not looking at him.
"Talking," He said, his eyes searching everywhere.
"You're losing it, Zeke! Lets just go hunt until the signal comes," Yopa orders as she spins around and marches off. Zeke took one more glance around, then slowly followed her.
Once they were out of sight, I let out a huge sigh of relief. They hadn't seen me.
"Good grief, I have to be more careful!" I mutter to myself as I crawl out of the bush. I stand up, brushing the leaves and mud off of myself. I paused when I realized how dark it had gotten! It must have been around 9:00 now. I wondered what the "signal" was for, and what it even was. "Should I follow them and find out?" I bit my lip, looking in the direction that they had gone. "No, I had better head back to the cave. The 'signal' might be something horrible." I decide as I slowly make my way toward the cave.
It was pretty difficult trying to get back to the cave because of the darkness. Frogs croaked so loud that it would be hard to hear someone coming, making me on edge. As I walked, I thought about Stearic and if I should trust him. Then I suddenly saw something. I smiled broadly, knowing exactly what it was. It was Crol, a rare poisonous berry that the Capitol made, and there was a whole bush of them! "I could have these ready just in case Stearic does try to kill me, as a backup plan!" I say as I cautiously pick a bunch off and stuff them in my pockets. I made sure I didn't get any berry juice on my hands. I grinned as I stood up, feeling overly evil and genius. I quickly made my way back to the cave, but stopped a few feet away. The first thing I saw was Stearic, sitting in the very back of the cave. He had his knees pulled up to his chest, looking... nervous? I slowly walked in, cautious. Was this a trap?
"Stearic...?" I ask slowly. Stearic's head shot up, his eyes widened when he saw me.
"O-Oh! Hey Aspen!" He stammered as he scrambled to his feet, changing his expression to casual. I raised my eyebrows, confused.
"Are you alright? Why were you all huddled up?" I asked, a little alarmed. Stearic paused, then shrugged.
"I was cold," He said, smiling. But it was almost as if he was faking his smile. I narrowed my eyes, closely examining him. His face looked pale, almost greenish!
"Are you feeling okay?" I asked, becoming slightly concerned. Stearic just stared at me.
"You look green," I say quietly.
"No I don't,"
"Yes you do!"
"Do not!"
"Stearic..." I say, frowning. Stearic sighed.
"I don't know, maybe I'm coming down with something," He muttered, looking away. I frowned.
"Do you feel hot?" I asked, wondering if maybe he had gotten a cold or a fever. Stearic grinned and did a dramatic pose.
"Always," He joked. I rolled my eyes.
"Does your head feel warm?" I said, shaking my head. Stearic shrugged, walking toward the entrance of the cave. Out of the corner of my eye, it looked like he smiled, as if he saw something.
"What?" I asked curiously. He spun around, looking confused.
"Nothing," He said, chuckling. I shrugged, sitting down.
"You look tired. I'll take the first watch, you sleep," Stearic says as he leans against the entrance of the cave. I frowned but nodded; I was exhausted. I rested my head against the cold stone cave, keeping my eyes on Stearic, whose back was toward me. He was, again, staring off into the night at the entrance of the cave. I gently patted my pocket, making sure I had the poisonous berries. I was beginning to fall asleep. In my other hand, I tightly clutched my knife. Stearic was my ally, but that doesn't mean I trust him.
"Chirp, chirp!" Echoed through my ears as I opened my eyes. I gasped when I sat up, seeing a bluebird standing beside me. I paused. Why was a bluebird in the cave? I slowly reached my hand out to touch it, see if it was really there. The blue bird jumped backwards, then stopped. Then it did it again! Did it want me to follow it? I cautiously got to my feet, walking after the bird. The bluebird then took flight, flying into a tree just outside the cave. I walked out of the cave only to see the bird fly away. I frowned. "Well! That was weird," I think to myself as I paused. The swamp was bright in the morning sunlight, and fog barely covered the damp ground. It looked beautiful!
"Aspen!" Timre's voice made me jump. He was standing a little ways away, smiling kindly at me.
"Timre?" I asked in bewilderment.
"Come here!" He said, grinning. I couldn't help but smile at him. I began to run over to him, I felt relieved that he wasn't scared of me anymore. I stopped when I was in front of him.
"I have something to show you," Timre said as he grabbed my sleeve and practically dragged me into the swamp. I laughed and followed eagerly. We ran for a few minutes, dodging the trees and bushes as we ran.
"Look what I found! Look!" Timre shouted as he pointed to a pile of fresh, ripe fruit. My jaw dropped.
"Timre! How did you find this?" I asked, shocked and amazed. He just smiled at me and shrugged.
"I got it for you," He said, smiling sweetly. I raised my eyebrow. Was this one of his cruel jokes? He reached down and tossed me a ripe pear. I grabbed it and sank my teeth into it. The flavor burst through my mouth; it was the best pear I've ever tasted!
"Now that I've got your attention, I have something to tell you," Timre said, his expression changing to serious. I grinned, thinking that he was just pretending to be serious so I would freak out and then he would tell me it was a joke.
"What?" I asked, smirking. Suddenly, a cannon went off! Timre nodded toward the sky. Confused, I looked up. I dropped the pear in dismay. Aunt Litch's face came up on the arena screen!
"I'm sorry," Timre whispered. I made fists in my hair and started screaming. Aunt Litch had died? What! I screamed as tears rolled down my cheeks. I kept screaming bloody murder as I fell to my knees, staring at the picture in the sky.
"She was all the family I had left!" I wail in utter horror.
I rip my eyes open as I literally jump to my feet, breathing heavily. I looked around frantically, confused. I was in the cave, and it was still dark! I let out a sigh of relief.
"It was just a dream, Aspen, just a dream," I whisper to myself in a shaky voice. I stood there for a few moments, shaking like a leaf. I had just dreamed the worst nightmare I think I've ever dreamed in my life! I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to comfort myself. After I pulled myself together, I gingerly touched my cheek. I had been crying in my sleep. I gulped hard, trying to block the picture of Aunt Litch out of my mind. "She's not really dead, it was just a nightmare." I think to myself, still breathing heavily. But there was a tiny voice in my head whispering that I could be wrong. I quickly shook the thought, biting down on my lower lip. I then paused, looking around. It must have been 2- 3 in the morning, and it was still pitch-black outside. But there was no Stearic, again. I wrinkled my eyebrows, confused.
"S-S-Stearic?" I stutter a whisper. There was no sign of him. Suddenly, anger began to boil inside of me. He left?! He was my only defense as I slept! One of the tributes could have sneaked in and killed me! I gulped again, chewing on my lower lip. I glanced down at my hip, making sure the wound was still there. I poked the stitches and pain shot through my body. I smiled slightly, knowing I was awake now.
I slowly, cautiously made my way to the entrance of the cave. I glanced out, still no sign of Stearic. I took a deep breath as I reached down and grabbed my knife. "Pull yourself together, Aspen!" I think to myself as I gather every ounce of courage in my body and march into the darkness. Once I found Stearic, I was going to blast him. There was no way he was getting out of this one. This alliance could be over.
My eyes still had tears in them as I walked into the dark swamp. I was still shaking slightly from my nightmare, and I guess I was shaking with anger too. I clutched my knife tightly as I walked. After a few minutes of walking, my eyes began to adjust to the darkness. The swamp was cold in the early morning, it definitely didn't feel like morning. I looked around, trying to find Stearic so I could yell at him. Suddenly, I saw a figure walking toward me. I froze, ready to swing my knife at whoever it was. But for some weird reason, I knew who it was.
"You... You sick moron!" I hiss through clenched teeth. Stearic stopped in his tracks, just noticing me. He looked surprised.
"Aspen! What are you-" He began to say.
"I hate your guts! You said you would take first watch and you leave! You're a pathetic excuse of an ally!" I almost whisper because I'm still shaking. Stearic paused, as if trying to figure out what to say.
"Aspen, I-"
"No! I don't want to hear it!"
"But-"
"Shut your face! If you ever come to the cave again-" I began to blast him. Stearic quickly put his hand over my mouth.
"I heard that Timre was hurt, and normally I wouldn't care, but since he was your friend I figured I would help him before the careers got to him," Stearic interrupted, taking his hand off of my mouth. I paused, suddenly feeling like an awful person.
"What? Stearic, I had no idea..." I stuttered, blushing from embarrassment. Stearic smiled, almost as if... relieved?
"It's alright, you didn't know," He said quietly.
"Did you find him?" I ask eagerly. Suddenly, Stearic's face lit up.
"Uh, no, no I didn't... Maybe you could help find him," He said slowly. A little voice in my head was saying that there was something suspicious about this, but I blocked it out. Timre could be hurt.
"Of course," I say quickly. Stearic nodded.
"Follow me," He said as he walked to the left. I quickly followed. All I could think about was if Timre was okay. We walked for a few minutes in silence. The swamp wasn't silent, though. The frogs were going nuts and crickets chirped, making all kinds of noises. Swamps are not quiet places! Then, Stearic broke the awkwardness.
"Hey, can I see your knife really quick?" Stearic asked curiously. I glanced at him as the voice in my head got louder and louder, screaming for me not to give it to him.
"Why?" I ask slowly. Stearic shrugged.
"I want to see if it's as big as my knife," Stearic replied coolly. I stared at him for a second.
"Just a weird obsession of mine, I always have to have the better toy," Stearic laughed. "What do I do?" I thought to myself. "It's not like he's going to kill me, just give it to him." I decide as I hand my knife to him. He smiled gratefully and took it, pulling out his knife from his pocket. I inwardly sighed in relief, he was telling the truth. He began to size up the knives as we walked. I smiled, I was being stupid. He's been nothing but friendly to me, why should I doubt Stearic? Then I remembered his face when I was yelling at him, as if he was thinking of a way out. "Stop doing this, Aspen, Stearic is fine!" I scold myself as I followed Stearic.
But my mind drifted back to what he had said. "I heard that Timre was hurt, and normally I wouldn't care, but since he was your friend I figured I would help him before the careers got to him," I remember him say. He "heard" that Timre was hurt? Who had told him?! I gulped hard. That was a good question.
"Who told you?" I remark, glaring at Stearic. He paused, glancing back at me.
"What?" He asked.
"You said you heard that Timre was hurt! Who told you?!" I demand, crossing my arms and stopping in my tracks. We were in a part of the swamp that had lots of trees.
"Uh..." Stearic said, shifting around uncomfortably. I looked him right in the eye, waiting for his answer. Stearic ran a hand through his hair.
"I really wish you hadn't gone there," He began, grinning evilly at me. Chills ran down my spine. Stearic was a liar, and I never should have trusted him!
"I need you... here!" He says as he shoves me roughly, making me stumble backwards. I looked down just in time to see Stearic had shoved me into a snare trap! The rope tightly wrapped around my right foot, yanking me into the air. I screamed as I flew into the air, upside down. I was at least six to seven feet in the air. I flailed my arms in fury. I suddenly caught a handful of Stearic's short hair! I yanked it as hard as I could, making him stumbled underneath me.
"Ow! Get off!" Stearic ordered as he grabbed the knife-which I had stupidly given him-and sliced my wrist, forcing me to let go. I shrieked in pain, but lashed out at him with my other hand. I scratched his face, making him wince and stumble out of my reach.
"I really wish I didn't have to do this, Aspen," Stearic said as he looked up at me. Blood slowly dripped down his face from where I had scratched him. I must have scratched him pretty good!
"You traitor!" I hiss, still trying to get at him. Stearic sighed, but kept his devilish smile. Suddenly, Zeke, Yopa, District 4 boy, and the District 3 girl emerged from the bushes.
"It's about time you got her," District 4 said. I wrinkled my eyebrows, I am REALLY confused right now.
"Oh shut it, Clutch," District 3 said.
"Hmmm, you were right. She doesn't look very threatening," Yopa grinned at me.
"Eh, I wouldn't say that. Look at his face," Zeke laughed, "he got scratched by a girl!"
While they're laughing it up, I try to loosen the rope around my ankle. No luck.
"Wasn't easy to get her here. I had to keep sneaking out while she slept to make the trap, she was like glue! She almost figured out that I was trying to trap her, too," Stearic remarked, wiping the scratches with his sleeve.
"So can I join the alliance now?" Stearic asked, looking at the group. Zeke stepped in front, looking at me. I glared at Stearic. He had used me to get into their stupid alliance? Really?!
"Well, you did catch her, like we agreed. Fine," Zeke said with a chuckle.
"So, Aspen, isn't it?" Yopa said as she walked toward me. "How do you want to die?"
Everyone laughed, including Stearic. I glared at them all. I could feel all the blood rushing to my head!
"I say we tie her up and drown her," District 3 said.
"No, Clartia, that would be too... simple," Zeke said as he eyes me down.
"We could rip her limbs off one by one," Clutch suggested. Zeke shook his head.
Suddenly, an eerie sonic scream boomed through the entire arena! Everyone, including myself, covered their ears at the blood-curdling cry. The scream was so loud that I could barely hear the alliance yelling at each other. I looked to Zeke, who was yelling so loud that veins were throbbing in his neck, but his voice was so drowned out by the scream that it sounded like a whisper.
"WHAT IS THAT?!" Zeke "whispered". Everyone looked terrified! I was sure that I would be deaf in about five minutes, but the scream suddenly stopped. I slowly took my hands away from my ears, looking in every direction. It was a weird, helpless feeling because I was trapped upside-down. I could be a pinata to whatever it was! The alliance draws their weapons, looking around to find to what was making a noise. It's like they completely forgot about me, which gives me a chance to escape. But that chance is very slim. Then the screaming starts again and the alliance starts panicking. I struggle to loosen the knot on my ankle, which I know is already bruised. I try to forget about the relenting screech echoing through the air, but that is very hard as I feel my ears might bleed. I still struggle at the knot when the screaming stops. Everything is silent, the alliance is looking everywhere for what caused. Then Zeke, who is trying to look overly intimidating, speaks up.
"What the-" But then the screaming starts again. I ignore the instinct to cover my ears, and keep at the knot. I suddenly stop when I felt warm breath on the back of my neck. I instantly got goosebumps as I break out in a cold sweat. I slowly look behind me. I let out a blood-curdling scream at what I saw.
Hooday! So... who hates Stearic? ME! X) I updated cuz I wanted to and... thank you to everyone who followed, faved, and reviewed! I'll try to update soon but probably not tomorrow, I have soccer. But it might get cancelled if it's too cold. So... please review and tell me what you think, buh-bye!
