12
The boy from District 5 dies before he even has chance to remove the spear from Robbie's stomach. My knife goes deep within his throat; he halves his life by removing the blade, making the blood flow furiously down his body he drowns in his own blood.
I look around panic stricken while asking Robbie "Are there more of them?" He has to say no a few times before his voice can be heard. Robbie has rolled onto his side, his body curls around the spear which is lodge deep inside his body. I shove Jareth's body away from him and use one of my other knives to cut Robbie free from the net.
It takes one look at the wound to realise its severity, there's no point in trying to comfort him, he knows the truth in the matter he's no fool. He reaches out his hand and I take it, our fingers become entwined. His skin is already starting to turn cold in my grasp. "You have to win, Jade" he chokes.
Tears begin to fall uncontrollably from my eyes, and for the first time in this competition, the people of Panem will see me as a vulnerable child something I didn't ever want anyone to see. I nod "I'll try to, Robbie. For both of us" I say. It didn't matter that Robbie had taken the side of the careers in the beginning of the games; he was still my best friend.
I hear a cannon, I look up. I know it's for Jareth. Robbie's grip on my hand tightens "Jade, don't leave me"
"I won't I'm staying right here. I promise" I lean forward pulling his head on to my lap. His skin is cold, but beads of sweat are surfacing on his face.
"Sing" he says, but his voice is so quiet I barely catch it. Sing? I think. Sing what? I know of so many song's that Robbie likes, my head starts to swim with lyrics and melodies. My voice is hoarse from crying, but if this is Robbie's last request, then I will comply. I give a small cough to clear my throat and then I begin.
There's no one in town I know
You gave us some place to go.
I never said thank you for that.
I thought I might get one more chance.
What would you think of me now?
So lucky, so strong, so proud?
I never said thank you for that.
Now I'll never have a chance.
Robbie's eyes have fluttered shut, his chest moves slightly with his slow breathing. My throat tightens but I have to keep singing for him.
May angels lead you in.
Hear you me my friends.
On sleepless roads the sleepless go.
May angels lead you in.
And if you were with me tonight,
I'd sing to you just one more time.
A song for a heart so big,
god wouldn't let it live.
May angels lead you in.
Hear you me my friends.
On sleepless roads the sleepless go.
May angels lead you in.
May angels lead you in.
The air is still and quiet, and then the mockingjays pick up my song, it's an eerie sound that carries out through the arena. Robbie's cannon fires, I look down at him, his face is pale all the colour has been drained from him. I watch as my tears fall onto his face. They'll want me to clear out now, so they can collect the bodies, but I can't find it in myself to leave him.
But I do yank my knife from the throat of Jareth, some of his blood transfers onto my hands, and I feel some spurt onto my face as the blade slips from his throat.
I also retrieve his pack along with Robbie's; I know that he would want me to have it. I leave the spear in his body, any weapons left with a dead tribute will be taken out of the games, the sooner that spear has gone, the better. My eyes flick back down to Robbie, he looks so young laid here, so childlike.
I know he is past harm but he looks totally defenceless. And to hate the boy from 5, who also seems so defenceless and a lot smaller than before, well that would be pointless. The real people to hate are the residents of capitol for making us do this in the first place. It's Robbie's death that has made me realise the full cruelty of these games. But how can I take revenge on the capitol?
And then I remember Cat's word on the roof. They don't care about us, and they never will.
And then I think of something that I can do right here and now, Cat's right, the capitol don't care, but the Districts and the tributes do. And I am going to show them that, we are people with feelings, all of us are, and that they are destroying the lives of children, Jareth's, Robbie's, mine, Cat's, all of the tributes.
I take a few steps into the woods and I find plants flowers of blues and greens. I walk back with my hands full, I lay them around Robbie as a sign of respect, like you would at a funeral. I cover his wound. I know they will have to show this, and even if they don't show it now. They will have to bring the cameras back when they collect the bodies, and then they will see it and know I did it.
I take one last look at Robbie, I feel proud at what I have done. This could be my last chance to say goodbye to him, he deserves something like this.
"Bye Rob" I whisper, I bend down and kiss his forehead. I stand and turn to the cameras I raise my left hand and place my three middle fingers to my lips and hold them out into his direction, in District 12 it means, thanks, it means admiration, it means goodbye to someone you love.
I walk away without looking back. I wipe the blood from my face with the back of my hand, it smudges across my mouth. I rub my hands on my trouser legs getting rid of all evidence of Jareth's blood.
The birds fall silent and then a mockingjay gives the warning whistle. I look straight ahead, it doesn't take long for the birds to pick up their usual songs, and then I know that he's gone. Another mockingjay, a young one blast out Cat's four note tune, and I know she's still okay. I pass under a branch slowly, and carry on in the direction I was headed before I found Robbie. I need to find Cat, I need to see her,I need to have her here, and I need that familiar sense of home that I only get when I'm with her.
I'm not scared as I walk; I'm not even looking out for any sign of movement, at this moment in time I would have no problem killing someone. My hatred for the capitol hasn't made me hate my competitors less. Especially the careers, I am actually finding myself anticipating running into them. They can pay for Robbie's death one by one.
There aren't many of us left in this arena now. Only seven of us, which means soon the game makers, will be finding ways to get us to come face to face. But with all the gore of today, they will be satisfied; they may even let us get some rest.
I am not walking much longer before I find Cat; I see a flash of her red hair high up in a tree then I notice her back is facing me. I sing out the four note tune she had made up. She hears its proximity and turns her head to face me. She scuttles down and meets me on the floor; she swings her arms around me. I can smell the leaves on her; she rests her head on my shoulder for a short amount of time.
"I thought you were dead" she admits, her tone soft and quiet, her lips are inches away from my ear. I shake my head, and a whimper slips through my lips. She pulls away "What's wrong?" she asks, panic fills her eyes. "Who did the cannons fire for?" she ask, the same sense of panic fills her voice.
"Robbie" I say, sobs slip past my lips as I say his name.
"And?" she asks.
"The boy from 5" I inform her, she pulls me into another hug, her arms wrapped tightly around me, I weave my arms around her waist pulling her closer towards me. Her body is warm, and now she is in my arms again, I don't want to let her go, I can't lose someone else I care about.
The sun is setting lower in the sky, Cat and I lay down under a tree, Cat is laid on her back looking up at the leaves. I am laid on my back, but my head is facing towards her. She sniffs up, and screws up her nose "What's that smell?" she asks
I sniff up and look around us "I don't know" I admit. I lift up my pack, and the smell is emitting strongly from it. I open it up and the smell spews out into the air. The smell takes my breath away, and I can hear Cat gagging slightly. I remove the fish from my pack; it had started to fester in the heat. She looks down at it and laughs.
"Can I ask why you're carrying around mouldy fish?" she asks, in a joking manner.
"I guess it wasn't a well thought out plan, I caught this fish this morning and never ate it… What a waste" I say, slinging the two fish to one side. I watch as they skim through the air and then flop to the ground with a splat.
"At least you tried" she says with a small shrug, I glance at her and then look down. I hadn't eaten all day because I was waiting for her to show up and then when she does, the food is no good. "What's in the other packs?" she asks, looking down at my newly found supplies.
"I'm not sure, I haven't checked" I admit, looking around. I open Robbie's pack first, my fingers trembling as I unzip it. It holds a nearly empty water skin, another pair of the glasses- which I gladly hand over to Cat- some nut's and fruit, a sling shot and some meat-at least we won't be going hungry. Jareth's pack has a few knives, two spear heads, a flash light a full bottle of water and some dried fruit. Some dried fruit. Out of all the things he could have got he goes for this.
To me that was the height of arrogance, but why bother carrying food when you have the full cornucopia back home? I just hope that the others are this ill equipped, and that they must now hunt.
The calm night air is disturbed by another cannon firing in the distance. The bird lets out its single note and then stops. Another body has been removed from the arena.
Cat and I finish the meat from Robbie's pack, we eat some of the dried fruit but save the nuts from Robbie's pack for tomorrow, we both know that no matter what tomorrow brings, we have to hunt. The sky is now dark and the air is cold, I can see my breath in front of me as Cat and I are talking. She sits with her knees pulled up to her chest with her jacket pulled down over her legs.
I look up into the sky, just as the seal of Panem flashes through the sky, the anthem blares out and the faces of the tributes that died today shine out into the black night sky. They start by showing Jareth's face, I begin to think about what my action have caused, there is a family broken because of me, people in District 5 will be crying, he may have had a girlfriend, who thought that he would be coming home, and I took that from him… From them.
The next face that is shown is the boy from 11. And then my heart sinks as Robbie's face is shining out over the arena, and I forget all about killing the boy from 5. I can only begin to imagine the way the careers are acting about Robbie's death. I feel my body tense up, and then I feel a small hand lay it's self on top of mine. I turn my head to see Cat facing me. "Come on" she says her voice softer than ever "We need to get some sleep"
She helps me gather all of the packs together, and then we scale the tree; we throw all of the packs to the bottom of the sleeping bag before climbing in our selves. Cat traces the lines on my hand with her finger tips; she makes slow circles on my palm. This has always been calming to me, this mixed with the fact that Cat is around, is helping me to feel more secure in this place, I feel less secluded when Cat's around, I always have. With her near me, I feel home, I feel like I am back in the warmth of my house in District 12.
It's strange for me to feel so dependent on another person, I have never had this problem, since my dad walked out on us, I haven't needed anyone or at least that's what I told myself. But now that Cat's here, I don't want her to leave; I don't want to be left alone again. I feel my eyes struggling to remain open; I look at Cat for a while, her eyes are closed but I can see movement inside them, and I know she is still awake; I take a hold of her hand stopping her from tickling my palm. I fall asleep holding onto her hand. I fall asleep feeling safe and grounded.
A/N: I hope you like this chapter, I hated making Jade upset and vulnerable in this chapter but it had to be done… The lyrics are from the song 'Hear you me' by Jimmy eat world. Please read and review it means a lot to me I appreciate all comments and opinions (good or bad)
P.S; Chapters will be published later now (most likely once a week since I have got my first assignment at college)