Hanging upside down from a tree isn't as enjoyable as you might think. I've been strung up with knots tied by hands almost as skillful as Kesella's. I have been abandoned by my captures. Well, almost, because they have left me with a guard, the best guard I could have really because there is no chance of him letting someone else pass by and take my life. Yes, he's perfect.
Alix sits with his back pressed against the foot of the tree. We exchange words occasionally but mostly he just dozes in the muggy night air. Axe removed, the damage is mostly superficial but he still exhales painfully each time he moves.
I'm itching to rub the antibacterial cream in my bag into the cuts but they took it off me, along with everything else. So I just swing absent mindedly from my tree and await their return.
The blood is pushing painfully against my skull and my eyes are swimming when I hear the laughter. So they are back and they are happy about something. That can't be good.
"Hello friends." drawls the girl from 1.
"Imagine how worthless they must think we are, giving her the highest score when she can't even get herself out of a tree." it's the boy from 2. The others laugh.
The boy from one steps up. He is huge, so tall that his face is easily level with my own as he stands under the tree. He looks at me with such disgust that I fear I may have grown an extra head during my stay in the tree. I can make out every pore on his skin as he says:
"How tragic it is. The little girl so loved by the Capitol and so hated by everyone else. A 13 in training? Yeah, right." I feel his spit hit my face.
I can almost hear Testa's voice muttering 'I told you so.' out of the dark. The boy takes a step back, a cruel smile growing on his lips and I hear a muffled struggle in the undergrowth behind him.
"We have a little surprise for you, but of course you know all about surprises." he winks and steps to the side, revealing the scene his body previously hid from view.
The boy from two and girl from one drag a lifeless body between them. They drop it heavily to the ground at the boy from 1's feet and back off into the shadows, laughing in anticipation.
I crane my neck trying to see what's going on. I needn't have bothered however, because the boy from 1 spits to one side before reaching down and dragging the body brutally upwards by the hair, so that its face is level with my own.
"Kesella." I whisper, tremors of grief ripping through my body.
He just hangs there. His eyes are slightly open but they are glassy and emotionless. A huge slash runs along his forehead and onto his cheek and his blood tumbles into his open mouth. His dark hair is drenched in sweat but I can feel his shallow breath tickle my lips. He is alive, but for how much longer?
"Kesella." I say, with more anger now. "What did you do you him?" I struggle vehemently with my bonds. "Let me down! What's the matter anyway? You aren't scared of the little girl from 4, are you?"
I know I've struck a nerve. The boy from 1's face contorts into a mask of animalistic rage. I've seen this expression before, on the reaping tapes. The boy from 1, Octavian Gleam, yes and the girl is his sister. He draws a wickedly curved scythe from his back and slashes the rope from which I hang so that I am sent tumbling head first to the dirt.
There is a brief feeling of weightlessness before I smack into the ground. Excruciating pain spreads through my body like a burning heat and I feel a sharp crack run down my spine. That's when the first blow lands. The butt of the scythe smacks into my temple and sets the world spinning. The next attack comes as a cut down the middle of my exposed stomach. The girl from 1, Avia I think her name is, backs away chuckling and i'm sure I hear her brother congratulate her.
Hit after hit finds it's mark until I am screaming, my battered body unable to take any more damage. My own sounds of distress mingle with Alix's, screaming for mercy upon me. Then comes the least expected sound of all.
"Stop." it's slurred but it has force behind it regardless.
Everyone drops their weapons in shock and rounds on the speaker. I just lie staring at the sky and enjoying the break from the thrashing I was receiving. My skin prickles with sweat and pain and my hands are slick with my own, warm blood.
"Why are you doing this to her?"
My ears prick. The speaker is Kesella. Shouldn't he dead? Or at least incapacitated? I now understand why the Careers were so interested to hear him speak.
"Welcome back pretty boy." snarls Jak, the boy from 2.
"Let her go."
"You can't touch her in here with all of these cameras going 4. Why protect her?" spits Avia.
Laughter bounces off the trees. What is Kesella doing? I should be more confused, more concerned, more grateful but all I can think is please keep them busy Kes, let me die in peace.
The laughs die out, all but one. Kesella's mirthless sound rings in to the night, making everyone a little uncomfortable. I manage to push myself onto my elbows to watch the exchange, ignoring the fact that every sinew of my body is screaming for clemency.
Kesella stands shakily to one side, his feet set wide apart in a confrontational sort of stance. He spits a huge mouthful of his own blood to the dirt before he speaks again, gruesome, unmasked smile lighting up his bruised face.
"I thought the careers were meant to be the best, the smartest. But I guess you all fell for it? I would never touch her, at least not like that. It was a ploy, for sponsors. How do you think he is still alive?" he gesticulates loosely in the direction of Alix.
So I was right then. He has been tracking us. That's how he found the water at the Cornucopia; it was he who poisoned me. I stare on as he blocks a punch from Jak who shrinks back behind Octavian at his defeat. It's all too clear who the leader of this pack is.
"If you care so much about her." mutters Octavian darkly, "Then who are we to deny you a front row seat?"
Kesella hasn't even noticed Avia and Jak circling behind him. I want to cry in warning but it appears my vocal cords have been broken along with everything else. They seize their opportunity and drag him by his arms to the tree, imprisoning him there alongside Alix, who has tears in his eyes.
I hear them both struggle and argue amongst themselves but all I can focus on is the footsteps of the careers approaching my body. They heft their weapons.
"So you haven't had enough then?" chuckles Jak, kicking my arm so that I flop painfully back to the ground.
"Shame." mutters Avia.
They both turn to Octavian for confirmation and I screw my eyes shut, tears already forming at the thought of what is to come. Smack after slice lands on my body and I fall into a shadowy world of fear and pain. Confusion meets me at every turn. I hear hundreds of voices scream, argue and laugh but they all tangle into a web of horror. The smell of blood stings my nostrils but I am unsure if it's my own or someone else's. Who's really on my side? Who should I trust? My eyes black out but I can still hear the jumble of sounds from around me, still feel the agony.
Then it just stops. Everything. The noise, the images, the pain and I am left alone in the darkness for a long time. I feel nothing. No relief, no fear. Nothing. I just lie in the dirt.