I hear sniggering first. I stir slightly and I sense something close to my face, their breath light over my face.
"Annie," the voice whispers softly. "Wake up. We've got a surprise for you!"
I cough slightly, turning onto my stomach. It hurts to move. I look up. It's Onyx.
"What's the surprise?" I groan; my voice is husky. I slowly sit up. I feel sick.
"Annie! Please!"
That voice. I haven't heard it in a while. It's childish but masculine. It's familiar but distant. It's right but it is wrong, so wrong.
My swooning head turns and I see Jasper. I scramble back slightly, petrified of his drawn and muddy face. His eyes are black and bruised and his lip is cut. He kneels on the ground, weak from the clear beating they gave him. He's the scared little boy that got Reaped, not the tough guy who shouted at me, or the guy who seemed brave during the interviews. He's just a boy forced to fight.
"We killed his little bitch," Cordo smirks.
I look around shakily. There is a pool of blood, so fresh that it is still spreading, almost like her heart was still beating. I look back to Jasper, who is shaking equally as much as me. A knife is thrown on the ground, the metallic clang echoing in the cave.
"Go on, Annie," smirks Onyx.
"Come on, Annie!" Elara squeals.
"You can do it," says Cordo.
Their words circle in my ears on a never ending loop of malevolence. All I can do is stare at the boy, into his trembling eyes. I swallow hard and take the knife, slowly standing. I hear him gasp slightly. Everything goes silent apart from the sound of a fast heart beat. It could be mine. It could be his. I'm sure it's his. As I get closer to him, my steps small and weak, it grows louder. I raise the blade above my head. He gasps. I can almost see his life flash before his eyes: A boy, an orphan, hunger, friendship, Sayla. I angle the steel knife, positioning it to collide with his small fragile heart.
And I drop the blade, the sound of the heart beat disappearing instantly as the metallic clang resonates in the cave.
"I can't," I mutter, stepping away from the boy and pressing my back firmly on the stone cold wall.
"What?!" Onyx says surprised, glaring at me. His eyes are almost black.
"I can't," I say slightly louder, my eyes glancing to the boy who is looking at the floor.
"For fuck's sake, Annie, just kill him! Kill the fucking runt! This is what you've trained for!" Onyx growls at me. My jaw trembles slightly as I look into Onyx's eyes, my breathing fast and erratic. He grimaces slightly. "Fine. If you're going to be a fucking whining bitch… "
He turns from me, pushing my shoulder. I slump to the floor again, right next to my backpack. My eyes stay locked on Jasper. I hear slight movement from Onyx; a scraping noise. The other two just stand there. I swallow hard.
And everything is slow motion. Onyx stands next to the boy, his sword in hand and ready. A beastly growl as he swings his arm, the boys' eyes gaping into mine. One swipe, that's all it took, to knock the boy's head from his body. Blood spurts out from his neck, droplets landing on my face, spraying me with its warmness. A few drops land in my mouth. A thud as his head hits the rock, rolling to the sides. His decapitated body falls to the ground, a pool of crimson liquid forming around the open neck. His eyes still roll around in his sockets. I can hear his heart beat; it's like a canon. And as his canon goes off, the ground starts to shake. The rocks move, eating at his still warm body, his head swirling around as the earth consumes him. The rubble fills his mouth, pulling his lifeless body down into the ground. The last thing I see is his scared eyes being gauged out and popped by the jagged rocks.
I stand up, shakily, backpack in hand, my eyes fixed on the point where his head was. I glance to monsters for one last time. Tears start to stream down my face as my body shakes, guttural noises escaping my throat. I turn and run. I sprint and fly away from the beasts, clutching onto my lifeline, my backpack.
I hear them coming for me. And hissings. I run faster to get away. But the hissing gets louder, more intense. It's closer. It's coming for me, whatever it is.
"Annie! We're hungry!"
I dare not turn around. I don't want to see what is behind me. I keep on into the darkness, sticking to the straight path. The noise of their paws gets louder. I reach around for the backpack and delve my hand in, trying not to look behind me. I feel for the torch and turn it on. I find a small cavern and dive in, the thin crevice walls scraping against my cheek. I wail in pain, biting my lip to contain my moan. I quickly turn the light off as I hear their thuds grow louder, grow closer. I hold my breath as they stop, not too far from my cave.
"Where did she go?" hisses one of the beasts, slightly feminine in pitch.
"She can't have gone far," the leader of the pack says softly.
"Let's try and get her," says another.
"No! Let her die on her own. She can't survive long. That pack barely had any useful stuff in it. And if she's still alive, then I'll kill her," groans the leader.
The others hiss in agreement and they ran off back in the direction they came, their steps echoing. I cover my ears as I breathe deep. I scramble up in the tight constricting space. Wait. What did they say? I reach for my pack and look in. I have medicine, an anti-venom injection, that pack of 20 hydro-tablets, the goggles, a fire-starting kit, my two knives and a tin of soup. No! The son of a bitch took my food! All the things I had been saving up, just gone! I cover my head with my arms, pulling at my hair. I cry silently. No noise is able to come out, nor any tears.
I taste his blood for the first time and the contents from my stomach erupt out of my mouth, until I can't vomit any more, until only my stomach acid comes up. I crawl back and stare at the mass of liquid in the dark light, hugging my legs to my chest. It is the only thing I can do. I can't feel anything. I am numb and broken.
And it all comes rushing to me: Trinity's fleshy remains on her pedestal, the Bloodbath, the girl from 10 and her exposed intestines, how the blood dribbled from her mouth, how the blood trickled out of the District 8 boy as his body was lifted from our trap, and how the blood dribbled from the boy's mouth.
The screams. That's the worse. I can block the images by staring. But the screams still ring in my ears. High pitched and petrifying. I cover my ears to block it out. It's real. They're here with me. They want me to suffer for standing by and letting the beasts do what they did to them.
"I'm sorry!" I scream.
And it disappears. The only thing I can hear now is the sound of my heart beat. I clutch tight onto the rucksack and curl up, wanting to desperately sleep. I reach for my grandmother's necklace and play with it, sniffing at the cold pearl. If they find me, they can kill me without me knowing. That will be the sweetest death I could wish for. And right now, death is what I want.