CHAPTER 3.15
'The walls cry out.
'Cause they're bleeding again.
Darkness descends.
In a mind that won't mend.'
Pain surged through her body as she sprinted through the dense trees of the forest. Sunlight trickled through the thick branches, not enough for her to feel safe but enough to cast taunting shadows on the uneven ground. Sounds echoed all around her, confusing her, disorientating her.
Was she running towards them or away from them?
The edges of the forest warped and twisted, the path ever changing. It was impossible to tell where she was going and where she had been.
Nothing made sense.
Her head pounded as the screams of her victims reverberated around her skull. Panic began settling in as the chances of escaping became slimmer with the sunlight dimming.
She was trapped.
Branches tore at her pale skin and the twigs she stamped on ripped the bare soles of her feet. The monster was gaining on her. She could hear its ragged breathing behind her. A sob threatened to bubble up from her chest as the demon's footsteps sounded quicker. Willing her feet to move faster than they already were, she looked around frantically for anything that could help her escape or defend herself.
There was nothing.
She was alone and defenceless.
She was weak and vulnerable.
All her courage, all her strength, all her bravery crumbled down as her body began to slow. Her lungs worked frantically to inhale enough oxygen but it was to no avail; her muscles seized up and her body started jogging. Hopelessness pressed down on her and she was struggling to avoid being crushed by it.
You have to keep going, she chided herself.
Snarling sounds came from behind her and to the sides of her. Dark figures loomed ominously through the trees.
Time was running out.
The forest began fading, replaced by a terrifyingly familiar evil; she lived her life in the darkness, yet she still feared it. It had become her companion but her worst nightmare. Forcing herself forward, she refused to give in to the monsters that hunted her.
She would not give up.
Freedom had to be close.
Lost in her frantic desire to escape, she didn't notice the rock until she went tumbling over it. Groaning as her body made contact with the damp ground, she was unable to do anything other than lay there in pain. Three figures stalked towards her from each direction. Lip trembling, she watched as the shadowy forms merged until one. The combined monster loomed over her. A gasp burst past her dry, cracked lips as the face of the creature came into focus.
"Not easy to accept the truth, is it?" Indiana smirked, a gesture full of malice.
The monster she had been attempting to outrun was... herself?
Shuffling into a sitting position, she stared up at the creature in horror. The creature of her nightmares had been herself all along. She was the monster that had terrified her. Instead of the usual blue, her eyes were soulless and full of evil. A vortex of menace that sucked you in until you were paralysed from fear.
"You've spent so long running from yourself that you outran the truth – the thing you fear the most will always be you."
Clenching her eyes shut, Indiana tried to drown out the words of the beast before her. However, that was impossible to do when the beast was voicing the thoughts running through her own head.
No, Indiana thought, it's not real. It's just another failed attempt from Snow to hurt me.
Except she wasn't entirely sure this attempt was failing. However, she wouldn't speak of what she knew. Soon enough, Snow would get frustrated and the pain would stop. Burying her head in her knees, Indiana reminded herself over and over again that it wasn't real. Nothing could hurt her anymore.
"You have to face yourself at some point," a masculine voice pointed out.
Relief washed over her upon hearing the voice of her best friend. Pulling herself together, Indiana felt more confident. She could get through any nightmare so long as her best friend was at her side. Upon looking at him, she realised that this wasn't the Marvel that usually comforted her when the pain got too much.
Marvel's skin was shades of blue and purple, bloated and rotten. His eyes had lost all colour and chunks of his hair had fallen out. A gaping wound showed the space where his heart should've been. His clothes were soiled and bloody. Marvel Kentwell was a living corpse.
"I'm dead because of you. I entered those Games so that you would finally love me back. Your ignorance cost me my life." Marvel spat venomously.
Shaking her head, Indiana scrambled away from the nightmare, tears streaming down her cheeks as the memory of her best friend became replaced with this horror.
"I'm dead because you were in a hurry to get back to that monster you're engaged to and you forgot all about me."
"That's not true," she whimpered weakly. "You ran off. I was too late."
"No." Marvel hissed. "You wanted me gone. You wanted me out of the picture so you could move on. You didn't even avenge me."
"That's not true-."
"-And then you killed my parents. Everything you touch dies. You're destructive."
Mr and Mrs Kentwell emerged from the trees. Blood dripped down their faces and their hands were clasped from their last attempt at providing some comfort to their partner – their final display of love preserved for all eternity. Gagging, Indiana's stomach turned violently after noticing that she was able to see straight through their skulls to the trees behind them.
Turning away from the horrific sight, there was no reprieve from the dead as Glimmer's own mangled body peeled itself away from the shadows – slashed throat glinting in the moonlight. Staring at the girl with dead eyes, the four bodies watched as the memories of their deaths tormented her.
Spinning on her heel, she attempted to run but Mutt Indiana blocked her way, malicious smile still plastered on her pink lips. Ensuring the damaged girl was rooted in her place, both versions of Indiana Summers watched as the bodies of her parents joined the sadistic party. Embedded in her father's chest was the axe that had delivered the blow that had killed him. An arrow stuck out from her mother's eye, a shining silver in a sea of red. Collapsing onto the ground, Indiana prayed for Death to take her. Especially when her beloved aunt and uncle manifested out of nowhere.
"Your own father volunteered for the Games so as to avoid watching as you became a disappointment," her mother taunted. "Thankfully, I joined him not long after. Look at you. What mother would be proud of a child like you? You're a murderer who manipulates everyone foolish enough to trust you. You deserve all the pain you feel."
"You've let us down, Indiana. We raised you better than this." Gloss gripped Indiana's arms in his hands, forcing her to stand before him and look him in the eyes. "You're pathetic."
Indiana gasped at the pain. Blood dripped down her arms as the barely healed wounds tore open.
"Fragile," chimed Cashmere.
"Useless."
"Broken."
"Unloved." Cato spat, a huge chunk of his cheek had been eaten away (a reminder of his death from the 74th Hunger Games.)
Yet another person whose death she had been responsible for. If she hadn't been such a burden, he would've won the Games without a doubt.
"Unworthy," he added.
"Stop." Indiana begged, clutching at her chest.
She could physically feel her heart splintering into pieces as the corpses closed in on her. Their words suffocated her just as much as their bodies did and she tried clawing her way to freedom – to safety. Although sobs burst out of her mouth, she kicked her uncle in the gut and was relieved when he dropped his hold on her. Regret filled her as she stared at the body of her uncle, motionless on the ground. The other corpses turned to look at her accusingly.
"You see, Indiana, you can't help yourself. You hurt people; you're a monster. You were born a monster and you'll die a monster."
Unable to take it anymore, Indiana sprinted away from the ghastly figures and the monstrous version of herself (the true version of herself?). She tried once more to escape the Hell she found herself in. But, what if there was no escape? Perhaps she had bled out in that dark cell, all alone, and had truly gone to Hell. Was she doomed to live this nightmare over forever?
Admitting to herself that she deserved this, she stopped running. After all, you can never outrun yourself. As the edges of the world began closing in and the darkness enveloped her, Indiana opened her mouth and screamed.
Suddenly, motionless limbs began convulsing dangerously. Hurrying their movements, the team of medics dashed frantically around the room as they rushed to save young woman trapped in the lifeless body.
Blood was still pouring from her wounds and the stitches that had taken hours to do were rapidly pulling apart as the girl thrashed violently. She was fighting demons that no one else could see.
In a corner of the room, the heart monitor started beeping rapidly. Pinning her to the table to prevent her from hurting herself or someone else, the medics shouted for some stronger sedatives. Her back arched off the table and one leg broke free from the grasp of a medic - that medic paid by having his nose broken by her knee.
Running out of the room, blood pouring from his nose, the medic let the door swing open. Three more entered to take his place – one with a huge syringe in hand. As the door held open for a few moments, Cato was able to get the first glance of his fiancée since the rescue. However, he immediately wished he hadn't.
Just as the door was closing, he heard words that would haunt him forever.
"We're losing her!"
Not even seconds later, the screaming started.
'And the ghosts that never quit.
They don't haunt me as much.
As the words you won't admit.
I'm terrified by,
The monsters inside'
