Disclaimer: I own nothing :D
Chapter Twenty: Surprises
I had no idea what to expect. In all honesty, I was hoping for some sort of portal out of this hellhole, but I doubted that would be the case. Knowing the Capitol, they were going to draw this out for as much as they could. Although, it seemed as though this year they were looking for more of a blood bath anyways.
I couldn't help but think of every possible dilemma that this could spell out. One of those being that this could be a complete and utter trap set up by the Capitol, especially for me since I had tried to break the code. Perhaps, it wasn't meant to be cracked. I pushed that thought from my head and thought back to brighter options: food, weapons, anything of the sort. The more I thought of it, the more convinced I was that I sounded like a complete animal or caveman, therefore, I let it be and continued without thinking of the possibilities.
"There better be light or something soon otherwise I'm not staying," Lani whispered as the tunnel became darker and darker.
"One who waits shall be rewarded," I reminded, mostly muttering to myself more than the other two.
"Or gets eaten alive by a blood-thirsty muttation," Capri added.
This comment was obscure enough for me to stop in the dark and shoot a glance back toward her, even though I knew it was pitch black.
"Or not…" I ventured, glaring at the darkness where I thought her to be.
Lani had ran straight into me and swore under her breath at me before pushing me forward.
"I'm only kidding…but still.., " She trailed off as I kept pushing forward through the darkness.
I shook the thought of a vicious monster appearing from my head and continued until finally, the darkness was beginning to break up. Thanks to Capri, I couldn't help but think this would be the perfect opportunity for a muttation to pop out and serve dinner to the pack. Nevertheless, the spotting of light was indeed a good sign. Before we knew it, the darkness had completely vanished and we were standing in an open, space with holes in the ceiling, light spilling down upon us.
"A nice change in scenery," I commented, looking around at the room with tall ceilings and enough light to call…"home-y".
"For a cave," Lani scoffed, stepping in front of me as she looked around.
We all stood in silence for several moments, trying to make the best of the situation as we examined where we were. At a certain point in time, I thought this had all been for nothing, the code, the walk in the dark…everything, but it was a long while later that Capri seemed to spot something new.
"Hey, what's through there?" Capri declared walking toward a small opening in the wall.
Both Lani and I followed to see what she was referring to, when we arrived I saw that the opening was just large enough for a person to crawl through. Now, whether or not it was the cleanest of openings…I hadn't the slightest, but it may have been a clue for us to continue forward.
However, my companions didn't seem to feel the same way as I got down on my hands and knees to crawl through. I felt Capri pull on my backpack, preventing me from going on.
"Are you mad?" She hollered and I was baffled to say the least.
"You just asked what was through here! You found this and since we've come this far don't you think-"
"It looks like a death trap!" She shot back before I laughed and shook my head. This was rather quite funny and I couldn't help but explode at her ignorance, something I usually did not do.
"This whole game is a death trap! Sorry to break it to you, but from the moment your name was pulled from that bowl you've been in a death trap, sweetheart! At any moment, the ceiling could crash, an arrow could shoot toward us, or we could pass over dead for no reason at all, but that's just the type of Game we're playing; that's the deal of the cards! If you want to stay here, fine, but this very well could be the best thing we've seen this whole Game and good or bad I want to find out where this goes!"
I felt rather bad after having said all of this. The outburst was a little unnecessary, but I was getting a little irritable about their complaining and moping about anyways. Sure, I needed accomplices, but not if they were going to hold me back.
Without looking for a reaction, I continued to slide myself through the narrow passageway and I knew I was not alone for several seconds later I heard both Lani and Capri on my back once again. They were speaking to one another and I presumed they would not be mentioning me again for awhile. Perhaps, I had just made two enemies…but I couldn't let the thought devour me.
After what seemed like hours of crawling sometimes on our knees and sometimes on our stomachs, we finally reached what appeared to be a courtyard. I furrowed my brow at the sight of this and wiped the sweat from my forehead from all the crawling and lack of fresh air. Slowly and carefully, I came to the edge of the little passageway and pulled myself down to a ledge that stood over the courtyard. Strange…a blossoming courtyard in the middle of bloody, terrible Hunger Games.
Was this the prize?
….Or the punishment?
I climbed down the ledge, looking back to assist both Lani and Capri, who were actually speaking to me again. Before approaching the large fountain in the middle, I bit down hard on my lip and grabbed the pen from my backpack.
"What're you doing?" Lani finally asked, watching me carefully.
I looked back to her," Checking for something…."
I clicked the pen a couple of times before looking down the pathway, lined with statues and other pieces of decoration that looked nice from the outside, but I knew that there had to be something far more sinister behind them. Clicking the pen one last time, I reared back and tossed the pen down the stone pathway. I felt both Lani and Capri's criticizing eyes upon me, but my suspicions had been correct for as the pen traveled through the air, spears shot out across the pathway. Just as the pen fell at the end, the brick it landed upon exploded, sending flames and a plume of smoke into the air.
My eyes looked back to Lani and Capri, who were searching for the right words to say.
"Good idea, Savera," Capri finally mustered as I smirked at her.
"Why is the exploding brick necessary?" Lani asked, scratching her head. "I mean, if anyone survived the spears, I'd be impressed…"
I laughed the first genuine laugh I had in a long time at this. Capri laughed along before finally Lani laughed as well. I had forgotten how good it felt to actually laugh about something…to actually be enjoying a moment. After the laughter had ceased, we all looked at each other as if that were the best thing that had ever happened and honestly, it probably was. All of the hunger, thirst, and fatigue we had been feeling didn't seem to matter for that brief moment.
That moment, unfortunately, ended far too soon as we started down the pathway. I didn't put much past the Capitol, but I was fairly certain we had run through their protection on this part of the maze. At the end of the pathway, stood a lovely fountain with flowing water that had a strange glow to it. When we arrived at the end and stared into the sparkling water, Lani asked another question.
"Is this…a little too good to be true..?" She asked, furrowing her brows as she looked at me.
I stared into the water before pulling my backpack off my shoulder once again and pulling out my water bottle. It had worked for us before and I didn't doubt that it would once again.
"Why don't you try it?" I asked, pushing the bottle toward her.
She jumped back nearly a foot," No thank you."
I smirked again before bending over the pool of the fountain and scooping up a bottle full of water, watching as the strange glow seemed to vanish. Slightly paranoid, I dumped a little of the water onto the ground beside me and watched…no sizzling, catching on fire…nothing. It appeared normal and in all honesty, at this point, my thirst was so great that even if it killed me, I needed something to drink.
To the displeasure of both Lani and Capri, I took a drink of the water, swallowed and felt the best I had for the whole week.
They both stared at me, unblinking.
"What?" I asked innocently. "I see it as something to take advantage of ladies."
Slowly, Lani stepped toward me and grabbed the bottle from me before taking a long gulp. Capri was the last to cooperate, but finally after some convincing…she was drinking the water, as well.
We set up camp in the courtyard, finding some of the most comfortable sleeping areas we had in all the time at the Games. Just before we were to retire for the evening, we heard the fountain begin to run. When we had been there before, not all of it had been turning water…strange that it had started now.
I had second watch of the night, therefore, I went to sleep without arguing as Lani assured me that it would be alright.
"I'll keep an eye on the place!"
Sleep was restless, as it usually was, and as Lani awoke me to take over the shift for the evening, I shrieked at her touch. I do not remember the dream I had been having, but none of them were ever very pleasant during the Games. After we were past the initial scare and I realized where I was safe from harm, I woke myself up and began to walk around the courtyard.
To my surprise, the fountain was still running out of control. I found this to be…odd, but there didn't seem to be any threat of the water running over and it had seemed safe enough when we drank it. Perhaps, I had been stupid to ignore such a fact, but I think my fatigue played a part in this.
As I sat awake, I thought of many things. I thought of my brothers…especially Titus and how he would have fared had this arena been his arena. He was rather clever too, but I remembered that he was always more of a fighter when it came to strategy. I knew I couldn't keep thinking of him for long because it truly would drive me to insanity, but every once in awhile he popped into my thoughts.
Morning must have been coming upon us quickly for sunlight was spilling in through the holes in the ceiling, only a bit though.
I had returned to my perch above where Lani and Capri had chosen to sleep, on the soft, grassy ground not too far from the fountain.
I tried keeping myself awake with almost anything I could, but I seemed to be losing the fight as my eyes seemed to be shutting without my command. I knew that I had to awake Lani and Capri and keep us on a schedule…we couldn't stay in this little haven forever whether we liked it or not…the maze would have to become a reality again soon.
I tried a little bit of everything…jumping up and down, sit ups, and even hitting myself once or twice. I should have known that I was not going to win when I was nearly drooling during my push ups. Push ups were the last thing I remember doing before my eyes finally shut and I was dreaming once more…
I was standing in some sort of a control room.
There were men and women in white sitting at computer screens all around me, but none of them were acknowledging me. In fact, I was invisible to them.
Still, I carefully maneuvered around them until the large screen was in my view. Behind me, the Head Gamemaker was standing, crying all sorts of orders and commands.
"Get them out of there!" He called, staring intently at the screen.
My eyes shifted to the screen he was so intently set on. I cocked my head to the side as I recognized the three laying in the beautiful courtyard. Instantly recognizing myself and the other two, I looked over as the older Head Gamemaker stormed over to a younger Gentleman whom I had met once before. Off the top of my head…I could not remember his name, but his striking blue eyes were blank as he stared at the screen.
"Seneca…I said…get them out of there," He growled in the young man's ear.
I walked closer to the two of them, feeling terrified that I was being targeted, but strangely…I hadn't a desire to try and stop the situation. It was almost as though I was watching from behind a glass wall with little or no say as to how any of this would work.
Seneca Crane.
The man that had saved me before.
His hand was hovering over a glowing portion of the screen below him. He narrowed his eyes as he set them on the screen in front of him.
"Press it, Seneca…" The Head Gamemaker growled.
Without another moment, Seneca's hand came down on the button and on the screen to our right, I saw the peaceful image we had been watching burst into flames, just as my pen had done before.
No one could see me or hear me as I felt the pain of death rush over my body, the intense burns or scorching that I felt as the screams escaped from my lips. I was just another victim in their Games.
I awoke thrashing once again. Immediately, once I had realized it was all a dream, I gathered my things and saw that morning was well upon us by now. I knew that it all had been a figment of my imagination, but I couldn't help but have a sinking feeling about this place. I couldn't help but think there really was a reason that we shouldn't be here.
"Lani, Capri," I said loud and clear, as it was a challenge to wake them up at times.
I began blabbering about how we needed to move on, assuming that they were hearing all of my words as I brushed my fingers through my knotted hair before tying it sloppily into a bun atop of my head. I kept on informing them of different information and even began to tell them of my dream, when I realized there were no responses coming from the two of them.
Finding this odd, I looked down to where they had been sleeping and found that a thin layer of the water was all over the courtyard. The once beautiful courtyard had been transformed into a swamp. A nasty smell was coming from the waters below, as well. I found this to be extremely odd, but…I still thought the both of them were merely…sleeping.
As I came closer to the water, I could have sworn I heard a buzz and the glow had returned, stronger than before. I nearly stepped in the water, but a closer look at the substance allowed to me to deduce what had happened as I had carelessly fallen asleep. Both of them appeared to be deep in slumber…
"Lani…? Capri…?" I cried out, this time simply out of desperation.
There was no response.
This time, simply to prove my suspicions, I grabbed a leaf from a tree nearby on the elevated garden where I had chosen to keep watch, and dropped it into the swampy waters below. I watched as the leaf fell gracefully before landing atop of the water, sitting for a moment before literally sizzling.
Lani and Capri wouldn't have stood a chance…
A/N: Any thoughts? Concerns? Let me know! Thanks for reading!
Oh and on a different note, if anyone reading has any ideas for a story cover for this story on the new image manager thing, please let me know! I'm awful at editing pictures and such, but there may be some sort of a reward if someone wishes to give it a try :D
