Authors Note: Hi again! Thanks for reading this far, I know it's been rather slow but this chapter begins to speed things up ready for the action next time! Feel free to post a review or comment, your feedback is always greatly appreciated! If there's anything you'd like to see in the future or I need to change, put it in a review or PM me and I'll be sure to do/incorporate what I can to the story. Thanks for reading! xD
"But Kat-"She swiftly hung up before looking down to Delly's almost unconscious form. "Rough night?" She smirked, making her way over to the coffee maker to brew Madge a steaming cup of pure caffeine. "Don't get me started on it." Delly mumbled into her pillow, turning her face to Katniss and, once noticing the smirk Katniss wore, throwing a pillow in her direction. "At least I'm not some square that won't go out partying. You should've been there!"
"Why, so I could get groped by strangers on a dance floor, drink so much that I not only throw up but permanently damage my liver and then end up having sloppy drunken sex with whatever walked in the front door?" She looked down at Delly; though her gaze softened once she saw the state she was in. Sighing, she went on "Del, you should've called me. You know I'd be there no matter what the time was. How did you get here anyway?"
She brought over the stash of junk food hidden in a pillowcase and put it down beside Delly's bed. "I walked."
"What? When?" Suddenly concerned, she sat down on the edge of her bed and put the back of her hand to Delly's forehead. "It's ok, I was only at Finnick's so it wasn't too far. Took me ten minutes, it was nothin'" She slurred, slowly falling back into a dreamless slumber.
Katniss shook her head, and made her way over to the fresh coffee, taking a cup for herself and placing the other by Delly's bedside along with a glass of water and some aspirin to help with the hangover she was sure she'd have to nurse over the weekend. Making her way over to the window, she sipped her coffee and pulled back the blinds peering outside.
The street was largely deserted, a stray cat occasionally scarpering across the road at breakneck speed considering there was no danger of being run over by a car. It was quiet too, though the silence was occasionally broken by the loud howls of dogs around the neighbourhood before returning to its disconcerting calm.
She dropped the blind, moving back over to her bed and picking up her phone, dialling Gale to make sure he had gotten home safe. "Hey Katnip!" He chirped, seeming rather enthusiastic for someone that she assumed spent most of the night partying and the rest of the morning slumped over a couch. "You're real peppy, what's gotten into you?" She questioned, though she couldn't stop the smile that spread onto her face from her lifelong best friends happy energy. "Not even a hello? Someone's grumpy this morning!" He chuckled. "Nothin' much, I spent the night at Finnick's."
"So I heard, did you see what happened to Delly? She looks completely smashed." Katniss exclaimed, looking back to the slumbering form of her roommate strewn out across her bed. "No, I spent most of the night with Madge." He stated simply, though he failed to keep the smug out of his voice. "How're things with her?" Gale and Madge have been dating for almost a year now, and being the one that set them up Katniss was very pleased with the results, though sometimes a love-sick Gale was the most annoying kind of Gale.
"They're great Katnip, she's just so… amazing." He sighed wistfully, remaining silent for a moment as he gazed up at the sky thinking back to a certain blonde. "Though I'll be able to tell you all about it in person in a minute, I'm coming round!"
"Really? You'd better have-"
"I've got croissants! I stopped over at a Starbucks, it's no biggie Katnip!" He laughed as he ruffled the bag into the receiver. "I'll be round in 20, until we meet again!"
"Adios!" Katniss laughed, throwing her phone off to the side hearing the gentle thud as it fell onto her pillow.
20 minutes to kill. She thought to herself, settling on reading up on her psychology course. Picking up her worn copy of The Paradox of Choice, she began thumbing through the pages at a gentle pace until she heard her roommate stir on the bed beside her. Glancing up from the pages, she chuckled as she saw Delly try to remove her head from the pillow, and ultimately fail. It was then that she noticed that her house mate's skin had taken on a sickeningly pale, discoloured complexion, and the lacerations on her exposed arms became clotted with thick black blood.
She closed her book in alarm, and slowly moved over to Delly's bedside. Upon nearing her, she began to hear guttural groans and grunts as her roommate tried in vain to stand up. "Delly? Are you alright?" The figure stopped moving for a moment, as if processing the whereabouts of the noise, before its head jerked around and her face came into view.
Katniss gasped, covering her mouth with both her hands. The face she saw was not Delly's. Her sunken eyes were so bloodshot they were practically red, her pupils dilated to almost consume her entire iris and the bags below her eyes hung heavily below her lifeless orbs. Her jaw hung open, occasionally twitching every now and again with every involuntary snap of her jaw, chattering her yellowed tinted teeth. Her hands were fixed in a mottled claw-like position, clenching and unclenching with every sudden jerking movement.
Katniss stood there, frozen. Just a moment ago, Delly had been fine. She'd been talking and breathing and… living. Watching the scene in horror, Katniss slowly backed away until her back pressed against the window. The fiend on the bed managed to prop its torso up on its arms, its head snapping to face the shadow obstructing the faint morning glow. It features twisted into a malicious grin, exposing its foul fangs as its murmuring increased tenfold. Crawling over the bed, its arms moved in sudden violent jerking motions as it clawed its way over to the edge, before running out of space and plummeting to the floor, creating a large thud as it slid from the bed.
It would've been comical, hilarious even, had it not been for the fact that the heap on the floor was quickly clambering onto its crooked feet and shambling towards her. Its body was held at an awkward angle, its torso tilted to its left side as its feet faced the opposite direction, one foot in front of the other as it stumbled across the room. Its snarling face twitching in anticipation as it neared the startled girl.
Katniss was snapped out of her introspection as the figure stopped, looked around and snapped its jaws at the air, until its eyes finally came to rest on her features. Seeing this as her opportunity, Katniss lunged forward, shoving the body of her friend away as she rushed to get out of the corner. It seemed to recover much faster than she anticipated, because as she turned to face the apparition, she found herself trapped within the creature's vice-like grip, the sweltering stench of death clinging heavily to her clothes. Resisting the urge to vomit, she brought her knee up into her friend's stomach with such force she lost her own balance as the creature reeled backwards.
"Delly, this isn't funny!" She screeched, desperation dripping from her every move. Delly didn't reply as she lumbered forwards, still attempting to ensnare what used to be her best friend. Katniss squeaked, swerving to the right in a frail attempt at avoiding the incoming charge and ended up having her left arm yanked away, causing her to lose balance and topple to the floor.
Crashing to the floor, she rolled to the side so that she was hovering over Delly, pinning her hands above her head and trying to avoid the jerking jaws of her former roommate. She looked around, trying to find something to tie her up with, when she heard a knock at the door. "Katniss?" Gale asked, alarm evident in his voice. "You've gotta get out here, something crazy is-"
"Not the time Gale, I'm kinda busy at the moment!" she yelped as she doubled her efforts at keeping whatever it was in her room at bay. "I don't care, I'm coming in-" His voice stopped as he witnessed the scene before him. Dropping the now cold bag of croissants, he rushed to Katniss's side.
"Delly?" He inquired. "What the hell is going on, Katniss?" He half-yelled, his voice raising to acclimatise the panic that flooded his veins, adrenaline re-firing after the shock of what he witnessed outside before dashing in to find Katniss.
"I don't know just-help me!" she grunted, her assailant's strength seeming to multiply with each sentence. Gale looked over at the wardrobe seeing a worn leather belt partially hanging out of one of the partially closed draws. Rushing over to it, he whipped the strap out of the draw and set to work tying Delly's hands together. With Katniss's hands now free, she leapt off of the incarnation of her friend and faced Gale. "What's gotten into her?" Katniss shrieked, beginning to pace around the space in her room not occupied by the thrashing body on the floor.
"Katniss, have you looked out the window?" Gale questioned his voice level as if he was trying to restrict the panic rising through his system. "Why? What's out there?"
"I think you'd better take a look." Making her way over to the window, her heart stopped.