Bloodlust and Love: The 31st Hunger Games

by samoht

In order to prove a point, Tomas, an unlikely volunteer from District Two steps forward as tribute. However, his decision quickly turns to regret as he realises just how much is at stake. It's not the home he's left behind, that will fuel Tomas' will to win; but more who he has left behind, and what she means to him. Rated T for violence.

9. The Gift

I wake up. My face hurts. I have a huge welt where the boy from 8 had kicked my cheek. It is midday. I slowly climb out of the sleeping bag. If Plato or any other tribute had been here then they didn't see me. I was just a crumpled sleeping bag in the corner of the cornucopia. Silent and still. I've slept for many hours. I Slowly drag my body out of the entrance. No ones in site. All is quiet except for the birds and the insects. I manage to find a canteen. It's half full of water. I drink a few mouthfuls. I just lie in the midday sun for hours. No one comes charging at me across the field. And if they did I would embrace death. I will never be the same again. My mind is broken and as a result, so is my body. Every second of the day, there is a noise in my head. A high pitch screaming voice. Its subtle, but it never goes away.

I realise that I have been lying in the huge pool of Cass' dried blood. I make no effort to move. When I feel my skin burning from the sun I drag myself back into the cornucopia. I lie in the entrance. I drift in and out of sleep. At some point it must have started raining because I hear the pitter-patter of raindrops above me. When I open my eyes next the sun is setting.

If I am to die here, let it descend upon me now. Waiting to die is frustrating. The screaming in my head makes it worse. I am tempted to slit my own throat but even that requires effort, which I just don't have.

I hear something hit the dirt next to my right ear. My eyes are closed and I don't open them for half an hour. When I do open them I let my head fall to my right. I stare at the silver parachute inches from my nose. This is my first parachute. Slade, my mentor has had no reason to give me gifts. I've been well fed and relatively safe up until now. What could he possibly have sent to mend a broken soul? Whatever it is, it won't help. I've already decided to die.

The sun is almost gone. I notice the box connected to the parachute. It's tiny. What on earth could it be? I do not want to die in a state of curiosity. I grasp the box in both hands and open it. Inside the box sits a ring. Shiny silver with a large green crystal on top. I have seen this ring before. As the last dying rays of the sun shine down on the ring, the crystal radiates with a green so intense I need to look away. I have seen this ring before. My body is flooded with a feeling matched by no other. Love.

I grasp Aliss' ring close to me. I made a promise, and I'm not going to break it.