Disclaimer: All of the characters in this story belong to the Hunger Games!
I turn around and open the door, so fast I hear the air go whoosh. As I step outside, I can hear Katniss, "Clove, wait-," but her voice is cut off by the door slamming shut behind me. I can feel the adrenaline coursing through my blood and I need to move. I need to find him. I need to find him.
But where is he?
Think Clove, think. Where would he possibly be?
Then it clicks.
My feet are running before I've even processed where I'm going. Down the hallway, my feet slap against the floor. Left, right, left, right, my feet thump against the grey carpet.
Turning left around the fork in the hallway, I'm back at room 40. My room. The room with the hatch in the floor that opens into the sky. The room where I almost died.
But I didn't.
Outside of the room is a drink cart, and I feel my suspicion growing. This can't be good.
Then I see it. On the edge of the drink cart is a medium sized retractable knife that looks like it has bits of onion on the blade. Wiping the onions off, I press the blade into its safety cover and jamb the knife into my pocket. Whatever happens, at least I'm prepared. Right?
Turning towards the door, I press my ear against the cool metal and hold my breath.
Nothing.
I pull my key out of my pocket and jamb it into the lock. Jiggling the key around and turning it to the left to unlock the door, I turn the handle and the door clicks open. Quietly I step into the room and the door slams behind me.
It's completely dark inside, and as soon as I take a couple steps forward, I feel disorientated. No light from the hallway is shining in from under the door, and I can't find the door handle. Shit.
"Hello? Who's in here?" I call, trying to hide the fear in my voice. Nothing follows but silence.
Silence. I move forward again, and trip over something on the floor. Catching myself, I hear something coming from somewhere close.
Breathing.
Someone or something is breathing.
The sound is close. Getting closer.
"Hello?" I call again, the fear in my voice is very evident. Nothing could hide my panic. The breathing is getting closer to me. So close, I feel like I could almost touch the sound of the breathing. My breath catches in my throat as the sound envelopes me.
Suddenly, I feel something hit me square in the back of the head. Pain erupts in my skull as I sink to the floor. My eyes start to flutter, and the pain washes over my body, as I feel my eyes close.
When I wake up, the throbbing in my head is dreadfully intense. My eyes are blurry, and it takes me a while to focus. Spots of white dot the edges of my vision, and my body feels cold and heavy.
What's happening?
What's going on?
Turning onto my sides, I realize I'm still lying on the floor. I try to move my arms, but I feel resistance. Looking over, I notice duct tape securing my wrists together, and binding them around the leg of a chair. Shit.
Looking up at the chair, I notice two shoes and a pair of legs. Someone is slumped in the chair that my wrists are bound to. How did this happen? My mind is groggy, and suddenly all I want to do is sleep. Why are the lights on? Why is it so bright?
Why are you thinking about lights, Clove?
Clove?
Clove?
Clove?
"Clove?" a muffled voice whispers. I realize that the voice in my head was actually calling my name, and I'm snapped back to reality. Craning my head around, I look up at the person sitting in the chair. Except that the person isn't sitting freely, they are bound to the chair. And the person is also Cato.
"Cato? What's, what's happening? What's going on, what…" I trail off when the edges of my vision cloud over. My head throbs, and I crumple back onto the floor. I've never felt this helpless before.
"Clove, listen to me. We don't have a lot of time, but I can explain later. We need to get out of here before the hatch is opened up," Cato says quietly. His words scare me into paying attention. The hatch? Someone's going to open the hatch?
"What do you mean the hatch?" I sound scared and all I want to do is be brave right now. Although being brave is kinda hard when your duct taped to a chair with a throbbing headache and the idea that you could die if you don't get out of the duct tape. So maybe brave isn't the adjective of the moment.
"I'll explain everything later but we have to get out of the room before we get sucked out into the sky," I can hear the worry in Cato's voice but I have not idea how he expects us to get out of our restraints.
Pain erupts in my skull as I turn to look up at Cato and I can't help but shriek. "Ah oh god, ah that hurt," white and black circles block my vision, and the room starts to spin out of focus.
"Clove? Clove!" Cato's voice sounds muted and far away, like he's standing in a tunnel. His face teeters out of my vision and I feel like my head is about to explode.
I close my eyes until the dizziness stops, and wait until the pain dissipates.
Cato is looking down at me, and the worry is clearly etched across his face. Clearing my throat, I meet his eyes, this time without pain.
"I have a knife in my back pocket, but I can't reach it," I whisper holding his gaze. At least I did something right.
"A knife, how did you manage to get a hold of a knife? And how did you clear security with – " I cut Cato off before he can continue. "I took it from the beverage cart outside of the room, and its in the left pocket of my jeans," I whisper quietly, making sure nobody can hear us.
I pull myself closer to the chair, where Cato's feet are resting. He seems to get the idea, and kicks his shoes off. Carefully, Cato knocks the knife out of my pocket, so it's resting on my back.
"Here, I'll pick it up with my feet and put it where your hands are," he whispers, manoeuvring his feet to grab the blade. I feel him lift it off my back, and soon the blade falls right beside my hands.
Carefully, I twist my wrists around and grab the knife. With the push of a button, the blade pops out of the protective case, exposing the sharp edge.
My wrists are straining against my restraints as I push the knife against the duct tape. It takes a bit of work, but soon I've separated myself from the chair. Another few slices and my wrists are free.
As I get to my feet, the whole room starts to spin. Flashes of light dance in front of my eyes, and the same sharp pain spews through my head. I don't notice that I'm falling, but rather that the floor is growing closer to me. My impact with the floor sends shock waves of pain through my body, and I feel the knife slip from between my fingers. Cato's voice reverberates in my head, but the pain makes it hard to focus on him. As another wave of pain washes over me, I begin to hear the sound of metal scraping together. The last time I heard that sound, the hatch opened up and swallowed the furniture in my room. And nearly me along with it.
Suddenly it clicks together, and I realize the severity of the situation. The hatch is about to be opened up and Cato is still bound to the chair that I'm lying beside on the floor.
My vision is too blurry to see clearly, so I feel around on the floor for the knife. My fingers flit over the handle, and I grab it tightly. With my other hand, I reach for the chair, using the sides to pull me up onto my knees. I have to pause quickly when the pain increases, but I push past it as best as I can. Faintly, I can make out Cato's hands, and I reach for the silver duct tape wrapped around his wrists. Swiftly, I pull the blade across the tape, freeing Cato from his restraints. Another wave of pain washes over me, and I crumple to the floor again, helpless.
As the room spins around me, a gust of air rushes up from the floor. Tilting my head to the left, I can see the dark sky from the gap between the opening hatch and the floor. Before my mind can even wander to the thought of being sucked out of the plane, I feel my weight being lifted off of the cold floor, draped in a pair of strong arms. I clutch the knife to my chest as we leave the room, as everything fades away into darkness.
A/N: Chapter 8! Tell me what you think in the reviews :) ~Kat
