Title: Tigers Come At Night
Theme: 39: Fear
Words: 250
Summary: Night's always been hard on him.
oOo
Night's always been hard on him.
On them.
The nightmares come out then. Demons ringed in shiny halos with her voice, her face, her body. They tear at him, urging him to fight back, to kill the disgusting mutt that destroyed the woman he loved - loves. During the day he can fight them, hide from them, slay them. But during the night, he can't.
They sneak up on him. Pouncing on him to tear at his throat with razor-like teeth.
He screams.
Lashing out with one arm, he connects with the mutt, sending it spinning away. Another rises to take its place.
He fights with every ounce of his being. He knows they're not real. But it doesn't stop his heart from racing, his breath from coming out in frantic pants.
From far away, he hears something familiar. Something calming. Comforting.
It's a song. Their song. The Valley Song.
The words call to him. Guiding him back to reality and to her.
To Katniss.
The real Katniss. Not the muttation that the Capitol hijacked into his brain. But the scarred and broken woman who he's pledged to share his life with.
He opens his eyes and sees her staring down at him, concern etched across her features. He reaches up and traces the faint line of scars peeking out from her nightgown.
They're real.
She's real.
The nightmare howls once more before dissipating finally in shiny golden fragments.
"I love you," she whispers when the shaking stops.
"I know."
oOo
Written: 5/3/15
Written as part of the everlarkedalways Always Real Countdown to Mockingjay on tumblr. Week One is Drabbles. And for my drabble I chose the prompt of: Everlark using timeless movie quotes. E.g. "I'll be back." The quote I used was "I love you." "I know." from "The Empire Strikes Back" because Star Wars is awesome.