I was at the beach for three weeks sorry i havent writen. and i have a camp starting tomorrow and then ill be back within computer range for three days then back to the ebach again so sorry about all the delays :( i hope you guys still love me :P
Chapter 23
Black
The sun was peaking over the cornucopia, visible in the distance when it was six. The holograms flashed and disappeared and it was like nothing had happened earlier, but Cato and me were wrecked. We both lay a couple yards away, shaking from fear. For the first time in ages I could see Cato, a broken boy, crying and drawing his knees to his chest. He almost looked like the teenager he actually was.
When the holograms disappeared, I let out a gasp, not knowing I had been holding my breath. I laid in the stillness for a long time, trying to get my heart rate down and stop the tears, but they just kept coming. Finally, I let my walls down and let out a soul ripping, psychologically wrecked scream that reverberated through the arena. There was no physical damage, but my mind was forever scarred.
Cato and I laid quivering for a good hour until Finnick, Mags, and Johanna came running from the cornucopia, searching for us frantically. When they saw us, they all were shell shocked for a moment. Mags reached down and picked me up, surprisingly strong for a woman of her age, and carried me back to the cornucopia, covering me in blankets. I cried myself to sleep and dreamt about all the horrible things I had just seen.
I kept telling myself
they're not real
they're not real
they're not real
but they were. You cant unlove your greatest love, you cant unlive your greatest moment, and you cant unsee your greatest fears.
When I woke up out of a nightmarish haze, i found the cornucopia empty and eerily quiet. I blinked my eyes at the opening at the cornucopia and realized it was dark. I pushed back the sleeping bag, now drenched with sweat. I took a shaky breath and looked around me.
The walls in the cornucopia looked like a big mouth, swallowing you whole. They stretched above me, barely shinning in the faint moonlight. I was lying on top of some boxes, filled with who knows what. My blanket had fallen to the ground beneath me. Next to me was a glass of water, untouched and what I assumed to be meant for me.
I drank it in a couple gulps and slid down from the boxes, quivering on my legs before continuing to walk. Cato's sleeping bag was just as empty as mine was now. I reached down and picked up the bag, realizing it was no longer warm from body heat. Cato had been gone for a while.
I decided to take a peak outside to see if that's here everyone had gone. I drug my swollen feet to the opening of the cornucopia and paused, leaning against the metal enclosure.
Out in front of me was an empty beach, waves lapping the shore and moonlight beaming off the water. I slid down the side of the cornucopia, glancing over the water and enjoying the peace for a moment. For what seemed like minutes but in reality was hours, I watched the waves, inching forward and receeding back.
"Tributes-" a voice boomed. I jumped, clutching at my chest instinctively where my heart was now beating faster. "We are here to announce the lost ones in the events of this day-" I let my head drop back so I could see the sky. Across the fake stars flashed images of tributes from six, seven, and twelve. Probably more, but I wasn't sure. In total, eight had died that day. I placed my palm on the ground when silence returned and stood up, taking one last glance at the water and just coming barely out of the mouth of the cornucopia.
And then there was a flash of movement, the sound of my own screaming, a hand over my mouth, and a knife to my throat. "Don't move-" Gloss grimaced, nicking the skin of my neck with the blade. "Wouldn't want to kill little baby clove, now would you?" a dark hand trailed down and patted my belly followed by the hiss of someone shhhhing me. Another hand covered my nose and I blacked out.
i know it kind of sucked sorry guys im a little rusty