Chapter 8- Let Go
Hermione
Claire sat down on a rock with a moan. "Lay on the ground. We need to see your wounds and heal them." I told her.
She obeyed as we took out the small first aid kit. "Please tell me there's gauze…" Seamus muttered under his breath as he searched through the small box. "Yes!" He yelled triumphantly as he held up a roll of gauze.
He handed it to me and we lifted up Claire's shirt a bit to reveal her bloody stomach. The wound was only about a centimeter deep, but stretched across her entire stomach, and the blood was pouring out like a fountain. I took piece of my soft jacked and ripped it off to press against the wound and staunch the bleeding.
"Hang in there Claire." Kim told her, as Claire began taking short, shallow, breaths at the pain.
I carefully tried my best to clean out the wound and wrap it with the supplies we had. Once I was done her breathing slowed slightly. "I NEVER want to run into him again. EVER." She gave a shaky laugh, in an attempt to lighten the mood.
Kim suddenly laughed and rolled her eyes and Seamus gave a chuckle. Before I knew it, we were all just laughing until our sides hurt. Obviously for no apparent reason, just to forget for the minute. Laughing made it possible for us to forget the horrors we've already been experiencing and just be happy again…
A shame that it couldn't last forever… Just like Chaff and Haymitch, drinking to forget. It was only temporary. But the temporary moment was one of the sweetest.
"C'mon, we better find another shelter." Claire breathed, shakily standing. Based on where the sun was, the night would fall in a few hours so we had some time.
"Relax Claire, we have time." I said, trying to calm the girl.
She scowled before pushing herself back up again. "This is the ARENA, you never have time to relax. Now I'll say it again, we HAVE to find another shelter." She growled, not about to take another 'relax' for an answer.
We sighed and helped her hobble out of the forest. "So you and Seamus will be okay until we find another shelter to tend to your wounds?" Kim asked, turning my head in her hands to examine the blood dripping down the side of my head onto my neck.
"I'm fine." I pulled myself away as we began our search.
Forty-five minutes later we were settled in a musty old cave, slightly under the ground, forcing us to stoop to enter.
Two days passed, and only one cannon was heard, we later discovered the death was Lucas'. That death was on the night of the first day, and someone was going to happen soon. We could all feel it, the crowd was beginning to get restless, and the gamemakers needed to find a new way to entertain them.
Waiting for whatever to come was agonizing. Knowing it would soon come, but not knowing what was driving us all insane.
Finally, it did.
It came.
We stepped outside on the third morning, ready to move places again. "Where we going to move to now?" Seamus questioned.
"Dunno we'll come across a place." Kim said, as we walked, her bow slung over her shoulder.
As we were walking, we came across another cave, someplace we may be able to use as another shelter. When I peered inside, it was dim and I could see nothing until my eyes adjusted a few seconds later. Once I was finally able to see, my eyes widened in fear and I jumped back from the mouth of the cave, tripping over a rock and falling on my backside.
"What's wrong?" Seamus gasped, helping me up. "What did you see?"
"E-eyes. Lots and LOTS of eyes." I stuttered choking out the words as I kept my eyes glued to the cave. "Beady… red."
Claire had remained silent, but suddenly spoke. "Guys, I think we'd better get moving." She said barely above a whisper.
"What?" Seamus asked. "It can't be that bad." He walked swiftly over to the cave and began to walk in.
"SEAMUS NO!" Kim couldn't help but scream.
It was too late. He walked in and we heard a deafening screech before many cream and black colored birds burst out. The black ones flew into the sky and hovered above us while the cream ones began pecking at us with razor sharp beaks.
When I finally got a good look at the black birds in the sky, I realized what they were.
Jabberjays.
"Hermione! Hermione, help! Please! Merlin, Hermione, hurry!" Ron's voice exploded from a bird as I heard a scream filled with so much pain it was as if it was my own.
"NO!" I screamed, covering my ears with my hands. But the instant I did, the cream birds got the opportunity to peck at my uncovered face.
"Seamus! They're going to kill me! Please!" A pain filled scream in Dean's voice. "Please!" The words began to come out more as sobs as Seamus began covering his ears only to get the same result as me.
"Kim!"
"Mom?" Kim screamed over the other voices of the Jabberjays.
"No!" Claire tried to tell her as another French voice erupted, directed right towards her. "It's not real! They're at home! They're okay!" She tried to scream over the deafening noise of the birds and through the flock of cream-colored feathers flying around us.
"RUN!" I screamed, and we instantly began running away from the noise. We were all squeezing our eyes so tightly they were just mere slits and trying to cover our ears and face at the same time.
Unfortunately, we weren't watching carefully enough and almost tumbled into a huge crack in the earth that was NOT there before. Looking down towards the bottom, sharp spires were facing upwards; ready to impale anyone that fell to the bottom.
Kim screamed as a flock of ten birds attacked her while our loved ones' voices were still screaming. She began falling over the cliff, just barely managing to hang onto a root sticking out of the earth, a foot down the side. "Seamus! Get Claire to safety! She can barely run!" I screamed.
He hesitated before I screamed again. "GO!" He grabbed our French friend and began pulling her off away from the crack, only about ten birds of each color following them.
"Hermione!" Kim screamed, looking down at the sharp spikes below.
"Kim! Hold on! Please, I- I know we can make this!" I cried, grabbing onto her arm while the birds still screamed and pecked at us.
"I- I can't." She said, all hope disappearing from her face. "Hermione, I'm not going to make it. Just tell my family that I loved them, an- and just go! I'll be fine, at least it's quick." She finished, a tear dripping down her face.
"Kim, I'm sorry for all I did!" I blurted. "I'm sorry for the things I said that morning! Yelling at you to shoot Alpin, saying the wrong things, just EVERYTHING!" I sobbed, the tears dripping down my face.
She was silent for a moment before smiling. "I've never hated you, I just want you to know that." She said softly. "Now let go."
I just choked on my tears and shook my head back and forth. Her arm began to slip and I sobbed even harder. "Just let go." She whispered before completely slipping from my grasp and falling down into the darkness.
Half of the remaining birds dived down after her, giving me a change to escape. BOOM. The cannon sounded.
I could only sit there and cry before I thought to myself how Kim would want me to survive and escape. I pushed myself to my feet and ran over to where Seamus and Claire went.
"C'mon!" I told them.
"What?" Their faces turned to shock. "But what about Kim?"
I could only shake my head sadly. "She- she's gone. That cannon was… hers." Their eyes widened in shock before we forced ourselves to distance us from the birds, finally escaping the physical and mental pain.
'I hope you're happy.' I thought bitterly to the audience and gamemakers. 'A great girl who still had so much of her life ahead of her is dead now, all because of you.' Angry tears couldn't help but slide down my face again, leaving tracks in my blood and dirt covered face.
Finally we were able to stop and catch our breath when we couldn't hear the birds anymore. "I- I can't believe she's gone." Claire choked out through her heavy pants.
I just hung my head low. I should have been able to save her; I should have done something better.
"It's not your fault Hermione. No one could have saved her." Seamus tried to comfort me.
Ron
The gamemakers attack the biggest group when they need to add some excitement. Unfortunately in this case, that was Hermione's group.
The voices of the Jabberjays burst forth from the cave and began instantly screaming at them as different birds began pecking at them with razor sharp beaks.
My eyes widened when I heard my own voice screaming at Hermione from the mouth of a Jabberjay. How did they get that? They had my voice somehow and were able to covert it into twisted pleas for help that the tributes knew they couldn't deliver.
Kim… Kim was lost. The gamemakers wouldn't stop their attack until someone was dead, and that person was Kim. She fell to her doom in a huge crack in the earth that had appeared, sharp spires impaling her at the bottom.
Hermione
She's gone… She wanted me to, but I feel like I let her down.
Because I let her go.
Author's Note- Thank you all for your wonderful reviews! I'm glad to know you are all enjoying and I encourage you to ask any questions you have if you need!
I'm going to answer some questions and reply to reviews now, thanks!
Obsessivegirl73 and AlwaysHasAPlan- Thank you for saying how much you liked it; it always encourages me to write more when I know people like it.
Arcticmist and clearblueskies- I know you both were saying how Seamus is a halfblood and Ernie is a pureblood, but I wanted to add the two from Hogwarts. So I'm asking you all to just pretend they're muggleborns, kay? Haha, thanks to all my lovely observant people ;)
Oyku- Yes, I will continue AND finish this story. It's so much fun to write and put ideas into it, even if some of them kill me with how sad they are.
That's all right now folks! Thanks for the wonderful reviews! Makes me feel so good and update sooner!
Read and Review with questions and comments!