Five faces peer down from the sky, but only one draws my full attention. Engle Arons' sneer is wide, revealing his trademark metal lined teeth and his eyes are as cold as steel. Why couldn't he just die already?
I tear my gaze away to search the other faces, afraid to see that Ronen's was not among them. The only other one truly visible is mine. I'm smirking and there is a spark of recklessness in my eyes, like I was prepared to do anything. Was that really me? Had I really become the very thing I never wanted to be? The answer was there, staring me in the eyes, daring me to do whatever it takes to live.
Hearing someone approach from behind, I readjust my grip on my bleeding cut and push off from the tree. I stumble down a short incline; the lights from above fracturing on the ground before me and making me feel disoriented. My pursuer is close behind me now and I can only pray that it isn't Engle. Ronen I don't believe can actually hurt me now. Clayton I know is someone I can take even when I am injured.
My foot catches on a tangle of vines and I pitch forward, throwing my arms out to catch my fall. The ground beneath my hands gives way, once solid earth turning into suffocating dirt clouds. My momentum carries me further and I skid along the dirt, bumping down a steep drop that had been previously hidden. Something thick digs in along my side, burying into my open wound as I pass.
A scream forces its way out, but I am quickly cut off when my back hits a protruding rock and I am airborne. I land facing the drop I just fell from, my vision blurry from the clouds of dust I left behind. A figure stands at the top. Twin swords glimmer at the figure's side and I see them step down onto the dirt hill, skidding gradually towards me. I look up to the sky where the four faces were just beginning to dissolve and find Ronen's immediately. Relief washes over me and then I see Clayton, hearing again the approaching figure with the twin swords.
Gasping, I try to recover, to move, but whatever found its way into my side is still there. Tilting my head around I see a rotting mass of branches and leaves pressing into my open wound. I grit my teeth, taking hold of the largest branch and lift it away with a majority of the leaves. The mass comes slowly, the pain nearly unbearable until I am about to pass out. I hear my screams, gargled and distant as if I am separated from my body.
At last I remove the branch, the leaves dripping black in the night and reflecting the light of the moon. I could smell it too, my blood thick and sweet, causing me to gag. Tossing it to the side, I struggle to my feet and run blindly ahead. I double over, watching the dirt hill turn into a cracking river bed.
"You can't run forever, Price!"
My gasps are heavy and the night deepens, but I know that it has nothing to do with the gamemakers. I am losing more blood than I could afford and soon Clayton would be able to catch up with me. He was right. I couldn't run forever…And I wasn't going to.
Almost of their own accord, my feet stop and my shoulders sag. I turn around to face him and I hear his rapid pace slow. Looking up I see Clayton come just a few feet closer until we were separated only by the width of the dry riverbed. Sweat beads along his brow and his chest heaves, but he was still whole, still strong. I'm shaking, dying and it was all because of him. No. This wasn't Clayton or even Engle Arons. This was the faux President Snow.
No one speaks and Clayton takes a step forward. I sigh and look up to dark blue sky scattered with stars and a bulbous moon. I had failed. Failed to protect my brother, failed to survive, and failed to stay the same person they had kidnapped. Snow had won.
I laugh, a bubble of hysteria breaking from my lips. My eyes remain directed above, but I hear Clayton falter and I let my gaze fall.
We stare at each other and I let my hands leave my side, exposing the deep cut to a cold wind. I open my arms out and look him directly in the eye.
"Do it." I gasp, trembling to remain standing. "What are you waiting for, Clayton? Get it done and go die in a hole."
He raises a pale eyebrow and glares, crossing both swords towards my chest. The icy metal presses into my skin and I shiver, anticipating the bite of steel in my heart. I wonder what it feels like. If I would even feel the pain as I die. Remembering the expression I saw on the girl who had fallen on my sword, I knew that yes, it would be very painful. Maybe it would be better that way. Maybe it would make up for the damage I had caused to others in the arena or the promise I couldn't keep for Justin.
Clayton leans in, his breath coming out in shaky spurts.
"I'll see you in hell, Price."
The statement brings me back to my conversation with Ronen. Tilting my head to the side, I study him briefly and then slowly smile.
"Didn't you know Clayton?" my voice is just above a whisper. "We are in hell."
It's as if the world had gone deaf and time had slowed down. I watch Clayton pull back his arms, his face twisting as he releases a strangled cry. Taking a breath, I let it slowly fall past my lips and take another. The muscles in his arms bulge when he thrusts his swords forward, sparks flying as they slide together. I am tempted to close my eyes, but I am not about to give him the satisfaction. I lock eyes with him, watching my reflection in their glassy surface.
A light twittering rises up from between our feet, breaking the silence I had allowed to engulf me. Metal rings near my ear and I flinch back despite myself. The swords are crossed over my neck, reminding me of scissors about to clamp shut.
Clayton pants just a few inches from my face and then looks down in confusion. I follow his gaze and stare at the puddle of blood that had collected between us. The last of it sinks down into a crack of the dry riverbed which begins to shift unnaturally. I realize what is happening before the little blue bird pops out from the ground, but it is too late.
Clayton scowls and crunches down on the bird, grinding it into the dirt. All that's left is its silver beak, but I can hear the faint call of its companions. They vibrate the earth, faint at first, but gradually growing stronger. It is apparent that Clayton doesn't understand it.
"Don't." I whisper.
His blades bite into my skin as he shifts his stance.
"Don't cry for the bird, Price." he spits, not noticing the two other birds popping out. "It makes you look pathetic."
"You don't understand…They're dangerous."
I want to back away, fearing what was about to happen next. If I don't run and leave the boundaries of the river bed then there would be two canon blasts to follow. Clayton slides his blades along my neck as a warning when I try to leave. Maybe it was for the best though. I was too weak already and I would never have made it to the edge.
"Never would have thought you would be afraid of chickadees, Price." he sneers.
Three more pop out and Clayton stomps on another, still not realizing the gravity of the situation.
"Clayton, listen to me." I gasp, panicking now as the ground began to shake with a small earthquake. "Justin and I encountered them earlier. They're not normal! They will tear us apart if we don't-"
They come all at once, rising from the crack as a navy cloud and forcing us apart. I don't have a chance to scream, the birds swirling around me in a storm of feathers and silver beaks. My hair blows around my face and I gasp, their movements keeping me from collapsing.
Clayton screams once in front of me and I squint through the hoard, trying to find him. He screams again and I see his body flailing, bloodied and shredded from the bird's attacks. They pluck at him, tearing his clothes apart and slowly lifting him in the air. A cyclone of birds form and he is drawn into their depths, his screaming becoming louder and more drawn out.
"Help me! HELP ME!"
I can no longer see him and then a scream so distorted that it is almost inhuman breaks out from the blood thirsty birds. It grates on my ears and fills me with pure terror until I teeter on the edge of insanity.
"Clayton!"
"PRICE!"
The scream is cut short and as quickly as they came, the birds needle their way back into the dirt. Their wings whip against my face, the force of the wind pushing me back several steps. Their retreat is swift and the silence they leave behind his deafening. I fall to my knees, as two solid thumps announce the landing of Clayton's swords. Either tears or blood streams down my face, but I don't care.
I tangle my hands in my hair, barely aware of a gradual burning in my lungs. Only when I am about to pass out do I realize that I have been holding my breath. I let out my contained breath and take in several strangled gasps, trying to slow my rapid heartbeat. This wasn't happening. This didn't really happen.
A canon blast echoes out above me and I fall back in surprise, landing solidly on my backside. My head snaps up and I search the sky, looking for Clayton's body which I could only assume was plummeting towards the ground. There is nothing there, nothing but the picture of his tribute profile. His body had been completely consumed.
My chest feels like it is going to split in two and I lie back on the edge of the dry river bed. An aching sob breaks from me, rattling my frame and I am unable to hold back my cries. I was alone. The last of the captured and I was about to die.
"Let this end." I beg, knowing that they would be listening. "Let this end, let this end…This is what you wanted, isn't it?! To kill me? To watch me die? So what are you waiting for? Let! Me! Die!"
There is no answer and my sobs subside into hiccups. The darkness eating at my vision grows stronger and my heartbeat falters as I draw in ragged breaths. It would end soon. It would have to end and at least Engle wasn't here. If only Ronen was though.
Clouds gather above me and in the distance I hear thunder rolling like crumpling tin. The clouds swirl in tight knots, appearing as if out of nowhere and pin pointing a location somewhere towards the cornucopia. Lightning flashes and the thunder roars directly above me now. Soon I feel the first raindrops hit my face and I close my eyes, letting them wash over me. Their pattering slowly increases and a tingling sensation spreads from wherever they hit me.
My mouth falls open and I catch the cool water, swallowing against a dry throat. I gasp when the rain falls harder and I feel the burning in my side fade. My heartbeat grows stronger and my head clears. I open my eyes, filling my lungs and turning onto my elbow, pushing up from the ground. Water streams down my face and I look down to my side. The open wound left by Engle's knife was slowly healing, new skin forming into a knotted scar.
I turn my face into the deluge, taking in another mouthful of water. They didn't want me to die. Not yet. Not until I face Engle. I knew without a doubt we were meant to be the final battle which also meant that Ronen would need to be killed before the end.
"EMMA!"
Looking down at the sound of someone calling, I see Ronen darting towards me from the forest. I don't think. I run, jumping over the river bed and closing the distance between us. We collide, neither one of us bothering to slow down our pace. For a moment we are a tangle of arms and hair, our heartbeats drumming against each other's chests.
"I thought it was you." He sucks in a harried breath. "When I heard the canon…I thought it was you."
"Ronen-"
His lips crash down on mine, cutting me off. A warm sensation blooms in my stomach, building into my chest and reaching to our joined lips. My breath comes short and he trails a hand along my neck into my matted hair, my skin tingling under his touch. The games are shoved to the back of my mind and I press myself to his chest, instinct calling me to draw closer. A hollow pit left behind by Justin's death roars with an intense fire. Not the kind that calls for revenge, but the kind that sets my pulse racing. The kind that makes me feel like I can do anything even beat Engle and Snow.
Only when we are both starved for oxygen do we break apart. Ronen rests his forehead against mine and we stare at each other at a loss for words. His breath steams and I smell his scent, both fresh and heavy all at once. I cup my hand over his neck and his eyes grow darker, becoming almost hungry.
"Why?" I finally say.
"Because I can't die without you knowing." he says.
"How—how long?"
"Always."
Ronen kisses me again, deeper this time, but shorter. When he pulls back his gaze his urgent and he slips a dagger in my hand.
"You have to run, Emma." he says as thunders rolls above us. "I know what he is planning. Engle is coming for you and he will eat you alive."
Something from the tone of his voice tells me that he wasn't talking in the metaphorical sense.
"I'll try to hold him off…But it won't be for long."
"Come with me."
"I can't."
Grabbing my arm, Ronen propels me towards the forest before I can protest and I fall into the familiar act of running. My stride turns towards the cornucopia and the games return to the forefront of my mind. I stop at the edge of the trees and turn to watch Ronen's back disappear in the opposite woods. My fingers graze my lips as if to make sure they were still mine and then I run.