The Wings

Burning. That was my world now. There was no light, no happiness, not even darkness. Just a white hot flame of pain coursing through my veins and erasing who I was. There was nothing more absolute. This wasn't survivable. The burning… oh god, the burning wouldn't stop. I was trapped in a prison made of my own flesh and bones, the only escape was death and even that was too merciful.

Agony. Agony. Agony.

My existence seemed to be burning up. I couldn't remember who I was. Who was I? What was I? Where was I?

What did I do to deserve this?

And then, the first real image to break through the flames:

Fraye, from the trials. Her wraith like body stumbling into me. A silver blade as sharp as ice plunging into her little chest. The shocked look of disbelief as she dropped to the ground. And then her body was eaten up by flames, melting the skin off her bones like candle wax, filling the air with the rancid smell of cooked flesh, choking me.

Carla, my roommate, running from a body she had left. Aiming, another knife in my hand. The blade whizzing through the air. The body lands on the floor without a sound. The flames devour another victim.

Lucinda, her face filled with anger and despair all at once. Her reluctance to come for me. Taking advantage of that weakness and embedding my awl in her arm. Slashing at her face with a knife. A spray of blood. Pain as she clawed at my face with her dirty, blood caked fingernails. Blindness. All I see is blood. The haze clears; I lurch for Lucinda's feet and drag her down to the floor. I kick her and kick her and kick her, breaking bones. Her scream echoes in my head. She buries my awl in my stomach. The pain. I accept it. It is a relief. Fire burns my stomach and with one murderous act of rage I leap onto Lucinda's back and bite her shoulder as hard as I could, tearing away the flesh. She runs. She trips. Taking advantage of the vulnerability, I end her. The body goes up in flames.

Paisley, a young sweet girl, her expression turned to one of murderous hate in the heat of the battle. A quick swing of an axe. The dull thump of her head hitting the ground. The fire eats at her skin, leaving a grotesque, macabre smile on her face.

Genie's torturous death. The smile on my face as the light leaves her eyes. The joyous, sickening feeling. The body is claimed by the flames.

Electra, water exploding on her face, momentarily blinding her. My body, fast and as lithe as water, stealing her weapon and stabbing her in the chest. Flinging her away like a discarded toy.

Black Berry's retreating form suddenly brought to the ground by a flick of the wrist. The empty feeling afterwards.

Leone, her blood gushing like a waterfall as I slit her throat. Her body heavy like a sack of coal, falling to the ground. Lifeless.

Cosmo. Pushing my sword deep into his eye and into his skull. Watching as the sweet boy dies, and thinking only of myself. My sponsors. My kills.

And then there is Theo. He is the final part of the movie of my victims. He smiles at me sadly, beating his wings in a soft, rhythmic pattern. He cries blood. He yells out my name in an urgent fashion and yet I cannot move. The bodies create a barrier between us.

It wouldn't have mattered anyway. He reaches into his belt and pulls out a knife, and with that same soft, sad smile he plunges it into his neck. A torrent of blood pours out, staining his clothes. Theo drags the knife all the way through to the other side of his neck, ripping apart tendons and cartilage. The blood never seemed to stop.

First it was at my ankles, then my knees, my waist…

Until I am drowning.

I wake up screaming.

"Calm down! Liv! LIV CALM DOWN!" Theo urges as I thrash and writhe on the floor. I scream for help, not entirely sure why, only knowing I am in danger. I scream and scream and scream until I can scream no more.

Everything is black.

When I wake up properly, my throat feels like sandpaper and my body empty of energy. I struggle to sit up, which takes too much energy than it should have, I see that I am in another bedroom. The fading light from the window indicates that it is dusk. Shaking, I slide out of bed. My legs are too weak to hold me up, and I land painfully on the hard floorboards below me. I gasp, trembling and sweating. I have no idea how long I lay there, in a cramped position. I lay there until the darkness of the night leaked into the room and drained it of anything happy or hopeful. The room became ominous, with menacing shadows. My exhausted mind twisted and warped reality. I sobbed softly to myself as I imagined the shadows were the tributes coming out to get me. I was helpless to stop them. Anyone who came now would have an easy kill. Exhaustion took over, along with the fear.

I woke up when it was sunlight. I tried to check my internal clock, but it was so out of balance I had no idea what time of day it was, not even how many days I had been in the arena. However, in terms of the shadows position in the room it was around midday.

With a little bit more strength than the night before, I reached into a ripped up and discarded pack and found a water bottle. The plastic crumpled in my palm as I squeezed the water into my gullet as fast as I could. Immediately, I felt a change within my body and felt revitalised. It wasn't nearly enough, but I was able to stand up on two shaky feet.

I clambered back onto the bed and took a self-assessment. My knee was completely healed, the venom obviously wasn't poison. My forehead was nearly healed. Physically I was on the mend.

And that was when I realised… I was all alone.

They had left me for dead, and didn't even have the courage to kill me themselves.

Well fuck them! I expected this from Sunshine and Iowan… but Theo? I thought that what we had was different to that… well I don't even know what our relationship was. Sometimes I wanted to kill him, and others I wanted to kiss him. I assumed he felt the same way, had even hinted as much. But perhaps that was just a guise to make me weak and kill me off. Could that be? Could the Theo I thought I knew be actually cold and calculating and ruthless?

If he wasn't dead already, he will be when I get my hands on him.

I strip out of my clothes, already stained with sweat and dirt, and go to the wardrobe in the bedroom. It was obviously a boys bedroom, and with as much strength as I can manage I button up a shirt, before I'm too exhausted to move. I sleep for a few hours before I wake once again, trembling. I drag myself to the bathroom, which was too far from the room than I would have liked. I run myself a bath, and lay in the bath naked while it fills up all around me.

The water fills me with renewed energy and I feel the liquid washing away the aches and pains in my muscles. It feels so good that I drink the water from the tap, knowing it will do me the world of good.

I lay in the hot water for ages, methodically scrubbing the dirt and blood from my body, and taking extra care cleaning my wounds.

I get out feeling a million times better, wrapping myself up in a pink fluffy bathrobe. And with an intense girlish impulse, I take some of the beauty products from the cupboard I take them back into the bedroom. I lather myself up with the moisturiser, the scales on my back softening up and easing my back. My skin starts to illuminate and look like I have been lit from within, and for once it doesn't disgust me, which is a surprise considering I am an eerie, creepy bitch.

In my pack is a roll of gauze, and I roll up my wound from the snake fang, and after a rifle in the cupboards in the kitchen, I pour some alcohol onto it to disinfect it, and prevent infection. I explore the house, and I enter a room which looks like young girls, with clothes strewn about the place and some toys in a corner, a phone on the desk, and pictures of supposedly the owner of the room and her friends. All fake, a massive set up. But I can't help but appreciate how realistic the Gamemakers have made this tiny world, made tiny lives and everything.

After looking through the clothes I come to the conclusion that the girl is a massive whore and only owns slutty outfits. The majority of the items were tight dresses that barely covered up my butt. In disgust I throw them all away, and find some moderately appropriate clothes towards the back of the wardrobe. I dress in similar shorts to the ones I entered in, and a tank top. I return to the boy's bedroom however, and throw on one of his sweatshirts.

The kitchen cupboards were empty except of dog food under the sink, and I wasn't that hungry. I ate a cereal bar from the pack my old allies had so generously left me. Before I knew it, I was exhausted again, and I curled up on the bed to sleep, despite it being only evening. As I dropped off I made a goal to myself, I would spend another day in this house recovering, and leave at nightfall. My old allies knew I was here. They could return to kill me at any moment's notice, and I knew that it wouldn't be a challenge considering the state I was presently in.

I had a pleasant, dreamless sleep.

Until I heard a thundering crash from downstairs.

I immediately sat up in bed, my whole body on edge; I felt my scales emerge in reaction to my fear. A cold hard knot formed in my stomach. I was in no state to fight. I was going to die.

I felt hot and cold all over, and tasted metal in my mouth. My skin and insides crawled and churned with dread as I reached into my pack and brought out a knife, my only knife. Thank god it was sharp. I hid all my pack quickly and quietly, and positioned myself behind the door, ready for my attacker.

My heart thudded and I knew my breathing was loud, too loud. The tribute or mutt would surely hear me. I heard creaks, and knew that they were coming up the stairs. Looking for me. I tightened my grip on my handle, my sweaty hands struggling to find a tight grasp. I knew the cameras would be on me, ready to film my death. The unknown person was on the landing, walking towards this room.

They had stopped right outside this exact room, and that's when I knew that they knew I was here. It was my ex-allies coming back to finish me off, or someone had seen me. They were going to kill me. I took a deep breath. I wasn't going to go down without a fight, it never was my style.

The person slowly started turning the knob, and suddenly I thought my position wasn't the best. If they opened it wide, I would be squished and they would know I was there. Best if I face my attacker face on, maybe my confidence would surprise them and I definitely have the strength to throw a knife and make it find its mark.

I scurry out from behind the door and stand in the middle of the room, knife poised to throw. The door is suddenly thrown open and light from the hallway floods the room, and I throw the knife. It sticks into the wall however, as the person swiftly ducks out of its way, expecting the attack.

I suddenly let out a sob and scramble back, frantically searching for anything that can be used as a weapon. I trip and land on the floor, the figure looming above me threateningly and deadly.

And that is when he unfurls his wings, and my heart breaks inside me. Theodoros Gift has returned to finish me off.

He switches on the light in the bedroom and gives me a look I cannot discern.

I look at him defiantly, but is difficult considering the position I am.

"Well, you're alive." He says flatly, without any emotion.

"And you're here to finish me, I assume?" I say matter of factly. "Get it done with then, bastard." I spit.

At this, he shows actual emotion, and looks so surprised and hurt I'm confused.

"Really Liv? Would you really think I would come and kill you? You're a fucking idiot if you think I would ever ever kill you. You dumbass. You fucking dumbass. I can't even-"

"Hey! Not my fault!" I interrupt in anger, "I wake up alone and then some guy comes crashing in the house and is all quiet and threatening and dodges my knife and I find it was you! What would your first instinct be, you fucking bastard. Added to the fact it's the Hunger Games so the objective is to, you know, kill everyone. So don't use that attitude with me or I'll rip off your dick and feed it to a mutt."

And all of a sudden he was grinning and pulling me up into his arms in a hug.

"Get off me!" I snap, and push him away. He does what I say, but looks confused. I am too, but I know that I am just furious with him. I thought I was going to die, and it was just Theo, playing a prank. Out of impulse I slap him around the face.

"What was that for?!" He asks in anger.

I give him my coldest glare. "Fuck off." I grab my bag from where I had hidden it and storm past him. I easily dislodge the knife from the wall and head back into the girls room. I don't see what I pick up but I pack some spare underwear and clothes.

"Liv! What are you doing?!" Theo asks, following me as I pack up supplies from the medicine cupboard in the bathroom.

"Leaving." I say flatly.

"Why, may I ask?" He says in voice full of disbelief.

"No."

"Have you even thought of as to why you're alive? How you came to this house, with weapons and supplies?" He says, his voice getting desperate as I move down the stairs. I stop when I reach the bottom and look up at him.

"Well do you care to explain?"

Theo sighs and runs a hand through his hair, and I notice for the first time how weary he looks. "I am the one that saved you Liv. It was me! After you passed out from the venom, we tried to hold you down but you were thrashing and your powers were going haywire, the pipes burst in the house and the building became flooded. And you just wouldn't stop screaming. We thought you were dying. After one night, Sunshine didn't want you around anymore. She said because you were dying anyway, we could be merciful and end it. She sung to us, to convince us. I even held the knife above your chest to do it. And then you like whimpered something, it was not a word, it couldn't have been, but I imagined you said 'Theo' and instantly I was out of the trance. Sunshine thought I was totally under her spell and never saw it coming when I killed her. Iowan snapped out of it immediately and was apologising profusely. I taught him a lesson or two, and sent him back to Clio. They won't mess with us, don't worry. Every day since then I've been circling up high, high so I look like a bird, and scouting tributes for when you're better. I've been trying to take care of you, but we've had to move camp like 6 times because you kept exploding all the pipes."

I drop the pack and walk into the kitchen, and sit at the table. Theo joins me.

"See Liv! I haven't been trying to kill you, I've been trying to save you. I knew you wouldn't be taken out by some measly snake venom." He said enthusiastically with a grin.

I study him openly, my mind a turmoil of emotions. Theo killed to save me, Sunshine, who was his friend, and had risked his own life for mine.

"How-why-what!" I stammer, looking at him, searching him.

And then he smiled his boyish smirk and everything was all okay again. "Because that's what besties do!" He said, and then jumped over the table and engulfed me in a hug. A giggle escaped me and I cursed myself, cursed for letting myself know this idiotic boy.

It will be our downfall.

Before I knew it, a stupid fat tear escaped my eye, and then another and another.

Theo pulled away once he felt the wetness drip onto his shirt. "Hey! What you doing that for, silly." He said gently, wiping away my tears with his fingers. He was about to remove his hand, but I placed mine over his until he was cupping my face gently. I give him a sad smile.

"I'm crying because I'm happy." I confess shyly, and he grins. Without another word, he scoops me up in his arms and rushes out of the house. I giggle hysterically.

"Watch this!" He says, his dark eyes glittering with excitement and anticipation.

After a big flap of his wings we were up in the sky, the air rushed up past my face as we soared higher and higher.

I laughed breathlessly, looking down onto the arena. I quickly looked away, and focused on Theo. A smile lingered on his lips as he looked at me. His wings and hair were darker than the night sky, and the stars twinkled behind him.

"Why aren't you looking at the view?" He questions, a curious grin.

"Why Theo, you are the view!" I say mockingly. With that he threw his head back and laughed, and slowly flew us to the ground.

Once he put my down, my legs felt strange and disembodied.

With a smile, we both quickly collected up our packs and travelled for about 20 minutes further into the estate of the arena, until we came to a small house tucked away at the end of the street.

Without a word I got changed into pjs, and settled down in the double bed to sleep. Theo propped himself up next to me to take first watch, his wings folded delicately behind him.

I stroked one of the feathers delicately, and it quivered under my touch. "I don't know why you hate them so much," I whisper, "I think your wings are beautiful."

"Go to sleep, you're drunk." He said, but I heard the smile in his voice.

I fell asleep to the comforting sounds of Theo's breathing, and him running his fingers through my hair, and for once as calm as the sea.