idk if people are still following this but ye this isnt great its a filler but please review :)
The New Home
All around me was darkness. I shifted into a sitting position and I realised I was alone. It was so dark I could not see my hand in front of me. All around me was a wet, metallic smell that permeated all around me.
I wondered if I was dead.
I felt nothing. My body was removed of all my injuries. I couldn't feel any lingering bruises from the snake encounter, all my cuts and scrapes were no longer there. The only sensation I actually felt was being cold.
If I was dead, I was obviously not in Heaven. Nothing surprising there, considering I took up a career of murdering children. By choice. If there really was a man upstairs, I doubted that he would look kindly upon my actions. He may show a little leniency for people like Cinder, forced into this situation. But Theo and I? Well… at least we would rot in hell together.
I felt a breeze and I went stiff all over. If I was in the pits of hell, there wouldn't be a breeze. Would there?
I groped all around me until my hands hit a wall. It was cool and crumbly. I patted all around and I was sure that I was in a low ceilinged tunnel. I crawled forwards on my hands and knees and continued through the darkness.
I wasn't sure how long I had crawled until I saw the room. Long enough that my hands and knees had gone completely numb and I had worked off the chill with a sweat. I slowed down as I approached the room. The darkness was no longer so infinite. Sunbeams, golden flowers which looked similar to sunflowers, emitted a dim glow, and lit up the entire room, or cavern. I saw now that I was underground, tunnels made of earth.
In the centre of the room laid a bloody Theo, moss and other plants sponging his wounds. Propped up on the wall next to Theo sat an exhausted Cinder.
"Thanks for rescuing me Cinder. Really fucking appreciate it." I snap as I enter, shifting into a standing position. She snaps to full consciousness immediately, and I realise she is holding a knife. My knife. The strange black bone handle glittered obsidian in the dimness.
"I – I healed you, you may notice!" She said in the haughtiest voice she could muster. I gave her my best death glare and she shirked away from me, afraid, her attitude melted.
"I thought I was in hell." I growl. I shift my attention away from the cockroach that is Cinder onto Theo. I gingerly remove the moss that is pressed up to his wounds. He has a deep gash in his thigh but no infection has set in. His bicep on his left arm looks completely ruined; all the tendons look as though they have been destroyed. His wings were bloody and broken, a mess of blood and singed feathers. Nothing was as bad as his face. The blood had mostly been wiped away. A jagged gash ran from the corner of his mouth and straight up his face, slicing cleanly through his eye and leaving his forehead a butchered mess. The injuries had already started to heal, but that did nothing to cover up the truth – Theo would be blind in his left eye. His dark, kind eye had already begun to turn milky with blindness.
"Was there nothing else you could do?" I whirled around at Cinder, furious. "Healed? You healed him did you? This looks nothing like healed. This is the opposite of healed you stupid, pathetic bitch!" I screamed; spittle coming from my mouth. Cinder hunkered even further into a ball, avoiding my gaze. She clutches my knife in her terrified grasp. If I had hold of that she would just be another body, but too furious to wrench it from her I leave her alive. I make an irritated noise in the back of my throat. "How long have we been down here?" Cinder cocks her head to the side as if listening to a voice.
"About 4 hours. It's 9 am."
"The games have been on for 10 days. Has a cannon gone off?" Cinder shakes her head. "Well at least while Theo and I have been unconscious have you gotten any food? We haven't eaten in what, 24 hours, more or less."
At this the girl jumps up, her eyes wide like a deer caught in the headlights. "N-no I haven't. I will go do that now!" Closing her eyes Cinder makes the hand motion as if parting something. I hear a rumble above me, and a small layer of dirt falls onto me. With a sound of disgust I move out of the way as the earth cracks open once more, sunlight pouring through the dank dark room like a flood. Cinder motions for a leg up and I hoist her up, her small body scrambling for purchase on the dirt.
"What's up there?" I ask.
"We're in a back garden I think. Not too far from the burned field. I can still see the smoke." I raised her higher and she tumbled onto the ground above. She reached a hand down and hoisted me up, surprisingly strong. I landed on the ground with a soft 'umf' beside her.
Looking at her, I burst out laughing. Her hair was a mess of tangles and rat tails, caked with mud. Her pale face looked several more shades tan due to the layer of grime. Looking down on myself I saw that I hadn't fared much better. The black latticework around her eyes stood out among the dirt however, and overnight it seems a green gem has grown, like my red ones, and shines on the edge of each sweeping corner. Whereas mine were curves and swirls of the waves and Theo's were the quivering feathers, hers were like branches, reaching out and framing her eyes amongst leaves and flowers. It actually looked quite pretty.
I got up and walked towards the house, Cinder keeping close behind. I only had a single knife remaining, and I snatched it out of her hand with a glare. "Don't take my stuff." I say, my voice warning. She nodded quickly, and we returned our attention back to the house. The back door was locked, and before I could think of the consequences I punch out the window and reach my arm through to unlock the door. I barely felt the burn of the glass, or the drip of blood that stained my clothes. If someone was camped in the house, they would know we were on our way.
Immediately we emerged into a family kitchen, photos and certificates and children's art taped up to the fridge. I rattle through the kitchen drawers and hand a huge butcher's knife to Cinder, who holds the object awkwardly.
"Stay here. I'll scout out the house."
I go through the living room which contained dog chewed furniture. Empty. I traversed the rest of the house which was also empty.
When I re-joined Cinder, I saw that she had not moved a single inch from where I had left her. I rolled my eyes, why hadn't I killed her yet?
From the master bedroom I had grabbed a couple of tote bags to take back into the cave. I hated to admit, but it was the perfect hiding place to wait for Theo to heal.
We emptied the kitchen of unperishable food, such as tins. I sent Cinder off through the house to collect anything that could be used as a weapon. I hoped she came across swords in the umbrella rack like in the house with the snake. I shuddered at the memory. I rushed back to the hole and dropped the food back down, trying not to hit Theo's comatose body.
Next I headed to the bathroom and collected all the medical supplies that were there, from eye drops to painkillers. The medical supplies were pretty basic, but would help more than the moss had.
I had collected anything useful, and saw that Cinder still had not returned from looking for weapons. With barely controlled anger I stormed back through the house until I found Cinder in a girl's bedroom.
She was just adjusting a new top, admiring herself in the mirror. She jumped with terror when I walked in and a look of barely concealed guilt traversed her face.
"What are you doing?" I sigh, as though I was talking to a six year old.
"I'm getting changed! The clothes were filthy."
I raise an eyebrow. "So you're willing to put on clean clothes over your disgusting, filthy body?" I say, wrinkling my nose up. At her hurt expression, a flash of regret shoots at my heart before it was gone. She was from district 12; they had more pressing matters than daily hygiene. With a flounce I headed towards the bathroom and stripped the dirty clothes from my body, knowing that the entire nation would be seeing me naked I jumped into the shower as quick as I could.
I had planned to have a quick shower but the hot pounding water running in rivulets down my back was so relaxing. The water revitalised me, sending energy coursing through my body and healed my arm from the glass and any remaining cuts and bruises. I didn't know how exhausted I was until I felt energised. The dirt ran off my body, turning the water by my feet brown. I vigorously washed my hair and I noticed the silver wire that Amelie had threaded into my hair while we were waiting for the games to launch in the catacombs was still there.
Emerging from the shower I saw in the mirror that my dyed black hair was fading slightly, and was turning more dark brown than the dark depths of an abyss. My skin was the palest and the most translucent it had been since the transformation. I looked scary and… ill. I looked dead. My eye tattoos stood out stark against my pale skin, as did my dark hair, making me look even paler, not to mention the weird unearthly glow. My eyes had finally started to go back to their normal hue of blue, a dark midnight blue. My red lips stood out stark too, like blood. The striking contrast of colours didn't look attractive, I just looked scary. No wonder Cinder was so afraid of me. My makeup that had been sprayed on my face had finally been completely rubbed off too, leaving my lashes short and stubby.
The red gems bedded into my skin were no longer red, but a dark blue – the same colour of my eyes. Well… at least they no longer looked like droplets of blood.
Wrapped in a towel and a towel turban on my head, I left the bathroom and re-joined Cinder in the bedroom, who was waiting patiently on the bed, swathed in a fluffy bathrobe. With a flick of my wrist the water droplets flung off my body and was sucked out of my hair and flung on Cinder. She squealed, a happy girlish laughter. Despite me a smile tugged on my lips.
"Hurry up and shower." And with a happy smile she scurries off to the bathroom.
I put on a clean pair of underwear, standard black cotton.
My hair floated around me, relaxed and calm for the first time since the games begun. Not like the night before, where it was flurry of action and yet twisted out of my face. Shaking all thoughts from that horrible night I went to the wardrobe with high spirits – everything we found here was there to help us – but my heart deflated when I opened the wardrobe. It consisted of only white and gold dresses, better suited for Capitolite parties than normal every day wear. Frustrated, I rifled through the drawers and even picked apart the master bedroom. However, the only clothes available to wear were couture dresses.
I reached into the wardrobe of white and gold which seemed the least offensive, and ended up wearing white dress with a bell shaped skirt that went to my knees made of chiffon. The top part of the dress was long sleeved beaded with an intricate pattern of sea foam blue and gold. A belt of gold leaves cinched the waist. The back of the dress was see-through exposing my shoulder blades and my scales, with white buttons going up the length of the top. The beading spread slightly on the back, looking like gorgeous spreading flowers. Despite the extravagance it was the simplest dress in the house. I had no idea what Cinder would come up with.
She emerged from the shower, trying to towel dry her blonde hair. I removed all the water from her skin and hair and sent it down the drain in the bathroom. She smiled her thanks and shooed me out the room for her to change.
"You do know the whole country will be seeing you naked, so does it make a difference if one more person sees you naked?" I point out.
She looks horrified at the prospect, and grabs some underwear and proceeds to get changed under the covers of the bed. I roll my eyes but I sit down at the vanity, tapping my foot in boredom.
"Pass me the dressing gown." She says, and I chuck it in her face. She struggles to tie it up under the covers. She emerges from the bed, and after too long looking through the dresses in the white and gold section she heads to the other bedroom. I roll my eyes again and let loose an audible sigh. In that room was ball gowns.
Cinder later emerges in a floor length dress made of thick lace the colour of blood, which was a straight line across her collarbone, and the sleeves came up to her elbows. Black beading patterned the dress, and I had to admit she looked beautiful.
"You can't wear that!" I scoff, laughing at her wounded face.
"Why not?" she says, twirling to look at herself in the mirror.
"Because! If we were fighting how on earth would you even begin to manoeuvre through that dress?" I say with disdain.
"Well let's be honest Olivia… I'm going to die. Might as well do it looking fabulous." Her words were confident, but they didn't match her voice which wobbled. I bit my lip, and sighed with defeat.
"Well alright, but don't expect me to save your ass." She grins with happiness.
With our last bag, we try to scrounge the most normal looking dresses as we can, should an attack arrive we would be able to run and fight while still looking hot as hell. There were not many boy outfits but we rustled up a dress shirt and jeans for Theo once he was conscious. I was annoyed that the male clothes were more normal than the girls.
Despite ourselves, we had almost forgotten that we were in the Hunger Games. We grabbed as much quilts and covers as we could and shoved them down the hole, and clothes and underwear, torches and lanterns. Feeling as though we had got enough, we slithered back into the hole, and Cinder closed it up above our heads.
Concentrating, she created another tunnel and we moved further away from the house which had evidence of our presence. About 3 streets over, and a hard job of transporting all the goods, and a failed attempt of Theo, I collect some of my water reserves to create a gurney. I nearly pass out with the effort to keep the water solid and transport Theo on top of it to the end of the tunnel. If I was honest with myself I did think I blacked out for a bit.
Cinder collapsed the tunnel behind her once we had moved all our new produce. And then she got to work making our 'base' as she called it.
Our base consisted of three rooms: Theo's medical room, the bedroom and the supplies room. Cinder grew the Sunbeam flowers all along the ceiling of each room and the tunnel adjoining them all which provided sufficient light. Thick moss grew on the ground like carpet that was really soft. In the bedroom and the room where the sick Theo lay it was so much thicker so it felt as though it was just a huge cushion. The bedding was spread across both of the rooms and it looked like a cosy little cave. In the supplies room we gauged out shelves for the tins and the different weapons – Cinder had managed to scrounge some knives, a steel baseball bat, a sword and a fireplace poker. We still had one of Theo's swords too.
Once when we had finished decorating the cave we laid down in the bedroom, breathless from giggles… but then we heard a groan of pain that brought us slamming back down to reality.
Immediately I got up and ran to the room, kneeling by his side. Cinder hurried over too, hovering behind me worriedly.
"Theo?" I ask, brushing his sweaty hair from his forehead. My palm feels how hot his head is. Fuck. I should have paid more attention to him earlier.
He coughed, which wracked his body, and sent his whole body into a spasm. My hands fluttered down his body, trying to hold him still, muttering words of comfort. With the remaining water reserves I had I layered his body in a thin layer, which his body slowly absorbed. It hydrated and cooled down his fever a notch.
"Cinder, please will you pass me the torch, rubbing alcohol, tweezers, scalpel, needle and thread and the bandages." She scurried away to get the supplies. "Shh Theo," I murmur, stroking his sweaty hair, "this is going to hurt but stay with me okay?" I got no response, his breathing wracked and uneven. Cinder re-emerges in the doorway with the equipment.
"Hold him down." I say. His body restrained I start with his leg. I quickly and efficiently clean the equipment. Knowing exactly what I was doing I knew the audience would be impressed – if they could even see us down here – but more importantly I had never been happier to have my training if it meant I could save Theo's life. I place the torch in my mouth, holding it in place to shine onto the wound. Using the tweezers I pull apart the wound, stretching it as far as I could. Theo writhes and I shoot a glare at Cinder. Her pale frightened face reflects the fear I feel but I push it down. Cinder shifts her position so she is sat on Theo's chest while restraining his arms. I sit on his ankles so his legs don't thrash.
I try again with the tweezers, and I peer into the wound looking for any remaining fragments of glass. I see something shiny in deep, and I grab the scalpel. I slide the blade along either side of the wound to make a cross with a steady hand. I barely notice Theo coming back to conscious, whimpering with pain. Reaching in with the tweezers again I pull out the piece of glass and throw it away. With the torch I peer in for any more glass but it seemed that there was none. I cautiously cleaned the wound with rubbing alcohol, and that was when the screaming began. Theo thrashed and I heard Cinder yelling at him to stay still. I sterilised the needle and thread. Cinder covered his mouth with her hand while I slowly and steadily began to stitch up his leg. He thrashed and groaned, but he mostly stayed in place.
When I pulled away to look at my work I didn't realise how tense I had been. My body was trembling and I was sweaty all over.
"Done!" I gasp, falling back onto the moss. Cinder cautiously gets off Theo, and runs off to the edge of the tunnel joining the rooms. She comes back 10 minutes later with jugs of water. She must have gone up to the house.
I gulp down a whole jug, and because Theo has passed out again I make his body absorb as much as was safe. Cinder downed the last of it.
"Olivia… that was amazing. You were just as skilled as any doctor in my district." Cinder said, awed. She flopped down on the moss beside me, keeping a watchful eye on Theo.
With my hand I wave away the compliment. It was all part of the training. "I'll finish fixing him up soon… I'm just so tired…"
And that was when I blacked out for the second time that day.