"Tell me everything," I hear Violet say, and the urging of my brain to pull me under is almost too strong. Oh, but I so want to listen! What to do? After a minute of debating with myself I am forced to succumb to the powerful drugs that were contained within that syringe. My pictured mental image of the Egnatias talking blows up like smoke and then I'm in blackness all over again. I'm starting to get tired of this: getting knocked out and waking up again, and then getting knocked out and waking up again and again and again.
My past periods of unconsciousness have been dreamless, at least I think so, because dreams seem to usually disintegrate in my mind the moment I try to recall them. But as this dream begins, something deep down tells me that it's one I'll remember.
I'm in a long, dank street alley and I'm running. I'm running over hard, uneven ground and jumping over potholes so deep I am unable to see the bottom of them. Why am I running and where to? Am I chasing something or is something chasing me? The sound of another pair of running footsteps behind me confirms an answer to that question. Whatever it is I'm running away from lets out an evil, cackling laugh, and a few drops of something land on the back of my head. I put my hand to wipe it off and I see that it is blood. Dark red, thick blood. I wipe my bloodied fingers on the side of my jacket. It's identical to the ones us tributes were given before we entered the arena, even with all the rips and tears and stains in all the same places. However my attention cannot remain on the jacket for long though, as it is now drawn to the fact that my lungs are burning and even more to the fact that this alleyway has almost ended. I feel more drops of blood land on the back of my neck, but I don't dare risk taking the time to wipe it off with my sleeve, as my pursuer has to be very close now for the blood to land there. And why is it spitting blood? Is it even an 'it'? Curiosity gets the better of me and I decide that I have to find out. Sprinting for a bit so I have a slight lead, I allow myself two seconds to turn around and see what it is that's hunting me down.
I turn back around immediately and almost trip over my feet when I see what's chasing me. Or - more to the fact - who. They have white curls flaring out around their head like a crazy mane, and eyes so evil and full of hatred that even glancing at them feels like they could kill you on the spot. Blood spills from their mouth, foamy and dark. It's Grandfather. President Snow. Looking even more evil than when he reigned over Panem. Or perhaps just as evil and I never noticed. Either way, I hear a loud scream echo around the viciously enclosing walls of the alleyway, and then I come to realise that it's me screaming. When I start to run and look ahead to see which obstacles lie in wait, I find that the alleyway is no longer close to finishing, it is now far from it. The alley goes on for miles and miles, it's so far I can't see the end. I have to keep running though, for I will not let Grandfather capture me and have dominance over my life again. Seventeen years of that was more than enough to know that being under his rule is like being locked in a cage.
Suddenly the ground below me begins to turn into thick mud and my feet sink further downwards with every move I make. No matter how much I resist, I continue to sink, and then a hand lands on my head and starts pushing me further into the murky depths, and I'm screaming but they're drowned out by the mud swallowing my head, and there's no way out...
"Holy cow, will you just shut it for all our sakes?!" a voice shouts and a slap on my head makes y eyes snap open and me stand up fast, scanning the area for the nearest weapon.
"Well, look who's decided they can do stuff again," says Jack.
"Oh shut up you, and put more of that medicine on, you didn't do enough," Violet says through a stream of tears. I jump down beside and her and interrogate Jack about what's going on.
"Geez, chill it with the questions," his response is. His voice changes to a slightly softer tone after he swallows. "Basically, Vi got bad the night after you clocked out. Like, really bad. We got a sponsor gift from some guy named Gale but the medicine isn't doing much. If anything, she's getting worse." He swallows and doesn't carry on.
"How long?" I ask.
"My guess is ten minutes," he says. Now Jack has been prone to exaggerate more than often, but is he serious? Only ten minutes?
He clearly doesn't feel like to me and vice versa, so I go over to Vi and wait until Jack is out of earshot and busy muttering curse words to himself before saying, "I, uh, heard what Jack said last night about me." She looks confused, but I can't tell if she is in pain or genuinely has no idea what I'm on about.
Then she smirks and I force a smile.
"Can you believe it? Do you like him back?" she says, and I laugh and shake my head. But then her face drops. I allow myself a look at the ankle she is slowly bleeding to death from, and I see that Jack's jacket and sleeping bag are clumsily wrapped around it in a futile attempt to stop the bleeding, although blood still finds a way to seep through the material and onto the rooftop where we sit. Violet shakes her head and even though it's clear to see that the pain is near to unbearable for her, a flicker of a smile passes across her lips when she says to me, "I can't believe we're spending the last minutes of my life gossiping about that idiot over there." I laugh but it comes out as forced and depressed.
"Ah!" Violet suddenly cries out, and Jack appears at her side in a flash. I've never seen anyone move that fast, ever. Then something that I might only ever see one happens. Jack cries. So do I, and so does Violet, but her tears are much more pained than ours.
"I'm so sorry Vi," Jack says.
"You've been the..." I don't know if she's struggling to find a word or about to die,"...best brother I could have asked for." She turns to me then and I smile through my tears.
"Tell Celestia I say hi and I'll see you both soon," I blurt out.
"Will do," she says with staggering and gasping breaths. Her eyes look at Jack. I'd never realised what colour they were before. They are a deep green, the colour of well-watered grass in the summertime, and they have flecks of blue around the pupil.
Only then do I realise that she is isn't blinking. Her face grows much paler. Her chest is no longer moving. Jack and I start weeping, although I know that to the Gamemakers this is just another game piece knocked over. Another dead little girl.
A/N: I'm so sorry I haven't updated in so long. I wanted to, but my mind has been completely taken over by the Romanogers/Marvel fandom recently. Updates may also be slower because of online school. I hope you liked that chapter and I'm sorry for killing Vi! She was one of my faves but it had to be done somehow. I'm sorry! Bye xx
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The Last Hunger Games
Fanfiction'They say the Games change everyone. But that's not my plan.' When 12 year old Celestia Snow 'overhears' the conversation about holding the final Hunger Games, she is shocked. Especially when she finds out that the Games will still go ahead. With a...
