Sea Of Secrets [1]

Ten

Katniss shook me awake when the morning sun shone through the small cave. We had been huddled together all night, sharing a sleeping bag and my small blanket, sense hers were burned and torn from the fire.

"We need to get moving, the sun is up" she whispers in my ear, her warm breath circles around my neck, a welcoming feeling in the cold air. "It's cold out, so bundle up" She pats my shoulder and starts to pack up her own things. Sleep is so wonderful that it's hard to wake up, and get going.

"The suns up so we might get some warmth" I point out as I roll up the sleeping bag and blanket and shove them in my backpack. My cold hands are stif , almost statue like. "How is your leg?"

"Who did you get the ointment from? You must have some great sponsors , because it's almost healed" she shows me her calf and I smile.

"Yeah, I must" I laugh and turn away from her, not wanting to tell her it's from Snow. She might not trust me.

We enter the cold air , and I immediately hug my jacket closer to me, a shiver making its way down my spine. Frost covers the grass , making it crunch under our shoes. Anyone can hear you coming now. I hear Katniss curse under her breath, and I know she has realized the same as me.

"If we shuffle, or ever glide, they might not hear us as easily" I state, trying out my idea, but finding it to be louder. Katniss frowns at me, and continues to move forward, toward the trees that have been severely burned from the fire. They look like dark shadows, leaving ash in everything that touches it. I realize why she went this way, some of the trees are still smoking from the aftermath of the fire, leaving the grass frost free.

   The forest is so quiet, making every little noise a threat to us. It could be a rabbit, or a knife sailing at us from behind a bush. We stick together, alerting each other if we see something worth knowing about.

   "Look, up there" Katniss grips at my arm with a smile on her face. Her finger is pointed to a large willow. I squint , and see a bird sitting quietly, watching us with intent. "That's a mockingjay, if you sing to it, or whistle , it echoes what you just did. The Capitol created mutations of birds called jabberjays which could repeat any human conversations which would be recorded for the Capitols use. They killed the jabberjays off a few years later, knowing that the districts knew what the Capital was doing. But before the jabberjays were killed off, many matted with female mockingbirds , creating mockingjays. The offspring could replicate both bird and human whistles, along with many human melodies"

   A strong whistle comes from her mouth, it's so loud and graceful. I look around to see if anyone is coming, or if we have anyone watching. The coast is clear. We stand for a few moments, looking at the bird. A soft noise , like music, escapes the mockingjays  mouth. I can see why Katniss loves them so much. They are truly beautiful.

   We continue moving, with Katniss whistling sweet lullabies. We walked for hours with the beautiful sound of music interacting with the wind. More than one mokingjay joined in , and then it was like the sky was playing us our own concert. We couldn't see the mockingjays most of the time, so it almost seemed that the sound of whistles that erupted from Katniss were bouncing off every tree, every piece of grass, every pond and lake. It was astonishing. It made me feel like I wasn't in the arena to kill, but to just take a peaceful walk with a friend.

   A whistle rang high in the woods, but this time is was neither from Katniss or a mockingjay. We stopped dead in our tracks, looking all around, trying to figure out where the sound had come from.

   "I can do it too" a females voice rang above us, and a tribute that I recognized as glimmer dropped down from a tree in from of us. Her lips curled up into a sick and twisted smile, one that made my insides turn. I hadn't realized that people would hear us, or even wonder why all the birds were singing. I was too wrapped up in the moment, I was too wrapped up being happy to realize anything else, to realize that we might have brought danger. "Have fun" she sprang forward kissing my cheek, and then ran forward, leaving us dazed and confused. Katniss looked over at me, and then looked up as buzzing filled the air.

   Tracker jackers.

   Wasps.

   The sting of one will give you apple sized bumps that ooze green retched smells. They can cause death instantly, and give you nightmarish hallucinations.

   "Run" I screamed , dragging Katniss with me. The wasps swarmed around us, stinging in every place imaginable. My arms and face stung with the poison that was spreading through my veins. I tried frantically to take the stingers out, but I failed every time, my fingers missed and ended up poking and stabbing me.

   The last thing I knew, we were in water, the cold engulfed me, soothing the stings.

   "Stop moving" Katniss snapped at me, and for what I didn't know. My body wasn't moving, only my mind was frantic with thoughts. The hallucinations must be sinking in for her.

   As I faced her, about to ask why she would demand such a thing from me, when I was as still as a log, I noticed that I wasn't looking at just one Katniss , but three. Her face was as black as the ash that scattered across the trees. Her mouth was open with sharp teeth extending out of her gums. Her eyes were hollow, and worms were slithering out.

   I looked up to the sky and to the trees, only to find that the trees had arms and the sky was circling in on me. The trees grabs me furiously, and the sky was pushing on my chest so hard that I couldn't breathe. It was pushing me into the water. As my head went under, I saw bubbles floating to the surface as I scream. The water irritates my eyes, making them itch.

   The fish swim to me, thinking I am food, thinking I am edible. They eat away at my flesh, tearing chunks at a time away from my body. I see blood rushing away, swimming with the current. They come to my face, and that's when I pass out, the last thing I see is one of my eye balls floating away, ending up in a fishes mouth.

   I know why Katniss wanted me to keep still, she was feeding me to the fish.