Don't Let Me Go

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I lay there pretty much dead and so prepared for my death now that the thing that happens next really surprises me. The fog is about to invade our skin when as if by magic it vanishes into nothing. Like it was hovered up into the sky ready for the next terror. “You might as well just kill us now, we’re dead anyway!” I start screaming at the game makers, although my words are coming out slurred still. Knowing this was probably the game maker's plan all along yet it didn’t occur to me earlier.

I carry on laying there still half expecting to die and when I come to realisation that lying here isn’t going to do me any favour because the game maker's purposely want us to suffer more. It takes quite a few attempts to stand up but I manage to get on my feet and just a few metres away is the sea. I think about how my mother used to say salt was good for healing; oh how I miss mother and Prim. “Stay focused” I chant to my mind. I come to the conclusion that my body can’t get any more harmed from what it already is. With this in mind I force myself one last step and plunge into the cold salty water.

Intense pain shudders through me and my body has a strange spasm but within seconds the pain turns into complete and utter relief. When I open my eyes with my head now above the water I see Peeta’s body crawling down to the ocean and I am surrounded by murky gas which obviously means the salt water takes the poison from us! “Peeta!” I shout, my words not slurred or deranged anymore. “Peeta” I shout again and start running up the beach to guide him. My legs are still a little wobbly but I manage to drag Peeta into the ocean.

Bearing in mind he can’t swim, I hold him into the water making sure his head is firmly above the surface of the water and when I hear him sigh relief I tell him gently “Now hold your breath, I am going to hold you underwater” “Nomee” Peeta struggles his words still slurred. “Trust me. I have got you and I won’t let you go” I say staring into his lopsided eyes. He nods and I slowly lower his face into the water. The pain must be blinding for Peeta because his whole face was slanted from the fog.

Once I have sorted out Peeta I suddenly remember Finnick is still at the edge of the beach grunting in pain. Peeta and I hobble as fast as we can up to Finnick. He is refusing to move so we have no choice but to pick him up and together, hurling him down to the sea. Finnick screams and struggles urgently but soon relaxes. His poison takes much longer to leak out but once it does we spend the rest of the night on the beach.

I wake up in a pool of my own blood and my skin has been scratched raw. I look over at Peeta who is looking at me concerned but then he bursts into a smile, a beautiful smile. “Don’t scratch because it causes infection” Peeta says mockingly because this is what I previously told Finnick and Peeta. I scowl jokingly at Peeta but then I return the smile. Peeta runs over and lands on me we slightly roll over and I give him a tight hug. Finnick is looking at us smiling but a strong emotion registers on his face; pain.

Suddenly the sound of my sister Prim hits me hard and I shove Peeta solid out of my way and before anyone can understand and stop me I am sprinting far beyond reach. I follow the sound of Prim my eyes full of anger and fear, what are they doing to my sister? I keep following it and despite Peeta and Finnick being far behind me I need to reach my sister.

When I finally calm down and figure what the sound is coming from it is a Jabbarjay. I shoot it with my bow and arrow basically having a breakdown on the floor. What if they are torturing Prim right now? I can’t bear this thought and suddenly I hear it start with another tone of voice and this one is calling for Finnick. It suddenly hits me like a ton of bricks. Finnick misses Annie. The mental women who got reaped as tribute but Mags volunteered. Why does he love Annie? This is irrelevant now though because I need to find Finnick and tell him it’s just a jabbarjay before it tortures his mind completely.

I stop Finnick and give him an awkward hug shouting at him as he tries to shove past me, totally ignoring me because he wants to get to his loved one, Annie. But I am screaming now while trying to hold him back “Finnick listen to me it is just a Jabbarjay it’s not really Annie!” As I say Annie’s name a tear rolls down his face and he nods at me, smashing back to reality again. “We must get Peeta” I say but my voice is still got an edge to it.

I feel so mad at Peeta for not coming to comfort me that I fail to notice the fact he is shouting but no sound is coming out of his mouth. I run up to him though ready to embrace him, needing him more than ever when abruptly I crash onto the floor my face aching hard from smashing into glass. Wait glass… why the hell is there glass blocking my Peeta. “You can’t separate us” I start screaming my head off at the game makers really having a mental breakdown. I am too busy screaming my head off while in hysteria to notice more of Prim starts to play and its louder now, more painful for me than ever. Ignoring Finnick I shrivel up still crying and screaming and place my fingers far into my ears and a minute later or so I notice Finnick do the same, they are obviously playing Annie’s voice alongside Prim’s now.

I feel so numb and my hands are so stiff from blocking out the sound of my baby sister that I love ever so much that I hardly realise the immediate change in environment. Peeta is safely in my arms and for a moment I feel like everything is going to be okay. “You’re okay now, Katniss it wasn’t real” I stare into his eyes, my eyes still wild with anger and I burst into tears unable to explain how I feel. “Katniss listen to me, I’m here now and you’re safe” Peeta doesn’t give up on me; He gently rocks me back and forth comforted by his arms and feeds me kind, reassuring words until I start to believe that maybe it was just an old tape of Prim which they distorted.