California Love

Chapter 13: Hourglass of Death

I am going down the street.

I don't think I can breathe... but I have to, I have to get to that huge eerie house at the end of the street. Taking a deep breath to reassure myself that this wasn't about me, but about Peeta and my friends; I was doing them all a favour. Besides, it's not like it will affect any of them if I die. I mean, sure, at first they would be heartbroken, but they'll get over it eventually. Just like anything.

I look up at the dark iron gates of the wooden creaky house. They send chills through my body, right down to my bones. I push at the gates but they don't move. I grunt and push harder until eventually I hear a creak.

It only takes a second for me to realise that the creak in fact came from underneath me and not from the gates. Before I can register anything else the ground from beneath me drops and I go plummetting down. I scream as I continue to fall until I eventually land on something hard.

I groan and look around but I can't see anything. The room is dark. Hands roughly grab me and tie my hands behind my back and I feel a cloth go over my eyes. "It's dark anyway you kn-" I get cut off by a hand on my mouth. The smell emitting from the hand was enough to make me gag without the added extra of me being able to taste it on my lips.

I don't bother to struggle because I'm here to save the ones I love. Struggling will only put them in more danger. The hands shove me forward and I begin to walk. They guide me where I need to go because I can't see from the blindfold.

"Now," a voice that I don't recognise says from behind me. "You can either be a good girl and cooperate and then we will kill your friend... actually I might just kill you both anyways." he snarls.

I get pushed forward and I continue to walk blindly until I feel something shove into my back. My head smashes into the cold concrete floor and I scream out as pain flashes through my head. I see blurry colours appear in the darkness of my vision. my hands claw at the back of my head searching for the knot that holds the blindfold over my eyes. I find the knot and draw the cloth off my head, letting it fall onto the ground.

My cheek presses into the cool concrete floor as it numbs the pain from where my head got smashed. I look around and see that everything is concrete, the floors, walls and roof, except for a big glass window that's embedded in the wall. It stretches from the floor to the roof and it's about 2 metres wide.

I notice that my captors are standing back in the shadows, unusually quiet. That unnerves me. It means that there is something here that they want me to see.

I push myself up from the ground, only to be met with a rushing and pounding in my head which results in me slumping back down.

I lift my head and everything seems to be spinning. I drag myself over to the window and kneel up against it, pressing my palm flat against the glass.

"Annie?" I whisper as I see a girl with chestnut hair move up to the glass. This can't be Annie, though, this girl is much skinnier and has bruises covering her face. However when she looks up from the ground I notice her sea green eyes and immediately know that this is her.

She mirrors my actions and presses her hand against mine. It's as though I can feel the warmth from her hand travel through the glass and onto mine.

"I'm so sorry," she mouths to me. I shake my head, "I love you," I mouth back. She smiles.

It feels nice to have a friend that I can love in a sisterly way. I've never had that kind of relationship before.

Before I can say or do anything else, rough hands seize me around my body and drag me backwards down the hall and away from Annie.