Safe and Sound || Hunger Games

Chapter Twelve - Too Close, Sweetheart

Chapter Twelve - Too Close, Sweetheart

I moved along slowly, arrow nocked into my bow and bow poised, ready to kill if necessary. Even though it was nearing midday, my birthday surprise still seemed so unreal. I was so preoccupied with thinking about how lucky I was to have such a great mentor, despite his alcohol addiction, that I had almost completely forgotten about my dreams. And I wasn't planning on remembering them anytime soon, though it was most certain they would come back at me some point in the next few days.

The forest was quiet. It was so quiet, I could hear my footsteps, but only just. I tried to eliminate the sound of my feet by walking slower. I had no clue where I was walking, all I knew was that I wanted to get as far away from the other tributes as I could. I wanted to be alone. If I was alone and far away from other tributes, I would have a bigger chance of winning the Games.

But then again, allies were always a good thing to have, despite the fact you would have to betray them right at the very end. That was probably the only drawback, besides having to share your food and water. Having an ally meant you could work together to defeat the tributes and possibly go hunting with them. District 12 rarely got allies, resulting in their almost immediate death. Allies were undoubtedly the wickedest thing about the Games - making friends and allies that you would have to shortly kill so you could survive. It was disgusting and awful. And that was why I was going to win this thing on my own.

As I walked, I began to have a strange feeling that I was being watched. I tightened my grip on my bow and looked up at the trees. I couldn't see anything nearby. It started to unnerve me. I hated the feeling, anything could have been watching me, but I couldn't see this thing. I could feel my heart rate begin to pick up, thumping against my chest and threatening to burst out of my ribcage. Something was out there. One question I wanted answered was 'is it a who...or a what?'.

I raised my bow higher and pulled the bowstrung back to my lip, aiming it high into the trees. I circled around a bit, turning this way and that, trying to spot this thing that was giving me an old feeling, this thing that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

I heard a rustling noise and turned to it. It was coming from the trees for sure. Was it a bird? Was it a person...or was it a mutt? I gulped, but tried to stay calm. I was feeling scared now. I tried to keep my breathing nice and slow, but this feeling loomed over me and it was causing me to panic slightly. As I looked about frantically, I could practically see the people of the Capitol on the edges of their seats, watching to see what was going to happen to me.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, something jumped out at me and pinned me to the ground. My bow skidded away from me, just out of the reach of my hand. I was stuck to the ground, lying there on my back. It was a person. They sat down on my stomach, using one of their feet and one of their hands to keep me where I was. In their other hand, they held a long, pointed knife and it was above my throat. The person looked down at me and I was then face to face with the boy from District 1.

"Hey, guys! You'll never guess what I found!" He shouted as he held the knife to my throat, his eyes cold and cruel. I struggled against his tight grip. This was my third day in the arena, I wasn't ready to die just yet. I squealed as he put more pressure on my wrists, "What, do I scare you? Your reflexes aren't going to help you now." He whispered, leaning in closer to me, provoking and threatening me. He smirked at me, showing off perfectly white teeth. He had dirty blond hair and looked sixteen, possibly seventeen. He also had green eyes, but they were certainly nothing like Grayson's. They were menacing, much less beautiful.

The other Careers came running in, and they instantly cheered when they saw the District 1 boy sitting on me, ready for the kill. I struggled and tried to kick my legs, but nothing worked. I was stuck and I was about to die.