The Third Everdeen

Chapter 26

With no hesitation, I bolted in the direction where the screams were coming from. Prim needed me, she was screaming for me. I ignored Peeta's yells as they followed me; my sister needed me and I was going to get to her.

"PRIM!" I called out to her.

"LILY! PLEASE HELP ME!"

"Where are you?" I called out.

"LILYYY!" She cried.

I got to a clearing where her voice was clearest and saw she was no where to be found, but her cries were clear. The only thing nearby was a small bird flying around. I took out a knife and threw it at the bird. On impact it died and so did the sounds; it was a jabberjay.

Finnick made it to me first, "Lily, are you okay?" He looked at me concerned, then a new voice's scream of terror rang through the trees.

"FINNICK!"

Finnick looked in the direction it came from, "ANNIE?" terrified, he ran after the voice and I followed him.

"Finnick, it's not really her!" I tried to tell him but he didn't listen. We ran for a little, Annie's screams wouldn't subside. Finnick was screaming her name, searching for the source, when we stopped I grabbed his shoulder, "It's not her. It's just a jabberjay. It's not her."

"How do you think they got that sound Lily?" Finnick questioned me agitated, "Jabberjays copy."

A third voice erupted through the air, "LILY NO!"

I almost choked, "Katniss."

I knew it wasn't her; but I was still terrified. Out of no where, dozens of jabberjays flew to us, dozens of screams invading our ears.

"Run!" Finnick urged me, grabbing my arm and pulling me along.

As we ran I could make out so many voices; Katniss, Prim, Gale, Mom, Rue, Dad, even the distinct sound of a baby's cry. I saw Peeta run faster; he would save me. As I approached, I saw he was trying to say something but everything except the screams came out muffled. I tried to get to him but there was an invisible wall keeping me from doing so; which only led me to believe I was stuck there until the hour was up. I couldn't hear anything he was saying to me but I held my ears tightly and screamed alongside the mutts. Sometime after, I started crying; the sounds of the baby seemed louder to me, but I knew the Capitol didn't know I had lost the baby. I curled into fetal position and buried my face into my legs and screamed and cried for what felt like forever. In the corner of my eye I saw Peeta get down to my position and lean his forehead against the invisible wall sadly, he couldn't do anything to stop what I was going through

Suddenly the noises faded out and Peeta's voice became more clear, "It's over, they're gone! The hour's gone. The hour's up. It's alright," he said softly trying to pick me up, but I was shaking and had my hands tightly covering my ears, my muscles ached with the amount of force I was putting on them to make sure I didn't hear anything. I was still terrified and shot up when I felt him touch me. 

"Find Prim! Make sure Katniss is safe!" I gasped catching my breath.

"No, no. Prim and Katniss are fine. They're safe. They won't touch either of them. Okay?" He asked, cupping his hands in my face and running his thumb against my cheek.

"Your fiance's right. The whole country loves your sisters," Johanna said catching my attention, "If they tortured or did anything to either of them, forget the Districts, there would be riots in the damn Capitol," She had a look on her face I couldn't identify but I was recovering from the second traumatic event that has happened within a day in the damn arena, "Hey, how does that sound Snow?" Johanna yelled at the sky knowing the son of a bitch was watching us, "What if we set your backyard on fire? You know, you can't put everybody in here," The four of us just watched her with bewildered expressions, she saw us and looked confused by our reactions, "What? They can't hurt me. There's no one left that I love," Johanna looked at me sadly, "I'll get you some water," She said kindly and walked off.