Beauty in Darkness

Chapter Twenty Two

I woke up with two silver eyes staring at me. I registered that they were Kenta's eyes and he was licking my face, whimpering.

I slowly sat up, my entire body sore. I got a real look at Kenta and saw that there was blood on his muzzle. I immediately panicked and started looking for Cason.

We were where we had fallen off of Kenta's back. Hidden in the brush of the surrounding trees, the sun shining through the leaves.

I dug through the brush and found Cason laying, motionless. I looked around and saw that bugs were everywhere, so I tried to drag him out of the hole he was in but he wouldn't budge.

The bugs were crawling on me now. I screamed, trying to brush them off but they wouldn't leave. A tarantula was climbing down my face. Beetles were crawling up my leg. Scorpions were clawing at my arms.

I tried to run away, but I fell back on the ground, shrieking my head off and trying to get the bugs to go away. But they wouldn't. They kept crawling. I thought I saw something coming out of the bushes. A bear? Another wolf? I blacked out before I could see what it was, believing I would never wake up again.

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To my surprise, I did wake up and I wasn't covered in bugs or even any bites. They were all gone. It must have been the hallucinations. There were no claw marks on my body either, so I figured the bear/wolf wasn't real either.

I looked over at Cason and saw that he was sitting up, his eyes barley open but his chest rising and falling steadily. I looked up and saw that it was night, but the clouds were hiding the moon.

I looked over at Kenta and saw that there really was blood on his muzzle. That hadn't been part of the hallucination.

I shook Cason awake and when he saw me, he opened his arms and I launched myself into them. "You're awake." He said softly and I nodded and wrapped my arms around him.

"You're okay." I kept mumbling into his neck. He stroked my hair, trying to calm me.

"Who did Kenta kill?" I asked as I pulled away. Cason looked over at the wolf.

"The girl from seven. She came for us. I saw her in the haze from the Tracker Jackers. Kenta dove at her and killed her immediately. You were right in making friends with him, Akemi." His voice was weak. He obviously hadn't been conscious for very long before he fell asleep.

"Who else is dead?" I asked and Cason thought. "Umm...the girl from three and the boy from nine." Suddenly a cannon shook the ground. "I'm guessing that'll be the boy from seven." Cason said, looking up at the sky.

I looked up too, but saw nothing but clouds. "Has the Capitol seal come on yet?" He shook his head. "Should happen any minute."

I slowly moved so I was right beside him. Kenta came over then rested his head on my lap. I did my best to ignore the smell of blood from his muzzle while I stroked his head.

Suddenly, the Capitol music started and we looked up. The clouds were so thick we could hardly see, but I counted every time the picture changed. It only changed twice.

"When did the girls die?" I asked, looking up at Cason. "Two days ago. I came to and saw the girl from District Seven. I passed out again but I'm pretty sure that same day the girl from three died. I heard a cannon."

"That means it's only us and the Careers." That was not a fight I was looking forward to.

I rested my head over Cason's heart. "We need to get our strength up before we can tackle them. We don't stand a chance right now." I nodded.

I had never ever thought that I would ever be this far into the Hunger Games. I believed the others, that I would be dead in a day. Now I was in the final four.

I felt my heart drop when I thought of the boy beside me. I hoped I didn't have to kill him. I wouldn't able to. Ever. No amount of preparing could prepare me for that.

I lifted my head up then planted a soft kiss on Cason's lips. "What was that for?" He asked me as I rested my head back on his chest. "I don't know how many of those I have left." I answered honestly.

Cason tilted my head up and placed his lips firmly on mine. It felt nice to be with him now. I wished it could be like this forever. Just us two in the calm woods, with a good pet to make sure we are okay. It was actually very peaceful. But I guess peaceful things can never last. Not in the Hunger Games.