The Eyes of the Dark

Thirteen.

My mind is racing, but my body is numb and unmoving. My legs drag on the floor behind me. My eyes stare straight ahead. Doors and hallways blur past my eyesight until everything is dark and cold. The pain in my stomach has faded into a low throbbing feeling. There is buzzing in my ear and it won't stop. Help. That is all, I think. Help me, please. The guards turn a sharp corner and drag me through a metal gate. Dungeons. The stone floor is rough on my legs. A row of cells emerges from my eyesight. A hunched over figure sits in the closest one to me. I can barely see straight so I can't see the face. The guards unlock the cell next to the person.

"Octavia?" A familiar voice whispers. Something stirs in my brain. The door swings open and they throw me inside. "What did you do to her?!" The person yells at the guards. My face rests on the cold floor towards the cell next door. My eyes adjust to the darkness on a face. Cedric. He grips the bars and looks at me with worried eyes. "Octavia, can you hear me?" Yes. I want to say. My mouth doesn't move. Neither does my body. "It's okay, you're in shock." No, it's not okay. I'm dying.

"Just look at me and stay awake." I make a groaning noise and turn on my back. "We need to stop the bleeding." I press my hand to my wound. It feels wet and slimy. "Try and focus, Octavia." I hear a ripping sound.

"Cedric," I croak. Everything starts to move around me. I try to keep my head as still as possible.

"Shh, it's okay. I need you to move yourself over here." I look over at him. He is holding a strip of his shirt. My breathing picks up as I use my bloodied hands to scoot me towards the bars separating us. I stare at the ceiling as tears cloud my vision. I can't do this. As I get closer Cedric reaches through the bar and grabs my hand. He pulls me towards the bars. "Okay, you're going to have to wrap this around your stomach." I make a small noise telling him okay. He hands me the cloth. I struggle to get it under my neck to my other hand. I whimper as I arch my back and slid it under. "Good," he says. I grab the two ends and hand them to him. He lifts up my shirt and starts to tie the cloth. I can't even look. I stare at the ceiling and wait for him to finish. I feel broken. My heart feels as if it has been shattered into a million pieces.

I look down and watch his wrists which have silver cuffs around them like mine. He tightens the cloth and I let out a cry. "I'm done. You're going to be fine." I shake my head.

"I don't want to die," I cry to him. He grabs my hand and shakes his head.

"You aren't," he says.

"You have to promise me something. Promise me."

"No, Octavia, you're not going to die," he says as sadness clouds his features.

"Please!" I beg him. He squeezes my hand. "Promise me, you'll find my brothers and tell them I love them and that I tried." Tears roll down my cheek onto the stone as I look up at Cedric. His eyes are glossy. He doesn't say anything for a few seconds.

"I promise," he whispers. I nod my head and swallow the lump in my throat as I try to focus on my breathing.

"I'm so sorry," he says. I close my eyes and hold his hand tighter. There are so many things I want to say and ask him, but I'm too much in pain to say anything.

I close my eyes for I don't know how long, but every few minutes I would feel two fingers on my wrist where my pulse is. Just to make sure I'm breathing. I listen to the thrum of my heartbeat against my rip cage to distract my mind from everything else.

Soon I wake up to footsteps. I open my eyes and see two guards walk in. I hear Cedric shift beside me. I raise my body and lean up against the back of the cell wall. Joanna walks in with her head high and hands clasped in front of her. She smiles viciously at Cedric as he stands up in his cell. She looks at me and frowns