29. An Eye for an Eye

       Sutton woke me up in the middle of the night for my shift. I hoped I lasted long, because despite the temperature decrease, I got a decent amount of sleep. Sutton retreated back up into the tree once she knew I was up and alert. Once she was settled in, she was out.

            The wind roared above me, biting into the tree branches above. I bet Sutton wasn’t getting much sleep with the wind. It was passing over me so I didn’t feel extremely cold like she did. I wouldn’t be surprised if the temperatures rose to a dangerous high in the morning and lasted throughout the day. If the Gamemakers wanted to make the Games tougher, fluctuating the temperature during the day and night was a good start.

            The wind was the only thing I heard in this jungle. I heard no paws of wild dogs or muttations trying to be silent in their stalking, nor did I hear the flesh-eating monkeys howl. I bet the wind shut them up, or it was just so loud I couldn’t hear the monkeys complain.

 I couldn’t remember how many days we had been out here in the arena. All of them blended into one, like a never-ending weekend. For all I knew, we all could have been here a month and never have known it. Just hope it hasn’t been that long, I thought.

            I drummed my chipped nails against the ax’s metal blade. It was quiet enough, so I knew it wouldn’t echo, attracting attention to myself. I really considered leaving Sutton only to go hunt for Jillian, but I couldn’t once again. Sutton would probably either go after me, getting lost herself or killed. I didn’t want to be responsible for that. Or I’d go insane if I never found that murderer. I’d probably die of insanity. If it wasn’t possible, it would be then.

            A snap of a twig made me flinch. I looked around in the dark. I kept my breathing quiet, gripping my ax. I didn’t stand up just yet. My heart was racing, just dying to relax. Whatever it was that made that noise, it had better go away soon. If not, I’d probably go hunting for it, either bravely or stupidly. Most likely both.

            “No need to go on the offense,” said a familiar voice. “It’s just me.”

            I nearly fainted from shock. No, he’s not still alive. He’s dead. He died in my arms. I’m dreaming. He couldn’t be brought back to life, nobody could. If that had been the case, my mother would be living in District 7 with my father, and all of the fallen tributes would still be in the arena.

            I knew I wasn’t dreaming because I pinched myself, and I flinched. A shadow stepped closer to my area. There was no mistaking him for his brother; the way he looked could distinguish him enough. He looked the way he had before he died: severely burned and weak, yet he was able to stand.

            “W-what is this?” I whimpered, scrunching against the tree tighter. “Go away.”

            “I can’t hurt you, Bri.”

            “I have to be dreaming. I didn’t pinch myself hard enough.”

            “No, this isn’t a dream,” Dan assured me.

            “Did the Capitol create you? Are you the Gamemakers’ work?”

            “I’m not that either.” I could take his word for it. “Do you mind if I get closer? Unless you’d rather have me leave…”

            “No, don’t. Trust me, I won’t scream or anything, though the time should really call for it. I’m lucky I’m even talking right now,” I said in a small voice. Daniel lumbered over to me and sat beside me on the grass. “Why are you here?”

            “To give you some sense,” he said seriously. “Bridget, I know how hard it was for you to have me die in your arms—”

            “Don’t remind me. Seeing you is a reminder enough,” I whined, trying to forget the memory.

            “Sorry. But you have to realize revenge is not a way to approach my death. You can’t go after Jillian, because you don’t know where she is, and you don’t know what she’s capable of.”

            “Dan, she’s a twelve-year-old girl. How much damage can she really do?” I scoffed.

            “She managed to knock out two tributes with mines planted in the mountain,” he recalled flatly.

            “That just shows that she’s not good when fighting others face-to-face. I can take her.”

            “Bridget.” His hand touched my arm. This felt so weird because I could feel him touching my arm. I was trying to ignore the fact that it was super creepy. It was hard to accept what was happening right now. “I don’t want you to go after her. Let whoever’s left finish her off. You need to be alive and with Sutton so you two can win. And speaking of Sutton, don’t try and bite her head off when talking to her.”

            “Hey, she said she understood when she hasn’t gone through what I have,” I said lowly. “I take offense to that when people say they understand things that they actually don’t. Like remember that time I snapped at you and Ewan because you both claimed to have understood what it felt like when I lost my mother?”

That had been a dark day for us three. My anger was the thing that almost tore our friendship apart. It was a good thing we were all apologetic and forgiving to each other.

            “Yeah, you were vicious then.” Dan snorted a laugh. “But what I’m trying to get across to you is that if you find Jillian and kill her, you won’t take it as revenge. You aren’t a cold-blooded killer like the rest of the Careers are, Bri. You have some decency to spare people. You’re not a murderer. So if you do kill Jillian, you’ll feel horrible for it. You won’t feel satisfied; you’ll realize that you just murdered a twelve-year-old girl by yourself.”

            “So you’re saying that if I kill her, I become a nutcase?” I asked slowly.

            “Most likely yes,” Dan said gravely. “That’s why I don’t want you going after her. I don’t want to see my best friend lose herself.”

            “Yeah…about that whole ‘best friend’ image you’re telling me about…I don’t think that’s always been the case with you,” I muttered. I sat the ax on my unoccupied side. I looked into his eyes. “You’ve thought of me more than just a best friend. I—I just never realized it. All you wanted was something more for us. How long had that been going on?”

            “I would say…” Daniel knitted his brows in concentration. “Three years ago.”

            “Oh God.” I put my face in my hands. Three years I was oblivious to one of my best friends falling in love with me. Three years I had friend-zoned him. Three years I had never thought of the possibility that he loved me more than just like a sister.

            But wait…how can I know this for sure? He can’t be a ghost. And I’m not dreaming. Is he my conscience I made up? Am I projecting him from my mind to keep me company because I’m not ready to forget him just yet? My head spun dangerously.

            “I think I’ve overstayed my time.” Dan rose and started to leave.

            “Wait,” I croaked. He stopped and looked at me. “What are you, exactly?”

            “Oh, I can’t tell you that, Bri.” He grinned. “That’s for you to figure out for yourself.”

            “Are you going to come back?”

            “It depends if you want me around again or not.” He shrugged. Without another word, Dan turned on his heel and disappeared into the jungle.

            I rested my head against the tree. I didn’t know what just happened, but that was the strangest thing that I had ever gone through in my life. I had just talked to my dead best friend and nearly had a breakdown because of my guilt for not recognizing the obvious signs that he loved me. I really hoped that this wasn’t some kind of sick joke that the Gamemakers decided to throw in. I’d definitely chew them out for it if it was. Nobody messed with me in my emotional state like this. I would have said that they wouldn’t get away with it either, but I was stuck in the arena, so really, what could I do to make them pay for torturing me?

*      *      *

            I couldn’t believe how stupid I had been! I had fallen asleep during the night and forgot to wake Sutton up. I startled awake at the thought only to find her hovering over me, looking a little bit tired. I had fallen asleep on the ground rather than against the tree.

            “How long was I out?” I mumbled, sitting up.

            “Quite a while. I woke in the middle of the night anyway, so I took over once I realized you were asleep,” she said simply. “By the way, were you talking in your sleep last night?”

            “Umm…I don’t think so. Why? What did you hear?”

            “You sounded like you were having a conversation with Daniel.” Her voice was almost inaudible. She heard me last night. Crap. Just say it’s a dream, she won’t ask any more questions if you leave it at that. “I heard you say his name once.”

            “Yeah, it must’ve been a dream.” I yawned.

            “I would ask what went on, but I don’t think you want to retell it.”

 I sure as hell don’t. “You’re right on that.” I stumbled to my feet. “Do we have to go hunting again?”

            “What do you mean we have to go out again? I went solo yesterday. But since you seem so willing to volunteer, you’ll come with me today.” She grinned. I grimaced. I walked myself right into that trap.

            Sutton never gave me a chance to get in a few extra minutes of sleep. We headed out first thing, Sutton with her four remaining arrows and me with my ax. I was sure it was because I was tired, because my ax felt like it was pulling me over to one side, trying to make me topple over. I eventually hoisted it over one shoulder—big mistake. I was dealing with a bobbing heavy object over my shoulder.

            We didn’t talk during our venture through the jungle. Sutton flinched every time she heard a monkey call. I looked to the skies; my grip on the ax would get just a little bit tighter. If Sutton had a bad fear of monkeys now, I’d be glad to keep them away from her. After all, she had to fight monkeys just to kill one. The most hunting I ever did was the man-eating squirrels.

            As the hours went on, the jungle became extremely humid and hot. Sweat poured off Sutton and me. Hell, we could lose weight just sweating if we didn’t lose enough already from the little supply of food and water. Water…we needed water right about now.

            “We better look for a stream,” I told Sutton quietly. We leapt over a fallen, mossy log.

            “There has to be water close by, otherwise moss wouldn’t grow,” Sutton theorized. “But I don’t hear anything. I think our best bet is hoping for a sponsor.”

            “Yeah, well, your mentor hasn’t given you anything so far, and you assume she won’t, and I don’t know how much this ax cost, so I don’t think my mentor can get water for me anytime soon.”

            “Wait, Bridget—” Sutton stopped walking, but I kept going.

            “What? What’s the matter?”

            “Stop!” She ripped me back.

A snake lashed out at me, nearly sinking its fangs into my shoe. I jumped back, Sutton with me. The snake blended in with the ground that I had almost stepped on it.

            “T-thanks for that,” I sputtered.

            “No problem. Good thing I saw him before you stepped on him or fell.”

            “What do you mean fell?”

            “Look.”

            The snake slithered back and disappeared. We took baby steps and peered to see fresh leaves covering a huge pit in the ground. Sutton and I looked at each other.

            “How much do you want to bet that’s a snake pit?” I said.

            “I’m not going to go look. You can if you want.”

            “Ha, I don’t think so. We’ll assume it’s a pit of snakes and move around it before more jump out at us.”

            “Good idea.”

            Cautiously, Sutton and I circled around the pit. All the while, we heard snake hisses. Yup, definitely a deadly snake pit. I felt a little safer once we were a good distance from the pit.

            “You know what I just realized?” Sutton asked me about a half hour later.

            “What?” I kept looking down at the ground. Ever since I had nearly stepped on that snake, I searched the ground for anymore of them or other deadly animals.

            “We could have killed that and used it as food.”

            “Ew. I think I’d rather chew tree bark than eat a snake that tried to kill me.” I made a face. “Besides, it could have been poisonous. And even if we did kill it, the snake pack would probably come after us, like the monkeys came after you.”

            “Yeah, let’s not recall that.” Sutton shuddered.

            I saw something move in the corner of my eye. I stopped Sutton. She looked around warily. We stood back-to-back, hoping that what I thought I saw was just me imagining things, just like I did with Daniel.

            Sutton gasped; I wheeled around to be at her side.

            “What?” I asked desperately.

            “I thought I saw someone,” she squeaked.

            “Meeka? Eric? Jillian?”

            “I don’t know. It wasn’t a guy, I’ll say that much.” Sutton swallowed. I turned around to cover her from behind. “Bridget, duck!” I yipped as Sutton dragged me down to the ground.

            “What the hell?” I hissed at her.

            “Someone’s trying to kill us. They’ve got a blowgun!”

            Hesitantly, Sutton and I rose to a crouching position. Sutton had an arrow loaded and ready to go. I held the ax protectively in front of my face. I saw where the dart had missed its target; it sunk into a tree a few feet from Sutton and me. They’ve got to still be around.

            “Look to the skies too,” I whispered out of the corner of my mouth. “They could be up in a tree.”

            Taking baby steps, Sutton and I did a full, tight circle surveying the area. I squinted hard, trying to find even the slightest movement or change. I froze when I thought I saw a pair of bright green eyes hiding behind the tree the dart sunk into.

I took one tiny step forward, and a flash of bouncing caramel hair took off. Jillian. Oh how I had longed to find that little monstrosity!

            “I found her!” I roared, leaping to my feet.

            “Bridget!” Sutton called. I could hear her scrambling to her feet.

I pushed myself off the tree for a little extra speed. Two days since Daniel’s death, and he was finally going to be able to rest in peace—and so would I. Well, with his death of course. I still have to worry about everybody else in the Games.

            I could hear small panting just in front of me. The sky suddenly became menacingly dark. A storm was about to brew once again here in the Hunger Games. As rain started to pour down from the heavens, the ground became a little slick. A few times one of my feet would threaten to slip, but I kept myself in check. I could feel the ax slowing me down. Oh screw it. If Sutton is following me, she’ll pick it up. I chucked the ax to the soaked ground and continued chasing Jillian.

            The caramel hair burst through bushes, and I came crashing through right behind it. A lightning flash lit up the arena. I saw the caramel hair leap over a random spot in the ground, no doubt the snake pit. She had to have been through here before; otherwise she would’ve never known. But if she had been behind Sutton and me, did this mean she had been tailing us all this time? But we would’ve seen her when taking shifts before. She had to have had excellent cover for us not to notice her, and she had probably kept a very safe distance.

            I ran past the snake pit, which I couldn’t tell was hissing or not because of the downpour. I had to shake my hair away from my face and constantly blink to keep track of the girl. I didn’t know where Sutton was or how close she was to me, I couldn’t tell. For now, it was just me and Jillian, and I was going to catch her. I could tell I was gaining; the caramel hair seemed within reach.

With a cry, I leapt, getting a hit. I tackled Jillian to the ground. She screamed.

            Jillian whipped around, scratching my face. She wriggled restlessly under me, eventually slipping out of reach. I jumped to my feet and shoved her against a tree. Thunder clapped above us. I had her trapped between my body and the damp tree. I had a height advantage on her by a few inches. I hoped I looked intimidating, because she had met her match.

            “You were following us, weren’t you?” I panted. Drops of water were running along my face.

            “I was near you, and I did trail you for a little while,” she hissed.

            “But it didn’t last for long. You tried to kill us.”

            “No, I didn’t. I don’t have a blowgun.”

            “Liar!”

“We weren’t the only ones there. Someone else was near,” she went on hotly.

            I counted who was left in my head. Jillian, me, Sutton, Kristi, District 11’s girl, Meeka, and Eric…only seven of us left. It could’ve easily been Kristi; she was still in the jungle area as far as I was aware.

            “I was beginning to wonder when you would find me,” Jillian snickered. I clenched my jaw. “Such a pity that your boyfriend died by my doing. What was his name again? Damien? Darren?”

            “Daniel,” I snarled. “You murdered him. You know, for a twelve-year-old girl, you sound like a cold-blooded murderer. Oh wait, you already are one. You’re no better than the Careers. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’re an honorary member of that pack.”

            “Oh please. I wouldn’t dream of joining them. Anyway, you’ve got to do what’s necessary to survive out here, even if it means killing others.” She cackled. I grabbed her throat with both of my hands. Lightning split the sky. I lifted that little tyrant off her feet against the tree. Her hands grabbed my wrists, her nails digging in. “Go ahead, kill me. It won’t bring him back. Nothing can.”

            “I’ll feel better knowing you’re out of the way,” I spat, squeezing her throat tighter. I heard her let out a wheezy breath.

            “You’re such a hypocrite,” she snorted. “You don’t like people killing each other—yet here you are—slowly killing me.”

            “I’ve got a good cause to do it.” I constricted her throat even tighter. A bright streak of lightning lit up Jillian’s face. I could see her lips turning blue. I could feel her throat try to gasp for air under my steel grip.

            “You’re one of us now,” she croaked. “You’re a killer.”

            I felt Jillian try to take two more breaths before stilling. Her body felt heavy. A cannon shot out, confirming her death. I released her throat, and she fell to the ground like a sack of flour. She toppled on her side, a chilling smirk on her lips, and triumph in her eyes.

I stood over Jillian’s corpse, looking down with a sense of deep satisfaction.