𝑯𝒊𝒔 𝑮𝒊𝒓𝒍.Cato Hadley

20.

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𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞.
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"Layla! Layla!" I run like crazy in the jungle, chasing her voice.

I keep hearing her helpless screams and it's killing me inside. Where is she, where is she? I get closer to her, but I still can't see her. How did she get into the arena? Layla continues to make the tortured sound that I can't even imagine what they did to her to cause it.

Finally, I stop because I can't catch my breath. It's so hot here, it's like the oxygen has run out. The worst part is that I keep hearing Layla's screams without actually seeing her.

Then I see some black little bird flying over my head. At that moment I hear Layla's next scream echoing clear as a bell. There's no way I could mistake the source of the sounds. This is not real.

I aim at the bird and shoot it on the spot. Then Layla's screams suddenly stop as if nothing happened. It wasn't true, she's not in the arena. It's just that the gamemakers wanted me to think it was true.

"Melanie!" Finnick screams. He comes out of the bushes, looking slightly worried. "You okay?"

Just before I can answer, I hear another scream. This time though, it's not Layla's voice and it's not me calling, it's Finnick. Then his expression instantly turns horrified and I understand that they want to pull the same trick on him.

"Finnick!" A woman's scream echoes through the jungle.

"Finnick!" I say, but he ignores me. "No, it's not her!"

"Annie? Annie!" He runs towards the direction the voice is coming from. I try to catch up with him but he is determined not to listen to me.

Then, Finnick stops and starts looking around for the girl. This is not true, the gamemakers are just messing with us.

"It's not her. It's just a jabberjay. It's not her," I say.

"Well, how do you think they got that sound? Jabberjays copy-" Then I hear a scream that I least expected to hear.

"Melanie!" My father's voice fills the entire jungle. But how is that possible? He is dead, there is no way to get this voice.

More birds appear above me and Finnick, but this time there are a lot of them. I hear all kinds of shouting. Some are Finnick's girl, some are Layla's, and some are my parents'. How is this possible? I hear my mom yelling for help and I just crumple to the ground.

Finnick picks me up and urges me to run in the opposite direction of the birds. I feel like if I keep listening to them I'm going to go completely crazy. We run as fast as we can but the damn birds keep chasing us. A few even land on us, and Finnick and I try to fend them off. He grabs my hand and pulls me to run faster.