Stay with me, always.

Chapter 44. Peace

Soarynn was running.

From me.

And I didn't know why.

But I chased after her, we were back at home, in the maze of hedges. She seemed to be running for her life, checking over her shoulder to see if I was still there, out of breath, trying to put distance between us. I seemed to be taking a leisurely stroll, my slow steps matching her quick ones, as she led us further into the maze.

The hedges were taller, as tall as the Tribute Center, blocking out the sun. She was wearing a white dress, it was torn and falling to pieces, caked in mud and what looked like splatters of blood. She ran around one of the hedges, gasping for air, fear in her eyes.

I continued my pursuit, taking my time as she ran, I watched as her dress caught onto the bushes, she looked back, desperately tugging on the dress, trying to free herself. She saw me closing in, her attempts began to grow stronger as I grew near, she had tears in her eyes as she realized she was trapped.

I was finally right in front of her, right on top of her and she let out an ear-piercing scream as I reached out to grab her and–

"Coryo, Coryo wake up."

My eyes flew open, I was gasping for air as I took in my surroundings, I was in bed, on the train, with Soarynn. My entire body was shaking, covered in sweat, and my fists were gripping the sheets as I panted, I looked over to see a concerned Soarynn.

"It was just a bad dream," she whispered, stroking my cheek with her hand. I let go of the sheets, nodding as I tried to catch my breath. "Are we...are we in Four yet?" I asked, my eyes glued to the sheets, I didn't trust myself to look at her right now, I didn't trust that she wouldn't be looking at me with that fear in her eyes, the way she was in my dream.

"We are," she said gently, "do you wanna talk about it?" I shook my head, "We should get ready," I mumbled, pushing the sheets off of me, she grabbed my wrist, "Coryo, we promised to tell each other the truth," she reminded me.

I sighed, rubbing my face with my hands before finally looking up at her, she looked beautiful, with her bedhead and her little nightdress, and not one bit afraid of me.

"You were running away from me," I whispered, "you were scared of me." She grabbed my hand, "You know I'd never be afraid of you," she said, giving my hand a squeeze, I nodded, "It just...it seemed so real."

She gave me a sad smile, "That's always the worst part, how real they seem." I realized that Soarynn must be an expert in bad dreams, she'd probably love to have what I considered a bad dream. "I'm sorry I woke you," I said, I wasn't used to the roles being reversed when it came to pulling each other from our nightmares, she pressed a kiss to my cheek.

"Don't be, we need to have each other's backs." I nodded, she was right, all we had was each other. I opened my mouth to say something, but Eudora was already running up and down the halls, banging on all our doors and waking us up for today.

I sighed, "Time for District Four," I groaned, Soarynn laughed, sliding out of bed and walking over to my side, "Come on, today we get to see the ocean," she said excitedly, reaching out her hand for me to take. I gladly took it, I walked her down to the dining car where she'd part ways with me to get ready, we couldn't see the ocean yet, but we would soon.

Breakfast was pancakes, my personal favorite, I tried to eat as much as possible, but I didn't have much of an appetite after my nightmare. Mother came in, dressed in a coral-colored dress, with tulle sticking up in all sorts of places, and practically covering her entire face, she looked like a scary piece of coral reef that came alive.