Final Reality (THG Fanfic)

Chapter XIII

I shoot up awake, cursing myself for dozing off, thus letting my guard down. I rid my eyes of sleep and check my pocket watch for the time. If the time has not been altered, it should be two in the morning. The temperature has not changed, even though it’s night. A coat of sweat is what I wear, and in fit of rage I cut away the top half of my wetsuit, keeping the belt secured around my waist, leaving me in my bikini. Surprisingly, it helps quite a lot, because the rock I’ve been leaning against feels a lot cooler than it did before.

Half an hour passes quietly, and when I decide the coast is clear, I lean my head back and close my eyes. I’m not meaning to sleep or anything, even if I wanted to, I couldn’t. Back at the Capitol, by this time I would have burst into Cathal’s room to find him struggling to escape a nightmare. Tonight, I find the rhythmic snoring of careers instead of a nightmare. And now that I’m wide awake, my wish for water is the only thing that occupies my mind. How I yearn a single drop of fresh water. Just the thought of it dries my throat. I’m thinking too much about it, I need to distract myself. I start to think about home, and the lake we get to swim in. No, scratch that – nothing with water. I ruffle through my mind for a thought or a memory that doesn’t mention any water. A memory of my family springs to mind.

It was the first day of spring and the snow was beginning to melt. I was playing peek-a-boo with a newborn Fletch in front of the cackling fireplace in the living area. We rarely had wood to burn in that fireplace, but JD had put his name in multiple times for the tessara. In exchange, we got wood to keep warm. We had to be careful though; our house was made of wood and would easily ignite. Our mother was sitting in a rocking chair, watching a five-year-old me pretend to be invisible for a nine-month-old Fletch. “Mommy,” I cheerfully called for her. “Look, Fletch thinks I’m invisible when I cover my eyes!” I covered my eyes for an example and Fletch wailed for me, thinking I had really been invisible. “Is he stupid, mommy?” I asked her.

She laughed at the ridiculousness. “No, honey, you really are invisible!” my mother cheered. “Just a moment ago you were gone, and the next you were back! You should learn how to control your powers, my dear.”

“Really?!” my grin stretched from ear to ear. I wish to be a child again. Free from this arena, free from worry or care, and I would have a wild imagination that could take me to outer space. Fletch started to scream and cry as I clapped my hands in glee, elated with my newfound superpowers. I tried to comfort him by hugging him and patting his head, but he wouldn’t stop. “Mommy, does he hate me now that I have superpowers?” I asked her, making my bottom lip as big as could get.

My mother chuckled again. “Jealous, maybe. He’s probably just sleepy.” I picked him up and took Fletch over to my mother, as my father and Jordan entered the house, shaking the snowflakes from their messed up hair. I remember seeing an angry look in their eyes, their faces flustered as they closed the door behind them. Their coats were speckled with snowflakes, and their boots soaking.

I ran to the door to greet them, my arms stretched out ready to be swallowed by my dad’s loving arms, and he picked me up and planted a big kiss on my cheek. “How’s my little girl?” he asked, all jolly suddenly.

“I have superpowers!” I shouted to him, oblivious to my father’s hidden emotions. Everyone laughed, except for Fletch, who continued to cry. My father handed me over to a fifteen-year-old JD, quickly coming to Fletch’s aid.

“So what kind of superpowers do you have, Ree?” JD asked. Ree was the nickname I had acquired through my kindergarten teacher’s poor pronunciation. I don’t understand how that teacher could have gotten it so wrong; I mean the bird is very common around our district, how could one get it wrong?

I laughed and kissed him on the cheek. “I’m invisible, and Fletch is stupid!”

JD only laughed, nuzzling his face into my mousy brown hair. I remember asking him what was wrong because he seemed distracted by something. “Do you want to go play outside, before the snow melts? We could go to Nan’s,” he offered instead. Being a gullible five-year-old, I let the tempting offer take me away. I never found out what he was so worried about. JD helped put on my coat and boots (which we then sold a few months later) and brought me into the brisk wind. The snow had turned to slush, our boots rendering unpleasant squishy sounds as we trudged through it. We didn’t really do anything that day. JD took me to our grandmother’s where she let us play in her backyard, while she brewed us some sweet tea. JD and I just sat under a magnolia tree, in the snow, talking about birds and angels and superpowers. I remember dozing off in his lap as he recited a story about a bunny being late for something, and something about a garden party and a girl named Alice.

That magnolia tree’s gone now. When our grandmother died, the house was refurbished a little and the yard was dug up, so all that was left was the dried soil. The house was turned into a spare parts shop, owned by someone named Keith. I had met Keith a few times when I was younger, accompanying my father as they talked about what to do with Nan’s place. There’s not much to Keith nowadays. After the peacekeepers discovered he was stealing those “spare” parts from vehicles in a warehouse south of the district, he was gone. It was a risk he was willing to take, and a stupid one at that. After all, stealing is punishable by death. You know what else is punishable by death? Volunteering. Not really, but that’s what it feels like now.

Speaking of bunnies being late, I check my pocket watch for the time. It’s half-past three o’clock. That was a damn good distraction. I scavenge for another memory, but I notice Pommel stand up from his spot to join me. Nothing exciting has happened with the Games recently, since I heard the screams there’s only been one cannon fired. Other than that, I’ve only heard the screeches from some kind of animal I figure to be a monkey. Pommel sits close to me, with our shoulders touching, and I notice large droplets of sweat on his forehead. “You should have rested,” I say to him in a low voice, hoping not to wake Deven and Ayano. I remember hearing Sean tell me that Pommel had anger issues, and that it was not difficult to be targeted by him. Perhaps he was confused with Deven.

“Yeah, well, thirst was depriving me of sleep,” he sighs quietly. I chuckle softly, but stop as we notice the sky become a bit lighter. “What time is it?” he asks me.

I reach for my pocket watch and click it open. “Almost four,” I reply. We’re already into the second day, and Sean had planned for this to end sometime tomorrow night. I run the plan through my head a few times, thinking over strategies and how we can put this early wake to our advantage. We’re supposed to be with Prim this time tomorrow, so why not be by her side now? “We should leave now, while they’re sleeping,” I tell Pommel. He looks at me for a moment, his eyes confused. Maybe it is too soon to leave. Eventually, Pommel nods and gets up. Making sure his swords don’t clink, he carefully walks towards Jaeda. I quietly follow, slinging my bow across my chest. Thankfully the moist jungle floor provides soundless steps, but the arrows and knives jingle in their quiver. I see Deven grasp the trident next to him and I think he’s going to wake. Pommel and I take a step back, just in case, but nothing happens. What an idiot, I think to Deven. I throw the top part of my wetsuit into the sheath of arrows and knives, and the jingling stops.

Pommel tentatively clasps his hand around Jaeda’s mouth and gently gives her head a shake. She blinks herself awake, but her eyes burst open at the sight of us, both shocked and relieved at the same time. Jaeda doesn’t speak a word as Pommel helps her up. She must have forgotten agreeing to the plan, but I have to admit I’d forgotten it wasn’t just Pommel and I scheming things. Jaeda grabs her weapons and two flax bowls containing meat and nuts. She then steps over to me, waiting for further instruction. I wait for further instruction, too, when I realize I’ll have to be the one to lead us to safety.