The Very First Hunger Games

Chapter 21

Chapter 21: Day Five/Day Six/Day Seven in the Arena

I wake the next morning to find Coral is gone. Something tells me that she won't be back. The number one thing I feel is disappointment. Disappointment in myself for blindly trusting Coral when the only thing she did was managed not to kill me.

Now that I'm alone again with my thoughts, the crushing realization of what I did yesterday has finally sank in. I killed someone. Took their life.

Eric. His name is Eric. The same Eric who tried to kill you and Luca and many others, I remind myself.

But when you take someone's life, it doesn't matter the circumstances or what kind of person he was.He's dead because of you and only you. Nothing can change that.

I'm not excusing what he did or was planning to do. Of course I'll never be able to forgive Eric. He was a pretty terrible person, but did he deserve to die? Who am I to decide what punishment people receive for being a bad person?

You would've thought because of the sheer amount of fish in the lake that I would be able to catch one. I guess I should stop making assumptions. Every time I think I've skewered one, it manages to squirm away.

Can kill a man twice the size of you but can't kill a fish? A voice echoes in the distance.

I whip my head round, startled. There is no one in sight. Did I imagine it? No one knows I'm here. No one but Coral. The voice I heard didn't sound like Coral's. It almost sounded like...no it couldn't be.

Across the water, I make out an outline of a person, a boy with copper hair and a set jaw – determined, conniving. But that's impossible.

"It's nice to see you again, Willow" Eric says grimacing.

My knees almost give in. Fear and confusion sweep over me. This isn't real, it has to be a dream, but I know it's not. If it were a dream, everything would be cloudy and my senses wouldn't be as sharp.  

"Haven't you got anything to say to me? He shouts across the water. "No apologizes? No explanations?

I taste sickness in my mouth and I am reminded of why I killed him.

"You're dead" I say with as much courage as I can muster up.

Eric raises an eyebrow.

"Is that a threat, little girl?"

Little girl. Little girl. LITTLE GIRL? 

"I'm hardly little" I shout back.

My voice never sounded so small. Eric throws his head back and laughs – a strangled cackle from the back of his throat.

"You're pathetic" He sneers.

I can't really be standing here talking to Eric, can I?  I must be going crazy.

I turn away from the phantom Eric and stride in the opposite direction. Eric appears again blocking my path. I let out a gasp and nearly drop Eric's harpoon.

"You're not going to get away this time" Eric says, being creepily quiet.

I scream and run towards Eric's former settlement, all the while hoping Eric's leftover food I ate last night will give me the strength I need to outrun Eric's ghost. He appears again and again and again. In every direction I turn Eric is there. I can't get away from him. I lie down, crawl into fetus position and scream so loud the Jabberjays in the trees impersonate me.  

After the echoes from the Jabberjays fade out I am met with silence apart from the pounding in my own ears.

I rise to my feet and look around trying to figure out where I am. All the trees in the arena pretty much look the same; tall, with spiraling tree trunks and large green leaves that block out the sky. I guess I'm lucky I didn't end up in the denser part of the forest.

I stumble around for a while trying to find my bearings. It doesn't take long for me to trip over a large stone and land face first in the muddy banks. Muddy? There can't be mud without water! A jolt of excitement goes through me as I realize I must be near the lake

I turn my head up and spot a concrete cylinder a few meters in front of me. A well! Just like the ones we used to have in District 12. But why put a well so close to a lake? I assume I'm near the lake because I couldn't have run that far without realizing it. Nevertheless I am grateful for stumbling across the well. It's almost as if Eric brought me here.

Was it my imagination? It seemed so real, more real than my most vivid nightmares. Maybe I am going crazy.

I can hear almost everyone in Panem laughing at me. Especially the Gamemakers. Let's all laugh at he girl who talks to thin air and runs around in circles and screams over nothing. It must've looked pretty funny.

I can still see Eric's ghost in my memory. The way he towered over me, waiting for his chance to take revenge. Something is still off about him. I was so panicked; I didn't take a moment to realize there was something odd about the way he looked. The sun almost shone through him, and he was slightly blurry, like an image shone from a projector. Was it the work of the Gamemakers? Was Eric just a projection? I want to laugh out loud at how stupid I was. Why couldn't I see it was no more than a projected image?

Despite my embarrassment, I tread on because I know there are bigger things to worry about; like the suspicious well. I stumble towards the well, apprehensively. Did the Gamemakers bring me here? As if the well didn't look suspicious enough, the fact that the Gamemakers projection drove me here seals the deal. I am not drinking out that well. It doesn't seem worth the risk. I still have quite a few bottles left at camp and there's always the lake.

I decide to leave the well for now and hunt for the lake; if I can find the lake I can find my camp.

I manage to find my way back to my tent soon enough. It was the way I left it – undisturbed.  I found myself disappointed that Coral didn't come back. Although she might have aided in Eric's plan, I don't blame her, having a brother like Eric. Plus it will be pretty lonely without her.

I pack some supplies in a metallic duffel bag, and set off to look for Luca's camp. Not forgetting Eric's harpoon, of course. Never know who you might run in to.

After twilight falls, I decide to head back to my settlement. I've had no luck in daylight, I doubt night would be much better.

Even after two more days of searching, I have not made any progress. Which is frustrating because I know they can't be far if Coral could sprint back and forth from their camp to her brother's.

Walking along the soggy terrain I nearly slip in the mud bank.  It looks like the mud bank I fell into the night I discovered the well, although much of the arena looks like this.

The rustling of leaves and twigs snapping startles me. I am not alone.  I duck under a tree and sneak a peek in the direction of the rustling. A tall slender figure towers over the well filling up their water bottle. I only recognise her face when she spins her head around. It's the girl from District 11 who spared my life. Luckily she doesn't seem to know I'm here, or if she does she's not letting on.   

After she is satisfied with all the water bottles she has filled, the girl attaches the bucket back on the rope, and sends the bucket back down the well. Just as she is about to walk away, she lets out a bloodcurdling scream and drops her water bottles.   When she turns around I spot the reason for her fear. A thick black snake had coiled its way around her arm and sinks its fangs into her hand.

The girl's face is a mask of terror and pain. She flaps her arms around until the snake finally lets go. The District 11 girl holds her hand and continues to scream. I dive out the tree and rush to help her. She doesn't seem to notice me. She's too busy cursing at the skies.

The girl from District 11 drops to the ground and starts shaking violently, her limbs spasming. My heart twists as I realize she is a goner.  She spared my life and now I will never get the chance to thank her. 

I stand before her hopeless, watching as she starts to choke and gasp for her last breath. Horrific green bubbles start frothing round her mouth, and she is no longer choking. There is an atrocious sizzling noise coming from her, as if her insides are melting. Then her pupils roll to the back of her head, leaving only the white of her eyes.

After emptying the contents of my stomach, I sprint as far away from that godforsaken well as I can and never look back. The cannon boom doesn't come until the wee hours of the morning. She must have been writhing in agony for hours.