The Rebel Victor | I [THG]

Chapter Nineteen | The White Rose

The rest of that day was dull. It was mainly just exploring the valley they had found, looking for water, and setting up camp-which was simple enough. They also came to the conclusion that it would be best if not one, but two of them stayed on watch. The valley wasn't too big, it wasn't small either-and regardless of where the tributes were, they didn't know what was out there, they didn't know what the gamemakers would send their way.

That night, Thomas and Max were going to take the first watch. Of course Quinn hadn't been sure if she could trust either of them-mostly Max. She had gotten such a low score-they child have brought it up by now. But then again, it was possible that they knew why she had gotten such a low score...they didn't want to bring it up.

Quinn found a spot with her back up against a tree, it wasn't far from the others, but it was far enough away that she could have her own space. She needed space, she needed her own space to think; mainly about what had happened the first day in the arena.

Finnick had seen it all, she had done very little so far, he had nothing to sell to sponsors. But the way he had spoken to her only hours earlier, he wanted drama that was against the Capitol-and she couldn't do that. She couldn't risk Snow killing her in a even more painful way.

You said what they all want to say on national TV, Finnicks final words to her echoed through her head like the cannon had through the valley. What she had said was stupid-to risky and idiotic. She shouldn't have said that-she should have considered what Ciruss had told her! He said they would find anyone she cared about just like they had done to him. And Snow had done just that, poor Damien. No matter what he had to do in the past while carrying out his duties as a peacekeeper, he did participate in a underground movement against the Capitol-and now he had paid for not only that, but her stupid mistake too.

Quinn was snapped out of her thoughts by the anthem. It boomed into her ears and left a faint echo like the cannons. She stretched her neck to see through the trees-the first thing she noticed was the unbelievably bright shade of purple the sky was-she could see the way the gamemakers blended in shades of pink and blues, it wasn't a real night sky, but it was beautiful at the same time.

She forced her eyes to look at the Capitol's symbol before the faces of the fallen tributes began to appear. First was Gennie, which Quinn was sad about-but what could she have done? Then there was the girl from Five, Quinn felt her stomach churn. She had seen her body near the cornucopia. Then both of the tributes from Seven.

Her hands rolled up into fists as she recalled Finnick telling her about the riots in Seven because the younger sister of last years tributes had been reaped-and now a family had to face the fact that the games had taken not one, not two, but three children from them for the sick entertainment of the Capitol.

After Seven, there was the boy from Nine, and then finally the boy from Twelve. Quinn sighed heavily as the anthem faded away, and the symbol flashed away leaving only the purplish sky with small specs of light for stars. It was so fake, she longed to be back in the warehouse again. Her corner had the perfect view out of one of the windows towards the ocean, and she could star at the stars for as long as she wanted, and she could watch the sunrise without getting out of her warm nest of blankets...

She couldn't help but wonder what had gotten her here. What had she done to whatever god or ultimate force to get her this, what had she done that was so awful?

As the night dragged on, she found it impossible to sleep-she was too restless, her mind was too busy. But she didn't want the others to know that, she didn't want to be given the responsibility of watching for any sort of threat. So she leaned against the tree, and stayed as quiet as possible-her eyes wandered around the area around her. Then that was when she saw it; the thing that she hadn't even realize could make her feel so sick and terrified.

Not even more than a few feet away from her was a small bush, and on it was the same pure looking flower that President Snow had sported in his pocket.

A white rose.

It's just part of the arena, she told herself. But every fiber in her body was screaming. It was a message from Snow, for her-it had to be. That bush hadn't been there, even before the anthem it hadn't been there.

Quinn turned to look at the others. Max was looking towards the cornucopia, and that was the direction tributes would most likely come from. Then Thomas sat with his back to Maxs' looking in the other direction. Quinn then looked back at the small rose bush that seemed to be taunting her. After a moment, she could stop herself from reaching over and grabbing the top of the flower and ripping it off.

She held it in front of her face, staring at it as it would tell her a message from Snow personally. But with no such luck, she held it in her hands and closed her hand tightly around it and then let it sit limply in her hand as she picked it apart with her hands. Maybe she had just sent a message to Snow in return-it hadn't been her intention, but if he sent one to her-that he was watching her carefully, she hoped that picking the flower apart got the message across that she didn't care. She inhaled deeply as she dropped the mutilated flower to the ground.

She then sighed and rested her head back on the tree, but when she looked up she saw that the purplish light was barely shedding any light anymore. Something like a haze was seeping down through the treetops.

"Max," she said quickly, and pointed up at the grey haze that seemed to be seeping through the sky and towards them.

"Hm?" he replied and then he and Thomas followed her gaze. He stared for a moment, confused, "Guys!"

The two girls who had begun to drift to sleep jolted awake, "We have to get out of here," he said as he pulled himself up to the ground and Quinn and Thomas did the same. "Whatever that is, it's not good."

"How do you know that?" Thomas asked.

"Do you really want to stick around to find out?" Max said sharply in return.

Everyone quickly grabbed their backpack and began to run in the direction they had come from. But as they ran, the haze began to get thicker and thicker at the tops of the trees, and a strange smell filled the air-it was a rotten smell, almost like the old fishy smell of the warehouse. Then suddenly there was a light mist in the air that burned at the touch.

It was so fine, and as they ran through it, it felt like burning needles pricking Quinn's face and hands. She had to squint her eyes so it didn't get in her eyes, but the sounds of Fiona wincing and Thomas grunting in pain as they ran-it got worse. The pain got worse as the mist got thicker, but then something else happened-intense pain was now mixed with distorted senses.

The sounds around Quinn sounded like they were under water or being whispered.

The feeling of the spear in her hand didn't feel real, it felt as if it was someone else's hand and spear and she was only experiencing heir sight.

Everything she saw, it wasn't right-Leanne who had only been to her left now looking like she was standing still in front of her.

Quinn had to stop moving, if she ran into Leanne they'd fall and they'd both risk dying.

But this wasn't right. Why wasn't Leanne trying to wipe away the mist from her skin? Didn't the mist harm her at all?

Screams of pain and horror surrounded her-she recognized one as a males voice, another as a girls...was it her?

The feeling of something touching her back caused a scream so loud to erupt from her throat that for a brief second it snapped her back into reality. But the soft touch continued and there was a light buzzing sound that cut into her ears. The feeling covered her back and creeped up onto her shoulders-she pushed whatever it was off of her. The feeling was gone, but the sound surrounded her still mixed with screams.

But suddenly, the noise, the strange hallucinations-they all disappeared and left Quinn in complete blackness.