Promises of a Sacrificial Lamb |Destiel x The Hunger Games|

-19-

I've never run faster.  Not even when Cresh was chasing me.  I bolt through the dark forest like a stampeding animal.  Adrenaline and terror guide me through the dense shrubbery, over logs and roots, in the direction that the horrific scream originated from.

I know full well I may be sprinting straight into a trap.  Surely the Careers are the ones who elicited that scream out of someone.  It might not even be Cas at all, but I can't risk it, just on the off-chance that it is him.  The thought of it alone is enough to make me sick to my stomach.

My heart plummets to my feet when I hear the cannon fire.  The birds and insects stop chirping as the chilling sound echoes through the forest.  I keep running, barreling through the bushes, and I don't stop until the sound of laughter hits my ears.

I skid to a halt.  Whoever it is is close.  I scramble to hide behind a wide tree trunk, my mind racing with uncontrollable thoughts.  I can hear twigs snapping.  It sounds like there are two people, but thankfully, they seem to be walking away from my abysmal hiding spot.

I can barely feel anything other than the rapid pounding of my own heart.  Slowly, and carefully, I peek my head around the tree trunk.  My insides churn when I see the lacerated body of a boy with blond hair.  So it wasn't Cas.  Thank God.  It looks like it might be the other boy from District 6, but it's impossible to tell for sure.  It's dark.  He's far away, and covered in his own torn flesh and blood.  I don't even have to wonder who did this to him because I hear that voice resonating through the night air, accompanied by an amused laugh that makes my hair stand on end.

"That's another district down,"  Cresh tells his partner.  "He didn't even try to fight back."

They're still walking in the opposite direction of me, but I find myself holding my breath until my lungs feel like they're on fire.  Of course Cresh and his district partner are out hunting people in the middle of the night.  It's the perfect time to sneak up on unsuspecting tributes and kill them before they even know what hit them.  Awful.  Absolutely awful.

"Do you think we'll find those two from Nine?"  the other Career asks.

I have to bite down on my tongue to stifle a sharp inhale.

"I hope so,"  I hear Cresh chuckle.  "That Winchester boy got away from me, but I bet you he was trying to steer me away from his boyfriend.  That means he's probably around here somewhere.  Man, I can't wait to find them.  It's gonna be so fun to watch them bleed."

His echoing words are like a punch to the gut.  It knocks all the air right out of me.  They're looking for us.  They're actively looking for us, and if they manage to find Cas before I do...

Their voices are gone, out of earshot.  I clamber to my feet and hasten through the shrubs, away from the fallen tribute and deeper into the darkening forest.  Time is running out.  I need to move quickly.

I've been searching for hours.  Pain shoots through my aching body with every step I take, and still, I feel like I've made zero progress.  The forest looks almost identical everywhere I go.  It's like I'm walking in circles.  Is that the same rock I passed thirty minutes ago?  Who knows.  It might be.  There are hardly any landmarks to give me a sense of direction, any idea as to where I am, and it doesn't help that it's still the dead of night.

I'm beginning to think this is futile.  The Gamemakers are probably messing with the landscape, making everything look like carbon copies of each other so I lose track of where I am and where I'm headed.  They're probably sitting in their control room laughing at me right now as I blindly stumble around, desperately searching for any sign of my district partner.  They're probably enjoying my misery.  They might even be snacking on junk food or drinking copious amounts of beverages as I trudge through the forest, stomach growling and tongue as dry and cracked as a desert.  Oh, to be a Gamemaker and not have to worry about the effects of starvation or dehydration.