Safe and Sound

NOTE: Back to Harper's point of view, just in case you didn't read the previous author's note :)

Chapter Eleven - Sixteen

I went the whole day without hearing a cannon shot, meaning that nobody had perished today. That was a good, yet very bad thing. It was good because nobody had lost a child or a friend today, but it was bad because it still meant a lot of hard work and competition to me. If my father wants me to do well and at least try to win, then do that I shall.

That evening, I climbed another tree and laid myself down on a thick branch, belting myself onto it. I looked up at the sky and looked at the stars. Whether they were real or just projections from the Capitol, I wasn't sure, but they were nonetheless beautiful. I sighed as I looked up at them. This moment could have been the last moment that I would ever see the stars. It could have been the last moment I would have seen anything. Somebody could have fond me and chucked a spear right into my heart. Because this could have been the last moment, I decided I would savour everything. That's what everyone should do, whether they're in the Games or not. Too small a number of people never appreciate this enough until they need them the most. The Capitol, for instance, is a very good example of this. When they've killed off all the children and workers from each District, only then will they realise how much they needed us in the first place. Without the Districts, the Capitol wouldn't get food, coal, luxuries and much more. In reality, even though the Capitol would never admit it, we were the ones keeping them alive, even though we were half dead ourselves.

I wriggled as much as I could about in the sleeping bag, trying to get warm. It was particularly cold this night. Either that or I hadn't noticed before. The cold nipped at me constantly, causing me to wriggled about. I couldn't toss and turn because I was belted down to the branch, but that didn't stop me from shaking from the cold.

When I finally got to sleep, I wouldn't have called it a night's sleep. I would have called it a night's trip to hell.

- - -

The room was blurry and wavered a bit, but I knew where I was. I was home. The wooden floorboards creaked loudly beneath my feet, even though I was wearing the boots Cinna gave me, along with my tribute outfit. I should have been as quiet as a mouse, perhaps even silent, but that was not the case.

My breathing was sharp and scared, the mist from my breath wafting out in front of me. I walked down the corridor, the mist rising. It seemed to get colder the further I walked down the corridor. I was heading towards a small room near the end of the house. It was my sister and I's room. I was going to see my sister and show her the old and slightly cripple deer I had killed that evening. I had put it out of its misery. It would help her get better and it would also cause her to smile. My sister's smile was the brightest in District 12, and I hadn't seen it for so long. I extended my hand towards the door and wrapped my stiff and slightly raw fingers around the handle. I had been shooting for so long that evening, that my hands were slightly bloody, but I didn't care. I was just itching to see the bright smile on my poorly sister's face.

I pushed open the door, the creaking sound ringing in my ears, like a bad omen. I ignored it. I adjusted the deer on my arm before I stepped fully into the doorframe, smiling brightly. My sister didn't wake up. She stayed quite still. She was still asleep. My smile flickered, but I didn't mind. Being ill could make you quite tired.

"Rosie?" I whispered, walking over to her bed, putting the deer down on the floor, "Rosie-posy, get up please. I've got you something that will help you get better." I sat at the end of her bed and reached out, shaking her shoulder gently. She didn't move. She didn't seem to breathe. "Rosie, stop playing around. I've got you a deer. Tasty, huh? It was old and it was hurt, meaning I caused it no harm. I saved it in a way." I now started to get worried. She wasn't moving. I removed my hand from her shoulder and touched her arm.

She was ice cold.

"Rosie!" I shouted at her, my voice full of desperation and confusion, "Rosie, no!" I cried out, now realising what had happened. "N-no." I sobbed, falling onto my sister's very frail, very dead body. I clutched her close and buried my head into her wispy hair. "Mother! Father! Help!" I cried out, my voice shaking and my throat clogging up from the tears. I screamed into Rosie's chest, not accepting the fact that she was gone. Her still chest. The chest that would never rise again. The chest that would never beat again.

I heard thundering footsteps and the door swung open loudly and very suddenly, but I didn't jump. I was already in enough shock. My mother screamed and ran forwards, grabbing my sister's little wrist. My father ran over to me and grabbed me around the middle and carried me away from my sister's body as I kicked and screamed. He heaved me out of the room and put me down into his bed. He cocooned me in the blankets and ran his fingers through my hair as I cried bitter tears into the pillow. He whispered comforting words to me, but I cried on. I must have cried for a solid hour, until he started to sing me a lullaby, still fiddling with my braid.

"Deep in the meadow, under the willow,
A bed of grass, a soft green pillow
Lay down your head, and close your sleepy eyes
And when you wake, the sun will rise.

Here it's safe, and here it's warm
Here the daisies guard you from every harm
Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true
Here is the place where I love you."

I started to drift off at my father's soft tone. He wasn't the best singer, but he was gentle with his words, making them flow beautifully, despite the fact he couldn't sing. I didn't mind that. Even with the lullaby, I still cried, but I was falling asleep quite quickly. I closed my tired, swollen eyes and listened to the rest of the song. The lullaby that all people from District 12 knew.

"Deep in the meadow, hidden far away
A cloak of leaves, a moonbeam ray
Forget your woes and let your troubles lay
And when again it's morning, they'll wash away

Here it's safe, and here it's warm
Here the daisies guard you from every harm
Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true
Here is the place where I love you."

"Here is...the place...where I...love you." I repeated back to my father, before I sunk into darkness.

The picture swirled a bit, but eventually it cleared and I was standing in the area of grass in front of the Cornucopia. I was on my metal plate. I looked about. The tributes were all there...but they weren't the same. On one side of me, I saw the dead tributes, standing on their metal plates, covered in blood. The young boy whose neck was snapped had his head at an odd angle and blood had filled his mouth, frothing slightly. I gulped and looked at the other side of me. Grayson was standing on the plate next to me, but he looked awful. He was standing there, looking slightly troubled. He was paler than ever and he was staring ahead of him. He looked dazed and lost. There was only thirty seconds left. Thirty seconds to think of a strategy.

I saw a bow and arrow, roughly forty to fifty metres away from me. It seemed to emit some sort of halo. It was calling me. It was mine.

Ten seconds.

I positioned myself to run, staring directly ahead of me, towards the bow.

Nine.

Eight.

Seven.

Six.

Five.

Four.

Three.

Two.

One.

I was about to leap off my plate, but the gong never came. I straightened up, confused. The gong hadn't rung, but the bloodbath had begun. The tributes ran off their plates, only to be blown up by the mines. Grayson had stepped out. I screamed at him to stop, but his foot touched the floor and he too was gone, blown into a million little pieces. There was blood everywhere and all over me. I had literally bathed in the blood. But I was the only one left. I stood here, perfectly still. Surely that made me the winner?

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased the present the victor of the ninety-ninth Hunger Games, Harper Anselin from District Twelve!" The voice rang out, but nothing happened. I was stranded on my plate. The hovercraft should have come to get me. I stood and waited, but nothing came. Nothing. I was stuck here, forever. But now that the Games were over, did it mean that the mines were deactivated by now? It was worth a try.

I followed Grayson's lead and stepped out, pacing a foot on the grass. Nothing happened. I put the other foot down and I was suddenly in a massive, fiery explosion. Flames erupted all around me and I was sent hurtling through the air, the pain running through my body...what was left of my body.

I screamed a scream that was to last forever as I flew, never to land.

_ _ _

I sat up immediately. I heard the scream echo off the dark, shadowy trees. I had actually screamed. I clamped a hand to my mouth, biting on my fingers to prevent any more noise from escaping my dry lips. I slumped back against my tree, hoping no one had heard my wretched scream. But of course they heard it, it was a scream after all. The whole of Panem would have heard it and not just through their TV screens.

I laid there, looking back up at the stars. The stars probably heard it. I sighed and hit the back of my head against the tree trunk, trying to knock some sort of sense into it. But I couldn't. I had dreamed about that very evening. That very evening that I had come to see my sister, dead. That evening had only been about a week before my father had fallen ill. That was the last time I had heard him sing. He wasn't a very good singer, mockingjays probably hated him, but he still tried and didn't care that other people criticized it. To me, it was the most beautiful noise I could have heard.

I didn't want to think about that night, but my brain had recreated it for me right then and there in all its glory. I fiddled with the red ribbon on my wrist subconsciously as I tried to forget about the dream with my sister in it. Then I had to go and dream about some form of demonic bloodbath. I shuddered at that. The boy with the snapped neck was going to haunt my dreams forever now. It was a sight I wouldn't forget, even though it was only a dream.

I sat there, fiddling with my ribbon, hoping I wouldn't be found, right up until morning light. I just sat and stared at the trees opposite my own, as if trying to send them a message through my eyes. I had been up for hours now, but I hadn't dared move or even look down from the tree I sat in. I didn't quite want to face reality just yet. I also didn't want to face my dreams. I just didn't want to face anything at all, especially if it meant death.

As I watched the sky change from the pink and orange of sunrise to its natural blue colour, I felt some sort of change within me. I didn't know what this change was, but it didn't feel altogether bad. This confused me and I didn't like it. I just wanted to know what felt so different.

I was answered when I heard a slight fluttering noise from above me. I looked up to see a silver parachute floating down towards me. My first sponsor! I unbelted myself from the branch eagerly and stood up, my balance and co-ordination still working, even after the horrific dream. The parachute floated down and landed right in my hands. I opened it, hungrily. As the jar opened, a little white note floated out of it. I picked it up and read it.

Happy birthday. We all chipped in. - Haymitch

Of course! It was my sixteenth birthday! That was an odd thought. I was sixteen and I was spending this supposed happy day of the year in an arena so I could fight to the death. I pocketed the note and looked at the inside of the pot. I gasped when I saw it.

Inside was a small cake, about the size of my palm, beautifully iced white with small, pink flowers that could have only been done by the careful hands of Peeta Mellark. It had the number '16' on the top in light blue icing, surrounded by the pink flowers. I choked on my own breath as I stared at this present. I had never had a cake from the bakery. It looked lovely. I thought I was going to cry, but I didn't.

"Thank you so, so much." I whispered. I looked up to the sky and smiled to the people of my District, to Haymitch, to Effie, to Peeta and Katniss with their daughter, and to my father. "It's beautiful, thank you so much. I just...I just don't know what to say...so I'll guess I'll just eat it then..." I sat down on my branch and looked around in the pot. Luckily for me, there was a small knife. I carefully cut a small slice and bit into it, the spongy insides of the cake making me feel all light and fuzzy. I grinned broadly as I ate it. I only had a couple of slices, before I put it back in its pot and put the pot in my backpack. I was going to save the rest for later.

With that, I took a quick drink of water from my flask, zipped up my backpack once more, slung my quiver on over the top and jumped down from the tree, clutching my bow, more or less ready to start Day Three in the arena.