Caged | The Hunger Games AU ✓

xviii. strangulate

eighteen - strangulate

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it's barely been a day since the passing of asher, and the wounds are still fresh as can be. i haven't slept in fear of more haunting nightmares. every time i close my eyes, i see his lifeless ones staring up at nothing.

the sky is darkening quickly with the approaching twilight. i gather the rest of the freshly-picked berries i'd gathered and put them in a small pocket in the backpack, then zip it shut. after strapping it onto my back, i set off back to camp, taking my time and blocking out my thoughts. i try to focus solely on the sound of my feet crunching leaves instead of the intruding thoughts that beg for attention.

matthias is waiting for me back at our camp. he is armed and ready to fight when i arrive, but his sword slips from his fingers when he sees it's only me. he rushes over to me, and i must look as unsettled as i feel, because he is treating me like i'm a precious gem that can break any second.

"you were gone for a while," he says, removing the pack from my shoulders and setting it near a tree.

"did you worry?" i ask teasingly.

"not at all." he smirks. even though i know he knows i can fend for myself, part of me thinks he really was concerned– at least a little bit. it's a result of asher being stung when he was on his own and carly being chased by careers. we're all significantly more on edge.

i look up at carly, who is passed out in a tree branch. she sleeps with her neck lolling in an awkward position and her arms draped over her stomach. "how has she been?"

matthias sighs. "the same. unresponsive, refuses to talk."

"i think she's in shock," i determine. "she's carly; she'll get better."

"asher confessed his love for her on the brink of death," matthias points out, glancing up at carly. "i don't think there's any way to recover from that; especially when she appears to have loved him, too."

i stare at the dirt and sit, ignoring the searing pain from my ax wound that follows. i rest my back against the trunk of a tree. "it's weird once you think about it. they always seemed to have hated each other."

matthias plops down next to me, pulling his knees to his chest. i can see him looking at me out of the corner of my eye. he says quietly, "maybe their affection just wasn't very overt."

i give an indifferent shrug. "maybe."

we sit in comfortable silence for a while. both of us are so used to each other by now that there is nothing awkward between us. it's a large contrast to when we first met, when my people skills were horrible and i could barely utter a word to him. now he seems to have wormed his way into a certain level of my trust that i hadn't known was open to anyone except my family.

"you know, you turned out to be a lot better than i thought," matthias randomly mutters.

i finally look at him, confused at his enigmatic sentence. "what do you mean?"

"i tried very hard to understand you, but i couldn't," he replies. "you always seemed so distant and unfriendly."

he has me curious, and i'm not even the least bit offended by what he's saying. "what changed your mind?"

matthias doesn't hesitate to answer. "the opening ceremony. i realized as we were holding hands that you were just as terrified as i was, and for some reason that made you a lot more...humane to me. it reminded me that you were still a person with emotions and things just like me." he pauses, looking like a puppy that's waiting to be chastised.

instead, i send him a benign smile. "that's adorable."

matthias looks relieved that i don't think he's strange for what he said, but rolls his eyes all the same. "what was your first impression of me?"

"i thought you were the biggest dork on the planet."

matthias laughs that endearing little laugh of his, and i wonder, why him? why is matthias rutcher the one to break open my shell, to tear down all my walls and still respect me afterward?

then i remember the comparison i made of katniss and peeta to lemonade. i'm the lemon, slightly sour, while matthias is the sugar, sugary sweet. at first we don't mix, but once we're around each other, you won't be able to separate us. we balance each other out, and that is what makes us so compatible.

matthias yawns. i'm not even tired yet, but my body is exhausted. he stretches and stands, walking to the base of the tree that carly is in. he grabs a bit of rope and turns around. "you gonna sleep? if so, you can and i'll stay up."

i shake my head, noting how tired his eyes look. his entire face is sagging with fatigue. "i'll take watch."

matthias nods in understanding, and i know he remembers my nightmare from the night before. he faces the tree again and climbs it effortlessly and skillfully, tying himself to a branch. he is asleep in minutes.

i puff air out of my cheeks, unsure of what to do now that matthias is sleeping. taking out a knife, i sit and wait. i still need a bath and i figure i should plan our day for tomorrow. after breakfast we can go to the pond and freshen up. i can redress my bandages there. we can take note of our remaining supplies. we can either come back here or– no, we can't return because it'll put us at risk. we have to keep moving. we've learned our lesson last time. staying in one spot for too long is bound to breed catastrophe.

while i am lost in thought, someone silently sneaks up behind me and rips the knife out of my hand. before i can scream, a thick piece of cloth wraps around my nose and mouth, blocking any air from entering my lungs. i struggle to remove it, then realize i should try to escape from my attacker. i reach in my belt for spare knives, but find the holster is empty. my chest is beginning to burn from lack of oxygen. i scream, but before it can get loud enough to wake up my allies, a hand is pressed against my mouth, further muffling any sounds by pushing the cloth into it.

my vision is turning black at the corners. my lungs are on fire and tears sting at the corners of my eyes. in one final attempt to escape, i try to elbow the person, but to my dismay, they move and i miss. i bring my leg back to kick them, but they grab onto my foot and trip me so i land on my face. my attacker grabs me by my hair and pulls so my face is lifted off the ground. my vision is swaying and turning, but i can still meet the eyes of emrys.

"go to sleep, district twelve scum," he sneers, and that's when my eyes roll into the back of my head and i finally go unconscious.

gif is thalia laughing with matthias bc cUte

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hey guys, remember me? the author? yeah, it's been a while; i'm sorry. i was so brain dead but then i randomly skipped around on pretty little liars and got inspiration from allison so hey!! (i dont even watch the show lmao)

im sorry for the long wait and short update but i promise i'll update very quickly. it's summer now so i'll have more time to write (and by "more time" i mean i can write at 1 am like i did with this chapter)

dedicated to QuickMaximoff aka my bae bc she was so upset after asher

xoxo,

kristyn