Blood Must Have Blood
Leksa woke with a start. The jungle canopy surrounding her. “Fuck!” She screamed. The word seemed to bounce off of the leaves. It’s almost as if the jungle was laughing at her for her attempts to stay alive. She frantically did a 360, all of the tributes were starting to step out from behind the trees.
“Why did you kill us Leksa?” They all said at once. She watched in horror as their bodies and faces hanged with how they were killed. One tribute had hand marks around his neck. She glance a Mila and saw the slice around her neck. Leksa started backing away from them.
“You killed me Leksa.” A voice boomed from behind her. She whipped around and saw Bellamie as he came out from behind a tree she hadn’t known was there. He had third degree burns everywhere. Her face paled as she observed his wounds. “I was your partner. You killed someone from your home. No wonder they don’t want you back.” He spat venomously at her. He started to walk towards her, a dagger in his hand. She looked around and only saw the dead. She started to back up to match his pace but found herself against a tree within a few steps.
All of the dead surrounded her, they all had daggers. One at a time they came up and sliced at her. She felt the pain and refused to cry out, allowing the tears to stream her face instead. The last to cut her was Bellamie. He started it small with hardly no pressure but the the time he was done, the whole blade was inside of her torso. He pulled it out by twisting the blade from vertical to horizontal. Blood was pouring from her as she slumped to the ground.
“Blood must have blood!” They all chanted.
“Leksa.” She heard a soft voice say. She felt gentle hands touching her arm, slightly shaking. She felt a kiss against her forehead and light touches against her cheek. The touches seemed to glow on her skin, leaving light as they went. She focused on the feeling and soon remembered where she was. She blinked her eyes open, tears still falling from her face.
“You were calling out in your sleep.” Klark looked worried, her brow creased and nose slightly wrinkled. “You can come sleep with me tonight if you’d like.” Leksa had been living with them for a few days now but Abbie had asked if she would sleep on the couch, not being comfortable with her sleeping the same bed as Klark.
“But your mom.” Leksa insisted.
“Fuck it. You’ve had these nightmares for the past two days. I can see the tired under your eyes Leksa, I’m not stupid.” Klark had been sitting on the floor in front of the couch, her face only a few inches from Leksas. Klark grabbed her hand and intertwined their fingers, bringing Leksa’s to her face for a kiss. “Let me help.” Klark looked at their fingers and felt her own tears grow. Being unable to stop them, Leksa sat up on her couchbed and pulled Klark into her, only shifting slightly at the weight against her ribs.
“Let’s go to bed then.” Leksa whispered against her ear. Klark nodded and Leksa released her from her embrace. The pair stood and slowly shuffled to Klarks room. Klark slide into the bed first, followed by Leksa. Her bed was against a wall and Klark didn’t want Leksa to feel trapped.
Leksa felt their legs tangle and kissed Klark’s cheek. “Thank you.” Leksa breathed out, instantly feeling more relaxed as the nightmare rewound and played in her mind again.
“Don’t think about it.” Klark knew she was probably fixating on the nightmare, over analyzing every aspect about it.
“Why did you choose me? Klark, I’ve thought about it and if you had really wanted to quit being a benefactor you could’ve just picked someone from the first game you worked.” Leksa had been working up the nerve to ask Klark this question and just hadn’t found the right time.
“There’s just something about you Leksa. You command attention and respect. At first I had just found myself intrigued by you. Word had gotten to us about the train ride to the capitol and then there you were. I tried so hard not to get attached to you because the last person I did that too, ended up dead. As a benefactor, when you choose a tribute, if they survive, it makes your company and you look good. So, buisness for my dad fell and I just had this feeling you would survive. Then you were in the games and all I could do to help was send you items. I’ve never felt so helpless. You talked to me the entire time and when you went down those times with Bellamie I just...” Her voice broke. She sniffled and wiped her face against the blanket that covered them both. “I thought you were dying, Leksa. I thought that was it. I thought I had done it again and just watched as you almost died.” Klark turned to look at the ceiling, not wanting to see the look on Leksa’s face at her confession.
“I was never dying, Klark. Not when I had to come back to you. You motivated me to live. You motivated me to fight.” Leksa rubbed her nose against Klarks neck, kissing the spot as she moved to get a better spot to see Klark’s face from. Leksa moved Klarks hand and put her arm around her waist.
“My back is feeling better. It’s not a painful when I do those exercises.” She changed the topic. She had upset Klark and she didn’t want to further the hurtful conversation.
“I’m glad you took me seriously about it.” Klark kissed Leksa’s forehead, tracing patterns on her hip with her fingertips.
“Always.” Leksa scooted as close to Klark as she could get, feeling sleep tugging at her. “Don’t leave.” She slowly said, her breath finally evening out.
“Never.” Klark kissed Leksa beside her lips and listened to the sound of a sleeping Leksa as sleep called to her and begged for her to join Leksa.