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thetargaryenbride · 1 year

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𝑩𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒅 𝑶𝒇 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑾𝒆𝒆𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑾𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘 - [6]

Warnings: blood

Pairing: Steve Harrington x f!Byers!Reader

Word Count: 4109

𝓐𝓝: 𝘚𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘺, 𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘴. 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘶𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 4 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬. 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘐'𝘮 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘢𝘩𝘢

𝑰 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌~ 💚🐸

𝑨𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔, 𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒇 𝑰’𝒗𝒆 𝒘𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝑶𝑶𝑪 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚. Thank you for reading. Hope you like it! 💚🌿

Masterlist || Chapter 5 || Chapter 7

“C’mon. One, two, three,” counted Max as she and Will lifted your body off the ground and supported your whole weight on their backs and shoulders.

“We need to find a tree with lower branches. That way, I can climb on one and pull her up,” suggested Will and she nodded.

“Yeah, and I can help you by lifting and pushing her up. Okay, sounds like a plan.”

Despite the kids pretty much carrying you, your body was still bigger and taller than theirs so your feet were kind of dragging on the ground, causing you immense pain. But you grit your teeth, chanting in your head over and over again that you had to bear with it because you didn’t want to be a burden even more than you already were.

You counted the seconds in order to distract yourself, you thought of Steve, of your home, of anything, just so you didn’t focus on the burning pain in your legs, and you breathed a sigh of relief when they finally stopped in front of a tree that Will deemed good enough.

In the end, you weren’t able to find a tree with lower branches so climbing was another set of difficulties and pain that you had to overcome. The kids had struggled so much trying to help you up and it was much harder to climb only using your arms and their support but at last, you had managed to reach high enough branches and settle there, all three of you exhausted beyond belief, chests heaving.

A screech in the distance made you all tense up and look in that direction, holding your breaths as your hearts raced like wild hares. A second later, two canons went off one after the other.

“Two more down for the count,” you muttered as you turned to look at Max. “What happened to your partner?”

“He decided to join One and Two,” she huffed and you sighed, head hitting the bark of the tree as you relaxed your body against the wooden surface.

“I supposed that was the case…You didn’t want to be a part of their alliance?” you asked curiously and she shrugged.

“They are all douchebags. I don’t wanna be a part of their shitty little group. You saved us all from dealing with one extra asshole.”

“You mean the girl from Two I unfairly blew up?” you arched an eyebrow and she snorted.

“Unfairly? What’s unfair is that they were cornering and threatening people even before the games started. You did everyone a favor.”

“Yeah, well, they threatened to gut my brother and make me watch,” you admitted and her and Will’s eyes widened. “After that, we’ll torture you until you beg to die, he said.”

“He?”

“The guy from One. Andy was his name if I’m not mistaken. I was gunning for him too but, alas, I missed.”

“Jason Carver’s little protégé,” she curled up her lip in disgust. “They are all repulsive.”

“Jason Carver? As in, the Victor from the Seventieth games?”

“Mhm.”

“Damn,” you muttered and all of you fell into silence for a while. “But how do you know all that?” you were overtaken by curiosity and couldn’t help but ask.

“My, uh, kinda step-brother? He’s a Victor. He tells me stuff sometimes when I’m too curious to stop asking,” she revealed and your eyebrows shot to your hairline.

“You have a step-brother?”

“Well, not exactly. I mean,” she sighed as she tried to find the best words to explain. “His dad and my mom have been dating for quite some time and they want to marry. So, we’ve been sort of…a family for the past couple of years. Just not…officially?”

“Ah, I understand. He hasn’t put a ring on it.”

“Yepp…but even if we’re not officially family, I can’t see Billy as anything less than,” she smiled slightly and you let out a breathy chuckle, a smile of your own lighting your face.

“He must be mad at his father then…for not proposing to your mom and becoming a family,” added Will and Max looked at him in confusion.

“Why do you think so?”

“Because if you were family, you wouldn’t be here,” he said quietly and she looked at her feet in defeat. “Members of Victors’ families don’t get Reaped. Not since Hop-“ he cut off mid-sentence when you raised a finger to your lip to shush him, sending him a knowing look.

As if on cue, a beeping sound echoed above your heads and all three of you looked up to see a small parachute descend upon you, carrying a small metal capsule.

Will grabbed it and observed it curiously before handing it to you.

You cracked it open and in you saw a piece of paper, a small syringe, and a crystal vial filled with golden liquid. You took the paper and read the message on it.

“Inject 5ml in each foot every five hours to prevent infection and stimulate your body to heal faster.”

- H

“Thank God,” breathed out Max as she took the syringe and the vial and filled 10ml of the liquid while your brother took your feet in his lap and began to slowly pry a little opening in between the bandages in order to expose a vein on your foot where Max could inject the medicine.

You let out a strangled gasp when you felt the needle pierce your wounded flesh and your hand flew to your mouth so you could bite down on your finger, Will’s face scrunching up in sympathy and concern.

“I’m sorry,” muttered Max. “I’m almost done.”

You let out a breath of relief once she finished and allowed your tense body to slowly relax.

“What does he mean by stimulating the body to heal faster?” asked the redhead as she reread Hopper’s note. “Injuries like these are gonna take weeks to heal.”

“Well...Red blood cells help create collagen. Those are the, uh, tough, white fibers that “glue” the injured tissue back together and form the foundation for new tissue,” you explained tiredly as your hand went to rub your calf to prevent a cramp from forming, fingers moving carefully to avoid the injured areas. “Now, you're right when you say it takes weeks but there's medicine that stimulates the cells to do it faster. Mind you, it's not gonna happen overnight,” you grunted as you adjusted your position to be more comfortable. “-but at least it will help numb the pain, prevent infection or the wounds from worsening as it works to stitch the skin together...well, wherever there’s skin to stitch,” you finished with a long exhale and she nodded.

“Well, you better rest now. Let your body heal.”

“And what are you going to do?”

“I’m going to scout the area. Hopefully, find some food,” she shrugged as she unzipped her blue jacket with yellow stripes on the upper sleeves and tied it around her hips.

“Take this,” you rummaged through your bag and pulled out one of the two remaining sandwiches. Thankfully, the container it was in had prevented it from getting wet.

“No,” she shook her head and pushed your hand back towards you. “You eat it. You need it more than I do.”

“But-“

Before you could finish your sentence, she was already on her way down the tree and you let out a sigh of defeat as you shared a look with your brother who could only shrug.

“Isn’t that a dangerous thing to say?” you whispered and his smirk grew.

“I love living life on the edge.”

“So, do you offer your… help, to every tribute?” you asked.

“Only to those who hold potential…and fire in their blood.”

“So you’re saying you can help me and my brother?”

“Indeed…I can help you and your brother survive this,” smiled Henry and you looked him up and down skeptically.

“How? Are you going to what? Speak to the president?”

“Oh, I don’t need to. I have…my own ways of doing things,” he shrugged lightly.

“Why?” you asked and he arched an eyebrow, silently urging you to elaborate. “Why do you want to help me?”

“There’s just…something about you. The way you volunteered. I told you. Those who have fire in their blood fascinate me. You fascinate me. Such boldness. Such bravery,” he uttered as his hand went grab your chin, finger stroking your cheek, making you clench your toes and hands uncomfortably.

“And still, a part of me cannot believe that you’re going to do this without asking for something in return.”

“You’re a smart girl,” he smirked. “It’s easy. There’s only one thing I want you to give me…all of you.”

You came to with a sharp intake of air, startling the girl who was in the midst of biting down on the baked meat. She had caught a huge snake earlier and had roasted it over the fire. It didn’t taste much different than chicken. What was important was to have something in her stomach.

“You okay?” she asked and you nodded breathlessly, wiping a bead of sweat off your forehead.

“What time is it?”

“A couple of hours past twilight.”

“I’ve slept the whole day away,” you rubbed your face.

“Well, you needed rest and you got it.”

You craned your neck to get a better view of Will who seemed to be asleep next to Max. She had tied him to the branch with a rope just in case he decided to toss and turn and fall off, even though the branches were thick enough to fit two people.

“Why are you helping us?” you suddenly asked and Max furrowed her eyebrows, gaze flickering between the branches and your eyes. “I mean, you could have killed me in my sleep and Will would have been an easy target after that.”

“Because I owe you my life,” she said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “I would have died in the bloodbath if it weren’t for you. And,” she cut herself off, making you watch on expectantly. “And you diverted someone’s attention onto you, intentionally or unintentionally. That person was very focused on me for some reason. I was afraid they were going to approach me and do something.”

“Who?”

“The One person who dictates everything,” she revealed and you blanched.

“Oh…him.”

“Yeah…him.”

You fell into silence then as she resumed eating.

“You intend on killing yourself…right?” she asked out of the blue and your eyes widened.

“What are you talking about?”

“Your strategy to save your brother. Push him to the finale until it’s only you and him left and then kill yourself so he could win.”

You chuckled lightly and shook your head. “Max, this is-“

“Look me in the eyes and tell me that wasn’t your plan since the moment you raised a hand to volunteer,” she cut you off and you shut your mouth, looking away. “You can’t…because I’m right.”

“You are smarter than people give you credit for.”

“Yeah, well, how can they know the true me when we’ve spent only a couple of days together?” she shrugged as she played with her fingers, eyes locked on the dirt that was stuck under her nails. “I want you to kill me, Y/N,” she blurted out suddenly and you straightened up.

“What?”

“I’m going to die either way. I’m just a kid…I rather get killed by a good person who I respect than by one of those shitheads,” she lifted her head and looked you right in the eyes with such a resolution that you got scared. Not scared of her but rather scared for her.

“Max, don’t ask this of me,” your lips twitched in a humorless smile as you shook your head. “I don’t want to stain my hands with more blood.”

“You’ll have to either way.”

“But not yours…Not yours…”

Next day

“Absolutely not. I’m not letting you go out there alone,” you were about to get up but Will and Max forced you back down.

“We’ll be fine. I scouted the region yesterday to the last detail. We’ll be fine. I’ll keep him safe,” reassured you the girl but you still remained unconvinced.

“What happened last night doesn’t sit well with me. I don’t want to let you go out there,” you tried convincing them once again.

Last night, a couple of hours after your conversation with Max, you had awoken because of a scream not too near but not too far from your location. You had peeked through the branches of the tree as much as possible and noticed a greenish-gold glow come from the waters.

“But we don’t know what happened. We have to investigate,” countered Max and you let out a sigh.

“Alright, but I want you to come back as soon as possible. Don’t linger and don’t shove your noses into dangerous waters just to quench your curiosity,” you waved a finger at them and for a moment you felt like a mother warning her kids to not stray too far from home, less they wanted to miss dinner. “And I don’t want any silly attempts at bravery. If you hear so much as a rustling of bushes, you run back here.”

“Deal.”

You should have known it would be a bad idea to let them go alone. You should have trusted your gut feeling and insisted they stayed because not long after they set off to gather some food and fresh water, they stumbled upon no other than the Career Alliance.

The moment they had seen Will and Max, a cat-and-mouse chase had begun.

Thankfully, the two children managed to reach your tree fast enough and avoid being snatched by the group of murderers.

You could only watch in shock from your place on the branch, wishing to jump down and help them but knowing it was all out of your hands, so you only prayed they made it on time. None of the careers seemed to be a capable climber so they all failed in their attempts to follow Max and Will up the tree. They were all more cumbersome than you thought they’d be.

“Just you wait, little flower. I’ll tear off all your petals,” threatened Chance and you glared, scrunching up your nose. “You’ll pay dearly for the little dirty trick you pulled back there!”

“They’ll get down eventually,” commented Andy. “They can’t stay up there all the time. And when they do, we’ll be ready.”

You shot a look at the two kids and they looked at their feet, chests heaving after the crazy running and climbing they went through.

You didn’t speak for the rest of the day. You didn’t move for the rest of the day. You couldn’t even if you wanted to because the careers had set a camp at the base of the tree and were waiting for you, watching you like hawks. Eventually, they had fallen asleep which was the moment Max was waiting for so she could begin a conversation with you and maybe try to plan your escape.

“Look, I know you’re battling with yourself. You want to tell us ‘I told you so’ so bad,” began Max and you narrowed your eyes, pursed your lips, and shook your head in clear disappointment. “But listen, I think that maybe this is going to be a great opportunity for us. I mean, we drew them here. The whole group. Maybe we can find a way to incapacitate them. That’d be like…killing a couple of rabbits with one stone.”

“Oh, I’ve been thinking of ways to incapacitate them, alright,” you huffed as you ran a hand through your hair. “See those?” you pointed at the glowing dots, floating all around in the air now that night has descended and she nodded. “Those fireflies are named Bluebells. They burst in blue flames when squashed.”

“Blue flames are much hotter than regular ones,” her lip curled up and you nodded. “It’s gonna catch fire even in damp areas like this one.”

“True, but it’s not like we need the trees to catch fire. Only their clothes,” you shrugged and her smile grew.

“You can be scary sometimes, you know that?”

“I take it as a compliment. That’s the only way to keep my head on my shoulders.”

“That’s fair. Nobody wants to be buried six feet under at eighteen. I mean, you haven’t even experienced all pleasures of life.”

“Ha,” you snorted. “Pleasures of life? Like-like what? Work till I drop?”

“I don’t know. Like…boys?” she asked with furrowed eyebrows and your cheeks heated.

“Pft, boys,” you denied weakly. “Let me roam the forests and bury myself in books to my heart’s content. Now that’s pleasure,” you immediately regretted the words that came out. “No, you know what, no. I take that back. Sorry, Steve, babe, you know that I love you. I didn’t mean it like that,” you apologized, knowing that he’d be able to see and hear you, imagining him chuckling and shaking his head at your antics.

“Guys!” whisper-shouted Will and your heads snapped to look at him. “As much as I find this conversation weirdly entertaining, now’s not the time for it.”

“He’s right.”

“Yepp.”

“I think it’s time for action. Will, can I trust you to climb around and try to catch some of the fireflies?” you asked and the kids shared looks.

“Yeah, but where should I gather them?”

“Take this,” you handed him one of the water canteens, now empty after you’d drank all the water. “Try to gently coax them inside, just like you’d try and catch normal fireflies in a jar.”

“And then?”

“Step by step, honey. Step by step. First, let’s make sure we have one part of the plan completed. Then I’ll tell you the rest of it,” you told him and he nodded before setting out.

“Are you sure he’ll be fine?” asked Max worriedly and you chuckled slightly.

“He’s a little monkey. He’ll be fine.”

True to your words, Will managed to walk and climb through the branches, transfer from one tree to another, since they were all so close to each other – such dense greenery – that all branches were easily reachable.

“I think I gathered enough,” said the boy a bit out of breath once he returned to you and you ruffled his hair.

“You did a great job, buddy, and I’m sorry to ask this of you but, I’m afraid I’ll need you for the next part of the plan.”

“I’ll do anything,” he said firmly and you sighed, giving him a tight smile, regretful that you had to put him through this.

“I need you to set fire to their camp.”

“What?” his eyes widened and you folded your lips.

“You’re fast, sneaky, light on your feet and a great climber. Only you can pull it off.”

“B-but what do I do?”

“Okay…okay.”

“Get down there, release the fireflies you caught, and try to smash as many as possible. Smash them against the tree, against the grass, and if you can, against someone’s bag or clothes. And then rush back up here,” you instructed him and he nodded vigorously.

“You can do it.”

“I can do it.”

The boy looked down at the sleeping four, heart beating wildly. He was so afraid and uneasy but he had to suppress those emotions and act if he wanted to help his sister and Max survive. He had to pull his weight too instead of relying solely on others.

He calmed down his breathing and shut his eyes, trying to concentrate and chase away any negative feelings. He gulped before he slowly began climbing down the tree, careful not to let out any noise. He used Chance’s loud snoring to disguise his movements.

He let out a small gasp when he came face to face with the Tribute from Four, at first thinking he was awake because he was the one standing guard, but when he took a closer look, he noticed that his eyes weren’t actually open but rather his closed lids were painted to look like open eyes while the man was actually sleeping. It had almost given Will a heart attack but he managed to calm himself and finally jump down onto the grass. He took a shuddering breath, trying to keep himself calm and steady, before he lowered the canteen to the ground and unclasped it, releasing the fireflies. They scattered low over the surface of the ground, not taking flight or raising up in the air yet which was something that would give him an advantage in completing his task.

He took a deep breath before he squashed one against the ground with the canteen and true to your words it burst into blue flames, immediately catching the grass on fire. It was a most peculiar phenomenon and he took a couple of seconds to admire it. Then he squashed another against someone’s bag that was strewn on the ground at random and it caught on fire instantly. He could see Chance’s body jerking as his nose scrunched up, already being able to sniff out the smell of something burning.

His eyes darted between you, who were waving your hand and silently mouthing to him to climb up, and one of the fireflies that was floating close to a sleeping Andy and he inhaled sharply before marching towards the man’s lying form and smashing the firefly against his leg just before it was able to raise too high in the air.

That awoke the man instantly but before he could see and grasp what was happening, fire spread all over his upper leg and began spreading. And as he began screaming in pain, Will took off running, hands desperately gripping the bark of the tree and pulling him up and away from the chaos he had just awoken.

The scent of burnt fabric, grass, and flesh, combined with the screaming, had everyone shooting up from their slumber, confused as to what was going on. When they noticed the blue flames, they rushed to take out their canteens and pour water over the burning limb of their comrade.

“Alright, we gotta go!” you exclaimed once Will returned to your side and you stood up, shouldering one of the bags.

“Are you sure you can walk?” asked Max with concern and you nodded.

“Don’t mind me. The soles of my feet are unharmed, right? That’s enough for me.”

“But-“

“No time for this, go, go, go,” you urged the kids and Will took the lead, guiding you through the branches of the trees, while you stayed behind to help Max navigate, capturing her arm every time she stumbled or slipped.

You managed to move from one tree to another until the screams became fainter far behind you. Your legs hurt like hell but as long as the soles of your feet were unharmed, you could walk and bear through the pain of your other injuries. The medicine was a god-sent too.

You stopped sometime later, deciding to take shelter in the crown of a tree you deemed far enough from the last one, and took your much-needed rest for the remaining hours of the night. You woke up with the rising sun and continued on your path through the tree branches.

“This is where we stop. The other tree branches are too far,” stopped you Will at one point and you hummed, eyes darting around to inspect your surroundings. You had reached the end of your side of the forest, coming to the big pathway that split the forest in two. There were trees on the other side of the road but they were too far. You couldn’t reach them even if you jumped.

“Let’s get down then. We’ll keep walking from here on. We have to get as far away from here as we can. Then we can find another tree to settle in after that.”

“Alright, okay, let’s do it,” agreed Max and the three of you began your journey of descending down the wood.

“Hold on,” interrupted you Will once you reached the ground and you looked at him questioningly. “Let’s get some more water. We ran out last night.”

You nodded in agreement and the three of you headed to the water that thankfully wasn’t far away from your location.

But you never expected to see something like that when you arrived at the coast.

You never expected to see the body of a dead man – half of it in the water, half of it rotten to the bone.

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