Welcome to the 125th Hunger Games!

Just a few things before the story begins. A reminder that this is one story out of two that are taking place during the same time. So if you are reading this story first and plan on reading the other, you may want to read the same chapter from the other in order to avoid spoilers to the character.

I will update the stories on the same day, that way once the games start you can choose which story to read first as there will be some spoilers about what might happen to the other character.

I'll let you begin the story. As always, please review and let me know what you think, good or bad. Any comments are good comments.

Let the Games begin!


Chapter 7:

"Lorelei Caromere," a robotic voice calls out, making me jump. As the girl next to me stands up and walks determined into the training center, I repeatedly tap my foot, feeling anxious about this. And now, I'm next to go. I don't know what is worse: going early or being one of the last ones.

No, going later would definitely be worse. I can barely stand waiting now and I will be the third person. Glacia sighs from next to me and I glance over to see her pulling her feet up and crossing her legs. And then, so help me, she closes her eyes. How can she be relaxed right now?

I turn my attention back to the door and start tapping my fingers on leg. How long has passed already of Lorelei's fifteen minutes in front of the Gamemakers? Five? Maybe more?

I want nothing more than to be anywhere but here. My stomach won't stop turning and I have never felt this nervous before. But it would be impossible to not be nervous when the score I receive based on the next fifteen minutes could mean life or death. I need to get a good score in order to get the sponsors to like me. And I need to have the Gamemakers like me so I can stay alive and protect Caitlin. I want to turn around and look at her, knowing I would get some small comfort from her smile. But I can't do that when everyone else is around here. They would see that action and know something was going on.

Alright, let's get it together. What am I going to do for the Gamemakers? Show them that I can use weapons. If they can see I know how to use a weapon and kill, I should be guaranteed to get a decent score. All they care about is making sure we are good pawns and play their game. And of course I will show them other-

"Lance Henderson," the voice says and my heart stops for a second. Oh god, I have to go in front of them now. From the corner of my eye I can see Glacia watching me and I know I need to look strong right now with everyone watching me. I take a deep breath and stand up, knowing I need to get moving before the Peacekeepers decide they need to make me. I shake my head a little to clear my head of other thoughts and focus on impressing the Gamemakers as I start walking into the room.

As soon as I enter the large and empty training center, I immediately notice the Gamemakers laughing and enjoying food. But the Head Gamemaker Lisia is standing still at the front, watching me walk over to her. I try not to let my fear show on my face as I walk over to them. I stop in the middle and look up at her, not sure if I should immediately begin. She nods her head at me. "You have fifteen minutes to present your skills to us. Your time begins now."

My mind briefly blanks as my time to impress them starts ticking as my nervousness reaches a new level. I turn to the weapons and take a deep breath, trying to sort through my thoughts. I force my feet to start walking, needing to get moving before they notice. My eyes land on the knives and my brain starts working again as I quickly make my way over. I pick up several, tucking as many as possible into the belt before turning around, knowing I am wasting time and need to start moving. I jog over to the climbing station and don't give myself time to consider what I'm about to do before I start climbing the rope mesh that travels across the ceiling. The ropes are easier to climb than the cliff face was but it's still a challenge and I find myself breathing heavy as I reach the top and pull myself on top of the mesh. Now that I'm looking down, I feel my stomach wanting to revolt at the height and how far I would fall if I lost my grip. I swallow down my fear and loop my left arm around as I start pulling knives out of my belt. I look around and spot the dummies closest to me at the trident station and take a deep breath, hoping I will be able to at least hit the targets from up here. And then I throw a knife.

It lands in the thigh of the dummy but I don't care, I'm just happy to have hit it. Now that I've gotten the first weapon display done, I relax very slightly and focus on throwing the remaining knives at dummies. Two land on the ground near the targets but three land on them, one of which would have been a fatal hit. I feel good about my throws and almost let myself become distracted before realizing I've definitely used up half of my time. I quickly start climbing down, wanting to show them how I can use swords since that's where I spent most of my time training with weapons. Thankfully I don't slip at all on the climb down as that would have been extremely embarrassing and definitely would have given me a low score.

Once on the ground, I set my eyes on the swords and quickly walk over, wishing I had some way of knowing how much time I had left. A glance over at the Gamemakers shows that Lisia is still standing in the front, watching me intensely as I walk across the training center. Her gaze unnerves me slightly as I pick up the sword I've been practicing with. I have no way to tell what she thinks about my display so far and I wish I knew because I'm not feeling too confident about it. But there's no time to waste trying to change my plan so I walk to the dummies, swinging the sword in my hand to get accustomed to the weight. I start slashing away, wanting to show them that I know how to use the sword, especially where to strike on a person to make a killing blow. I even throw some spins and fancy moves in, hoping they will like it.

"Thank you, Lance," Lisia's voice rings out through the training center and I pause to turn and look at her. "Your time is up. You are dismissed," she says, not showing any emotions before turning to a screen near her and starting to make notes. I have no way of knowing how I did as I set the sword back on the rack. Did she even like that at all?

Peacekeepers gesture towards the opposite side of the room from where I walked in and I head over, feeling uneasy about my individual session. It wasn't spectacular but I guess it will be better than some of the other tributes. I enter a new hallway and follow a Peacekeeper to the elevators. As I push the button, I let out a sigh and shake my head. Oh well, it is too late now to change what I showed them. Hopefully I can at least get a 6. It might not get a lot of sponsors but it will at least make them not dismiss me right away.

The elevator has me up to the second floor in seconds and I step out, immediately being greeted by Roxanne. "Lance, you're back! How did it go?"

I shrug as I walk towards my happy mentor, really not sure how to answer her. "I really don't know. It was hard to tell what Lisia Arune thought of what I did. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what score I get later."

Roxanne walks over to me and places a hand on my shoulder comfortingly. "I'm sure you did well. But like you said, we'll have to wait so no point stressing about it now." She moves her hands and clasps her hands together, looking excited about something. "Right now, we're going to wait for Glacia to get back and then we're all going up to the rooftop."

I definitely start scowling at the thought of bringing Glacia up with us. I really don't want to hear her start bragging right now about what she did in the individual session. "Do we have to bring her with us?"

"Yes," she responds immediately and gives me a scolding look. "Honestly Lance, you should try to get to know her more past the career version you always see. You'll find she's quite different from what everyone else sees."

"What's the point?" I ask as I start pacing around the room by the elevators. I'm sure she's right about Glacia being different but I'm sure she will never let me see that side. "The games start in less than two days. And in a couple weeks, at least one of us will be dead. There's no point in me getting to know her. If anything, it will make it harder to fight her in the end."

Roxanne purses her lips at this and I wait for a response from her. But she doesn't say anything else on the subject. "So how's your plan going with Caitlin?" She asks as Darach walks out of the hallway and makes his way to the kitchen. I look at her bewildered, not believing that she just mentioned my plan in front of Glacia's mentor.

Before I can say anything, Darach chuckles and waves his hand at me. "Don't stress yourself out, kid. I already know some of the details and don't worry, I haven't told Glacia." As he enters the kitchen, he shouts back at me as I look at Roxanne, still not believing this. "Your secret is safe with me!"

Roxanne simply shrugs at me and gives a small smile. "Sorry, us mentors talk to each other to get an extra opinion about what to tell our mentees." She shakes her head at me as I still look at her in disbelief. "Seriously, Lance, you don't have to worry about him telling Glacia."

I frown a little at this, still unsure that Darach hasn't told Glacia all my plans. I haven't really gotten along with him that well over the past few days so why wouldn't he say something? Well maybe he wouldn't out of respect for Roxanne. Before I can say anything else, I hear the elevator start moving. "Has it really been fifteen minutes already?"

Roxanne smiles a little at me before grabbing my hand and starting to pull me towards the elevator. The doors open and I can see Glacia looking exhausted and then she catches sight of us and looks weary. "Ah I'm glad you're back. We were waiting for you to finish so that we can go upstairs."

Glacia looks at Roxanne as if she's lost her mind and I'm amused by this interaction. Maybe it will be worth dealing with Glacia to see her look uncomfortable. "Why would we possibly want to go upstairs?"

Glacia tries to walk around Roxanne but she quickly reaches out and grabs Glacia's hand, dragging her with us onto the elevator. "We're going to the rooftop. Just wait until you see it in the daytime."

The doors close and Glacia lets out a loud sigh as we begin moving up. But I'm too excited to see the garden in daylight after being there at night lately and don't let her annoyance bother me. And when the elevator opens on the roof, I'm not disappointed by the sight. The colors are so vibrant now and I swear there are some flowers open now that aren't at night. Glacia has stepped out and is looking around in wonder at the garden and I recall what Roxanne said about her. I watch her move to a trellis of pink roses, curious about this side of her. A happy look passes over her face as she reaches out and lightly touches the petals on one of the roses.

"I figured you would like it," Roxanne says and suddenly, Glacia's mood instantly changes. It's like a switch is flipped and the emotions are gone from her face as she turns to look at us.

"I don't like it," Glacia responds harshly as anger takes over her face. I have no idea what caused her mood to change instantly and I had thought I was going to see a different side of her up here. She quickly walks back over to the elevator and smashes the button to go down. "I'm going back down now."

The doors open immediately and then she's gone. I turn to Roxanne and see how disappointed she is right now. She lets out a sigh and turns from the elevator to look at me with a sad smile. "I thought bringing her up here would get her to let down that tough front she always has. But I guess not."

I frown at seeing my mentor sad, not liking this rare side of her. "It definitely worked for a few seconds," I say to her, remembering how Glacia had looked at the roses. It was like I was up here with a completely different person from the one I see in training.

Roxanne lets out another sigh before smiling at me. "Well, we shouldn't waste our time up here. Come on, I still owe you the story about my games." She starts walking through the garden and I follow her, taking in the colors that are changed in the moonlight. Roxanne takes me to a new area that I haven't been to with Caitlin and sits down on a bench that rests in the shade of what looks to be an apple tree. I pick a fruit off before sitting next to her.

We sit in silence for a few minutes as I eat my apple, watching the emotions on her face as she stares in front of her. I can tell these memories are painful and wait patiently for her to tell me on her own. Finally, she takes a deep breath and starts. "Well, I suppose the story of my games starts several years before the 107th Hunger Games. As you probably have figured out at this point, I'm not a huge fan of fighting. So how did someone like me start training and get picked to volunteer?" She chuckles a little at the memories before she turns to me, face still sad but a little amusement in her eyes. "I liked challenging myself to do new things. And what greater challenge is there than winning the Hunger Games?" She shakes her head as she turns again to look at the flowers in front of us. "I know what you're thinking and I agree with you. I was a stupid child who didn't quite understand what I was getting myself into."

Roxanne falls silent as I think about this new information. It explains a lot about how someone who seems to loath the career system ended up as a victor in District Two. "So what did you do?"

"What do you think I did?" She asks with an eyebrow raised and turns to me. "I joined the training center. There was no other way for me to be picked to volunteer without dealing with training." She pauses and laughs at some memory. "They really didn't like me at first. To Kat and Clemont, I was a disillusioned kid who wanted to win the games but didn't want to really fight. But Bronn had faith in me and convinced the others to keep me around. And when I was 18, he once again had to convince them to let me volunteer. But he succeeded and I was thrilled to be competing in the games."

Roxanne is silent again and I can see pain on her face as she recalls the memories that I'm sure she keeps locked away. I know that's what I will do if I win the games. She takes a deep breath before continuing, seemingly determined to tell me everything. "When I went to the Capitol, I had a simple plan. I would join the career alliance, let someone else take charge, and then trick them to win. But the first day of training completely changed that plan."

"You met Luana, right?" I ask her gently and watch her eyes light up in happiness before quickly turning to sadness.

"Yes," she says and sighs wistfully as she stands up and starts walking around in front of the bench I'm sitting on. "I met Luana. She was from District Six but that didn't matter. What mattered was that she reminded me so much of my best friend from Two that I had to be allies with her." She turns back to me with a devious smile on her face and it's shocking compared to the sadness that had been there only moments ago. "Oh the plan we came up with made the games so much more challenging and it was so much fun. During the day, I would continue acting as if I was going to be part of the career alliance in order to learn their plans and weaknesses. Luana would act scared like people would expect from someone from Six. Then we would meet up here at night to discuss what I learned at training each day."

I stare at her thoughtfully, recognizing the similarities between what she did and what I am planning with Caitlin. "So that's why you didn't really question me when I said I wanted to work with Caitlin," I murmur mostly to myself.

Roxanne smiles at me and nods her head. "That's right. It reminded me so much of my games. And I also enjoy watching someone from Two change up the typical career way." She sighs and walks back over to the bench and sits down again. "But back to my games. At the start, no one suspected anything from me and Luana. This allowed me to run to the Cornucopia and gather supplies for us before we ran into the jungle. The arena that year was an ancient jungle, filled with ruins. It seemed simple enough until night fell on the first day and we discovered that the statues came to life."

"That's terrifying," I say immediately, unsettled by the thought of hiding from not only the other tributes, but stone creatures that would give no mercy. "How did you avoid them?"

"We didn't avoid them," she answers and I'm in disbelief about her answer until she continues. "We created traps for each of the careers, playing on their weaknesses that I learned in training and then let the statues take care of them." Silence falls between us as we know that she means she let the statues kill the careers. But I imagine watching this happen from home and I know I would have been very interested in seeing how her plans turned out. "It worked really well. One by one, we took out the career alliance until there was only one person left." She looks down at the ground and kicks some of the pebbles around. "Gustav. My district partner and someone I had trained with for years."

"I was dreading having to kill him and that was why he was the last one of the alliance," Roxanne says quietly as she continues kicking stones around. I watch her face, appreciating seeing this new side of my mentor. It would have been very easy for her to not tell me any of this but she decided to share it, even though it brings up terrible memories. Her eyes start to water and she sniffles before continuing. "Well, we thought things were going to end with us eliminating the last career. We were setting up the trap near dusk when Gustav attacked us. I was distracted with tying knots and couldn't reach my sword in time." She closes her eyes but not before a tear falls and she quickly wipes it away. "Gustav had slit Luana's throat, killing her almost instantly."

I put an arm around her, wanting to comfort her as she lets out a small sob. She waves we away and tries to continue. "Don't pity me right now. I knew I would see her die at some point in time, I just didn't want her life to end like that," she says angrily to me and I know her anger isn't directed towards me but to her district partner. She takes a few unsteady breaths before resuming. "I didn't show any mercy towards Gustav. I might have trained with him for years and he might have been stronger than me but in that moment, I was so fueled by anger and I wanted nothing more than to see him dead as revenge for killing Luana. It was in that moment that I proved to Kat and Clemont that I could fight, I just chose not to most of the time."

I stand up and move over to a small statue of a child with wings, wondering if it's similar to what she faced in the games. No, the Gamemakers would have made something a lot fiercer and cruel. I look back at her and see that she hasn't moved from the bench. "So then what happened? After you killed Gustav?"

She flinches slightly at me mentioning killing her district partner but she doesn't look away from me. "Well at that point, there were five tributes remaining. I went out and found them and then I won, not just for me but also for Luana." Roxanne stands up and walks over to me. She puts a hand on my shoulder and smiles sympathetically towards me. "So now you know how I killed six people and indirectly caused the deaths of four others. Do you despise me for my actions?"

I shake my head at her immediately. "No, I don't despise you. If anything, it's made me respect you more because of how you won the games."

"By trapping people and letting stone statues kill them?" She asks me in disbelief at my answer.

I laugh at her question before answering. "No, because you didn't go through the games like everyone told you to. You went through with a friend."

This causes her to smile sadly at me. "I just did what I felt was right. Make sure you do the same thing, Lance."

As her words settle in a silence between us, I know that hearing her story was the final thing I needed to hear in order to play the games exactly like I want to. Any doubts I had about being able to leave the career alliance to be with Caitlin are gone. I will find a way to be with her in the games. "I will. It looks like we might end up going through the games in a very similar way."

Roxanne chuckles a little at this and smiles. I can still see a bit of sadness on her face but it looks as if she's trying to hid away the terrible feelings from recalling her games. "There's nothing wrong with that. Clearly it worked out well since I'm standing here today." She pats my shoulder and starts to walk back towards the elevators. I fall into step next to her, still enjoying the garden during the day. "Come on, we should probably head back downstairs. You can get some rest before we find out the scores because I'm sure you'll be up late again to meet up with Caitlin."

Her comment makes me laugh as we step onto the elevator and she pushes the button to go to the second floor. As we start moving down, I joke around with her. "Hey, you were the one who did the exact same thing."

"I know," she answers immediately. The elevator stops on our floor and we both step out. No one else is in sight and she turns back to look at me. "And I don't regret any part of it. Make sure you feel the same way."

I nod my head at her, feeling determined after our conversation. "Thank you for telling me about your games. And I will make sure I don't regret anything."


As we all gather on the couches to view the scores, I can feel myself starting to get nervous once more. After talking to Roxanne, I had forgotten about the individual session and stopped worrying about if Lisia Arune liked me. But now? My heart is beating fast from worry.

Flannery is looking cheerful as always and I wish she would tone it down just a little right now. "Are you ready to see the scores?" Of course I'm not ready to see them. I don't feel good about my performance earlier and right now, I'm just hoping I don't do so poorly that Glacia and the others decide to kick me out of the alliance right away.

Glacia seems to be hesitant about the scores like me and is staring at the blank screen, a solemn look on her face. "Yes," she answers Flannery quietly and I wonder just what had made her mood change so drastically earlier that she's still being reserved.

Flannery is staring at me expectantly and I give her an answer just to make her happy. "Might as well get this over with already," I say slightly annoyed as my stomach is in knots.

She doesn't seem to be bothered by my attitude and turns the TV on, revealing the hosts right away. Claudia is dressed more casual today, letting her short silver blonde hair look messy but I'm sure someone spent hours making her look flawless. And Elliot has his long red hair braided to the side and I raise an eyebrow at his look, knowing I shouldn't be surprised by him liking his hair like that. I suppose it's better than some of the other fashion choices I've seen here.

Claudia is the first one to speak, full of energy to rival Flannery. "Welcome, citizens of Panem! Now tonight is a very special night because we have just received the scores our 22 tributes have earned from the one and only, Lisia Arune." She dramatically waves a piece of paper and I wonder if Lisia really had just finished deciding the scores. I highly doubt that since she seems like a woman who has every detail decided well in advanced. I wouldn't even be surprised if she decided our scores based on the past three days and knew what we would earn before we even walked in the room today.

Elliot acts as if he's swooning and I roll my eyes at his attitude, wishing they would just get on with announcing the scores already. "That woman has such a brilliant mind. I still can't stop thinking about the chariot rides." I find myself in agreement about the chariot rides as I have thought about the theme and wondered if she has anything else planned like that. "Clearly there is no better person to create our Fifth Quarter Quell."

Claudia smiles over at Elliot, playing up their friendship in front of the cameras. I'm sure any Capitol citizen is watching and wishing they could be exactly like them. "Now I could gladly talk about our speculations for the games – something we did yesterday – but I know everyone is impatiently waiting to hear the scores." Her comment about speculations causes me to raise an eyebrow. I didn't know they did that and would like to hear what they said about me. Claudia has paused dramatically and I can see Glacia lean closer to the TV from the corner of my eye, clearly just as impatient to find out her score. "Shall we begin?"

Elliot nods his head at her and Claudia begins to read off the scores. "First we have District One," she pauses as a picture of Ryoko appears on the screen, the small boy looking just as cheerful as always. "Ryoko Siras has earned a score of 7."

Wow, I did not expect him to earn that high of a score. Good for him, being twelve-years-old and earning a 7. Maybe it will help him earn more sponsors. I don't have any more time to speculate about his future as Elliot has started speaking and I want to find out how the rest of the people in my alliance did. "And Lorelei Caromere has earned a score of," he pauses even longer than Claudia did to create tension, "10."

Alright, I'm even more surprised about that score. Usually they only give out 10's to the best person in the career alliance, maybe an 11 if they are exceptionally good. And sure, Lorelei stands out compared to the rest of us but Glacia is definitely better trained than her.

Claudia resumes talking and I watch her intensely as my face appears on the screen. "And now for District Two." My heart is racing and I hold my breath as she determines my fate in the games. "Lance Henderson has earned a score of," she pauses slightly as she reads my score and I would scream at the screen if I wasn't so anxious right now, "9."

My jaw drops open in shock as Flannery starts cheering in excitement, "Oh that's amazing!" I stare at the 9 on the screen in disbelief as Roxanne gives me pat on the shoulder. How did I manage to score that high?

Darach gets everyone silent as Glacia's face appears on the screen and I lean back against the couch, relief starting to course through me now that I know I managed to do surprisingly well. Elliot begins speaking casually and I watch him, curious if Glacia will get an 11 or be one of the rare people who earns a 12 based on how high both my score and Lorelei's scores are. "And Glacia Skylar has earned a score of," I watch Glacia tense up as Elliot pauses dramatically once more, "9."

I thought I was done being surprised. And if someone asked me several days ago to list surprising things to happen before the games happened, I wouldn't have even thought this was possible. Glacia not getting the highest score and earning the same one as me? Absolutely shocking.

She's silent next to me and I watch her stare at the TV, face devoid of emotion as she seems to be processing this score. Flannery is trying to tell her that it's a great score and how we both did well, but Glacia doesn't seem to be hearing anything people are saying around her. I barely have time to pay attention to Elliot announce that Phoebe earned a 6 as I watch and wait to see how Glacia will finally react.

I'm starting to think she has frozen in place until Claudia has finished announcing that Ardos earned an 8. "That can't be right!" She finally shouts and silence falls around us as the mentors look at her concerned. The only sound in the room is Elliot dramatically reading Anabel's score of 6. Glacia jumps up from the couch and points at the screen as she stares at us, face lit with anger. "There is no way I deserve a score lower than Lorelei. She has had less training and isn't as good as me!" I watch her in shock and honestly a little fear as she takes a deep breath and closes her eyes for a second. But when she opens them, her anger is directed towards me and I feel fear towards her for the first time. I hadn't doubted before that she has what it takes to fight. But right now, it's clear that she could easily take someone's life and not think twice about it. Her next words are quiet and bring a chill down my spine, "And there is no way in hell that he earned the same score as me."

She turns and starts storming off to her room. In the silence left after her outburst, I glance at the others in shock and not knowing what to do. A door slams shut and Flannery and I jump at the sound. Then we hear the sound of glass shattering and I turn to Darach with my eyebrows raised, wondering why he has not done something to get Glacia to stop yet.

The sound of the object breaking causes Flannery to yell out at Darach, "Why are you just sitting there? Go stop her before she breaks everything in the room!" He doesn't move instantly and Flannery throws a pillow at him. This seems to get through to him and he gets up immediately and starts running over to the hallway. As he disappears into the hallway, the sound of another piece of glass shattering makes its way to us before a scream of rage from Glacia.

There's the sound of a third thing smashing and I turn to see Roxanne looking concerned. "Will he be alright?" I ask her, still a little afraid of seeing that rage in Glacia.

Roxanne shrugs at me as Flannery stands up and puts a hand on her face, looking immensely stressed. "If anyone can calm her down and not get injured, it will be Darach." She pauses and looks over at Flannery. "Are you okay over there?"

I glance at our escort to see her looking distraught. She tries to smile reassuringly at us before giving up and grimacing. "This is too much for me to deal with right now. I don't even want to know how much that damage is going to cost." She lets out a loud, dramatic sigh before walking away towards the elevators. "I'll be back later. I just need to be anywhere but here right now."

I watch her start walking away before hearing Claudia speak up, "And now we have District Nine."

"Damn," I murmur to myself before sighing. "I missed Caitlin's score with all that drama."

Roxanne laughs lightly and I turn to her, curious about her laughter. "Well lucky for you, I paid attention enough to see what her score was."

"And?" I ask when she doesn't continue, starting to feel concerned about Caitlin's score. I did well so now it would be great to find out that she also did well enough to get sponsors.

"She got a 7," Roxanne says with a smile. She points back to the TV as Lyra's face appears on the screen. "Isn't she also one of Caitlin's allies?"

I nod my head as I listen to Claudia, hoping that the final person that will be Caitlin's ally did well. "Lyra Randyl earned a score of 5."

I let out a sigh of disappointment before turning to Roxanne. "Well I suppose we couldn't hope for all three of them to score well."

Roxanne gives me a small smile. "One person of three earning a five is not terrible. I've seen tributes who have earned lower scores make it far in the games. The scores really are poor judges of a tribute's character and are there just to give people a good starting point for bets." The thought of people making bets on when I will die unsettles my stomach. Roxanne seems to notice this and puts her hand over mine comfortingly. "It's getting late. Why don't you go get some rest?"

I glance towards the windows and notice how dark it is outside. I shake my head as I turn back to her. "It's late enough that I'm just going to go rest up in the garden until Caitlin meets me there."

As I stand up and stretching, Roxanne watches me silently, a look on her face that seems odd. Is it sadness? A longing for the past? "Have fun, Lance. And just remember what we talked about earlier." I nod my head in understand before starting to walking towards the rooms. As I enter the hallway, I pause near Glacia's room, curious about how she is reacting right now since there hasn't been any more yelling or smashing things. I can hear the muffled voice of Darach and I linger outside her door for a second, curious to know what they're talking about. But I continue to my room, not wanting to get caught eavesdropping. And if the situation was reversed, I would have been really angry to know that Glacia was listening to my conversation with Roxanne.

I quickly enter my room and grab the gray blanket folded at the end of my bed, wanting to get up to the roof and forget about any thoughts of Glacia. As I leave my room, I peer around the door frame, checking that Glacia and Darach are still talking. Sure enough, the hallway is empty and I close my door behind me before heading towards the main room, wanting it to seem like I'm in there. Roxanne and Flannery are nowhere in sight as I make my way quietly to the elevator. I push the button and wait impatiently as it approaches, knowing that my plan could be ruined at any second if Glacia were to walk out here. But the doors open and I take comfort in the fact that she probably is still angry and upset about her score and won't be leaving her room tonight.

I press the button for the roof and lean against the side of the elevator as it takes me up. I have been so distracted by Glacia's outburst that I haven't even had time to really think about my score. I have no clue how I managed to get a 9 but I guess Lisia must have really liked me. It could be that she gave me the score since the Capitol might be expecting me to be trained like my sister. The doors open and as I step out, I'm smiling at the thought of my sister. Surely she will be proud of my score and will take comfort in knowing that I am fighting to win these games.

But my smile quickly turns to a frown as I start walking through the garden and looking for a place to lay down. Yeah I've finally started to be willing to fight in the games but I have no idea if I would through myself in front of Caitlin to keep her safe. I think I probably would and it's terrifying to have someone that I care that much about in the games.

I hear a noise from behind me near the elevators and turn around, surprised that Caitlin is already up here since I came up pretty early. I'm almost ready to call out to her when I see a flash of blond hair through the plants. I immediately duck down, hoping the person didn't see me. It was definitely a boy but the question is who. It could be Ardos which wouldn't be bad. I would just have to talk to him and leave before Caitlin got her. But I don't want to not be able to talk to her tonight. Not when we will only have one more night before the games start.

I carefully peer around some of the plants as the footsteps of the boy seems to be walking away with me. The boy is too tall to be Ardos but is definitely one of the older tributes. I watch him move through the garden silently, trying to remember what district he is from. He starts to wander farther into the garden and I realize that I have a bigger problem than him just discovering me. I can't let him discover me with Caitlin. If he is one of the older tributes, it would benefit him to reveal our secret alliance tomorrow during his interviews. It would give him more attention and cause the career alliance to be damaged. And if Glacia's alliance is messed up, I don't want to see her take out her anger on Caitlin.

I quietly move towards the elevators, hoping he doesn't decide to suddenly turn around and see me. But he keeps walking towards the far end of the garden, oblivious to the fact that there is someone else up here. I find a rose bush near the elevators and crouch down behind it, pulling the blanket around me to hopefully help me hide in the darkness. And now the waiting game begins.

My heart is beating fast as I stare out into the garden, aware of every small sound around me. As I hope that the boy will leave before Caitlin arrives, I try to remember who he is so I can determine how much of a threat it would be if he discovered me and Caitlin. I don't recall seeing his score which means he is probably from one of the middle districts since that was when Glacia was freaking out. But that means he could be from District Five through Nine.

I close my eyes as I start to think about the other children hear but quickly open them when I become too nervous at the thought of not seeing the boy approaching. The garden is still empty around me and I sit down, feeling a little confident that my spot is hidden enough. Alright, what Districts can I rule out right away? Seven. I know what Riley looks like and he is a couple years younger than the boy up here. Now there are two younger boys from the middle districts but which ones…

Ah, District Six was definitely one of them. That's the one who allied with the boy from Three. But the other didn't want to be part of that alliance. Hmm, was he from Eight? No, that doesn't seem right. Perhaps Nine.

I've just about decided that he is from either Five or Eight when I almost jump at the quiet movement of the elevator nearby. Damn, I was really hoping he would have left before Caitlin got here. She must be coming up here early because there is no way that much time has passed since I came up here.

The elevator starts moving back up and I pray that the boy isn't close enough to hear it. I move into a crouch in front the door, knowing I need to stop her from making any sounds as soon as she gets here.

The doors start to open and as soon as I see that it is her, I dash inside and cover her mouth with my hand. Her face shows shock at the sudden movement and I pull her out of the elevator and towards the area I was hiding. "Stay quiet," I whisper right next to her ear as I pull her down behind some bushes. "Someone else is up here. I'm not sure who, one of the older boys. Maybe from District Five or Eight." I pause as I see the fear in her eyes and realize I'm still covering her mouth. I move my hand away, feeling guilty about scaring her but knowing it was necessary to prevent him from finding us. "I'm sorry for doing that to you. But we can't risk him discovering us together before the games."

Caitlin nods her head in understanding as I pull her close to me, feeling terrible about the fear she's feeling right now. "You're right. But this is more terrifying than I would have imagined."

"I know," I whisper before kissing the top of her head. I wrap the blanket around both of us, wishing this wasn't happening to us right now. I just wanted to enjoy some time with her alone before everything becomes completely chaotic tomorrow. But this fear and worry is not what I imagined would happen tonight. "Is this what it's going to be like once the games actually start?"

Caitlin is silent for a minute and I listen to the sounds around us, still aware that another person is walking around and could find us. "I suppose it is. But I'm not going to let one of our last nights outside the arena get ruined by this person," she starts to stand up and I grab her hand, trying to pull her back down into hiding.

"What are you doing?" I ask as I look around, worried about her standing up. She lets go of my hand and I start frowning at her being so careless right now about being seen.

She crouches down to put her face right in front of mine, staring at my determined and willing me to just listen to her. "I'm getting him to leave here. Now stay hidden and don't say anything."

Her sudden confidence leaves me stunned as she takes off, leaving me frozen in place for a few seconds. But when she turns around a trellis of roses and I can no longer see her, I jump up and start following her from a distance, staying hidden behind the many flowers towering above my head. She has her head held high as she walks through the garden and I find myself being even more attracted to her.

When the boy comes into sight, she calls out to him. "Hello," she cheerfully walks up to him as he turns from the ledge where he was looking down below. He has a frown on his face and looks hesitant about Caitlin talking to him.

I hide behind a statue of a woman pouring water from a basin, watching them and being concerned about him noticing me. But he keeps looking out at the Capitol as Caitlin chats away happily, seemingly unaware that he is only giving her short answers. This goes on for about five minutes before he takes a step back and says something to her before turning and walking back towards the elevators. Caitlin waves and smiles at him, watching him leave. I crouch down further behind the statue as he walks near me, hoping the gray blanket helps me blend in with the surroundings. But once he has passed me and put some distance between us, I start following him to make sure he really is leaving. And sure enough, he steps on the elevator.

Once the doors have closed behind him, I stop hiding from behind plants. "Caitlin!" I call out happily, not believing that she really managed to get the boy to leave. A few seconds pass before I hear her laughing as she approaches me. I grab her and pull her into a hug and swing her around, suddenly in a good mood now that I can actually enjoy this time with her. "That was brilliant! How did you manage to get him to leave?"

Caitlin chuckles as I set her down but keeps her arms around me as she looks up at me. She shrugs before explaining, "Well, that was Brody from District Five. He got a 7 in training and wanted to be somewhere alone right now. So I ignored the subtle hints he was giving for me to leave and kept talking to him about anything. Eventually he decided to leave."

"Well that was amazing," I respond to her, still in awe of her sudden confidence. This is not the same girl that I met the night of the chariot rides. "Somehow, after only a couple days of being in the Capitol, you have changed."

She starts frowning at this statement. "Is that a bad thing?"

I shake my head at her. "Absolutely not. You've become so much more confident and unafraid." I lean down and kiss her lightly before pulling back and laughing a little. "You know, I was terrified of having you be away from me for a couple days in the games. But now? Well, you'll do just fine on your own."

She starts to blush a little at this statement but it just makes me smile even more. "I won't be completely on my own."

"No, thankfully you won't," I pull her back into a tight hug. "But if you were, I feel confident that you would be alright. Just look at that 7 you got in training!"

I can feel her laughing at this statement. "It's not as good as the 9 you got." She leans back so that she can look up at me, her face full of awe. "How did you manage to do that?"

"I have no idea," I answer as my good mood suddenly starts diminishing. "You should have seen how angry Glacia was over getting the same score as me and Lorelei doing better." I pause as I stare out at the garden, remembering the fear I felt as I watched her explode with rage. "She's terrifying. You think she's tough just from the training but then you see something like that and you realize that she really is going to be the person to beat in the games."

Caitlin is silent for a few seconds as she rests her head against my chest. I can feel her tighten her arms around me before she speaks up. "I don't like the fact that you're going to be with her for a few days."

I rest my head on top of hers, my chest tight with guilt over making Caitlin worried. "I know. I don't like it either. But it's the only way to make sure she doesn't target us right away."

"But it will happen eventually, right?" She asks and steps away from me. She sighs as she paces a little before turning to me with a sad expression. "At some point, you and Glacia will have to fight."

I nod my head in agreement, not wanting to vocalize my theory about us fighting. I'm sure the Gamemakers know we're up here and it would probably be a death sentence to speak out loud that I think they rigged the Reaping. "We will. They probably will make it the biggest moment of the games to keep the Capitol amused." I pause as I reach out and grab her hand, holding on to it tightly. "But we will fight her together and we'll get through this."

Her face shows that we both know there is no way we can get through the games together. One of us will have to die for the other to be victor. But staring at her in the moonlight, my heart races at the feelings I have towards her and I don't know if I would want to keep living without her. But I push these thoughts aside for another day when the possibility of dying is an urgent concern. She nods her head at me and lets me pull her close to me again. We hold on to each other tightly, fear and uncertainty running through my head before she whispers to me. "Together."


If you want more information about the stories, please go to my website at thefifthquarterquell . weebly .com! It is now updated through Chapter 7!

And keep checking out the stories that I've submitted tributes to! They're all some great stories and are going to be very interesting Games. Some still have spots open so if you want to submit a tribute, now is your chance!

Make Me a Match: 125th Hunger Games by Goldie031 - still a couple spots left!

Danzón by CelticGames4 - submissions close very soon

Bloodline: The 80th Hunger Games by One True Victor- closed

Free Falling: The 31st Hunger Games by IVolunteerAsAuthor - still lots of spots open

Ad Mortem by Little Knight Mik - still a few spots open

These authors are really great so please go check them out! And look out for any tributes sent in by me!