Here it is! It was so hard to write this chapter, I don't know why. The classic case of Writer's Block, I guess. Anyway please enjoy the chapter. As much as it might not seem, it's a...a...dare I say it...filler. Even though one of the most historic events is witnessed in these Games, it's a filler. Please enjoy and R&R!

Disclaimer-I do not own anything that relates to the Hunger Games. ANYTHING.


9.

I woke up with a start, breathing very heavily. I bent over, eyes wide, and tried to calm down. I was making noise, my breath very raspy. Squid was suddenly by my side, hand on my shoulder.

"Ani? Are you all right? Ani? Answer me now!"

All I could do was nod my head. I couldn't remember, no, I couldn't remember what I was so riled up about. Something about a rock…and Vivie…and Squid…and someone I didn't recognize. I felt like I was going to puke. I stood up and pushed past Squid into the rain and tossed all of my cookies next to a tree.

I heard Squid swear as he came out after me and embraced me, trying to pull me back toward the shelter. I shook my head and grabbed my crook and dagger, turning toward the rest of the forest.

"Ani, stop. You're sick! Get back in there! ANI!"

"Shut up," I yelled, and continued walking in the direction of the hills. I heard him swear yet again as he grabbed his pack and weapon and caught up with me.

"Where are you going?" He asked me. I grunted.

"Why?" I grunted in response again.

"Come on, Ani, stay here, you just threw up!"

"Out of shock," I said blankly. "I have to see something."

"Then will you come back with me?"

"Sure, whatever you want."

Squid was finally halfway satisfied and followed me silently as I jogged through the forest, heading toward the hills. I hadn't talked to Squid about Pamola's theory yet, but I had been counting the days in the Arena. It was the eleventh day. Weird, right? Felt like either two hours or an eternity. But, if Pamola had been right…

She was. I broke out of the forest and saw nothing at first. I stopped in my tracks and heard Squid ask me what the hell was going on. I shushed him and stared at the sky, and then heard an aggravated shout from behind me. I whipped around to see Squid rubbing the top of his head, a golden box in his hands.

"What the hell?" he growled. "Random box from the sky much?"

I smiled and turned back around, looking at the fields. A ton of random little boxes from the sky were falling, hitting the ground hard. And it was like eureka for me. District 10, foreign item trading? Check.

Squid opened his gold box and pulled out a small vile with a pink-ish liquid in it. He held it up to his eye, then sniffed it, even though it was shut. He rapped it gently on his knuckles, then eyed it again. Then he held it in front of him, and I rolled my eyes as I grabbed it from him. I popped off the cork and held it up to my mouth.

"Ani?" Squid asked very sternly. "You don't know what's in there-Ani!"

Too late. I drowned the drink in one gulp. It tasted sweet but bitter at the same time, with a tangy aftertaste. I licked my lips and shook my head rapidly before looking at Squid's horrified face.

"We can go now," I chuckled, pushing past him into the forest.

"You, what, hey!" Squid hissed, running after me. "You're an idiot! That drink might as well have been poison! You could die!"

"It tasted good," I murmered. "And anyway, it doesn't matter. It's not probable that either of us are leaving this place."

"I keep telling you not to think that-"

"Shush," I snapped, slamming my palm against his chest. I stood stock still, listening to the forest. "Go," I whispered.

"What?"

"Run you idiot, run!"

I started sprinting through the forest, running from who knows what. Squid was right on my heels. I knew someone was stalking us, but I didn't know who. But I could have two guesses.

"Ani?" Squid yelled between gasps.

"Yeah!"

"Are we gonna make it?"

I tumbled over a log. "Just keep running!" I screamed.

I broke into the clearing of the ravine quickly. I stopped abruptly, listening again. Nothing. No stalker…no Squid.

I heard a breath as I whipped around, seeing the cliff side on my right, and spun to see Squid…with a knife to his throat.

"Ani?" He croaked. I just stared at him, eyes wide. Behind him, holding the knife? You guessed it. The devil.

"You're quite the player, aren't you?" he chuckled. "In more ways than one." He flickered his eyes toward Squid. He was shorter than Squid, but not by much, so his knees were bent. I prayed for him to be smart and kick Dustin, but he didn't. I guess fear will do that to you.

"Let him go." I ordered, my voice wavering. "It's me you want, Dustin, it's been me all along. You've killed all my allies in this game, but I'm still here." Squid's eyes widened dramatically. "I am still alive. So take me out first, but save him for tomorrow, or even later today, because you know it's me you want. It's me you need to kill."

Dustin smiled evilly. "You're right, Ani." Suddenly he took his knife butt and slammed it on the side of Squid's head, and then sent the body of my ally tumbling over the side of the ravine. "SQUID!" I screamed. I blinked back tears and turned back to Dustin, who was charging right at me.

"Aghhh!" Dustin shrieked as he caught me on my stomach, sending us both into a tree with a large thud. I kneed his chest and pushed Dustin off of me, half running half crawling away from my evil District Partner. He regained his wits and charged at me again, pinning me to the ground.

I wasn't going to let this kid kill me. Not now. I was in the final seven. I had never expected to live this long. And I was not going to let the chase of the Games end with Dustin a victor, and me another body bag. He licked his lips manically as he stared down at me. I stared right back for a second, and then spit right in his eye. He cried out in shock and I slid out from underneath him again, standing now. He ran at me and I drove my elbow into his jaw, sending his sprawling backwards again. He gave me a venomous look of pure hatred.

"You little b****!" He spat. He threw one of his knives, and I dodged it, but was immediately hit with his fist on my left cheek. I grabbed my crook but Dustin kicked me in the chest, which threw my crook out of its hold and across the ground. I hit the tree with my back and dodged several punches thrown by my nemesis. He whipped up my crook and tried to club me with the hook. I blocked it with my forearms, and wailed in pain. I now kicked him and ripped my crook back into my right hand.

"Why do you want to kill me so badly?" I gasped. He thrust his knife, and I returned with a punch to the stomach.

"Because you stole my glory!" Dustin shouted. We backed off for a split second, sending each other daggers with our eyes. "Here and back home! You always stole the glory!"

"Is this what it is to you?" I asked angrily, gesturing the Arena. "Glory?"

"That is what everything is!" Dustin screamed. "And you stole it! The only girl herder, it doesn't matter if she's weak! The fastest runner, it doesn't matter how hard she works! The most venerable, although they only feel bad for you! You get pity! You know what the rest of us get? Nothing! No feeling! No glory!"

"You're a lunatic!" I gasped. "None of that is true! I work just as hard and get no pity! You're delusional to think so! You're just…jealous! You're jealousy has led you to homicide, Dustin! I remember when we were little, and you wouldn't hurt a fly! What happened, Dustin?"

"You happened!" Tears of anger were streaming out of his eyes. "You stole everything! EVERYTHING! And now I can take back that glory, Ani! Ten fold! I can kill you, and take back my life! I'm going to kill you, and win these horrid Games! I will be respected, and feared by all of Panem! One of the youngest victors ever!"

"What's better, Dustin?" I asked softly. "To be feared, or to be genuinely liked?"

Dustin scrunched his face in fury. "DIE!" He roared, coming at me again. I screamed in fear, but my muscles acted. Thoughts flashed through my mind, but then it all became scarily clear. He ran at me, and I swung my crook, unsheathing my dagger. Dustin held out his own, his mouth open wide in a battle cry. Everything was in slow motion.

My life didn't flash before my eyes. Quite the opposite. My thoughts weren't clouded with my life and my memories. Only what was happening now. The hook of my crook wrapped around the outside of Dustin's waist. My dagger rested at my waist. Dustin's arm was stretched out as far as it could, his dagger like an extension of his dangerous hand. My arms were longer. I pulled tightly with my right hand, tugging Dustin toward me involuntarily. His arm fell to his side.

And my dagger entered his abdomen.

I stared at Dustin's shocked eyes for a half a second. "I kept my promise," I hissed. I ripped my dagger out of his stomach, and let his body fall to the ground as I heard the cannon. I dropped both my weapons. It was done. He was dead. He couldn't kill me anymore.

Dustin was dead.

I looked at his limp body. His jealousy had turned him insane. I actually almost felt bad for him. But then I remembered everything he had done. I had told him that the nest time he fought me that I would kill him. I kept my promise.

I slid my weapons to my belt and then turned and ran to the edge of the ravine. I peered over the side to see Squid with his back against the opposite side, holding his head in agony.

"Squid?" I called. He looked back up me in a daze. "I'm coming to get you!" I yelled. He just stared at me, and then lowered his head again.

I found a less steep way down to my ally and climbed down as fast as I could. When I reached Squid, he seemed totally out of it. I hooked his arms around my shoulders and lifted him with great difficulty. It nearly murdered me to carry my inane ally up the side of the cliff. I accidently dropped Squid when I reached the top as I fell to my knees, and I heard him groan a small "Oww…"

"Sorry, sorry," I muttered, and hoisted him up again piggy-pack style, though his feet trailed on the ground.

I didn't even look at the hovercar that was picking Dustin's lifeless body off the ground.

"Okay, Conrad Kells, you're gonna be okay," I said soothingly as we reached the shelter. I sat down as softly as I could, and laid backward, so that he was lying down. I stuffed a couple empty backpacks under his head, and then sat right next to him, stroking the lump on his head. It was pretty big from Dustin's hit, and only the rest of him was a bit beat up from the fall. It was only just as bad as I was from my fight.

"He's gone," I whispered to him. "The bad guy's gone, Squid. Only six more. Six more." I was talking so sweetly, a voice I hadn't used in a while. I smoothed out his hair, and smiled. Then he opened his eyes a crack with his signature smirk.

"I like it when you're nice." He chuckled, and then closed his eyes again.

I went back down to the ravine to get some cold water in Pamola's pot. It was only when I placed the wet moss on Squid's head I realized that there were seven other individuals in the Arena. But not to me, as I sat beside my friend. To me, there was only six.


O.o O...M...G! Dustin's dead! :/ well some of you ought to be happy. Please please review it makes me write faster even though it's almost Halloween! I'll probably post the next chapter on Halloween just to be special. So ya Review! I'd like to thank dracocrazy322 for the short but nice review, Cloudy-TheNightMareQueen-yes it was like a horror movie I thought so when I read the chapter over myself, and those who added this story to their favorites! you guys rock!