Chapter Nine

In the night I have another nightmare. It's the same one as before. Me looking over Thomas with my hands covered in blood. I must be getting too stressed about Thomas being in the games. I keep telling myself that if he dies it's not the end of the world, but it doesn't seem to be working.

I wake up in the middle of the night all sweaty and horrible. I realise it was just a dream, again. I ask an avox to bring me some hot milk. I quickly turn on the TV and see that during the night the District 11 girl has been killed. I'm not really thinking about Seeder at the moment, she should be fine. What I'm thinking of is that I have a sixth of the people who are left, but so do three other districts so it isn't an enormous achievement but it's the best we've done in years.

I drink my hot milk and try to go back to sleep but I can't. I just can't stop thinking about how Thomas and Katherine are doing. Katherine should soon be thinking about leaving the careers and Thomas, well, I don't know what'll happen to Thomas.

I wake up in the morning in a right state. While I was asleep then the District 10 boy has been killed. 11 left.

The deaths on the second day are:

D11 Female 13th
D10 Male 12th

The next two days are me just striding up and down my room or a bar or the living room or anywhere anxiously waiting for news.

A bell rings while I'm in a bar with Johanna so we know that something will happen soon.

The careers are arguing. The District Eight girl isn't there though. She must have left already, wise plan.

I then see Katherine! Katherine! I told you to leave them! It's the fifth day! She'll be sure to die now.

The District One boy isn't there for some reason. They're in the ruined city part of the arena by the way.

Now the fighting starts. The District One girl and Katherine against both from District Two. The District One boy clearly knows what's happening but just doesn't want to interfere knowing that a couple will die. The four are fighting for a good ten minutes, ducking under branches, doing forward rolls to get out of the way of a sword swing and hacking away at each other. Ten minutes in and the only one completely fine is Starlight from One.

I can feel my heart beating super fast. I feel like it's going to just pop out of my body!

The District One boy now finally appears. This is one of the climaxes of the games so the game makers want to make it extra special.

A huge orange cat-like mutt pounces on the District One boy out of no where and rips his head off which makes Katherine scream. Destiny manages to kill it and everyone is completely startled.

Two more appear twenty metres away and Katherine just screams, "RUN!" She starts and the others follow suit. They're only one hundred metres away from the city and they've already worked out that the mutts in the forest cannot go into there. It's a sprint for survival.

After fifty metres and only a few seconds, Klaine from two trips up on a root and falls. He's a goner. The others just carry on running as he is devoured by a mutt. The other mutts are still in pursuit of them though. I look down and see that I've been clenching Johanna's hand so tightly that it's gone a ghostly White. "Sorry", I apologise. "It's absolutely fine" she replies with.

After thirty metres they're fine then twenty then ten then... "YES!" I scream. I'm stood up and people are looking at me. It's not over yet Katniss, they're still going to fight so I sit back down again. I'm not too sure if the same alliances remain, but it seems they do. Katherine goes around the back of Destiny and Starlight stays at the front. Destiny stays alive for quite a while actually. Good work from her. It's when she leaves her right side open for attack when Katherine thrusts her sword into Destiny's side. Destiny replies with a high pitched scream and falls to the ground. Starlight from One the lifts axe into the air behind her head and descends it down into Destiny. She then does it again, and again. The cannon has already gone off but Starlight seems to be getting some sick pleasure out of this.

While she is doing this, Katherine plunges a knife into Starlight's arm which makes her senses come back and she fights with Katherine.

Katherine should have just run off while she had the chance, now she's fighting against the girl who got an eleven. The fight is extremely bloody and even if Katherine does win this fight, she'll never survive the next hour. Katherine has taken Starlight''s left arm off and both her ears. Starlight has taken Katherine's eye out and her right foot. The battle since the Careers started to argue has gone on fir a good hour now. Then comes the deciding part. Katherine falls over because of the instability of her feet which means Starlight stabs her. When Katherine is doubling over in pain, Starlight takes her chance and decapitates Katherine. The cannon goes off and Starlight has got through four people today. She will likely be the victor.

The deaths today were:

D1 Male 11th
D2 Male 10th
D2 Female 9th
D12 Female 8th

7 left. The betting will to furious now. The odds of Starlight winning have gone up to 1 to 3, she should win but I've still got hopes for Thomas to win.

The look on Thomas' face when Katherine's face is seen in the sky is just horrific. He's six people away from becoming the next victor. The reality of it all seems to be hitting him hard. He's spent the whole games in the woods. He must be starving. He gas sponsors so I send him some bread with a note saying, "You can do it - K". He smiles, looks to the sky and mouths the word thank you. This bread should keep him going for a couple of days but who knows. He may be dead in a couple of days. Seven is now the only district with both tributes left.

The tributes left are:

D1 Female
D7 Male
D7 Female
D8 Female
D9 Female
D11 Male
D12 Male

The victor is right there. I go to sleep knowing that Thomas is alive and well.