Tavian Brae
The Hunger Games are so different in person. On tv it looks so much easier. I listen as the cannon announce the results of the bloodbath. Nine shots. Two of those were from me. I stabbed the boy from 12 as he attempted to run away through the grass. I also got a sword on the District 7 girl; she put up a decent fight with her ax, but it wasn't enough. Faces light up the sky, all of us Careers easily survived except the District 1 guy. I didn't trust him anyway. Deline is alive too. I'm not exactly sure how to feel about that. I really don't want to kill her personally, but for me to win she must die.
My District partner Cleo suggests that we split up for our first night of hunting the weaker tributes.
"See the woods over there," Rocke says as he points in the distance, "we'll meet there at three-ish in the morning"
"Sounds good to me," I say as I head off with the District 1 girl, Opal.
The tall grass is itchy on my legs. There aren't many hiding places in this prairie. There are the trees in the distance and some large rock formations. Other than that, it's a barren wasteland. I see a person in the distance. Opal grins and wordlessly circles around the other way, cutting off any chance of escape.
The girl sees me and turns to run away. But she smacks right into Opal who slashes into her with a dagger. A gurgled scream escapes from her as she hits the ground. Her blood stains the surrounding dirt red. The cannon goes off with a satisfying boom.
"Ten down, thirteen to go," I mutter. Opal nods her agreement with a huge satisfied smile.
"Now what? Head back or keep tracking?" she asks.
"We've got plenty of time. Let's keep this exciting for the viewers back home," I say. No one will ever be able say that Lux outshined me after this.
We continue moving but don't find anyone else. Where is everyone? The arena is pretty silent, it's eerie.
Opal jumps and inches closer to me, "Did you hear that?" she whispers.
"What?"
"That!" she hisses. I strain my ears and hear a weird soft whisper. It seems to be coming from a distance. We keep heading towards the woods, thinking that it might be the rest of the Careers. It couldn't be mutts this early in the Game, can it? As we get closer, it gets louder. All of a sudden, the noise is broken by a piercing, blood-curdling scream. The whispery chant stops abruptly. If it was mutts, they must've seriously injured the tribute. Well, that puts me one step closer to victory.
Opal and I head towards the fire, either it's Rocke and the others, or someone we can kill. I break through the branches. Okay, not what I had in mind. It is the worst possible scenario. Rocke and Cleo are there, but they aren't alone. Rocke has Deline pinned underneath him. There is some blood running down her face and Rocke is waving a knife threateningly above her.
I don't know what comes over me. I run and tackle Rocke-my closest ally-off of the girl.
"What the Quell are you doing?" Rocke yells at me.
"Get out of here! Run!" I yell at Deline. I really don't want to see her die. She stares at me in shock and then her eyes widen. I look behind me; Cleo has an arrow aimed at my head. Deline springs and in one fluid motion she grabs a knife and drives it through Cleo's side. My district partner gasps and then crumbles to the ground. The cannon booms. Deline just saved me. Does she like me?
Deline doesn't stop there though. She spins around and slashes the knife, slitting Opal's throat.
I'm so busy watching her, that I forget about Rocke. "Traitor!" he yells as he stabs me in the arm with a dagger. My arm sears in pain. I punch him in the face and he retaliates with a fist to the gut. I wrench the dagger from my arm and stab it at him. Rocke dodges and it gets stuck in the dirt beside him. He reaches over to grab it. I lunge for it too. That little dagger will be the difference of life or death!
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Deline running towards us. She flings herself on Rocke's back. Her thin arms wrap around his neck, sufficiently strangling him. Rocke yells in fury and tries to throw her off. She's got an iron grip.
"Don't just stand there, idiot!" she screams, "stab him!" Oh, she's talking to me. I wrench the dagger from the ground and send it into his heart. Rocke groans at the impact, and goes limp and hits the ground hard. His cannon echoes.
I stand there, breathless. I stare at Deline. She brushes her hair out her face, but she doesn't take her eyes off of me. "That was amazing! I freakin love you!" I say. There's that word again. Love. This time I believe it: I love her.
"You're seriously messed up," she mutters.
"So are you!" I say gently, moving closer to her. I take her in my arms and she stays relaxed. I lean over and press my lips to hers once again. This time it's even more amazing. She presses herself against me and slowly runs her hand through my hair.
After a long beautiful moment, she pulls back slightly, "Tavian," she whispers.
"Hmm..." I mutter as I press my face into her neck.
"I hate you," she hisses. Then I feel it. The deep, burning pain wrenches through the middle of my back. She twists the knife and the pain doubles. I can't help it, I fall to my knees. She takes a step back and that half smile crosses her face. She shoves me and I fall to the ground.
I can't believe it, I'm dying. "Are you going to win this?" I ask her. If this is my last minute, I'd like to spend it with her.
"What?" she looks shocked, as if the idea never occured to her.
"You deserve it. You just took out about the whole Career pack single handedly," my voice is leaving me, but I have to get the words out.
"I'm killing you. After that I have nothing else to live for," she hisses. She raises the knife to end my life.
"Wait," I say and she hesitates. I continue, "Just one last thing, I love you." Her face screws up in disgust. Guess she doesn't feel the same way. The knife in my back should've been my first clue.
"Whatever," she mutters as she rolls her eyes. She lifts the knife again and I brace myself for the final blow. Deline takes the knife and plunges it into her own chest.
The cannon goes off before she even hits the ground. She just killed herself! And yet somehow, she looks peaceful. She is even smiling.
Each breath I take becomes more and more painful. I never thought about the afterlife before. I always just assumed that I would go into the 47th Hunger Games and win. I would be the one killing, not dying. So much for that plan. I just hope that death is beautiful. Deline occupies the last thought of my life.
Don't get all mad at me people! I had to kill them. Be realistic, it's the Hunger Games not every story has a happy ending.