Remi, 17
I leave the water park. Avenaye knows I'm hiding here, and who knows how long he'll keep that secret?
I wait until night. I'm not idiotic enough to go prancing around the arena in broad daylight. When the sun settles down, I take off through the fairground and search for a new hiding place. But what I find instead is a band of Careers.
Avenaye, Iskandar, and Katerina crouch outside the Haunted House in the dark.
"This is big, guys," Katerina coaches. "A once in a lifetime opportunity. Dara and Laciel are hiding in there, and we have the chance to surprise attack them. I don't want anyone flaking. If you flake, I'll kill you."
Something tells me she's not bluffing.
"Iskandar, you walk in first," Katerina says. "You're the bait. While you distract them, Avenaye and I will come in and take them out. Avenaye, you take Dara. I've got Laciel."
"Why do I have to take out Dara?" Avenaye whines.
"What, you can't handle a little boy?"
"What if he hurts me?"
"Then I can only hope the injury is fatal."
"How fatal?"
"Avenaye! Iskandar, you go in on the count of three. One... two... three!"
Iskandar stays frozen.
"Iskandar!" Katerina whispers fiercely.
"Hmm?" Iskandar turns to Katerina.
"What are you waiting for?"
"...I wasn't listening, what's going on?"
Without another word, Katerina shoves Iskandar through the doorway and into the Haunted House. Immediately, the lights inside the attraction flash menacingly and a ghostly cackle echoes through the building.
I don't want to miss a chance to get in on this action.
Bidzill, 17
My plan hit a minor setback. I think I actually brought Daniel and Abe closer together. But that's okay; I'll bounce back. They'll be at each other's throats by this time tomorrow.
A menacing cackle echoes from the first floor.
"Someone's here," I hiss to Osmium.
"Maybe it's the pizza guy," he says casually.
"Go find Daniel and Abe," I snap.
As Osmium goes running out, I head down to the first floor. I pause halfway down the staircase and watch Iskandar walk unsurely through the Haunted House.
"Katerina?" he calls. "...Avenaye? ...Is anyone here? AH!" He startles backward and falls on his butt as a plastic witch pops out from the wall.
I grab a metal spear from one of the tall, metal knights lined up along the hallway. Jumping over the banister, I land gently on my feet and take off after Iskandar. That's when another tribute appears in a window. I grip my spear and take a step toward the glass, but Remi puts a finger to his mouth in a shushing signal. He jerks his head toward the front door and holds up two fingers.
Two more tributes?
It could be a trap. But I've never figured Remi for a Career, so I don't know why he would be helping the likes of Iskandar. So he must be helping me. I point to myself and then to Iskandar, then to Remi and the front door. I'll get Iskandar, he'll get the tributes at the front. He nods silently and disappears from the window like a ghost.
"Bidzill, we're here!" Osmium shouts from upstairs. I hear his thundering footsteps, like a herd of elephants, pounding down the hallway. Then I hear several thuds as he trips and falls down the stairs. "Oh, God! ...Okay, I'm okay! I'm okay!"
Iskandar spins around in horror and stares at the spear in my hand.
"Hey, guys," he says shakily. "What's up?"
"Kill him, Bidzill!" Osmium shouts. "Rip out his eyes and feed them to the rats! Shave his head and make him eat the hair! Put his-"
"Osmium, shut it!" I snap. "Iskandar, there are two other tributes outside. Who are they?"
"Katherine and Abraham," Iskandar says, throwing his hands up in surrender.
"There are no tributes named Katherine and Abraham."
"...You mean they lied to me?"
Obviously not going to be any help. Might as well kill him.
I lunge forward with the spear and Iskandar ducks, screaming like a little girl. He takes off down the hall and I follow close behind. But he's fast, and I'll never catch up to him. And then Abe suddenly jumps down from the rafters and lands directly in front of Iskandar. She pounds her right fist into her left hand repeatedly as she glares at him.
Iskandar glances at Abe in front of him and me behind him. He's trapped. And then the front door bursts open behind me and Avenaye comes tumbling in, Remi right behind him. They wrestle on the floor, both unarmed, and Iskandar takes advantage of my momentary confusion. I feel a slight gush of wind as he runs by me, and then he's gone.
Katerina comes crashing in through a window and yanks Remi off of Avenaye. Avenaye immediately attempts to run down the hall, but Osmium suddenly comes running out from another room, pushing the door open with frightening force and slamming it directly into Avenaye, who crashes into the wood and falls to the ground.
"That little bitch lied to us!" Katerina screams. "There are three of them!"
"Where did you learn to count?" Daniel asks, stepping out of the shadows and slamming a vase against her head. She crumbles to the floor. "There are four of us, bitch."
"Five," Remi says, standing up and brushing himself off.
"Osmim, you kill Katerina," I order. "Daniel, Remi, Abe - let's split up and look for Iskandar. And, shit, did Avenaye get away?"
I look to the spot on the ground where Avenaye had been lying a few moments ago, and find it empty.
"I'll take the basement," Daniel offers, taking off for the stairs.
"I'll go upstairs," Remi says, bounding up to the second floor.
I wait for Abe to tell me where she's going, then remember she can't.
"Abe, come with me," I command. If she goes off on her own, she won't be able to shout and tell us that she's found anyone.
We leave Osmium with Katerina's unconscious body and take off down the hallway that Avenaye disappeared from. Abe ducks her head quickly into each room as we pass, and I keep my eye on the corridor.
Suddenly, Abe stops and points. I follow her finger and see a solitary soap bubble floating toward us.
"What the..." I touch the bubble and it pops in my hand. And right before my very eyes, five more come floating out from the kitchen.
I pause outside the kitchen and take a deep breath. Wielding my spear, I spin into the room. Decapitated heads, of the cheesy, plastic variety, sit on the kitchen table. Organs hang from the ceiling. Fake blood coats the floor. Abe slips in the red liquid and I hold out my hand to balance her. No sign of the bubble blower.
A large, industrial-sized freezer is built into the end of the kitchen. There they are: the bubbles. They float out sinisterly as I creep up to the freezer. I lunge into the freezer, extending my spear to stab then bubble blower.
But the joke is on me, because he's waiting. Avenaye is pressed against a shelving unit in the freezer, a frozen turkey in his arms. As I lunge into the freezer, he throws it at my face and darts past me. Before I can so much as turn around, he's shut the door on me.
"Abe!" I shout. "Open the door!"
Someone taps me on the shoulder. I turn around in surprise and find Abe, trapped in the freezer with me.
It seems things are about to get a little chilly.
Avenaye, 17
It was brilliant, if I do say so myself.
There was no way I could win if I faced off Bidzill and Abe all by myself. But locking them in the freezer? Easy. And the best part? They'll still die. It'll take a few hours, but it'll happen.
It'll happen.
Now to get out of this freak show. I sprint from the kitchen and duck my head into the hall. Clear. Dart down the hall and run into a dead end. Great. Stalk back down the hall and find another dead end.
What the heck? I could've sworn this was the way I came in...
Ducking into an empty room, I find myself in a very dangerous part of the attraction. Two blades swing down from the ceiling, slowly getting closer and closer to me. I reach for the door I just entered through to find it locked.
What now, Avenaye?
Think.
Daniel, 17
The basement is empty. It isn't until I've searched the entire place until I realize: Bidzill didn't send me to the basement to find anything.
He sent me to the basement so he could be alone with Abe.
He tricked me. And Abe tricked me, too. She must have known, must have realized. They're both working together. They're both against me.
Everyone is against me. I can't trust anyone.
Running back up the stairs, I sprint down the hall to confront Bidzill and Abe. Fuming, I find myself in a dead end. When I head back the way I came, I find another dead end.
That's impossible.
Furious and confused, I duck into a bright room. I spot Avenaye on the other side. Between us are two sets of blades swinging from the ceiling; one coming my way, one heading for Avenaye.
The two blades coming for me swing back and forth, crossing each other every second. I jiggle the doorknob behind me, but it's locked. How did that happen? The blades get closer and closer. Could I make it through them?
Maybe. Maybe not. If I don't, one thing's for sure: I'll be sliced in half.
"We have to work together, Daniel," Avenaye shouts from his end of the room. "My door's locked, too."
"Work together?" I shout back. "Why, so you can escape and then kill me?"
"You'll die anyway if we don't work together!"
"And how do you suggest we get out?"
"I was hoping you had an idea."
"Well, I don't, genius! You think we can run through them?"
"Only if you try first."
"We're not getting anywhere by arguing!" I shout as the blades come within ten feet of me. How much time do I have left? A minute? Thirty seconds?
"Is there anything on your side of the room?"
"No. Yours?"
"No. Damn it."
"There has to be a way out," I think out loud. "The Gamemakers wouldn't trap us in here unless they wanted to see a daring escape."
"I hate to disagree with you, buddy, but I'm not seeing any trapdoors or secret passageways."
"Then we have to use the blades to get out!"
"That doesn't make any sense!"
"They're the only things in the room!"
"If that's all you can come up with, then we're gonna die!"
"Think, Avenaye!"
"What would Indiana Jones do?" Avenaye asks himself.
He keeps repeating this mantra to himself, and that's when I know we're going to die.
Remi, 17
I run up the steps to the second floor. Take a left down the hall. Another left. A right. Another left. How long is this corridor?
As I approach another turn, I hear a noise.
...Snoring.
I peek warily into what looks like a bedroom and find Iskandar asleep in the bed.
Perfect.
I approach the bed slowly and silently; I'll suffocate him with a pillow. I finally reach the bed and begin pulling a pillow out from under his head. He's sleeping on three, so he shouldn't notice much. That's when I hear a noise outside the window.
Cursing myself silently, I momentarily abandon my efforts to suffocate Iskandar. I can get back to that later. Whatever is happening outside won't be happening forever, and I don't want to miss any chance to gather information on the other tributes.
Jango and Niels stand by the ferris wheel, shouting at each other and making threatening motions with their hands. They're a nice distance from the Haunted House, but being on the second floor gives me an advantageous view. Are they allying together?
Why?
Niels is a strong contestant. Jango should've been a bloodbath.
As I watch, Madelyn and Laciel come out of a building nearby and approach the boys. Jango points at Madelyn and shouts something. Madelyn covers her mouth with her hands and runs off, crying. She heads in the general direction of the Haunted House, but I'm sure she won't choose this building. She gets closer, narrowing her choices considerably, and finally she stops right below my window.
No, come on. Go the other way. The funhouse, or the bouncy bounce. Go on. Take a hike.
She climbs in through a broken window.
Iskandar startles awake, staring at me with wide, fearful eyes.
So much for suffocating him in his sleep. I sprint out the door before he becomes fully awake and decides to fight me; I jump down the staircase just as Madelyn comes into the front hall. We stare at each other for a moment before she takes off in fright. She heads down a dark hallway, and I elect not to follow her. She's not worth the energy it would take to kill her.
Abe, 16
We're trapped in the freezer.
It's cold.
"Damn it!" Bidzill shouts, kicking the door repeatedly. "Someone open the door! Hey! Open the door!"
He continues to scream and pound at the freezer door. Keep doing that, Bid. I think it's helping.
While he wastes his time and energy, I scour the freezer for a way out. Think, Abe.
Where is the air coming from?
A vent in the ceiling.
I tap Bidzill on the shoulder and point to the vent.
"So what, Abe?" he snaps. "It's in the ceiling. We're on the ground. Use your head."
He resumes his temper tantrum against the door. Fine. I work better by myself, anyway.
I grab one of the shelving units and attempt to pull it to the center of the freezer, directly below the vent, but it refuses to give. Too heavy. Fine. I'll just have to get creative.
I tap Bidzill on the shoulder again. He spins around in annoyance and gives me a look. I put my hands together and mime giving someone a boost.
"Why, Abe? You can't make it to the vent. It's too high."
I mime it again, more insistently this time, and he finally gives in. Whining and bitching the whole time, he puts his hands near the ground. I place my foot in them and he lifts me up. I grab onto the closest shelf and pull myself up. But he was right, there's nowhere to go from here. I let go of the shelf and allow myself to fall back to the ground.
"See?" Bidzill says smugly, happy to be proven right. "I told you."
But Bidzill is not right. There is a way out of here. And I'm going to find it, because I don't give up.
My face is freezing, and I'm having trouble feeling some of my fingers. My fingertips are blue.
Keep looking.
Bidzill, 17
What she does next is astonishing.
Abe backs up to the door, shooing me away. Then she shoves off of the door, runs across the freezer and jumps against the wall, kicking off with her foot and propelling herself against the shelf. She manages to grab the top shelf with her right hand. Within a few minutes, she's pulled her entire body up there.
She stares down at me smugly.
"Okay," I say with a wave of my hand. "You were right. Now get us out of here."
She yanks open the vent and that's when I get my first taste of freedom. We're so close. Abe motions for me to come up and join her.
"How do I get up there?" I ask.
She points to the wall.
"How could you ever think I'd be capable of something like that?"
She stares at me, at a loss.
"You climb out, then come back and open the door," I tell her. She gives me a thumbs-up and reaches for the vent. "Abe?" She turns back and looks at me. "You will come back, right? You wouldn't leave me here, would you?"
Because, let's face it. I haven't exactly been the nicest to Abe.
She points to herself and then the freezer door. She'll be there.
And then she climbs up into the vent and disappears.
Avenaye, 17
What would Indiana Jones do?
He would jump through the blades, that's what. But I lack both the speed and grace to do that without losing a limb, so that's a no-go.
What else, what else? His whip! That always seems to come in handy. But I don't have a whip, so that's no good, either.
"We're out of time!" Daniel shouts, pressing himself as close to the wall as possible.
I follow suit, as my blades are mere inches away.
"Daniel!" I shout. "...I want you to have my bubbles!"
"I'll be dead, too, Avenaye!"
"Goodbye, cruel world!"
I close my eyes as the blades reach me. The first one slams into my stomach; the second hits the back of my head. The force of them throws me to the ground, off to the side of their death path.
"I'm hit!" I scream. "I'm hit! Man down! Oh, it hurts... The agony! I see a light... It's such a pretty light... I'm coming, Gam-Gam!"
"You done?" Daniel asks.
"Almost. Don't forget me, Papa! Remember me as I was!"
"...You gonna get up now?"
"Why am I not dead?"
"The blades were plastic. After I saw you get pummeled by them, I jumped through them. It was actually pretty easy."
"Why would they be plastic?"
"Because it's an amusement park, Avenaye. It was just meant to scare us."
"Are you gonna kill me now?"
"I don't have a weapon. The doors are unlocked now, though. Why don't you go out the left door, and I'll go out the right one?"
"That's really nice of you, Daniel. You're my hero."
"I'm gonna go now. There's a back door in the basement, it's probably safest if you go through there. I wouldn't want to try the front door."
"Thanks."
"No problem. Take care of yourself, Avenaye."
"You, too, Daniel."
He walks out the right door. As he steps through, I catch the glint of a knife in his boot.
That son of a bitch. He did have a weapon. I feel a smile tug at the corners of my mouth.
He's not a bad guy.
Brushing myself off, I stand up and leave through the left door.
Abe, 16
I crawl down one section of the vent and turn into another. It's like a maze, and before long I'm thoroughly lost.
Of course, there's an easy solution.
I slam my fist into the section of the vent in front of me and listen to the creaking whine. I slam my fist again, and this time it breaks. I fall to the ground and find myself back in the library. Wonderful.
That's when I see him.
"Hey, you're the girl that tried to break my wrist," Avenaye says, grabbing a poker from the fireplace.
I lift my fists and wait for him to make the first move.
"I've had a really rough day, Abe, so don't make this any harder than it needs to be. You got away once, not your luck has run out. The jig is up, kid."
He approaches me casually. After watching me a moment, he lunges forward with the poker. I swerve to the side and spin so that I'm behind him. Flustered, he turns around and tries to stab me again; I duck and jab him relatively lightly in the stomach. He backs up and tries a new tactic, this time swinging the poker at my head. I jerk my head back to avoid it and then throw myself to my knees.
Like lightning, I slide between his legs and jump up behind him. As he spins around, I grab his neck and shove it toward the ground. As he falls, he drops the fire poker and extends his hands to catch himself. I kick the poker away and stand over Avenaye.
"I'm just gonna take this moment to apologize," he says shakily. "I think we got off on the wrong foot, what with me trying to kill you and all."
I yank him from the ground and drag him out of the room. He resists, and I slam his head forcefully against the wall. As I continue to drag him down the hall, he spits out a bloody tooth. I shove him into the bathroom and snap the stall door shut behind us.
"What are you doing?" he asks in horror.
I dunk his head in.
And then I flush.
His screams are gargled. I count sixty seconds before I allow him to come back up for air.
"I'm sorry!" he shouts. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Don't put my head back in the toilet, please!"
I dunk him again.
For those of you that don't know, this is called a swirly. I've survived one hundred and seventy-two swirlies in my life.
Two or three won't kill Avenaye.
I would kill him, but I don't have time to strangle him or beat him to death. I'd need to find a weapon, and then he might escape. So I'll dunk his head a few times and then leave him on the bathroom floor. Then I'll get Bidzill out of that freezer.
Besides, I think Avenaye slows the Careers down. No sense killing him if it would just speed them up.
I pull his head out again and he begs for mercy. I kick him sharply in the gut and leave him moaning, curled up on the stall floor.
Time to find the freezer.
Daniel, 17
I'm lost.
Down one hallway, through one room, down another hallway. There's no end in sight.
I pause. Someone's crying.
I peer into the dining room and see Madelyn sobbing at the table. I know immediately that I have to kill her, and yet I can't bring myself to do it. Her head snaps up and stares at me. Without a word, she pulls out three needle-thin knives and throws them at me.
I try to duck, but it's no use; they slip into my stomach. Like getting a shot at the doctor's. I yank them out, one by one, and breathe through the pain. When I raise my head, she's standing above me. She looks terrified, and I almost feel bad for her. She kicks me in the face; I curl into myself, guarding my face with my arms and hands. The fiery pain in my left cheek tells me she broke it.
This is it. I'm done for. She's going to kill me.
Madelyn kicks me again, this time in the kneecap, and I grunt in pain. There's nothing I can do; she has me on the floor. She's in control.
And then my silent savior comes through the door.
Abe sees me on the floor and takes a step toward Madelyn, who immediately yanks out more needle knives. Madelyn throws them at Abe, who dodges them with ease.
Don't hurt Abe. It'll only make her mad.
Madelyn throws three more knives at Abe; all but one miss. The final one shoots directly through her ear. Abe grabs at it in pain, yanking it out. The blood spills into my hair, but Abe ignores the pain. That's what happens when she goes into fighter mode.
Abe steps toward Madelyn, then dances to the left. She jabs Madelyn in the shoulder, ducks, swings to the right side and punches Madelyn in the jaw. Madelyn stumbles away, holding her face with her right hand. With her left, she pulls out more knives, but Abe has had enough. Abe punches her right fist into her left palm; she's just warming up.
Madelyn tries to throw the knives, but Abe slams her arm into Madelyn's wrist and the knives fall to the ground. Abe punches Madelyn in the gut, grabs Madelyn's left arm, and spins the girl around. Once Abe has a hold of Madelyn's wrists, behind Madelyn's back as though Madelyn is a criminal and Abe is a cop, Abe slams the other girl into the wall.
Something snaps in Madelyn's face. She screams and wriggles from Abe's hold, but once she's away all she does is slap Abe. This infuriates Abe, who takes the hand that slapped her and twists it until snaps. Madelyn shrieks in pure agony and drops to the ground. Abe grabs the girl's head and slams it against the floor, over and over again.
The sheer rage that lives in Abe is terrifying. It was the first thing I noticed about her, and now Madelyn's awakened it. Abe becomes an animal; vicious and merciless. Twenty-three times, she slams Madelyn's skull to the ground with violent force. Even after the cannon sounds, Abe continues. Madelyn is every bully that's ever laid a hand on her, and now it's payback time.
"Abe!" I shout. "Abe, stop!" I grab her and pull her away from Madelyn's limp body. "What's wrong with you?"
She writhes away and is about to fight me the same way she fought Madelyn when she sees my face. Her own face contorts in horror.
"What?" I ask. The pain in my left cheek is indescribable. "Is it bad?"
She grinds her teeth together before turning to stare at Madelyn's body. Seeing what she's done, she shows no regret, and that frightens me. But when she looks at me again, there's nothing but sympathy in her face.
She would never hurt me.
"Abe, I'm okay," I tell her. "You saved me."
I reach for her, begin to pull her into my arms, but she shoves me away with that unbelievable force of hers and tears off down the hall.
"Abe!" I call after her. But she's gone.
There's nothing I can do but follow.
Bidzill, 17
Abe's not coming back.
She ditched me.
I should've known. The way I treated her. Not that it's my fault - she's temperamental. I mean, talk about a short fuse.
But it still hurts to know that she's going to leave me to die in here.
Just as my fingers are at the point when they feel as though they may snap off, the freezer door opens. I stare at Abe in wonder; she came back for me.
She yanks me roughly out of the freezer. She never did have a gentle touch.
"I th-thought you d-ditched me," I shiver.
Abe shakes her head, disgusted by the very idea. She takes my face in her hands and stares into my eyes. Then she hugs me fiercely. I sink into her warmth and rest my head on her shoulder. As the warmth returns to my body, I suddenly feel revived. There's something about a near-death experience that makes you feel remarkably alive.
Suddenly, a passion flows through me and an electric need courses through my veins. I need her. I need Abe.
I take her face in my hands and kiss her fiercely. She doesn't pull away. She freezes for a moment, but then she kisses me back. I press her against the wall with my body. My hands grip the wall behind her as I kiss her harder. I want her. I want her now.
She slides down the wall and I follow; I pull her away from the wall and on top of my body. We roll over and then I am on top of her, still kissing her fiercely.
"How could you?"
Daniel's voice sends a chill through my spine, worse than an hour in the freezer.
Moments later, he's ripping me off of Abe. With astonishing strength, he throws me against the wall. Then he's after Abe, yanking her off the floor and screaming in her face.
"You bitch! What were you doing with him?"
"What's your problem?" I shout at Daniel. I don't care so much if he hurts Abe, but he ruined a perfectly good make out session right when my hormones were screaming for more.
He smacks Abe across the face and shakes her by her shoulders. She does nothing to fight back, even though I know she's more than capable of killing him with her own bare hands. I remember what she told me earlier - she doesn't want to hurt Daniel. She doesn't think he means to hurt her.
"I loved you!" Daniel cries, slamming her against the wall. "And this whole time you've been going behind my back with him!"
This whole time? More like the past five minutes. Someone's paranoid.
I back up toward the freezer again. I sure as hell don't want Daniel turning his rage on me.
"How could you do this to me?" Daniel asks again, slamming his fist into her shoulder.
Daniel's shouting attracts Remi, who comes bursting through the door.
"What's going on?" he asks in alarm, looking from Daniel to Abe to me.
I take a step back, trying to separate myself from the situation entirely. As Daniel ignores Remi and smacks Abe again, Remi steps between them.
"Hey!" Remi shouts. "What are you doing?" He shoves Daniel to the other side of the room. "Leave her alone!"
"This isn't any of your business," Daniel snaps, cooling down on his side of the room.
"What's going on?" Remi asks again.
"Daniel got pissed 'cause Abe likes me more than him," I say nonchalantly.
"Abe is mine!" Daniel shouts at me.
"You were beating her up because you were jealous?" Remi asks quietly, a palpable anger in his voice. He turns to me. "And you were letting him?"
I try to come up with an excuse, but can't. I shrug sheepishly.
"And, what, are you sleeping with both of them?" Remi snaps at Abe. "The three of you are shit."
"Daniel, I don't like his attitude," I say angrily. "You want to beat him up?"
"I think you're right, Bid. This is none of his business. We were sorting it out ourselves."
"Someone's gotta teach him a lesson."
We both step toward Remi, who backs up uncertainly. That's when Abe leaves. Just walks away. Daniel and I watch her go. I'm all for letting her walk away, but Daniel doesn't want to.
"I'll come back for you," Daniel warns Remi before taking off after Abe.
Suddenly left alone with Remi, I find myself in a very awkward situation. I can no longer fight him because I no longer have the advantage of numbers.
"So... How's your day going?" I ask lamely.
"I'm gonna go look for Osmium," Remi says, shoving past me and heading down the hall.
"Good!" I call after him. "That's good... Great..."
I stare at the floor and wonder what to do next.
Daniel, 17
"Abe?" I ask, heading into the room I thought I saw her enter.
It's a bedroom. She sits on the bed, her head in her hands. I close the door gently behind me and approach the bed.
"Abe," I say softly. "I'm so sorry."
She turns away, wiping her face angrily.
"I don't mean to hurt you. I would never, ever want to hurt you. I just... You're the best thing that's ever happened to me."
She turns to stare at me and I see the dark bruise I left on her face. My own cheek burns in pain. I can't believe what I did to Abe. I was blinded by rage; I couldn't stop myself. She should know - she did the same thing to Madelyn. But Abe didn't deserve it from me. I would do anything I could to take it back. That's not me. I'm gentle. I'm caring.
It was the hurt. It was the hurt that got Abe. Not me.
"I just got jealous. Abe, I love you. I love you so much."
And that's not a lie. I do. I love Abe. Or, if I don't love her, I want her. I want to touch her, to hold her, to kiss her, I want her to belong to me. Not to anyone else. Just me.
"I'm so sorry, Abe. I'll never hurt you again. I promise."
I pull her face to mine and kiss her. She tries to pull away, and this time I let her. But when she sees the hurt on my face, she takes my face gently and kisses me back. I join her on the bed and hold her as I kiss her. Before long, I find myself with my hand under her shirt. Then I'm lifting her shirt off.
She pulls her shirt back down, an embarrassed blush appearing on her face.
"Abe, come on," I groan. "I love you. Don't you love me?"
She stares at me without answering and I try to lift her shirt again. She stops me, weaker this time.
"Let me do this," I hiss.
Slowly, she releases her hold on her shirt and I take it off of her. She doesn't fight me over the rest of her clothes. My own clothes come off easily and not even the fear in her eyes can ruin it for me, not even the way she turns away and refuses to look at me, not even the tears that flow silently down her face. If anything, they make it better.
Abe, 16
I am scared.
I don't understand people. Why do they do this to each other? Do girls ever want it? Maybe this is what happens. Maybe it's only supposed to be fun for the boy. So I'll stay quiet, and I'll do what Daniel tells me. I want to be normal. I want to behave the way every other girl would behave.
I don't want to be different anymore.
Bidzill, 17
Osmium is gone. So is Katerina.
Remi and I can't understand where on earth they went. They disappeared without a trace. No blood, no footprints, nothing. Just gone.
Avenaye is missing as well. Remi tells me Iskandar was upstairs, but he got away. He says Madelyn was downstairs at some point, also. She got away, too. But we both heard the cannon fire about an hour ago. So either Iskandar, Madelyn, Avenaye, Osmium, or Katerina is dead.
I guess we'll find out tonight.
Remi's words keep coming back to me, keep screaming in my head. And you were letting him?
Like I'm some kind of monster for stepping back and minding my own business? For not getting involved?
Am I?
I should have done something. I shouldn't have let him hurt her. Well, now I know. Now I know what I have to do, and I'm sure as hell not gonna let it happen again.
...I should tell her that. I should tell her right now. She's probably still mad at me. She won't be if I just tell her that.
"Abe?" I ask, walking down the hallway she ran through. "Abe, where are you? I need to tell you something."
I hear a grunting coming from one of the rooms. What's going on? That can't be Abe - she can't speak. Maybe Avenaye or Iskandar is in there? I push the door open slowly. What I see makes me sick to my stomach.
He's on top of her. Like some kind of monster. And there she is, silent Abe, my Abe... she's crying. She's crying and her eyes are closed. In pain? In sadness? In fear?
I want to stop him. I want to. But I can't. I feel weak, sick. I silently close the door and sit against it. I should barge in right now. I should give him what he deserves. But how do I know Abe is upset about it? Maybe she likes it. Maybe she wants it. How would I know? Maybe that's just how girls act.
And what if it just embarrasses her? She'll never look at me again. Daniel will hate me. Our alliance will be over. It's easier, so much easier, to just pretend that it's not happening.
So that's what I do.
As I retreat back down the hall, I realize I don't have anything to tell Abe anymore. I wanted to tell her that I wasn't going to let Daniel hurt her again. But there's no point now. I'm too late.
He already did.
Katerina, 17
My head is groggy as the world slowly comes into focus.
"Where am I?" I slur.
My head is throbbing. I vaguely remember a lamp breaking. Sitting up, I find myself in a large, entirely pink room. It's dark, but I can somewhat make out a shadowy figure in the room. Smoke is everywhere. It smells sickly sweet. What the hell is going on?
"Wakey, wakey, sleeping beauty," someone sings sinisterly.
"Who's there?" I ask in fear.
"Just... Ozzy."
Osmium's face appears before me. His eyes are bloodshot, his fingernails filthy. He's high. Crackhead.
"Get away from me!" I snap, pulling myself off the bed. Or at least, trying to. My hands are tied to the bedposts with rope. Same with my feet. "What the hell!"
"You're staying here, Princess. You'll only be safe in the castle. This is where you belong."
"Are you going to rape me?" I breathe.
"No, no, no. That's Prince Charming. I'm just the dragon."
He slithers away and disappears through a trapdoor.
He's locked me away in the princess castle. Kidnapped me. What will he do next? He's high - he could do anything.
I have the feeling I'm one princess who won't be getting a happily ever after.
Deaths this chapter:
Madelyn, 17, District 5
Alliance One: (Location - Arcade)
Dolly, 16, District 10
Dara, 12, District 10
Alliance Two: (Location - Unknown)
Laciel, 18, District 12
Niels, 15, District 8
Jango, 17, District 5
Alliance Three: (Location - Haunted House)
Bidzill, 17, District 11
Daniel, 17, District 7
Abe, 16, District 7
Remi, 17, District 3
Loner: (Location - House of Mirrors)
Alise, 14, District 3
Kidnapper and Hostage: (Location - Princess Castle)
Osmium, 16, District 6
Katerina, 17, District 2
Locations Unknown:
Avenaye, 17, District 4
Iskandar, 18, District 1
Desdemona, 13, District 8