I regain my conscious, but I keep my eyes shut. I can feel someone shaking me, and I shudder, knowing its Jack's decayed body.

"Pip!" I can hear someone calling my name, but I don't dare open my eyes out of fear. I inch my hand towards one of the knives on my belt, but feel someone's warm hand press my hand down; and I can't move. My eyes fly open in shock, and I see Isla's face in the moonlight. She's pinned both of my arms down and is staring at me with wide eyes.
"Isla!" I choke out. "Move! I see, I saw Jack! All the blood! What happened?"

She blinks in confusion. "Nothing happened, Pip. There's no blood." I sit up quickly, pushing her small body and looking around. Just as she said, there's no blood. The camp is calm, the lake clear and reflecting the bright moon, and Jack is apparently nowhere to be found. The thing I tripped over was just a root.
"I, I thought… I thought something happened" I whisper, looking around in shock. All that I had seen, was that just a hallucination? I really needed to just calm down.

Isla shakes her head, leaning back on her heels. "Nothing's happened. I heard you fall and scream, so I came over to make sure everything was okay. Michael didn't hear anything, he's still asleep."
I gulp. The games really were taking their toll on me.

"Oh. I guess I'm just tired." I say. "Just… go back to bed; I'll wake Michael up in a bit." She nods, looking uncertain, but hurries off. I sit at the base of the tree, rubbing my face. Everything seemed so real… but it wasn't, I made it up. I get up again and walk around, rolling my shoulders.

Great. Like anyone's going to sponsor an insane tribute. But I did brush it off as just being tired. Hopefully most sponsors are dumb enough to believe me. Not that I need any sponsors right now… We're doing pretty well. Until one of us dies, that is.

I want to start the fire up again so I'm not alone in the dark, but I know it's not a good idea. I groan and slide back down the tree, but I'm so restless I'm soon up again.
Did anyone hear me scream? Are there tributes on their way over right now to try and kill us? I'm such an idiot.

I'm still freaking out about my hallucination. What if I keep imagining things? Why did I even imagine all that in the first place? I march back and forth, my eyes darting around, making sure we're alone. But even if someone did come to attack us, how could I know for sure they're real?

I'm so stressed. I need something to occupy my mind. So I take long tendrils of grass, remember what Isla and I did early, and begin to weave things. I don't really realize what I'm doing, just sort of twisting and moving my fingers. By the time I've finished, it's just a huge grass tarp, but it's horrible done and looks like it'll fall apart any minute. I sigh and look up. I'm not sure how long I've been sitting here, but it looks like the moon has moved considerably across the sky, so I guess I may as well wake up Michael.

Dragging my grass tarp behind me, I go to where Michaels sleeping and wake him up. He groans and sits up, rubbing his eyes.
"Your turn to take watch" I whisper, and quickly retreat, climbing up the tree. I slide the grass matt underneath my sleeping bag, even though it's already coming undone, and curl up, wrapping my sleeping bag around me like a cocoon.

I can't get the image of Jack out of my mind. He looked so pitiful. So helpless. And it's my entire fault. All my fault… I didn't have to kill him. I could've just pushed him away. I can still feel my knife drive into his neck, sliding quickly into the soft flesh, his warm blood splattering on my face. I think of my next victim, Alyssa. I didn't have to kill her either. I could've waited to see if she would've noticed us before I took any action. But instead I ended her life without so much of a blink of my eyes.

I realize I'm shaking, and take a few deep breaths to calm myself down. It wasn't really my fault I guess. It's either me or them. I can't think of the consequences of killing them. Each death is one step closer to me getting out of this hell hole. It's a horrible thought, but it's true. It's sort of like an hourglass. Every time someone runs out of sand, mine is flipped, and I get more time to live.

Just don't think when you have to kill someone I tell myself. Just wait till you're out of the arena. Then you take this silly guilt trips.

I need to act as sort of a robot. Remain emotionless. Don't think, just do. Much easier said than done though.

I hear a tinkling sound, and snap my head up quickly, only to see something floating towards me. I squint, and realize. It's a parachute! My first sponsor has decided to appear. I reach up and grab it quickly, greedily opening it. I realize there's a note sitting on top of whatever was given to me, and I read it confusedly.

"Keep your chin u. –S"
S? Who the heck is S… Oh, Shay! Wait, Shay is sending me things? I didn't know trainers could do that. Then again, I don't think they are… He must've broken some rules to send this to me. It warms my heart, to know he's still thinking of me. I tuck the note into my belt, not wanting the cameras to see it and catch Shay's act. I open the pot, and see it's filled with warm broth. It's not much, but I'm guessing it cost him a lot, and he probably doesn't get that much money from his job. I smile gratefully, hoping the cameras are on me so he can see it.

I drain the warm liquid quickly, happy to have something warm before bed. Maybe it'll even let me get a full nights rest with no nightmares. Setting the empty bowl aside, I scoot down and lay down again, still smiling from Shay's gesture. I close my eyes, snuggling deeper into the sleeping bag, and wait for sleep to come.

I hear someone calling my name and I open my eyes, blinking at the harsh light. It's morning now. I sigh; I actually had a decent sleep. No nightmares plagued my dreams, but I did have a weird dream with Shay and I. We were two giant birds, flying over the arena, looking at all of the dead bodies. But they weren't really dead, just lying peacefully in a bed of beautiful flowers. It really was weird.

I climb down from the tree and plant my feet on the ground, and look around. My third day into the arena. Still fifteen tributes left.

I see Michaels already cooked up our second fish. Isla's getting us all water, so I make my way over to the small fire and sit down, grabbing my share of the food. We eat in silence, not really knowing what to say.

We finish our small meal and to avoid the awkward situation, I go to the lake to wash up. Peering across the vast amount of water, I can make out the colors of the shirts of the other tributes. One green colored shirt, one yellow, and one red. Which means one person from each house is by this lake. I wonder if the other tributes have a different water source, or if they're all here, only hiding. I wash my face, scrubbing the dirt off my nails and face. The other tributes don't pay much attention to me; they probably don't want to start a fight.

I come back to where Michael and Isla are, and find Michael eating the last of his food. I glare at him, putting my hands on my hips.

"What do you think you're doing?"

He looks up in surprise, a cracker hanging from his lips. He shoves the rest in his mouth and replies.

"Eating… I'm still hungry." I narrow my eyes, rage boiling at his stupidity. "And what exactly do you expect to eat tomorrow?"

"Your rabbit…" His face falls slightly, but I don't soften my gaze.

"We're having that tonight. Between the three of us, it'll probably be gone by morning. And then all we have left is a small bit of fruits and nuts. Then what?"

"Oh yeah… I forgot." And he calls himself a Ravenclaw?

"Look, you need to remember to think ahead. You can't just go-" I'm silenced by a loud boom. Isla nearly jumps out of her skin, shrieking in surprise, while Michael and I instantly grab our weapons and make defensive poses, looking around.

"Who do you think that was?" He whispers, looking at the sky. I shrug. "Guess we'll find out tonight."

I hear a piercing scream, and another boom. Acting on instinct, I run over and climb up the tree, peering down. If anyone comes, my best defense is to hide up here. Michael glares at me.

"Get down here! If anyone comes I can't fight them alone!" He looks around worriedly again, backing up closer to the tree. Isla's taken cover in the hut, shivering in fear. "Isla!" He calls to her. "Get your knife out!"

"I'm staying right here" I hiss down at him. "If anyone comes I'll throw one of my knives at them." His grip around his axe tightens, and he nods.

"True. Okay. Isla, get out here!"

She moves out, holding the dagger I gave her, and looks around fearfully.

We remain like this for quite some time, none of us speaking. My hearts in my throat, pounding loudly.

"I think whoever it was is far away. I think we're safe." Michael nods again. "Michael, maybe you and I should scout around, make sure we're okay. Isla can start skinning that rabbit."

I come down and put my hand on his shoulder. He tenses, but agrees. Isla still looks scared out of her mind, so I go over and curl her fingers around her knife. "Don't be scared to use this. It's them or you." She looks down, biting her lip. I jerk my head. "Come on Michael."

We walk around for a bit, looking cautiously around corners, but find nothing. Whoever killed those tributes seemed to not have been near us, or have already vanished. It's getting dark, so begin to walk back to camp.

"Don't tell her but… I kinda regret recruiting Isla. She doesn't do anything."

I shrug, looking ahead. "You wanted her."

"I was thinking strength in numbers. But she's not really strong… and she doesn't do much but take up resources."

I roll my eyes a bit, but silently agree with him. We probably would be much better off without Isla.

"So kill her then." I reply, keeping any emotion out of my voice. He gapes at me, but I ignore him. "If she's that much of a nuisance, we may as well get rid of her now, right?"

He shakes his head quickly. "No, I won't kill her. I won't do that."

"Exactly. Her time to shine will come soon, don't worry." We reach the camp, seeing Isla already has started a fire and is cooking the rabbit. "Everything happens for a reason."

This day has gone by pretty fast, but I'm not complaining. The faster the better. The rabbits gone in a matter of seconds, it's delicious meat flavoring my taste buds. I didn't get much, because we saved a bit for tomorrow, but I guess I shouldn't complain. I bet some tributes haven't even eaten since the first day.

"So with those two dead… That leaves us with thirteen tributes left" I say casually. Michael nods, thinking.

"Maybe tomorrow I'll go out and check out the others on the lake, see what we're up against. From the look of things, they're not going to attack us. That being said, they may just be waiting for the perfect opportunity. Pip, you and Isla can stay back and see if you can get some more food."

"Sounds like a plan." I lower my voice, leaning in. "I'm surprised the audience hasn't gotten bored yet. There hasn't been much fighting. Either there's something really interesting going on, or we're in for a surprise."

The reality of my words sinks in. If we tributes don't kick it up a notch, they'll take matters into their own hands. One year they actually got this giant snake to come in and eat tributes alive. It was pretty disgusting. You could see their body as it moved into the snake. I'm hoping they don't bring out that monster again.

Michael stretches, putting the fire out quickly. "I'll take first watch Pip. You get some sleep; I'll wake you up soon."

Isla raises her hand tentatively. We both give her a funny look, and her eyes widen.

"I- I can t-take first watch… If it-it's okay with y-you…" I hold back laughter at the look on Michaels face.

"I don't think that's a good idea…" I smack him.

"Sure Isla. You should watch for a bit, give Michael and I a rest. Give us a shout if anything's wrong." I walk over to the tree, and Michael grabs my arm.

"What the hell are you doing!?" He glares at me. "Are you trying to get us killed!?"

I shake him off, standing my ground. "I'm trying to give her a chance. We'll be fine. Trust me."

He looks like he's about to argue, but the look I give him makes him sigh. "Fine. But if we die, it's your fault."

"You can be mad at me when we're in heaven" I scoff, and climb up to my nest.

My muscles ache from all the moving around today, and I want nothing more than to just sleep. With Isla taking watch, I can get extra sleep. I hear the anthem start playing, and I look towards the sky to see who died today. I can barely make out the faces through the thick leaves of the tree, but the names glare down at me.

Nichole Shwartez and Mark Jones, two Gryffindors. Like Michael said, that leaves us with thirteen tributes left.

I lie back down and think about this.

11 dead tributes in total. I killed two of them. Twelve more people stand in my way… I need to stop thinking. I throw the sleeping bag over my head so I'm enveloped in total darkness. I let my thoughts train to Shay. I keep his face in my mind as I try to fall asleep.

It feels like only seconds and I'm being woken up. Michael's calling my name quietly. I sit up, shaking my head.

"Okay, I'm coming down." He smiles; looking tired, and heads off to bed. I wonder how long he let Isla guard for. Guess I'll find out later.

I assume its early morning, so this is our fourth day in the arena. I sit down by the lake and wash my face. I feel gross, so I take my hair out of its messy braid and run my wet fingers through my hair. It's still dark out, the moon reflecting off the surface of the water. Our clearing is silent; the only noise is the quiet sound of my splashing in the lake. I scrub my fingers, getting all the dirt and blood off. My clothes smell like absolute crap, so I take my tunic off and wash that too, trying to get the dirt and blood out of it. I splash some water onto my undershirt, but don't take it off. Sighing, I ring my wet shirt out and put it back on. It'll dry out soon.

I stand up and stretch, feeling cleaner. I put my hair back up into a pony tail, kind of upset I can't re-braid it. I laugh a bit, because my hair should be the least of my worries. Back at home, I wouldn't have worried about my hair. Then again, back at home I wasn't on live television for people to see. I'm hungry, but I don't want to eat anything until Isla and Michael wake up, so I end up chewing on my bottom lip.

I try to keep my mind from wandering, again, to Jack and Alyssa. Focusing my gaze on a cricket, I stare intently at it, trying to stay distracted. However, a loud snap! From a tree branch snaps my attention to one of the maze entrances.

Someone's coming.

ughgugh sorry it took me longer to update, I've had lots therapy and no laptop.

But here it is! Eheh yes, Jack was just an illusion. Who knows, he may actually come back though!

So yepp, here's this chapter, the next one will probably be up in a couple of days :)