Please read the Notes at the end for more information and fun stuff!
Our plan was to create an ambush on Kai and Genic if indeed they were together. We had left the waterfall about an hour ago, and moving slowly. We had no food or water since we couldn't take anything from around the waterfall. Octavia I think was having the hardest time, since she had stayed up all night. Jesse had wanted to keep Octavia away from the action as much as possible, so I think he had planned it like this for the longest time.
"Well Finnick you could definitely use that sponsor money to you know send us some food or something!" Octavia grumbles behind me
I just shake my head and smile as we continue walking. It doesn't feel like we are making any headway, all we see are trees, bushes, trees, and a flower that's more than likely poisonous and trees.
There just needs to be something that breaks up the monotony of trees and such; then I have an idea.
"Jesse!" I yell
Jesse stops and turns around.
"Tag! Come and get me!" I laugh as I run passed him slapping his shoulder
I bank on the chance that they actually know how to play the game that I played so much in school.
I hear Octavia laugh, and just a few seconds her and her long legs are running passed me. I chance a look back and Jesse is just about to catch me, until I kick my legs into high gear and race away from him. He eventually catches Octavia who accidently trips over a rock, and rolls a few feet. Then Jesse catches up to me, he takes my hand and we weave through the trees with Octavia hot on our trail. We laugh and giggle while we play. It's nice to know that we can be a little reckless since there isn't anyone around, which is also depressing if you harbor that thought for a while. I'm not sure how long we play for maybe an hour just chasing each other around without any cares, and I'm sure the Capitol is just eating this up; especially with Jesse holding my hand, but I try not to dwell on that. I try and focus on the false sense of freedom that I feel with running, it's like we could go on like this forever. We actually cover a lot of ground, while we play.
Finally Jesse is "it", I can feel him at my heels but I'm running on super empty. We chases me for a while seeing if I speed up or not, and then he swoops in on me. His hands go around my waist and he picks me up and swings me around in a circle. Then he loses his balance and we roll onto ground. We land with me on half on top of him and half on the ground; we basically make a human T. My head rests on his chest; we just lie there looking up at the sky, laughing and completely out of breathe. I finally sit up after a moment, I glance back at him and I find him staring back at me. I can't help but smile, there is a wonderful shine of happiness in his eyes and I get lost in his eyes. We are stuck in a moment that neither of us expected, I start to feel a pull towards Jesse but it is instantly broken when Octavia come running up towards us laughing and the moment is lost.
"Oh wow! That was fun! Are you guys okay?" Octavia continues to laugh
"Yeah, we're fine Octavia." Jesse says somewhat irritated
She gives him a look as he gets up, as if to ask if he real is okay. He just shakes his head as if to say never mind. I look away to give them a moment, and I pretend to brush dirt of my pants.
"Want help up?" Jesse asks and is suddenly in front of me holding out his hand
I look up and take his hand.
"Oh shit…" He says as he's pulling me up
I give him a confused look; I'm about to ask what's wrong when he pokes at me cheek. The moment he makes contact with my skin I wince and pull back.
"You've got a nasty cut right on your cheek bone." He says looking very concerned.
"It can't be that bad, I can't even feel it." I tell him trying to suppress my panic.
A simple scratch can be deadly if it gets infected, and right now we have nothing to clean it with.
"Damn, I'm sorry. I should have been more careful." Jesse says remorseful
"Hey, it's fine. This won't kill me, I promise. Anyway we were having fun!" I say and give him a wink as I try to take the guilt off his shoulders
He just nods, and gives me a forced smile.
"Come on guys, we still have a lot of ground to cover." I say as I pick my backpack up.
We begin walking again this time instead of a bored feeling, there's a heavier emotion in the air. We walk in a single file line with Jesse in front, Octavia in the middle and I bring up the rear. We walk for maybe a little over a half hour, when we all hear the beautiful ringing of a parachute. We all look up and watch it as it lands in a tree it's almost comical to watch it fall.
"I got it guys!" I say as I take my backpack off and begin to scale the tree.
"I'm going to scout out up ahead. Jesse stay here with Cassia and make sure she doesn't fall." I hear Octavia say.
I hear Jesse begin to protest but ignore them and I easily climb the tree. Muscle memory takes over and it's as if my body just know where to step, or which way to twist my lithe body. Once I reach the parachute to find two containers, I detach the containers and I stop myself from opening them right away; they're more than likely for all of us.
"Jesse, catch!" I yell down to Jesse
I toss the containers down to him and he easily catches them. Once I begin my decent out of the tree I can feel him watching me ease myself down. Just as I'm telling myself to focus, my foot slips off a branch. I feel the bark tear into my shin of my right leg off to left side of it. I'm able to grab ahold of the branch that my foot slipped off of, so I'm just left dangling. I'm still up about a good fifteen yards, so I begin to try to pull myself up. I've never had excellent upper body strength, and it's never been a problem until now. The combination of being tired, worn down, and no food makes for a bad situation. I try several times to pull myself up, and I get fairly close but not far enough to swing my leg up over the branch.
"Shit, shit, shit, shit. Okay stay calm Cass, stay calm." I mumble to myself
I know that if I let go now and fall straight to the ground chances are I'll break either my legs or ankles. Or I could hit another branch and injure myself even more that way.
"Cassia? If you let go I'll catch you." I hear Jesse yell out to me.
"No you won't, because if you do then both of us could get hurt. I'm not risking that Jesse!" I yell back
"Think Cass, think." I say to myself
My hands are starting to tire and lose their grip. I start to panic, and I look around to see if there is any chance of me being able to get to another branch. When I do spot one, it's about 3 yards to my right and 5 yards down. I think I can make it but it's a huge leap of faith, literally.
I decide that it's my only chance of getting down, so I turn myself so I'm facing the branch and I start to swing my legs back and forth.
"What are you doing?" Jesse yells alarmed
I ignore him and try to concentrate.
"Cassia don't jump, just hang on until Octavia gets back!" He continues yelling
I've got my feet lined up with the branch when I swing forward, so on the next swing forward I let go, and I free fall. I hear Jesse shout my name and I fall for what feels like an entire minute but it's only a few seconds. I see the branch rushing towards me, and I put my hands out.
By some miracle I land on my feet, and I instantly hug the middle of the tree until I feel steady enough to crouch down and finish my climb down.
When I reach the ground, I instantly collapse to my knees with heaving breaths and hold back tears of relief. I hear feet shuffling and see that it's Jesse rush towards me.
"Sit back, sit back!" He demands, and actually moves my limbs for me.
My legs are pulled from under me, and I wince when my right is moved. When I'm finally sitting on my bum, I take a look at my leg, which is what Jesse is so worried about. From the base of my knee to the top of my ankle is ripped open with pieces of bark gouged into my skin that stick out. There is also dirt mixed with blood smear all over my pant leg, not that I was a fan of the pants anyway.
"This is bad, so bad." Jesse mumbles to himself
"Jess, check out what's in the containers." I say with my teeth gritted as he pulls one of the pieces of bark out of my wound.
"No they can wait I need to get the bark out before it gets infected." Jesse says as if he is a daze.
"Jesse check the containers. Maybe there is something of use." I grunt out as he continues to pull out pieces.
I can almost see what I've said click in his head. Jesse runs to grab the containers and brings them back over to me. He opens the first one and it contains 3 rolls and a handful of a fruit and nut mix. Jesse lets out a frustrated growl but is careful to put the top of the container back on tightly. He opens the second container and finds a few spiky green plant stalks.
"Yes! Those are Aloe Vera plants!" I say excited
Jesse just looks at them confused.
"Give me them!" I demand happily
I take his knife out of the holder on his waist, and I take the hand beginning to pound on the plant stalk. Once I've deemed it acceptable, I begin cutting it open. The gel begins to ooze out, and I catch some on my finger, then I quickly suck it off my finger.
"This is good, we can use this. I just need you to get all the bark out of my leg before I put this on it." I tell Jesse excitedly
He just looks at me confused but goes back to pick out the pieces of bark. To occupy myself from the pain, I tell him about the plant and all that one can use it for. He seems genuinely interested whether it's for my sake or not.
"Okay, this one is fairly deep, and I think it's a longer piece. So just hang in there okay?" Jesse warns me.
Well let me just say that it was deep and it was a long piece about an inch long, but thankfully it was the last piece. Since we didn't have any water to rinse the dried blood and dirt out I just slathered the aloe gel onto my wound. I also put a bit on my face as well.
I make Jesse try some of the skin and gel. His face is priceless; he finds it bitter and just generally unpleasant. I just laugh, and continue to eat it. I put the other two stalks in my bag, for later use and for Octavia to try.
"She should have been back by now." Jesse says finishing his roll.
"I know, I was just thinking about that." I say with a mouth full of bread, fruit and nuts.
He shakes his head, and we clean up putting Octavia's portion in Jesse's pack. We set out in the direction that she went, granted that we had to move a bit slower due to my leg.
It's then that we find a trail of blood, and it's fresh; only minutes old. Jesse takes off into a run and I follow suit as best as I can.
"No!" I hear Jesse yell in anguish and I know that Octavia is dying.
I round the corner and I see Jesse kneeing next to Octavia who is on the ground flat on her back. A whimper makes its way out of my throat, and I run to their sides.
Once I reach them I take inventory of Octavia's injuries. She's bleeding from her abdomen heavily, and it looks like where her femoral artery in her left leg is cut open. She'll only last a few more moments, and I fall to my knees on the opposite side of Jesse.
"Oh, Octavia…what happened?" I whisper and I take her hand
She shakes her head and looks back to Jesse.
"Make sure Ori knows I love her, and that I wish I could come home to her. I'm so sorry Jesse." She says quietly
"I will, and you don't have to apologize Tav (Tay-v). It's going to be okay, just relax." Jesse says soothingly.
"Cassia, I'm so glad to have met you. You are one of the bravest people I've ever had the pleasure to meet, and I'll miss you so very much. Thank you forever thing. Can you come closer for a moment?" Octavia say getting even quieter
I lean down closer to her as per her request.
"Don't trust anyone. Don't trust him, please don't. Don't trust him, he isn't whom you think. Don't trust him. Go home and win. Win for me? Please win for me Cassia." Octavia begs, and I instantly know whom she is talking about.
She sounds as if she's drowning, and I realize that she is. She's drowning in her own blood.
"I will Octavia. I will." I say and I place a kiss on her forehead.
"I love you both very much, thank you for eve-…" Octavia never got to finish her sentence.
She begins to gasp for air, her eyes widening with fear, her muscles spasm, then she goes limp, and air rushes out of her mouth making her body sag. Her eyes stay open widen with glazed over fear of the unknown.
"Your fight is over." Jesse whispers as he shut her beautiful green eyes.
Tears roll down my cheeks and I try to keep it together. Then her cannon goes off, and I lose it. Sobs wreck my body, and I feel the hole in my chest that opened up when my dad died, I feel it widen.
No, no, no, no!" I sob and I wrap my arms around myself
"Come on, we need to move. Whoever did this is more than likely still around." Jesse says as he stands
I look up at him; he also has tears streaming down his cheeks. He holds his hand out to me to help me up. I take it, and the sorrow in his eyes becomes more apparent. Once I'm standing he draws me into him, we stand in each other's embrace for a few long minutes, before he takes my hand and we're off running again. I trip over every rock, every root, and every uneven spot of ground as we run. I finally wipe the tears from my eyes, and stop my crying so I can see.
We run for a descent amount of time before we have to stop and rest. For the last mile I've felt like someone was watching and following us. I'm not sure if it's just paranoia setting in, or if there really is. I don't inform Jesse about my suspicions because I'm almost sure that it's just paranoia.
We've stopped just a few yards from where I first met Octavia and Jesse; it's a very surreal moment. We sit quietly in a bush line, for a few minutes when I hear a twig snap.
I look Jesse to make sure I'm not just imagining it, and he seems to have heard it as well; I close my eyes and focus in. I pick up on heavy breathing, and quiet mumbling from the way we just came, not too far from where we are sitting. I put my index finger to my lips to signal to Jesse to stay quiet, and he nods. I move to peek over the edge of the bushes, and I stand.
"Kai?" I say in disbelief.
He seems not to hear me; he's just stumbling around and mumbling to himself. I'm not sure what to make of this, he seems as if he's lost not only physically, but also mentally. I hear Jesse shuffling around at my feet; I hold my hand out to signal that he should stay where he is.
"Kai?" I call out a bit louder
He hears me this time, but he looks frantically around instead of following the sound of my voice. He ends up turning in a complete circle before he spots me. He looks at me with curious stare, like he isn't sure if it's really me or not.
"Kai, it's me, Cassia." I say loud enough that he hears me clearly
He looks around once again, and takes a step forward then stops. He's acting as if he really doesn't know what is going on, this scares me to the point where I get a chill.
I walk towards him slowly as if not to scare him. His eyes widen and he looks around again.
"Kai, it's okay. It's just me. I won't hurt you." I say with my hands out to show him that I really mean no harm.
I get within a yard from him, when I see it all click and the gears in his head start turning again.
"Cass? Is-is-is that really you?" He asks quietly tripping over his words.
I nod and he flings himself at me. He wraps his arms around my torso, and holds tight.
"I can't believe it's you! I looked and looked for you. Genic even helped me look but we couldn't find you. They took you Cassia, they took you and I thought you were dead. They took you from me." Kai rambles and it's almost like a child's rambling
Don't trust him
He isn't who you think he is
Don't trust him
Octavia's warnings ring in my head, and now I understand why.
"Kai, Octavia, and Jesse didn't take me; they helped me." I try to explain
"Were you looking for me? I missed you." Kai says with a light in his voice
"Kai, did you hear what I said?" I ask curiously pulling away from him
"You missed me didn't you? I knew you did!" He says with a smile
It's like he isn't listening to a word I say. What I'm trying to tell him isn't even fazing him. I pulled further away from him, because I'm starting to feel very anxious about the whole situation.
"Where are you going?" Kai asks and there's a hurt in his voice that tears at my heart.
"I'm still right here Kai. You know what I'm going to grab my backpack and we can walk and figure out where we're going from here. I want you to stay right here, don't move an inch okay?" I instruct
"We can find the bastard from four and I'll kill him. He took you from me he has to die. I killed the girl, now he's next and he'll pay just as she did!" Kai says with such vigorous hatred
"Yeah, we can do that Kai." I say trying to hide my fear, though I must not be doing a good job.
"You don't have to be scared anymore, I found you and we're safe now." Kai says caressing my cheek
I almost believe him, he sounds like his old self when he was telling me that everything would turn out okay after my Father died. I smile and nod. I slowly walk back towards the bushes. I look back every few feet to make sure that Kai isn't following me. I pass through the bushes and I crouch down.
"I need you to run in the opposite direction of Kai and I. Kai isn't right in his head, he's lost all sense of what is going on. You have to run, he want to kill you for taking me." I blurt out
"No, no I won't leave you. I'll explain it to him that it's not like that." Jesse says bewildered
"I tried, you have to go Jesse." I demand
"No, I'll make something up. I won't leave you not-"
"Jesse! He killed Octavia. You have to go, and go far." I say grabbing him by his shoulders.
The shock, and then the sadness in his green eyes tear at my soul. Then I do something incredibly stupid.
I kiss him; I kiss him full on the lips. I kiss him with such sorrow, and heartache; he kiss me back with just as sorrow and longing that it consumes us both. I'm the first to pull away and I know that I will remember this moment forever.
"I'll see you soon enough, be safe." Jesse whispers
I nod and we both know full well that this is the last time we will see each other in this life.
I grab my bag and I stand Jesse's eyes follow me. I wink at him and give him a sad goodbye smile. I look out at Kai who is looking up the sky, and then I take one more look at the boy who was the first boy to call me beautiful that wasn't family or a good friend, the boy who was at my side when I killed the boy from Eleven, the boy who kept me alive when I was sick. I will forever be his debt if I live to see a day outside of the arena.
I have to force my legs to move away from Jesse, and towards Kai.
"Okay, are you ready?" I ask Kai
"Yes, let's go get him!" Kai just about yells
Kai takes my hand and starts to walk in Jesse's direction.
"Hey, you know what I think I saw some footprint back this way, going north towards the Cornucopia." I say pulling him in the opposite direction
"Yeah, but if he was headed towards the Cornucopia then it would be this way. Genic said to always go this way to get back to camp." Kai explains
"Well I don't think Jesse would do directly towards the Cornucopia, he would know that Genic would expect that. So Jesse would go around about way." I quickly lie.
Kai seems to buy it; nods and then we are on our way.
I chance a glance back and I find Jesse standing watching us walk away.
"Everything okay?" Kai asks me and begins to look back
"Whoa! What was that?" I say dramatically and point
Kai whips his head around to where I'm pointing.
"You know what, I think it was just a bird. Sorry to scare you I'm just a little on edge." I cover up with a half-truth
Kai just smiles, and gives my hand a squeeze. We walk for a few hours, and it's late in the afternoon by the Sun's accord. So I tell Kai that we should stop and rest for a few minutes. He starts to protest that we're almost to the Cornucopia, and that Jesse is getting away. I finally soothe him when I tell him that Genic will probably have Jesse waiting for him. That seems to satisfy him for the time being.
"I love you Cassia." Kai say scooting closer to me
"I know Kai, I know." I say with a genuine smile knowing that he actually does
"Don't you love me?" Kai's questioning continues
"I do." I say flatly
"Well, why don't you say it back?" Kai asks
"Why should I have to say it?' I ask annoyed
"Because I want to hear you say it." Kai continues to push
"I'm not going to say it. I already say that I do." I say petulantly
Kai's quite for a while, and at first I think he's fall asleep but he speaks up before I look over.
"You don't really love me do you?" Kai says sadly
"Are we really going to do this Kai?" I ask fully annoyed at this point
"You don't love me." He repeats as if he's in a daze
"Kai come on, let's focus okay?" I say rolling my eyes
"Why did you lie to me? Why don't you love me like you said back in the Capitol?" Kai asks angrily
"Kai I never-"
"Yes you did! You told me you loved me! So you not only lied to me but you don't love me back! He yells fully enraged
"Shhh! Genic will hear you at this rate!" I scold him
Kai turns a shade of red that I've never seen, and I'm momentarily concerned for him. Then everything happened so quickly that my head spins.
Kai is suddenly straddling my lap, and has a knife to my throat.
"You lied to me, why did you lie to me!" He yells
"Kai, Kai calmed down. I didn't lie to you. I promise!" I try to talk him down
"More lies, all you do is lie!" He continues yelling
"Stop yelling Genic will hear you and then we'll both are as good as dead!" I try to explain frantically
"What are you talking about? Genic wouldn't kill me, he's my friend, and he wouldn't lie. Unlike you! All you do is lie!" Kai yells louder and presses the knife into my throat harder
I'm at loss for words, I didn't think I'd die like this' I thought maybe my death would be something simpler and more peaceful. Not being yelled at by my best friend turned psychopath.
"Why don't you love me? I've loved you for so long, and I thought you loved me back. Why don't you love me back Cassia?" Kai asks his voice breaking and tears appear in his eyes
I begin to say something but he presses his knife even harder, and I feel a bead of blood trickle down my neck. I also begin to have a hard time breathing, as he is also cutting off my oxygen.
"Please, Kai. Don't do this." I rasp out
"I've loved you for so long, I watched you grow into such a beautiful woman. Then I nursed you back to health when your dad died, and you became so skinny. I thought you were going to die. I thought I was going to lose you, and I couldn't lose you. I love you so much Cass, so much." Kai says with so much sadness in his voice that my heartbreaks even more.
I move my left hand from his wrist that hold the knife to my throat and place it on his hip, but I keep my right on his wrist just in case. I begin to rub circles just above his pants waistband. He cries even harder, and lets up some on the knife.
"Kai, look at me." I ask hoarsely
He looks at me with his tear filled eyes.
"I do, I do love you." I say quietly
"What?" Kai breaths and hope fills his eyes
"I love you, Kai," I say wincing from the pain of my oxygen-deprived lungs
"You do?" He asks with hope filling his voice
"Yes, I do?" I rasp
"Say it again." He pleads
"I love you." I say a little louder
Then just as it had come, the knife was gone. Then Kai's lips are crashing down on mine, and I'm unable to return the kiss. He pulls away and looks at me funny.
"Are you thirsty?" I ask randomly
"What?" Kai asks confused on the quick subject change
"Are you thirsty? I just remembered that I still have water in my canteen." I say reaching for my bag.
"Yeah, actually I am now that I think about it!" He says excitedly
I smile, pretending that I'm excited for the water as well when in reality I'm glad that I've distracted him. I pull it and take off the cap. I see that he's look hungrily at the canteen, and I smile slyly.
"Here, you can have it first." I say easily
"Are you sure, I mean I wouldn't want…okay sure yeah I'll drink first." He says in a clutter of words.
I hand it over to him and he starts to chug it. He starts to slow down, but I tip it up so keep's drinking. When he has finally drank the entire contents of the canteen I pull away.
"Damn, thanks, but didn't you want any?" He asks happily
I just shake my head no.
"Okay, I don't think you'd have liked it anyway. It tasted kind of fishy, where did you get that anyway? Genic and I searched everywhere for water." Kai asks
"I just found a waterfall pretty far from here." I say simply
He just nods, and lies down. He ends up resting his head on my thigh, and I run my finger through his black hair.
"Mm, that feels nice." He sighs and closes his eyes
Tears begin to pool in my eyes, knowing what will happen in the next few minutes, and the poison in the water works quickly.
"Ugh, I don't feel good Cass. I feel so heavy." Kai complains
"I'm sorry Kai, I'm so sorry." My voice breaking
"What are you talking about?" Kai asks opening his heavy eyes
"The water, the water was poisoned." I confess
I watch as my betrayal sets in, and dawns on him.
"No…no…you would do that. I just need to rest I drank too fast. I'll-I'll be fine. Right?" He says in denial
"No Cass, Cass no. Please no, I'm scared. I'm so scared." He begins to cry.
"Shhh, you'll be okay. I promise you'll be okay." I say with a sad smile
"I feel so tired Cassia, can I go to sleep?" He asks sadly
"Yeah take a nap. You'll feel better when you wake up." I say my voice shaking
"Will you stay with me? Please don't leave me." He asks as he shuts his eyes.
"I won't leave you, I'll be right here when you wake up." I tell him as I run my fingers through his hair again in hopes of soothing him.
"Don't leave me okay?" He says again
"I won't I promise." I say with tears streaming down my face
He's quiet for a minute, and I think maybe he's fallen into the hallucinations, but then he open his eyes.
"Don't let me dream okay?" He requests simply
His eyes are clear unlike before when they were clouded with confusion and fear. Now they are clear and I know it's really him, and I understand what he's asking.
"I won't, I won't." I promise
He nods and shuts his beautiful blue eyes for the last time. He attempts to choke back a sobs but they come out anyway.
"You're okay, shhh you're okay." I say grabbing his hand
"I love you Cassia." He says as he begins to fall
"I love you too Kai. I mean it." I say choking on a sob
He nods and smiles.
"I love you so much, and I'll see you soon." I tell him quietly
He only gives me a half of a nod, before he slips away.
I let out a loud sob that shakes my entire being. Then I hear him whimper and I know I have to keep my word.
I take his knife and I place the tip over his heart. He lets out a cry and then I plunge the knife into his heart. He begins to choke, and blood comes out of his mouth. Then he goes limp, and I know it's finally over when his cannon goes off.
I look up at the sky, in hopes of finding an excuse for my actions or comfort but I find none; it isn't like I deserve either anyways. I look back down at the boy who was best friend, and I lean down to kiss his forehead, which is still slightly warm. Then I remove the knife and put it in my bag. I know I have to move soon so that they can come get his body, so I carefully lift his head off my head and place it on the ground.
"Your fight is over." I whisper to him just as Jesse did for Octavia.
I take one last glance at Kai and then I walk away, towards the Cornucopia. It was time to finish this awful wretched game.
Just as I begin walking, another cannon goes off. I don't need the Capitol to tell me that it was Jesse's. He probably reached the Cornucopia to find Genic and then Genic killed him. I take a deep breath, and I keep moving.
It doesn't take me very long at all to reach the clearing where the Cornucopia is. I walk right into the field filled with the setting Sun's light.
"Genic!" I scream, as I'm half way there
When there is no answer, I scream his name again, and he rounds the corner. His sword in hand, and I can see the blood dripping off of it. I shrug my bag off my shoulders, and unsheathe my swords. He walks towards me and I keep my path towards him. We meet and I swing at him, though he counters it quickly. I continue to swing at him, and continues countering quickly. I begin to get frustrated and I put more strength into my swings, Genic has to adapt to this but he doesn't do it quick enough and he almost loses his grip, and I take this chance to stick his shoulder. He grunts out in pain, but recovers quickly. He makes his move and locks me in so that we are face to face.
"Where's Kai?" He asks as if he's actually concerned.
"He's dead." I say flatly
"Awe what happened? I think I actually quite liked him." Genic fakes his remorse
"I killed him. In fact I poisoned him." I say nonchalantly
"Wow, you killed your District partner? That's cold, and wasn't he also your boyfriend or something?' Genic laughs
"Enough!" I yell and push him away
There is a silence, and then squawking. We both turn our heads to the sound and there is a swarm of giant birds headed directly for us, and it's too late to run. As soon as the swarm is upon us I just start swing my swords at anything and everything. Feathers and blood are everywhere; it feels like I'm fighting a huge wave of water. Then finally the swarm clears, the last huge bird is coming right at me its sharp break and razor wings coming to end me and when it gets close enough I cut it right out the air.
I catch my breath momentarily and I look over to Genic who meets my eyes. He still has a lot of fight in him, then I break out into a dead run. I vault over birds and how I don't trip over one is a miracle in itself. I'm headed straight towards the hill where all the starting plates are, I don't have a reason why I chose to go this way I just need to tire Genic out if I want a chance at winning.
I'm almost at the top, when Genic reaches out pulls me back and I fly backwards.
"Are you scared now?" He taunts
"No, but you are." I retort
I actually catch him off guard, and I smile smugly. This definitely pisses him off more than he was before. He comes flying at me, swinging down hard. I use this to my advantage knowing that if I change directions at the last second he won't be able to catch me because of all the power he's putting in his swing. This happens perfectly and I end back uphill where I make my way to the marble throne that I saw on my first day in the arena. Once I reach it, I don't hear Genic following me and I stupidly think that he might have actually fallen and impaled himself on his own sword. But like as fate would have it, I turn around and I feel the cold metal of Genic's blade resting at my throat.
"Are you done?" He asks like he's bored
"Probably." I say easily
"Awe, you gave up so easily. I'm not even out of breath." He says like he's actually disappointed.
"Sorry." I half ass apologize
"It's such a shame that I have to kill you. You seem like a relatively decent person. Such a shame, oh well. Any goodbyes?" He asks nicely
"Only one actually." I say with no emotion
"Well be quick the audience gets bored easily, and I'd like to go home." He explains.
"Oh, don't worry it'll so fast you'll be home in no time." I laugh
Genic looks at me as if I've completely lost it, and then I make my move.
I swing my second sword that he had stupidly forgotten that I had. I put some much power and strength in my swing that when I hit his blade his arm goes flying back. I was hoping that he won't have a very strong grip on it but nothing can ever go as planned. The look of surprise on his face is almost too good not to savor but I want this over with.
So with right sword I plunge it deep into his abdominal chest area, and I twist my blade inside him.
"Can you feel it? Can you feel your life slipping away from you, being sucked out from the being in the underworld? Can you taste death, can you hear them screaming you name?" I whisper coldly
And just as before, nothing ever goes as planned as I feel fire rip through my abdomen, and I gasp.
"Oh you didn't think it would be that easy did you? Don't worry though I'll see you there." Genic laughs
I push him away from me, and with him his blade jerks away. I stumble backwards and I conveniently fall into the marble throne; Genic laughs and falls to his knees.
I try to keep pressure on my wound but there is just so much blood. In honesty I'm not sure who is going to bleed out first. I can see the edges of my field of vision start to disappear. Finally my eyes become too heavy and they close. The last thing that I quite possibly would hear is Genic just laughing, but before I can tell him I'd like to die in peace I slip into a black void.
And there is nothing.
And that ladies and gentlemen is a wrap. Thank you so much for the past two years, and stick with us for so long.
Now I know you're all super pissed that we have decided to end it here, but good news! There will most definitely will be a squeal! That should be up as soon as next week. Bee (Carry-on-my-wayward-sanity) and I (Cass/Starbright) haven't figured out all the details yet. But we are super excited and hope that you will continue with us! I will also be going through earlier chapters and fixing them. Bee and I started this when we were seniors (Grade 12) in High School, and now we are sophomore's (Second Year) in College. Our writing style has greatly improved (at least we would like to hope) and changed so when we go to look back through we can't help but grimace at some parts.
Again we just want to thank you all again for all of you guys stick with us throughout this entire Journey. If you could just leave us a review even if you're just saying that you're just as excited for the Squeal as we are or just a Hello! We would really appreciate it! Thank you again so very much and we look forward in seeing you all in a week or so!