Life after we all split up was surprisingly boring for being caught in a pitch black murder mansion. We didn't see much of them, they didn't see much of us, and mostly, Dylan and I stared at the ceiling.
"I just don't understand." I said again. We'd been stuck on one topic for several minutes. "How could they all turn on us like that?"
"They don't know our story." replied Dylan. "They're not in our minds, for all we know we do think differently than they do. And it's possible, I mean, how would we know they think the same as us without being in their heads-"
"Save the philosophy for people who aren't going to die soon." I rolled over to face the wall. "Oh, what if red to me is a different red than it is for you-"
"Hey, it could happen. And it's probably even more likely with us. Who knows what the scientists did to our brains?"
"Are you saying that we're the murderers?" I said. "I think I'd remember if I'd been running around brutally killing people."
"Would you?"
I sat up and squinted at him. "Are you serious about this?"
"I- no." said Dylan, avoiding my eyes. "I just...think it's interesting. And it might be what they think. They have no way of knowing, and, unless we could get inside each other's heads, we can't trust them any more than they can trust us."
"But we can trust each other, right, Dylan?" I said, trying to keep my tone light. The 'would you' comment was making me a little uneasy.
"Yeah, of course." said Dylan. "I mean, come on, Max, don't you trust me?"
I sighed and rolled back over to face the ceiling. "Look, Dylan, I want you to know that I am still not sold on this whole 'other half' thing and you are still about as close to dating me as, say, Total is. Ew. But yeah, as far as trust goes...I guess I trust you almost as much as I trust myself."
Dylan just smiled. "Good to know."
"Go away." called Malfoy.
Felicity rolled her eyes and walked further into the room. "I've as much of a right to be here as you do. Being a snob doesn't mean you own the place."
"I'm not a snob, I just find all of you irritating and unimportant." Malfoy said. "I'd rather use my energy to stay alive instead of holding hands and making friends."
"And you're not the only one." Felicity sat in the armchair opposite him, crossing her legs. "Which is why I'm here. Despite what the others said, I really don't have much experience with fighting, my weapons are usually a bow and my razor sharp wit. And I'd rather not die alone and bored. So I figured of all the high-class wannabe ponces I've known- and believe me, I've known a lot- you're probably one of the laziest, and the weakest-looking. I seriously doubt you could pull off half of these murders. I'm going to stay with you."
"I have to have a light build." grumbled Malfoy.
"What?"
"I play, er, used to play-" He broke off, sighing. "No, you'll never understand. But you don't know anything about me or what I've done. I'm not just some, what was it, high-class wannabe ponce."
"Oh, impressive." Felicity wiggled her fingers. "What, did you get in a schoolboy fight?"
"Yes, actually, several." said Malfoy, turning a page in his book. "With a celebrity, although he didn't deserve his fame until last year. I also survived working with a group of killers and sadists that nearly took over England, you would've been so dead if they had won-"
"No, I'm pretty sure I would've been dead centuries before that." Felicity said. "And, also, really, surviving? That's what you've done with your life?"
Malfoy made a noise of irritation. "Right, you don't know anything about me or my life."
"Then why don't you enlighten me?"
He snapped his book shut. "Maybe I'm not proud of it. I didn't exactly win anything, and the biggest thing I've ever done was horrible, it was such a mistake! I was not one of the good guys, Worthington, and in the end the boy I'd bullied during school ended up saving my arse and all of England while my parents and allies ended up in jail! And now I'm here, and it's all been so pointless."
Felicity stared at him for a moment. "I've done the wrong thing too, you know. I had this friend-"
"Have you ever brought about the murder of a helpless man who'd never been anything but kind to you?" Malfoy snapped. The woman's silence gave him the answer. "Then I have nothing to say to you."
"If you knew anything about-"
"I'm not interested." the wizard said, reopening his book.
Felicity sighed. "You can't even see to read, can you?"
"Sometimes I can, but mostly, it's just to drive away conversations that I don't want to have." Malfoy said. "Like this one."
The blonde woman leaned back into the chair, crossing her arms. "Well, I'm not leaving, I'm not going to be the next one dead, so either we sit in silence or talk."
"Silence." said Malfoy.
"Fine."
The Hatter had found a nice little nook to curl up in, far away from the others, where he could sit and breathe. He'd thought he was safe, Time's demon was gone, but then he'd realized or remembered or recalled, whatever the word was-
-it hadn't been Time's demon who he'd seen with the man, what was his name, with the fine clothing and the high bearing and the preference for tea, yes, something to do with tea, he had been drinking tea and then he'd dropped the knife or the fork or one of those utensils and the Hatter had seen it, had seen it all, unless he was confused and it had been him with the knife and the tea and back in Wonderland-
but no, it was dark, so dark, while the man with the tea had approached the Angel of Time. For time had both demons and angels to do her bidding, you see, and you couldn't tell them apart except for a funny sort of feeling you got when you were around them, like there was something just the tiniest bit off, just three percent, but no, that couldn't be right, for the demon of Time had been ugly, hideously ugly, with lamplike eyes that had stalked the Hatter ever since he'd been in Wonderland. Time's demon was like a cat, like the Chesire Cat only with less grinning and more whispers, and the Angel of Time was not. The Angel of Time was a pale dragon in the Hatter's mind, breathing firestorms of knives at the poor man who'd had a name like the Chesire cat and also like tea, and then there'd been so much red, so much darkness, and the Hatter had run off only to find the angel striking again and again with pale scales-
but no, that wasn't right, either, for it was so dark, and the scales were dark, rippling like they were made of air, no, it must have been their shine that made him think they were pale. But how could there have been a shine with no light? Unless there was no dragon, only knives, coming from an invisible hand or someone else's hands who the Hatter couldn't quite picture- he could see their arms and hands as clearly as he could see his own, but their other features always seemed to be just on the edge of his vision, and then the voice, too, always where he couldn't see to hear it, ever since the others had gone away, he hadn't been able to listen to the house move without hearing footsteps, slow and pondering, whispering mine-mine-mine-mine-mine, always following him, always following the Hatter, and he knew what and who it was.
It was Time, taking him at last, forcing him to watch the others first, but no, it was Time, claiming him for her own with her dark angel. For although the demon may have been violence, the Angel was vengeance, stalking the halls sometimes invisibly and sometimes as a dragon, looking for the Hatter, looking for all of them, and always whispering mine-mine-mine-mine-mine
Mine.
Mine-mine-mine-mine-mine.
The Hatter squeezed his eyes shut as the Angel (and his end) approached. Time was running out, away from him. She would end him at last.
"Who is it?" Prim asked, peering anxiously at the hunched figure up ahead.
"It's just the Hatter. Let's keep going."
The healer followed Katniss, glancing at the Hatter as they walked by. "Do you think he'll be okay? And the others who are alone, Felicity and Malfoy?"
"I wouldn't worry too much about them, considering one of them is probably doing it."
Prim bit her lip. "But what if it's Max and Dylan and they're innocent and going to be killed?"
"Look, Prim, we can't worry about them, all right?" said Katniss. "You can't always afford to worry about other people, especially when they might kill you."
"This isn't the Hunger Games, Katniss." Prim said. "Not all of them are going to- or might-"
Katniss suddenly felt a burst of affection for Prim. "These aren't animals we can take home and nurse back to health, Prim. This is more like the Hunger Games than you think. We've got to focus on surviving first and then worry about the others."
"What about Peeta, Rue, Finnick, Mags, Beetee, Wiress, and Johanna?" asked Prim. "You risked dying in the games to keep them alive, and me."
"Not for all of them. And that was different." Katniss said. "I knew I could trust them. And I love you, and the rest were all the allies I had in the game."
"So why can't you make more allies? Because you don't like them?"
"No, I...okay, when it came down to it, I knew that Peeta wouldn't kill me if we were the final two. Same for Rue, and for some of the others, and you. And of course it went both ways, I wouldn't have killed any of them either. The people here...if I were in the final two with Max, or Felicity, or Malfoy, we would be fighting, not picking berries. Even Dylan, although he's harder to get a read on. They would be willing to kill me to survive."
"You can't know that." said Prim.
Katniss decided to let the issue drop for the moment. She hated arguing with her sister, especially when their lives were in danger. "You're right, I can't. Which is why I'm trying to go out and find the killer, instead of waiting for them to strike again. If we find them, we can save everyone here who's innocent, even Malfoy, Felicity, and the Hatter, if it isn't one of them. We won't even have to worry about anyone being alone. Do you understand?"
Prim looked down at the ground. "Yes."
"So do you remember how to walk like we're in the woods?"
"Yes, Katniss."
"Then let's do that." said Katniss.
For several minutes, they moved silently through the hall. Katniss made methodical patterns around the first floor. At one point, they peeked in on Max and Dylan's room- it was dark, and they could hear regular breathing coming from the direction of the beds. A few minutes later, they heard someone walking around on the floor above them, heading towards the stairs, and then Felicity suddenly appeared, sneering at them.
"Just getting a snack." she said. "Not murdering any of you, don't worry."
A few minutes after that, Katniss and Prim worked their way up to the second floor. They were moving along a previously unused hallway when they heard someone whisper, "Mine."
Katniss immediately motioned Prim back. She crept forward, heart thudding, with one hand on the knife at her belt. "If you touch me or my sister, you will die." The huntress heard creaking, like someone standing. "Who's there? If you are innocent, come out right now, if not, I'm going to-"
An invisible fist connected solidly with her temple, and she dropped the knife, temporarily blinded. Immediately, Katniss dove for the weapon, but she was met with some invisible body on the ground. The hungtress locked her legs around what felt like their ribcage and wrapped her arms around their neck, trying to keep them down so maybe she could get the ring off-
The murderer stood, still with her on their back, and then slammed themselves back down, shaking Katniss loose and knocking the wind out of her, and then the knife was suddenly flying towards her. Katniss grabbed for a wrist, something she could twist and break, but she was a second too late and the knife entered her belly. It hadn't entered her heart- good- but it felt like she'd been badly poisoned, and Katniss was still struggling to get her breath back. With a groan, she pulled the knife out.
"Where are you?" the huntress growled, shakily standing with her knife raised. "Come out and fight me!" Katniss swung one fist out and connected with something human, but before she could use the knife, she was tackled and pinned to the ground.
Somewhere above her she could hear Prim screaming. Good, it would call the others- but Max and Dylan were asleep, and the Hatter might not come, and Malfoy and Felicity might not care- she twisted her body and ended up sitting on top of the murderer. Her stomach was pure agony and Prim's shrieks were giving her a headache, but Katniss ignored it all, stabbing at where she thought the invisible body might be-
-and missed, the knife banging uselessly against the floor. The huntress felt a hand grab her wrist, and her arm was twisted much further than it should have been, and she nearly blacked out from the pain as she heard something snap, but she had to hold on for Prim.
Katniss struggled to her feet again, head throbbing, vision swimming, legs trembling, chest and arm feeling electrified. "I don't know who you are," the huntress panted, staggering forward, "but I've survived worse than this and you can't-"
She felt another searing pain in her chest and looked down. The knife blade was protruding out of her chest again, somehow. Katniss tried feebly to pull it out with her unbroken arm as she fell to her knees, but she couldn't make a fist, couldn't grip anything, not when she couldn't breathe like this, and then somehow she ended up on her back looking at the ceiling and Prim was still wailing and Prim, Prim, she had to hold on for Prim-
but then Katniss was suddenly numb, and she couldn't think, couldn't see, couldn't fight, as the world faded away.
"No!" screamed Prim. "No, no, no!" She ran over to Katniss's body, not thinking about anything but Katniss. This couldn't be happening, her sister had lived through worse, she couldn't be dying, not here when the Capitol hospital was so far away. Prim kneeled by her sister, trying to think of a way to save her. She had no herbs, no tools, nothing but herself and the maybe the others if she had time to get them. She could use some cloth and apply pressure-
Then the healer felt a blow to her head and fell, face first, onto the ground. She looked up in time to see the knife hovering above her.
"No." Prim said, eyes welling up. "Please, please let me save her."
The knife hovered there.
"I- I don't know who you are, I can't tell any of the others that, and I c-c-can't attack you, I'm n-not strong enough Please. I w-won't follow you, I'll stay somewhere else, just p-p-please." She was nearly sobbing now, trembling with fear. Prim had to stay alive, had to save her sister.
The knife clattered to the ground. Prim closed her eyes. Instead of a blow, however, she heard footsteps leaving, and then a pair coming closer.
Malfoy was roaming the halls on the second floor restlessly, looking for Felicity- as much as he disliked her, he didn't want to be murdered- when someone called his name.
"Malfoy?"
He turned. "Who are you?"
"It's Prim." replied the girl. She sounded oddly calm. "Come you come over here, please?"
That set off Malfoy like a Sneakoscope. "Why can't you come over here?"
"No, I really need you to look at something over here." said Prim, voice breaking slightly. "Please?"
Malfoy considered his options. Although it was one of the most uncreative traps he'd ever seen, the wizard was fairly sure Max and Dylan were the murderers, and Katniss seemed intelligent enough to come up with something better anyways.
"What are you doing?" Felicity said.
Malfoy jumped- he hadn't realized she was nearby. "What are you doing? I thought you wanted to stay together."
"I told you, I went to get something to eat, you didn't want to come-"
Malfoy raised an eyebrow. "It doesn't take that long to get down to the kitchen."
"Well, it was dark, and I couldn't find anything, and then, when I came back to the library, you were gone." Felicity said. "Which is why I ask, what are you doing?"
"Looking for you." Malfoy said.
"And I was looking for you. I found you, it seems." Although her tone was casual, the woman's eyes drilled into Malfoy's with all the force of a Legilimens. He held her gaze.
"Malfoy? Are you still there?" called Prim.
The wizard looked away from the impromptu staring contest and down the hall. "All right, I'm coming!" He turned back to Felicity. "Come on, Worthington."
"Oh, well if you ask so nicely." said Felicity. "What is it?"
Malfoy shrugged. "I don't know. Prim won't tell me. But if we're doing this whole staying-together-to-not-die thing, please come with me to find out."
The Victorian lady rolled her eyes and followed. When they reached Prim, they found her kneeling over-
"Oh no, Prim." Felicity gasped, and Malfoy, despite his loathing for Katniss, had to agree.
The girl lay spread eagle on the ground, one of her arms twisted at an impossible angle. Her chest and neck were covered in some dark liquid, but they were both strangely lumpy, and Malfoy realized Prim had made cloth bandages out of clothing. For a moment, he and Felicity just stared.
"Oh, no, she's fine." said Prim, still sounding calm. "I know how to make her better, and she won't bleed out, she's just unconscious. I don't know what to do about her arm, we might be able to get Max or Dylan to break something to make a splint for her, but when we get out of here we'll be able to fix it just fine...I just...can one of you check if she has a pulse? I'm...I..."
"I'll do it." Felicity knelt beside Prim, picked up Katniss's wrist, and held it for a minute, and then her face fell. "I...Prim, maybe I'm doing it wrong, they didn't teach us much about this, or...you might want to..."
Malfoy crossed to the other side of Katniss's body and placed his fingers on the corpse's neck. "There's nothing you can do." he said after a pause. "She's gone."
Prim didn't collapse, as he had expected. Instead, she pushed Felicity away and said, "No, no, you must be doing it wrong." She felt Katniss's wrist and then, more frantically, her neck. "Maybe it's too faint to feel?" she asked, voice frail.
Malfoy and Felicity stared at each other, neither knowing what to say. All the Slytherin knew was that he wanted no part of the hysteria that was about to follow. "I'll go get Max and Dylan."
Felicity nodded and put an arm around Prim. "Look, we'll take Katniss to her bed, and then if she wakes up..."
"No, no, she's going to!" Prim cried. Her pleadings followed Malfoy down the hall. "She's alive, she has to be, I saved her-"
I was awoken by a knocking on my door and a strange sense of disorientation. Yes, I was still in the funhouse of hell, but when had I fall asleep? "Dylan? Are you there?"
"Maximum, it's Malfoy, open the door, now."
I quickly crossed the room and opened it. "I thought somebody really wanted us all to keep to ourselves."
"Where's Dylan?"
"I'm right here." said Dylan from behind Malfoy. "I went to the bathroom."
"And neither of you were anywhere near the second floor, of course." huffed Malfoy. "Not suspicious in the least."
"Who is it? What happened?" I asked.
"Katniss." Malfoy said.
We could hear Prim before we saw her. The three of us turned a corner and found her yelling at Felicity. "I- I'm sorry." said the Victorian lady, eyes looking damp. "I- I don't know what to-"
"She's strong! She survived two fight-to-the-death games against twenty three other people! All she ever did was save my life! This isn't how she dies!"
"Prim, she's gone, I'm so sorry-"
The healer sat down, small frame shaking with sobs. Felicity tried to put an arm around her, but the younger girl shook her off.
"Dylan was using the bathroom." Malfoy reported with a raise of his eyebrow. "And Maximum was supposedly asleep."
"And I was getting a snack, and you were doing God knows what." Felicity said calmly. "Let's skip the part where we all accuse each other and bicker about it. There's something more important we need to talk about."
"What?" Dylan asked.
Felicity pointed at Prim. "We can't leave her alone. We need someone to take care of her."
"Dylan and I can do it." I said immediately. "We've taken care of a girl her age-"
Felicity's expression hardened. "Oh, no, I was thinking I could do it. I have a little sister I live with back home."
"No, really, Max was right about the kid thing, and we've also fought off a lot of enemies with them." said Dylan. "We'll make sure she doesn't get...you know."
"Personally," Malfoy said, walking forward to stand by Felicity, "I have no desire whatsoever to take the girl, but if we're talking about preventing the mysterious 'you knows', I think Felicity would be the better bet."
Felicity nodded. "So it's settled, I'll take care of her and-"
"No, it is not settled." I said. "Dylan and I make two votes, and you and Malfoy make two. Nothing is settled."
"You two are not taking her, you are born killers, you're the ones most likely to be the murderers-" Felicity began.
"Excuse me, could you repeat that?" I asked. "All I heard was the word 'hypocrite'. Wasn't someone saying we should skip all the accusing this time?"
"We're not letting you have her, and that's final." said Dylan. "It's numbers, too. Max and I can work together to protect her."
Malfoy snorted. "Oh, yes, the two of you will be working together, al right, although I don't see you getting much protecting done."
"Shut up, Malfoy!" I shouted, advancing on him. You don't even want her, you have no place in this!"
"No, I don't, it's just you, Dylan, and Felicity, right?" He laughed again. "I just think it's funny that you aren't even considering what Primrose wants! I'm the obnoxious one of this group, and yet somehow I'm the most levelheaded one here!"
For a moment, no one said anything- Malfoy had a point. Felicity sat down beside the young girl. "Prim? Look, we want you to stay with one of the others from now on, so you're safe. Who do you want to stay with?"
It took a long time for Prim's answer to come from the cavern of her arms. "None of you. You are all murderers."
"No, Prim, don't-" Dylan said, squatting down.
"I told Katniss we should trust each other and stay together, that we should protect each other! I tried to get her to keep all of you alive and then one of you killed her!" shouted Prim. "I'm not staying with any of you! I'm staying with Katniss until she wakes up!" She buried her head in her arms again.
Dylan, Malfoy, Felicity and I looked at each other helplessly. "We can take turns." Dylan said quietly. "Two of us will stay with her at all times. Max and I can-"
"No, you two are not doing this again." said Felicity. "One of you is staying with me, and one of you is staying with Malfoy. We're splitting you up so Prim doesn't end up dead."
"And how do I know you won't kill Dylan while I'm with Malfoy? Or that Malfoy won't kill me?"
"How do we know Dylan won't kill me, or you won't kill Malfoy?" said Felicity, standing up. "We don't, we just know that when you two are together, people die. We want to keep our eye on at least one of you as much as we can."
I laughed. "Since when were you and shampoo boy working together?"
"Since we have a common enemy." said Malfoy, looking steadily at Dylan and I. "I was with Felicity for several hours today, and we're still alive, and no one has seen the Hatter. It's the two of you. We can't make you confess, we can't make you let us out, but we can keep you from killing anyone else. If we can't use force, we're going to wait you out. We'll get out of here, and get the two of you to justice, no matter what we have to do."
I made a mental note to self to one day list all of the vaguely supervillainous things Malfoy had said over the past few weeks. That one probably topped them all.
