Chapter 11
Hey guys! I just cannot believe how amazing all my reviewers are. You guys are literally amazing. Like the best. I love you guys. I've got some basic ideas for where this is going, but any ideas or thoughts you have on it would be great to hear, so just review. Can we get to 30 reviews? I hope so. :)
Prims POV
Night has fallen. And still I run. It's all I can do to run. Run away from the murder. Run away from the sick twisted games. Run away from the strange boy with so much hidden inside. Just run. I think I'm going to be sick. The world is spinning. I stop and lean against a tree and sink to the floor. My heart pounds.
I almost killed him. Me. I almost killed a person. Somebody who did nothing to me. Because I was so angry, so full of an irrational, burning rage wanting to get out. I can't stop seeing the way he looked. The terror in his eyes. Can't stop remembering the feel of the knife in my hands. I'm shaking. Tears start to spill onto my cheeks. My breath mists in the air. This is not what I thought it would be. I thought I could just hide behind the barrier I built for myself, so I could be cold. Just… kill. Not think about it. But at the first hurdle it crumbled to dust.
I know I'm going to die. Right here. In this arena. Because here it's kill or be killed. And I'm not a murderer. At least not now. I've heard the arena changes you. Brings out the worst and pulls you into the shadows. Maybe by the end I will have felt a body go limp at my hands. But not if I can help it.
I don't want to open my eyes. Because when I do I'll see the arena. I'll see where I am. With my eyes closed some part of me can pretend it's all ok. That nothing can hurt me. That I'm safe. Even when I'm in the most danger I've ever been in. But when that comforting darkness creeps over me, it's all better. I'm still crying. Then I hear a twig snap.
My eyes open straight away and I spin around. A girl stands in front of me. She looks about my age, maybe a bit older. And in her hands are two long blades. She looks at me with a strange coldness in her eyes. But at the same time they look as if they pity me. She takes a step closer and I see her more clearly.
The moonlight bounces off her shoulder-length brown hair. Her eyes are a greeny-blue. She glares at me, weapons raised.
And then she springs forward. Pinning me to the ground. And brings her weapon to my neck. She looks so sad for a moment. And then she whispers,
'I'm so sorry'.
She's about to draw the blade across my neck, when I start to speak.
'What's your name?'
She looks surprised for a moment.
'Lily.' She says. Her voice is soft, but has a sharp edge to it.
'Lily. Do you have a family?'
Confusion crosses her face making her nose crinkle slightly.
'Yeah. Yeah I do. I have a mum, a dad and a sister- Ellie.'
'And do they care about you?'
'Yeah. They're the best. I miss them.' She looks so sad now.
'How does it feel? Having a family? Having somebody to care for you? How does it feel?'
'I- I don't understand.'
'Kill me. Kill me now. Win. Go on; go back to your family. I don't have anybody waiting for me back home. Nobody will miss me. Go on. Kill me.'
As I say it I realise it's true. She deserves to win. Her family shouldn't feel the grief that I did.
'No.' she says, slowly backing up. Tears in her eyes. 'If I go back, I'll be a murderer. That's not what I want.' She breaks down.
'All I wanted was a normal life. I wanted to grow up. I wanted to spend my life with my family, and my dog. I wanted to fall in love, get married. I wanted a life. But not like this. Never like this.' She whispers.
'But they deserve to get you back. It's not fair. Not fair that you have to kill. Not fair that you're here.' I say.
She smiles sadly. 'But that's just it. Life's not fair. I'm not going to come out of this. Not alive anyway. I never wanted to kill. I wanted to leave this life as an innocent. But that's not possible anymore.'
I look at her tear stained face, and she looks at mine.
'Then lets go together. Lets leave this life innocent. Because if neither of us want to kill, then lets die innocent. Together.' I whisper.
'What do you mean?'
'Allies. Until one of us leaves this world. Agreed?'
She smiles through her tears.
'Agreed.'
For the first time in a year I have a friend. Somebody to talk to. Somebody who I can laugh and cry with. She helps me up. And as we walk deeper into the forest, I remember where we are.
Somebody to die with.
