A/N: Thank you all for the reviews! It really does mean a lot to me :) Also FOR THE CATO LOVERS, I have started writing a Cato/OC story called "She Wolf" under my normal penname (Maddie Rose). I would love if you checked it out and shared your thoughts! Anyway, on with the bloodbath!


RIVERS OF BLOOD

Crow Sullivan – District 8

I've been marked with a tracker and been given my outfit for the arena. Pretty simple, really – denim jeans, a long-sleeved shirt and a jumper for when it's cold at night, thick black boots. The same as all the other tributes – apart from each long-sleeved is a different colour depending on what district you're from. Evianna and I have white shirts.

Now all we're supposed to do is sit and wait. I'm not as confident as I was before. It would be a little better if I was with Evianna, but I'm alone in the Launch Room. Just waiting for the call to go out, the call to die. Well, if I don't survive. I'm not sure whether I should run for the Cornucopia. Eclipse, our mentor, said that we probably shouldn't.

Then comes the call that it's time for launch. I'm shaking as my stylist takes me over towards the circular plate I have to stand on. She's offering me soothing words that I don't even hear. A glass cylinder lowers around me – and then I'm whizzing up and what I face is a huge forest. My stomach starts to free-fall as I hear the announcer, Raven Bandello, booming over the arena.

"Ladies and gentlemen, let the Twenty-Fifth Hunger Games begin!"

It's the most painful sixty seconds of my life as I wait for the gong to sound. I look to my right. It's Cassie from District 1, looking at the massive Cornucopia and swallowing hard. To my left is Donnicon from District 3, whose expression is unreadable.

BONG!

I decide then and there that I'm going for the Cornucopia. I need weapons if I'm going to survive. Other tributes are racing there as well, bigger and faster than me. I nearly trip over my own feet as I stagger towards the Cornucopia, wondering if I'll even get there in time.

There is Aloe from District 2. She's whirling around to face me, her blue eyes blazing and a wicked knife in her hands. I don't even slow down as the knife impales me in the stomach. There is searing pain and I cry out in pain, cry out for mercy. Only there is nothing, nothing at all in Aloe's eyes as she pulls the knife ruthlessly from my stomach and slits my throat.


Alexis Thyme – District 10

If there was ever a hell on Earth, then this is it. This arena is it. As the gong sounds, everyone scrambles for the Cornucopia for their weapons. I'm fast, so I get there and grab a small pack, before darting off with it. Weapons don't matter so much to me. I just want to get out of there as quickly as possible. The Cornucopia's in a clearing right in the middle of the arena, so it's not so hard to get to the trees. When I do though, there's a shrill cry.

I whirl around and see Aloe stabbing Crow in the stomach, then pulling out the knife to cut his throat. I watch with fascinated horror as the youngest tribute in the arena is the first to die. Crow collapses to the ground, lifeless. I want to stare forever, but then I remember once the tributes have their weapons, they'll be on their way.

I've waited too long. I'm too close to the Cornucopia. There's a horrible agony coming from my back and then something drives through and sticks out of my chest. I want to scream…but I can't. My lungs are already filling with blood. Someone behind me has impaled me with a sword and when I hear the cruel laugh, I know exactly who it is.

"Sweet dreams," Dain whispers in my ear as I choke for air. Deliberately slowly, he withdraws his sword – and this time I do manage a warped, gurgling version of a scream. Dain kicks my legs out from underneath me and I crumple to the ground. I wait for him to deliver the killing blow as he stands above me, eyes glittering with glee, but he doesn't. He wants to take this slow.

I can't breathe. I can't move. I can only look up at my tormenter, so arrogant in the way that he just stands there and expects that no one will stop him, no one will kill him. I hear others screaming and I wonder if more people are dying. First Crow, now me.

Dying isn't like going to sleep. At least, not in the arena. There's so much pain, all over, that it's all I can do just to hold on. The last thing I ever see is Dain's cold, ruthless gaze as I slip into the black oblivion of death.


Phoenix Desoleil – District 12

It would be an overstatement if I said everyone's dying. I run to the Cornucopia and manage to snatch a bow and arrow before I start to move away. I don't want to get too cocky. Tributes who stay and hoard are the ones who end up getting knifed and I'm smarter than that.

I look around to see if I can see Mist, but I think she's gone already. The Careers have stayed to start a killing spree and I don't want to hang around to be part of it. I start towards the trees and that's when Lyssa from District 6 leaps out at me. She's wielding a knife, but by the fear in her eyes and her shaky grip on it, I'd guess she's never picked up a weapon in her life – well, apart from during training.

I'm not sure what drives me on. I think it's the fact that if I don't kill her, she'll kill me. I grab my bow from the quiver and draw my arm back and then forth, smashing her in the temple with it. Lyssa doesn't even make a sound as she crumples to the ground. At first I'm not sure, but when she doesn't move and I see the indent in her head, I'm sure that she's dead.

Over at the Cornucopia, it's only the Careers left – all eight of them. They're arguing now and I watch as Apollo shakes his head in disgust and points to the dead body of Alexis from District 10. Dain folds his arms across his chest and replies quite casually. Wow, dissention among the Careers already…things must not be good.

"Phoenix!"

Ashby and Teryn are staggering towards me. Ashby has a nasty gash on his forehead and carries a sword with him. Teryn's got a crossbow jiggling in her grasp. Neither of them look like they're going to kill me right now, so I lower my bow and arrow. I know what they want.

"Allies?" Ashby asks tentatively as they come right up to me. If I wanted to, I could kill them right now…but I'm not like that. Besides, alliances are always good. I nod slowly. I don't really know Teryn and Ashby well, but they seem okay.

"Yeah. I suppose."


Cassie Leigh Night – District 1

A yell of pain makes me whirl around as I'm stocking up, grabbing a couple of throwing knives. Behind me, Andre from District 11 is staggering backwards with an arrow in his chest. Tea lowers her bow and watches as Andre stumbles around for a bit, before he crumples to the ground. I just stare in abject shock. So this is what dying looks like. It isn't glorified one bit. It's brutal and it's pathetic. There's a cut down Tea's arm which makes me think Andre went at her before he was shot down.

"Let's get moving," Aloe barks. I glance around and realize that we Careers are the only ones left at the Cornucopia. Everyone else has legged it. Tea stashes her bow back into her quiver and shrugs. Dain is lazing around with his hands in his pockets. Apollo marches up to Dain and prods him none too gently in the chest.

"You," he spits, "I saw you did to that girl. I saw what you did to Alexis."

Dain just snickers. "So what?"

Apollo's eyes narrow dangerously. "She was just a kid!" he yelled angrily, jabbing a finger at Alexis's sad, crumpled body. Just a kid…yeah…she was my age. "You didn't make it quick, did you? You drew it out for as long as you could!"

Dain's starting to get annoyed now. I think Apollo better watch himself.

"How I kill is up to me," he retorts, then shrugs, "Hey, you don't like it, you can leave the group at any time."

I stare at my feet. I know as well as Apollo does that if he opted to leave right now, one of the others would kill him. Dain wouldn't just let him walk away. Apollo heaves a sigh and his shoulders slump, but he shakes his head slowly. I glance across at Tea and she's looking pretty unhappy as well.

"Fine." Apollo mutters through clenched teeth. "I'll stay."

Someone scrambles out from behind the Cornucopia. I blindly throw one of my knives before I can even see who it is. There's a shrill scream of pain as Evianna from District 8 staggers into view, looking down at the knife embedded in her chest. A wave of panic overwhelms me and for just a moment, I want to take it back. I didn't know it was Evianna. I didn't know…

She trips and falls forward – onto her front. I have to look away as the knife skewers her even more indefinitely. Evianna's dead. The other Careers are watching me and I know I can't look weak. I have to prove that I'm worthy of being one of them. I stride towards Evianna and flip her over, taking care to avoid looking at the mess of her chest and her cold, glassy eyes. I yank the knife from her and wipe it on the denim of my pants, feeling sick to my stomach.


Artemis Palein – District 5

I make sure I'm well away from the Cornucopia and well into the trees when I sink to my knees. I want to cry but I know this is televised all over Panem. I'm not going to let them know that I'm weak, so I just breathe deeply like I'm out of breath. Jenna just watches me with a sympathetic expression. She and I teamed up as soon as we reached the Cornucopia. It's starting to get dark now and although it's lonely with only the two of us, it's better than being alone.

Jenna must know how I feel…sort of. Her district partner abandoned her…but he wasn't her brother. I suggest we make a fire, but Jenna just stares at me with horror, as if I'd just suggested I was going to rip her heart out.

"Are you nuts?" she demands. "That's going to be like a beacon for the Careers."

The Careers…my brother…

It's so cold. Jenna and I are forced to huddle together, using our jackets as makeshift blankets. I keep my bow within arm's reach just in case I need it. Through the canopy of trees, I see the seal of the Capitol as the anthem starts to play. My heart speeds up, because I know now that they're going to go over today's deaths. I wonder if Apollo will be one of them. I brace myself.

Five tributes. I suppose that's considered a small number. I already know it's only five because we heard the cannons a few hours ago, when the fighting at the Cornucopia must have stopped. The first face shown is the girl from District 6, so I know that all of the Careers, including my brother, are alive. Then there's both from 8. I feel a pang of pity for them…so young, both so young. Then there's the girl from District 10 and the boy from District the Capitol seal with the anthem again.

"Are you happy that your brother is alive?" Jenna whispers through the darkness.

I sigh heavily. "I'm not sure. Not if it means I'll have to kill him myself."

"I'll do it for you," Jenna offers. "If it comes to that."

I don't say anything, but I'm thinking, if you're still alive. If we're both still alive, really. There's a rustling in the bushes. Someone's coming. I fumble for my bow and Jenna throws her jacket off to struggle for her sword.

Then I recognize the boy as he sinks to his knees. For one terrible moment, I think he's hurt. Then Apollo lifts his head and I realize that he's not hurt, just tired and panting heavily. He must have run a long way. I think…I think he's run away from the other Careers.

"Artemis," he rasps, "Artemis, I'm so sorry. I made a mistake."