Chapter Twenty-One.
Day Three.
Amaryllis Carmellia; 16 years old.
District Twelve Female.
With each passing day, Amaryllis could feel her own sanity slipping away, being replaced by a dull sense of numbness.
This place, with every death and every twist that the Gamemakers were thowing at them, was taking away the old Amaryllis, and leaving someone that only wanted to survive. With every cannon, Amaryllis wanted to do something. Kill, run, fight, it didn't matter.
All of it would have been better than sitting there, without moving a muscle. Tyson and his new friend, the little idiot from District Seven, seemed perfectly content with just sitting there, telling each other stories of their old life, back in Seven and Twelve.
She wanted to leave them. If they wanted one thing, and she wanted another, the right answer would be to leave them and just get along with whatever she wanted to do. Not in the Hunger Games, though. She couldn't just leave, and let the two of them alive, not when her own life was at stake.
When her own life was at stake, Amaryllis knew that she couldn't be what she was, back in District Twelve. Back home, being a good girl was who she was, because it suited her. People knew her as Amaryllis Carmellia, and whenever she need to use someone, she already had them down there, at her feet.
But in there, in both the arena and the Capitol, she was no one. She was just a tribute, like all thirteen others that were still alive, fighting for her life and doing what they were supposed to be. It was all about roles in the end, after all. Back home, she played the role of the saint, while hiding her true intentions deep down, and playing people like they were supposed to be played, with only one thing in mind. Her survival was all that mattered, after all.
And if she had to change people's opinions on her to survive... then so be it. Who cared about what people thought of her, as long as she was alive and breathing? If she could deal with the Hunger Games, then she could deal with anything that people threw back at her.
She was Amaryllis Carmellia, and even if people tried, she wouldn't break.
She needed to do something, and quickly. The more people died, the less chances she had to having sponsors, and people to bet on her. But if she killed, though, people would look at her differently. They would see that she was willing to do what need to be done, and give the Capitol their perfect Victor. Beautiful, and deadly.
She was no saint, Amaryllis knew that. By looking at her allies, two boys with a family and everything to lose, she knew that they would never be able to do it. Even if their life depended on it, they wouldn't. They held on to their humanity, like it was the last thing they had, and the most precious one.
They would never be able to kill, not if someone pointed a knife at their throat and forced them to choose between kill or killed. But she could do it, Amaryllis realized. Her life was everything that mattered. Not her district, not her home, and not even her family. She mattered, and no one else did. It had always been that simple, so why should it change now?
If she didn't fight for herself, then who would?
And right now, she had two perfect pawns in there, waiting to be used and twisted by her, until she didn't need them. Do it now. While it's still dark.
Apparently, the three cannons in the last day didn't gave the Gamemakers what they wanted. As soon as the day ended, the lights went out again, bringing back everything that was hidden in the dark. Tyson had suggested that they should stay where they currently where, to not risk stumbling into another tribute.
Even if she didn't want to admit it, Amy knew that he was right. Tyson always knew the right thing to say, or the right thing to do, no matter what had just happened. When Niamh died, though, Amy noticed the difference in him. It looked like something had stolen his ground, leaving him without any other place to go.
When he met Hex, though, Amaryllis saw everything change. The boy that would be perfect as her pawn, the one that wouldn't hesitate to avenge their fallen ally, turned back into the boy from District Twelve. Smart, kind and the perfect friend.
She couldn't let that continue to happen. For her plan to work, she needed someone to have her back, someone that she could manipulate to do her killing when the time came. Not that she couldn't do it, but of course, it was much easier to make others do it, than to make her own hands dirty with their own blood.
And for that to happen, Hex had to go. Do it. Do it. When she looked at the boy, sleeping next to her, a pit formed at the end of her stomach. He was just a boy, even younger than she was, with family and friends...
It's you or him. Choose.
Amaryllis made her choice with a silent sigh, and the nerves were suddenly replaced with blind determination. She had slipped a few pills into the water that she gave Tyson last night, hoping that they work out. If everything went according to her plan, Tyson would only wake up after the boy was long gone, and Amy could blame it on a mutt or something.
And then, she would have her perfect pawn.
She didn't want to do it, but in the end, it wasn't much of a choice. All of her life, she had been putting herself first, and she wasn't about to stop now. If she wanted to make it to her eighteen birthday, she couldn't stop now.
Making sure that Tyson was fast asleep, and that everything was going according to her plan, Amaryllis stood up, a small knife in her hand. She had taken it from their supplies, without Tyson ever realizing it, and had kept it in her pocket ever since.
Now or never.
She knelt next to Hex, slowly dragging the covers of his sleeping bag away, grabbing the side of his head and jerking it away to the side, leaving his neck exposed. If she did it quickly, he wouldn't feel a thing. She looked down at his sleeping face one more time, and muttered a small apologize.
She didn't hate him. Not really, anyway. In the end, it was all about doing what was necessary to save her own skin, no matter the cost. If she had to lose her humanity to live, then so be it.
Do it.
Grabbing him by the hair, Amaryllis took a deep breath. With a swift flick of her wrist, she slit his throat from ear to ear, not even stopping when the blood dyed her hands bright red. Hex's eyes snapped open, and when he tried to scream or to stop the bleeding, Amaryllis placed her hand on his face, stopping him from making anymore noise, or from breathing.
In a way, Amy just wanted to make it quicker for him. He was a boy, and he didn't deserve to die but then, neither did she. And in the end, when it was all said and done, it was all about doing what was necessary.
You win or you die.
It was only when Hex's eyes met hers, and the silent why echoed all around them, that Amaryllis felt the tears blurring her vision. Hex tried to move, to stop the life from slipping away from him, but it was already too late. A few seconds later, he finally finally gave up. He closed his eyes, silent tears falling down his face, and his hands fell from his throat to the side.
Hex tried to breath for a final time, gave up and that was it. When the cannon sounded, echoing through the entire cave, the lights finally came back. Amy saw the body, and all the blood surroding them, and felt like throwing up, right there.
She couldn't. She had done what she had to, and now, it was time for the second part of her plan.
Using the blood on her hands to simulate a fight, and messing up her hair, Amy shaked Tyson awake. It took a while, but when the boy's eyes snapped open, Amy started to cry. It wasn't that hard, Amy realized. The tears were already there, and when she let them, started to fall down her face.
"T-Tyson, p-please.." Tyson looked confused, but when he saw all the blood around them, he found his feet easily. "Amy, what the hell?!" He ran to Hex; trying to awake the boy, trying to do anything, when he realized that he was too late. Hex was gone, and he had done nothing.
"What the hell happened?!"
Amy started sobbing. "I-I was s-sleeping a-and h-he c-came at me w-with a knife and h-he left me no c-hoice..." At that point, she was a complete mess. Amy threw her arms around Tyson's waist, sobbing, and holding him closer to her.
"I'm s-so s-orry, h-he was going to k-kill me and I-I couldn't... I couldn't l-let it h-happen..." She heard Tyson sigh, but all it took was a second for him to hug her back. Amy had to stop herself from laughing out loud at how easy the boy was to manipulate.
"It's gonna be okay, Amy, it's gonna be okay." She was sobbing into his chest, and after a while, Tyson just gave in and started to stroke her hair and finally, crying with her. That was when she realized that she had been right all along, ever since the moment that Tyson reminded her of who she truly was, back in the chariot rides.
This was a boy that would do anything to protect the last piece of District Twelve that he had with him, no matter the cost. And right now, she just need to know how to use that to her own advantage.
Everything was finally starting to work out.
Leila Rorie; 17 years old.
District Ten Female.
Leila thought she was getting better.
So far, the Games hadn't been so hard for them. Physically, all three of them were fine. Preston had been in a fight with the boy from District Three, Leila knew that much.
But Ryella had been there, and ended the boy's life before he could kill Preston. She had done her duty as an ally, when all that Leila had done was stand there and watch, when her closest friend had been killed.
In a way, she felt ashamed. So ashamed that all she wanted to do was run away, and hide for days, without anyone there to watch her. She shouldn't have reacted that way. What would Sadie think, seeing her like this? The love of her life, the only reason that Leila still have left to fight for.
Sadie had been her life, since they were fourteen. She didn't have her parents, she didn't have a family, but she had Sadie. The girl who had always been there for her, no matter what happened. And right now, she had to fight. All they had was each other, and if Leila died in there, Sadie would be alone.
She coudn't let that happen. She had to fight, and if not for herself, then for Sadie.
Ryella and Preston had been keeping it to each other all morning, and for that, Leila was grateful. They were allies, a team and maybe even friends, but she needed some time alone. If it had happened any other time, Leila would be more than happy to join their talk, and just be her usual self.
But right there, right now, she needed her own space. To think, to mourn but most of all, to decide what she was going to do next. They needed to move, that was clear. If they stayed in the cave, without looking for any tributes or providing the entertainment that the Gamemakers wanted, the mutts would come after them.
And they would die, all three of them, just like Sedna did. Sedna. Her friend, her best friend in that place, was dead. Leila knew that it would happen eventually, if she ever wanted to get back to Sadie, there would come a time when Ryella and Preston would have to die too. But yet, knowing the harsh true didn't stop it from hurting any less.
It didn't stop her from wanting revenge. She couldn't stop her friends from dying, no, but she could avenge them. She could honor their deaths, and remember them, if she ever managed to get out of that place. It was the only thing Leila would ever be able to do. Be there for them when they die, and then, avenge them.
The girl had to die, that was clear. When the time came, she would take her down, and avenge Sedna. But would it be enough? Would the death of another teenage girl be enough to fill the void that Sedna's death had left?
Leila didn't know. But right now, it was all that she had left. To avenge her friend, and maybe win this, somewhere along the way. But in order for that to happen, they needed to start moving.
She stood up, brushing the dirt out of her clothes, and moved closer to where Ryella and Preston where standing.
What had been so easy for her once, talking and laughing with the people that she cared about, was something that Leila couldn't manage to do right now. She tried her very best to pretend that she was still the same Leila Rorie that left District Ten, the one who loved nothing more than to drink and party and be with the girl that she loved, but she wasn't.
The Games had changed her, even if Leila hated to admit it. Right now, she didn't want to talk, she only wanted to go back to her sleeping back and sleep and pretend that when she woke up, she would be back home. But if she ever wanted to win, they needed to move out of there. For Sedna.
"Hey guys." She tried her best to smile, but from the look of sympathy in both Ryella and Preston's eyes, she knew it wasn't working. "What are we doing?" In a way, she was glad that she and Sedna decided to join Ryella and Preston. They had left her alone when Sedna died, giving her time to mourn in her own way, and in that way she couldn't have asked for better allies.
"Nothing, as usual." Preston laughed, toying with one of his arrows. "If we're staying here, I don't think I'll be needing any of those any time soon." Even Preston himself, with his jokes and dirty puns, had kept to himself ever since the Games began. He and Ryella were close, yes, but it didn't stop her from making him shut up when it wasn't time for a laugh.
"I think we need to move," Leila said. "Even if it's only to find another place to stay, or to see if we can find some other supplies. If we stay here, you know what will happen."
Ryella sighed. In that moment, Leila noticed that girl looked much older than what she truly was. She didn't know Ryella, not really, but she was a friend. She had been there for Leila when she needed someone the most, and whenever Ryella needed it, Leila would be there too. That was what friends were for, anyway. "Leila... we can't. Not yet."
"I'm not saying to go after the Careers, Ryella." She had to make Ryella understand. If they stayed there for any longer, then something really bad would happen. "We just need to move."
"And to kill." Preston said. When he noticed that both Ryella and Leila were staring at him, Preston just shrugged. "What? Both of you know that it's true. If one of us will ever make it out of here, we need to start playing their Game."
"I say we don't need to kill." Leila didn't want to do it. Every time she thought of killing someone Sadie's faced appeared in her mind. The girl she loved, watching Leila in the Games, turning into someone completely different than the person that left District Ten, less than a month ago. "Only if someone tries to attack us. And until later, too."
Preston turned to Ryella. Once again, the decision came to a girl that never wanted to be a leader, not really. "Preston is right, Leila. If we didn't find someone to kill, then we'll become boring. You know what they do to the people that they think are boring."
She nodded, sighing in defeat. "I'll go get my supplies, and then we can go." It was for the best, Leila knew, but it didn't make it any easier.
You have to be strong, idiot. All of her life, she had been the Leila Rorie that didn't really care about anything, refusing to let people ruin the life that she had chosen for herself. The life that she fought for, and the one that she wasn't about to give back that easily.
That was when she heard it. At first, Leila thought that it was just something in her head, and that she was going nuts. Footsteps, echoing through the right side of the cave, and coming straight towards them.
It didn't take too long for Ryella and Preston to notice it, either. Leila rushed towards them, a knife in each hand and the others on her belt. "Weapons out. We don't know what that is, or who, but it's going down." Ryella had her falchion out, Preston knocked an arrow on his bow and had it aimed at the entrance of their cave, ready to shoot whoever appeared in there.
Or what.
When it reached their cave, Leila had to narrow her eyes to see what it was. At first, she thought it was another tribute. If someone wasn't paying too much attention, then it looked like a human. A full body; two legs and two arms. It was only when it started to get closer to closer, with similar other trailing behind it, that Leila noticed what it was.
It wasn't human. Or anything close to it, for that matter. The skin was bruised, like they had currently been in a fight, and pallid. In some place, there was no skin at all, only the smell of rotten flesh.
Some of the skin in the face was decaying away, like they have been decomposing for years now. The face was larger than any human being's, with pointed ears and sharp teeth, ready to bite and kill.
With sharp teeth, and those icy eyes, the thing could only come straight out of a nightmare. And now, there were more than three, blocking the entrance of their cave. The Gamemakers were giving them a choice, Leila realized. Die, or fight and maybe even manage to get out of there.
They didn't have time to think. Preston aimed his arrow and released, the arrow piercing the mutt through the skull, making it fall back into the others. And that was when all hell broke through.
One of the mutts threw himself at Leila, and she didn't even have time to think. For a moment; she forget everything, she forgot Sadie and Sedna and even Preston and Ryella, because all that mattered was her. With adrenaline pumping through her veins, Leila realized that if she didn't fought, she would die right there, simple as that.
When the mutt tried to bite her, Leila sank her knife deep into its back. The monster let out a groan, that could possibly be passed out as a scream, and tried to attack her one more time, but Leila was ready. She sent her first flying into its stomach, and when the creature lunged foward to hit her, Leila stabbed it through the skull.
It was only by then, that Leila remembered that she still had allies. Her friends, the people that she needed to help. Preston was killing monster and after monster, hitting them through the skull every time with his arrows, and Ryella was doing the same thing with her falchion. When she sliced one's head off, however, it was too late.
Another monster lunged at Ryella, sinking his teeth into her hand. Ryella screamed, and tried to kick it off, but the monster was too strong. Everything scared for Leila to help Ryella, but for a second, she couldn't move. If she let the other girl die... it would be one less tribute out of the way.
NO, NO, NO. She was not losing another ally. Another friend. Not again.
She threw herself at the monster, and brought the knife down on his back, with as much strenght as she could master. However, it didn't stop the beast from bitting into Ryella's shoulder. Ryella screams, so loud that Leila was sure the entire cave could hear, and for a second Leila thought it was too late.
With her own battle cry, she kicked the beast, using her hands and her feet, trying to do anything. When the beast noticed her, it kicked Ryella aside, with only a swift flick of the wrist.
Leila watched, horrified, as Ryella's body hit the ground with a loud crack, right next to Preston. Preston's eyes met hers, and for a second, she could swear he was crying.
Her friend... dead.
For a second, everything around Leila turned red. She threw herself at the beast, stabbing and kicking, doing anything but cry. Her friend couldn't be dead. Not Ryella, please not again.
When the monster tried to bite her, Leila threw her knife. It sank into the monster's chest, but with the opportunity, it sank his teeth into Leila's hand, making her drop the knife. Pain shot through her entire hand, pain like anything that Leila had felt before. For a second, she thought it might have broken one of her bones.
It killed Ryella. She couldn't give up, not because of a small bite on her hand. Ignoring the pain that shout through her entire arm, Leila kicked out at the mutt, and brough the knife down. In that moment, Leila could swear that the mutt turned into the girl from Four, with her knife buried deep within her skull.
When it fell, hitting the ground next to the others, Leila didn't move. She had her knives out, ready, waiting for the other to appear. She wanted them to come. If she couldn't take out her anger on the other tributes, she might as well do it on the mutts.
Sedna, and now Ryella.
Preston was kneeling next to her, next to the girl that he claimed to hate so much, and Leila could swear that it was the first time that she ever saw Preston cry. Tears fell down his face, and in the next second, he was openly sobbing. When he saw Leila, he tried to calm down, but with no sucess.
That was when she realized it. There... there was no cannon. Ryella was still alive. Somehow, her friend was still alive. "Preston," She tried to get his attention, but when Preston didn't move, Leila laughed. "Preston!"
"What?" He snapped. "Can't you see that-"
"She's alive. There was no cannon, Preston. It just knocked her out. She's still alive!" Preston looked at her, for what seemed like a very long second, until realization sank in. He got up, and kicked the body of one of the mutts away. "Help me get those out of here. We need to see what we have, treat our wounds and bandage them."
One by one, they moved the bodies out of the cave, until only them and Ryella remained. She wasn't dead. Leila had to remember that. Ryella had her back, and right now, they need to be there for her.
They were friends. They were a team.
Jasko Quinn; 18 years old.
District Four Male.
It was exactly like a time-bomb.
Both of them knew what had to happen, but none of them were willing to make the first move. Not yet, anyway. Jasko sat in one side of the Cornucopia, spear in hand, ready to make the first move if it was necessary. Sadie sat on the other side, rapier on her hands, ready to attack. For the past few hours, silence echoed through the entire cave.
Jasko hoped that it would stay like that. He didn't want to end the alliance yet, not really. They weren't even on the final twelve, and if they split right now with a few deaths in the middle, then there was almost no chance that the crown of the Victor would go to a Career district.
All because of her. Everything that happened so far with them, had happened because Sadie Ariste was also in the Games. Since she had kicked Nikolai out of the alliance, everything had started to go wrong. Jasko knew what he had to do, and so did Sadie, but none of them had made the decision yet.
He was waiting. Alexa, Aidan and Tiena had left before morning, and so far, there had been no sign of any of them. Part of Jasko knew what was about to happen, but he choosed to hold on into hope. There had been two cannons since they left, but so far, they weren't able to see who they belonged to.
Maybe... maybe Aidan had managed to kill the other girls, and was on his way to the Cornucopia right now and when he got there, Sadie would die. And finally, after so long, the Careers alliance would be able to finally do what it was created to do. In a way, Jasko didn't blame her.
Like all of them, Sadie was just doing what she needed to do to survive. But in the end, there was a difference between good and bad Careers.
There were the ones that knew what needed to be done and did it, like himself or Aidan or even Tiena, and then there were the ones that had pleasure in doing it, like Sadie. If they had to fight, Jasko knew that it was not going to be a fair fight. Sadie was the type of person that liked to play with her food before she ate it, and there was a chance that neither of them would live to see the next day.
He didn't want to do it. But in a way, Jasko knew that it was what needed to be done. If Sadie had ruined the Career alliance, if she had done what Jasko thought and made the girls kill Aidan, then she deserved it. Like she had made him kill Nikolai.
The boy's face haunt Jasko's dreams every night, and even right there, he could remember how it felt.
His spear went through the boy's back, and what was once a living and breathing boy, turned into nothing more than a corpse. A boy who did nothing to deserve it, one who probably had hopes and dreams and a family, was caught up in Sadie's twisted Games and ended up dying because of it.
He couldn't let that happen. Not to himself, not to Aidan, and not even to the girls. They weren't bad, after all. Jasko remembered the Tiena that he met back in District Four, the one that refused his first invitation because of her boyfriend and accepted the second one, and he realized that he didn't want to kill her.
They were supposed to be a team, not to be hating each other. And if he could, he would be the one to make them realize it. Give Sadie another chance? Yes, he was willing to do that. If she wanted to accepted it, of course.
"I'm bored." Sadie said, walking over to him, rapier in hand. "Entertain me, Quinn, until our dearest friends come back." Jasko just shrugged, not letting go of his own spear.
"Are they coming back, though?" He said, but regreted it almost right away. However, Sadie seemed to let it slip.
"Of course they are. With luck, those two cannons meant that they found some tributes and got rid of the weaker competition." When she got too close, though, Jasko grabbed his spear tigher, placing it in his lap.
Sadie chuckled. "No need for the spear, sweety. Save it for the outliers that are actually scared of you." She knew, Jasko realized. Everything about Sadie indicated that she was about to prepare for a fight. Her rapier in hand, some knives on her belt, and god knows whatever weapons she had hidden.
"They should be," Jasko said. "I've killed one already, and I can kill more."
Sadie shrugged. "So have I. But it's not really about killing is it? It's about playing the Game. What does it matter if you kill ten of them, but end up dying in the end? No one will remember you, anyway. They only remember the Victors."
"And we're only delaying what needs to happen, isn't it?" He had never seen Sadie fight, or maybe only a little bit, but her training score of ten proved that he shouldn't understimate her. If they were going to fight, he couldn't play fair. If they were going to fight, then he needed to play by her terms.
"Yes, I suppose we are." She sighed. "I was going to kill you in the beginning, yes, but you killed Nikolai. You proved that you can kill and for that, you have a place in my alliance."
The pieces of the puzzle started to present themselves to Jasko, and in the end, he got his answer. Sadie, somehow, had the illusion that her perfect alliance could only consist of people that could kill. And because Aidan refused to kill, he was the odd one out.
"It was all a plan, wasn't it?" Jasko stood up, spear in hand. "It was your plan all along. To get your friends to kill Aidan, so you would finally have your perfect alliance."
She didn't even have the decency to deny it. "Where do you think we would end up, if I didn't do something? All five of us would be dead, and the crown would go to some outlier rat who neverdid what needed to be done."
"Aidan is dead." Jasko said. Part of him had knew all along, but part of him also refused to admit it. Aidan had been his friend, and now he was dead, all because of the girl standing in front of him.
"If everything went according to the plan, then yes, he is."
He didn't gave her the time to think. Trying to get rid of any thoughts of guilt, Jasko threw the spear. Sadie barely had time to notice, before she moved out of the way, but it was too late. It cut right into her tigh, tearing into the fabric of her pants. It wasn't enough to kill, or to even make any bad damage, but it was enough to tell Jasko that he needed to do it.
For Aidan. For himself.
Sadie was quick to react, Jasko had to give her that. With a fitting battle cry, Sadie swang her rapier in his direction. His mind made the decision for himself, and Jasko threw himself to the ground, barely missing the blow that was supposed to take his head off. "It's not going to be that easy, baby girl."
Sadie groaned, and seconds later, she was on him again. Jasko picked up his own spear, just at the right time, and met her own blow. The sound of steel on steel echoed through the entire cave. As aslong as he had his spear, he had the advantage. When Sadie went in for another blow, Jasko lifted his spear to meet it, but using his legs at the same time.
Kicking her on the chest with his feet made Sadie lose her balance, and fall back, struggling for air. Jasko used the opportunity to get up, using the spear as support, and threw himself at her. He threw the spear, aiming for her heart and hoping to make it a quick death, but Sadie was faster.
She brought her rapier up, to match his blow, but did something that Jasko wasn't expecting. At the same time, a knife buried itself on his shoulder, and Jasko had to bite his cheek until he tasted blood to stop a scream. He plucked the knife out, ignoring the blood and the pain and stopping himself from throwing up, and threw it back at Sadie.
It caught her off guard, burrying itself on her left arm. Now or never. Jasko threw himself at her, and both of them fell to the ground, rolling left and right, both of the struggling to get control. Using his upper-body strenght, Jasko managed to push her of him and grabbed his spear for the attack.
Sadie moved out of the way at the last second, but it didn't stop the spear from cuting right into her stomach. Blood blossomed out, some falling into Jasko's hands.
Both of them were tired. Both of them wanted to give up, but still, both of them knew that one of them could make it out of that alive. "Fair fight?"
"You should know by now that I don't play fair!" Sadie sent her fist flying into his mouth, and Jasko's entire face exploded in pain. He could taste blood, and maybe even hear the crack of something breaking. With adrenaline pumping through his veins, Jasko grabbed her by the hair, and send her back into the ground.
Sadie groaned in pain, and he was about to make the final move, when agonizing pain ripped through leg and his entire body gave out. It was only when Jasko fell that he noticed the knife, buried in his foot. Once again, Sadie's tricks of not playing fair had give her the advantage.
He wasn't going to give up, though. Not yet, anyway. He had started this fight, and if he was going down, he would go down fighting. By then, both of them were on the ground, broken and bleeding and ready to give up, but none of them wanting to do that.
Sadie kicked him in the stomach, and by then, they went off again. Rolling left and rolling right, both screaming but both wanting to survive more than anything in the world. It came to a time. He was on top of Sadie, and had kicked out the weapon out of her hand.
"I'm sorry about this. You fought well."
"Oh, yes." Sadie laughed, and blood came out. He was pretty sure that she, just like me, had some broke teeth. "But I'm not done just yet."
That was when he felt. Hot, agonizing pain felt like fire travelling through his veins, all from the stab wound in his stomach. When he started to bleed out, Jasko felt to the side, giving Sadie the chance to stand up. "I win."
Sadie's rapier went through his chest, and the last thing he saw was Sadie herself falling to the ground, clutching her stomach.
Alexa Cadwell; 18 years old.
District One Female.
Alexa thought she was going to die.
For once, she had passed out. The fight with Aidan had left bot her and Tiena near death, and for a second, she had given up. With Tiena bleeding out next to her, Alexa realized that it was that. They had done what Sadie asked and now, they were going to die. But then, the parachute appeared.
Nearly out of nowhere, a parachute landed next to them. Tiena opened it, and in there, it was the miracle that saved both their lives. If she ever managed to win, Alexa was pretty sure that Cashmere De'Montford would be her new best friend. She wasn't cured, neither was Tiena from the wound on her collarbone, but the medicine had saved their lifes. For now, anyway.
Her shoulder still hurt like hell, but on the bright side, it has stopped bleeding. They had rubbed the cream that Cashmere had sent over their wounds, had bandaged them, and were on their way. After eating, drinking some water, Alexa felt like she could possibly handle the rest of the Games. With Tiena by her side, she could do anything. The note from Cashmere, still kept in her pocket, seemed to prove that.
It only had two words in it, that had been ringing in Alexa's head for the past few hours, and told Alexa that she had been doing the right thing. Trust Tiena. If someone like Cashmere, that had been in the Games for some many years, told her to trust Tiena, it meant that she must have been doing the right thing.
Sadie, on the other hand, Alexa wasn't so sure about her anymore. Yes, she was their leader, and she was the one that would get herself and Tiena to the finale, not Aidan and Jasko, always wanting to do the right thing.
When the time came she would choose herself. Tiena was her friend and her closest ally, yes, but they were Careers. They had been trained to come there since they could walk, and they were not the outliers. They knew that there were no friends in there, not if they wanted to have any hope of ever making it out of there.
But for now, she had to stick with them. Tiena and maybe even Sadie were her chance of making it to the finale, and maybe even winning. If she had someone to watch her back until the finale, she would be ready by then.
Ready to fight. Ready to win.
And ready to kill too.
It was absolutely Alexa's least favorite part in the Games. Killing. She knew it needed to be done, though. She wasn't someone that volunteered to go through the Games without killing, no, Alexa knew what needed to be done. But in the end, she wasn't like Aidan, who choosed his humanity over his life.
Alexa killed, and she decided to deal with the consequences later. She could do it, push her emotions down, and do what she needed to do.
If she had to choose between her life and her humanity, well, Alexa would choose her life over and over again. If she won, there would be time for her to change. Time for her to set everything right, and try to be the Alexa that she was before she entered the Hunger Games.
But death was so final. If she died, she would never have the chance to do the things that she loved ever again. See the sunset back home, or train at the Academy, or even be home with the people she loved.
She had to live. There was no other choice.
"Should we go for the Cornucopia?" Tiena walked next to her, spear in hand, but Alexa knew that she wasn't ready for a fight. Neither was she, to be completely honest. If someone attacked them now, Alexa knew that there was a big chance that they wouldn't live to see the next day.
"Wasn't that what we were doing?" Alexa laughed.
"Yes, but now that the cannon sounded, I don't know. What if something happened?" Please, let it happen.
"You mean if Sadie is dead? Well, if she is and Jasko attacks us, then I think the two of us can take him, right?"
Last time Alexa had said that, both of them ended up nearly dying at Aidan's hands. And if someone like Aidan, who refused to kill could inflict so much damage in them, than what could Jasko do?
The smell of blood hit her when they were about to enter the cave. The lights were on, since the last cannon had sounded, so Alexa supposed that they wouldn't have the trouble of facing some mutts. "Have your weapon ready." Tiena said, when they were near the cave. "We don't know what happened in there."
Inside the caven, however, was the real horror show. Jasko was laying on a pool of his own blood, a knife sticking out of his stomach. Next to him, was Sadie. At first, Alexa thought that both of the were dead, and was about to breath a sigh of relief when Sadie moved. It wasn't much, but they managed to notice that she was alive.
Tiena ran to their leader's side, and fell on her knees next to her. From what Alexa could see, it was bad. Sadie wasn't moving much, and the floor around her was completely covered in blood.
Maybe it was for the best. Maybe they could just let her die and be done with it.
"Alexa! I need some help over here!" Tiena was doing her best, but Sadie wouldn't last long if her wound wasn't treated and bandaged like theirs had been. "Bring our medicine."
When she walked over to them, and show it, Alexa wanted to do nothing more than throw up and run away from there. But Sadie couldn't die, not yet. If she died, then the two of them wouldn't have such a good chance in a fight.
"B-bastard," Sadie tried to smile, but instead, ended up coughing blood. "Got me good, before I managed to k-kill him." Alexa handed the medicine that Cashmere had sent them to Tiena. "I s-see you guys got some sponsors."
"We'll heal you," Tiena said, ripping Sadie's jacket out, in order to rub the medicine on her wound. "This healed both of us, and we were almost dying after that fight with Aidan."
It was horrible. Jasko's spear had gotten her good. A small stab wound on her shoulder, another one on her tigh, but the worst was on her stomach. It was bleeding a lot, and even if Sadie was pretending to be her tough-self, Alexa could see that she was in pain. "Shit, it hurts."
Every time Sadie tried to laugh, or talk, she ended up coughing blood and Tiena had to tell her to be quiet. If she died, they would be alone. They couldn't let Sadie die, not yet.
She couldn't stand it. "I'll go and watch the supplies." Alexa said, and Tiena nodded, continuing to bandage Sadie's wound. They were allies, but it didn't mean that she had to watch that.
She just wanted to end it all. Die or live, Alexa just wanted to get to the end.
Hex Fillian, District Seven Male.
Jasko Quinn, District Four Male.
Tim, I loved Hex. Honestly, I did. People thought of him as weak, as someone that wouldn't get anywhere in the Games, and I loved proving everyone wrong. Hex was just a boy, and in the end, he never gave up. I'm proud of him for it, and I'm sure that his family and Wyla are too. Sadly, he got caught up in the middle of Amaryllis' plan and right now was his time to go. May he rest in peace. ;_;
Lucy, thank you so much for Jasko. From the moment I read his form, I knew I wanted him. He was your perfect Career, confident and charming, but in the end he only wanted one thing. He wanted to be known as more than the fisherman's son and he could have done it, if it wasn't for Sadie. I had nothing else for him, but thank you for submitting!
A/N: So... Not much to say this time. It's Day Three, and we're down to the final 12! Next chapter might be a bit late, school will start to get on my way, but don't worry, this story will finish. I love it too much to give up, anyway.
Some questions?
Any suprises on who died?
Favorite POV? Least Favorite?
Who dies next?
Any predictions for who will be in the final eight?