Short note only. There probably won't be another update till Friday, just depending how much time I have to finish the next chapter. We're about to embark on a whole new part of Johanna's life since the end of the games is approaching—a part I haven't seen discussed in great detail yet. Best be prepared.

As always, please review dears! And thank you for the glowing reviews so far ^_^

WEwear the mask that grins and lies,
It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,—
This debt we pay to human guile;
With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,
And mouth with myriad subtleties.

Why should the world be over-wise,
In counting all our tears and sighs?
Nay, let them only see us, while
We wear the mask.

We Wear the Mask, Paul Laurence Dunbar

I force myself onwards. I can't give up, I'm fighting for my grandmother's life, for Sven, for Greta, and for Ivan. I can help them—I can't keep them alive if I give up. I want to curl up and die, but I can't.

So I walk.

Every once in awhile, I flip on the flashlight to check around, but I don't see anything. I'm keeping a quick pace—I know I've got to overtake her. I travel on for a few hours. Her tracks are harder to follow now that she's slowed down. She's careful, very careful. But it's still there to some extent, her trail.

That's when it happens.

Suddenly, I find my feet being pulled out from under me and I'm shooting up into the cold night air upside down. I can't stop my axes from falling off my pack, so I hold onto the one in my hands as tightly as I can. The backpack feels like it's pulling me in half as I hang there.

I start cursing, every word I can think of as I spin myself around quickly wielding my axe, but no one comes. I try using my muscles to pull myself back up, and I grab a hold of my knee struggling to breathe. My left hand is stretching above my foot. I use the edge of the axe blade to saw through the rope.

It's too far away to hack at the rope, so I saw for a few minutes before the rope frays. I land with a big thud on my stomach. Great. Just great. All the air is out of my system as I struggle to breathe. I'm being crushed beneath my backpack, so I roll over gasping. My whole body is shaking and I'm pulling air into my lungs again.

I feel sick now, but I've got to move. This is obviously a trap, she wants to trap me. So I'll let her. Getting on my feet, I come up with a plan. She has to think she's captured me.

That's when I know it's Flux from District 6. The girl with eyes like mine—desperate eyes.

I look around until I find a tree with a thick branch with lots of little branches. With my axe, I chop the limb down and strip it of all the finer branches except four. I drag it to where the leftover rope hangs in the air. Walking to the base of the tree, I set my pack against it and shimmy up.

It takes time, but less than it use to for me to untie knots. I drop back down to the ground, where I loop the long branch right below the two smaller ones so that the rope won't slide off. I throw the rope back over the branch, and pull of my jacket.

I'm shivering as I slip my jacket on over the opposite end of the branch. I use the uneven branches to fill out my sleeves as best I can. It'll do good enough in this light. I climb the tree again, and I pull the branch up hand over hand, the long rope wrapped around my arm. I'm huffing and puffing by the time I secure it in place. There's a thin sheen of sweat on my skin as I slide back down the tree. I huddle a few feet away in the shadows and settle in beside my pack.

I stand there unmoving beside the trees, blending in with what's around me. The axe is resting in my hand, blade on the ground to keep the light from reflecting off of it. The backpack is on, and my hand is holding the knife in my waist band.

As my fingers touch the handle, I can feel the dried blood. It sets my teeth on edge when I remember whose blood is on that blade. Wren. My heart is crying out, but I don't move. I don't do anything. Everything must reside under this mask. I can't shift, I can't think of sad things. This mask must remain in place if I'm going to come home to my family.

I can feel anything I want, but from now on, I need to keep it away from the Capitol's—from Snow's eyes. I don't want to become some token to him. I just need to make it through, keep up a brave face for my district. Then on the train ride home, I can go to pieces. Then, I have to remain whole as long as Greta and Sven can see me—a life sentence of wearing a mask of happiness.

But they'll be happy, they'll be whole even if we can never reach beyond Snow's grip. We'll have to be careful, do anything he asks. But we can be as safe as most people dream about these days—as long as I live. As long as I live—so I must live forever then.

…

My eyes grow accustomed to the dark as I stand there unmoving. Horrible images in my mind playing over and over again. At times, I almost think I can hear Wren or Liam's voice, or feel a breath on my neck…I begin to wonder, if the arena isn't rigged to make you feel this way. Can they even do that? Somehow, I think they can.

It starts in softly, the light tread of footsteps as I'm waiting. It's just a ruffle of leaves, until I see the spear shoot out from the shadows and into what looks like my suspended body. She's hurrying forward, a knife blade in her hand when I act. Carefully, removing the knife from my waistband, I hurl it at her.

Flux's eyes flicker down just in time to catch a flash before the shaft buries itself deep in her chest. For a moment, she doesn't falter or move—then the blade falls from her hand and she crumples to her knees—her hands touching the blade in her chest.

I walk across the clearing toward her, axe in my hands—prepared in case she attacks. But she just kneels there, touching the blade in her chest. "You," her voice is hoarse. "I knew it would be you."

"How?" I question her as I kick her blade a few feet away, not daring to bend down to pick it up when I was this close.

"It was in your eyes, when they called your name. Before you started to scream." She's smiling at me, "I knew you were like me. Waiting. It was going to be one of us."

"I saw you, too." So she knew then too who I really was?

"Have you killed him yet? Killed Aeon?" Her eyes are boring into mine in the dim light.

"He's waiting. I wanted you first." I keep watching her before I ask, "You're not even going to try to do me in?"

Flux laughs loudly, "No. Because then he'd win. As soon as this blade is out my chest…then you can hunt him. Let him know who you really are."

"What makes you think he hasn't guessed like you?" I shift the axe in my hands slightly.

"Because he didn't see who I was till I killed Onyx. He didn't think I was anything but useful with snares." Her hands are still firm on the blade, as she kneels there. "He tortured them you know."

"I know." That crazy look in his eyes was unmistakable. The way he relished talking about killing us all. Deep down, we all knew that he was sadistic. Maybe not as bad as the pair from two, but that he actually had enough strength and composure to carry the whole thing out to the end. "How do you know I'm any different?"

"Figured you would, but I thought you should hear it from someone who was there." She pauses again, "Because, we're alike. You just wanna go home." Her voice is anguished for a moment, "One of us should." She pauses again before asking, "Wren?"

"I finished him." I hide the sadness in my voice, keeping my tone flat and even.

She considers a moment, "Better than if Aeon played with his food." She yanks the blade from her chest, and I see her life spilling out of her quickly as the blade falls from her fingers. "You'll need this back now."

Flux keeps looking at me for another minute, before her eyes roll back into her head and she falls over. I have to admire her, it's how I would have done it. Going out on my own terms.

I know it's safe to pick up the weapons when the cannon booms.

…

I riffle through her pockets. There's no food or water I'd dare take from her. She'd likely poison it or something. I find her token—a small black stone and pocket it. It takes me a few minutes but, I shimmy up the tree and cut the log down to get my jacket off. Breaking the spear, I assess the damage to my jacket. It's a small rip. It shouldn't make much difference.

Slipping the jacket back on, I revel in it's warmth as I grab some jerky out of my pocket and begin following the path back to their campsite. Back to find Aeon.

But after I walk a few feet, I decide I've had enough. Lets not play anymore. I start making my way to where we first came into the arena—the large meadow by the Cornucopia.

Everything will end where it began.