In my playlist consisting mainly of light metal/rock/general-alternative etc, what should randomly come up but Bieber music...he's come back to haunt me!

~1:06:30 AM~

Lock (D9)

What's that sound? Nilick shoots me a quick look and then pulls out a knife. I do the same. Without a doubt, we are ready for anything.

A small blonde girl stumbles through the foliage. Her hazel eyes widen with shock, and I'm assuming fear.

"Um, hi?" she squeaks out. I lower the weapon slightly, she isn't exactly a threat. She pulls herself together quickly, "I'm Aina."

"Why are you hesitating?" Nilick hisses at me. Apparently, he doesn't like the idea of the girl standing there. Though I think it's the 'alive' part that's irritating him. Not sure. The kid is hard to read sometimes.

It's funny though. He's asking me. If he wanted her dead, why doesn't he just kill her himself instead of making me do it? Sure I already killed people, both during the Games and before them, but that doesn't mean I want to do it.

"Shut up," I whisper back. Aina looks suspicious at our quick whispering, and she takes a quick step back not taking her eyes off of us.

"Considering that a large number will be needed against a career attack..." she starts. The girl has some nerve. I'll give her that much.

"Good point," I say. Sure she's stating the obvious. But at least she's arguing it well.

"Can I join you?" she cuts to the chase.

I say "sure" the exact moment that Nilick says "no". Aina's face scrunches up, trying to understand. She takes another backwards step It's kind of like a bad sitcom from my point of view. But if it's your life on the line (cough, cough, Aina), it probably isn't that reassuring.

I look at Nilick pointedly, "Yes, you can."

Their reactions are funny. Aina looks so relieved and Nilick looks ticked. Not sure what got him all moody. Maybe he doesn't handle stress well. And trust me; there is plenty of stress involved in this. More than you can imagine. I'm surprised someone hasn't had a complete panic attack yet. Well, I don't know if someone hasn't...but still.

Back to the present. This won't last long for her. Actually, anything in this Game won't last long. But this will be shorter than most. Trust me, I give it a couple hours tops. Stumbling into an alliance might not have been Aina's best move.

Ariella Chambers (D12)

Well, for a pro...with this set up, I don't have to survive as long.

Unfortunately, the cons easily weigh out the pros. For starters, everyone is going to be going mad with this. So maybe if I just stay calm and out of the way, they will pick each other off and I'll win by default. Another con: twenty three people want the same thing I do. Life.

I only have a little bit less than twenty three hours left. I just need to stay hidden. I think I can kill someone if I had to. It's just one of those things though. You don't know how you'll react until you're actually in the situation. For all I know, I can go all bloodthirsty chainsaw murderer on you. Except for the minor fact that I don't have a chainsaw. And an even more minor fact that there's no electricity. Or I could just do the whole "flight" thing and run like crazy. I bet I'd look pretty stupid like that. I wonder what Linnea would think...

Linnea.

That thought just sends it all home. I need to make it back.

As long as I keep thinking about my sister, I should be able to focus on the prize. Right? I'm not going to give up. No way.

~2:30:00 AM~

Aina Fluoreste (D6)

Honestly, that worked a little bit better than I thought it would. As soon as I saw that it was Lock (who already has one kill), I knew I was a goner. Guess I was wrong. He's actually the-I don't know how to put it, accepting maybe?-of the two.

I trail a few feet behind them as we make our way who knows where. I personally think we should be headed the other direction, but as I'm just a tag along, it's probably better at this point just to be quiet. There is a time for talk and a time for silence.

The boys are starting to argue about direction. Typical. But I'm not taking sides in this case. My life is already just hanging on.

"She's worthless!" oh no. I listen in a little bit closer and slow down a bit, trying to create a bit of distance. There is only one "she" nearby...and that's me.

"Can it," Lock shoves Nilick, who glares back at the bigger boy.

"But."

"No buts about it," Lock snaps back. My mom used to say that all the time. It seems weird coming from him.

Silence again. But it's not a comfortable silence. It's the silence of tension and anticipation. It's the silence that I'm starting to dread. Nothing good can come from this.

Nilick turns around and faces me. I look down, he has a knife ready. I'm not usually one to cuss, but nothing else can really sum up this situation. Oh shit!

He lunges forward and I brace myself. There isn't time to run. There isn't time to scream.

A cannon booms.

I open my eyes. Huh, I just opened my eyes. If my eyes are open...I'm alive. I don't think that you can, well, think if you're dead.

Nilick is face down in the dirt, seeping through his shirt. I'm so glad I can't see his face right now. Oh gosh, I can't breathe.

He was going to kill me. I can't breathe. I take huge gasping breaths. I can't get enough air into my lungs right now. He was going to kill me. Only one thing stopped him. Lock.

He stands there, red blood dripping from a knife in his hand. I work in a medical facility and I've never been woozy around blood, but I'm hyperventilating right now. Oh. My. Gosh.

Lock and Nilick were in an alliance. I don't know the details of it, but they were together. Lock betrayed him, for me. He betrayed his trust.

I can't stay here. I turn and run like mad.

If Lock was willing to turn on someone he had committed to, how do I know he won't do the same to me? I don't know. But he betrayed, completely betrayed, betrayed to the death, his ally. I'm not going to fall for it too.

And there we have our first non-bloodbath death.

D1 Nimbus Blaire, 17 ~ (Hunter, Lulu, Fawn)
D1 Juno Bledsoe, 18 ~ (Zella)
D2 Hunter Shade, 17 ~ (Nimbus, Lulu, Fawn)
D2 Lucinda "Lulu" Zede, 17 ~ (Nimbus, Hunter, Fawn)
D3 Korrigan Valencia, 16 ~ (Lion)
D3 Allison "Ali" Blazer, 15 ~ (Rocko)
D4 Karawan Mariak, 14 ~
D4 Gunvor Nikila, 13 ~ (Korrigan slits throat)
D5 Raidon "Rai" Shimizu, 16 ~ (neck snapped by Lock)
D5 Avri Veen, 12~ (Gunvor)
D6 Hermes Groats, 14 ~
D6 Aina Fluoreste, 16 ~

D7 Lion Raywood, 18 ~ (Korrigan)
D7 Myrta "Ta" Ambrose, 14 ~
D8 Nilick Jayti, 15 ~ (knife in back by Lock)

D8 Zella Shadows, 15 ~ (Juno)
D9 Lock, 17 ~

D9 Rowena "Row" Loxet, 14 ~
D10 Elihu "Eli" Lyndon, 14 ~ (fainted, then stabbed by Hunter)
D10 Fawn Blackshot, 18 ~ (Nimbus, Hunter, Lulu)
D11 Van Walker, 18 ~ (Mayzie)
D11 Mayzie Olmec, 16 ~ (Van)
D12 Rocko Warner, 16 ~ (Ali)
D12 Ariella Chambers, 15 ~

I don't know why there's all the weird spaces in the list, but it won't let me do anything about it.