Ahh I'm sorry this has been a bit longer than usual. It's been a crazy week... mock exams here, there and everywhere! I'm sure any college students out there will sympathise!

Anyways, thanks for sticking around... hope you enjoy this x

CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE - HIGH TIDE

I freeze in panic, my breath catching in a little terrified gasp.

My eyes are wide as I stare at him, waiting for him to swing his arm forward, waiting to hear the whistle of the blade in the air, waiting to feel it hit me square in the chest. Because I know he'll hit me dead on. He's only about twenty metres away and I know he can throw further and still hit his target.

It feels like the whole world stands still as I wait, my hands trembling, my breathing strained. It's going to hurt so much.

But he doesn't move.

What's he waiting for? Why doesn't he just get it over with? And why on earth did he stop Ash from killing me?

I stay where I am, half kneeling, half sitting amongst the gravel, my heart thumping so hard I can feel it everywhere. My whole body is strumming with fear.

And then Sneaky Eyes, the boy from district 11, speaks, his voice carrying across the river.

"You killed her."

Belle. He has to be talking about Belle.

"I - I didn't," I reply, my voice wavering a little as his fingers clench around his knife. "It was Seela... and she, she's dead."

"You were there," he tells me, his voice angry. "You're the one who found her."

He must have been there too, hiding somewhere in the trees, maybe looking out for Belle, maybe hoping to alliance with her. My chest tightens.

"I tried to warn her," I say, but I know what he said is true. I did kill her.

"She was just a kid." He shakes his head and I realise he must have cared about her - maybe they were friends before. "Just a kid."

My voice shakes as it rings out across the water because I know what I'm about to say won't go down well with the Capitol...

"We're all just kids."

He looks at me properly then and although he doesn't reply, his knife lowers a little.

I wonder vaguely if he's any good at hitting moving targets and whether it'd be worth it to try and make a dash for the trees. I must look like I'm about to leg it because his dark eyebrows lower and his grip tightens on his knife.

"Don't move," he warns and I slump back onto the ground, my breath shuddering through my teeth.

I resign myself to my fate. At least it'll be quick.

"Did you know her?" I ask. I don't know why, but I think I'd like to know if my death means Belle is avenged.

"My best friend's kid sister," he tells me gruffly. And I hear the unspoken words he told me to look after her in his voice.

"I'm sorry," I say miserably and a flash of something I can only describe as hesitancy passes across his face. Maybe he's realised I'm human too, because I'm certainly seeing a more human side of him.

I suddenly really want to know his name...

But then his eyes harden and his mouth sets in grim determination.

"I'm sorry too," he says and I see him steady his knife, his eyes squinting a little as he judges his target.

"Wait!" I cry, my hand flying up and he pauses, his eyes flickering up to meet mine. "Can you just tell me something before - before..." I swallow. "Well, you know." He gives me the briefest of nods. "Wh- why did you kill Ash?" Here, my eyes flicker towards the dead body slumped right next to me and I have to swallow the nausea. "Why didn't you just let him kill me first?"

He regards me silently for a moment.

"Because," he says eventually. "I don't agree with torture."

And then because I'm basically resigned to dying (at least it'll be quick), I give him a little sad smile.

"Thanks, I guess."

He nods again and the knife rises and the afternoon sun glints on the blade and sparkles across the river and my vision blurs and so I screw up my eyes, little tremors of fear running through my body...

I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die.

I tense up, waiting for the pain.

But then a deep dark rumble begins from somewhere far, far below us and the ground begins to shake beneath my fingers.

My eyes snap open and I see Sneaky Eyes struggling for balance on the shuddering rocks. He gives up and collapses to his knees, clutching tightly to the jagged rock faces. Our eyes meet and I realise we're both as clueless as each other.

But this is my chance! I can get out of here while he's stuck out on the rocks!

I drag myself to my feet but then the ground starts shaking even harder and my legs wobble. I try to take a step forward but it's like I'm trying to walk on water and I end up flat on my face, the sharp pebbles pressing painfully into my stomach.

But I have to get out of his range, because as soon as the ground steadies out, there'll be a knife in my chest before I can even think about moving. I struggle to my knees but everything is shuddering so violently, I get this awful feeling I'm about to throw up and I'm forced to steady myself with hands to the ground.

So this is what sea sickness feels like.

And then an enormous blast, deafening as thunder, explodes from the east and a horrible sense of déjà vu overtakes me.

The dam.

My head snaps to the side and I stare up in horror at the huge stone wall in the cliffs on the far edge of the arena.

Oh. My. Life.

The single fracture down the middle has splintered right across the dam wall, stretching like long groping fingers and prising the stone apart. As I watch in complete and utter terror, a huge chunk of the dam breaks free, smashing down the cliff face and hitting the ground, the resulting shock wave sending tremors through the ground, so strong my arms nearly give out beneath me.

Water explodes from the dam, pouring down the wall... cliff faces, huge basin, trapped inside.

They're flooding the arena.

And then I'm scrabbling up the embankment, the ground still shaking so much I'm unable to do anything but drag myself on my hands and knees. Rumbles and groans echo around the arena as the whole dam begins to fall apart.

As I reach the top, a knife whistles past my shoulder. My head whips round to see Sneaky Eyes has taken a shot. Thank goodness the earthquake has messed up his aim.

Hasn't he realised what's happening? Should I warn him? He might have tried to kill me, but he did save me from Ash.

He yanks another knife from his satchel.

"They're going to flood the arena!" I bellow over the sound of falling rocks. His eyes flicker towards the dam and fear registers on his face, the knife he's already lifting to throw at me slipping from his fingers. My voice rises to an almost hysterical screech. "Tie yourself to something strong!"

And then I'm off again, pulling myself to my feet, grabbing onto the nearest tree for support. I risk a glance towards the dam...

There's another ear shattering explosion and the dam crumbles like it's made of sand. An unbelievable amount of water surges into the arena and I reckon I've got about thirty seconds.

Gritting my teeth and focusing all my energy on getting back to my tree, I stagger the last few metres and begin to climb. The trunk is shaking under my hands but it's staying firmly rooted in the ground. My guess is it'll withstand the wave.

It takes me about ten seconds to get up to the branches where I'd left my rucksack and by now I can hear the thunderous and familiar sound of rushing water. I sit with my back against the tree and grope frantically for my rope already wrapped a few times around the trunk. With shaking hands, I pull it around my middle and tie it in the tightest knot I can remember.

I barely have to time to hold my breath and then the water hits.

Bubbles rush around my head, the freezing water rocketing into me with such force that I am thrown forward, my nose smashing into my knees, my arms flying up to wrap protectively around my head. But even as the water is trying to prise me from the trunk, the rope yanks me backwards with such strength I feel like I'm being sliced right through the middle.

I feel the branches judder beneath me and realise that if this tree is uprooted, then I'm as good as dead. But the tree stays where it is and so do I.

It seems like forever that I can't see or hear or feel anything other than water blasting into me from all directions but in reality, it can't be more than a minute, because after that, I sense the water beginning to slow down.

I lift my head and open my eyes. As far as I can tell, the whole forest is underwater, the branches moving gently with the swirl of the water.

It's eerily peaceful.

I peer upwards, squinting through the branches, and I see the sunlight rippling on the top of the water far far above me. I still have a good two minutes or so before I have to breathe, but it becomes my first priority to get to the surface.

My fingers fumble with the rope for a few moments, before I manage to get it undone. The water lifts me easily into a standing position and I wrap a firm hand around the branch above to stop me from drifting off with the gentle current. It's my first instinct to grab my rucksack before swimming out into the open, but I resist, knowing that the waterlogged canvas and sleeping bag will just drag me down.

If I survive this I'll come back for it.

I pull myself slowly through the thickly twined branches, half climbing, half swimming up the tree... and then my hand grabs something that's too soft to be a branch.

I push myself upwards and come face to face with pale skin, a slackened jaw, wide blue eyes.

Ash.

I scream, shooting backwards and smashing into the tree trunk, air rushing from my mouth in a stream of bubbles. Blood drifts from his whitened lips and I clamp a hand across my own mouth, pressing back against the trunk, fighting the urge to scream again.

I've lost air and I have to get up to the surface now or else I'm going to drown.

With frantic scrabbles, I drag myself upwards, the branches catching on my clothes and trying to drag me back down. It takes me seconds to reach the uppermost branches and then I'm free and in open water.

I'm home.

My lungs beginning to ache, I swim upwards towards the light, towards the sun. But the water is deep and the surface is a long way up and I'm running out of air.

The pressure in my chest grows and grows and I swear I'm about to explode, but then I surface with a gasp, my wet hair clinging to my face. I brush it from my eyes, bobbing up and down as I tread water, panting a little as I try to catch my breath.

All I can see in every direction is an expanse of water, right up until it meets the cliff faces. I realise I was right - the dam had enough water in it to completely flood the arena. Turning in a full circle, I look around for other tributes, for any imminent threats.

But I see no one.

The water splashes gently into my face as I keep myself at the surface, my sodden clothes beginning to feel a little heavy. I'm used to swimming, of course, but I'm not usually in so many clothes and, although I'm pretty certain I can tread water for a little while, I know that eventually I'll start to tire, eventually I won't be able to stay at the surface.

I don't know how long I tread water for, my legs steadily growing colder and heavier and my fingers turning an unhealthy shade of blue - it could one hour, it could be four - but then I feel the deep undercurrent begin to grow stronger, starting to tug at my tired and numb body.

I duck my head beneath the surface, eyes roving the depths for any clues as to what's going on. A little way to the left, I see the ground slowly opening up with rigid grinding movements and the water beginning to ripple and curve downward into the blackness. My head breaks the surface again and glancing wildly around me, I see the water level visibly dropping.

They're draining the arena.

I immediately think of a bath tub - all the water, any small bit of debris being sucked down the plug hole. Multiply the size of that bath tub by a million times and I become the debris.

I feel the current pull even more sharply at me and I know I have to hold onto something. If I don't, then I'll easily be pulled into that black hole and goodness knows what the Gamemakers will have waiting for me down there. I take a deep breath and dive, my body rolling like a sea lion as I fight the current, aiming instead for a tall tree directly below me.

My teeth gritted in determination, I swim downwards with strong fierce strokes towards the tree, the current catching in my clothes and sucking me sideways. I can barely feel my legs, but I fight on - nearly there - my hand stretches out, flailing slightly. And then I catch hold of the branch.

I'm so shattered, I can barely move but I know I'm not safe yet. I drag myself downwards and inwards, bubbles slipping through my lips as I grunt with the effort, sharp twigs scraping my cheeks, my fingernails sinking into the damp bark.

I grab hold of the trunk, locking my thighs tightly around it and hooking my feet together. As I feel the current getting stronger, I screw my eyes up tight and press my face into the bark, my muscles shaking with exertion, my hands trembling with fear.

And then I'm in air again and I can breathe.

I'm alive. I'm not dead.

My chest shudders against the tree as I take a shaky breath. It takes me a few moments to gather the strength to unlock myself from the trunk and by the time I do, the water level is far below me. I edge slowly down the branches, my legs far too weak – everything else far too cold – to go any faster than an awkward shuffle.

As I reach the bottom, there's an enormous slurp and the last of the water disappears into the Gamemakers' black hole. I let go of the lowest branch and stand, swaying slightly and shivering so violently it hurts, waiting... just waiting.

There's got to have been some deaths. There's no way everyone survived that... right?

And then the cannons begin. I count, the numbers slipping through my freezing lips in husky breaths.

Nine. Nine cannons.

My slightly slow mind strains to work it out.

Twelve of us still alive when I woke up this morning. Ash's death made it eleven. That's including me... There's two of us left. Just two.

My mouth falls open with a little pop.

Two of us.

I could... I might... could I actually win this? I start shaking again.

And then so suddenly and so unexpectedly I nearly jump out of my skin, another cannon fires. It takes a second to hear it, to believe it, to understand what it means.

There is a belated, almost disbelieving, silence and then Claudius Templesmith's voice echoes across the arena.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," he announces brightly. "I am pleased to present the victor of the Seventieth Annual Hunger Games... Annie Cresta of District 4!"

My legs give out beneath me and I hit the floor.

...

So...the Games are OVER!

Story's not over yet, although we're on the home stretch (Edit: HA!) now guys... Anyways, what did you think of the Games? Fave bits? Saddest moments? As always, let me know your thoughts! Thanks for reading and please review xx