GHOSTS

A/N: Hey, everyone. All I'm going to say is that the Victor isn't always who you want it to be, but who's most likely. With that in mind, I hope you enjoy this last chapter of Blood Games, and stayed tuned for the sequel, Cruel Games.

Phoenix Desoleil – District 12

It would be a lie to say that I'm afraid. I know that Artemis is, but fear is wise, and I'm not wise anymore. I'm not anything, just a walking shell waiting for the chance for all of this to finally end. I want to Artemis to win, and that's the honest truth. It's not because of Tea, although I keep making that excuse to myself. In reality, there is nothing left for me to go back to. District 12? Please, they sent me here.

"If you hear anything, tell me," I say to Artemis, the fifth time in probably an hour that I've said it. The sooner that this ends, the better. Dain is probably waiting around for us to come out, so that he can have his ultimate finale. But Artemis and I aren't playing his game, we've got our own. The plan is to bring him down, like you'd shoot down some kind of ferocious animal that stands no chance of being tamed.

"I will," Artemis hisses, but then we both stop. There's the sound of something powering up behind us. She screws her eyes shut in apparent defeat, but I whirl around and clutch a handful of arrows in my hand, even though I don't know how to shoot. Dain is standing there, and it's chilling to think that he can be so stealthy, that he could have been watching us for some time now.

"District 5, District 12." He inclines his head and I can see the insanity sparkling in his eyes, a different kind to mine. Mine is the insanity of someone who has lost themselves, but his is the insanity of someone who has found themselves a monster and enjoys it. Artemis tenses and I take a step in front of her, causing Dain's lips to curve upwards into an amused smirk.

"Found someone else, District 12? Seems that your affection for Tea didn't last long."

The attempted verbal barb should cut deep, but if it does, I don't feel it. I just watch Dain, knowing that he is something dangerous that has to be finished quickly. Artemis is thinking the same thing, for before I can say anything, she strings her bow and fires an arrow at Dain. She's nervous though – I can tell, because it hits Dain in the shoulder instead of the heart.

Her first mistake.

She runs at him with a cry of rage, grabbing another arrow and fitting it to her bow. Dain watches her come with glee sparkling in his eyes and I move around behind him. I might not be a good shot, but I could at least stab him in the back while Artemis distracts him. Dain staggers backwards as Artemis fires another arrow, this one hitting him in the collarbone. Her anger's taken a hold of her. It's at a time like this that I feel it's better that I can't feel anything.

Her second mistake.

She's too close to use her bow now, so she doesn't bother fitting another arrow. Instead she strikes out with her bow, hitting him across the chest so that he stumbles backwards. I see my chance and I lunge at him with an arrow in my hand, just as Artemis lunges at him from in front of him.

Her last mistake.

It takes a split second for Dain to seize Artemis by the wrists as she tries to stab him with her arrow. He whirls her around – and I'm not as quite as fast as Dain. My arrow plunges straight through Artemis's chest and although I stagger back before she even screams in pain, the damage is done. It's too late and we've failed. Dain throws Artemis dispassionately to the ground, spinning his sword in his hand.

I want to kneel beside Artemis and hold her hand as she dies, like I did with Tea. I want to make the end easier – but I can't. Because although I don't want to win, although death doesn't bother me, I would rather I lived and became Victor than see a psychopath like Dain win the Games. So I don't go to Artemis as she chokes up blood, crawling on her hands and knees towards me. Well, I don't go to comfort her. What I do is slit her throat to make the end that much easier. It's the only thing I can do.

The cannon goes off and I flinch as Artemis falls face-first to the ground. Dain is smirking across at me, twirling that sword of Donnicon's, waiting for me to make the first move. But I'm not stupid. I'm not going to try and take revenge for Tea, or Artemis, or anyone who's died. Instead, I do the smartest thing I possibly can – I turn on my heel, and I run.

My breath comes in ragged gasps and I know without looking that Dain is giving chase. It's just the two of us now, and he won't want to play games any longer. He will want this over, he will want to be the Victor – and something tells me that I can't stop him. But if I'm going down, it's on my terms, not his. They want a Quarter Quell, they want something to remember? I will give Panem something it has never seen. I can't help but laugh despite being almost out of breath. Who wins really?

Dain Winters – District 2

"Do you miss her, District 12?" I mock as I sprint after him. He's fast, I'll give him that…but he's not going to last long. He's very thin and his hair is sticking out at all angles. "Do you miss Tea?"

He whirls around at that, his strange amber-gold eyes gleaming with hatred as he throws the knife that used to belong to Cassie. He's shaking and I'm not sure whether it's from fear or rage…or something else entirely. I curse and duck, the knife just missing my head. Phoenix stands there with his teeth bared and I draw Donnicon's sword.

"Ever seen a weapon like this?" I ask him smugly as I flick on the electricity. I'm wondering exactly how expensive this must have been. "It was District 3's, once. Now I'm going to use it on you. Are you afraid, District 12? Because you should be."

Phoenix laughs and I can see the insanity burning in those eyes. He's unhinged and I'm starting to see that not everyone in the arena fears me. I'm going to teach Phoenix a lesson, though. By the time I'm done with him, he'll be begging for death. I can see a quiver with a bow and arrow on his back, but they were Tea's and I know that he can't use them otherwise he would have shot me down already.

"Go ahead, District 2," he sneers, spreading his arms, daring me to strike him down. Not a wise idea, because I'm going to. Just I'm going to make it slow. "You think I'm scared of you? You're just a violent brute. There are worse things than you out there."

Somehow I doubt that. What could Phoenix possibly be afraid of? I move towards Phoenix with my newly-acquired sword and I whirl into an arc, crackling and glittering. Then the boy from District 12 is screaming in pain and his left arm has been separated from his body. It thumps to the ground and he's still shrieking as watches the blood pumping out of him. I restrain a laugh. What a wimp.

"Painful enough?" I hiss at him, staring down at him as he drops to his knees almost in a mockery of subservience. His eyes are red-rimmed and his face is grim and streaked with dirt. Yet what I don't expect is for Phoenix, stained with the scarlet mess of his blood and defenseless at my feet, to laugh and reach behind him with his remaining arm. What's the fool going to do, throw the arrow at me?

"You think we're all a part of your sick little game," Phoenix spits at me, and there's something wild and manic in his eyes as he grips the arrow tight in his hand. "But you know what, Dain? You lose."

I realize what he's going to do a moment before he does it. Phoenix knows he's going to endure a long, drawn-out death by my hand – but now he's choosing it on his own terms. He gives me a feral grin as he stabs the arrow straight through his heart and falls in a messy, bleeding heap to the ground.

I kick the dirt angrily, not because Phoenix is dead but because he killed himself. He's right – he died on his own terms rather than mine, but that only pisses me off. I didn't think any of the tributes would have the guts to end their own lives rather than deal with what I've got in store, but Phoenix proved me wrong…and I don't like being wrong. In fact, I hate being wrong. A roar, part rage and part victorious, escapes me.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Claudius Templesmith's voice booms overhead and I raise the sword above my head in triumph. "The Victor of the 25th Hunger Games – Dain Winters of District 2!"

I've done what I always knew was possible. I've won the Quarter Quell, and why shouldn't I? I am a Career. I am vicious. I stare down at the body of my last, fallen adversary. Despite the victory, it's somewhat hollow by the fact that my last two opponents killed themselves, or each other.