A/N: An update! Yes, the chapter is short. I'm going to update within this week again since I have a one week holiday :D.
Enjoy!
"I'm...sorry," Vanessa whispered.
Her poison-tipped spearhead hovered above Baie's chest. They had a grapple earlier, started by Baie. Vanessa managed to get the upper hand and now, she was about to kill her.
"Then don't kill me if you're sorry!" Baie shouted.
"You killed him didn't you?!" Vanessa screamed as the spearhead dropped even closer to Baie's chest.
"Who?!"
"Rian! You killed Rian!" it was a hysterical Vanessa who wildly accused Baie of such an act.
Baie was about to respond when it struck her. Her would-be killer had been driven mad. Whatever she wanted to say was already lost however. Vanessa had plunged the spearhead straight into Baie's chest. The cannon went off.
"You killed him. You killed him. You killed Rian. You killed my Rian!" Vanessa shrieked.
Tears dripped down her cheeks as she raised the spear once more and stabbed the same place as before. An anguished howl ripped through her throat. Unsteady, she stood up and wobbled a little. Entire body shivering, she started to cut up Baie's body. Blood splattered the dry ground.
Finally, she collapsed beside the corpse. Blood soaked her suit but she ignored it. Eyes empty, she reached out to touch Baie's cheek, smearing blood all over it.
"My Rian," she whispered.
Vanessa pushed herself up and grabbed her spear. She cradled her left arm to herself. Baie had managed to injure her in the earlier struggle, injecting poison into her. Whimpering, Vanessa stumbled away from the body. She let out a shriek when a booming voice sounded in the arena all of a sudden.
"Tomorrow morning, a Feast shall commence at the Cornucopia. There, we have everything you need."
Vanessa waited for the person to speak further but there was no more voices to be heard. She swallowed. This was it. The final bloodbath.
"Aeris, tomorrow is the day."
Aeris' eyelids fluttered open and she shifted her head to face January. Her hand appeared from beneath the blanket and searched around for his hand. He gave it to her and she gripped it tightly. As tightly as she could anyway. She was still weak.
"I...see." her voice could barely be considered a whisper.
They lapsed back into silence. January started to stroke her hand tenderly and watched her try to keep herself awake for him. Finally, she closed her eyes and her breathing slowed. January stayed there, watching her sleep. He turned to look at the mug sitting on the table beside her bed. It was white and had a poorly drawn heart on it. It was coloured in red. He had given it to Aeris on her seventeenth birthday. At that time, it meant nothing but a joke. Now, it was something else entirely different.
January stood to leave but her voice stopped him.
"Jan...come back to me. I have something to tell you but I'll only tell when you come back."
"You talk as if it is a certain that I will come back alive," he replied with a tired chuckle.
"Of course." he could hear the smile in her voice. "After all, were we not one of the seven victors of the 49th Games?"