I am a horrible, horrible person. But I'm okay with that.

To Slip Away

Still Day 3

It was difficult to be in District Three at the moment. Especially with the recent death of Jezebel and the horrible monster that Rex was currently facing.

Televisions all over were turned to the same station.

Delaney was on the edge of her seat, her fingernails were between her teeth, being gnawed to bits.

Rex was getting all the attention.

Usually, unless there was a huge fight going on, then there were spilt screens. One tribute on the top left corner, while another tribute was being featured in the top right corner.

But all eyes were trained on Rex right now.

Delaney was sitting in a small café in District three with her brother, Flamiken and Sofie.

The café was filled with people as they watched the screen and rooted for Rex and mourned for Jezebel.

Both tributes were well known in Three. Rex because of his crazy, out of control twin brother and Jezebel because everyone knew her sister was ill and on her deathbed.

"The Renns lost Meleana last year, and now Jezebel this year, and soon Atarah will slip away," a woman over in the corner booth said loud enough for everyone in the room to hear.

"Did you hear they rushed her to the hospital earlier today?" An old woman replied as she waddled over to the corner booth where the other lady was. The room fell silent as they waited for the latest gossip.

In Three, gossip burned like a wildfire.

"No, is she okay?"

"Poor Atarah."

"How are the Renns holding up?"

Delaney stayed quiet as she listened to everyone else.

Jezebel hadn't even been dead for an hour yet.

"I hope she's okay," Sofie said softly, "the Renns don't deserve to lose another family member."

The door flew open and an older teenager bursted in. The girl had long tawney hair and looked very familiar.

Sofie and Delaney gasped at the same time as they both realized who she was.

"Meleana's sister," they said together.

"Karla," a waitress said, the worry in her face was plain to see. "What happened? Are you okay?"

Karla shook her head, her beautiful locks of hair went flying.

"It's Atarah, she's dead," she stated it so simply, as if she had just told them the time.

The room erupted in condolences.

A dark cloud hung over the café as the death of Atarah sunk in.

Karla was lost in the crowd as people engulfed her in hugs and their sympathies. Delaney wanted to join in, but something held her back.

"She died an hour ago, took her last breath at the same time as Jezebel did," Karla said as tears streamed down her face. It was clear that Karla was very distraught. No one blamed her though.

"What happened?"

Karla took a deep breath, "earlier today, Atarah's breathing got really uneven and uneven. So my aunt and uncle took her to the hospital. The television was on in the room, my aunt refused to turn it off because Jezebel was on screen. Atarah had a major fit when the Careers ambushed Jezebel. She slipped into a coma, and then died at the same time as Jezebel, her last word was 'sorry,' it was so sad. My aunt and uncle didn't know which daughter to watch."

Karla's sobs took over as she huddled into her self and shook with grief. Two older ladies tried to comfort Karla while the rest of the attention went back to the screen.

Rex was no longer in the limelight.

"Oh, what happened?" Sofie asked, wishing for a rewind button.

No one answered her, their eyes were glued to the screen. It had split into four sections. All four sections were showing different tributes, and all the tributes were running.

On the top left corner, Janie and Annabel were scrambling over rocks. It was difficult to tell if they were running from something or chasing something. They didn't look too terrified though.

The picture in the top right corner showed Pascal running from flames. His poor little hut that he had put so much time and effort into was burning.

The bottom right corner housed the Careers, where they were chasing someone. Delaney couldn't tell who they were currently hunting, but they were in the woods, so obviously, Janie and Annabel were safe since the two girls were still on the "beach."

And the bottom left was of a pretty active fight between Liviana and Amira. The two girls from Four and Five, respectively. They were chasing each other around in a circle, trying to confuse the other and get the edge.

Liviana was definitely more experienced then Amira was. But Amira was determined and wouldn't let Liviana have the upper hand.

Gone was the frightened girl who had run away from a fight with Diana at the bloodbath. In her place was a fiery animal like creature. Amira let out a sound that sounded like a wild beast as she jumped and landed on Liviana's back.

Liviana twirled around, making both of them dizzy.

A scream from another section of the screen caught Delaney's attention.

It was Pascal. The Careers had found him and had him cornered. Delaney didn't think that he had a chance. The Careers had proved themselves to be good when they actually tried to work together. They may have let Amira escape yesterday, but they had taken Jezebel down without a problem.

"Argh, too many fights going on at once," Flamiken complained, "if I was still the Head Gamemaker I'd stop all but one of them. People can't concentrate on more then one fight at a time."

"That's because people need to learn how to multi-task," Delaney said as she took a sip of her water and chewed on an ice cube. Colt grimaced as she bit down and she grinned. He hated that sound, Delaney was glad that he was back to a position where she could do things just to annoy him.

"Seneca has no idea what he's doing," Flamiken complained, "he's not doing the split screen correctly. Wendetta would have been a better Head Gamemaker then him."

"Well now you're definitely on the outside looking in," Colten replied as he turned away from the screen. He couldn't watch the fight. Poor Pascal was faring slightly better then Jezebel, because he was still alive and she wasn't.

Karla was still in the restaurant, while everyone tried to comfort her. But she really wasn't having it. And who could blame her. She just lost both of her cousins at the same time to different causes. The Hunger Games were over for Jezebel, but Karla's mental wounds would never heal.

Karla and Meleana had never had a great sisterly relationship, just like Atarah and Jezebel. Both Karla and Atarah were mean to their younger sisters, and Karla was still carrying around the guilt.

Finally, the screen went to just image. Of course, that caused the restaurant to burst out in an outrage because they couldn't see how Rex was faring against his problem.

The television was now focusing on Pascal and his fight with the Careers. If Pascal didn't do something fast, then he was a goner.

Amethyst and Diana both had their knives out and they glinted in the bright sunlight that was glaring between the trees branches.

Pascal hit the ground and rolled forward, just missing being pinned to the trees like a modern day savior.

He leaned forward another inch and threw out his arm which Delaney found a bit odd.

"Run you moron," Sofie said, banging her fist on the table. She was shaking and upset. Colt put an arm around her and drew her into his chest. He kissed the top of her forehead and smoothed down her hair. Delaney felt bad for both of them. Memories of the games were hitting Sofie full force and she was having trouble dealing with them. Delaney wasn't being affected as much because she never made it into the arena.

But obviously, Pascal wasn't listening to Sofie. He either couldn't hear her, or was ignoring her. Delaney was pretty sure it was the former one.

The mean tribute from Two, Angelo, kicked Pascal and the boy went flying forwards, but instead of fear, there was a different expression on his face.

Delaney saw the rope about a half second after Pascal pulled it.

Then she remembered that the first two days in the arena, Pascal had gone around making traps.

Rocks came flying down from the trees and pelted the Careers. Pascal jumped up and ran before the Careers could realize what had just hit them.

"He's smarter then I thought," Flamiken observed, "I thought for sure he would die in the blood bath." She actually seemed pleasantly surprised to be proven wrong.

With Pascal safe and the Careers pissed off, the screen switched back to Liviana and Amira's fight.

Liviana still had the edge, but Amira was somehow dodging all of Liviana's advances. Amira's luck would run out eventually though. Or maybe luck was on her side and she would somehow manage to take down the toughest female tribute this year.

Somehow Delaney doubted that. Liviana was too determined to let a girl from Five take her down.

Liviana threw a punch that Amira took in the gut. Amira doubled over and coughed.

Liviana took out her knife that she had and got ready to end Amira's life.

Pascal flew onto the screen, barreling into Liviana. She went tumbling down to the ground. She glared at him as she stood up, only to fall back down again as Amira hit the back of her head with a flip flop.

Well at least those damn shoes were good for something.

"If I were you," Pascal said to his District partner, "I'd run, because the Careers are right behind me, and they're pissed."

"What'd you do to piss them off," Amira asked as she smacked the back of Liviana's head again. Liviana was out cold, but she wasn't dead. She wouldn't be unconscious for long though.

"Dropped rocks on their head."

"Wow, you're smarter then you look."

"Hey, I just said that," Flamiken commented. The others ignored her as they concentrated on the screen.

"Thanks…I think."

"You better run along then," Amira said, "This might get ugly."

"Aren't you going to disappear too?"

Amira raised an eyebrow, "now why would I do that? I can't get my revenge if I run away all the time."

"Why do you want revenge?" Pascal asked. He seemed so young and innocent, like a young child asking his mother why the sky was blue.

Amira's eyes flashed in anger. "None of your business," she snapped.

Pascal shrugged, "well, good luck then." He replied.

"I don't need luck," Amira shot at him.

She turned back to the still body of Liviana as Pascal ran.

Amira leaned down and was about to stab Liviana in the back when the loud voices of the Careers floated through the trees.

"Damn that Five, stupid stone hit me in the eye," Diana complained. She looked really battered and worn down. She was favoring her right arm which was covered in dry blood. "I look like Dragan from two years ago."

"Yeah, that girl really decked him good," Amethyst replied, "she had quite a right hook, and all you got decked with was a tiny little bitty stone."

"It was huge," Diana corrected.

"Oh stop your whining," Angelo shot at her. "Too bad it didn't hit your larynx."

Diana rolled her eyes, but kept her mouth shut. She was slowly learning that having Angelo's anger directed at her was not a good thing.

"Hey, shush, I think I hear something," Ross said. The Careers stopped in their tracks.

"Hey, it's that girl from Four who wouldn't join us," Amethyst grinned and pointed at the ground.

"Liviana," Artis murmured.

"Is she dead?"

"I didn't hear a cannon for her," Ross pointed out matter-of-factly.

"So let's change that," Amethyst grinned as she moved to Liviana like the Cheshire cat.

"Amira is going to ambush them," Delaney said, "she's so stupid, she's going to get killed if she keeps being so rash."

Amira fell down from the sky and landed on Angelo's back. He grunted as he tried to dismount her. Amira pounded on her back. Diana was howling in laughter.

"Stop laughing and help me!" Angelo shot at her.

Diana shook her mane of hair, "why bother? You didn't help me when I was fighting her."

"And now we know what she's capable of," Angelo pointed out as he slammed into a tree, trying to crush Amira.

Artis sighed and grabbed his knife. Amira grabbed a hold of a branch and swung herself up on the tree.

"Maybe you should catapult Diana into the tree and she could knock her down," Amethyst said hopefully.

"Yeah, like an angry bird flying through the sky trying to get revenge," Artis said.

Diana furrowed her brow, "why is the bird angry?"

Artis shrugged, "beats me, maybe a pig stole the eggs or something."

The other Careers howled in laughter.

"That sounds like a stupid game that a nerdy kid would be obsessed with," Diana said.

"Like that kid from Five, he seems like a huge geek," Angelo said.

The five of them were circling the tree looking for Amira, but she was nowhere in sight.

"Next time we see you, you're a dead girl," Angelo called out as a warning. The only response was the chirping of the birds. They turned back to deal with Liviana, but she was gone. While the Careers had been busy dealing with Amira, Liviana had woken up and slipped away. She wasn't stupid enough to take on five Careers at once.

The Careers howled in anger, their voices echoing around the arena and sent the birds scrambling.

The screen switched again, this time to Janie and Annabel who had finally scrambled across the rocks and were now staring in horror at Rex.

"He's so dead," Delaney said sadly.

The others nodded in agreement.

Because Rex Long of District 3, was currently being torn to shreds by a deadly lion. A sea lion to be exact.

To slip away, you need an escape route.

Trivia Question: Which tribute in Fear liked to befriend her food before killing them?

Previous Trivia Answer: Laurant was the first Career to die.

Oh, and to clear up the sponsoring issue since I keep getting questions about that...there is no set sponsoring this time around. If you want to send something to someone, then let me know and I will try to write it into the games. It doesn't matter what it is or who it's to. For the most part, I'm just picking usernames of the people reviewing and sending things to the tributes as the story calls for it.

And new poll is up (of course, since I can never keep the same poll for more then a week. I have poll ADD)

I've been wanting to reference Angry Birds for forever. I'm obsessed with that game. Yeah, you've been playing that instead of writing this damn chapter. Hey! I finished it. It only took you forever and a half. Oh be quiet Amethyst, always the critic. Well how's this for criticism, those fat cows are never going to review if you keep writing. Don't insult the readers Amethyst. Why not? They insult me all the time. It's not an insult if it's true.

~*Misty*~