When I wake, I head straight to the bathroom. My face is red and blotchy from crying, but I don't care and head to the mentor's lounge. I go over to her and take a seat on the couch next to Mary.

"Hey sweetie, how're your tributes doing?" She asks. I can tell she knows I've been crying, but she doesn't bring it up.

"I can't exactly say. That's why Marcus and I got into a fight. He told one that they could leave the other." I say. She shakes her head.

"That ain't the brightest idea, but you can't control what they do once they're in their anyways." She says.

"Very true." I say. "So how are your tributes?"

"I only got one left. Her name is Taylor." She says. I look at her screen, and their she is walking with Emma.

"That's one of my tributes. Her name is Emma." I say, pointing to her. Its ironic, actually. Again, Kentucky and South Carolina have paired up in the games.

"Looks like we got ourselves a power alliance." She says, and I laugh.

They start back down the mountain, and Taylor calmly pulls out an arrow and draws her bow, and shoots down the mountain. A cannon fires, and Emma smiles.

"You have incredible aim." She says.

"Thanks. So where should we head off to?" Taylor asks.

"We can either go farther up the mountain, or head to the forest. Your pick."

"Lets find somewhere in the forest. I'm sure plenty of tributes are scaling this mountain." Emma nods and they head off. Halfway down, where Emma camped the other night, they come face to face with another pair.

The boy has a gun in his hand, and the girl only has a knife. Taylor quickly loads her bow, and takes the girl out without even blinking. The boy starts off towards them, and barely dodges Taylor's arrow, but he does. He slams into Taylor, knocking her to the edge of the mountain. She slips off, and hangs off the edge. They are very high up, and if she falls, she falls to her death. The boy stands over the edge and starts stomping on Taylor's fingers. She holds on with all her strength, but eventually her fingers start to give out. That's when Emma runs up behind the boy, shoving the knife in his back. She pulls it out, and pushes him off the cliff. His body slams into the ground, causing his cannon to fire. Emma quickly scrambles to help Taylor.

Once Taylor is back up and safe, Emma retrieves Taylor's arrow from the girl's body and the one that the boy dodged. She gets the girl's knife and sticks it in her pocket. Taylor lays on the ground, rubbing her fingers.

"Are you ok?" Emma says, holding out her hand to help Taylor up.

"I think so. Now we're even." She says. Taylor sticks the arrows back in her quiver and they continue on. I say goodbye to Mary and go back to check up on Derek. He is perched up in a tree, scoping out the area. He takes a few bites of another cookie and a sip of water. Another pair comes strolling through, no weapons in hand. Derek takes his spear and easily takes out the boy, and before the girl orients herself, he jumps down and slits her throat with his knife. Two cannons fire, and he yanks the spear out of the boy's body and scurries back up the tree.

He watches for a while, then he climbs down from the tree to hunt for some food. He moves through the forest quietly, until he spots a fat rabbit. His spear takes it out, and he keeps it on his spear, carrying it back to his tree.

Three cannons fire in the next hour, bringing the death toll to a total of seventy-four. I look over at Marcus, who's watching the big screen at the front of the room. He notices me out of the corner of his eye. I look away when he notices, acting like I was just looking around the room, but I know he doesn't buy it. Sitting here by him feels awkward. The other nights questions pop in my head, and it feels like two separate voices are in my head. One telling me I messed up, and he hates me. The other, reminding me everything will be ok, that he still loves me. They quarrel in my mind for a while, before I feel like I might go insane. I get up and go to the bathroom in the lounge, where I stand in front of the mirror. I look at my reflection, and He hates you, No, he doesn't keep playing in my head. I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to mute the voices.

I open my eyes back up, and my ring catches my eye. I pull it off my finger, studying its beauty. The sapphire heart still shines brilliantly. The significance of the sapphire makes a small smile from on my face. The nickname Marcus gave me during our first games.

I study the ring, cupping it in my hand, when I notice something on the inside. Its engraved in small print. I pull it closer to my eyes so I can read what it says.

I will love you forever, no matter what.

This silences the voices arguing in my head. I clutch the ring in my hand, holding it close to my chest. This ring is more than just a ring; it's a promise to be with each other through thick and thin. To support each other, to love each other. To stick together through the good times and the bad.

"No matter what." I whisper to myself. I slip the ring back on my finger, keeping in mind what this ring means. The voice saying he hates me starts to play, but its almost completely drowned out by the voice telling me he doesn't. I feel conflicted. No matter what, I keep replaying in my head. I need to know his feelings, before these voices drive me insane. I take one more look in the mirror, run my fingers through my hair, and step out. Marcus must have gone somewhere, because he's not on the couch. I go sit down to wait for him.

While I'm waiting, I look at the screen and Emma is making her way through the forest with Taylor. Derek is by the edge of the pond, filtering some more water and putting it in his water pouch. I look back to Emma, and Taylor takes down a bird flying above them.

"We were low on food." She says. She hands the bird to Emma, who begins plucking the feathers off of it. I hear someone come into the lounge, and I look over. Marcus is standing in the doorway, watching the big screen. I stand up and start to walk towards him, and he is watching the screen so intently that I pause in my tracks and turn to watch.

Emma and Taylor are on the screen. This can only mean one thing. They're about to run into more tributes. I continue watching, because no matter how rude or hateful Emma is, I don't want to see her dead. The camera zooms out, and another tribute comes into view. I can't make it out, until they zoom in on his face.