Writing Ghost of Our Past intro was amazing. Writing for Rachel felt like putting on an old glove. I do hope that you'll submit to it!
Back to Journey to the Top...I'm super freaking pumped.
Somethin' 'bout you makes me feel like a dangerous woman
Somethin' 'bout, somethin' 'bout, somethin' 'bout you
Makes me wanna do things that I shouldn't
Somethin' 'bout, somethin' 'bout, somethin' 'bout
Sylvia Hadley, 13
District 9 Female
I'm scared as hell walking around this cave, checking over my shoulder every three seconds. With fake Dior following me, and knowing where I am at all times I never know if I'm going to get a knife stuck in my back. She says that she wants to kill her counter part, but I honestly can't be sure of anything in this games. I certainly don't trust the real Dior, so why would I trust the fake one?
"Should have just killed her, kids." I hear as I continue to walk deeper into the cave.
I enter an area where the light is streaming down from the outside. It falls in a circular pattern in the middle of the landing, with glimpses of supplies and packs everywhere. Standing in the center of the light circle is the girls from 5, 6, and 10, and the boy from 10. In front of them, and slowly edging closer is the clones of the respective tributes.
"Wait. This isn't something you want to do." says the girl from 6 as she is backing up towards the darkness of the cave.
"I wouldn't do that, sweetheart." says her counterpart in the purple dress as she smiles with a sinister look.
Gassy looking black hands reach out from the cave attempt to grab the girl. She quickly moves back into the light, and closer to the clone of herself. The clones begin to transform slowly. Their teeth begin to become jagged as they get closer and closer.
"If you kill us won't you cease to exist?!" Asked the girl from 5, as the clone of herself is about 5 feet away from her now.
"Silly children. Don't you understand? We aren't reflections of you. We're reflections of the worst part of you." says the clone of the girl from 5. "The parts that you're afraid to show, the parts that you're hating to even admit you have." she strokes her counterparts face as she stares deeply in her eyes. "Your worst part, Tora, is the fact that you're your father's daughter."
She pulls her hands back and she slaps the girl in the face three times. All it took was that one movement, and utter chaos broke out. Clones attacking originals, and the originals aren't that great. The district 10 girl is lying on her back as she is being choked by her counterpart. The boy from District 10 and his clone are squaring off, and he's surprisingly holding his own in hand to hand combat. District 5 is a scrapper, and I'm honestly shocked that she is so brutal when facing her clone.
I can't see District 6, but I know she still has to be here. I begin to search the darker parts of the cave, when someone runs straight into me. I fall to the ground and scrape the palm of my hands on the hard rocky surface. The district 6 girl is breathing heavily as she is swatting things that are flying around her face, but from what I can see there isn't anything there. She begins scratching at her face, and blood starts to run down the girls once gorgeous face.
"Have you lost your mind?! Stop it!" I say as I try and grab her hands.
"OW THEY'RE HURTING ME. HELP ME!" screams the girl as she continues to scratch and kick me off. I fall back and watch as her clone comes out of the shadows holding her hand up and having a face of concentration.
"THEY'RE INSIDE OF ME!" screams the girl as she pulls one of the knives in her belt out and attempts to stab herself. I grab her hand and take the knife out of it. I aim it at the clone and hurl it. It lands in her stomach, and when I look back at the District 6 girl to my horror she has a knife sticking in her stomach as well.
"I can't see." she says suddenly calm. "What happened to the bugs that were inside of me?"
"They never were." I say soothingly as possible. To be quite frank, I'm very disturbed from this.
"I tried to cut them out of me." her breaths are getting shallow and her eyes are glazing. She smirks to herself as she is fading. "At least I'm free now." she says as she takes deep breaths in. "Dad, I'm sorry."
BOOM
A sudden rage fills me. Who are the Gamemakers to tell us what our worst personal trait is? I will not stand for this, and I will not let another tribute die for the sake of their clone. I grab a knife and sneak up behind the girl from 10's clone. The girl from 10 has managed to get the clones hands off her neck, but she has been hit a good few to many times.
I slam my knife into the back of the clones head and watch as it falls over. The girl from 10 sits up and grabs her neck gasping for breath. She is taking in deep breaths as she looks at me with gratitude in her eyes. "Thank you." she says staring at me.
I don't respond. Instead I hurl the knife at the boy from 10's clone. It hits him in the thigh, but it was enough for the boy from 10 to grab his clone by the neck, and snap it. The clone falls to the ground neck slightly gapped as it lays there with it's eyes wide open. The girl from 5 has just finished pushing her clone to the black hands on the outside of the light when I stand up and begin to walk away.
"WAIT!" says the girl from 10.
I turn and look at the three of them. "Where is Skyler?" she asks me as she gives me a worried look.
"She didn't make it." I say as I turn and continue walking. "Consider this your one warning. Don't let me see you again."
I continue to walk, but something inside of me is stirring. A fire that I've never experienced before. A desire unlike any other. The desire to win. It's something that seemed so far away before, but now...let anything come at me. I will succeed. Sylvia Hadley will be District 9's first ever victor.
"Well looks like I don't need you anymore." I hear fake Dior say as she appears in front of me.
"What's that mean. I haven't heard another cannon."
She winks and then disappears.
One is the loneliest number that you ever knew.
Two can be as bad as one.
It's the loneliest number since the number one-uh.
Lorena Raulins, 18
District 12 Female
The sound of another cannon awakes me from the rough sleep I was already having. That was the second one today. I can't believe we are going through people so fast. Human life should never be toyed with like this. Ever.
"Are you okay?" ask Thorn as she shifts from the cot she was sitting on into a laying down position. "You were stirring a lot. I was debating waking you."
"Just a bad dream." I say as I turn over and face the wall.
Not just a bad dream. The worst dream. Adrianna was lying on the ground, in a puddle of blood, and standing over her was none other than Bryley Featherly. I'll never forgive him for making me go through this, and that's if I survive. I can't imagine what life is back home for Addy and Coael are doing at home...what's mom making them do? Has Addy had the baby? Will I ever get to meet it?
"Don't over think things." says Thorn from behind me. "It isn't good for the psyche. If you want to get home, you have to remain sharp."
She's right. I know she is. It's just hard to keep your eye on the goal, when the constant paranoia of someone coming in and stabbing you as you sleep is looming over you. It's like a knife poised above your head. No one is holding it, but it can drop at any moment.
"What do we do with him?"
We both perk up when we hear a voice that isn't our own. The treehouses are connected by bridges, and if someone is close enough for us to hear, they are to close for comfort. We get up, and we dig through the packs we managed to snag in the cornucopia. I grab a machete out of the bag, and Thorn grabs a dagger. We inch our way out of the treehouse that has housed us since the beginning of the game. Our home in this place that is so unfamiliar.
We cross over to the treehouse right next to us and duck near the window. "A little help would be nice." I whisper to myself as I see three careers surrounding the poor boy from 6. There standing in the far left corner of the treehouse is Ares. He stands cocky and tall with his spear being held like a staff.
They are discussing ways to kill the boy when a beeping silver parachute falls from the sky. The careers all turn and notice it. The girl from 2 comes out to grab it when I sucker punch her in the stomach. She falls to the ground, and the other two careers brace himself for a fight. I rip open the package and see that it's a flamethrower. Who sends a flamethrower to a freaking treehouse?!
I aim it at the three careers and have my finger on the button that lets the flames loose.
"No one has to die now. There's already been to much spilled blood today. Give us the boy, and we will walk away." And, of course, take the flamethrower.
It's silent. The three careers are clearly contemplating what to do next, and I have them cornered. You can tell that the academy doesn't train them for this. The girl from 1 is the first to make a move.
"Or," she says confidently. "You can both die, betches." she hurls a knife that she literally pulled almost from thin air, and I'm expecting it to make impact with my face. When I don't feel the sting of pain, I turn and see the knife sticking out of Thorn's chest. She looks horrified as she falls backwards, and with a thud on the ground her cannon sounds.
BOOM.
"ARE YOU FUCKING CRAZY SHE HAS A FLAMETHROWER IN A TREEHOUSE!" screams the girl from 2.
I stare in shock. What the hell just happened? She was standing next to me alive one minute, and then...she's gone. The idea of human life being spilled like this sickens me, but before I'm able to stop, I'm screaming.
I let out a blood curdling scream as I launch myself at the girl from 1. The girl from 2 tries to grab my neck, but I stab her in the arm with the machete I had on my pocket. Ares stands still in the corner of the room, shock in his eyes. The boy from 6 runs over to the flame thrower and grabs it.
It isn't long before the shock of being tackled by someone wears off on the girl from 1. She grabs my by my hair, and I scream out in pain before just chopping more than half of my hair off. With nothing to grab onto I have this fight in the bag.
I slam my fist into her face over, and over, and over again. She screams out in pain as she kicks me off, and I fall towards the door opening in the treehouse. The girl from 1 mounts me, but the kid from 6 kicks her in the face, and then helps me up.
"Thank you." he says as he hands me the flamethrower and runs out of the treehouse. I look around and notice that the girl from 2 and Ares are no longer in the treehouse either. I smile as I look down at the weapon in my hands.
"This is for Thorn, betches." I say in a mocking tone.
I step out of the treehouse and onto the opening, and set fire to the whole house, before I look the girl from 1 in the eye. Fear is written all over her face as she stares at the flamethrower in my hand and realizes what is going to happen next.
"Didn't your mother ever teach you not to play with fire?" she asked tauntingly, not wanting her confidence to be shaken in her last moments of life.
"My mother always taught me to fight fire with fire." I say as I erupt the flamethrower and watch as it engulfs her in flames. She screams out in pain as the fire is consuming her body, and then rushes towards me in an attempt to hug me.
I fall backward and fall out of the tree, and hit every branch on the way down. There is a pop as I land on my butt from the impact, and my right ankle is on fire. I try to move it, and it still works though. I don't think it's broken.
BOOM
I look around on the ground and still see Thorn there lying with her eyes wide open. I crawl over to her in a rapid speed and throw myself over her body and wail. Why does this happen every time I open up to someone? Every Time I start to truly care about someone, they leave me on my own.
A small hand appears on my back and I jump back ready to fight off whoever it is. The boy from 6 stands beside me with a sympathetic look on his face. His eyes are watering as he stares at me.
"I am sorry." he said. "If I hadn't of been there in the first place she'd still be alive."
I wipe my eyes and nose as snot has engulfed most of my face. I reach to pull my hair back into a ponytail when I realize that I don't have hair anymore.
"It's the name of the game, kid." I say as my voice shakes as I look down at my once living ally.
He reaches out and hugs me. At first it was a surprise because, well quite frankly, who the hell is this kid? I realize though it's nice. To feel someone. To feel comfort in times of stress.
"Everyone I ally with dies." I say into his shoulder.
"I have the same problem." he says
I pull apart from his hug and look at him. "You saved me back there you know." I say staring at him with gratitude. "Had you not kicked the girl from 1, I wouldn't have been able to fight her off." I suddenly remember that the girl from 2 and Ares are nowhere to be seen and instantly tense up. I'm in no position to fight off two more of them. Especially not Ares.
"They aren't here." says the boy. "I've checked."
Another parachute flies down from the sky and lands in my lap. When I open it, there is a note on top.
Thank you for taking care of my baby.
I'd never seen her so alive.
Win Lorena.
-A. Biver
In the capsule is a pill labeled bone healer. I set it aside and stare at what's also in the box. A crown made out of flowers lies there. It's colorful, with pink, yellows, and oranges. They're exotic, a lot like the flowers that tried to kill us the other day, just don't look deadly.
I place the crown on top of Thorn's head. I close her eyes shut as I begin to cry again. The boy from 6 grabs my hand, and I hold on to it for dear life.
"It's almost as if she's sleeping." he says.
I lean down and kiss her on her forehead. "Thank you." I say.
The boy from 6 helps me up and I grab the pill and pop it in my mouth. I begin to waddle out away from the scene of the deaths, but eventually my ankle begins to feel better and I'm walking normally.
"Rehan." he says after a long silence of us just walking.
"Lorena." I say
We turn and watch as the hovercrafts put out the fire in the treehouse and lift out the girl from 1. Then we watch as that same hovercraft lifts up Thorn.
Peace be with you. I think to myself as tears begin to well up in my eyes again.
But tell me, did you sail across the sun?
Did you make it to the Milky Way
To see the lights all faded
And that heaven is overrated?
Castor Arondite, 18
District 1 Male
That was the fourth cannon today. What the hell happened during the third day that everyone has lost their shit and decided to die on us? Not that I'm complaining. Four more dead? Not a problem. One more step for me to Victor.
All these idiots think I'm just some high dumbass, when in reality, I'm not high all the time. Though, I do feel the need to let them think I'm a dumbass. By allowing them to underestimate me, I am given the perfect opportunity to strike when they least expect it.
"The sun is setting. We'll know who is left soon." says Leif as he stares at me as if reading my mind. "I don't think it was one of us. It's awfully early for careers to be dying out."
He gives me a soft smile, and I can't help but feel a little bit uneasy. Kid is batshit crazy. He goes from these really intense moments of depression, to excitement as he makes a kill, and then to total and utterly plain as hell Jane. Like who is this kid? They should have a psych test to get into the damn games.
We hear footsteps coming at us fast, and we all brace ourselves for a fight. To our relief we see Payne and Neptune running towards us from the jungle portal. How'd they end up over there? Where is Dior and Cascade? I instantly get a little worried when I see Dior isn't with them.
No, it's not that I care about her, but she was from home. Sure, she was all the parts I hated, but it was something. I watch as the two slow their approach and both sink to the ground. They look like they've been running for a long time, and I don't doubt they've experienced some hardships along the way.
"Where is everyone else?" we ask as we approach them. They are breathing heavy and Payne is lying face first in the ground, not answering. Ares looks up at us, and begins to try to explain what happened.
"Cascade...dead...Dior...not sure." he says in between breaths.
Neptune falls back and eyes are wide. He puts his hand over his mouth, and begins to walk back towards the cornucopia.
"What do you mean Dior not sure?" I ask trying to ignore the fact that it kind of rhymed.
"She...she was fighting with the girl from District 12. She had a flamethrower that I'm assuming was going to be given to us because it was sent to the treehouse we were in. She got her hands on it first because she sucker punched me. I can't wait to kill that bitch." says Payne as she stares at me. "Dior killed the girl from 11, and then the bitch from 12 went crazy. Like she cut her hair off when Dior grabbed it."
Damn, it doesn't sound like Dior got out of that one.
The anthem appears in the sky, and the seal of Panem is plastered across the entirety of the arena. President Bryley Featherly appears on the screen though instead of the pictures of the fallen.
"Hello Tributes," he says as he smiles lightly into the camera. "I would like to congratulate you for making it this far in the games. The top 11 is nothing to be ashamed of. Let us take a moment to mourn those that we've lost."
He is silent for a moment as he looks down from the camera and towards his desk.
"I'd like to thank you for providing such a fantastic game this year, because of that, I'd like to offer you a chance to visit the feast. This year it will not be at the Cornucopia, however. It will be in Atlantis, which...uhhem. Some of you are already accustomed with." he says with a sarcastic tone. "For those who don't follow the beach to the underwater bridge, and jump on in. The feast is tomorrow at noon. Now, join with me as we honor the fallen."
The Fallen
Appears as we watch the screen change from the President to the typical programming in the arena. Seeing the face of our dead peers. I have never been praying more to not see Dior's face light up the sky, but sure enough.
Dior Oberlin, District 1
Cascade Waters, District 4
Skyler Black, District 6
Thorn Biver, District 11
President Featherly appears on the screen again. This time with Katherine Farrow and her-soon to-be-husband.
"Tributes, don't lose hope. This is the most important part of the games." she says as the seal reappears and the anthem plays.
We all sit in silence as we watch the fire that's burning at the cornucopia. Payne finally gets up from the spot she's been laying in and walks over to the packs and grabs one. She looks at Ares as she is walking and ask him, "Are you coming?"
"Wait where are you going?" I ask.
"I think we should split up." she says as he turns and continues to walk. "No need for a bloodbath."
Ares gets up and follows her out of the main opening, and into the beach portal. Just like that the mighty career alliance becomes 3.
What the hell just actually happened. I was writing, and then for whatever reason my whole brain was like.. "Yeah Caleb. Kill them." so I did. Now I'm a mess emotional and physically. My mom keeps asking what's wrong.
Anyways, if I killed your tribute...I'm so sorry.
Eulogies
14th Place: Skyler Black, Killed by suicide: I didn't understand the hate on Skyler. She was an interesting tribute, and I didn't see her as OP at all. I mean, I know you guys are entitled to your opinions. I just feel y'all didn't give her a chance. Rebekah, thanks for submitting. I'm sorry she died. I thought she would have a couple of more chapters...but it was the right time.
13th Place: Thorn Biver, Killed by Dior Oberlin: ABBY MY SWEET BABY ANGEL FACE. I KNOW THAT THIS IS HARD AND I'M SO SO SORRY. I wasn't supposed to kill Thorn here, but it seemed like the proper place for it to happen once the scene was set. I'm sorry she'd dead. I know you really liked her. I really liked her. She was never a Victor though. You still have Clyde bb.
12th Place: Dior Oberlin, killed by Lorena Raulins: Nellie, I'm sorry she had to die. I'm sorry I killed her here. She was supposed to be 10th. I was just writing, and then the flow happened, and I couldn't explain it other than it just felt right. Dior was so fun to write. She was freaking flawless. She will forever be one of my favorites I've had the pleasure of writing for...betch ;)
Alliance Update
Kind of scary for a 13 year old tbh-Sylvia
Oh wow I lowkey ship it-Payne/Ares
The Frat House: Castor/Leif/Neptune
Oh-man-one-of-us-just-died-what-the-hell: Tora/Remi/Declan
I just felt it tbh: Rehan/Lorena
We have our Top 11. Who will die next? Sad to see someone go? Shocked? It's a long road to the top, huh? Give me your predictions in the reviews.
Keep it classy,
Caleb
