(Thanks to Percival-Jones for the review. Thought I'd let you know, we're reaching the end. Perhaps two or three chapters left? Who knows... read on!

Candice let out a large yawn as she stretched and woke up. Brushing some hair out of her eyes, she looked over to Brittany who was sitting with her leg still stretched out comfortably.

"Awake already?" Brittany questioned. "Can't have been more than three hours."

"Guess being in a death game gives you bad nightmares." Candice said with a grin.

"You had bad nightmares?"

"Nah. Just saying is all." Candice stifled another yawn and leant back. "Do you reckon any more have died?"

"I heard a gunshot a while ago." Brittany answered. "Otherwise, not really. For all we know it could only be us two."

"Heh..." Candice smiled, before suddenly burst out laughing.

"What is it?" Brittany looked slightly alarmed.

"It's just that... that phrase... it brings back memories."

"Memories?"

Candice smile grew broader. "Yeah... good memories..."

XXX

"For all we know it could only be us two."

Candice, 13, giggled despite herself. She looked over to her father who was crouched next to her. Kris Laboy was best described as ruggedly handsome. His jaw was covered in stubble and his hair hung wild over his head, yet his gleaming eyes gave away intelligence, experience and charm. His hands were rugged and tough from working the ropes on the boats, while his arms bulged from years of work.

"Ssh, ssh..." Kris put a finger on Candice's lips. "You might attract monsters."

"Monsters?" Candice whispered back. "I thought you said it was only us two."

"Ahh, only us two humans, who knows what lies out there in the wilderness. Perhaps the Jelly Bear, who's sweet smell attracts humans only for him to absorb their very flesh. Or maybe the Tickle Wolf. The first minute it's funny, the next you're pleading for mercy and the next... let's say you will never see the light of day." Kris grinned a bright white smile. "However... the most deadly and most intriguing monster of them all is out to kill me personally. The fearsome and unrivalled Ten-Eyed Carp. You see, I went out to sea a while back and caught myself a lovely fish. It turned out this fish was the baby of this Carp, and from that day on all ten eyes and sharp teeth were intent on killing me."

Candice looked positively scared.

"Don't be scared Can-Can." Kris grinned."Daddy's here to save you from the nasty monsters. I'll wrestle the carp to the ground, I'll eat the very jelly of the jelly bear, and more importantly... I'll tickle the wolf until it pleads for mercy... much... like... you!" Kris lunged at Candice and started tickling her, causing Candice to erupt into laughter and roll around the floor, pleading for mercy.

XXX

You're dad sounds like a pretty cool guy." Brittany said, smiling despite herself.

"Huh? 'Pretty cool'? That's an understatement. He was the best man you could ever hope for. Funny to cheer you up, serious to protect you... caring like any father should. I loved him... I still do. I was his Can-Can, it was a world I could escape to, away from my mother and away from the 'real world." Candice explained.

"But why were your dad and mum divorced?"

"Oh, they were together. Just my dad never agreed to sign the divorce terms. My mother thought he was a 'bad influence' on me. Make me grow up to be, god forbid, a fisherman." Candice rolled her eyes. "That was my mother. The males should do the hunting and the women do the cleaning. She wanted to make me clean this, clean that, scrub the floor, wash the windows, it got on my damn nerves!"

"You speak as if... he's gone..." Brittany said carefully.

Candice frowned. "I promised I'd tell you. So I will. You see, me and my dad had been arranging secretly a weekend on his boat. I had persuaded my mother that I was sleeping over a friend's house for the weekend, and it was all set out. We were ready in the morning..."

XXX

"Look at that sea... so calm... so mysterious..." Kris sighed and patted Candice on the head, causing her to smile. "This'll be an amazing weekend if I do say so myself."

"Yep!" Candice agreed.

"Up you go." Kris grunted as he lifted Candice up onto the fishing boat. It was a typical boat, with crane's to use nets at the back, one room under deck which would be the bedrooms and the cabin up top. It was called: The Fortuna.

"There he is! There's the man who kidnapped my daughter!"

"Stay still honey." Kris whispered to Candice, pushing her carefully down, before he slowly turned around. He was faced with three machine guns armed by Peacekeepers, with Angela, his wife, behind them pointing a finger.

XXX

"This was in the last years of President Snow's leadership." Candice said, rubbing her eyes. "He had placed much more security on the main sources of income, District 4 being one of them. The perimeter of the District was surrounded by electric fences, there were guard towers... it was crazy. Anyway, my dad-"

"You don't have to continue." Brittany said softly. "If it hurts, you don't have to explain."

"No... I-I want to. It feels good to let someone know. Hell, let the whole of the Capitol know. In fact, I'm hoping my mother is watching right now back home."

XXX

"What is this, Angela? Kris asked.

"Put your hands up!" One of the Peacekeeper's said, stomping over and hitting Kris in the chest with the butt of his rifle. "You two, search the boat for the child."

"Why?" Kris questioned, moving his hands above his head. "You'll find her on the deck, likely feeling betrayed that her mother is doing this. We were going on a weekend out is all."

"Do you know this man, ma'am?" The keeper asked, turning to Angela.

"A one night stand. If you ask me, he just wants revenge and have the child he was never there for!"

"I see." Kris nodded calmly.

"We found black-market weapons and plans to disrupt the Capitol below deck..."

"What?" The Peacekeeper exclaimed at the same time as Kris. "Bring them here now."

As the other Peacekeeper approached, Kris looked over to Angela and saw her smirking. He closed his eyes and whispered to himself, "I'm sorry Candice..."

"No doubt about it." The Peacekeeper said. "You're name is on these documents, as well as other info pertaining to this ship and your home. There is no doubt of ill intent towards the Capitol. As decreed by the Head-Peacekeeper Grey Kayhorn, the punishment for treason is on-the-spot execution."

"Dad!" Candice exclaimed, trying to run towards her father. However the last Peacekeeper was holding her back. "That's a lie! Dad would never... he wouldn't..."

"Be quiet Candice." Kris said softly, yet loud enough to cause Candice to stop speaking.

"Any last words Kris Leboy?"

"Yes. If I may please address my daughter. Candice, please realize that what happened here today happened for a reason. Don't let that same reason cause you to make bad decisions."

With that, Candice watched with teary eyes as the trigger of the gun was pressed.

XXX

"My god..." Brittany whispered.

"My dad..." Candice sniffed, wiping her eyes again. "My dad died because he was framed by my mother. I saw her smile, I saw her realize that she had made this happen. She was glad as well! That's why I hate her. She didn't show any regret, or sadness, only happiness that she had caused the death of the most important man in my life! The 'reason' my dad was talking about was revenge. My mother had her 'revenge' from her foolish notion that he kidnapped me... he didn't want me to make the same mistake. I upheld his wish. I was going to go into the Games anyway. I was going to win, not for revenge, but for justice. I was going to place my mother in prison and make her realize the errors of her ways. Because that is the right thing to do for everyone, not because she killed my dad."

"Wow..." Brittany whispered. "You said 'was' though? You were going to win?"

"Aye... my father was my only friend. After his death I couldn't bring myself to trust anyone, lest they die for some godforsaken reason. Funny though... on the likely fields of my death I found an unlikely friend. Brittany... I don't know why, and I cannot explain... but you made me feel better inside. You are my friend... and I couldn't have asked for anymore. Now it seems I don't want to win if you live."

It was then that a sharp piece of glass was stabbed straight into the side of Brittany's neck. Blood immediately started spurting in torrents as Candice looked on dumbly.

"Finally found you. Touching story and all. But I'm afraid that you are going to die here." Ricardo AKA Boy #14 smirked. "Glad someone smashed a glass bottle around here."

Candice blinked as Ricardo roughly shoved Brittany to the side. "Brittany...?"

Brittany didn't respond. Her eyes were already dim and glazed over.

"No... no this isn't right... why... my friend... I-I... I thought that I could make another friend... I thought..." Candice looked completely shocked, her smooth skin pale. All her emotions seemed to leave her. "We talked... w-we laughed... and... she's... gone?" Candice's chest started rising and falling more rapidly. "She's... gone? She's gone!"

Ricardo sensed something bad was approaching and stepped back. That wasn't enough to prevent Candice from tackling him to the ground. She was now too enraged for words, tears falling down her cheeks and her hair all over the place.

Ricardo raised his only arm to defend his face, but Candice had picked up the already bloody glass shard (Which once belonged to the bottle of Marvin Melancon) and stabbed it hard into Ricardo's arm. Ricardo screamed in pain as the rough glass cut through skin and muscle.

"You fucking bitch..." Ricardo growled but Candice was slashing fast and wild. Not stabbing into him, but slashing deep wounds across his chest, stomach and arm. Soon blood drenched both his and Candice's chests as she continued to cut him in a flurry.

'Stop that!' Ricardo found himself saying, though his voice didn't come out. 'This isn't right. I am meant to prove that I can be in the military without an arm. Why can't I defend? I should be able to... I should...'

Ricardo screamed loudly as the glass cut from left ear down to the right side of his lip, so deep it scratched to bone. Another slash across the face went over both his eyes, blinding him.

'No... I'm meant to prove myself... prove that I can use one arm to achieve goals... to achieve military perfection... I was in the military! That damn bomb blew my arm off and they sent me home! I could still fight! I could still shoot! Damn them to goddamn he-"

The next slash entered his throat and severed practically every important vein and artery. The glass snapped in half as it sliced through, yet Candice didn't stop.

Even after the life had faded from Ricardo and even as her palms cut open from the glass, Candice continuing slashing and slashing until she was out of breath.

Finally, covered in a layer of crimson blood, Candice stopped. Breathing hard, she dropped the glass and backed away with wide eyes. It seemed she couldn't draw her gaze away from Ricardo's corpse, but in the end she managed to turn away. Straight into the death gaze of Brittany. Candice let out a moan of sadness and pain, falling to her knees and letting tears mix with her blood as pure misery engulfed her.

(I think this was one of my best chapters. I enjoyed it thoroughly.

With that, please give a hand for our four finalists – Candice Laboy, Andrea, Gretchen and lsat but not least, Damien/Alexander/Jeremy Magruder! Oh... I'm excited! Who will win? Will Candice perform Justice, will Andrea and Eliza rise up to the top, or will Gretchen finally earn the respect of her father? Finally, can Jeremy prove to be the top dog and top boy in the competition? Each has a reason, each has a history, and each has an equal chance to win.

With that, till next time!