Day 9:

Metsey Jazgo, District 11 POV:

Spyglys and I had been looking around the underground section of the pyramid, looking for any tribute to kill. Whilst we walked, Spyglys twirled his kama in hand in a jaded fashion whilst I threw out my hands, watching the regal violet energy shower out of my necklace. At first the energy that was projected from the necklace came out as a blue-ish tinge, but now a more regal looking purple had spilt out of it. I didn't even have to think about how much I loved something before I used the gem; with a simple wave of my hand I could activate the most powerful shields.

Spyglys envied me, I saw the look in his eyes whenever I used the shields. Even now as I was guided on a hovering sheild Spyglys looked tempted to kill me for the gifts I had. He had no chance- I was too powerful for him, and he was tied to me by District loyalty. When we continued hovering down the corridors I could hear hushed voices that made me stop in my tracks. The shield underneath me faded into nothing and I felt myself crash to the ground.

"Did you hear that noise?" A male voice asked.

"I dunno..." A female one replied. "Probably the ghost of dead tributes out to kill us."

The sound of footsteps had stopped. The boy laughed, though it was shaky. "You're giving Gamemakers a load of ideas Selena. We really don't want a group of ghosts or zombies chasing us. In fact, the most embarassing thing would be if there were a group of dead people who were once alive- who we once knew- chasing after us. That's really creepy."

"Metsey," Spyglys gripped my shoulder. He hands clamped on my shoulders with the utmost strength and I winced under his grip. "We need to get out of here."

"We can kill them both," I bit back more insults and rummaged for the knife in my jacket. With a sharp flourish the knife was out. A wide grin crossed my face and I turned Spyglys, who seemed unnaturally pale and his eyes had widened with fear. I looked puzzled for a second. "What's up with you?"

"You can't kill the dead," he muttered with trepidation. I looked at the direction of his gaze and saw two bodies- two corpses. One was a short boy with smooth hair that was soaked, water dripped from it and coated his pale face and his lifeless brown eyes. The boy dragged himself through the corridor with blood squirting from his stomach. Guilt and fear both hit me, and I felt a scream get blocked in my throat. Behind him was a darker looking boy with blood smothering his chest. The Twelve boy- the one Spyglys killed. And they both wanted to kill us.

As they continued crawling down the corridor I assembled a shield right in front of me and Spyglys. The dead boys walked into it and tumbled down, as if they had hit a brick wall. Spyglys stumbled back, taken by shock. I got out my knife and as soon as my shield had dissapeared I flung it towards Ellis' temple- planning to murder the boy who I was supposed to have murdered days ago. The dead boy stumbled back as the knife pierced his head, but he ultimately continued moving. He wasn't fazed in the slightest. I threw my hands out in front of me and a fortress of energy appeared before he could move any closer.

"How long can that hold them for?" Spyglys asked, looking to the Twelve boy pound his fists on the sheild wearily.

"Not long." I said, turning and sprinting away from the mutts behind me. That's all they were- mutts. I tried telling myself that they were only genetic monsters created by the Capitol but a part of me argued that they were tortured souls seeking revenge on the people who murdered them. Spyglys followed behind me, and though he wasn't a slow runner his speed didn't compare to mine.

The zombies wouldn't be able to catch up with us. We were way too fast; I saw the way they dragged themselves down the corridor. They were slow and sluggish. With that in my mind I stopped running and slouched down to rest. Spyglys stopped too and he clung onto the wall for support. An aching stitch seared through my side and I tried to ignore the pain. Compared to a lot of Hunger Games tributes I was lucky, and I hadn't experienced so many injuries. Spyglys had them almost everywhere I looked, his skin was tinged with purplish bruises and some bits of his body had cuts that ran through his skin.

"Are the Gamemakers trying to send victims after their killers?" Spyglys asked whilst trying to regain some of his breath.

"You bet," a familiar voice said. Turning around I could see the heart shaped face of the District Four girl, and her cupid arrow lips eased themselves into a smile. A well crafted double spear was rested in her arms. The Four boy was beside her with a more geniune smile on his bronze face. "We had some after us. I think it's only in this bit... They might be looking for a fight."

I leant up and glanced to the couple from Four. Though I had these powers I just couldn't help but feel a sickening sensation run through my stomach. I had never bumped into a tribute that wanted to kill me. I clung tightly onto the necklace that hung off my neck. I thought of everybody back home who were cheering for me, and instinct told me that I could run into the jaws of death, though they would never be able to swallow me. I had a gift.

"And you're going to do just that, aren't you?" I said courageously.

"You're right," Selena smirked and then did a gesture to Krindle. Krindle's eyes widened and with a powerful throwing movement he sent a spear hurling towards me. I whipped my arms out in front of me, watching as a shield appeared. His spear was knocked back in his direction. He narrowly avoided it and I whipped my hands towards the two in a flinging motion. Immediately the energy had knocked them off their feet. Before I could turn around I could hear Spyglys running away behind me.

This was going to be an interesting game of cat and mouse.

Selena Lennock, District Four POV:

Every bone in my body throbbed, as if I had been pummelled by a truck. Groaning and leaning up, I squinted down the corridor and caught a glimpse of the District Eleven girl dashing around the corner. She was going to pay. I gathered my strength and forced myself to stand up. Krindle was up not long after, and I grabbed my spear.

"We need to get them," I said to him as we began running. I didn't care whether I sounded evil- if I had to be evil to get home, so be it.

When we ran through a corridor I saw the girl helping the boy clamber to his feet and saying something to him. So he had tripped? Good. I was hoping they'd be easier to get. I quickenened my speed, holding my spear and knowing that soon it would pierce flesh and steal a life. It was a morbid thought but every time I drove my spear into somebody's chest I could feel myself grow closer to home in a spiritual sense.

And then the Eleven girl stopped whilst the boy continued running. The cocky smirk on her face filled me with unease. And then when she spread her arms to the side as if she was prepared to perform a swan dive I knew exactly what was going to happen. I felt my breath catch in my lungs as I forced my legs to work faster so that I accelerated past the Eleven girl, whose eyes were growing a striking purple.

Then a powerful purple energy ruptured from her hands, going over Krindle, whose blue eyes widened in terror as the force overpowered him, flinging him back and sending him to the floor. I paused and decided that though the girl had superpowered gems Krindle was capable of fighting his own battles. I glanced to the direction the Eleven boy was running and bound after him.

Soon the boy had turned into the room and I smirked. Great- there was no escape. I loomed into the doorway and looked to the Eleven boy who had what could only be described as a scythe in his hands. So he did have a weapon after all... That didn't mean that he had won yet!

I moved forwards and did some fancy kind of spin as I sent my spear moving towards the boy, attacking him. The boy thrust his weapon towards me, preventing my spear from hitting him. I snarled in frustration as the point of my spear brushed against the blade of his weapon. I heard the boy grunt and I leapt back, jabbing my spear at him once again. He leapt back away from my spear, which rested at his throat.

The way we moved as we attacked each other and how we avoided each other's blows seemed so robotic. It was almost as if we were doing a dance recital- a dramatic one that would end in death. I knew at that moment that only one person was going to leave this room alive.

The Eleven boy whipped his scythe in my direction a couple of times, but I managed to dodge by ducking and moving out of the way. I had to admit that the boy was skilled with the weapon in his hands but his attacks we rusty- he was used to using that scythe as a tool, not a weapon. After the boy had tired I slashed my spear at him and watched as it traced a cut right down his arm. He howled out in pain and released the grip he had on his weapon

When he dropped his weapon I kicked the scythe out of his reach, and as he clambered towards it in an attempt to grab it I swept the spear across his back. The boy cried out as a deep gash had formed on his back and I watched him writhing on the floor. The sight was horible- the blood and the pained cries continued to play in my mind but I raised my spear, ready to strike.

Then the boy crawled out of the way and I felt my spear bounce off the solid ground. The boy quickly leapt up through his pain and swung his fist at me. The force of his punch had made me stumble back back and clutch onto my bleeding nose. I cried out angrily and tried to wipe the gushing blood away. There was an angry cry and in a flash of fury I shoved the Eleven boy to the ground. I stood over him and poised my spear so that I could throw it down onto his chest.

"I'm sorry," I said, though the pain that throbbed through my nose made me want to say otherwise. "I want to go home... And sacrifices have to be made..."

I slammed my spear down only for the Eleven boy to grab the spear with both of his hands. There was a struggle as I tried to bring it down on him, but he was ridiculously strong. I had always expected the Eleven boy to be strong; he was defined by muscle and that punch he packed was powerful, but as he prevented me from slamming a spear into his heart I realised, with trembling hands, that even though he was the one on the floor he was going to overpower me. It was inevitable. And at that very moment he had pushed the spear into my stomach.

The pain was unbearable.

As soon as the spear impaled my stomach I was crippled with agony. The core of the pain had started in my stomach and it spread so that every limb in my body shrieked. And then I found myself physically screaming as the pain sizzled through my body. I stumbled back and fell to the floor, feeling my muscles spasm with the indescribable pain. Through my tear filled eyes I could see the Eleven boy who looked bewildered.

"No. I'm sorry." He muttered as he glanced to the metallic spear handle that travelled through my body.

It was that moment, when I glanced into the inferno of shadows, that I really wished I could rewind time and bend it. I wished I never used that double-sided spear that ultimately killed me. I wished I had my family with me to comfort me into the arms of death. I wished the Hunger Games didn't exist.

But no matter how many fairytales or fantasy novels you read, there were moments you knew wishes never came true.

Krindle Barnes, District Four POV:

Another blast had sent me off my feet and skidding across the floor. The girl stood in the same spot she had stood in when I first tried to attack her. Scoring a strike on an innocent child was enough with my morals dragging me back, but it was much worse with her making forcefields out of thin air. The good thing was that though they hurt like hell they couldn't kill or seriously injure me. That magical gem the girl had been bestowed with was meant to be used defensively, not offensively.

I scrambled to my feet as the girl sent another forcefield at me. I managed to stumble out of the way as the powerful energy exploded into the sand, sending the sand blasting up like an eerie fog. I charged at the Eleven girl with my spear, but once again my attempt was futile. The spearhead scraped against the edge of the new forcefield, and there was a horrible shrill screech, and then my spear snapped clean in two.

The bottom half split and fell to the ground, making the top of the spear look pitiful without the bottom half to accompany it. The forcefield then diminished into nothing and the barrier between me and Metsey stopped. For a second my eyes met Metsey's darker ones. The broken spear I had wasn't capable of being thrown, but it could still stab.

And then I heard an agonised cry fill the air- Selena's cry. All thoughts of killing the girl in front of me were obliterated and replaced with panic and alarm. Before Metsey could react I dashed past her and ran towards the source of the pain.

Not Selena... It couldn't be Selena...

There hadn't been a cannon; there was still hope.

And then I glanced into the first room I found. I stormed into it and came to an abrupt halt when I saw the room. The room was full of emptyness, except for two figures. One was the Eleven boy, who was cautiously picking up his weapon. The second was Selena- my friend- who was lying down on the ground with her eyes wide open with fright, and her spear through her stomach. As I felt my eyes burn with wraith I barely registered my actions and I flung the piece of spear at the Eleven boy, wanting nothing more than to kill him.

As expected the spear just fell to the ground flimsily. The boy took the warning and sprinted from the room, pushing past me harshly. I moved over to Selena and inspected her frail face; she hardly looked recognisable. Her golden skin had paled and her sea-green eyes had dulled so that they barely acknowledged me.

"Krindle," she croaked, managing to see me through the tears.

"Don't worry," I soothed, grabbing the spear and easing it out as painlessly as I could. There was a horrible squelching noise, which was similiar to a plunger being removed from a toilet. Selena cried out as the spear slid out of her. I couldn't even imagine the pain she was in- and the removal of the spear must have been ten times more painful, with the jagged spear edge having to cut through the wound again.

As expected the wound was bad. The spear had been buried right through Selena. The injury was so bad I had to restrain myself from throwing up. The wound rested on Selena's stomach like a tear. If I looked closely enough I could see her pierced innards, and blood and a more clear liquid dribbling out of her stomach. On television the grisly wounds like this looked milder and cinematic, but this was sick. I could make out every little detail from the jagged cuts that ran right through her stomach to the splinters that were buried into her bowels.

"Everythings going to be okay," I lied, trying to use a bandage to stop the bleeding- it was no use. The bandages were soaked through with blood that caked my hands.

"Don't lie," Selena said. She paused and coughed up gloopy blood- that wasn't a good sign. "I know I'm going to die... Tell me the truth."

I paused, and told the harshest truth of my life. "Yes. You're going to die."

Selena leant her head back and tears dripped down her face, washing away the grime and blood they came into contact with. "I'm so scared. I just want my dad..."

"I know," I said, dabbing away at the tears that were forming in my eyes. "It'll all go... The pain, the suffering..."

"I hope so." Selena said, her voice dropping to a whisper. "Promise me you'll try your best Krindle... P-promise you'll fight... Promise you'll see Maximotus and Liane die... They don't deserve to win. They're twisted..."

"I promise."

"So... I... I suppose I'll see you on the other side." Selena gave one last grin, and this time I let the tears escape. I didn't care about looking strong to the audience. I didn't care about my masculinity. I just wished Selena was okay. Selena's eyes slowly closed and her head lolled back in rhythm with a cannon fire. The cannon seemed to knock all the air out of me- it filled me with the reality that my friend was dead, and she wasn't coming back.

I still needed to fight- for the love of my life, Kyliena. For my brother Randu, who I risked my life for. And when I left Selena's body to be taken to rest, I wiped away the tears and tried to keep strong for them. It wasn't all bad, I still had food and a sleeping bag. Though loneliness felt much more painful than hunger or cold...

Poor Selena, and poor Krindle :(

Sorry if this chapter was of poor quality. It was written on my iPhone. I hope it's good because Selena did deserve a big send off.

On a happier note- WHAT? 300 reviews? I'd have never believed it if someone told me. This is far from the most reviewed SYOT I've seen, but it's phenomenal! Thanks all so much! You're all great :) I feel like this fic has really improved my writing skills and recently I'm so attached to it :)

So... Review?

~Toxic

Question: What did you think of Selena?