Game plan; after this update, I will be going on break to do work for school. I still have to read the assigned book (thankfully, less than two hundred pages) and write a paper for it, plus "Journal Reactions" on another book.
Procrastinator? Me? Never!
Chrys Gord, District 11
We were stunned into silence. What could we possibly say? We had slit the throat of what I guess was this girl's ally. Maybe it was one of the mannequin things? That theory was palpably idiotic as the cannon announced that, yes, this was indeed a tribute which you had killed. The blood splattered on my skin was good enough proof of this. You couldn't fake this warmth or stickiness. I spared a millisecond to imagine how the Gamemakers found a basis to compare it against. With years of having metaphorical blood on their hands, I doubted they'd want the real thing on them. Much too messy and barbaric for a Capitolite.
That's us. The barbaric District teens that'd kill fourteen year olds in their sleep.
No, the correct word is "who", not "that". That is used for anything that is not a person.
The girl from District Six, Lauryn, gaped at us. Her wide brown eyes swiveled rapidly about at the occupants in the room, including the dead one gradually leaking out on the cold tile floor, and stared in horror and utter fear. Her eyes shone as she calculated her odds of survival and the tears brimming over proved those chances were bleak. She scrabbled backwards, shrieking in pain as a shard of glass pierced her flesh. Lauryn plucked it out and threw it with all her might in our direction. It hit Zander's chest pathetically and he strode after the young girl. Lauryn's eyes locked on him, identifying Zander as the main concern in our trio. Zander's bloodied hands were trembling and the knife slipped free from his fingers. I scooped up the abandoned frying pan, unsure of what to do with it once I gripped it. The unarmed girl continued to back away until colliding heavily with a table and grunted aloud.
"P-Please!" she begged. "D-d-don't kill me!"
I bit my lip. Her words dug deep, sawing at my nerves. Neve hadn't moved. She remained frozen in her original location, what little color in her face fading to leave a chalk white complexion.
Lauryn climbed to her feet, wavered unsteadily there for a moment, and collapsed to her knees. Blood soaked the section of her clothes that had lain on the flood and the stain was outlined brown where it was drying. Zander, knife in his hand once more, advanced forward. Lauryn crawled backwards, beneath the table, shoving chairs aside in her panic. With a grunt, she bucked her long skinny legs and kicked the single pole giving support to the table. The piece of furniture flew downwards. Zander flinched, blindly sweeping the weapon through the air in a wide arc.
"Shit!" he cursed, pushing the table off his left foot. A ghost of smile met my lips as he hopped on his right leg while lamely attempting to nurse the other in a typical Zander fashion. He tripped and landed on his ass and I would have burst out laughing if the young tribute girl wasn't making a mad dash around the restaurant towards the exit. Neve, watching from the side, pointed in her direction and I split up to corner her. Literally, I split myself into three Chrysanthemums. One jumped over Zander and followed Lauryn's path down an aisle of booths. The next went a separate route to cut her off. I, the original, remained frozen in place.
There was definitely something about my doubles that were different than me. In theory, and even practice, I'd say, they were exact copies of me. They acted like me, contained my memories, and did whatever I wanted them to do. They were me. I didn't know their actions until I reformed with them and gained the small amount of experiences they had witnessed during our departure.
Yet, while I was unable to move, they could run right after the tribute girl. So, most possibly, these duplicates weren't exactly the same.
Lauryn skidded to a stop and grabbed a nearby chair to keep from slipping on the slick floor. Chrys One was running at her with arms extended. Lauryn spun on her heel but stiffened, seeing Chrys Two bringing up the rear. The young tribute snapped her head back and forth between the two, as if her eyes were deceiving her. She glanced over her shoulder at me and cursed beneath her breath as she realized my mutation.
Zander, recovering from his bruised toe, bounded over the tables that were but minor obstacles to him and his athletic body. His hands grew into elongated claws, I observed, and his skin became tougher and thicker.
As a final desperate attempt at escape, she crawled onto a table and stood, preparing to hop to the next. Chrys One reached her first.
My throat went dry. What was she, or better said I, going to do to her? Hold her down until Zander reached them and tore her throat out? Throw her to the floor herself?
And I just stood by gaping, trying to dry my sweaty palms on my skirt.
What happened next was worse than anything I could even imagine.
Chrys One snatched Lauryn's ankle. But upon touching her, the alternate me evaporated. Like that. Blink and you would have missed. She didn't have enough time to even scream. I wasn't even sure what I saw. But one moment, the person who looked exactly like me was standing there.
The next, she was gone, having just decayed into dust and blown away into the air.
I felt like I had been punched in the gut and my energy was cut in half instantaneously. I doubled over, resisting the urge to lie on the ground and fall asleep. My replica was definitely destroyed.
What was this girl capable of?
Zander stopped in place, taken off guard by this. Lauryn was equally as shocked. She didn't take notice of Chrys Two until she was inches away. The girl gasped and kicked at the duplicate. She, too, crumpled to dust. I leaned heavily on a chair, burning through my last ounces of energy. This was why I couldn't "spread myself too thin." It'd easily kill me.
"Neve?" I whispered. Black spots were dancing in my vision. I barely spoke above the storm brewing outside. "What is that girl's mutation?"
Her eyebrows furrowed. It was the last thing you'd ever want on the face of a District Three nerd; an expression of confusion.
"It was unknown," she said softly. "I vaguely remember her saying it was a mistake during…every possible moment she had to speak."
Lauryn stared down at her hands then up at us. She thrust her palms out like she was wielding a knife. "No one move!" Zander glanced over his shoulder at Neve and I. "I said to not move, pretty boy!"
Zander shrugged but his limbs were stiff. He didn't know what to expect. I mean, I didn't know what to expect. I looked sidelong at Neve. Her expression was impassable. Doesn't help me here.
"Hands where I can see them!" Lauryn shrieked. Neve responded immediately. I saw that in the table she stood beside, she had made an imprint of her hand in the surface. Her face was calm but she was as tense as the rest of us. She shot me a look and I quickly followed suit. Zander raised his palms up as well. The knife was tucked in his belt.
"You!" Lauryn shouted, directing her eyes at me. She peeked from the corner of her eyes to the dead tribute still lying there (since we have not cleared out for the body to be collected) on the floor. "Put down the pan." I looked to Neve for guidance. She raised her head a fraction of an inch upwards, then slowly and deliberately down again, giving a small, imperceptible nod. I pressed my lips together stubbornly. The obvious screamed for me to just do what she said. But another part wouldn't allow for me to be scared by a little girl.
Tentatively, I spoke. "And what will you do if I don't?" Zander's jaw tensed and he swiveled about to look at me.
"What are-?"
"Shut up!" Lauryn screeched. A nervous crack developed in her voice and she wiped a stray tear from her cheek. "I'll do what I did to them. Poof!" The last word came out more like a sob. She scowled hard, trying to regain some toughness.
"What exactly is it that you do?" Neve interjected.
The girl's jaw clenched. "How exactly will it help me if I told you?"
"I guess," Neve said, "it'd be imposed as a threat. Your mutation could mean numerous things to me. Off the top of my head, I'd think you'd have the ability to destroy matter. That'd be impossible since it'd be against the Conservation of Mass. This is the fact that matter can neither be destroyed nor created. Let's put this theory aside for the moment. Perhaps you can teleport yourself or other people and objects. It'd explain the sudden disappearance of the duplicates and we can assume they just popped up in some other section of the arena. Seeing as my ally here looks ready to pass out, it'd be wise to say that they are completely gone. So what if you absorb energy and make yourself stronger?"
Lauryn straightened her back and brought herself to full height. Neve's lips puckered. "Seeing as you just did that, you are still weak." Lauryn had dropped her hands to her sides and left them clenched up tight in fists. She looked less scared but more pissed now.
"Listen," she croaked. "I barely know who I am any more. I didn't even know I was a freak until…" Lauryn dropped off the end of the sentence "…until recently. The odds of me surviving are slim right now and that's being optimistic. I'm lucky I lived through the bloodbath. The District Four girl tried to get me to stab my own eye!" She laid her hand on her hip, thinking back to the memory. "No, I'm not going to just give up here. If I'm going down, hell, I'll go down fighting. I'm not just some little thirteen year old girl!" Lauryn bounded over the last two tables and dashed out the doors.
Zander chased after her.
"Wait!" Neve called after them. "Zander!" She followed the duo. I watched my allies go, frowning at the back of Neve's head. She now wanted to take this girl out?
With no other option, and glancing one last time at the mysterious, nameless girl, I ran out into the rain.
Lauryn Rivera, District 6
So there I was, just waking up from some drug induced sleep filled with monstrous creatures that bear a resemblance to my sister, friends back home, and even tributes around the arena, when I watched this muscly dude slice Alix's (or whoever the hell that was) neck open and blood spewed out in every which way. All the strength in me deflated and I was hit hard by the fact that I was merely thirteen in an arena where almost everyone was older than me, the only exception being a psychotic Career. How would I know she's psychotic? No twelve year old who's right in the head would volunteer for this shit.
Anyway, not the best thing to wake up to. Doesn't help when they go after you next. Let's skip ahead where I was, let's see; oh, right, running for my life.
The moment I stepped beyond the threshold of the doors, I was assaulted by icy cold droplets. In seconds, I was soaked to my skin and shivering uncontrollably. Still, I sprinted as fast as my legs could manage. I splashed through puddles, sending a spray of water up and saturating my socks.
This was insane. This was…I couldn't wrap my mind around it.
I was a freak. True, my sister was one after all and so was one of my closest friends. But…how was I to know I was one? I was raised to accept what freaks were. But it's entirely different when you were the undesirable. There weren't exactly blaring signs of my mutation either. I wasn't completely sure how to define my mutation. I stopped other mutations. That made no sense at all.
Lightning lit up the darkening sky, dancing from one looming cloud to the next. A roll of thunder rumbled through the air and set my hair on end. My legs grew tired fast and I was breathless but I forced myself to push ahead. I wasn't entirely sure where I was going just as far away from those older tributes as I can.
Oh, look at that, I need to be more specific on what tributes I was describing because everyone in this stupid arena was older than me!
Over the rumble of thunder, I heard feet running in a rapid rhythm behind me. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't be any faster. My legs were shorter and my stamina was shrinking. My hand flew to my waist, reached inside the small slit, and pulled out the knife tucked in there. Upon waking, I was so confused and stunned and dizzy that I didn't even remember the blade until later.
Like a freight train, a body barreled into me. Two strong arms wrapped around me, lifting me up into the air. I screamed at the top of my lungs like any intelligent little girl was taught when grabbed by a stranger.
This was the Mutant Games, sadly. When strangers grab you, the people watching start to cheer.
I squeezed the blade tight in my hand and wrapped my other hand around the closed fist. I stabbed his wrist, his arm, and whatever else I could. I managed to make the large District Five boy drop me but with my face smashed against the concrete, he stomped his foot into the small of my back and pinned me. Rain fell down in quick torrents, sending the world into a darkening mist. I watched the blood wash off my knife and drip down along the handle.
"Zander, keep her there!"
I drove my nails into the cracks of the sidewalk and hopelessly tried to wriggle away. Twisting my head, I watched my captor pull a knife from his belt. I kicked and punched the ground and bit down on the inside of my cheek so hard I tasted blood.
"Let me go!" I demanded desperately. "Please!" It didn't matter if I could stop mutations. Nothing could stop the blade flying towards my very vulnerable, exposed body parts.
The older boy's face was grave and with shaking hands, rose his blade up. My fists and feet ached and I screamed between my clenched teeth. The knife flew downwards and I closed my eyes, pressing my face to the ground, and hoped it'd go fast and painless.
"Zander!"
I waited. Well, I wanted something painless but I'd like to be certain I was dead. I peeked up and saw a knife pointing down at me. There was a bloodied hand attached to it and an even bloodier arm attached to that. But holding back that arm was two small hands.
"Neve, what are you doing?" Zander shouted.
The girl ignored him. "Put the knife down!" There was a long pause filled by thunder. "I said drop it!" Another one of those pauses came by but it was ended by an exasperated sigh. The heavy weight of metal thumped my shoulder. I gasped and flinched instinctively.
"She tried to kill me!" the boy stated indignantly. "Look at my arms!"
"Frankly, you tried to kill her several times in the past five minutes," she said.
"Neve, please don't make me explain this to you too. Not everyone is supposed to survive. You can't just stand by and flinch at every drop of blood you see. And, frankly to you, I don't want an ally who'll try to stop me."
"Hear me out," she said. "For the sake of…science, will you let me talk to her. I just need to ask her something and…just go with it. Please." Wait a second…was this girl bartering to keep me alive? She…she was. Go random District…girl not from my district! Neve! That's her name!
I restrained the impulse to cheer for Neve. This was my life hanging by the thinnest of threads.
"Only because I'm shocked your voice could be so loud, Three," he said. Zander chuckled. Whoa. The bastard was laughing? He had the audacity to try to kill me and he just laughs afterwards like nothing ever happened? "Hey, Three, Neve…it makes Threve. I'm gonna start calling you that." The foot left my back but I stayed on the ground, watching him walk under the cover of a tree next to the tanned District Eleven girl. Her name was something like a flower but really long which slipped my mind. The gears in my head were too frozen to move. Hell, I wrapped my arms around my knees and laid in the fetal position.
"You have three minutes, Threve," he called.
Three minutes or what?
The other girl, closer to my size but still older by a decent margin of years, kneeled down beside me and sat me up. Her face was thin and her nose small. Her eyes were normal sized but compared to the rest of features, they seemed huge. Nevertheless, I wanted to hug this girl if not for my arms being frozen to my legs. Instead, I showed my gratitude by falling sideways onto her shoulder. She helped me up once again, hauling me over to a spot of grass that was slightly protected from rain, and ducked her head to meet my eye level.
"The District Four girl," she said. "She tried to have you stab yourself?"
"Yeah," I replied. "At least, it seemed that's what she was going for." She was wondering about this? What was going on in this chick's head? Considering she saved my life, I didn't think too deeply. Don't know, don't care. "She's that weird voodoo, mind controller chick." I pressed the back of my hand to my forehead and wiggled my fingers. It was my variation of the District Four girl's mutation.
"Not quite mind control…body control," Neve said. "You're aware of what you're doing and that you shouldn't be doing it; you just have no control of it. But she couldn't do it on you. You stopped her?"
"Yeah. I spit in her eye. It really pissed her off." I sighed. "Look, it's more than that. It's so much more. Mutations and powers have no effect on me. I can stop them." She narrowed her eyes while processing this. The hamster in her head was running a mile a minute and I wondered momentarily what her mutation was. There were twenty six of us; I wasn't going to remember everyone. I was certain there were no mind readers….
"Wait," I said. Lightning lit up her face and the rumbling thunder caused us both to flinch. "Aren't you the chick who can blow shit up with her mind?"
"Yes," she stated simply. She rose to her feet and helped me to mine. "That's why Chrys's duplicates vanished?"
"Uh, I guess, if you're talking about," I pointed over my shoulder, "her."
Neve nodded. "Yes." She examined me closely, a little too close for comfort. A small smile formed on her lips and she patted my shoulder gently. "Lauryn, right?"
"Uh, yup." No shit, your name was Lauryn. I wanted to face palm myself for the fact that I hesitated. I made my best efforts to smile back. I bit my lip, shaking my head. "Why…why didn't you just let him kill me?"
Neve didn't skip a beat. "I've seen too much death today. Death I could have prevented. I thought…maybe I could just stop it once. Maybe I'll feel some fulfillment in me." She shrugged. "I've never been too good at playing games."
Impulsively, I dove in and hugged Neve. She stiffened but awkwardly hugged back, stroking the back of my neck.
Fingers drove into my neck. I was abruptly shoved to the side, thrust behind Neve as she acted as some pathetic shield.
"I told you to let her go. She's thirteen for god's sake," Neve said, steadily. "We've already killed someone already. We watched Leon die. Don't you think that's enough?"
"Neve," Zander said. His voice was frustrated but desperate. "Only one of us gets to live. One. Me, personally, I like living. I know you want to go home as much as I do. I have a family. I volunteered in my brother's place to protect him. I'd do anything to protect my brothers and my dad, any of the people I care about. This girl knows she's a goner. She must have known it the moment her name was reaped."
"So you're telling me," Neve said, the spite clearly evident in her tone, "that we'd be doing her a favor by killing her?"
He threw his hands up. "Basically." He gritted his teeth, seeming to amend that. "I'm just playing the game. Think logically. This is what they want us to do. They want us to play the Games. Do you think I'm enjoying this? I don't like killing, surprising or not. I hate this. I hate being here. But the only way for any of us to go home is to do this." His voice shook. "I'm sorry."
I glanced behind him to see how the Flower chick was taking this. And I saw she wasn't there.
I spun around but an arm enfolded me in a tight grip. Cold metal pressed to my neck but my skin was suddenly warm. I sucked in air and choked on my blood as my neck spewed. Blood was everywhere and I grabbed my throat, my fingers slipping through the flesh. I crumpled to the ground and saw the figure towering over me. Her face was hidden in the mist of the rain but her knife glistened with the raindrops. Lightning flashed across the sky and I instinctively screamed, only managing out a sickening gurgling sound.
Black dots appeared in my vision, clumping together until there was nothing left.
Foe Sterling, District 2
"How many deaths is that now?" Bree asked. She appeared from through the back door, Santiago close behind. They looked like classic kids next door types, sporty clothes, girly skirt, if not for the deadly weapons in their hands. By Bree's gruff tone of voice and tense features, none of the kills I've heard since their departure were caused by them. We were horrible Careers. We haven't gotten any kills since coming across that unconscious kid. We had to trip over him to find him.
We were supposed to be honorable and glorified killing machines.
"Five deaths total for the day," Lupe called. "Brings us to fifteen people dead and only four of them caused by you." His words weren't totally clear but we got the gist of it. At the current moment, he was gagged and bound to a chair. Santiago moved it to the center of the room (the house was designed where there was a large space where the different major rooms of the house, such as the kitchen, dining room, and living room, converged) to keep him in plain sight and I had been in charge of babysitting him for the past hour or so. He kept me busy with some card tricks that were pretty good, considering his hands were tied behind his back. Bree, in a fit of annoyance, ripped the fabric free to hear him clearly. "Oh, wait; make that six if you include my own contributions."
I sat before the television, watching the Capitol seal as the anthem played. The death toll was shown before (I nearly skewered the television when it randomly turned on). I anxiously gnawed on my nail as Bree and Santiago dried themselves off.
"Anyone significant?" Santiago asked.
I crossed my arms, turning to them. Both District Four tributes froze. "Balthizar," I stated.
Santiago's eyebrows shot up. Bree snorted derisively. "Any ideas how?" she asked.
"Hell if I know." I collapsed onto the sofa. Bree moved over to the fire place and began warming her hands. Santiago wrung his shirt out over the sink.
"Alice?"
"Still alive," I stated. "She must be on her own somewhere."
Santiago shook his head. After he nearly blew his casket earlier…there's been this unsettling edginess in the air. Extra looks have been exchanged and we've held our weapons closer to us. Everyone except Lupe. He's as…Lupe as ever.
"The boy from Three and Nine and girl from Six are gone too. Oh, and that girl from Ten who blows shit up."
"That may explain the explosions we saw," Santiago said. "The girl had no self-control whatsoever with her mutations." He grabbed a blanket I had left folded on the kitchen counter and draped it across his shoulders. He grabbed a snack pack, instantly tore it open, and began eating what was inside. Sandy ran his fingers through his hair, frowning in thought. What was going on in that pretty head of his?
"Hey guys, just wondering," Lupe said. He hopped around the chair to face us. "Why are you keeping me alive again?"
To help us get to Balthy and Alice Lynn, I thought. I sucked in a breath to say this but realized how stupid I'd sound. Balthy was dead and who knew what state of mind Alice was in right now. With Balthy not exactly there protecting her, we'd have to use different means of killing her.
"Why are we keeping him alive, Bree?" I asked. "Since it seemed to be your idea."
The girl twisted around to look at me. "You guys went along with it."
Sandy's hand tightened on the hilt of his sword. "The only reason you dragged him around was because you knew we were planning to kill you and thought it'd be a quick get out of death free card."
"Well, Sandy," Bree said amiably. "You're not as ignorant as you look." She squeezed water from her hair, tossing it back over her shoulder. "He's still plenty of use. He has more kills than you!"
That hit a nerve in Santiago in the way nerves are hit in Sandy that you don't actually know a nerve was struck but still do. Dammit, I'm starting to sound like Balthy. "I'd easily have as many kills if I didn't stop myself from slitting that pretty little throat of yours." He didn't say it in a threatening manner, more like it was everyday chitchat. He could've as easily said "Oh, and while you're out, can you get a gallon of milk?"
"Why thank you, Sandy," Bree said cheekily. "My neck is quite beautiful, if I do say so myself."
"Here we go again," I muttered. I leaned back on the couch, watching as Bree twirled the trident in her hands and Santiago edged closer and closer to pulling his sword from the scabbard. Bree had to verbally abuse everyone who just so happened to cross her path.
"We should just slit his throat now, Bree," Santiago was saying. Cool, calm, collected Sandy, better on his feet than the angry, intimidating one. "Honestly, I think me and Foe are over wanting to kill you. I've had plenty of opportunities to kill you and you've had opportunities to kill me."
"Sandy, I find him entertaining," Bree complained. "Can't we keep him a little longer?"
"I second that notion," Lupe murmured into my ear. I raised my eyebrows at him. He sat neatly with his back straight on the couch, offering me a warm mug. I took it and sipped at the contents.
…What the hell…?
As one would spit out the contents of their drink when something shocked them, I blew fire out.
I tensed, standing up to see his bindings were left lying about his chair. My head snapped back to the boy sitting beside me. He waved kindly, folding his heads in his lap.
"How'd you-?" Santiago said, distracted from his conversation/argument.
"Do what?" Lupe said. He looked to his chair. "Oh, right, this. Well, as I've told Foe, seeing as everyone is probably cranky and tired and moody, now is the time to keep things interesting."
"You said those knots were secure!" Bree accused Sandy. The boy rolled his eyes.
"Yes, they were. I'm from District Four! I can tie a sufficient knot."
Lupe shook his head, clearing his throat. I blinked, mystified. How'd he end up on the kitchen counter? You'd have to cross the room to get there! Yet, there he was, perched on the edge with his legs dangling off. "Can we please stop all the arguing? It's kind of killing my moment."
Bree leapt to her feet, wielding her trident. "We'll kill him as long as I get to do it."
"Let's decide that when I get my sword through him," Santiago hissed menacingly. He lost his good boy act and was now full blown killer.
Lupe snatched another folded blanket and stood up on the counter. He ducked his head to keep from slamming it against the ceiling. "Now, on the count of three, I will magically disappear!" He brought the sheet up over his head to cover him from top to bottom. "One, two-"
"Stop messing around, dumbass!" Bree shouted. She sprinted forward and stabbed through the blanket, overshooting and smashing into the counter as there was no body to stop her. The sheet fluttered to the ground, not a trace of red anywhere to mark where Lupe had stood.
I propped myself in a fighting position, shuffling around to find where the District Eleven tribute had gone. He waved from the couch, causing me to jerk back in shock. Lupe grinned devilishly, diving behind the sofa. I blew fire at the thing, blowing and burning until the whole thing was ablaze.
"Hey!" Sandy shouted. The boy was next to the fire place, watching the three of us while stroking his chin.
"This house is probably going to burn down now," he stated. "You should probably leave." He tossed his a card into the flames and the thing burst suddenly.
Smoke swirled about the room. Peeking through the haze, I saw that the tall, freckle faced boy was gone. Naturally breathing smoke better than most people, I blindly stumbled through the increasing smoke and found a wrist to grab onto. The strength that gripped back proved it was Santiago.
"We need to leave," he coughed from behind his shirt.
"You don't say," I snapped. Balling up his sleeve in my hand, I hauled him along, squinting in an effort to try to find the exit. The flames devoured the house at an unnatural speed, both from the fireplace and the couch. Santiago latched his hand onto my shoulder, keeping close to me.
Suddenly, he froze. I tried yanking him forward but he wouldn't budge at all. "What are you doing?" I shouted. He coughed and darted his eyes from side to side. His neck muscles tensed, like it was cramped in the same position.
"I can't move," he said. His eyes darkened over. "Bree!" He coughed more, unable to cover his mouth as his arm was frozen to his side.
Suddenly, Bree popped up beside me, jabbing me in the side with her trident. It was hard enough to break the skin but not lethal. She smirked at me.
"Found you guys!" she exclaimed. "Okay, let's not leave Sandy in the flames to die." With a flick of her wrist, Santiago squeezed my shoulder, able to move freely.
We fled the house, running out into the storm outside. The windows that were still intact gave out, shattering across the lawns. We sprinted a fair distance away and watched the rain dampen the fire as it climbed to the roof.
Bree threw her head back and let the rain pour down on her. Santiago watched the house burn, the light dancing in his eyes and throwing shadows across his face in strange ways.
I coughed. And coughed again. I couldn't breathe. I began gagging and doubled over. Whatever was stuck in my throat came up and I spat it into my hands.
Slowly, I unfolded the white little rectangle, one fold, two folds….
I gaped at the card in my hands. This…was…inside me. How did the bastard manage that?
I glared at the joker. Then, I ripped it in half. Then ripped the halves in half. And ripped those halves, which I guess you'd consider quarters until there was nothing but little flecks of paper. I watched the papers flutter to the ground and, promptly, they were washed away by the rain.
I may or may not have gotten that last trick from a TV show.
Alice Lynn Wonderland, District One
Balthizar Demarkos, District One (Death by curiosity of Annabelle's lights)
Foe Sterling, District Two –(Bree, Sandy)
Shale Van Newhouse, District Two (hammer to the temple from Brandy)
Neve Hadron, District Three- (Zander, Chrys)
Leon Cabler, District Three (bludgeoned to death by Brandy's hammer)
Bree Maysee, District Four –(Foe, Sandy)
Santiago "Sandy" Aquitaine, District Four –(Foe, Bree)
Brandy Harris, District Five
Zander De La Fuente, District Five -(Chrys, Neve)
Lauryn Rivera, District Six(Throat slit by Chrys)
Cameron Wynn, District Six (Blown up by Annabelle's lights)
Silvia Arbres, District Seven (axed by Cede)
Cede Demeter, District Seven (stabbed by Lupe)
Heather Aurum, District Eight (Stabbed with trident by Bree)
Brodric "Bro" Loveless, District Eight (stabbed by Xavier's ninja star and Lupe's blade)
Poise Adriona, District Nine (Blown up by Annabelle's lights)
Alix Estelle, District Nine(Throat slit by Zander)
Annabelle Hallestar, District Ten (Head bashed in by Alice Lynn's troll)
Hydran Ash, District Ten (killed by Santiago)
Chrysanthemum "Chrys" Gord, District Eleven –(Zander, Neve)
Lupe Ismene, District Eleven
Avara Zenia, District Twelve
Robin/Damion Garven, District Twelve
Chelsey Skyeren, District Thirteen (Burned and stabbed by Foe)
Xavier Drascal, District Thirteen (Stabbed by Bree)