Heartless Monsters
District 10 – Ivy Caverly(12)
The rope feels natural in my hands. I twirl it around in between my fingers. My watch started around an hour ago and it is still dark, I think that the sun will start to rise any second now, so at least I can see what is happening around me. It will also make me feel more comfortable.
I don't like being on watch on my own, It makes me nervous.
Just stand up Ivy and move around, that's all you have to do. Nothing bad is going to happen. The Games have been kind to you so far and that is not going to change. I stand up and pace in circles, allowing the lasso to lay in my hands. Every now and then I practice with it, twirling it around and aiming at invisible objects. I was actually pretty good back home. That was my job growing up, bringing down the calves, working hard. I've tried to stay fairly quiet these Games and I think it has worked, because at the moment I have a lot of people garnering for my loyalty, which can only be a good thing right? I know I probably shouldn't, but I can actually picture getting home and seeing my family.
Tears start falling from my eyes as I continue to pace and practice with my lasso. It's amazing that I actually haven't cried since being here. We breed them strong in District 10, but it helps that I've had Lia with me the whole time, keeping me somewhat sane and knowing that us young ones can still do this. But I can see it in her now, her lethargy, she has started struggling to stand and the lack of adequate food, water and rest has taken its toll. We started off OK, but food has become scarcer the further in to the Games we go. It makes me feel as though there is not going to be much time left.
The plan for Ivy now is to continue to lay low and keep working my way up the totem pole. Eliminate a few people at a time until there is only 3 left. Hopefully at that point with my lasso and knife skills I can round up the rest of them and put them down before they can do the same to me. Apart from Lia. But Ash has told me he would take care of her anyway, and I hope he does. I can't bear to think about looking her in the eyes and stabbing her the guts, when she has brought me so far.
Tap, tap, tap, TAP, Boom, Boom, Boom BOOM, BOOM.
What's that? I hear noises coming from behind me. Luckily being in an open plain with a fire, I can see what it is quite clearly as soon as I turn around. Lanius Marais – District 2, throwing caution to the wind, is charging straight towards me like a battling ram, at speeds I've never seen. He's trying to catch us off guard. I need to do something and quick, otherwise we are all dead.
District 2 – Lanius Marais(18)
Perfect. The little blonde one turned around exactly when I wanted her to. I like to see the fear in my victims' eye's before the life drains out of them forever. Her olive green eyes scream fear and it's then I know she is easy prey.
My feet swiftly move towards her, readying for the attack, sword drawn. I'm no more than 20 metres from her when I feel it fly over my head and trap my arms around my waist, throwing me to the ground. I'm dumbfounded when I hit the hard earth. What the hell has happened? My eyes roll up from the position in the dirt to find a length of rope coiled around my waist and over my arms. The coil extends up from the ground and I find it leading in to the hands of the blonde girl who grins at me from 15 metres away.
"BET YOU DIDN'T EXPECT THAT YOU BIG, UGLY OAF."
The anger starts to rise from within my body. How dare she mock me? I've trained my whole life for these Games and this 12 year old thinks she has brought me down for good? She has another thing coming. She barely weighs 40 kilograms. I hear her in the background of my fuming mind calling for help.
"WAKE UP! NOW! HELP ME! HE'S HERE BUT WE NEED TO ACT QUICKLY! LIA, CAIN!"
"SHUT YOUR LITTLE MOUTH YOU CHILD." I roar at her. "Have you thought about death? Because you better start right now."
"SERIOUSLY HELP ME! I CAN"T HOLD HI….ARRGGHHH!" Her voice trails off as the strength of my arms becomes too much for the pathetic hold she has at my waist. Then I grab the rope and start pulling her towards me in a one sided tug of war. It doesn't last long, because once she knows she's going to lose, she drops it and pulls out a knife. She has one shot at me, and that's it.
As I start striding towards the petite blond girl her knife whizzes past my ears, her shot missed, as I knew it would. I grab her around her waist, and pick her up. She flails around, and with one snap, her Games are over. Her limp body falls to the ground and a smile widens over my face.
Now to finish of the rest of them.
I turn around to pick up my sword and hear a high pitched, wailing scream.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Another young girl stares at me, with sadness in her eyes. Behind her a grey haired boy, a strong looking girl, and a lanky man, all wielding swords. The younger girl with a crossbow.
Before I know what's happened, I feel the first bolt hit my shoulder. I look down and see the blood streaming from the wound. The young girl starts marching towards me, the rest of them in tow. Another bolt hits my knee, and a third hits my other knee not long after.
In agony, I collapse to the ground.
District 5 –Solaria Atom(17)
I have no idea what I just witnessed. Maybe I'm still dreaming, because it can't be true. I woke to the screams of Ivy to see her being dragged by a rope towards Lanius Marais of all people! In a matter of seconds, she went from being alive, to being a heap on the ground.
Another 10 seconds later, and I scramble to my feet with my sword in toe. But Lia's piercing scream and anger stop me from even being able to act. Because while Cain, Ash and I are still waking up, Lia is marching towards Lanius, firing bolt after bolt from her crossbow, hitting him exactly in the correct targets to maim him and render him useless on the ground. First his shoulder, dropping his sword, then both of his knees and he collapses. But she doesn't stop there, because she continues to march at him, and I know I have to stop her. If she gets too close to him, even though he only has one good working arm. Then he can more than easily snap her in half, she barely weighs anything.
"LIA STOP!" I shout, running over to her, Ash and Cain in tow. We reach her and grab her, pulling her away from Lanius who writhes on the ground. Cain has her now in a hold she can't get out of, even though she struggles and struggles.
What do I do? Someone has to do something in this situation, before anything else can happen.
"Ash," I turn to him, "Go get more rope. We need to make sure Lanius will NOT harm us any further. I also need you to bring water and bandages. I didn't hear any kind of cannon, Ivy may still be alive. Ok?" Ash nods at me and runs off back to the campsite.
"Lia." I stare at her in Cain's choke hold. "Calm down. Ivy isn't dead yet. But I have to tell you we all owe you a debt of gratitude for bringing Lanius down. None of us would still be here if it weren't for you. Now. Listen carefully. What I need is light. Go grab me some light, fire, lamp, I don't care. Meet me over where Ivy is. Can you do that?"
She stops struggling in Cain's arms, and I look up at him and nod.
"Let her go please Cain." He does so immediately, and Lia runs off towards the fire.
"Cain. You and Ash deal with him please. You're our strongest, and most knowledgeable. Tie him up so he cannot move. I'm going to check on Ivy."
As I move away from Cain, I quickly turn around to check he is staying safe. But there is no point checking. Because Cain simply walks over to Lanius and kicks him straight in the face, before bending down and punching him and from what I can tell, breaking his nose.
District 8 – Lia Davidson(13)
No no no no no no no no. I run back from the camp with a lit lantern to where Solaria hunches over Lia. She must hear my footsteps, because before I reach Ivy, Solaria gets up and walks over to me.
"She wants to speak to you. Just…brace yourself for the inevitable. Okay?" Solaria says, trying to comfort me. I nudge her out of my way to where my friends tiny body lies still on the ground. Her flowing blonde hair tangled through the grass. I kneel down beside her.
"Lia. I….I….I can't feel them. I can't feel anything. My….my….my arms, my legs. I c..c..can't feel them." She breaths through sobs. I look deep in to her green eyes. She knows what has happened. I'm sure she has seen this many times in District 10.
"I h…h…heard the crack Lia, before h…h…he dropped me to the ground. I know that my neck is broken. It's over for me."
Tears stream down my face as the reality hits me. Ivy is as good as dead.
"Ivy, maybe they can help you back in the Capitol? I'm sure they have the medicine and surgeons for it. You will get better, I know it." I say, even though I know it is all but impossible.
"I won't get back to the Capitol Lia, you know that. I…I…I had a good life. Short, but good. If you or anyone else here get back home. Tell my daddy that I'm sorry. I really did t…t…try for him." The tears are all too visible as they make their way down her dirty cheeks, worn by over a week in the Games.
"What do you mean? You can't possibly be considering it. I won't do it Ivy. I won't kill you. If I do, then I may as well kill myself in the process. There is no coming back for me if I do it."
"I don't want you to do it Lia. I've already talked to Solaria. After I say goodbye to you, she is going to come back over here and do it for me. This is the only way. But….I'm scared. What do you think it's going to be like?" She asks.
"I bet that whatever it is, they will have everything you could ever need." My hands tremble and my knees quake, my body is breaking down, just like my emotions.
"I'm sorry Ivy…I…..can't…..anymore. I have to go." I look in to her green eyes one last time.
"Thanks for everything Lia." She says, as I rise, barely able to support my weight. I collapse not 10 metres away, my body limp, just like Ivy's, as Solaria moves past me over to where I previously knelt. The boys come over to say goodbye as well.
It isn't 5 minutes later when I hear her cannon go off.
District 7 – Cain Kasidy(18)
"You coward. Attacking us when a 12 year old girl was on guard duty." I spit at Lanius. He sits tied in rope around his entire torso. Ash sits next to me as we interrogate him for any information as to the whereabouts or movements of the remaining 2 tributes.
"If you wanted to beat us, then beat us in a fair fight. Luckily for us, Ivy had a few tricks up her sleeve and slowed you down. Otherwise we might all be dead right now." Ash tells him forcefully.
"Yeh." Lanius smirks, "And where is your dear little friend now? She's dead. That was her cannon wasn't it? If you mess with me, that's what you get. You get to die." He scowls. "I should've killed you when I had the chance Cain. You were always the weakest one, the most manipulable and the only one stupid enough to turn on your own allies." Lanius turns to Ash now, and speaks directly to him.
"You know he betrayed them right? Nickel and Saphira. Said he was with them until the end, and then plotted with me behind their backs. Couldn't finish the job though and had to let the real man do his dirty work." The hulky figure laughs. "You disgust me Cain."
"You disgust me." Ash retorts.
"It doesn't matter anymore what's been done Lanius. We all just want to save our own hide in this arena, and anyone in my position would've done it too. Taken the risk to follow your craziness in taking out two big threats. All we want to know is where Tilver and the District 4 girl could be. Are they together? Have you seen anything?"
"I'm not telling you shit. You deserve to have your throat slit."
I don't hesitate with the punch, a right hook to the face. Blood pours from his already broken nose, and the beginning of bruises starting to form.
"That's not the answer I wanted." I tell him "But because I can see you are going to be of no use to us. And I don't want to stoop to your level when you almost tortured Nickel to death. I'm just going to put you out of your misery." I turn around and start the walk back to the campsite, looking for some sort of weapon. Ash is in tow, following me, and checking on Lanius occasionally, to make sure he hasn't set himself free.
The glistening of the sun has started emerging from its' hibernation overnight, and I can actually see a little bit more clear now, which makes it easier to search.
"CAIN! LOOK! Over there!" Ash yells at me. I turn around to see him pointing behind the position where Lanius sits, and what has appeared almost out of thin air amazes me.
"What is it Cain? I've never seen one." The grey haired boy says.
"I think it's called a guillotine. All I can remember is seeing a few constructed in District 7. They are used for…..No…They wouldn't want us to…."
"What!?" Ash remarks.
"They are used to decapitate." Ash's features go deadly serious when the words leave my mouth.
"They want us to use it on Lanius? Do you reckon?" He inquires.
"I think that is exactly what they intend it to be used for."
Ash and I make our way past Lanius and over to the guillotine to inspect it. The sharp blade hangs over the plank of wood, where one's head would be positioned. It all glimmers in the light of the rising sun.
Solaria and Lia come over to inspect the guillotine. They waited until Ivy's body had been collected.
"Well…..should we just do it?" Solaria says.
"I guess so." I say.
We turn around and go fetch Lanius. He kicks and screams and threatens us the whole way over, as the four of us struggle with his enormous body. Eventually we have to restrain his flailing legs to drag him in to position.
And then we pause in silence as he continues his tirade. This is it. This is humanity. Not only in terms of the end of a life, but also in the fact that we kill. The worst part is that we kill and have no remorse. I will not regret pulling the trigger on Lanius, and this is exactly what the Games does to you. It takes away the very fibre of your being. Your humanity. It holds it just out of reach as you try to cling to what is left of it, because if it all goes. Then what do you really have left?
"I want to do it."
We all turn to Lia, whose weak body steps forward towards the guillotine. "Will you guys hold him please?" So Solaria, Ash and I hold Lanius in position over the guillotine, ready to mark the end of Lanius life, and possibly the end of our humanity.
"YOU WRETCHED LITTLE…..******" The obscenities continue out of his mouth as Lia prepares the final blow.
"This is for Ivy." She says. The trigger is pulled. A cannon sounds.
District 1 – Tilver Cummings(18)
My ears perk up at the sound of the first cannon, but I don't move. I sit silently and completely still on top of the Cornucopia, scanning the distance over the river and to the entrance of the castle. 7 left. 6 more to hunt down and dispose of. Well 5, if you don't count the lamb that I am dragging along with me.
She is no more than that. A lamb I am leading to the slaughter, using her for my own personal benefit, an ally to even out the possibility of a larger alliance, no matter how small that chance is. Even though I highly doubt it, I do not want to run in to a group of more than 3 on my own, which is suicide.
Half an hour passes and the sun starts to rise again to another day in the Games.
BOOM!
Another cannon. 6 of us left. 5 more to kill and 4 more to find. I can't wait any longer. Quickly I rise from my position and jump down to the mouth of the Cornucopia without making a sound. I creep up on the sleeping Naina and shake her awake.
"AH!" She squeals as her conscious comes back to reality.
"You would be so easy to kill." I tell her. "2 cannons sounded. 4 left, let's go. We need to hunt. It's almost over."
"It wouldn't be that easy to kill you know? I have survived to the final 6 and been through a lot more shit these Games than you have. You don't even respect me at a….." She trails off as I interrupt her.
"Have you killed anyone?"
"Well no, I haven't had the opportunity to be…."
"Then you would be easy to kill. The harder ones are the ones who have looked in the face of the dyeing, and want to make sure it doesn't happen to them." She shuts up.
We exit the Cornucopia just in time as well, because in the sky two faces light up. Lanius Marais face lit up in red. You have got to be kidding me.
"He was MINE!" I yell to no one in particular, just trying to let as much steam out of my system as possible, seeing as I failed in my hunt of Lanius.
The second face in the sky belongs to a small girl who was from District 10. Impressive that she lasted so long. Wasn't very old at all.
"We head back in to the castle." I tell Naina.
"What if we find them? Are we just going to attack on sight?" She asks.
"No silly girl. We plan our attack first. This is what we learn in the training you clearly do NOT have, even though you hail from District 4. A perfectly worthy other volunteer could be here in your place."
"How dare you," she snarls. "You know I was reaped right? Snatched away from my home, family and everything I love. Do you even love anything at all you heartless monster? Have you ever felt anything?" Those words go deep, and something moves inside of me, something that was lost earlier in the Games. But I push it back down to where it belongs and needs to stay. I need to stay focused and heartless for the end of this.
"I've loved before. But once you turn in the path I've taken. There is no going back."
With almost impeccable timing to break up this awkward situation between Naina and myself, and announcement comes in to the arena.
"There will be a feast in the field in the centre of the castle. This will occur in exactly 6 hours. Do not be late.
This is it…the Final Battle is nearly upon us.
Sorry for the delay everyone. I lost my laptop and everything on it, so it took me awhile to acquire a new one and find the motivation to start typing a new file. It was an unfortunate incident. Now we are down to 6! 3 Games chapters left and then an Epilogue. Thanks to the reviewers and remember to review this time too! At this stage I am still not 100% committed to a winner(I can't decide between 3 of them, although I have a rough idea of final placements), so I will put up another poll, to gauge what you all think about the final 6 tributes. This may or may not affect final placement of tributes. Thanks for reading! Isteed
