Chapter Twenty: Souls

I don't wanna let you go, I don't wanna let you go
Don't burn out, don't burn out on me
-Burn Out, Imagine Dragons.

Everleigh King (18).
District Ten Female.

Everleigh could smell burning.

At first, she wasn't sure why, treading carefully in case she was too close to another tribute and their camp, but then she'd spotted the flames. And it wasn't just a campfire that she had smelt. It was a raging forest fire that she was now, fleeing from, having never ran so fast in her entire life. Last night she thought she'd been running fast but it turned out that the panic of being pursued by a wall of fire was a little more motivating than that of a giant crab.

Back when she was a kid, when her education wasn't solely focused on the best crops and how to harvest them, she vaguely remembered being taught about the old Olympics. Nine year old Everleigh had wrinkled her nose at the mere idea of them; she wasn't one for sports, not like the kids in the Career districts were, but right now she would bet that she could give one of the sprinters a literal run for their money. Given, of course, that there was the same amount of adrenaline involved.

The gamemakers clearly wanted these Hunger Games to be over and done with if they were setting the forest on fire. It didn't make much sense to Everleigh, because why now? There were eight of them left, and half of them were Careers. It wasn't like there wasn't enough potential for the Hunger Games to be spread out just a little longer without getting boring. Even she had been getting ready to try and hunt down some of the other tributes herself - the outliers, of course, since she wasn't foolish enough to try and take on the Careers - and in her plans she'd always included her allies in this, yet here she was alone. Though maybe it was better that way; because she didn't have to worry about what would happen once she had hunted down the others. No splitting up and no trying to rationalise killing those who had protected her.

Suddenly, a girl came hurtling from a gap in the flames on the right. Everleigh crashed into her, both of them sent flying. Leaping to her feet, Everleigh realised that now was her chance. She didn't have a kill to her name yet, and if she wanted to be Victor then she'd have to prove herself. And it was better now than never. Better getting two kills rather than just the one that she would score in the finale.

It was a scary thought process, especially as the other girl scrambled to her feet, but Everleigh knew that it was something that needed to be done. After all, this was the Hunger Games and she was done being complacent. Look where that had got her allies.

Gripping her dagger tightly, Everleigh launched herself forward. For a minute, the burning trees and the devastation around her was at the back of her mind, the only thing important to her was the girl that she was tussling with. The girl underneath her, from Three if the number on her jacket was anything to go by, was crying, begging for Everleigh to at least let them escape the fire before they fought, but Everleigh wasn't stupid. If she let her go, the girl would disappear and Everleigh would lose her chance. She needed to prove herself to the Capitol.

Suddenly there was a sharp pain in her thigh. Everleigh looked down to see the handle of a dagger sticking out. Her breath speeding up at the sight of it, Everleigh started to panic. That wasn't supposed to happen. That wasn't supposed to happen!

In her panic, the girl below her managed to knock her to the side. Everleigh fell hard, crying out as her head struck a rock. The other girl made her way over, reaching down to pull her weapon from Everleigh's thigh. Not willing to go down without a proper fight, Everleigh kicked out at the girl, sweeping her feet out from under her. The girl fell forward, landing next to Everleigh and she balled up a fist, smashing it into the girl's face.

The Three girl howled, kicking out at Everleigh's stomach. And for a minute it was back and forth like that, neither of them quite landing anything to significantly hurt the other. But then the Three girl was on her feet, staggering over to Everleigh and she knew it was over. But it didn't mean she couldn't drag the other girl down with her.

The Three girl went for Everleigh's dagger that she'd dropped when she'd been knocked to the side. Everleigh took a deep breath and wrenched the one from her thigh out.

The three girl kneeled down beside her and as she reached forward, dragging her dagger across Everleigh's neck, Everleigh used the last of her strength to twist and plunge hers into the girl's chest.

The girl's eyes grew wide, toppling over into her side as she clawed at the handle. And in those last moments when she was struggling to breathe, choking on her own blood, and staring up at the flaming trees above her, she was somewhat comforted.

Maybe Everleigh had lost her allies, but she wasn't going out alone.

Constantine McKnight (18).
District Eleven Male.

Carrying Lotte and trying to manoeuvre the undergrowth at the same time was no easy task, but she was slowing them down with her little legs and it was all Constantine could do to try and escape the fire by carrying her instead. She had her good arm looped around his neck, face buried in his shoulder as the two of them raced against time, hoping that they were going the right way and racing towards the cornucopia rather than heading deeper into the forest. They were in a world of trouble either way — there was no way that they were the only tributes currently trying to escape this hell — but it was the only place that he could think of to run.

But suddenly there was a loud crack of thunder, and the rain started going down so hard that both he and Lotte were soaked to the bone immediately. The ground became saturated, the mud thick, but he kept running because he didn't know what else to do. Even if the gamemakers were trying to stop the fire, it didn't change the fact that the burnt forest would be a massive hazard even if there were no longer any flames. Constantine wasn't going to run the risk of getting crushed by a falling tree or branch after outliving so many tributes. If he was going to go out, it would be fighting.

Breaking out of the tree line, Constantine skidded to a stop. He put Lotte down, doubling over to catch his breath. They would be safe from the fire here, if the gamemakers were unable to control it, but straightening up he realised with a start that there was another tribute emerging from the opposite side of the arena.

Lotte bristled. "I was hoping that I'd die before I had to see you again!" She spat. And, well, if Constantine didn't know who it was then he would definitely know now. Sure enough, even though he could barely see through the downpour, he could definitely tell that it was Alexander.

"Don't do anything stupid, Lotte," Constantine warned, pushing her behind him. "He's not worth it."

"Oh yeah, 'cause he's going to let us leave if we're nice to him." Lotte rolled her eyes. "Anyway, you're the one with the you know what. You're the one who can do the most stupid thing."

"I'm not going to waste it on him."

"Good."

Constantine readied his dagger as Alexander neared. But he didn't get to think out anything before his little ally rushed forward. Constantine managed to reach out, tugging her back by her backpack before she made a decision that she would regret. But it was too late. The declaration of war had been made, and Alexander was readying his sword.

This couldn't end well. Neither Lotte nor Constantine had any experience in fighting and even though Alexander wasn't up to the standard of the Careers, there was a reason that they had taken him in. And… well, Alexander had a huge fuck off sword. Constantine and Lotte only had daggers.

But if they ran, Alexander would probably give chase. It was now or never.

Lotte lunged. Somehow she managed to avoid the first swing of his sword, but she wasn't so lucky the second time. Dropping to the ground like a bag of bricks as Alexander's sword slashed her abdomen, she let out a tortured scream that Constantine never wanted to hear again.

Constantine threw himself forward, dagger at the ready. Alexander, distracted by Lotte, raising his sword in a fashion eerily similar to the way he'd raised his dagger in the bloodbath, didn't even seem to see him coming. Losing his balance as Constantine hit him, Alexander fell backwards into the mud and all that Constantine could hear was Lotte gasping and sobbing as she writhed on the floor. It was enough to fuel him and he was ready to deliver the final blow when there was a yell from someone that he didn't recognise.

Looking up, Constantine's gaze fell upon the District One girl who was, although holding her side, charging towards them.

Constantine knew a losing battle when he saw one. So, before Briar could catch up to them or Alexander could get to his feet, Constantine turned and scooped up Lotte, holding her close as he sprinted for the trees. He half expected the two to follow him, but when he looked over his shoulder Alexander was helping Briar towards the cornucopia. Constantine didn't know who'd injured her, and he didn't want to. He had to get himself and Lotte out of there.

"Connie…" Lotte whimpered as he stopped just inside the tree line. Far enough in that he'd have a head start if the other two came for them, but not far enough in as he wanted to be.

"You're okay," he said, laying her down and putting pressure on her wound. The rain has lessened, but even with it he could tell that she was crying.

"Don't bullshit me," she sniffed weakly, her voice barely audible, rolling her eyes as she shifted uncomfortably as he pressed his hands down. "I'll be dead in a couple minutes. So… congrats on the final five."

"Don't talk like that, Lotte." He shook his head. "We've just got to—"

"Stop being stupid, Connie. We ain't fixing this." She grimaced. "He—he got me good. Just like my dream."

Constantine blinked back tears. "I told you not to do anything stupid. You shouldn't have tried to fight him."

"Connie shut up. I'm not having t-the last thing I hear be a lecture." She gave him a weak smile, sniffing as she tried to hold back her sobs. "I— no, we had a good run. I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too."

The two of them fell silent, Constantine pulling her onto his lap. She pressed herself into him, closing her eyes. When she stilled and her cannon boomed, he didn't move for a long while, staring out at the trees.

One hand in his pocket, he rolled the ball holding the mutt back and forth between his thumb and finger.

He should've used it. He should've let it rip Alexander into pieces.

But he'd get what was coming and, hopefully, karma wouldn't be kind.

Eulogies:

8th place: Everleigh, D10F. Killed by Venus, D3F.

Everleigh grew on me a lot over the course of this story. I loved her from when she was submitted but I always planned on her going somewhere close to the bloodbath. But when it came to it, I could never kill her off. She was truly a great tribute, and I had so much fun writing her. Ultimately, I could never see her making it into the finale so she fell here. Thank you for sending her in Caleb, and I'm sorry she had to go. :(

7th place: Venus, D3F. Killed by Everleigh, D10F.

I know a lot of people are gonna be mad about this one but... it had to happen and I'm really sorry Shiro. Bully me in the discord all you want. I deserve it. Everybody loved Venus and I did, too. She and Paravati brought a wholesomeness to this story that I hadn't completely planned on, and it was also super fun to explore Venus's relationship with Twitch. She was honestly one of the purest tributes in this story and she was so, so much fun. Her intro was probably one of my favourites to write and it wasn't a surprise that everybody loved her. She was never my Victor, though. Thank you for her Shiro. And, I mean, at least I didn't have her place second, right? Right?

6th place: Noa, D8F. Killed by Alexander, D8M.

Another very much loved character (unless you're Para) who had to go this chapter :( Noa was a really, really fun tribute to write. She and Constantine were... amusing to say the least, and I absolutely loved writing any scene with her in it. Bar maybe this chapter, though. This chapter was not fun in the slightest. She always prided herself on being less reckless than her sister, but when it came down to it she wasn't. She definitely wasn't. And it cost her her life. She was fun to write, but never my Victor. She did pretty well, though. Thanks for her, Cee.

Alliance list:

Alexander Started the Fiyah!: Briar and Alexander.

They're Somewhere Amidst the Chaos: Qarza and Darya.

The Kid He Was Babysitting is Dead: Constantine.

Ducks under the rotten fruit.

Yeah... this one took a while to write because I just... didn't want to. It was actually supposed to be a 3 POV chapter but, I don't know, it just didn't feel right to have the third one in here so I'm moving it to the next chapter. Which is, incidentally, the last chapter before the finale.

We're almost there!

If you don't hate me because of this chapter — though you have every right to — please do consider checking out my sequel and subbing. Subs will close on the 14th of August, so get them in before then!

Stay safe, wash your hands and wear a goddamn mask!

See you next chapter if I'm not killed by the discord lot xx