Day 8:

One way, or another

I'm gonna find ya

I'm gonna get ya, get ya, get ya, get ya

One way, or another

I'm gonna win ya

I'm gonna get ya, get ya, get ya, get ya

Sometimes, it feels like another District 10 victory might be sitting in the palm of my hand.

Then I squeeze my fingers shut and it's gone, still far out of my reach. Wishing is only going to bring me so far. There's a lot of work left to be done, especially since family interviews always mark the beginning of the end. Whatever happens from here, well...good luck, I suppose.

Eight tributes. Two siblings. Five Careers. One flower girl. How's it all going to play out from here?

I try to think about it from a sponsor's standpoint. Obviously, many of them are going to root for the Careers. But I can imagine that the Frehleys would be quite popular too, especially if you're sending both of them money. And there's also the appeal of sponsoring young, innocent, little girl, the obvious underdog.

The Career spend their morning milling around the Cornucopia. They're definitely itching to get back to hunting after having to take a day off yesterday. And why not? They easily outnumber the combined forces of Ace, Thea, and Sara. And those forces aren't even gonna combine in the first place, which just makes the job a lot easier. For them.

Elaena slips into the back plate she was sponsored; now the top of her torso is entirely covered. Watching her, Siren just scoffs. I bet he feels a little jealous. How come nobody wants to send the golden boy of District 4 any body armour?

Hydra responds by slapping him on the back. "Relax, ocean boy. What's got your undies in a twist this fine morning?"
"Stop calling me ocean boy, ya brute."
"I'm gonna call you whatever the fuck I like."

"Are you two done?!" Urzelynne pouts. "I wanna go hunting, not listen to your dumb tantrums!"

"Panem wasn't built in a day, sweetheart. And patience is a virtue." Elaena picks up a dagger and jabs Hydra's shirt with it. "Hey. You take her."
"Guys, come on. I understand this whole district split thing, but stop making me-"

Elaena points the dagger upwards, directly between Hydra's eyes. For a moment, I think she might actually stab them. Then she pulls away.

Hydra definitely gets the point. They sigh and pick their open bag off the ground, then pull out a pack of beef jerky and throw it at Urzelynne's head. "Earth to Urzelynne! You wanna get your fucking kill? Then hurry up!"
"Yeesh! I'm just getting my stuff ready. You don't have to be such a dick about it!"

"I'm staying back today." Pryce groans, running a hand through his messy hair. He briefly touches his birthmark, then stops. I notice that he's got some really nasty circles under his eyes and out of all the Careers, he's the most sluggish this morning. "I've got a really bad headache right now and none of you are helping."

Elaena points her dagger at Siren, because she isn't going to argue with her district partner. "Very well. I suppose that means that Siren, you're coming with me. Anyone got any issues they'd like to air? No? Good. See you all tonight."
"What are you playing at? You're not the leader of this pack." Siren folds his arms.

"I don't see you stepping up to the plate," Hydra sneers as Urzelynne blows a raspberry in Siren's direction. At this point, the boy from 4 knows he's fighting a losing battle so he just throws his hands up. "Whatever, Twos. I don't have to put up with your juvenile asses. Elaena, can I borrow some armour?"
"Get your own."
"Wow. Everyone's got a bone to pick? What is this, Gang Up On The Handsome Boy From Four Day?"
"Siren, just stop talking."

Pryce is lying on the ground, head resting against a rolled up sleeping bag. He presses the back of his wrists against his eyes and loudly groans. A minute passes before everyone else takes the hint and they finally leave him to be at the Cornucopia.

The other three tributes are scattered across the arena, all in various states of morning activities. It would appear that the Frehley siblings are closer to each other than it seems. I wonder if they even might find each other, if either of them will bother looking. Does Ace even want to find his sister?

Thea's rather quiet. She sits on the couch in an empty house she recently took refuge in, then pulls the Express Pass from her pocket. She runs her fingers across its side. Then she flings it onto the table in front of her, leans back, and lets out a yawn.

BANG!

"Shit!" Thea jerks her legs up and smacks her knee against the bottom of the table. Half limping and half sprinting, she throws the front door open to see a large clear hamster ball waiting outside for her. The thing could probably fit at least two people inside.

Marie giggles, then stops when she realizes nobody else is laughing. I'm not even going to ask.

Thea doesn't seem to be as impressed with the gift. I realize that she thinks it'll give her away. If the Careers see the thing, they'll know for sure that someone was at least in the area at one point. It wouldn't really be lot of info to go off of, but if they can narrow their search and Thea's too close to them for comfort...

She's out of the house and across the street in a flash. She's actually moving even closer to where her brother is. At least it's possible she might not cross paths with Siren and Elaena. It looks like Ace probably won't either, if he plans on staying put and lounging around on the couch.

But I don't like the path Hydra and Urzelynne have chosen.

In a nearby house, Sara stuffs all of her belongings into her backpack. She's spent all of yesterday hiding out in the attic, terrified that the mannequins would come after her again. I think they're gone for good at this point, having served their purpose. And the Gamemakers don't like inactivity to Urzelynne is eventually going to have to leave.

"Not right now," I mutter to myself. I need her to wait. God, the District 2 tributes are so close. She's not going to have time to even sprint across the street. They're going to catch her.

My heart is pounding and it feels like everything is moving at half of its original speed. If I act now, I might have the chance to send a sponsor gift and a coded message that'll hopefully reach Urzelynne in time. But my accounts are dry and it's the eighth day, meaning everything costs an arm and a leg now. I can't reach through the screen to grab her and pull her back. I can't scream at the top of my lungs in hope that she'll hear me.

Shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit!

From a small camera inside a clock at the end of the front hall, I can see over Sara's shoulder. I have no choice but to watch as she tiptoes up to the door and places a shaky hand on the doorknob. She twists it sideways with a small click and the door opens. Then she slips through...and Hydra and Urzelynne have just passed by.

Sara makes a small squeaking noise and begins to sprint.

"There! Right there!"

I slouch forwards and cover my eyes with my hands. I can just imagine Uzrlynne's finger as both she and Hydra brandish their weapons. Sara's faint pants as she picks up her pace, running as hard as she can. Urzelynne lets out a whoop. She's giving chase. I can't look. I can't.

But I have to.

I spread my fingers apart and peek through them at my screen. Hydra holds up a knife the way they'd hole up a dart at a dartboard. They line the handle up with their eye. For someone who's typically screaming their head off at Urzelynne and Siren, they're unnervingly calm. How can someone be so calm about their intent to kill?

Their knife misses completely as Urzelynne jumps onto Sara and tackles her to the ground.

"Stop!" Sara whimpers, trying to push the girl from 2 off her. Urzelynne responds by straddling Sara's legs and with one hand, pinning Sara's wrists above her head. It makes me want to vomit. It just looks so wrong. She's leaving Sara helpless, with no opportunity to fight back.

"Where the fuck have you been this whole time!? I've been wanting to kill you for ages!"
"Get off me. Get off!"
"And give this up!? Hell fucking no!"

Urzelynne pushes her body weight even harder on Sara. She holds the tip of her sword up to Sara's throat. Threatening to slit open skin and flesh and let the blood spill out. No. Please don't do this. Please don't make her suffer like this.

Hydra's finally caught up and they look pissed. "Urzelynne! Get the fuck up and off her! I saw her first and she's my kill!"
"Stay the fuck out of this!"
"Move!"

Hydra lunges forward and at that moment, the sword in Urzelynne's hand jerks.

At that point I have to look away. Tears flood my eyes and I find myself bringing a hand to my mouth without realizing that I'm actually doing it. Am I going to throw up? I can't throw up. I can't watch either. I can't, I can't I can't...

The only sound I can hear is Sara's distorted sobs, ruined by the sword sticking out of her neck. I try not to consider the possibility she could be paralyzed. The fact that she's bleeding out. I can't change it. I can't save her.

I couldn't save her.

She's doomed.

Urzelynne screams something at Hydra, who screams back, and then I hear a slap. Throw in a few profanities, and the sound of a sword meeting flesh. God. I hate that sound. I hate everything about it and what it's come to mean. Urzelynne lets out a giggle, I hear that damn sound again and Sara moans in pain.

I should look. But I can't. I don't think I'm brave enough. I squeeze my eyes shut and keep my back to my screen and try to not block it out. Pretend this is not happening and this is not real and maybe there's something you can do if you believe she has a chance and that she always had a chance and-

You're a shitty mentor, VR. Your tribute is dead.

Did you hear the cannon?

When I finally look back, the screen is dark. The sponsor money is gone. Urzelynne stands over the body of a 12 year-old girls, the swords in her hands covered with blood. Hell, she's even got spots of blood on her arms, her clothes, her face.

Sara's throat has been completely carved open. There's a large stab wound in her forehead that oozes trickling blood down her face and over her frozen eyelids, those big brown irises wide in horror. Dried tear stains on her cheeks, beads of sweat gathered on her neck, her stomach slashed open to the point whee if the camera catches it correctly, you can see her insides.

Hydra rubs at a suspicious faint hand print on the side of their face. "Why the fuck did you do that!? Are you a fucking psycho!? Is this a bloody game to you!?"
"I wanted that kill! I wanted to kill her! She was mine, okay!? Mine!?"
"Then what was all that for!? All this mutilating and stabbing and-"

My feet begin to move. I rise from my seat and my blank screen. I turn for the door. I try my best to keep my pace even, but not robotic. My fingers resist the urge to curl up into fists and punch the nearest person. I just mask my anger and my frustration. I just walk.

I hear the whispers behind me, as if everybody seemed to know I wouldn't take this well. Rhiannon reaches for my shoulders, but I hear Cheyenne mutter something and Rhiannon backs off. Another voice calls my name. I pretend I don't hear.

I just walk until I've made my way to the bedrooms. I sit down in my alcove and stare at the wall. I feel my own walls crumbling to my feet. I'm not good at masking my emotions. But I just couldn't let the District 2 mentors and Urzelynne see me get emotional. I didn't want them to know that they've won.

In the emptiness of the bedroom, I finally let myself sob.

8th place: Sara Anada, District 10. Throat carved open by Urzelynne.

This was a really hard death to write for quite a few reasons, especially since I didn't really want to give Sara of all people such a brutal end. I really loved writing her. Smol bean tributes can be fun and although Sara was a smol bean, she was well aware of the Games themselves and the chances she had to survive. She's probably grown the most of out of the tributes given her proximity to VR. Fox, if you're reading this, thank you so much for sending Sara in!

Current Alliances:

Careers: Pryce, Elaena, Hydra, Urzelynne, Siren

Loners: Ace, Thea

Kills:

Pryce: 1 (Sawyer)

Elaena: 2 (Lockhart, Elsorian)

Hydra: 3 (Echo, Brea, Petra)

Urzelynne: 3 (Micah, Sara, Matzo)

Siren: 3 (Velour, Lavender, Nileen)

Tansy: 1 (Swift)

Ace: 1 (Tansy)

Esmerelda: 1 (William)

Other: 2 (Academia, Esmerelda)

And we're down to seven.

It's crazy to think we've made it this far, even if the story isn't over yet. And did anyone expect the Final 7 seven to be the Frehley siblings and five Careers? When I first started this story, I definitely didn't.

Sponsoring is still open, as per usual. I will be closing it soon, so I highly suggest making the most of it while you can. See you all next chapter,

-Vr