Darrah Arinori, 12, District 7
Twelve hours ago
"You should use it." El says for the dozenth time.
"I really don't want to." I would tell her each time she asked.
"You can talk to Adelina. See how she's doing. Or a dead Career. Maybe they can give you an insight to the rest of the pack."
"Why would they do that?"
"You won't know until you try." I want to bang my head against the tree. How I wish she could have gotten my device and I could've gotten the treasure map.
"Come on…" I don't understand her insistence. But against my better judgment, I finally activate my medium device.
"I don't know who to talk to." I tell her as I scroll through the list of deceased tributes. "Hey, maybe I should talk to Adelina's crazy district partner." El is not as amused by this idea as I am.
"If you're going to make a big joke of it-"
"No, no I'm not. I'm sorry." I use the device to select Adelina, the last person I would ever have expected to use this on.
As soon as the device activates, the area around me fades into black. I open my eyes and I'm standing in a small white room. There's a metal door directly in front of me. Glancing behind me, I see the exact same metal door behind me as well. Have I been teleported? Is this a vision?
The door in front of me slowly swings open and she walks in. Wearing the same outfit she was when she died, I can feel my heart drop to my stomach as I remember her last moments. All the suppressed guilt resurfaces and I'm utterly speechless.
"Hi, Darrah." Her voice is smooth, angelic, both calming and unsettling at the same time.
"Hi." I feel my body frozen around me. Is it too late to leave? How can I get out of here?
"I see you're still alive. Is El?" She asks. I slowly nod. "Good, I'm glad."
"Yes. We're hanging in." El should be the one here, not me. Why am I here?
"I can see you're uncomfortable." Adelina shifts her weight to one side.
"Well, I can't exactly say I've done this before. Talk to…someone who died. Doesn't that sound insane?" I can't remember the last time I saw Adelina smile, but she gives a soft one.
"You still think about that day, don't you? You can't stop thinking about it. That must be why you're here, no?" She explains.
"I'm here because El asked me to. If she could be here in my place…she would." I explain.
"How is El? How are you two hanging on?"
"We take it day by day. It's not easy. She…we both miss you." I wipe a stray tear away. She holds out her hand. I take it.
"I'm with my parents again. My real parents. You don't have to mourn me." Her eyes sink to the ground. "There could only ever be one victor. I never thought it would be me. I never thought I'd even form an alliance. So, you don't have to mourn me. I'm happy. I promise." She places her other hand on top of my own and we look into each other's eyes. Whatever control I had over my tears has vanished, and they start flowing out uncontrollably.
"I'm sorry…" The words come out jumbled, but she understands my sentiment.
"Tell El I'm okay. And keep surviving. I want to see one of you return home. Can you do that for me?" She asks with a small squeeze of her hands.
"We're trying. We're definitely trying." I tell her.
"That's all I can hope for, then." She releases my hands from her grasp and takes a slight step back to the door. "I think our time is almost up. Will you be okay going back?"
"I think so. I…I'll never forget you Adelina. I'm sorry we let you down." I back up to my door as the room around me starts to fade.
"I would hope for nothing less." Her words are almost airy as the room completely dissolves around me, submerging me in first, bright white. Then, the white fades to black, and suddenly I'm back in the forest we've called our home for the past two days.
"What's wrong? What happened?" El immediately jumps towards me, holding my arms in her hands. I reach up to wipe away the tears I didn't know carried over.
"I…I talked to Adelina." My mind struggles between where I was and where I am. Was it real? I know it wasn't. Right? It couldn't have been. But it felt so real.
"How…was it?" El's voice is soft, concerned. Like she always is.
"It was horrible." The words escape my mouth before I have the chance to take them back. El pulls back, disgusted. "Because…it made me realize how much I miss her."
"Oh, Darrah." She pulls me into a tight hug. "I'm sorry I made you do that."
"No, it's okay. I…I'm glad I got to say goodbye." I mean these words as they spill out. I hadn't realized how repressed I had put Adelina. Our initial distrust for each other combined with the guilt of watching her die, not being able to do a single thing to change it, well, I really should have anticipated this.
"Thank you." El and I stay embraced, neither wanting to let the other go.
"I'm not using this device to talk to you." I manage to get out. El pulls away, initially in shock.
"You're messed up." She says, breaking out of her tense state.
"I know." I put the device back in my bag and wipe the remaining tears off of my cheeks. I'm about to ask her what's next, when a feast is announced for the afternoon at the cornucopia.
Oh no.
Seia Loam, 14, District 11
My feet are screaming as I push off the ground, one step at a time. The echo of the footsteps bounce off the hard walls of this castle. My own footsteps, and footsteps of the two Careers currently tailing me.
I tried to get them off Conrad. At least by splitting their attention, they might be so thrown off guard that they lose us both. Unfortunately for me, whatever Conrad did bamboozled them so much they completely lost him. Which is great for him. But awful for me.
So they stayed on me, and no matter how many corners I turn or stairs I ascend or descend, they always seem to be right behind me. And the worst part is I've disoriented myself so much I can't even begin to wonder how I get out of here.
With a bit of distance between my pursuers and myself, I look at the doors that surround me. The only way down seems to be where I came from, which is obviously no longer feasible.
So I push open the door furthest down this hallway. It barely budges.
"Come on, you piece of shit-" I throw my body against it again. It budges a little more. Again. Again. A little more. A little more.
I see their faces appear from the stairs and I know my time is limited.
Just as the girl starts to advance towards me, the door gives way and I stumble into the room. Without wasting a second, I shut the door and shove a large shelf directly in front of the door. From the other side, I can hear the banging and yelling, but I'm safe, for now.
I look around the room. It's dark, some kind of storage room, no windows or doors to let any light in or out, nor another way to let myself in or out. The walls are covered in shelves with empty crates, old clothing, and other various, useless gadgets.
"Of course." I mumble under my breath as the Careers continue to bang on the door outside. "Don't you have more threatening tributes to kill!" I can't help but yell back. I receive no response, but the question does throw them off briefly. Very briefly.
It's brief enough to give me time to notice a shifted floor panel from where I pulled the shelf from. I kneel down and pull at the floor panel, surprised at how easy it's removed. It reveals the room underneath, one way better lit than the one I'm currently in.
I pull at the panel beside it, using my weapon to loosen its nail. As soon as it comes undone, I hear the door split behind me. I literally only have seconds…
Thankfully, I'm small enough to be able to slip through the two removed panels. I land in the room below me, some kind of small bedroom. I open the door, glance down both hallways, and sprint down the one that should lead towards a set of stairs.
Where's Conrad? Do I try and find him, or do I just get out? My initial thought is to get the hell out as soon as I can, Conrad's a big boy who can handle himself. But the other part of me knows he wouldn't leave me in here alone, which makes me want to offer the same courtesy to him. Plus, he does have the majority of the supplies we pulled from the feast…
"This way!" Shit. The Careers are back on my tail, descending down the stairs into the hallway I'm at. I take off sprinting again, maneuvering through the skinny hallways. Do these jerks ever stop?
I turn a corner and I'm knocked to the ground, running into…someone. My head smacks into the ground beneath me, very hard. My ears ring, my vision blurred. I try to regain my balance, my head spinning.
"Darrah." I hear the voice of one of the newcomers as she leans down to her ally in front of me - I guess there's two? I stumble up, hand on my head, but I can't make out who they are. All I know is they don't seem to be trying to kill me.
"Run." With the pounding in my head increasing, I push past them and move further down the hallway I was initially heading down. I hear shouting and fighting from behind me, but I keep pushing onward until I physically can't move any further. I collapse into a room, some kind of old bathroom, and fall to the ground. My head throbs, my thoughts are scattered, but I know one thing for sure: I'm alive. I hope Conrad can say the same.
And what about those girls behind me? Did I doom them?
No, Seia, you aren't responsible for anyone but yourself. I hold my hand to my head, desperate for the pain to subside.
I can't. I can't do it. Just like I couldn't stop the Capitol from killing Jacaranda, I can't stop them from killing everyone else around me. I can't stop them from killing me. All I can do is my best, and right now, my best doesn't feel like it's doing a damn thing.
El Shielle, 13, District 3
I wasn't sure if we were going to go to the feast. We could just stick with the treasure map, find areas no one else would find. But after looking at the map, and realizing that every other treasure point had vanished, leaving a large circle surrounding the entirety of the cornucopia, well, I understood what the Gamemakers were telling me, and I didn't really see another option.
Darrah must still be shaken from her encounter, as she didn't argue against it as much as I anticipated. I can't help but focus most of my attention on her, on her face, trying to read her. I can't. And ever since I made her use her stupid device, I've felt nothing but guilt.
I told myself that it would be to her benefit. That Adelina could maybe shed some light on…I don't know. I don't know what she would know that we wouldn't. Besides, there's no realistic way Adelina could talk to us again. They didn't bring her back from the dead. I thought that would make it easy for Darrah.
She won't tell me what happened, but she doesn't have to. She's never been great at hiding how she feels, not after we've spent all this time together.
And now we walk side by side to the place that every Career and possibly every last remaining tribute will be at, for a few extra supplies. Although we agreed to come in later, after the carnage and the main contenders have left, we have no idea what we're going to face.
About halfway through our travels, deep, dark clouds descend over us and snowflakes begin gently fluttering down but hastily pick up pace and size whilst we trudge on. It sticks to our clothes and the soles of our shoes, and by the time we arrive at the newly formed cornucopia, we really have to raise our knees up high to clear the snow.
"Do you have snow at home?" I ask Darrah. She nods.
"It was fun to play in. Not so fun to work in." She shoves her hands in her pockets, her heavy breaths indicated by the condensation.
"Are you sure about this?" Darrah asks me as I push the fence open, the metal creak echoing off the silver palace.
"Yeah. It'll be fine." My fingers start numbing and I can see my breath form as I speak. Yeah. We'll be fine.
The feast started over an hour ago, which makes me hope everyone who would be a threat has already gathered their supplies and left.
We enter through the back, and follow the maze of stairs and hallways until we reach the table with supplies. Or rather, the table that most likely had supplies. Now, there's nothing but an empty bag and a broken knife.
"Well, shit." Darrah doesn't seem to even try and hide her frustration.
"I thought for sure there would be stuff left…" My words trail off as previous Games flash through my mind. Feasts have never been completely wiped, have they? My head starts to pound and the flashes of memory start to bind together into one blob of nothing.
"We should get out of here before-" Darrah's words are cut off by the sound of feet on concrete. The sound gets louder, and louder, and by the time I realize what that means for us, they're already in front of us.
The girl from Eleven's deep eyes are as shocked as Darrah's. She's sweating from head to toe, gasping for whatever air she can.
"Run." She pushes past us and in an instant, she's gone.
"El, we should listen." Darrah begins to back up and soon, we're both off in a full sprint as someone, or two someones, chase our tails.
"We lost her!" I hear a growl from a girl, it sounds like one of the Careers.
"It's fine, there's two more now!" A boy this time.
"Darrah!" I try to keep up with her, but her head start is proving to be incredibly advantageous for her. My foot gets caught in something protruding from the floor and my hands are the only thing that catch the entirety of my body weight.
"Darrah!" I yell for my ally, who with a quick glance over her shoulder, realizes my predicament.
Two things happen simultaneously. My ally begins to turn to face me. Her hand just begins to reach out in my direction, to save me from this mess I've put myself in, at the same time I feel the sharp pain of something entering my back.
I cough and cough and cough, but I can't clear my airway of the liquid that has begun to build up. Darrah's expression tells me more than I need to know.
'Run' I mouth to her before collapsing into a blissful sleep alongside my parents, dreaming of my posthumous conversation with my best friend.
Tatiana Emery, 15, District 2
Somehow, I've found my way underneath the ground surface into a series of mazes and catacombs. Small stones and debris scatter around me as tributes continue to fight above me.
Despite the cramped corridors and eerie whistles, I continue pushing forward. I'm doubtful anyone else made their way down here, most of them probably got out as quickly as they got in. I've finally secured a moment alone, and I refuse to let Marissa, or Franz, or anybody interrupt.
I was face to face with that boy earlier. I could have killed him in a second. One slice through the heart, and he would be down. One less tribute to deal with later. But something…something came over me. His face seemed somewhat familiar… or maybe I'm going crazy.
Either way, the moment was lost. So I left him. Will I regret it later? Maybe. Add it to the list. Will the Storm think of me as inferior, incapable of securing a kill? I hope not.
It's not like they've done a great job at communicating with me since I've been here.
Calm down, existence is illegal. If they're discovered, that's the end of that. They're just being careful…
I reach what appears to be a dead end at a first glance. At a second glance, I can just barely see light leaking in. And since that light has to be coming from somewhere…
I gently press against the stone, and it starts crumbling down around me. With a quick shove, I push through the weak barrier into a large, deteriorated great hall. Was this always here? Did the Gamemakers really create this just for the feast? If they did, what kind of treasures lie down here?
I walk into the middle of the room and take in my surroundings. The light is weak, making it hard to really see the mass around me.
A large crash makes me scream. I cover my mouth and jump off the main platform. I duck, still holding my hand to my face.
Footsteps enter the hall, footsteps belonging to something I can't quite make out. I try to peer back over the ledge, but without a light, I really can't tell what's going on. Not until I hear a loud screech.
My hand drops from my mouth and moves to cover my ears, squeezing them as shut as I can. The sound is horrible, piercing every nerve in my ear, and almost making me scream alongside it. After what feels like ages, but was definitely shorter than five seconds, the noise stops. Wind blows through the cavern and stone crashes down to the ground. Then, silence.
"What the hell…" I mutter to myself as I look around the platform I had jumped off earlier. I look as far up as I can see. I look where I came from, and where I'm going. Nothing.
Get out, Tati. I move quick, continuing down the path to the formings of a cave system. Thankfully, the rock is undamaged, so whatever…creature found its way down there left another way. Most likely through the ceiling somewhere.
Was it a mutt? It had to be. Nothing natural would make that sound, or do something so random or unusual. The Gamemakers must be sending me a message. I doubt it's from my group. Whoever it's from, and whatever the message may entail, they can consider it received.
I follow the cold breeze through the mountains and reach the light. A very thin layer of snow covers the mouth of the cave. Snow? When did this start?
Regardless, I push through the snow and make my way out to the fresh air. I face the front of the palace, where I assume my allies are still fighting in. Fighting with other tributes, or each other, or the boy I left alone. It doesn't matter. I'm nearing the conclusion now, and all I can afford to think about is myself.
AN: Second part to the feast! Chapter written by Team shadow. The next part will be the final part of the feast.
Roles
Serenity: Vigilante
Taliesin: Disguiser
Harrison: Vampire Hunter
Conrad: Guardian Angel
Nadia: Potion Master
Charon: Werewolf
Marissa: Ambusher
El: Pirate
Tatiana: Arsonist
Franz: Transporter
Darrah: Medium
Eulogies
Day 1
24th: Ricky James (D9M) Killed by Serenity Jasper - decapitated.
23th:Tristan Card (D8M) Killed by Jade Hastings – Slashed through the chest.
22nd: Jonathan Priel (D10M) Killed by Taliesin Ulysses – Knife thrown through neck.
21st: Elijah Axenfros (D7M) Killed by Taliesin Ulysses – Blunt force trauma.
20th: Emily Lynch (D6F) Killed by Heather Monroe – Knife thrown into torso.
19th: Kalen Demner (D5M) Killed by Marissa Grey - Sliced with a sword.
18th: Aeliana Decima (D8F) Killed by vampire mutts – bitten in the neck.
Day 2
17th: Henry Haines (D1M) Killed by Taliesin Ulysses – Throat crushed and neck snapped.
Day 3
16th: Adelina Claire (D10F) Killed by Gargoyle mutts.
Day 4
0 deaths.
Day 5
0 deaths.
Day 6
15th: Jade Hastings (D1F) Killed by Charon Aytigin – Throat ripped out.
14th: Charon Aytigin (D12M) Killed by Serenity Jasper – Shot in the chest.
Day 7
13th: Heather Monroe (D5F) Killed by Taliesin Ulysses – Throat slit.
Day 8
12th: Electra Shielle (D3F) Killed by Franz Kubo. I couldn't believe it's the end for this girl, she's been amazing to write and she's going to be missed. From her ambitious plans at the reaping to coming down to earth with her equally eccentric allies, she was a force to be reckoned with. Rest In Peace El, you deserve it
Jade: 1
Taliesin: 4
Marissa: 1
Heather: 1
Serenity: 2
Charon: 1
Franz: 1
Mutts/arena: 2