Electra "El" Shielle, 14, District 3
Over the last two days, Darrah and I haven't done anything but eat, sleep, and keep watch for anyone. When we first stumbled across this prize, I thought the supplies would easily last us until the end of the games, or at least until someone or something chased us out of here. But with only about a days worth of food and water left, we have to evacuate sooner rather than later.
My voice is dry from how little I've spoken since Adelina's death. Despite the comfortable beds, I've never slept worse. Every time I close my eyes, I see her face. I see her smile. Then, her face drops to fear. Blood starts pouring out of the wounds that just appear out of nowhere. Her skin becomes pale. A cannon. The damn cannon always wakes me up.
I haven't talked to Darrah, knowing her and Adelina weren't the best of friends, and I know talking won't bring her back. This feeling, this grief, it's the exact same pain I felt since my parents were killed. And it blows.
That murdering asshole is still out there, while innocent kids like Adelina are put into the ground year after year. The Capitol doesn't care about death unless they're facilitating it. It's disgusting. And it's futile thinking anything can change. I was naive thinking I could make Chip pay for what he did to my parents. I'm still naive, thinking mourning my friend will bring anything good. I can't believe it's taken two days for me to realize that.
"We should go." Speaking for the first time in days, my words are crackly and come out so soft Darrah asks me to repeat myself.
"Where would we go?" She asks after I ask again with a slightly clearer tone.
"I don't know. Somewhere else. We're low on supplies, and, being here, it keeps reminding me of Adelina." I close my eyes and as I suspected, there she is. Right in front of me.
"I don't know…" Darrah sighs, looking around the room. This isn't the Darrah I know. The Darrah I know would jump on the opportunity for change. To get back into the action.
"You know I'm right." I sigh. I want, more than anything, to be out of these god forsaken games right now. To be back home with my aunt.
"Okay. Sure. Let's get out of here." She starts packing up the rest of the supplies in her bag. I follow suit, and within minutes, we're packed up and ready to go.
Without looking back, I open the door and head back into the puzzle room. The glass has retracted back into the floor, hiding any evidence of the atrocities that took place here. I try to avert my gaze to the blood that stained the floor.
We make our way down the hallway until we reach the stairs.
"Are the mutts going to attack us again?" Darrah asks me.
"I don't know. Be prepared for it, I guess." I grip the handle of my brand new knife, tension spreading throughout my body.
We slowly ascend the stairs and when we turn the corner, we realize the statue mutts are no longer perched on the podiums like they were before.
"The hell?" Darrah says. I shake my head.
"Let's go." We pick up the pace as we head downstairs and push through the double doors to the front of the fortress. The sun is directly above our heads, and the temperature is drastically warmer than I remember.
"Now where?" Darrah asks. I shake my head.
"Let's head back to the lake, I guess. We'll still need a water supply." I lead the way, Darrah following close behind me. We reach a series of houses, and we have to make sure we stay low to the ground and quiet to avoid attracting any unwanted attention. One of the downsides of being cooped up in that fortress for so many days is that neither of us have any idea where any other tribute is holding up. We don't know who's allied with who, who hates who, who's hunting who, etc. And other than Adelina, no cannons have fired since. There's still over a dozen people who would see us dead in an instant.
"How are you holding up?" Darrah whispers to me when we're about halfway through the town. I shrug.
"I'm fine. Hoping we don't run into anyone out here." I whisper back, hoping she gets the hint.
"I don't mean this. I mean about Adelina. About the challenge." She responds. I sigh.
"It is what it is. She's dead, we're not." I say back, whipping my head to the side. Nothing. Stop being paranoid, El.
"El. Come on." Darrah's patience with me seems to be slipping. I shake my head.
"What do you want me to say? Of course I wish she was still alive. But if it wasn't her…it would've been one of us. It was a shitty situation we put ourselves in. God, Darrah, no one deserves this!" My face turns red when I realize how loud my voice has gotten. Thankfully, Darrah took the hint and has stopped asking questions.
After a long while, we hear a low rumbling underneath our feet. In the distance, we see a train slowly approach us. I look over at Darrah, who's already running to board it. She jumps on an open car, and I follow.
We ride the train until we reach the lake, carefully disembarking to make sure not to hurt ourselves. We take a moment to refill our bottles, along with the extra bottles we had in our reward room, then make our way around to the mountain. Just as I think we're safe, Darrah grabs my arm.
"There's someone there." She points at the lakehouse. I stare through the window and for a second, I don't see anything. But the person walks across the window, and my heart jumps.
"Who is it?" I ask, not getting a good enough view of whoever it was.
"No idea. It was someone tall though. Maybe the Careers are here." Darrah says, her voice laced with concern.
"We gotta go." I quickly scan the area, trying to search both for another tribute and another way out. The odds that someone saw us are high, and if they didn't, the odds of someone seeing us just standing here completely out in the open go up with every passing second.
"Look, there's another opening." Darrah turns my attention towards the mountain. Slightly above the ground level, there's a cave opening.
"Last time we were in there, we were almost killed by an avalanche." I remind her.
"And if we don't do anything, we'll be almost killed by a Career." She rushes the mountain and starts scaling up to the opening.
"Come on…" I mutter under my breath as I quickly follow her up. I struggle to get a grip on the stone, my foot even slipping at one point, but with Darrah's help, I pull myself up and we enter the small opening.
We traverse the mountain, following the narrow path until it opens up into a larger cave.
"Did anyone see us?" Darrah asks me. I shake my head.
"I don't know. I don't think so. If they did, well, there's only one entrance to guard. We'll hear them coming." I take a seat against the wall. Darrah does the same but on the opposite side.
"I'm sorry. About Adelina. I wish…I wish I could've done more." Darrah says to me softly. I close my eyes. I thought my tears had tried out by now, but I guess I was wrong.
"Thank you. Me too." I say through the tears. I turn my head to the side.
That's when I see something I didn't notice when we first entered. A large box sitting in the back of the cave. I slowly get up and walk over to it.
"What?" Darrah gets up and stands behind me. As I get closer, I realize it's not a box, it's a chest. I slowly rub my hand across the wood and metal.
I open the chest. It's heavy, and it takes a hand from Darrah to help me get it open. Inside, an electrically lit candle, which tells me this is Gamemaker created. There's a large scroll, a rapier, and a small note affixed to the lid of the chest.
'Electra Shielle, you have been granted the role of pirate. The map in front of you will lead you to treasures beyond your wildest dreams. Use the weapon provided to assist you in your hunt.'
I slowly open the map. There are various areas circled, including the mountain, the forest to our south, the fortress, and in the manor next to the cornucopia. The fortress' circle is crossed out with an X. While examining the map, the mountain circle slowly fills in with an X as well.
"Isn't that where the Careers were? I'm surprised they haven't found it yet." Darrah points to the manor. I shrug.
"Maybe they haven't searched for it enough." My eyes scan the map, falling on the circle in the forest. "That seems like the best place to go, I think." I say hesitantly. Another two days in a safe haven would be remarkable. Plus, we don't want to stay in the mountain again. Not only because the last time we were in here it nearly crushed us, but because of our friends nearby.
"Yeah. Let's rest up first, head out first thing in the morning." Darrah suggests. The two of us take a seat side by side, spending a long time memorizing the map, which may in itself be more valuable than the treasure location.
"What kind of roles do you think the others have?" Darrah asks me. I shrug.
"No way to know. Just, stay on guard. I'm sure a lot of their roles are powerful. Deadly." I roll up the map and lean my head back against the cold dirt. Darrah sighs.
"I wonder if I'll get a role." She mutters to herself. She lays down on her back, and we return to our silence. I don't find sleep for a while, with my mind running wild, but when it finally comes, I only dream pleasant dreams of myself with Darrah and Adelina.
Seia Loam, 14, District 11
For the last two days, Nadia has spent every waking hour creating potions I didn't even know could possibly exist. A second night vision potion. A hydration potion. A hunger potion. Along with her plentiful bounty of ingredients, she has a whole book that lists these ingredients and the potions they can create.
For the last few days, she keeps telling me about the "cure" potion that her alchemy book mentions. Over and over again, she can't get it out of her head. Every time she tries, it doesn't work.
"Tainted blood. That's what I need…" I've heard her say over and over again. I don't know what that means. I don't think she does either. I don't dare ask.
"Don't waste everything. We don't know what we'll need later." I had to remind her over and over again.
"Can't you see? This is literally our ticket out of the arena. None of our remaining opponents will be able to get near us as long as I have a potion." Her grin stretches from ear to ear. I roll my eyes. Is she really this naive to think we're the only ones that have received a unique reward in this arena? At this point, every one else could have an even stronger, more powerful role.
Whatever. She'll learn soon enough.
Finally, I convinced her we can't rely on potions and actually need to go out and secure food. Finally, I manage to persuade her and today, we finally leave the safety of our mini basement and head outside to gather. We decided to hunt at night, knowing the odds of other tributes hunting at night are low. That, and we each have our own night vision potion, along with a variety of damage potions.
"Did you have anywhere in mind you wanted to check?" Nadia asks me with her arms crossed, clearly irritated I've pulled her away from this.
Even though 'no' is the truth, I refuse to admit this to her.
"I saw a series of houses hidden behind the dead forest. I doubt anyone has looted that area." I tell her. She looks uneasy. I drink a small bit of my vision potion, and within seconds, I can see everything as clearly as I can during the daytime.
"We have to go through the cornucopia. And we'll be near the poisoned fields. Maybe I can craft a resistance potion-"
"No! No more potions. Come on, let's go." I tell her, charging onward towards the forest. After a few seconds, I quickly glance over my shoulder to ensure Nadia is following. Thankfully, she is.
We walk in silence through the forest, hearing only the sounds of branches breaking under our shoes. About halfway through, I think I hear growling. I grab Nadia's wrist and we both come to a stop?
"What?" Nadia snaps at me. I hold my finger up to my mouth to shush her. She obliges, and together we listen. Silence…silence passes for many seconds. Seconds turn to minutes, and I see Nadia turn her head back towards me and open her mouth, as to either question or scold me, when another growl hits our ears.
We both jolt our heads around, using our night vision to see very well despite us being surrounded by trees at night. Despite this, neither of us seem to see anything.
"Let's run." Nadia suggests. I can already see her feet moving as I register her words and contemplate a response. Part of me wants to argue, to stay back and fight…whatever we hear. But the survival in me snaps into place, and I match Nadia's pace, if not passing it.
The growling follows us, and whatever it is, seems to be leaping through the trees above us. It's nearly impossible to tell with all the noise around us, but whatever's up there, isn't alone.
We reach the end of the lush forest and the beginning of the dead forest. We both look up and watch as something humanlike leaps from the trees and on top of me.
It knocks me out to the ground and we tussle, rolling on the ground, each trying to get the upper hand. I end up on my back, holding the creature at arms length.
It screams at me, showing me a full set of sharp fangs. Its face almost resembles a human…almost. If a human was grey, with pointed ears, wrinkled, almost leather-like skin, and a hunched back. It's like a creature from a kids folklore story. It snaps its fangs at me, again, and again, and again.
"Seia!" Nadia runs in with her knife and slashes at the creature. It jumps back and off of me, avoiding the strike and snarls at the two of us.
Another one jumps behind us and soon enough, we're surrounded by four of these creatures.
"What are they?" Nadia yells at me.
"I don't know! They're…they look like humans. But undead humans." As the creatures close in on us, I can see one of their faces is covered in blood. More specifically, their mouth.
"Vampires!" I yell just as one of the creatures jumps towards me again. I'm able to dodge this time, but not without stumbling into my ally. That triggers another creature to attack, and it gets a good scratch into Nadia's small bag, cutting off the handle and causing the bag to start to fall. She grabs it, pulling it towards her chest but dropping her knife in the process.
"Shit." I mutter as another one jumps at me, knocking me back on the ground.
"I can light them on fire!" Nadia yells, pulling out the red and orange tinted bottle.
"Wait!" I yell, rolling out of the way of another vampire leaping at me. I use all of my strength to push myself to my feet and grab my ally, pulling us both a safe distance away.
"Now!" I yell. She doesn't hesitate to throw the bottle at the four creatures. Within milliseconds, they light up in flames. Their screams cause us both to clasp our ears shut. The piercing sound is nothing like I've ever heard before. It's horrible.
They slash around and try to jump into trees, into the dirt, into each other to put out the fire, but the fire is stronger than they are and ends up dissolving them to mere ash within seconds. Silence fills the air for a few seconds before either of us release the grip on our ears. We look at each other, faces stone cold, until a smirk forms on her face. I can't help it. I burst into laughter, and she does the same.
"That was fucking amazing." I say to her, pulling her into a hug. She hugs me back.
"I told you so." She says, hugging me back.
"Yeah yeah, whatever." I push her away with a smile. I pick up her knife and pass it to her as she re-secures the strap onto her satchel.
That's when I see something I didn't notice during the scuffle. Two small puncture wounds, in between my pointer finger and my thumb. Now that I notice it, the pain starts sweeping through my hand and spreading across my arm. I wince.
"What?" Nadia comes over and takes a look. She holds my hand in her own. "Did it bite you?"
'I guess. I didn't even notice…" I say, first embarrassed, then scared. What does this mean for me? "Am I going to…"
"No. No, you'll be fine." Nadia places her other hand on top of mine. "The cure, the cure potion! Tainted blood! We have to get back." She gently pulls my arm, but I'm frozen. There's a million thoughts running wild in my mind, and I can't get a grasp on any of them. It's like all hope has been stripped away from me. Just another girl from Eleven, destined to die in the games. The little bit of relief I felt, the power I felt when we killed those creatures, none of it is worth a damn. This is how I die. How I was always supposed to die.
"Just leave me." I pull my arm out of hers. I take a step back, and wipe the tears away. "I'm going to die. I…I don't want to take you with me." I say. She closes the gap between us.
"No, you're not. You can cure yourself. I can cure you. I can't do it without you. Come on, don't give up. You're Seia freaking Loam, you're gonna let a…capital creation kill you? Yeah. I don't think so." She's quiet. I'm quiet. She shakes her head.
"What if it doesn't work?" I ask as the tears pour. I'm so scared. I've never been this scared.
"It will work." She holds her hand out in front of me again. This time, I take it.
We get back to the house and into the basement, and Nadia gets straight to work. She combines ingredients, crushing them up, mixing them up, like she's been doing this her entire life.
"How did you learn how to do this?" I ask.
"Oh…I've always been interested in this stuff, I guess. As I got older…I got more dedicated." The crack in her voice gives her away, but I'm not one to call it out.
Minutes turn into hours and she's still working. I ask her to take a break, to try again in the morning, but to no avail. And I can tell she's frustrated.
"Nadia." I say. She drops what she was working on and takes a seat on the bed next to me.
"I can't sit by and watch you die. I can't go through that again." She says, her eyes locked onto that table.
As time passes, I consider inquiring. But I refrain. I know it won't help us now. Nadia is just like me. Another unfortunate person born in a poor district. Like me. Like Jacaranda. Another life the Capitol is happy to take away.
The least I can do is make it harder for them. I take Nadia's hand.
"Rest up. Then we'll try again. You can teach me how to…make magic." I get a smile out of her. She nods.
It's not the most concrete plan, but it's better than nothing. And who knows, maybe if I do die, I can bite a Gamemaker on the way out.
Jade Hastings, 18, District 1
Ever since yesterday, I've stayed on the move. Moving throughout the woods, around the towns, staying away from the fields, the cornucopia, and the manor my old allies are likely still held up in.
I keep replaying that moment in my head, over and over again. The hurt on Marissa's face. The smirk on Taliesin's. A range of confusion from everyone else, starting with mild indifference to utter betrayal. After hours of complaining, Serenity told me that Tatiana and Henry saw me sabotaging some supplies…and that's why they assumed I was the one that killed Henry.
"I wouldn't sabotage myself like this." I would remind her every time she revealed new information to me. I know I shouldn't snap at her, but she makes it hard with her continuing to drag me down with accusations. Plus every time she tells me something else I was blamed for I just lose it.
I bet Rosaline is having a great time watching this unfold live. So much for bringing honor to my family. I'll be lucky if they welcome me to the District.
But if I win, I'll be able to watch the Games on replay. I can see who actually killed Henry. Who actually sabotaged the supplies. I know it wasn't me, which means, so does the audience….
"Whatcha thinking about there, huh? How to silently murder us both and get away with it…again?" Taliesin clicks his tongue at me.
"Go away." I clench my fist and walk further away from him. He follows me, words flowing out of his annoying mouth. Serenity keeps her distance, a bit of pity consuming her.
"Hm, no, I don't think I will. You lost that right when you murdered one of our own. Goodness Jade, he was from your home. You grew up with him. Imagine how his family feels." He's enjoying this too much.
"Which is why I didn't kill him. Get off my back." I snap, struggling to keep my composure.
"See how she treats us, Serenity? You know, we should just battle it out now. To prove who the real Career is." Taliesin loosely waves his dagger in the air. I smack it down with my own.
"Careful, your blade is probably still dull, from, you know, cutting all that rope and all those bandages. I bet you'd really like some of those bandages now, wouldn't you?" He taunts.
"Wait, how did you know that?" I ask. Taliesin snaps his head around, clearly forgetting she has been with us this entire time.
"What?" He asks like the idiot he is.
"How did you know what exactly I sabotaged? You weren't there. He wasn't there, right Serenity?" I ask. Serenity just shrugs me off.
"Henry told me. He saw, remember? That's why she killed him." Taliesin points his sword at me and again, I knock it down with my own.
"When did you talk to Henry? If I killed him after he saw me sabotage, when did you come in?" Taliesin shrugs.
"I'm sorry, I'll have to check my diary and get back to you." He spits on the ground next to me and walks ahead of us both. I've never seen him that…that flustered.
"He knows more than he's letting on." I tell Serenity, despite her still seeming unconvinced.
It doesn't matter what she thinks. Or what anyone thinks anymore. I know the truth. I know what I did and didn't do. And Taliesin won't take that away from me.
As the three of us continue to travel in silence, as I get lost in thought. I examine Taliesin from head to toe, trying to figure out how he's involved in this. Trying to figure out how I can use that to my advantage. And how, best of all, I can use it to take him down.
My thoughts lead nowhere as we sit to rest for the night. Serenity and I sit as far away from Taliesin as possible as he takes a seat, taking off his bag of supplies.
The sunlight hits it so perfectly it allows me to realize it's not a normal backpack or satchel, not like any bag in the arena has been carrying. It's almost like a briefcase he's rigged to carry on his back.
He tucks it under his head as he gets comfortable. I take a seat and lean back against the tree, pretending I too wish to get rest. Maybe if he thinks I'm asleep, he'll drop his guard for just long enough…
It takes hours, so long my body threatens to shut off without input from me, before I can hear Taliesin's gentle snoring. And doubly fortunate for me, Serenity managed to doze off when she was supposed to be watching.
Idiots. I think to myself as I carefully and silently traverse the branches on the ground until I'm within arms reach of Taliesin. He sleeps on his side, his back facing me, with half of his face hanging off the briefcase.
Shit. I can't move that without waking him.
I look around his person and around Serenity to see if there's anything at all I can use. Negative.
Taliesin lets out a loud snore and my heart jumps into my throat. I stay in my position, frozen, as he rolls completely off the case. For a few moments, I believe it's another one of his tricks, something else to try and catch me in this web of lies he's spun me in. But after another deep snore from him, I can only hope he's a horrible actor.
I slowly and quietly snap the clips up on the briefcase. I slowly lift it, revealing a small amounts of various clothes, makeup, wigs, all kinds of crazy things you'd never expect a tribute, especially a Career, to be carrying around.
When I see the hint of the blonde wig peeking through the other wigs, it dawns on me. It wasn't me sabotaging the supplies, or killing Henry. It was just someone who looked like me. Someone who was given the exact tools he needed to pull this shit off.
I slowly secure the top back on the briefcase and return to my tree. Of course it was Taliesin all this time, how could it not be?
It would be so easy to kill him now while he's sleeping, but if I do, Serenity will wake up and assume he was right about everything. But, if I can get us back to the Careers base, to where Marissa is, I can show them this disguise. I can explain what he did, and prove my own innocence. I'm sure no one will have a problem with me killing Taliesin after that…
My plan excites me so much I don't have an issue falling asleep this time.
AN: Another exciting day for our kids with a few surprises and touching moments. Did anything surprise you? Do you have any predictions for the next chapter? Who do you think will be the next to die? Let us know in your review! - Team Shadow
Roles
Serenity: Vigilante
Taliesin: Disguiser
Harrison: Vampire Hunter
Conrad: Guardian Angel
Nadia: Potion Master
Charon: Werewolf
Marissa: Ambusher
Eulogies
Day 1
24th: Ricky James (D9M) Killed by Serenity Jasper - decapitated.
23rd: 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.
Kill count
Jade: 1
Taliesin: 3
Marissa: 1
Heather: 1
Serenity: 1
Mutts/arena: 2