Verbena Grayzer,17, District 11 female
My face remains in the palm of my hands as I remain seated on the mattress, and all I can do is sit still. I still can't even fully process what just happened, one moment he was here…I told him my darkest secrets, he still accepted me and then almost immediately after, he's gone. I want this to be a nightmare, I want to wake up and see he's still here with me but…
I lift my head up from the palm of my hands staring at the large hole in the wall that I was kicked into, and I remember just how completely powerless I was against that knight Paisley had with her, even thinking about it makes my eyes swell up even more. It was only for a split second, but I saw her, and it looks like she was controlling the knight somehow.
This wasn't just a random kill for her, no this was a hit. She specifically showed up here just to kill him, and I need to know why… I need answers! I think of her and obviously on her own, she's no threat but that knight…It caught me completely off guard but with some prep time, I can probably figure out a way to disable it or at the very least separate her away from it.
"I must say, my feelings are a little hurt Verbena…" I hear a ghostly voice across from me and I slowly lift up my head to see Cronoso again...
"You can weep like that for some little kid you barley even knew, you fire a gun right into my head though, and you don't even bat an eye!" he shakes his head.
"Just go away…go away." I clutch my bed sheets tightly.
"This again? You know I'm here to stay Verbena, for as long as you're drawing breath atleast. Which likely won't be much longer if you go through with this." He snickers.
"What do I have to lose…is that supposed to terrify me?" I glare him.
"That knight did you a favor, You don't have to babysit that weak little boy anymore, but now you want to turn into a human martyr cause of this? You truly are ridiculous!" he scolds me.
"Shut the fuck up!" I yell out loud and throw my mace at him but it goes through him and slams against the wall, putting a sizable hole in it. Everyone can see me…everyone can hear me, they now see how screwed up I truly am but I slowly stand up from my bed and grab my mace looking at my reflection in it, and I'm barley recognizable. Kade…he made me feel human, he's no longer here now and I see what a monster I truly am.
"You don't need to hide anymore Verbena, take it off, take off your mask, show her and everyone else who you truly are…" I hear Cronoso but I can't see him anymore, show them who I really am huh…
I said before I wanted answers, and I am going to get them, I don't care how many bones I need to break in her little body, she will explain every little detail to me that I need to know. Kade she's not getting away with this, I promise you that!
Beauregard "Beau" Faran,17, District 7 female
I finish my bottle of water and just let it drop to the floor afterwards as I take a deep breath. Everything's been a little calm on my end, but just a little too calm…
There were two deaths yesterday which surprised me, but it was bound to happen with how quiet things has been here lately. Most of my injuries are healed up and other than a rat mutt or two showing up, I've been fine. If I stay in one room for too long, the ceiling begins to cover in black tar, but I can exploit this by switching rooms frequently. I'm still on the same floor that I've been on since the start of the games, this is where most of the gym equipment and locker rooms are and I'm camping out in one of the rooms here, thinking about life at home. I wonder what my brother Al is up to, Sylvan, Acacia and even Henry. He totally got stood up on this "date" he was taking me out on, and I start wishing I was a little bit more nicer to him. The only way I'm going to see any of them again however is if I win…and to win, these remaining 12 tributes in this arena with me needs to die.
I've already claimed a life and yeah I guess she did deserve it but even with all the training and preparations, looking at my hands that's still stained with some of her blood…it's tough, but this is the only way I'm going to be able to see Al and my friends again, I need to fight and I can feel like shit and cry about it when I'm on that Heli being flown back home but for now, I can't hold back, I can't allow my personal feelings to interfere with anything I have to do in this arena.
I hear a sudden crash against a wall outside of the room I'm in and I jump a little but quickly grab my axe I found in one of the rooms and listen intently as I hear panicked breathes.
"Beauregard…Beauregard are you here!?" I hear a familiar voice, is that Hyperion?
"I…I need your help!" his panicked breathes continue, he sounds like he's in trouble, but from who, or what?
I consider just staying in here but keep my axe close to me, peer out through the door and I see Hyperion who's literally drenched in blood, clutching a deep looking wound in his torso and there's drops of his blood being tracked on the floor. His skin is also pale and sweaty, he's not looking good…
"Hyperion, what the hell!?" I give him a puzzled look but he quickly stumbles towards me and trips into the room I'm in, grunting in pain as he clutches his wound.
"Close the door, hurry and close it!" he instructs me and I do as he says quickly slamming the door.
"Ok look, you're going to tell me what the hell Is going on!" I start losing my patience.
"I c-can explain later, look I need some supplies, you have anything? bandages, guaze, anything to slow the bleeding down?" he desperately asks me.
"What happened!?" I ask through gritted teeth.
"I don't have time to fucking explain!" he yells back but I quickly lift up my axe and he freezes in his tracks raising up one of his arms.
"Easy, easy! Look they bought the career pack from last year back, and one of them has been stalking me since! I got separated from my group and the room we were camping out in is overrun with these sludge looking monsters, the whole floor is flooded with them! I've been trying to hide from him, but he's keep finding me, and I can't beat him…" he pants heavily.
"Wait so you fucking come here to bring your problems to me!?" I snarl at him.
"It's not like that, it's not, I just need some supplies, that's all I need, please." He practically begs me, and I give him a conflicted look. The score is even now, actually the score is uneven, I did more for him than he ever did for me, I don't owe him anything and him being dead brings me one step closer to home, so why exactly should I help him?
"Beauregard!" he repeats but that's when I hear footsteps outside of the room with something that sounds like a sword dragging against the floor.
"Shit, he's here…" Hyperion panics.
"I told you Hyperion, you can't hide from me, you can run…but I'll always find you!" I hear a male's voice and a sword is suddenly pierced through the door several times and is finally kicked in. I quickly raise my axe as the assailant walks in and try to imbed it into his skull but he quickly weaves it and strikes my axe knocking it out of my hand then quickly aims his sword at my neck, aiming his other sword at Hyperion causing both of us to freeze and he's only calmy smiling
"Oh, so I see you had some company with you, hope I wasn't interrupting anything!" He taunts Hyperion still aiming his other sword at him.
"What do you want…" I ask him with the tip of his sword still pressed against my neck.
"Hyperion is all that matters to me, I will give you a chance to run away, but if you refuse, I'll just kill the both of you!" he warns me. I remember him, this is Amos Walton, one of the stronger careers and I certainly as hell don't need to be fighting him if I can avoid it.
"Beauregard don't listen to him, he's going to kill you anyways, help me take him down!" Hyperion pleads, but I think I've already made my decision.
"You run to the aid of a woman, who has nothing to do with this. You should be ashamed of yourself little man." Amos 'politely' scolds him but I start backing up towards the exit.
"No Beauregard, what are you doing!?" Hyperion panics.
"Look I'll leave ok, I don't want anything to do with this." I state and Amos' smile grows even brighter.
"Great choice, I'm proud of the decision you made! Now take this sword and make your exit!" he flips the sword he's aiming at my neck and the handle is now facing me. I already have an axe but why not have a sword too?
"Beauregard, no! Don't leave me here like this!" Hyperion begs, sorry Hyperion, but you're going to have to deal with this on your own.
I take the sword from his hand but that's when I feel a sudden sharp crushing pain through my chest, and I drop my axe but still manages to keep my grip on the sword.
"Noooo! Beauregard!!" Hyperion yells out loud and I try to cry out, but I feel fluid coming up my throat and I'm literally choking, but blood spurts out of my mouth as Amos is still grinning at me and look down to see the sword Amos was initially aiming at Hyperion is now through my chest, no…no way.
Using my willpower I try to shove the sword he just gave me through his torso but he simply only has to shift his body to the side and my sword completely misses and falls on the floor. Amos then turns his head to watch Hyperion grab the sword and stumbles out of the room before looking back over at me.
"W-why…" I manage to utter with even more blood spurting from my mouth.
"Don't feel bad, it was nothing personal, you're just collateral damage!" He whispers to me and he pulls the sword out of me causing me to fall to my knees as I cough out more blood, gasping for air but it hurts the more I breath, I…think he punctured my lung. I try to reach for my axe but Amos steps on it and I collapse on my torso as everything starts getting blurry. I can feel myself making inhumane breathing noises as my heart rate is getting faster and faster.
"You probably should've listened to him, but don't worry, I'm going to hunt him down and the both of you can reflect on this event in the afterlife." He taunts me, and I think of Al, Sylvan, Acacia and Henry as I take my last breathes and tears begin coming down my eyes, I failed you…I failed you all…
"You're taking too long to die, I'll put you out of your misery!" is the last thing hear before his sword cuts clean through my neck.
Nyx Nyctores,17, District 1 female
I wake up to a queasy feeling in my stomach and my eyes slowly open as I hunch over expecting to vomit, but nothing comes out.
"Nyx?" I hear Reyena.
"I'm ok." I assure her taking a deep breath.
"Alright…another cannon just fired off not too long ago." Reyena informs me and I give her a surprised look.
"Another one?" I ask.
"Yeah…just hope Caspian is alright, we need to find him." Reyena says with some clear concern.
"Well yeah, we need to find Hyperion too though…I just hope that cannon wasn't either of them." I mumble.
"Yeah me too…" I barley hear her as she has her knees against her chest, with her back against the wall. After our fights yesterday, we tried looking around for Hyperion and Caspian but we couldn't find them anywhere, just how far could they have went?
After searching for a little while we tried returning back to the teen's lounge but the floor is completely infested with those sludge monsters me and Reyena fought in the dorms, there's no way to navigate through that floor. Ever since then we've went to a different floor and just been taking shelter in a dining room, there was no food here but I've gotten a few sponsors since my reveal so me and Reyena at least had something to eat, but we're still worn out from yesterday.
If any of the careers had to find out about my pregnancy, then I'm glad it was Reyena. She checks on me occasionally, makes sure I'm ok, and I appreciate her company, she's starting to feel more like a sister than an ally.
"Alright Nyx, you got enough rest?" Reyena looks over at me as both of us are still sitting against the wall.
"Yeah I'm ok, let's go find our allies." I suggest and she nods before standing up and helping me up to my feet, where we both grab our weapons and exit the dining hall. Immediately from the corner of my eye I see a shadow of some sort, but I quickly spin around and nothing is there.
"You ok?" Reyena quickly asks.
"Y-yeah, just thought I saw something…" I continue looking in the direction I thought I saw something in.
"I didn't notice anything, let's start heading towards the staircase, keep your eyes in back of us and I'll look ahead." She instructs me and I quickly nod.
"Alright got it…" I agree with her and we press on, I do as she says and frequently look behind me, but nothing looks out of the ordinary.
"So should we head upstairs or downstairs?" Reyena asks but I'm just as clueless as her, This arena is just so large, you have almost no hope of reuniting with your allies if you happen to get separated from them.
"Not really sure…I expected Caspian and Hyperion to at least be close by…let's try upstairs." I suggest as we start getting closer to the staircase.
"Yeah I know, they could've encountered trouble though, especially Hyperion." Reyena moves a strand of hair away from her eye and I turn around but gasp out loud.
"What-" Reyena turns around but we both see it, There's someone down the hall staring at us and it looks like they're holding a scythe of some sort. I can't see who it is because they're shrouded in darkness, it's definitely a female though.
"Who is that?" Reyena mumbles but the shadowy figure begins walking closer to us, and I can swear I hear creepy chuckling coming from her, I'm getting some bad vibes here…
"Reyena…we should go." I suggest to her.
"What do you want?" Reyena confronts the figure and seemingly ignores me.
"Look Spectra…we found two more guests, don't scare them away ok?" I hear whispering in the distance, Spectra?
"Reyena, we should run!" I suggest to her again.
"She'll just continue following us, cover me Nyx." Reyena orders as she readies her trident and the shadowy figures continues walking towards us but some of the lightning from the window begins reflecting on her and I see who it is, it's Emmerane, that creepy girl from district 3 and she's doing a grin that's sending chills down my spine.
"Back up!" Reyena warns Emmerane but Emmerane continues inching closer with her scythe.
"Is that how you speak to a friend cutie pie?" Emmerane does an exaggerated sad face.
"Don't recall ever agreeing to be your friend, now once again back up." Reyena warns her again but Emmerane seems completely unfazed.
"But why? I'm having a very special party and I just so happen to have two more spots open, isn't it just so convenient that we encounter each other?" she does some puppy eyes but it makes her look even more terrifying..
"Not interested, now last chance to back up and go away. We got you outnumbered." Reyena bluntly warns Emmerane who only starts chuckling even more.
"Sorry honey bun, but Spectra doesn't take no for an answer!" and she suddenly launches at Reyena with blinding speed and Reyena narrowly manages to block her attack but stumbles back. I rush at Emmerane and try slashing her neck with my sword but she quickly smacks my sword away with her scythe and kicks me in the torso knocking me to the floor. Ryena quickly rushes at her and tries shoving her trident into Emmerane's torso but Emmerane smacks the top of the trident down with her scyhte lowering it to the floor, steps on it and quickly elbows Reyena in the face, causing her to gasp and fall flat on her back.
Reyena quickly kicks Emmerane in the torso though sending her crashing against the wall stunning her for a moment as she drops her weapon and I use this opportunity to rush at her and try punching her but she grabs my arm and slams me against the wall kneeing me hard in the torso causing me to grunt out loud and she smacks me across the face knocking me on my side again.
Reyena let's out an angry growl and charges at Emmerane trying to punch Emmerane but Emmerane blocks it with her forearm and Reyena quickly does a side kick to Emmerane's torso causing Emmerane to grunt out loud as she stumbles a little but quickly recovers to catch Reyena's punch and grabs Reyena's head trying to slam it against the wall but Reyena plants her foot against the wall, quickly slams the back of her head hard into Emmerane's nose and I hear a crack followed by a pained groan from her and Reyena quickly drives her body against Emmerane's slamming her hard against the wall.
I use this opportunity to jump back up to my feet, grabbing my sword and Reyena tries to slam the back of her head into Emmerane's again who now has a busted nose but she moves her head to the side and Reyena's head slams hard into the wall causing her to groan in pain, Emmerane then uses this opportunity to grab Reyena's head and puts her in a chokehold but while she's distracted trying to choke out Reyena I quickly try to pierce my sword through her abdomen but she instead spins around and my sword pierces Reyena through her abdomen instead causing her to cry out in pain and I gasp out loud, oh no Reyena!
Emmerane takes advantage of this and slams Reyena's face hard into the wall knocking her out cold and in a panic I swing my sword at Emmerane's neck but she ducks under it and her head pops back up causing me to swing at her neck again and she weaves it again and uses my momentum against me catching me in a chokehold and knocks the sword out of my hand. I start struggling and kick her in the knee cap causing her to wobble a bit and I throw my body into hers trying to slam her into the wall but she quickly spins around at the last moment and my face crashes against the wall instead stunning me and I feel Emmerane's choke tightening around my neck as everything is getting blurry, but I still struggle.
"Shhhh shhhh, go to sleep my precious little angel, go to sleep, I'll take great care of you!" she whispers in my ear and her voice sounds both haunting and soothing but I feel myself losing consciousness and as a last ditch effort I try pulling her hair but she only lets out a low grunt and squeezes my neck even harder, causing me to black out.
Reyena Shore,16, District 4 female
"Wake up, wake up my little angels…" I hear a haunting voice singing and I can hear myself let out a low groan.
"Come on my little angel, Spectra doesn't like sleepy heads." The voice continues singing and I begin opening my eyes but the first thing I see is Nyx who seems to be coming to her senses. sitting right across from me completely strapped down In a chair and I try moving, but I realize I'm also completely strapped down with both my arms and legs tightly wrapped by rope, the room we're in resembles something that a child's playhouse would look like as theres shelves of toys, stuffed animals and walls decorated with the hand writing of children.
I quickly look over at Emmerane who's only grinning while she's spinning what looks like vial in between her hands. What the fuck, she actually got the better of us and now we're completely in her mercy…
I feel a stinging pain and that's when I see a large spot of blood on my shirt with a sizable hole in it, i remember right before I blacked out, Nyx accidently stabbed me, I don't think the wound is that deep, but it still hurts…
"What is this, what are you doing?" I give Emmerane a weary look but she does a ballerina like spin before pulling up a chair and sits infront of us. I sense nothing but death on this girl, shit I need to find a way out of here!
"Ughh, what's going on…" I hear Nyx groan.
"What the…what the hell!" I hear her begin to panic as she realizes she's trapped.
"Good, good! Both of you are finally awake! Yay!!" Emmerane cheers and claps her hands together.
"What do you want? Let us go!" I hopelessly protest.
"Maybe if the two of you cooperated, you might have some room for negotiating sweetheart, but you two have been very, very naughty, and Spectra doesn't take very kindly to very naughty little girls such as yourselves." she crosses one leg over the other continuing to roll the vial around her hand.
"What is wrong with you!?" Nyx asks in a trembling tone.
"Sweety pie, I think you should be more worried about, what is wrong with the both of you." She counters and me and Nyx looks at each other for a moment, what is she talking about?
"What do you mean?" I speak up and she inches her face closer to mines continuing to do that creepy grin.
"You know your skin, it looks so tender, how do you manage to tend to it so well?" she whispers in my ear, but I really don't know how to respond to that, this girl is insane!
"L-leave her alone!" I hear Nyx.
"Don't want to answer, understandable, we can't all share our little secrets can't we!" she whispers in my ear and I suddenly feel her tongue licking the side of my face causing my entire body to involuntarily shiver in both fear and disgust.
"Ahhhh! Get the fuck away from me you creepy bitch!" I shriek out loud trying to free myself from these ropes, but there's no way I'm getting out of this.
"You are just so adorable, if only you were nicer, I could've kept you as my little teddy bear." She tickles my chin but I pull my face away from her as my lips tremble and I can feel my eyes start to water.
"Please, just let us go, we'll go our separate ways and you won't have to see us ever again!" Nyx pleads but I only hopelessly hold my head down as tears begin falling down my eyes, it's pointless, this is the hunger games, we're not all going to be walking away from this alive, I just wish Caspian was here, I don't know what kind of this training this girl has been through but she's clearly much more skilled than us and I think he's the only one who can possibly bring her down, where are you Caspian!?
"OK you two adorable little munchkins, I have to make a very important confession to the both of you!" Emmerane spins out of her chair and starts spinning around the room like a ballerina, it will almost look amazing if it wasn't my killer doing this…
"W-what confession?" Nyx hesitantly asks.
"I'm glad you asked beautiful! Now since you two were very naughty, Spectra got really upset and let's just say, she Injected the both of you with a poison, you probably don't feel anything yet, but it's a rather fast acting one and you'll both be dead within a few hours!" she casually informs us and my eyes widen while I hear Nyx gasp, wait we're…we're poisoned?
"We're poisoned? What? What are you talking about!?" Nyx understandably panics.
"Yes you two have some pretty heavy poison flowing through your veins right now and it's all your fault! All you had to do was come with me, we would've had some tea, some pastries, could've talked about girl stuff like our favorite panties to wear or our favorite windows to peep on and you would've both been on your way, but wait, there is no reason to panic just yet!" she states.
"No reason!? There's poison inside of us!" Nyx shouts at her.
"True, but I gave Spectra a good scolding and I even went out of my way to find some ingredients to create an antidote for the poison, it's amazing the kind of things you can find in that chemistry lab downstairs!" she grins while showing both of us that vile from earlier that contains a purple liquid, is this the antidote?
"An antidote, so that means you can cure us, what do we need to do!?" Nyx quickly asks in a shaky tone, I can understand her desperation, it's not just her life at stake here, but her baby too…
"Well obviously, that's what an antidote is right honey bun? However I'm afraid I also have some bad news, you see, I only found enough ingredients to create one so that unfortunately means one of you will have to die, and no the antidote can't be shared otherwise the dosage wont be strong enough to cure the poison" she reveals and I feel my heart skips a beat as I slowly raise my head back up and I see Nyx returning the same blank look that I'm giving her right now, she planned this all out, this fucking bitch, this really is all a game to her! something like this happened in the last games too, shes going to try and get us to turn on each other, but i know what must be done.
"Reyena…" Nyx trembles but I try to give her a brave look.
"It's going to be ok Nyx…" I try to assure her but I can't even convince myself of that…
"It's not going to be my choice who gets the antidote though, nope that'll be up to you two! The one who drinks the antidote will be free to leave while the other, of course dies so I'll give you two a moment to discuss it while I eat one of my pastries. I am quite a klutz though so you may want to come to a decision quickly before I 'accidently' drop the antidote." She teases us and dances off to the table on the far end of the room that has a few different pasties and a porcelain teapot, the only way she could've gotten this was through sponsors, there's some sick fuck out here actually cheering her on and supporting her.
"What are we going to do Reyena?!" tears are literally streaming down Nyx's eyes right now, the longer we wait, the more danger her baby is in, and I grit my teeth as I think of my sisters and my parents, how badly I want to see them again but…I won't ever be able to forgive myself if I took the antidote for myself, effectively killing Nyx and her child.
"You're going to be ok Nyx, alright?" I again try to assure her but she shakes her head as more tears come down her eyes.
"No, there must be a way both of us can get out of this, there has to be, let's just think of something, anything!" her voice cracks and I try thinking of everything i could, but there's no way me and her can walk out of this…
"Nyx…you're going to take this antidote, and you're going to survive this…" I sternly tell her but she shakes her head.
"There has to be another way. Reyena, let's just-" she begins.
"There isn't!" I yell much louder than I meant to and she even jumps a little but I feel immediate regret, I'm going to die…I'm going to be dead in a matter of hours, all my promises…all the vows I made, they're just going to be empty, I'm going to be empty, it's so overwhelming just envisioning this...
"I'm sorry Nyx, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell at you…I'm just scared, I don't want to die…" I apologize to her as more tears come down my eyes.
"Then let's think Reyena, we can figure something out…" she tries to convince me but I lightly shake my head, there is no other way, and that's just the harsh reality of it all.
"We made a decision…" I announce to Emmerane who is just casually eating her pastries, drinking her tea and she excitedly jumps out of her seat and spins her way over to us.
"Reyena…" Nyx cries.
"Well that was pretty fast, you two darlings have come to a decision?" she grins, while licking some glaze off her fingers.
"…Give Nyx the antidote." I hang my head down.
"Hmmmm…are you sure, you know you're going to die a rather painful death right?" she asks me in a sinister tone and I have to use all of my will power to not envision suffering as I succumb to this poison that's already flowing through me.
"Give her the antidote…" I repeat glaring Emmerane as I fight through my tears.
"Reyena..." I hear Nyx cry.
"Hmmm alright then, if you say so!" Emmerane pulls out the vial and turns to Nyx.
"Nyx, when you leave from here, find Caspian ok? I know he's still alive, I know he's still out there and he will keep you safe, and…let him know that l…lo- that I said he was an amazing man, the most amazing man I've ever met…" my voice cracks and Nyx nods as she sniffs several times with her tears falling on the floor.
"I will Reyena, I promise you that!" she vows to me.
"Awww what a touching little moment here between two strong and sexy women, now Nyx, I just need you to open your mouth. I'm sure you're already quite familiar with opening your mouth for foreign objects to enter it, so this won't be any different!" Emmerane giggles holding the vial close to Nyx's mouth and she gives Emmerane a disgusted look before slightly opening her mouth where Emmerane proceeds to pour the liquid down her mouth and that's it, my faith is officially sealed…
"Wasn't so bad right? Now as I promised, I'm going to untie you, you're free so you can go find your hero Caspar or whatever his name is, and don't try anything naughty ok? I will prefer to have atleast one of you walk out of here alive." She warns Nyx with a bright smile on her face and Nyx hesitantly nods.
"Good then!" Emmerane jumps up in excitement and proceeds to untie Nyx freeing her from the chair and Nyx slowly stands from the chair and gives Emmerane a horrified look but I'm praying she doesn't try anything, I'm already dead, she doesn't need to be reckless and get herself killed as well.
"You're free to go, but if you want to, you can have a seat with me and watch your cute friend here die a very horrififying death!" Emmerane offers pointing to the table with tea and pastries but Nyx instead runs into me and gently throws her arms around me hugging me tightly, I wish I could hug her back as she sobs into my shoulder.
"You'll be ok Nyx, you will, just remember to do as I said ok?" I tell her with my shaky voice and raises up her head to look at me but nods.
"You're my best friend Reyena, my best friend, no you're more than that, you're my sister!" she confesses to me and hugs me again, and I just want to stay in her arms.
"You're my sister too Nyx…now go." I feel my body tremble and my entire face is soaked in my tears at this point but she eventually releases her grasp on me. she gives me another hesitant look and does a faint nod and begins walking towards the door but Nyx suddenly clutches her stomach and groans in pain.
"Nyx? Nyx!!" I yell and she falls to her knees still clutching her stomach but Emmerane starts giggling.
"What's going on!? What did you do to her!?" I quickly shout at Emmerane but she only continues giggling as she lets the empty vial drop to the floor, shattering into pieces.
"Nyx! What the fuck did you do to her!" I yell at Emmerane trying to free myself from the chair and Nyx's pained cries grow even louder as she falls on her side and her body begins twisting in a bunch of unusual angles, Nyx!
"Hehehehe you two were never poisoned in the first place, I lied ofcourse! What Nyx just ingested wasn't an antidote, but a very strong acidic poison that I created myself, it works rather quickly too, it's painful, but she'll be dead within a few minutes!" Emmerane happily cheers and I see Nyx is now foaming from the mouth and beginning to convulse.
"No! No! You have to help her! You have to help her, she's pregnant, she's pregnant!!" I cry out and this even seems to surprise Emmerane a little as her smile slowly begins fading away as she looks over at the struggling Nyx but returns back to that unnerving grin as she looks back over at me.
"Is she now? Well doesn't that just make things so much more tragic?" She taunts me.
"Save her! Do something, she's going to die, please!" I beg Emmerane but Nyx is continuing to convulse as her mouth is foaming and blood is seeping from both her eyes and her nose.
"Her pain will be over soon...unfortunately." Emmerane calmly states and I scream as loud as I can trying to free myself from the chair but it's no use, i can't do anything, I'm just so useless right now!
The foam from her mouth is now quickly turning red as it's mixing with her blood and blood continues pouring out of her eyes, nose and her body continues convulsing but it slowly comes to an end as her body lays on the floor limp and a loud cannon fires off, signaling her death.
"No! Nooo! Get up Nyx…Get up!!" I cry out to Nyx but her body remains on the floor, completely devoid of life, and Emmerane swoops over to me.
"I'm going to kill you!" I cry still trying to free myself from the chair.
"That must've been really hard to watch for you, that actually was quite unpleasant, especially considering she had a bun in the oven but c'mon, how irresponsible could she be? She couldn't wait until she was like 30 before she had guys shooting their baby batter inside of her?" she mocks Nyx.
"Shut up! I'm going to fucking kill you I swear!" I curse at her, tears streaming down my eyes, Nyx, I just watched her die right in front of me and it's partially my fault, I should've knew this was all a trick, I should've known!
"C'mon, I know it's terrible she died, well to you atleast, but lighten up! you get to live for now, you get to see Caspar or whatever his name is and tell him what an 'amazing' man he is!" she chuckles.
"How fucking heartless can you be! Killing her in cold blood like that, she was like my sister, she was my sister...and you killed her!!" I cry out.
"Are you really that much different from me, Mrs. Career?" she gets in my face but I spit in her face and it seems to surprise her a little but she wipes the spit off of her face with a handkerchief before letting it fall to the floor.
"I'm nothing like you, you sick bitch!" I growl at her.
"Cute and ferocious little cub are you? I'm going to knock you out now, but when you wake up, you'll be free, enjoy it while you can." She belittles me and before I can react, feel a powerful blow against my head, that knocks me out...
Hunter Skype,18, District 12 male
"Fucking bitch Arrrghhhh!!!" I curse in pain as I use a knife to dig a bullet out of my abdomen and the blood covered bullet falls to the floor. I then toss the knife on the counter breathing heavily resting my head against the wall as my abdomen continues pulsing with pain. On the floor of the bar I'm in in are numerous cloths covered in my blood as I tried using them to cover the gaping hole in my lower abdomen to stop the bleeding but this wound refuses to stop bleeding and I fall to my knees, panting and cursing under my breath.
The bitch shot me, she actually fucking shot me! I thought she was just bluffing at first but once I saw she was serious I rushed at her, I twisted my body a little as I knew she was trying to aim for a vital and initially I didn't feel anything, I was even starting to think she missed as I proceeded to stomp her face into oblivion killing her, just like I said I would do, no pain I've ever felt comes even close to what I'm feeling right now. This is not going to stop me though, it's not! I slowly stand up from my knee and continue resting against the wall continuing to curse in pain, the most I can do is clean the wound with water and use the cloths here to slow down the bleeding but I don't have any medical supplies, I'm just going to have to tough it out, like I've always done!
"Well, looks like I finally found someone worth fighting…" I hear a deep unfamiliar voice behind me and I turn around to see what looks like the district 6 male from last year, Vlad something and he's holding a scyhte in his hand, heh I remember this punk, he only fought the fights he knew he could win, and ended up being killed by his junkie district partner, pretty pathetic if you ask me.
I clutch my torso for a moment as I grit my teeth glaring him, I'm assuming he's a mutt created back at the capitol, nothing these idiots do surprise me.
"Heh, you little punk, you got some nerve, coming here after getting slaughtered by some drug addict." I growl at him but this only seems to anger him as he steps torwards me, he may have been one of the biggest tributes in the arena last year but I got a couple of inches on him and he's much thinner than me, this'll be an easy fight.
"Some tough talk coming from you, I can see just how much pain you're in though, let's hope it doesn't slow you down too much, I want to have a little fun after all!" He glares me and suddenly swings his scythe at me and I try weaving it but it still manages to dig into my shoulder and I grunt in pain backing up and quickly grab my sword next to me. He lunges at me again and I slam my sword into his scythe as he prepares another attack and my strength advantage causes him to stumble back a little. I quickly slam my sword against his scythe again causing him to stumble back against the wall and he recklessly swings his scythe at me as I try blocking it with my sword but both of our weapons go flying out of our hand.
I quickly grab his neck afterwards slamming him against the wall as he grunts and punch him across his jaw causing him to wobble but he returns a punch to my jaw and I grunt a little but head butt him In his face causing him to drop to his knee but he jumps back up and uppercuts me in my gunshot wound causing me to curse in pain as I stumble backwards. He then quickly launches a hook to my face, followed by another hook and finishes It off with an uppercut causing me to grunt in pain, biting down on my tounge hard as I sprawl against the wall stunned and Vlad quickly wraps my head in between his arms squeezing my neck and begins kneeing me in my wound as pain shoots through my body and I let out a pained roar as I use my strength to lift up Vlad while he's still squeezing my neck and slam him into the counter causing him to groan in pain and release his grasp on me.
I grab a bottle of booze and shatter it on his face causing him to curse aloud and he grabs the knife I had sitting on the counter and manages to etch it into my arm causing me to winch in pain and he tries stabbing me again but I manage to smack the knife out of his hand and quickly land a hammerfist on his nose shattering it as blood literally explodes from his nose and he lets out a pained roar. He quickly kicks me in my wound again causing me to curse out in pain and breaks a bottle of booze over my head causing me to stumble back against the wall again.
Some of the booze and glass goes into my eye temporarily blinding me and I feel a chair slam into the side of my head and i let out a loud grunt falling to my knee stunned, and Vlad uses this opportunity to break another chair over my head causing me to grunt again falling onto my torso and I try making it back to my feet but Vlad kicks me in the side of my face, knocking me back down to the floor as I pant heavilly. Dammit, for the time ever, I'm losing, I'm losing a fight. I think of my brothers back at home, how much they're counting on me, Wyatt, I'm not letting you down!
I slowly try making my way back up to my feet but I suddenly feel the handle of Vlad's scythe squeezing against my neck as he begins strangling me with it. I feel It pressing against my throat and I use my weight to slam Vlad back into the wall as he grunts in pain but he's still strangling me with his scythe, I then wrap both my hands around the handle and begin slowly lifting up the scythe overpowering Vlad using all of my strength, I'm nowhere near my full strength right now, but I still have enough!
I manage to overpower Vlad and completely lift the scythe over my head and turn around smashing my face into his stunning him then use this opportunity to shove the scythe up his torso and Vlad's eyes widen in both pain and shock as he roars out in pain. I'm panting heavilly as I can feel a large gash on the side of my head from the chair shot earlier and can taste blood in my mouth that's also coming down my nose.
"So did you have enough fun!?" I ask through gritted teeth and don't even give him a chance to answer before using my strength to pull the scythe upwards further slicing his body open and he let's out an inhuman groan as blood pours down his mouth and his intestines begin falling out of his body before I pull the scyhte out of his body allowing him to fall to his knees. I don't waste any more time and quickly slice the scythe through his neck completely beheading him and I let out a a loud roar in the air.
"No ones going to fucking stop me, no one!!" I yell in the air, but once I let that out I fall back to my knees as the adrenaline starts wearing off panting heavilly. I'm hurt, there's no denying that, but I'm going to win these games, I'm going to win, and theres not a damn thing anyone can do about it!
Paisley Stitchel,15, District 6 female
I gaze at the dried blood of Kade on the knight's sword as he stands in the doorway of the market I'm hiding out in guarding me and all I can really do is sit against the wall with my knees against my chest, only staring. I'm still in shock over what happened yesterday, I knew what I was getting myself into but, my gosh just watching Kade get torn in half like that, that's an image I'll never unsee. I killed someone, I…I actually took a life and for what, just to see Hayden again? Is that what all of this was for?
I haven't even opened up my book since the events that took place yesterday, I'm traumatized by what happened but I'm also upset with myself…because I feel like I'm losing myself, like I don't even know what I am, or what I'm becoming. I gaze at my book and see some of Kade's blood is still on there, I became a monster, just to see Hayden again but if Hayden finds out what I've done to see him again, he'll be so upset with me, but I have to face him…I have to face Hayden.
I hesitantly open up my book and my hand trembles as I hold my pen over it.
"Hi." I jot down in my book.
"Hello Paisley,are you ready to have a desire granted?" the book asks and I bite down on my lower lip as I envision Hayden.
"Yes, I'm ready to see Hayden." I jot down and my text remains on the book longer than I expect but it finally starts fading away.
"That is beyond my power." The book responds and my eyes widen, what is this book talking about? I did what it asked!
"What are you talking about, I got you a vessel! Why can't you bring him back!?" I quickly scribble into my book.
"It's not that I can't bring him back, but it appears there's an obstacle in the way preventing me from doing so."
"And what is that? Get to the point!" I scribble and I can feel my eyes swelling up from the anger I'm feeling right now.
"It appears I cannot bring Hayden back as long as the person responsible for his death is still among the world of the living, that particular person will have to cease life before I can completely bond Hayden's soul to the vessel." The book announces and I immediately envision Hunter's grinning face, Yeah Hunter is still alive, and he's the one directly responsible for Hayden's death, this may not be so bad afterall, I can kill two birds with one stone.
"So you're telling me, all I need to do is kill Hunter and you can bond Hayden's soul to the vessel?" I write.
"That is correct." The book immediately responds.
"I don't want anymore excuses after this? You understand me? Once I kill Hunter, I don't want anymore stories, you bring Hayden to me once Hunter is dead!" I scribble.
"Understood, you will have your desire to see Hayden granted as long as Hunter Skype is deceased, whether it's by your hands or through other means." The book responds, but I know exactly what I'm going to do, this is my chance to fully avenge Hayden. I begin walking towards my knight and it turns around to face me, as it's waiting for me to give it any instructions and I lay my hand on it's sturdy armor as it continues facing me. I have the power to destroy any tribute in this arena, why not use it to eliminate one of the biggest pieces of filth in this world?
"I desire to have Hunter's location on my map." I write down in my book.
"Understood, your desire has been granted." The book announces and I look at my map to see it's now displaying the location of Hunter, who looks like he's staking out in a bar, good that's all I need to know.
I look back up at my knight who is still facing me and I can't help but feel safe, My knight won't fail me, he'll remain with me and guide me to the light and Hunter, I wont hold back, all of the pain you've put me and the others through, you will feel every ounce of our pain as my knight is ripping you limb by limb, and that time is coming sooner than you think!
15th place-D12F Annabeth Gordon, Trampled to death by D12M Hunter Skype:
Annabeth you were such a sweet, loving, caring girl and you didn't deserve any of the horrible things that happened to you. Losing your bestfriend, being in the cross hairs of the biggest bully in your district and suffering a multitude of different injuries and traumatizing events because of it. i feel so bad putting you through so much but you never broke Annabeth. You cried, you weeped, you suffered but in the end it gave you courage to stand up to Hunter and you managed to put the first real dent in the armor of this seemingly invincible killing machine that is Hunter. R.I.P. Annabeth, you will be with Emmett and the both of you can fly together!
13th Place- D7F Beauregard Faran, impaled by Amos Walton:
Beauregard, you were such a badass woman that can kick major ass, and I swear you likely would've been the victor if you were submitted in my last story instead of this one. There's alot of very strong tributes this year so It was pretty difficult to make you stand out from the rest of them at times but none the less, you proved that you can hang in there with the top dogs. You were right in the sense that you didn't owe Hyperion anything and ironically that is what lead you to your own downfall. R.I.P. Beau and Al and the rest of your friends are going to be devastated but you can rest well knowing Al is in good hands!
12th Place-D1F Nyx Nyctores, succumbed to poisoning inflicted by D3F Emmerane Vestrat:
Quite possibly the most shocking death this chapter, Nyx wow, where do I even begin? This was essentially the percect storm for you, like literally almost anything that could've possibly went wrong for you, happened and because of this, despite being a skilled career, you were never able to fight to the best of your ability due to your pregnancy, injuries and the emotional trauma of watching your brother and your hero being brutally beaten to death before your very own eyes. I enjoyed your interactions with Caspian, Reyena and the two of you bonded to the point where you considered each other family and I feel so horrible for killing you in such a horrific way but this essentially shows you just how cruel Emmerane and the games can be in general. theres no discriminating in the arena and Nyx, R.I.P. where you will be reunited with your brother and hero, Nox
OK guys, another action packed chapter and this slew of deaths brings us to the final 11! Things are going to be moving at a very quick pace from here as we're quickly approaching the final act so brace yourself, the madness hasn't quite yet ended! Thank you for all your amazing reviews, support and the next chapter will be here soon. I know I haven't done this in a while but below will be a list of the remaining alliances/tributes left in the arena! There will also be a number next to their name, indicating the amount of kills they currently have, See you guys soon with the next chapter, till next time!
The Careers- Hyperion Corvinus(0), Reyena Shore(1), Caspian Delamar(1)
Fragile Promises- Elsie Pengrove(0), Harlan Ryeson(0)
Flashy Miracles- Genevieve Altruzara(0) Acer Deluca(0)
Loners- Emmerane Vestrat(2), Paisley Stitchell(1), Verbena Grazer(0), Hunter Skype(5)