Elsie Pengrove,14, District 9 female
I continue staring at the ceiling trying to ignore Harlan's hoarse and pained breathes but I can't…
We managed to escape from Hunter thanks to Annabeth holding him at gunpoint and we heard the loud gunshot along with the cannon that went off. I prayed that she got Hunter but, I just knew deep down inside that he found a way to survive. He put her through so much, so much and yet he's still the one that remains standing in the end, it's not fair...it's just not fair.
I hear Harlan wheezing as he struggles to breathe laying on a sheet as I sit over him, I wish there was more I can do, we have a first aid kit and some water but his body constantly rejects the water, his body is literally shutting down... Ever since we got away from Hunter, we've been hiding out in a theater on a stage behind the curtains, there wasn't much here, but it seemed to be a decent enough hiding place.
Very soon, I really am going to be all alone, Harlan is going to be leaving me at any moment and it just terrifies me, especially when I realize I'm arguably the weakest tribute here, I don't know, I don't know how I can possibly win this.
"E-Elsie…" Harlan weakly calls to me.
"Harlan…" my voice cracks.
"I'm going to be letting go soon…I can't fight it anymore." He mutters in an almost inaudible tone.
"I'm going to be alone…I'm going to be by myself…i…I… don't want you to leave." tears roll down my eyes and he makes a choking sound like he's trying to cry but doesn't even have enough strength to do so.
"You're in the final stretch Elsie…you can win this, just believe in yourself…" he tries to encourage me but I think of all of the other tributes, I doubt I can beat any of them in a fight, I can probably outrun some of them, but I can't run forever…
"I can't…" I sob and he manages to lift his hand towards my face but his hand begins falling and I catch it, it's so cold, like blood is barley flowing through it...
"All you have to do is try…if not for yourself…then do it for Cassidy, you can do that right Elsie?" he weakly asks and I think about my sister back at home, she's already going to be devastated enough with Harlan gone, I can't die too, no I can't put her through this, even if it seems impossible, I have to find some way to win!
"I will…I'll do this for Cassidy…" some of my tears fall on his hand and he does a weak nod as a tear rolls down his eye.
"Thank you Elsie…" he mumbles as his breathing becomes more hoarse.
"I…I don't know what's on the other side Elsie…and that's what scares me. Some people say they see a light when the end is near but, I don't see anything…is that what's on the other side, nothing?" more tears come down his eyes and I look up at the ceiling.
"I don't know Harlan…I wish I knew…" I sniff.
"If there's any part of me that remains alive after this Elsie then I promise you, I will be by your side, I'll be with you and Cassidy..." I feel his grip weakening on my hand, until it lifelessly falls onto the floor.
"Harlan…' I call to him as his breathing ceases and a loud cannon fires off, that's when reality hits me, Harlan…he's gone.
I feel my lips quivering as I look down at his lifeless body, his pain and suffering now over, and he can finally rest…
I cross his hands over his chest and rest my face between my hands sobbing, I don't have anyone to help me anymore, it's everyone for themselves now and if I want to win, then I'm going to have to fight…
I hear sudden quick footsteps as I hear the door to the theater open and my heart jumps as my head quickly rises from my hands. My first thought is to jump to my feet and try to hide somewhere but my body is literally frozen as I hear troubled and frantic breathes and the curtains suddenly open where I see Hyperion, who appears to be heavilly wounded as he's panting heavily and sweating profusely struggling to hold his sword and we gaze at each other in shock for a moment. he then looks down at Harlan realizing he's dead and looks back over at me. Hyperion… he tried killing me and Annabeth in the bloodbath and he would've succeeded had it not been for Harlan, Harlan is no longer here though…
"Give me that first aid kit, hurry and give it to me or I'll fucking kill you where you sit!" he threatens me pointing his sword at me and I frantically obey him, grabbing the first aid kit and sliding it over to him as he removes his shirt, revealing a deep wound on his torso and he has several other light wounds and bruises on him, who could've done this to him?
He continues panting heavily and falls to his knee as he winces in pain clutching his torso and I start inching my way towards the curtains as I'm ready to break into a full sprint, he's hurt badly, I can probably outrun him, he's most likely going to kill me if I don't.
He seems to notice I'm trying to escape though and glares me.
"Don't you even fucking think about it, you wanna live? help me out then, open up that bottle of antiseptic and pour it on my wound!" he orders me as he opens the kit and starts unrolling the bandages and I gulp as I shakily remove the bottle of antiseptic from the kit and hesitantly begin applying some to his wound as he curses loud in pain.
"Shit…dammit!!" he grits his teeth together and I remain frozen, not knowing what to do next but he glares me after as I tremble.
"You're just gonna fucking stand there!? Help wrap this bandage around me!" he begins wrapping the bandage around the gauze on his wound and holds out the roll for me to grab where I start wrapping up the rest of his wound. He lets out a huge breath of relief afterwards and he looks back at Harlan before looking back at me.
"What happened to him?" He suddenly asks me.
"He was poisoned…by the girl from 3…" I reveal to him and he only grunts.
"That's tough..." he begins but we both hear the door open again and he lets out a loud gasp as fear fills his face.
"No…noooo." He trembles, who is this? The real question is who can it possibly be for him to be this terrified, he's a career…
"Hyperion oh Hyperion, Still on the run!" I hear an unfamiliar voice taunting him and he quickly runs behind me and wraps his arm around my chest aiming his sword next to my neck ready to slit it at a moments notice.
"Don't try anything, or you're dead!" He whispers in my ear and I can hear myself letting out panicked breathes, and look down at Harlan again. He told me he'll be next to me, well then why isn't he helping me!?
"You can keep running Hyperion, but I'll keep finding you until you fight me." The voice adds and the curtains quickly opens where I see the career tribute from last year, I think his name was Amos, but what is he doing here? He has to be a mutt of some kind.
Amos notices I'm being held hostage though and gives me a weary look.
"A child…" he mumbles.
"Don't take another fucking step or she's dead!" Hyperion threatens Amos but Amos does a slight smirk.
"Hiding behind yet another female? Have you already forgotten what happened to your dear Beauregard?" Amos taunts him.
"Shut the fuck up…she did nothing to you, nothing and you killed her, you son of a bitch!" Hyperion curses as his sword presses against my neck and I let out a loud gulp, Amos killed Beauregard?
"Yes and now you're hiding behind yet another woman, no a child actually, how many people are you willing to sacrifice to continue your run?" Amos further taunts him.
"Let me go, please…" I cry.
"Shut the fuck up!" he yells in my ear and I jump letting out a panicked cry.
"What a true coward you are Hyperion, a disgrace to our district, and this is why you need to die." Amos expertly spins his sword in his hand.
"Heh, well If you want me you're going to have to stab through this kid right here, you want to be a child killer Amos?" Hyperion further taunts Amos
"Hmm, is that a challenge?" Amos readies his sword.
"Don't kill me…please, please don't!" I cry profusely and that's when Amos seems to hesitate for a moment as he gives me a conflicted look but this seemingly gives Hyperion the opening he needs and he begins tugging me through the curtains.
"Lets go! Hurry!" Hyperion practically drags me towards the exit but I eventually regain my footing and start sprinting with Hyperion with him being sure to keep a firm grip on my arm incase I try running ahead of him.
"Using a child as a hostage huh Hyperion? There's no low you wouldn't go, but it's OK, I'll find you like I always do!" Amos threatens him.
"Keep fucking running, and don't you dare try to escape from me or I'll cut every limb off your body!" Hyperion threatens me and I have no choice but to obey him, I'm now his hostage and in the middle of his mess with this career mutt...Harlan if you're there, please help me!
Acer Deluca,17, District 3 male
Me and Genevieve both pant heavily as I slam a door shut behind me and Genevieve proceeds to push a nightstand in front of the door. Ever since yesterday we've been getting pursued by one of the careers from last year, Victoria and we both know we won't stand a chance against her in a fight so that's why we've been on the run ever since.
We were able to narrowly escape her again after she ambushed us in the in one of the middle class rooms we were hiding in and we've now ran downstairs and are hiding in one of the low class rooms, she's relentless and there really is no escaping from her.
"That's not going to hold Acer!" Genevieve pants, her forehead flush with sweat and I can see a light spot of blood forming through her shirt, her wounds are starting to open back up from all of the movement she's doing…
"It's not…" I agree with her looking around this room for anything we can use, but there's literally nothing in here, besides a bed and night stand that we have in front of the door.
"We need some kind of plan Acer, we can't keep running…" Genevieve pants as she clutches her torso likely feeling some pain and I look around this semi empty room again before I hear a loud powerful kick against the door causing the both of us to jump, No…she's already here!?
"We fight then Genevieve…" I suggest as I ready my sword.
"Acer…" She worriedly calls to me.
"The first opening we see Genevieve, we'll run, but we don't have a choice… let's both take one side of the door, we'll catch her by surprise." I start catching a second wind as Victoria continues kicking the door, its only a matter of time before she gets in…
"Ok…ok… Acer, just be careful." She stands on one side of the door readying her needle sword.
"You too Genevieve…" I take a deep breath pressing my sword against my chest getting ready to strike. Victoria is a career of course, but we can catch her off guard if we get the jump on her.
The door is eventually kicked in and with one last shove the door flies open with the nightstand slamming onto the bed and I quickly lunge at Victoria as she enters the room trying to slice her across the face with my sword. She easily blocks my attack with her spear and quickly kicks me on the side of my body causing me to grunt in pain and fly back with the side of my abdomen slamming hard against the nightstand causing me to cry out in pain and fall to the floor.
"Acer!" Genevieve calls to me and tries stabbing Victoria in the torso but Victoria spins out of the way and quickly slices Genevieve across the shoulder causing her to shriek in pain and she narrowly ducks under Victoria's spear as she tries to slice her neck and that's when I grab the night stand and quickly slide it across the room causing it to crash into Victoria slamming her against the wall and grunts out loud appearing to be stunned.
"This is our chance Genevieve let's go!" I quickly instruct her and Genevieve listens as we both hurry out of the room and begin sprinting away from it, I can see blood seeping down Genevieve's arm as she clutches her torso trying to run and I grow increasingly worried but my fears come true when she suddenly collapses on the floor and pants heavily as sweat rolls down her face, it's still too soon for her to be running around expending energy, not to mention we already used up a good deal of it running away from her earlier.
"Acer…just go, I'll cover you and catch up later ok?" Genevieve pants and I see Victoria down the hall exiting the room and quickly closing in on us but I grit my teeth as my grip tightens on my sword and i stand up facing Victoria, who's only quietly glaring me.
"Acer, Acer what are you doing?" Genevieve pants.
"There's only one way to end this…we can't keep running." I hold my sword in the best defensive stance I can muster, but I know I'm still such an amateur compared to a career.
"No…Acer!" Genevieve cries out as Victoria rushes at me and I narrowly dodge her strike as she rushes at me and I swing my sword at her but she easily weaves my attack, and counter strikes but I gasp and stagger out of the way and we circle each other for a moment.
"You should've ran…I don't want this…" Victoria comments and I give her a surprised look, is she implying that she's not in control of her actions?
"No turning back now…" I mumble to myself and try striking her again but she blocks it with her spear and steps hard on my foot stunning me before slicing the side of my face with her spear, and I can feel blood rushing down my face as I cry out in pain, falling to the floor.
"Nooo!" Genevieve cries out and suddenly pierces Victoria through the torso with her needle sword causing Victoria to shriek in pain but she elbows Genevieve to the side of her head and she falls to the knees while Victoria manages to pull the sword out of her and lets it fall to the floor. Genevieve tries to rush to the sword but Victoria quickly pierces Genevieve through the shoulder with her spear causing her to cry out in pain.
"Genevieve!" I jump back up to my feet and recklessly rush at Victoria quickly striking her and she tries to block it with her spear but I somehow manage to strike it hard enough and her spear goes flying out of her hand, but she pivots out of the way of my follow up slash and pushes me against the wall causing my face to slam against it stunning me, but I feel a sharp pain in my thigh and cry out when I realize Victoria's spear is sticking into my thigh and my legs give way as I collapse to the floor with pain shooting through my body.
"Ahhhhh!!!" Genevieve quickly tackles Victoria to the floor and begin raining a flurry of punches down on her face, busting open her lips and nose and she tries to cover up, but a lot of Genevieve's punching are still getting through, and I pull the spear out of my thigh, crying out in pain and try to jump up to my feet but only land back onto the floor grunting in pain.
Genevieve tries to punch Victoria in the face again but Victoria punches Genevieve in the throat knocking her off of her and I begin crawling towards Victoria with the spear. Victoria quickly grabs the sword and tries to impale Genevieve but Genevieve rolls out of the way and kicks Victoria in the leg sending her stumbling back against the wall stunned and I use this opportunity to launch the spear at Victoria, but it's not thrown with nearly enough force and Victoria easily catches it in her hand, oh no!
Genevieve grabs ahold of her needle sword and tries to lunge at Victoria but Victoria weaves it and quickly uses this opportunity to drive the spear into Genevieve's torso and I gasp aloud as it feels like time slows down and I hear Genevieve let out a pained groan.
"No…Genevieve!" I cry out and Victoria pulls her spear our of Genevieve's torso where she collapses onto the floor with a large puddle of blood starting to form around her.
"Genevieve!" I cry out again but she doesn't answer and Victoria begins walking towards me.
"I told you, you should've ran…" she reminds me as I struggle back up to my feet but fall to my knees again as pain shoots through my thigh, and I slowly grab my sword and fight through the pain as the sword trembles in my hand.
"Its just you and me now, but it's ok, you will be at peace with her soon." She readies her spear as my heart pounds, it's just me now, I have to find some way…some way to bring her down!
I swing my sword at her but she weaves and strikes the sword out of my hand and quickly tries to pierce me through the torso but I stagger out of the way while grabbing my sword and we start circling each other again but I can barley move as my thigh feels like it's on fire, I have to remain calm though…stay calm!
She strikes at me again and I manage to block her attack with my sword and she takes a step back and jabs me with her spear and I stagger to the side and quickly manage to slash her above the eye causing her to grunt in pain and she angrily tries to stab me in the neck but I manage to duck under it and quickly drive my spear through her midsection causing her to yell out in pain and she quickly uses this opportunity to pierce her spear through my torso. For a moment I don't feel anything as I freeze for a moment but a piercing pain spreads through my body and I can't even react properly as blood begins coming down my mouth.
"You'll…be at peace…" Victoria spurts blood from her mouth shoving the spear deeper into me as I cry out and I try forcing my sword deeper into hers but I feel my grip weakening and Victoria kicks me hard against my body sending me sprawling onto the floor several feet back and I can feel blood literally pouring out of my wound as I'm starting to feel disoriented and Victoria remains standing, slowly limping towards me. one of her hands are clutching her gaping wound while she still has her spear in the other and all I can do is helplessly watch, I failed…I failed Genevieve, I failed my family but most of all…I failed myself.
"You'll be…at peace." Victoria weakly mumbles as she continues limping towards me and all I can do is helplessly watch as I await my fate, and Victoria stands over me readying her sword as she prepares to stab me through my heart, and I look across at Genevieve, her seemingly lifeless body still laying in a puddle of blood, and it hurts so much seeing her like this, and this all happened because I was too weak…
"You fought well, but I'm afraid this is where it ends…" Victoria raises her sword and I think of Weslon as tears rolls down my eyes.
"No matter how bleak things look, no matter how dark a tunnel is, there's always a way out, and that's why you fight, you keep fighting until you find a way out." I remember him telling me and that's when Victoria brings her sword down towards my heart but I quickly slam my wrist against the sword causing the sword to aim upwards at Victoria's neck but she uses her experience to hold the sword firm preventing it from penetrating her, but I use my determination to quickly kick her ankle and she gasps falling forward and lands on the floor with her sword piercing her clean through her throat, and she makes a choking sound as she convulses on the floor gurgling on her blood, this continues for a moment but her body goes limp and her struggle ends.
"Genevieve…" I weakly call to her, crawling towards her and I can feel my blood tracking on the floor but I reach her body and she's barley breathing.
"Genevieve…" I weakly call to her again.
"Acer…" I barley hear her.
"I'm…I'm just…going to roll you over to your back ok." I struggle to get out and I try to roll her over and have to strain myself to do so as I have next to no strength and I pant coughing blood from my mouth.
"Acer…" she weakly calls to me her eyes filled with tears and blood seeping out of her mouth.
"You're going to be ok Genevieve…you're going to be ok." I assure her and I hesitantly remove my necklace from my neck, holding the tear drop shaped vial in my hand. We're both mortally wounded, and my vial, I can only use it on one of us and I know who that's going to be, it's not even a question.
"Acer…what are you doing…" She weakly cries.
"im…saving you Genevieve, that's, that's what friends do for each other right? I'm just going to lift your shirt up and give you some medicine ok?" I do a faint smile, not wanting to panic her.
"Youre…You're… hurt too Acer, you need medicine too…" She counters.
"It'll be ok Genevieve…it will." I try to assure her as I lift up her shirt and see she was stabbed clean through her stitches reopening her wound and likely further damaging her tissues, and without any hesitation, I drop my SLAMMS into her wound.
"You just need to rest now Genevieve, when you wake up…you will be ok." I smile but I can't control the tears that are beginning to come down my eyes.
"But where will you be Acer?" she asks and I don't give her an answer.
"Where will you be…" her voice cracks and I can't hide it anymore as my lips curl and I try wiping my eyes with my wrists but even more tears come out.
"Genevieve…when it comes to friends, I couldn't have asked for a better one than you…" I admit to her.
"Acer…" she weakly cries and I feel my body getting weaker as I collapse on my torso.
"Don't leave me Acer…" she begs and I can feel my breathing slowing down as eyes start to get blurry, but I use the last little bit of strength I have to roll onto my back and I'm laying next to Genevieve.
"I'm here, Genevieve..." I mumble and I look at the wound on Genevieve's torso to see its already beginning to heal and she manages to extend her hand over to mines where we hold each other's hands.
"You did so much for me Acer, so much and I…" she cries.
"Just promise me one thing Genevieve…that you'll do your best to make it back home to your brother, cause he is so lucky to have an amazing sister like you…" I admit to her and I can hear her crying as her grip tightens on my hand.
"I promise Acer…I'll do my best, I promise you!" she cries.
"Thank you Genevieve…" I thank her and I can feel myself fading away, my head falling to the side as my breathing slows even more.
"I…I love you Acer…" I hear her confess to me and I manage to turn my head to her where she's looking at me with her puffy eyes and I manage to do a faint smile again.
"I love you too Genevieve…" I admit to her and I feel my eyes close with my breathing ceasing and I can feel warmth envelop me, as my soul is now free…
Paisley Stitchell,15, District 9 female
"Another cannon just fired Paisley." My book informs me.
That was the second cannon today and both of them weren't even that far apart from each other. This essentially puts me in the top 9, the top 9…never would I have imagined making it this far. I'm so close to returning home and I won't let anyone or anything stop me! My knight continues walking ahead of me as I hold my book open, ready to give it any new instructions on the fly and I look at my map to see we're close to the bar, where Hunter still is. It's time for this to come to an end, this monster has been alive for too long and he just needs to go already!
He is a monster, but I'll show him an even bigger monster that he'll pale in comparison to and that monster is in the form of my knight, my indestructible knight that will inevitably guide me back home, this is the end Hunter, and you will pay for every horrible thing you've ever done! I know my knight will handle him, but as we get closer and closer to the bar, I can feel my heart rate increasing and we both stop in front of the bar. I look up at my knight where he awaits my orders and I take a deep breath before writing in my book and my knight proceeds to kick the door open easily, when I enter the bar, the smell of blood fills my nostrils and I see at least a dozen clothes soaked in dried blood and broken chairs and tables are littered around the area, but where is Hunter?
I look around the bar more and my knight stands still awaiting further orders from me but I see what looks like a room behind the bar counter that's also covered in blood and that's the only place Hunter can be at. I start inching my way towards the room, but I see Hunter's large figure exit the room and he's now shirtless where I see a deep looking wound in his abdomen that looks like it's starting to get infected. That's not a wound a regular melee weapon can inflict, that…that looks like a gunshot wound. Wait. Annabeth was one of the deaths yesterday and I gave her a revolver, I'm pretty sure she shot him but he still managed to take her out somehow.
He's grinning however even with my knight next to me and I see he's holding a large warhammer in his hand.
"What do we have here, looks like you bought some company with you!" I read his lips and I glare him, preparing to write in my book, it's a miracle he can even stand after that shot and blood loss, shows just how durable he is, but in the end he's still human, and no human can defeat my knight.
"So right after I smash that little toy of yours over there, I'm going to take my time crushing your little skull like a grape, just like I did to your little bitch boyfriend!" I read his lips again as he threatens me and I have enough of him as I scribble in my book.
"Kill Hunter!" I write in my book and my knight immediately begins walking towards him and Hunter now has a weary look on his face as he stiffens his stance and takes several steps back, Do your best Hunter, it ends here for you!
My knight swings his large sword at Hunter and Hunter manages to block it with his warhammer but my knight shows he has the upper hand in strength when Hunter stumbles back slightly and my knight swings his sword at Hunter again but Hunter staggers out of the way and my Knight slices a hole through the wall instead, Hunter tries to counter by swinging his hammer towards my knight's head but my knight raises his sword to block it and kicks Hunter right into his gunshot wound and I can envision Hunter cursing in pain as it sends him flying back crashing into the wall and he falls to his knee, appearing to be in obvious pain and I can't help but start smirking, good job Knight, let him suffer, let him suffer then kill him!
My knight brings his sword down towards Hunter but Hunter quickly lifts up his Warhammer blocking it, but the impact still knocks him on his back but my knight once again slams his sword against Hunter's warhammer and Hunter's grip weakens and my knight prepares to strike him again but Hunter quickly kicks his powerful foot into the body of my knight. My knight appears to stumble back slightly and this gives Hunter a chance to make it back to his feet and quickly swings his large Warhammer against the head of my knight and I gasp aloud as my knight stumbles back and Hunter connects with another powerful blow causing my knight to stumble back again and i gasp again as my hand trembles.
"KILL HUNTER!" I scribble in my book and Hunter tries to connect again as I'm noticing visible dents on the armor of my knights head but my knight grabs the warhammer with one hand and punches Hunter across the face with it's other hand and Hunter again flies back into the wall stunned and my knight effortlessly throws the Warhammer at Hunter but Hunter's eyes widens and he staggers out of the way before the warhammer crashes against the wall creating an even bigger hole in it, that would've surely killed him had it landed!
Hunter once again regains possession of his warhammer as my knight marches towards him and Hunter who appears to be breathing heavily starts taking several steps back from the knight trying to create distance but my knight expertly marches towards him, effectively cutting him off.
My knight swings it's sword at Hunter and Hunter tries to maneuver out of the way but it still manages to slice clean across Hunter's upper arm and I see Hunter curse aloud as my Knight swings at him again but Hunter suddenly slams his warhammer on top of my knight's sword effectively disarming him and I start panicking again as Hunter smashes his warhammer into the head of my Knight and he stumbles back again, c'mon, c'mon!!
Hunter again connects with a powerful blow and my knight's head is a dented mess and a black liquid that looks like oil is beginning to seep from his helmet. Hunter begins swinging his Hammer again and the knight tries to cover it's vulnerable head with it's arms but it leaves its body completely exposed and Hunter capitalizes on this putting a large dent in it's body, dropping my Knight to it's knee.
"KILL HUNTER HURRY!" I jot down in my book and Hunter prepares to land another powerful blow into my Knight's head but my Knight quickly grabs the warhammer with one hand and Hunter's throat with it's other hand and slams Hunter hard against the wall causing some of it to crack and it begins lifting up it's other hand holding the warhammer but Hunter manages to kick the hammer out of it's grip and starts raining a flurry of punches across my Knight's head with his bare hands as it tries strangling him but the punches seem to be affecting my Knight to the point where it looks like it's grip is weakening.
Hunter's punches grow more powerful and faster as his desperation increases and my Knight finally lets go where Hunter grabs my Knights severely damaged and dented head and knees it hard in the face knocking it to the floor and all I can do Is look at this scene in pure horror, my Inight, my Knight!!
"KILL HIM KILL HIM KILL HIM KILL HIM" I quickly jot in my book but Hunter picks up the warhammer while my Knight is still down and brings it down with full force on the head of my Knight completely crushing it as a pool of oil forms around him. My Knight…my Knight…destroyed by a heavilly wounded Hunter, how-how!?
Hunter turns around breathing heavily but he still grins at me as I begin backing up, this guy is nor human, he can't be...
"Well that was fun, but as I promised, it's now your turn!" I read his lips and that's when I make a run for it.
"Give me another knight, I desire another knight!" I quickly scribble in my book as I continue running not even being aware of where I'm going, it's ok, its ok, i'll just get another knight and kill Hunter for good this time!
"That is beyond my power." My book responds and my eyes widen in shock but I suddenly bump into something hard and groan in pain as I'm knocked to the floor and I look up to see it's Verbena, but she's not even recognizable right now. Her well kept hair that she usually had in a ponytail is now loose and some of it is covering her face but I can still see her darkness filled eyes glaring me through it, oh no…I killed her district partner, no…no.
I try crawling away but she quickly kicks me In my face knocking me to my back as I cry in pain and I can already feel blood coming down my nose as she pins me down to the floor by slamming her boot on my chest and I cry out again but she suddenly knocks me upside the head with the handle of her mace, and everything goes dark…
Caspian Delamar,18,District 4 male
"Dive deep down Delamar...Dive deep down." I hear a ghostly echo.
"Dive deep down…" the echo repeats itself and my eyes slowly open where I'm looking up at the night sky and I can feel rocking as gentle waves of water flow by and I let out a low groan as I sit up and realize I'm on a canoe in a seemingly endless body of water with no sign of the land in sight, where am I, how did I get here?
"Dive deep down…" the voice repeats itself and I start looking around frantically but a cold rotting hand covered in seaweed suddenly emerges from the water grabbing my wrist and I gasp out loud trying to fight back but its no use, I get pulled under the water and that's when I see the rotting skeletal face of Dewton.
"It's your fault, it's all your fault!" Dewton yells and my eyes shoot open as I quickly grab my trident and I see I'm back where I fell asleep at, in a locker room. I haven't been able to find any of my allies ever since we got separated, I tried going back to the lounge we were staying that but that entire floor is overrun with those weird tar monsters and I have no clue where to look for my allies. I saw that Nyx died and seeing her face up on the anthem, it hit me hard, what could've happened that quickly? She was so broken, so damaged and just when it looked like she was starting her road to recovery, she's taken away. This arena is just so cruel and we the tributes who roam it can be just as cruel if not worse. The more desperate you are, the more you're willing to do the unthinkable, everyone reaches that point eventually, and it shows just how desperate all of us are to live…
I was asleep for a little while so I don't know what's been going on, but I can already tell it's going to be another hectic day, and that's why I need to find Reyena and Hyperion, but I don't know where to start, I guess I'll just start by heading upstairs. Once I exit the room, I roam around this floor for a bit but don't see any signs of my allies so start heading upstairs. I would call out to them, but that'll attract too much attention, the last thing I need right now, and I arrive on a new floor, continuing the search for my allies as I keep my trident close to me. Nothing seems out of the ordinary here so far, this appears to be the child care floor just from the way the walls and doors look. I start taking a peek into some of the rooms but other than most of them being filled up with shelves of stuffed toys, children's books and tables, nothing seems out of the ordinary.
I close the door as quietly as possible and that's when I hear a sound, like crying. I listen to the sound intently and it sounds like a female's voice, can that be… I start approaching the sound carefully, my trident still ready Incase any "surprises" emerge. It appears the crying is leading me to another room and when I stop outside of it, that's when I can hear the crying, and it sounds familiar too, It really is her!
I quickly open the door and I see Reyena sulking in the corner of the room, still not knowing I'm in here yet. I'm happy to see her, but not like this, I'll get to the bottom of what's going on.
"Reyena?" I suddenly ask and she lifts her head up looking surprised to see me.
"Caspian, oh my god!" she runs into my arms and we both hug each other tightly as she continues crying.
"I missed you…I missed you Caspian…" she sobs.
"I missed you too Reyena, and I'm glad you're safe but Nyx…do you know what happened to her?" I ask Reyena and she gently pulls away from me.
"That fucking Hyperion…it was Hyperion, he killed her right in front of me!" she informs me and my eyes widen in shock, wait what? Hyperion killed Nyx?
"What? Reyena what are you talking about?" I ask in a puzzled tone, would Hyperion really do this though? No of course he would, he was just that desperate, and it's not far fetched to envision him doing something like that in the first place.
"We found Hyperion soon after we all got separated and we stayed together but then him and Nyx got into an argument cause we both wanted to look for you while he didn't and before I knew it he just drove his sword through her chest and he gave me a shocked look. I tried to fight him but he knocked me out and got away…He needs to pay for this Caspian…he needs to pay!" Reyena cries.
Hyperion…I knew he was a dirty player but just killing Nyx like that, his ally, that is a new low for him, I can't let this go, he needs to answer for this.
"Dammit, Nyx…" I curse, I just wish I could've been there, Hyperion…why?
"Do you know where he can be at?" I ask Reyena as calmly as possible but I can't fully hide the anger I'm feeling right now.
"Y-yeah, I think I know where he can be hiding out at, I'll take you there." Reyena offers.
"Let's go then…" I ready my trident and she nods before she begins leading me to his potential location, Hyperion, you're not getting away with this…
Reyena Shore,16,District 4 female
I keep my head hung down as I drag myself across the staircase leading me to a different floor, weaponless and practically defenseless. I just don't have the will or determination anymore. I inadvertently killed Nyx, no I might as well be fully responsible for it. I told Emmerane to give her the "antidote" and she's now dead because of that. She wasn't only like a best friend…but she was pregnant and Emmerane, she didn't even show an ounce of mercy or remorse, she let Nyx suffer despite being pregnant and she died a horrifying death. I will never be able to unsee that horror, her just laying there like…
After she knocked me out, I woke up some time later, all of my weapons were gone but I was unbounded from the chair and Nyx was gone, her body most likely already collected to be shipped back to her devastated friends and family, and I've just been moping around the halls ever since. Still haven't found Caspian or Hyperion yet but I'm starting to accept that I won't ever see them again…I just wish I would've told Caspian how I really felt about him, even if the feelings are probably not going to be mutual, but my feelings don't matter right now, our ally is dead and I'm mostly to blame for it.
Two cannons fired off and that now brings us to the final 9, this is usually when alliances that even made it this far start to turn on each other or breaks up so it's probably for the better If I don't see them again, as painful as it is that I won't see Caspian again. I continue dragging myself down the hall and that's when I see a body down the hall with several weapons surrounding them, is this a dead tribute from one of the cannons that went off recently? I begin walking closer to the body and I see it's the girl from district 8, I think her name is Genevieve and even though she's in a large puddle of blood, I see she's breathing so she's obviously not dead, but the weird thing is I don't even see any visible wounds on her, maybe she killed a tribute and passed out in their blood?
I don't know but there's two swords laying next to her, a conventional one and a very thin one that looks like a rapier, I pick up the conventional one and gaze at her for another moment and start considering killing her right now, Her being dead brings me a step closer to home, and think about it, but I ultimately change my mind. She can't even defend herself right now, and I know there's technically no rules here, but I still have morals, something that can backfire but I won't become someone I'm not…I'm still Reyena Shore. It's dangerous out here for her though, any other tribute probably wouldn't hesitate for a moment to kill her. Before I even realize what I'm doing, I start dragging Genevieve to a nearby room with both swords balanced under my arm and there's a pretty rundown bed in this room, but I'm not even going to try picking her up, so leave her on the floor and that's when she begins groaning. Her eyes begin to slowly open and when she sees me, she gasps.
"Relax, I'm not going to hurt you, I found you laying in the hallway, so dragged you here where it's a lot safer…" I explain to her but she continues looking at me.
"It was just me? Was there anyone next to me? A boy with glasses?" she asks in a shaky tone. A boy with glasses? She must be talking about Acer?
"No…it was just you." I answer her and just from the look on her face I can see it wasn't the answer she wanted to hear.
"No…Acer…" her voice cracks, he was most likely one of the casualties from earlier…
"I'm sorry…I just lost my ally too so I know what you're going through." I try to comfort her a little I guess.
"I'm sorry…" she apologizes to me and I slowly nod.
"Hey look, I imagine the floor is not very comfortable, if you help me a little, I can get you on the bed above you, that's only if you want though…" I offer her.
"Y-yeah…I'm still a bit disoriented though…" she responds and I kneel down as I help her up to her feet and she lays down across the mattress.
"I'll leave your weapon right here on this nightstand, but I'll be taking the other sword if you don't mind." I explain to her laying her rapier across the nightstand.
"That's fine…your name is Reyena right?" she asks.
"Yes…and you're Genevieve right?" I ask and she nods.
"Yes…" she answers.
"Alright then, well I'm going to be taking my leave now, I'll close the door behind me but just be careful." I warn her and she lightly nods.
"Thank you Reyena…" she thanks me and I nod before leaving the room and closing the door behind me. She seems like a pleasant girl, but I feel like I regained some of my determination, my determination to find Caspian and even Hyperion, I can't give up here, I can't!
11th Place- D9M Harlan Ryeson, succumbed to poisoning Inflcited by D3F Emmerane Vestrat:
Harlan, Harlan you were always going to be a very controversial character from the jump due to your backstory and Yes theres no excuses, what you did was awful and while i dont feel you ever fully redeemed yourself, Elsie was able to find forgiveness and even bonded with you somewhat. The both of you had a very complex relationship but the two of you got as close as realistically possible and I appreciated the two of you getting closer and Elsie seeing the other side of you which was a pretty decent guy minus the whole cheating scandal. You didn't go out as a hero, you didn't make some heroic sacrifice to save Elsie, nope you just died and that's a death that i had planned out for you all along. Not everyone is going to go out like a hero, sometimes people are just going to die and that's that. R.I.P. Harlan
10th Place- D3M Acer Deluca, succumbed to wounds inflicted by Victoria Aspen: I'm so heart broken right now Acer, my dear boy! I'll be honest I never expected you to be such a popular and beloved character but I saw the huge following and support you had and I know I just had to do my best to do your character justice. Acer you were such a selfless and caring young man and you always put others before yourself and you had to make a difficult decision but you always knew that if it came down to you or Genevieve that you will put her before yourself and you will always be considered a hero as a result of this. Your SLAMMS project is safe and sound and will hopefully one day be able to save thousands if not millions of lives. R.I.P. Acer my beacon of light and the world will certainly be darker with you gone, but your legacy and heroic deeds will live forever!
Yet another action filled chapter guys and we are now officially in the final 9, oh boy these
games looks like they're going to be over soon and the action and drama is only going to pick up from here! Now I know you guys are probably wondering and yes there will be family interviews for the finalists. Whoever is
still alive after the final 8 will get a family interview and it should be interesting as we got quite the line up for finalists this year! anyways I'll see you guys soon with the next chapter, till next time and below will be a list of all the remaining tributes, alliances and their current kill count!
The Careers-
D2M-Hyperion Corvinus(0),
D4F-Reyena Shore(1),
D4M-CaspianDelamar(1)
Loners-
D3F-Emmerane Vestrat(3),
D6F-Paisley Stitchell(1),
D11F-Verbena Grazer(0),
D12M-Hunter Skype(5)
D9F-Elsie Pengrove(0),
D8F-Genevieve Altruzara(0)