Disclaimer: I own very little.

Chapter Eighteen: Rabid

Quickly, another evening was upon us. I found as we were sitting around the Cornucopia, it would be an appropriate time to share at least some of what I thought to be true. Perhaps, in telling what I thought, I could gain some trust from Marley and the other two. Though I didn't know that Capri and Lani didn't trust me, if Marley was having their doubts…then chances were they were as well.

Silence hung in the air for several moments as we all looked at one another, the remains of what little water I had in my bag was sitting in the middle and some crackers had been taken from the supplies left behind by the Careers. It had really turned out to be quite the blessing. There were several new weapons as well as small food items that would at least allow us to survive for as long as we could.

However, just as I was unzipping my bag to show them my plans, I watched as Marley and Lani stood up to "take a stroll". There was little that Capri or I could do before the two were gone. As the both of us sat, I looked at Capri and smiled before letting out a sigh.

"So…," I said quietly, shifting my eyes nervously.

"Just tell me the truth, okay…why are you hanging out with us?" She demanded, obviously not wishing to start any sort of small talk with me.

The question caught me off-guard to be honest. I untied my hair from its tight bun before shaking out my hair and giving her as honest an answer I could muster," I don't fit in with the Careers. Obviously."

"Marley seems to think you're hiding something and I don't like surprises," She said coldly, a much harsher tone than what I was used to.

Granted, I had not known Capri for very long, but the demeanor was one that I was unused to. This seemed to come about rather quickly and was a rather drastic change. Icouldn't help but think this was due to Marley's influence upon her. He had known them probably for longer than I had.

"And what evidence does Marley have?" I asked, raising a brow at her.

She smirked at this," Well, the obvious is that you're from District Two and have been training in an academy since you were, what like two-"

"Six, actually. Two would be absolutely ridiculous-" I tried, but she simply shook me off.

"Whatever, the fact that you've grown up in an academy learning how to kill people ever since you were young isn't the most comforting thing in the world, neither is the fact that someone's already given you water that you probably wouldn't have even told us about had you not been caught with it. Not to mention, they gave you an awfully high score, perhaps something that should be expected if you truly are a Career."

I narrowed my eyes before turning to my bag to pull out my notebook," I suppose I have nothing to show you one hundred percent that I am not with them, but…I can tell you what I know about this maze and what I am currently working on. I don't know if that puts your mind at ease…"

"You're really telling me that?" She asked, raising a brow.

I smiled, flipping open my notebook," Obviously."

I looked down at my notes from the evening before and explained nearly everything to her from the water all the way to the numbers I scribbled on the piece of paper. I also explained the importance of direction in puzzles that I used to play back home in my district. She at least appeared to be following this…for awhile.

"N L2 E R5 W R4 S L1...why are those even special?" She asked, after I had just completed my explanation.

I shook my head, losing my patience with her," They have something to do with direction, as well as left and right. N is what I presume to be north, E is east, W is west, S is south. I would presume that the L means left and the R means right."

"Oh, alright, but what about the numbers?" She asked, everything finally seemed to be clicking in her head.

I scratched my head," That's exactly what I'm unsure about. Those stones out there have the directions inscribed on them so I presume it has something to do with that."

"Why don't we go and have a-" She started, but just as she did we heard a crack of lightning and a roll of thunder.

Moments later, a downpour of rain could be heard pounding overhead on the Cornucopia. I looked to Capri, who asked," Is it that important?"

Seeing as it would be much harder to decipher all of the words and numbers in a pouring rainstorm, I assured her that we could wait until morning. In the meantime, I stood to my feet and walked to the edge of the Cornucopia, peering outside at the raging rainstorm that had come up, seemingly out of no where.

"Looks like they want to wash us out," I said to my companion who was standing at the mouth beside me.

"You don't think they'd keep this up for long do you?" She asked me, looked at the amount of water falling and the intensity of the storm. "I mean, if they turned the whole maze into a flood land…that could make finding anything a little more difficult."

This was a very intriguing point that she brought up. I nodded my head and looked around, thinking of the maze as a gigantic tub that they could fill with as much rainwater as they desired. To the folks back home, adding an underwater effect would be quite interesting to say the least and quite…annoying from our point of view. I wanted to figure out these symbols preferably while not swimming underwater…

"Instead of letting us fight it out…they drown us out?" I asked, confirming what she was saying.

"Precisely," She said with a nod of her head.

"I guess you all from District Four would be set…" I said teasingly to which she laughed.

"Not for that long of a time," She said, after she had stopped laughing.

Moments later, we saw Marley and Lani running back toward us out of the rain. Both of them looked a little shaken up and I was interested to see just what had happened to them. In a matter of seconds, they were underneath the Cornucopia, sopping wet and bent over, trying to catch their breath. I furrowed my brows at the both of them before Lani finally stood up straight and looked at me," Flux and Lila..they're-"

A canon could be heard off in the distance and before Lani could finish her phrase, the ground began to shake. Interested to see if my theory was correct, I briefly stepped out into the rain, watching each of the pathways that were left. I blinked several times, anticipating them to fall out. Just as my heart was sinking, I watched as the ground shook violently and another pathway fell out. Moments after, the force field came buzzing in to block off the destroyed corridor.

Hardly caring that I was sopping wet, I stepped back in to the Cornucopia to see the other three huddled around my notebook. I assumed that Capri was explaining all that I had told her to the others, but by the look on Marley's face…I was mistaken.

"You're in on this with her?" He growled at Capri, who was innocently shaking her head in defense.

"Marley, she's not up to anything-"

"I hardly believe that," He muttered under his breath before looking to me. "What'd you do to her?"

I laughed at this because it was absolutely ridiculous.

"I did nothing to her, Marley," I said, still stifling laughter. "I just think you're a little paranoid is all."

He stood to his feet, pulling a knife from his pocket," You think this is funny, Savera?"

"I think you're absolutely hysterical. You've simply assumed that I am a Career ever since you saw me with water. Never once have you allowed me to explain myself nor the circumstances under which I obtained the water. In fact, had you any decency at all, you would assume that since I told your good friend of my plans, then perhaps I would tell you as well," I spat out more quickly than I could process.

My eyes, however, were locked onto the weapon in his hands. Chances are, he intended upon using it unless I said exactly what he wanted to hear. Seeing as I was never the type to be good with words…this was about to get interesting.

"Start talking then," I watched as his thumb ran over the blade of the knife.

"Put down the-" before I could finish my phrase, I watched as he took a wild swing at me. I sidestepped, gracefully avoiding the blow, but still caught a little off guard.

Lani and Capri gasped, trying to get him to come off of it, but he had his mind set on only one thing and that was getting information out of me whether it meant killing me to get there.

"Okay, okay just calm down," I said, holding up my hands in defense as he turned. "In my bag, I've always had this water bottle, right? I swear, either take me for my word or don't, but whenever I was on night guard-"

I was interrupted by a roll of thunder as we circled round and round. His eyes were set directly on mine as I continued," I found these symbols on the bottom of the water bottle, just ask Capri-they're there. I think they're a set of important directions to something that could greatly benefit us…like water or food or more weapons, something! That was the only reason I even got the water from my sponsor, but to be honest with you…I couldn't be more confused now as to what these directions and numbers apply to or why they were put here in the first place. I swear-"

Just when I thought he had gained my trust again, I saw him coming toward me at full force. At this Capri stood up and called to him," Marley, stop, you don't want to do this!"

"There's still something-" He swung and I ducked. "Not right about her."

"What's still missing for you?" I asked, trying to dodge more and more swings, but before I knew it, he had pinned me against the wall.

How had I been so stupid to allow this to happen? Why had he gone from trusting me at the beginning to hating me? Why was he so set upon this little detail? There was certainly something not right with this picture and I intended to figure out what exactly was going on.

Carefully watching the knife, still in his hand, I spoke slowly to him," Marley, I just want to know-"

"Stop talking! There's just something not right about you…all the sneaking around and figuring this out you're just dangerous to keep around for much-"

"Marley!" Lani cried, able to catch his eye for just long enough. "She's told you her story…she's innocent and she has evidence. Just let it be for now…if we can figure out the maze, then the advantage we'd have over the others is absolutely incomparable. Even if you don't like the manner in which she did it, just allow her to show us what she's discovered."

It was almost as if this were a completely different Marley standing in front of me. The sight was so strange, so eccentric that I hardly knew what to expect next out of him. Needless to say that I kept an extra careful eye on that knife in his hand, knowing it needed to stay as far away from me as possible.

I could safely let out a sigh of relief briefly as Marley loosened his grip on me. I steadied my breath and began to walk away, when suddenly I saw from the corner of my eye, a blade coming in for the kill. I genuinely saw my life flash before my eyes for there was no way for me to duck out of this one. I closed my eyes, but just when I expected the blade to penetrate…it didn't. Slowly, one eye at a time, I opened my eyes to see Marley's jaw dropped open, blood pouring over his lip.

I gasped when my eyes saw the arrow stuck precisely in the side of his head. He fell over limply, as Lani and Capri sat beside him, screaming and in complete shock, I took the knife from his hand and went back into the rain, to look for whoever had done this to him. Sure, Marley may have wished to kill me, but whoever killed Marley was probably still out there and wouldn't hesitate in finishing the rest of us, even though they had technically saved my life from the strangely rabid boy tribute.

A/N: Sooo, what do you think? Drop a review and let me know! We are slowly approaching the end of the Games…:D