District 1: Declan Benitoit (17) Pov-

The rushing of the river grows louder and louder as we draw closer, and before I know it I can see the shining water, sparkling in the sun's last few rays of light.

"Got the containers?" I ask, kneeling beside the river, noticing something peculiar that I can't quite put my finger on.

Nero nods, pulling out the three thermoses it's been his turn to carry for the last few minutes. It's only when he begins walking toward me that I realize what's up.

The water level of the river looks to have dropped by at least a yard since we last came here. There's a whole wet, sandy patch of earth on either side of the river which must have once been submerged in water but has since been demoted to dry land.

Nero meets my eyes, looking grim. We're both thinking the same thing and I know it.

"The river's drying up," Nero murmurs timidly.

"You know what this means," I say, already walking in the direction of the cornucopia. "If that much water can disappear in a day I don't want to know how quickly the bed will be completely dry. We have to gather as much as we can before it's too late."

Look at me sounding super pompous. I might as well be wearing a beret and smoking some elaborately scented cigar.

We reach the cornucopia and hurriedly fill Jaehaera in. She helps us gather all of the thermoses in the cornucopia then loads them into our arms and gives us an extremely sarcastic gesture of farewell.

Nero and I race to the riverside. Once we've filled all of our containers with water I flop down on the sandy beach, exhausted beyond belief.

Nero shakily sits down beside me. I've been wondering for a long time why he's been looking so depressed. At first I thought it was hunger but the cornucopia hasn't been short of food thus far. It's not like he hasn't been exercising either.

It's somewhat tranquil here by the sparkling riverside, watching the sun set below the horizon…

"WHAT THE…"

Suddenly the sounds of pincers came from behind me. The snapping noises are being created by a procession of three ugly blue crab mutts scuttling toward me at an alarming rate. Nero rushes for his weapon, and I rush for mine. But before I can knock away the first of the mutts, it's clung onto my pant leg.

The next instant a feel a sharp pinching sensation in my butt that almost makes me fall over.

So I've been officially bitten in the ass by a crab.

Gee, Declan, what does it feel like?

It hurts. A lot. Thanks for asking.

Over the course of the next ten minutes Nero and I struggle to take down the mutts. Despite being fast, they aren't very smart, and the task is rather easy in the end. I kill the first by cracking its head while Nero holds it down with a rock, and Nero kills the next two by smashing them with a couple of our filled thermoses.

I can tell the crab mutts weren't meant to cause serious harm, just to annoy us slightly. Gamemakers like to do that from what I've seen of past games.

When Nero and I return to the riverside my heart practically leaps into my throat.

"Nero, is it just me or…"

But Nero doesn't respond. Peering over at him I can the see the reflection of the white eyes in his. I'm no hallucination expert but I'm pretty sure that means I'm not imagining them.

And they're getting closer.

District 4: Dory Krillgood (13) Pov-

Blood. That's what I need. I need it and I need it now. It's what I've needed ever since the past carrier of the Curse pulled me under its spell and drew me in. Now I'm the one with the glowing eyes that send shivers down the spines of my victims. I'm the one with the cold, dead white hands. I'm the one with curvy cat-like claws instead of fingernails and square ends on my feet where my toes were when I was a human.

And now I'm the monster and all I know is it's my only goal to tear apart and maul and maim. I've been stalking the two career boys for nearly an hour and now my thirst to kill is stronger than ever.

As I draw closer I can smell the 1 boy's blood… taste his entrails drizzling into my mouth… hear the screams he'll make as I tear out his heart… feel the way his guts will run between my fingers as I maul him apart piece by piece.

In only a few seconds I know I've drawn him in and there's no escape. Before I know it he's walking toward me and our hands touch.

Suddenly my body is alive with crackling electricity and I watch with immeasurable satisfaction as the 1 boy crumples like a deck chair, screaming in agony.

I fall to the earth, cackling madly, knowing I'll die as the Curse leaves my body.

The last things I see are the 1 boy's glowing white eyes before it's lights-out.

District 6: Lincoln Blitz (16) Pov-

Night has fallen by the time I wake up from my nap. I unzip the sleeping bag and slither out, savoring the relief as the cool night air rushes around my body. The world is silent except for the sound of chirping crickets and the occasional rustling of fronds and leaves.

I fold up my sleeping bag and shove it into my pocket to make sure I don't lose it. Really, I don't think it could if I tried. Even in the dark night I could see it a mile away, shining like spun silver.

I take a quick check of my snares. All I find is a small garden snake, which I discard, unwilling to risk eating anything with bright coloring. Afterward, I walk down a steep slope into a narrow valley with a single tree. I find a multitude of bushes bearing common berries, which I wolf down greedily.

I've just finished licking the juice off of my fingers when the first splash of freezing-cold water sloshes around my feet.

The shock almost makes me drop my bag of supplies, but fortunately I keep it from falling by snagging the handle with my finger.

About twenty feet away, something extremely peculiar is happening. A nearby hill is gushing out water extremely quickly—almost like it's a water balloon and somebody has popped a hole in it. No doubt another cruel trick of the gamemakers.

Before I know it the water is up to my knees and rising quickly.

That's when real panic sets in. I can't swim. I haven't been fully submerged in water since I was a little boy.

Unable to stop myself, I grab onto the trunk of the one tree in the valley and drag myself into the lowest bough. It takes my fair share of effort to keep from throwing up as I watch the floodwaters rushing below me.

It's nearly an hour before the water stops coming, but it takes another hour to settle. By that point, the branch (with me on it) is suspended less than two feet above the glassy black surface of the water. Just glancing at the surface makes a black worm of dread crawl in my stomach.

I'm trapped.

Suddenly I hear a beeping sound, and a desperate hope forms in my mind that some sympathetic Capitolite is sending me a flotation device.

The silver parachute lands in my lap carrying three items: a wicked-looking knife the length of my forearm, a tin of bandages, and a pack of dried fruit. Frustration courses through me like hot lava and I have to bite my lip to keep from crying. None of this stuff will be any good if I can't get out of here alive.

District 9: Luc Everett (16) Pov-

The first thing I realize as I try to assemble a shelter is just how difficult it really is.

In the training center there wasn't any wind. The ground was perfectly flat. And, naturally, I wasn't terrified for my life.

Last night was miserable. I can still remember the way the bitter cold crawled over my flesh and crept into my bones. Even if I want to be nomadic I'm not going to risk another cold night. I might literally freeze to death.

By the time the anthem plays, I'm about halfway through creating my shelter. Only the girl from 4 is in the sky this time.

Once I finish the structure I fall inside. The inside isn't terribly warm, but I figure over the course of the night my body will heat it up. As I fall onto the bed of leaves I can't help but wondering how many hours of tossing and turning it'll take to fall asleep this time.

District 10: Orford Shaw (18) Pov-

Sure, keeping on the move is important in the Hunger Games. But today I've just been too exhausted to move around. I've just been chatting mindlessly with the other Orford to while away the hours while we rested under the tall, slender willow tree.

Recently mysterious things have started happening. Back on Day 1 I felt a kind of "jump" where I was suddenly in the other Orford's body before being placed back in my own. The weird thing is that those jumps are starting to happen again—more and more frequently.

Around noon this morning I suddenly felt as though half of me were being split away and placed in my clone, and for a terrifying, mysterious second, I was in two bodies at once.

It's almost like lying two layers of colored plastic over one another and seeing a third color. I could see through two pairs of eyes at once, feel through four hands, smell with two noses.

And if I'm counting correctly that's happened five times today.

Something weird is going on and I'm going to find the root cause if it's the last thing I do.

Deaths this Chapter:

11th: Dory Krillgood, District 4 Female – Died as Curse left her body

This girl was super cute, just a little bundle of joy. Even though she could be an airhead she was always able to lighten the mood. I definitely stressed her obsession with boys toward the start of the story, though I regret letting this fade into the background as the story progressed. She really deserved so much better, though that's true of most every tribute in the games. I loved her but sadly couldn't keep her alive forever. Enjoy the afterlife Dory :D

Alliances: Nero, Jaehaera

Loners (For Now): Declan, Pixel, Adelaide, Lincoln, Cerise, Luc, Orford, Jaro

A/N: I'm sure there are some of you out there who are scratching your heads. So I'll give a full explanation of what's happening with Dory. So there's this golden apple tree with this creepy monster controlling it. The demon's only goal is to hypnotize and draw in a human victim, who it will turn into the monster. So the curse was transferred to Dory and then she carried it over to Declan. Hope this makes sense :D

How'd you like the chapter? Sorry the Povs of Luc and Orford were super short this time. There wasn't much to write about them this time and I just wanted to finish the chapter before bed. See ya' next time.

P.S. I have a new story! It's called "Here in an Instant, Gone in a Flash." It's basically a series of one-shots describing each of the 24 tributes in Katniss' games. It's my advent calendar—I'll be posting one chapter each day of December leading up to the big day. Shameless self-advertising is now over. I'll leave now.

Question: Do you think the career tributes are actual villains or just victims of the Capitol used to make the games more interesting?