A/N: It's sad how attached I've become to my characters- and yet how willingly I can and will kill them off, one by one. Luckily I get to keep one... which one will it be?
The Trial Games.
His footsteps that echo within the hall outside make my head pound harder and faster with each approaching footstep. My body is shivering and my heart palpitating so much that I feel I'm about to faint at any given second.
'He doesn't know I'm here,' I try to soothe myself. 'He doesn't know I'm here, h-he was killing Valera... there's no way he could've seen me during that time frame...'
I don't know that. This isn't the boy I used to know, the Crux I'd hear sneaking up on me of a morning. That boy doesn't exist in this arena. Instead, he's a twisted, murderous killer- hiding behind the face of the boy I once loved like a brother.
"Little girl..."
The gasp slips from my throat before I can stop it. I press my free hand so hard into my mouth my teeth begin to ache from the applied pressure. My other hand grips the handle of my new cleaver so tightly that my nails begin to fold against the wood.
Terror has filled every inch of my battered body. The previous drizzle has begun to pour down outside with such ferocity that I can barely recognise it as rain. And then the thunder roars, and I yelp, covering my head with my arms.
It's too much. This is too much for me to bear. All of my natural instincts are telling me to get up, to run for the window and escape before Crux finds me. But my legs don't move, and my body remains sitting and shaking against the cold linoleum floor as his footsteps travel down the hall outside.
"Little girl, little Maya..." Crux's chortle is soft, but poisonous. "Why are you hiding from me...? It's Crux, your friend remember...?"
Summoning all my mental strength, I manage to make my body lurch forwards out of its slump and front first onto the cold infirmary floor. I silently scrape my way towards the window, but it feels like a dream where I'm unable to run because the sheets are draped over my legs.
Only this isn't a dream, and my legs are free to catch upon nothing but my own terror.
"I'm going to find you!" a door around the corner bangs open as it's kicked open. "What do I have to do to make you come out and say hello...?"
My arms shakily reach out and pull myself further along. I wish my legs were responding to my will, because as each door bangs open- I know Crux is getting closer and closer to my room. The door of the room across the hall makes an audible splinter as I can hear his foot go clear through the wood.
-suddenly my legs shake, and I begin to pull myself to my feet. The wind outside is almost cyclonic, and my hair whips about as I mentally prepare myself for the climb that's before me. I'm not going to make it. I know I'm not. I'll be halfway out this window by the time Crux kicks open the door- and he'll fire. And I'll die.
...or... I can go down fighting. There's no way I'll win, but I can at least give the Mayans a show for the present they gave me. That's what they want... isn't it? They want a blood bath... and between two old friends... what a better way to send me off?
'...but... attack Crux...?'
I had swung the lunch box at him, but only so I could get away. I didn't want to kill him, not in the slightest. The footsteps have stopped outside the infirmary, and even though I'm sad that Crux has killed so many people... he's still the boy I was friends with for so long... I can't kill him... I can't hurt him...
'I know I should... but... I can't do that... even... even to him...'
I've made up my mind. I grip the cleaver and face the window. The thunder rumbles in apology and the lightning flashes once more as the door outside begins to jolt from the exterior force. I exhale deeply and grip the handle of the cleaver tightly.
The door crashes open and there's a loud solitary laugh from the doorway as the wood clatters to the ground. I close my eyes, and turn.
Crux's face is illuminated from the occasional flashes of lightning outside. He's still as handsome as he had been before, but his smile is psychotic. His body is drenched from the rain outside, but it is blood that is splattered across his face and hands. We lock eyes, and his grin stretches like the Cheshire cat's.
"There you are," he looks beside himself with joy. "You've been very hard to find Maya... I've been looking ever-y-where~e"
The crossbow gleams painfully within his arms, cradled like I did my cleaver. Our eyes lock, and a tiny smile manages to twinge across my lips.
"I-I've been watching you..." my head jerks nervously in the direction of the whiteboard. "You... You... you've been up to a lot... huh?"
"Yeah," Crux smiles arrogantly, similar to how he would back home. "It's nothing really... it's just my calling I guess, I just never had a chance to realise it before now."
"...that's good..."
I had been hoping there'd be a shred of the old Crux left. Perhaps if there was, I wouldn't have to die now. I'd live on, and find Holden- and we could all be together again somehow. But the grinning hunter before me, though he looks so much like Crux- shows nothing of the boy I thought I knew.
"You impressed?" he cocks an eyebrow, jiggling the crossbow in his arms. "I haven't lost a single stake- kept 'em all... yeah?"
"Y-Yeah," I force a smile, but I know it's a grimace. "Th-That's really good..."
Suddenly, his brash demeanour vanishes and is replaced with a deadpan stare. His eyes part from mine and focus onto the cleaver for a moment- before flashing the psychotic grin back up at me once more.
"-you been killing Maya?" Crux's head tilts. "How many? How many?"
I can't speak. Instead, I just shake my head frantically- which sends Crux into hysterics. He clutches his stomach with one hand as he looks up at me with eyes filled with tears of laughter.
"You're a riot Maya," His voice is like a hiss when he's breathless. "Can't kill anyone? Why are you holding it now then? Going to start with me?"
Again, I shake my head with such force that my hair lashes my face. Crux's smirk disappears again and is replaced with an annoyed frown.
"Why Maya... why are you making this so hard?" I look up; doubling back to notice he's staring at his feet. "You know what situation we're in... I know that when I heard about all this, I thought no, I thought, I won't kill anyone... I just want to keep her safe... You know who I'm talking about Maya?"
I can't talk. My voice is caught in my throat and Crux's dead-eyed stare is scaring me. His emotions are changing faster than I can keep up with. Instead Crux takes a step forwards, and I find myself backing into the open window.
"I thought... I'll stick close to her, stop the psycho's from touching her..." Crux smiles absent-mindedly. "...but then I remembered... why should I? She never noticed how I felt before, why should I help her now? She doesn't deserve to be safe... you know?"
Oh god. Oh god, oh no- no, no, no. The cleaver slips from my grip and clatters to the ground as Crux steps forward again, and I press myself harder into the wall.
Why... why this? He continues to close in, the crossbow inching nearer and nearer to my chest as his breath becomes heavy.
"So I decided on the field... fuck her... let her die, in fact- kill her- kill her at first chance you get Crux," Crux's eyes are no longer dead, but wild with his insanity. "-but I couldn't, and you ran like Bambi when I tried to... and I fell in love..."
He steps forwards, and at the same time- dropping the crossbow to the ground by my cleaver. He looks at me, and I'm frightened by how normal he suddenly seems, smiling gently with eyes softly glinting in the shadows.
"All-"
His hands reach forward and take hold of my shoulders. I swallow.
"-Over-"
My heart pounds against my ribcage as our bodies are pulled closer together by his grip. He leans in closer and his breath, strangely soft whispers-
"-Again."
Tears form in the corner of my eyes when our lips touch. His eyes are closed, and his touch is so gentle and soft it's not even slightly threatening. But I'm so scared in this moment; I can barely breathe as his tongue parts my lips and successfully steal my first kiss. The kiss I had been saving. As I feel his tongue explore the inside of my mouth, a whimper escapes me before I can stop it.
"Holden."
It was a terrible mistake. The grip tightens, our lips part and Crux is angrier than I have ever seen him before in my entire life. Terror overwhelms me as his body and his strength seems to rise from its very core.
"-not just for one minute-" his body quakes with anger. "-no, not just for a second... why... is it always- HOLDEN!?"
I yelp as Crux hurls me to the ground. Before I can scramble upright I'm slammed onto my back as he grabs me by the shoulders, pinning my legs down with his.
"I-I'm sorry-" I manage to cry through the pain. "Crux I didn't know-"
"I've loved you for as long as I can remember Maya-" he hisses furiously. "-you never noticed, you never took enough time to realise..."
"C-Crux-" I whimper as his grip crushes my arms. "Y-You're hurting me-"
"Good," Crux breathes, his eyes glancing over me. "-because I don't care... you never cared how I felt Maya... so I don't need to care how you feel..."
More than anything that's happened since the games began; these words terrified me the most. His eyes canvass across my body, my blouse and skirt- and I can tell that he's just made a decision that makes my blood run cold. The psychotic grin is back, and within a second I'm slammed against the sick bed and held there with all his strength as I desperately thrash and scream with all my might.
"-When we're done-" he breathes, teeth bared and saliva dripping. "-if you've changed your mind... I'll let you live... Maya..."
With those words, my cries were silenced as his lips were roughly crushed against mine- and my worst nightmare was realised as Crux, my... oldest friend, proceeded to have his way as I slowly gave up the fight and lay still beneath him; all while the tears continued to fall.
These games weren't just filled with murder anymore for me. They were filled with distrust, insanity- and, what I'd remember especially... the complete dismantling of friendships once thought strong and unbreakable.
'Crux...'