The third day of the 38th Hunger Games has just begun. Who will die today?
As my eyes fluttered open, I panicked. I had meant to stay awake all night, to never stop watching the television but instead I'd let Ross lull me to sleep.
My head flicked to the TV and I realised I'd been woken up as they started the highlights package of last night.
Ross got a brief show as he lulled his team to sleep but then they showed the real action.
Cerron flinched as he woke up to see the District 9 boy's arrow in his face.
"I hear you're interested in a hunter," he growled, his voice low to avoid waking the ruthless Toro.
"Who's asking?" Cerron shot back as his hand creeped towards his sword.
The District 9 boy stomped his hand as h flicked the hood of his jacket away from his eyes, "I'm asking."
Cerron smiled as he realised who it was, "How about a little challenge? If you win, we keep you, you lose and you die."
"You aren't exactly in a position to bargain here," the District 9 kid replied cockily.
"Oh really? I'm an actor, I'd have no trouble making enough noise to wake my little friends here, Avanna would skewer you before you made it half a metre," Cerron replied.
The District 9 boy mulled this over before replying, "Fine, what's this 'game' you want me to play?"
Cerron smiled as his manipulation succeeded, "We're interested in making things a little more… explosive," he grinned, "Unfortunately for us, that little alliance managed to nab the District 3 boy. That means we're left having to get the little girl or we're behind the game. She'll probably be being looked after by someone, I think I saw her with the District 10's back at the Training Centre. We want you to bring her here, no… strings attached."
The hunter smiled viciously and I couldn't help but wonder if it was really the Careers Ross should have been worried about or if it was this kid. He honestly looked eager to kill and capture the little girl. I wanted to tell Ross where he was so he could run and save her like a fairytale hero, but he'd never hear me.
Instead I had to watch as the District 9 boy, who was apparently named, rather unoriginally, Hunter, methodically stalked his prey. First he calculated his range of sight in the blackness of the arena then he started to search by zigzagging across the remaining arena, silently hopping from rock to rock.
He was totally and effortlessly deadly and despite their hiding place in the cave, I feared for Ross' group and their new twelve-year old member.
As he approached the District 3 girl's hiding spot, he also spotted the District 7 girl who, in an effort to get as far away from her partner as possible without going near the Careers had ended up in a small outcrop, facing the direction Hunter was coming from.
There was a second of recognition as he drew his bow before lowering it as he decided to take out his main target first.
Obviously he'd been hiding his talent from the game makers because I would have given him a twelve.
He found the two District 10 guards only a few seconds later in front of a cave blocked off by a large rock, making it seem as though it wasn't there. He silently slit the girl's throat with a serrated hunting knife before pulsing an arrow into the boy's chest before he could react, taking both out silently within a matter of seconds.
Despite a relatively diminutive figure, Hunter pushed the rock away with barely a sound on the crushed-up stone soil.
Inside, the girl was sleeping like a baby with her thumb in her mouth and, although she was on the other side to Ross and Victoria, I felt glad they weren't going to kill her.
The two cannons fired and Hunter jolted, quickly picking up the girl, strangling her until she was unconscious and slinging her over his shoulder as he ran out of the cave and climbed up on to the rocks.
When he was up the top, the District 7 girl caught his eye seeing as the cannons had woken her up and she'd stupidly stood up and stretched. He looked as though he was about to run before deciding to turn, shoot her, and then ran back to the Careers' camp.
He dumped the girl at Cerron's feet with a sickening smile on his face a few seconds after the third cannon, it seemed he could also be lightning fast when he wanted to be and I couldn't help but wonder what he showed the game makers that didn't get a 12.
"Good job, welcome to the team," Cerron said, extending his hand which Hunter didn't shake, "Toro, Avanna, Vanity, wake up," Cerron called to the rest of his team who started moving with various degrees of gusto, "This is Hunter, the newest member of our team. He just managed three kills in about 2 minutes and collected the girl and I have to admit I'm impressed."
"Not bad, kid," Toro sneered.
"Now, let's see to the girl," Vanity suggested, sounding almost bored with proceedings.
"Right," Cerron said before kicking the girl brutally in the ribs to wake her up, "So, little girl, I have a proposition," he began as she blinked in terror at her unfamiliar surroundings, "Join us, or else."
"No," the little girl replied stubbornly.
Cerron gave the nod to Toro who raised his sword high above his head. I had to look away and apparently, so did the Capitol because when I heard the girl's scream, it was from far away.
On the screen was the District 7 boy. He'd found the corpse of his district partner and held her in his arms as tears streaked down his cheeks. It was obvious he hadn't really meant to fight and had expected it to pass the next day, but now it was final. His final words to her would always have been said in anger; it would always be his words that sent her away to her doom.
The rumble of the collapsing arena was obvious but he just sat there, holding the body as the arena collapsed and the cannon fired.
Now there were only four groups, the lone District 6 boy, Seiro, and the District 9 girl, Kera, Ross' group: Ross, Victoria, Rain, Laira, Locke and Raven and the Careers: Cerron, Vanity, Toro, Avanna and Hunter.
When Ross' group was ready to leave, it was obvious the game makers were planning a bloodbath as the floor fell away.
Seiro and Kera were both near the Careers so all they needed was Ross' group to set off the fighting.
Despite Ross' group outnumbering the Career, I realised that Kera and Seiro were going to have to take sides.
Ross' group was only a few metres away from the Careers when the camera showed Kera, which I knew meant something important. She squirmed silently out of her hole and ran to meet Ross' group with her arms raised in surrender.
"Give me one reason I shouldn't kill you," Ross said to her, moving her into the range of his sword.
"They want you to fight, right?" Kera asked.
"Yeah," Ross replied slowly, unsure of where she was going with the question.
"Watch out for Hunter, from District 9. He killed all three early this morning then brought the little girl to the Careers. That District 2 guy killed her without a second thought, but he's just mindless. Hunter's smart, he thinks, he calculates and he kills without mercy. He's lightning fast, unnaturally strong, pinpoint accuracy but 0 conscience. As his district partner it's my job to undo what he's doing, to undo him, but I'm warning you now," she said.
Ross thought for a second before saying, "Rain, give her the bow," which Rain did grudgingly, "And thank you. I'm not going to insult your intelligence by asking for an alliance so close to half way but still, thanks."
Kera nodded before dashing over the rocks to a safe vantage point.
Ross was about to start moving again when Raven called him back, apparently the conversations were interesting the Capitol citizens because the rumbling had stopped, "There's some things that doesn't make sense with her story," he said in a whisper, "First, there were 5 cannons last night, not 4. Also, that kid only got a 7 in his training score. We shouldn't trust her anyway, but this only makes me more nervous."
"We don't have a choice. We have to kill this 'Hunter' anyway and if she's telling the truth she's helped us a bit, if she lied, it won't change anything," Ross hissed back.
It seemed the game makers had been busy over night because the Careers were in a large clearing of stone, a perfect battleground.
Ross' group was together in a wedge formation as they approached the Careers. "Prepare to say goodnight!" Toro roared, weapon at the ready.
"Yeah right," Ross replied casually as the two groups ran at each other.
Vanity had been off to the side, making her the first target for Locke and Raven.
Locke threw his spear but Vanity twirled, causing the spear to miss by inches. As Locke hauled it back in using the length of rope he'd tied to the end, Raven ran in to attack with his sword, but his clumsy swipe barely glanced Vanity's shoulder.
Cerron realised his partner was under attack and leapt, calling Vanity's name as he plunged his sword two-handed through Raven's chest.
As he landed, he kissed Vanity on the lips, but a kiss can't save you when there's a spear lodged between your ribs as Locke made up for Raven's mistake. The spear went through his ribs and into Vanity's shoulder, skewering them together before he ripped it out and turned towards the others.
The camera continued to focus on Cerron and Vanity as a tiny parachute floated from the ceiling.
Vanity managed to reach for it and opening the package revealed a type of salve which, when applied to Cerron's back, closed the wound entirely. She tried turning him over and applying more where the spear had exited, but the cream couldn't heal a burst artery and Cerron was already dead.
She screamed, pulling the knives from her sheath, throwing them wildly, totally insane.
One hit Laira's forearm and another hit Locke's back, but several hit Toro and despite his yells, she didn't stop, swirling in madness as she threw more and more knives until Toro stabbed his own team mate through the heart before pulling it out and turning to face Ross.
It wasn't until I saw him stand up against Toro that I saw how much he'd grown since I saw him, cold and starving with the fan rotor in District 8.
He was taller than Toro, but slightly slimmer and even with the swollen eye and the broken nose, I could still see the boy at the interviews when he spiralled, showing a glint of the silver stud in his ear.
Although Toro was huge, he'd gone wild and uncontrolled and Ross seemed to be just holding his own.
With one huge blow, Toro cleaved Ross' sword in half, but overbalanced, allowing Ross to shove his sword up to the hilt in Toro's chest.
As Toro fell back, Ross had to let go of his sword, slippery with blood to dodge Avanna's attack.
He saw Rain block the attack with her brother's falchion and prepare to attack when suddenly she coughed a spurt of blood and fell to the ground, dead.
Both he and Avanna turned and saw Hunter, ready with another arrow after the first one hit Rain in the stomach.
Seeing Avanna distracted, Laira leapt away from her hiding place to stab Avanna through the back.
Despite her bravery, Hunter's next arrow speared her through the heart as she blocked his angle on Ross.
Both Ross and Locke began charging at Hunter, weapons raised. Locke threw his spear but Hunter effortlessly guided it away with a shield he'd obviously found in the Careers' supplies before grabbing the rope and pulling Locke toward him so he could plunge the hunting knife into Locke's throat.
Ross looked up suddenly and I could see Kera leaping off a boulder toward Hunter.
I thought she was an idiot until I saw Hunter's attention turn to her as he raised his knife. I realised that she was giving her life so Ross could kill Hunter and prevent Hunter's victory as Ross stabbed Hunter straight through the heart with the sword he'd stolen of Toro's corpse.
I thought that maybe Kera had survived, but the next camera shot left no doubt. As she'd landed, Hunter had run her through with the hunting knife and the two lay crumpled on the ground.
Clearly Ross thought he'd won as he fell to his knees and I was about to cry with relief when the ground started rumbling and I remembered Seiro.
Ross jumped up and began to run to the stairs as he was passed by a flash of silver and I realised Victoria was still alive, hiding in the stones to avoid Hunter.
If both of them were alive then that meant one might have to kill the other.
I was terrified for both of them as they climbed the ladder and reached a small grass field, perfectly trimmed with tiny little flowers.
The cannon fired ten times and they clearly thought that they were the last two left.
"What do we do?" asked Ross to no one in particular.
"I know," Seiro's voice cackled, "How about we let me win?"
As he spoke I could only watch as he shoved his knife between Ross' shoulder blades. Ross had jolted when Seiro had spoken, meaning it wasn't the organ-crusher Seiro had hoped for.
Seiro prepared to strike again, assuming Victoria was unarmed after seeing her hide at the battlefield, when she stabbed him through the heart.
As he crumpled backwards, she fell to her knees and started rifling through her pack.
I wondered what she was looking for when she pulled out the medical supplies. I vaguely remembered them being shared between her and Laira as the two least likely to fight when she pulled out a tub.
I recognised it as the same Vanity had received as she pulled the knife out of Ross' shoulder and applied the cream.
The wound healed over instantly, but I wondered why.
If she'd just pulled out the knife, Ross would have died and she would win, but instead she was saving him.
When she was done, she put him in a choke-hold and I knew that ten seconds later, his heart stopped beating.
The cannon fired and the hover craft picked up his body and the announcer cam over an inter-com.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, I present the winner of the 38th Hunger Games, Aeros Servan!"
Gotta love the cliff hangers! Wow, before writing this chapter I thought the time I killed 17 out of 20 characters in a stand-alone story was impressive but I think I've out done myself this time.
Next Chapter: The Homecoming.