What is up forum? Thanks to xKeeper-of-the-Forbiddenx and Cloud-Lover, you guys are my first reviewers ever! I figured i should thank you guys for being loyal readers. Anyway, let's get on with the Games, shall we?

Marquette Tetra

"Come on Marquette, we've got work to do!" Gordon shouts. But I ignore him, bend down, and close the dead boy's eyes. I'm surprised no one tries to kill me; after all I'm a sitting duck. But perhaps the other tributes are either being killed by the Careers behind me, or were smart enough to stay away from this massacre.

Killing others is supposed to be part of the Hunger Games, right? Then why do I feel like I'm going to be sick. I refuse to lose my head now. I still have to show my father that I can handle this. But that's just it. I don't know if I can.

"Marquette, get over here!" Gordon commands. I spin around to see that the fighting has stopped. The Careers have made two piles, one of the dead tributes, another for the supplies we scavenged. There were five dead bodies there, six if you counted the boy I murdered.

My group stands over the pile, evil smiles creeping onto their faces. Some were even kicking dirt on the dead tributes and stomping on their carcass. It made me want to barf.

"These guys never stood a chance," the female tribute from 1 says. "There's much more where that came from," snarled Lito, the one from District 5. He kneels next to a dead tribute, plucking a knife from her side. It takes me a while to realize that was the girl from District 5, Lito's partner. That sick idiot killed his own partner, I think, trying to keep them from seeing my distaste.

We, and by we I mean the others, decide to scout out the town for any tributes. I take the rear, which is fine because then I will only have to look at the back of their brutish faces. The sun has begun to set, and it casts looming shadows all over the city. I notice a bicycle parked next to what looks to be the remains of a fruit stand. This place was abandoned in a hurry, I thought.

Apparently Lito was thinking the same thing, because he whispers, "I wonder why this place was abandoned." Nobody answers him, so he just goes back to looking menacing and growling, which is something they all seem to do very well. Even the girls have got that one down.

Eventually, we circle through the whole city and return back the Cornucopia. "So, no one decided to show up," the girl from 2 says. She looks genuinely pissed, as if she really wanted to snuff out someone's life. Just like how I did, with that boy from 6.

I survey the faces of my "fellow" Careers and notice they all have an annoyed look on their face. Apparently they all are thirsting for blood. At that moment, my stomach churns at the thought of seeing them rip another soul apart. How can they so easily kill? How can they easily tear apart a family's life? It was wrong, and realizing that I'd have to do the same to survive made it even worse.

Night falls, and a bright projection flashes across the sky, but I am too weary to see who is dead. I'm already huddled up next to the Cornucopia, away from the others, my blue eyes already shut. All I can make out from my squad is that seven tributes have died today. Not much, considering usually eight or nine are dead on the first day. But I'm not one of them.

Mind is muddled, and i can hardly think straight. At this point, my head is swarming with thoughts. Pride for showing my Dad I can survive. Anger at the Capitol. Sadness for the boy whose life I had taken. And love. For Kory, my mother, and…

All of a sudden, my eyes shoot open, hoping to catch one last glimpse of the projection. But I'm too late, the screen is gone. Looks like I'll need to wait another day to see if Kodiak is alive. Too bad I might not live that long to find out. I sigh, and i know that tonight will be a restless one.

Oh, if only I could sleep. Apparently my teammates are restless as well. But not of fear and anxiety like me. No, they are excited, because no doubt tomorrow will yield all new prey for them. I try I keep all the evil thoughts they say out of my head, but unfortunately it doesn't happen.

"Tomorrow, this spear is going to see some real action," Lito says, feeling the point of the spear with his finger.

"I hope some tributes are stupid enough to wander in here," Gordon says with a snort, motioning at the buildings as though they were his turf.

"Yeah, well soon my knives are gonna find their way into someone's throat," D1 female says excitedly. I find myself rubbing my throat, imagining that knife slicing across my jugular. Then I shudder, and try to forget about that.

But this arena doesn't let you forget. It feeds on your terror, and you will never forget the death and destruction that has and will happen. The face of D6 swirls in my mind. The blood, the javelin, the knives.

The Careers are only making it worse with their twisted fantasies and bloodlust. I'm not going to last another day with these murderous freaks. I'm the smallest one out of them, and I know that when the time comes, they will stab me in the back. I don't care if I'm alone, in fact, I'll probably have a better chance at surviving. And besides, it will just show my father that I don't need anyone's help.

Tomorrow. No, no, tonight. Tonight will be when I sever my ties.

Kodi Nyquist

It's cold. It's dark. Blood is swirling around me. Faces stare, faces that haunt me in my nightmares. Except now, I am fully awake. My father, Lynn, the District 4 who killed her, Kat, Leo. They are all coldly staring into my soul. And the blood. The crimson, evil, swirling blood…

Reality shifts back into my eyes. I am disoriented for a bit, before I remember where I am. I'm underwater, and I can hear Selene calling from the surface, her voice laced with fear. Move my left arm forward in an attempt to swim, but pain slices through it like the knife of the girl who attacked me.

I glance at my shoulder and see a gash from the broad of my shoulder to my armpit. Holding the cut with my other hand, I kick upwards to the surface.

My head breaks through the water, and I see Selene reaching out her hand. I grab it with my good hand, and she helps me to the edge of the lake. I am just in time to see the body of the girl who attacked me being lifted up into the air.

"I thought she got you good," Selene whispered. Then she reached into her jacket and pulled out a rusty knife. "I got this from her. You…you got her right in the heart."

Right in the heart. I stabbed her. It was self-defense, but still. I killed her, just as the D4 girl killed Lynn.

"I'm so sorry about your sister kid," the man at the butcher's stand says. The boy in the beanie looks at him, confused. "What about her?"
The butcher's eyebrows raise, and he says softly, "Wait, you haven't heard?"

In that instant, pain throbs into my shoulder as well as my head, and I am able to get out, "I think she got me better than you think." I point to my wound, and Selene's eyes render shock. But that look soon fades away, replaced by determination, and she reaches into her pack.

She pulls out a roll of cloth, and says, "Here, I'll fix it." then she proceeds to wrap the cloth around my cut. Her fingers delicately work around the wound like a surgeon, and she pulls the cloth tight, making an effective bandage. I roll my shoulders, testing it. The bandage holds, and I can't help but be surprised at her medical skills.

"Nice job! How'd you learn to do that?" I ask. She gives a modest smile and replies, "Well, my father used to run a small hospital back home, and I used to help do the small tasks like wrap bandages and stuff like that."

I stand up and stretch my arms. "You're an expert. The wound isn't even uncomfortable in the least," I say, and I ruffle her hair. I guess it was like how I used to ruffle Vespa's hair back home.

"Vespa, it's not true, is it?" The young boy stands there, holding his beanie in his hand, which was really too big for him anyway. The elder girl just sits there, silently, closing her eyes. After a while, she reluctantly nods her head, tears beginning to run down her cheeks. The boy leans against the wall, a look of disbelief in his eyes. "No, she's not dead. Lynn is NOT dead!"

"Kodi? Are you…okay?" Selene's voice brings me back to the arena. I blink my eyes quickly before replying, "Yeah, I'm fine, Lynn."

I take in a sharp breath when I realize what I've said. Selene looks at me questioningly, but this time it penetrates harder than when she looked at me back after the Gamemakers Session.

I try to change the subject, saying quickly, "Say, how 'bout we take rest up in the trees. It's getting dark." To my surprise, she shrugs and says cheerfully, "Okay!"

So we climb up I tree and belt ourselves to a sturdy branch. I don't' know if these leather belts will hold our weight, but hey, beggars can't be choosers. A projection flashes across the screen seven tributes are dead today, one of which was killed by me.

She was a complete stranger. She had a family whom I didn't know, friends whom I didn't know, and a life that I didn't know. So why was I caring so much?

Of course, I already know the answer. I care because in every dead tribute's eyes, I see Lynn's staring right back at me. And when I look back down at my hands, they aren't mine. They are the hands of girl who killed my twin.

It's crazy how one person can change the lives of many. I wonder what the dead girl's family is feeling right now after watching me kill her. Then I remember, I already know.

The Capitol anthem ceases and the projection fades into black. Selene huddles close to me and leans her head on my shoulders. Her dark hair was kept in a ponytail, and yet her bangs hang over her face delicately. Her emerald eyes close and her chest slowly and rhythmically rises up and down.

Except for her eyes, you could easily tell she was from the poor area like me. If you didn't know any better, you'd think the two of us were related. No, that's not true. We are not related. We are NOT…

The boy in the beanie watches the screen intently. The entire day is replayed, and the boy's heart is racing, hoping that the recap would end and his fears would cease. But the recaps don't soon enough. Because, at that moment, it shows that scene. That scene, which would be etched into his mind forever. The boy only sees the 15 second clip once, but that is enough. Enough for him to collapse to the ground, sobbing the dead girl's name over and over.
The boy has grown up much too soon.

The nightmares. I still have them. But now, they're real.

RREEVVIIEEWW!