"Nate?" the little voice that asked the question doesn't belong to Elijah, tonight. The eyes I see, blowing from the pale specter, aren't blue. They're big and green.

I step back and my words fail me. "C-C-C…" I can't say the name. He was my friend, but… God…

"Yeah. Hi."

I sniffle and say, "What are you doing here?"

"I talked to Elijah. He said you might want to see me."

I groan and collapse against the wall, "Great, I'm a fucking loonie like Boeh."

"Nate… I only showed up because I wanted to tell you that I get it. That I understand why you had to abandon me. I… I looked back on it… And I realized that it's actually what I would've wanted."

"I…I don't understand…"

"We're friends…Right? We always kinda were."

"Uh… Sure…"

"I know I acted happy in life, but I never really was. I didn't have family or friends back home. You and Priscilla were all I had. And, Azure and Melanie, too. But Azure creeps me out, still, and Melanie is too… Stiff… For my taste. I really loved you and Priscilla, though. You were my best friends. And that's why I realized that I'm glad it was me. Why should I have won the Games, and lost the only friends I'd ever get? It wasn't worth it. I wanted one of you to win, anyways, deep inside, I just never knew it."

"Cutter…" I wipe my eyes and look away from him, "Still… We shouldn't have run away…"

"I would've told you to, eventually."

"That's not true."

"You just won't believe it."

"You're right."

There's a long silence that follows that.

"I'm happy here. Priscilla isn't, yet, but she will be."

"D-Don't bring it up."

He puts his hands up and whispers, "Ok."

There's a pause and he says, "I decided to show up to you because you need to win. Alright?"

"Why are you still rooting for me? After all I did, I-"

"Because you're my best friend."

There's a pause. "What?"

"You're my best friend. You and Priscilla, but she's obviously not with you anymore. And… You have to win. You just have to. Cliff's a colossal asswad and Boeh's insane. But you'd be a good Victor. Because you feel the losses, you'll be a good Victor. Not like Platinum, chickening out at the Victory Tour and ignoring the memories. You'll be the one person that will make all of our deaths mean something, because they mean something to you. And, by the way, you're doing a stellar job at hiding it."

"H-hiding!?"

"Remember, we know you. I haven't ever seen you cry until now, and I know that it's because of me, and of her, and even of-"

"Stop! That's enough! Yes, I'm broken, but now is not the time for me to have a psychotic breakdown! We'll save it for after the Arena, thank you."

"You're right," Cutter says. "I was never strong in the Arena, but you were. And you still can be, if you just let us go, at least until you're back home. Think you can do that?"

"I can try. It's hard, though. Guess I never knew how much I liked either of you until you were gone."

"That's Ok. Now you know, though."

I provide a small nod.

"Everyone is rooting for you, Nate."

"Even though they shouldn't, especially not the ones I killed."

"We still are. It's because we know that, unlike the other two, you ARE a good person. You are. And you'll do good things in your life."

"If I win."

"Which you will. We all know you will."

"Let's remember that I'm fourteen and she's seventeen and he's eighteen. And both of them have almost killed me, or us."

"But you don't hear any of them calling the first Victor Cupcake… Do you?"

"That doesn't do much for me."

"He believes in you, Nate. Obviously…More than he ever believed in any of us. He sees in you what the rest of us see; an innocent 14-year-old that is a GOOD PERSON and will make his Games count. He wants you to win. The whole nation wants you to win. After all… You're the volunteer…"

I swallow the lump of tears in my throat and nod, feeling weak in that moment.

"All you have to remember, Nate… The most important part of our conversation… Win. Because you are a GOOD PERSON. Ok?"

I nod, "Alright."

"That's the spir-

My dream is interrupted when I hear a scream come from the fields by the stream.

I snap awake and sit up. What the hell?

The screams coming from the woods are much too masculine to be Boeh's. Which means that Cliff must've wandered here in search of a tribute and gotten… Abducted.

My curiosity makes me itch, and I start the trek there but something reminds me, in an alarming voice, that I don't have my friends to save me anymore. I have nobody to save me anymore if I do something stupid.

So what do I do? I decide to go for it, anyways. I cross the stream and walk until Boeh and Cliff are in my view, though they are still very far away.

"Ah, yes, isn't it nice?" Boeh asks. Cliff's back is touching the flames, just like mine was. I have no idea how Boeh got him there, nor do I want to know. Cliff stops screaming out and struggles against the rocks and the ropes, as Boeh reaches in her supplies for a knife. She finds one and Cliff jerks around, as she draws a triangular pattern on his stomach similar to the one I have on mine.

Suddenly, Cliff is able to rip his arm from one of the rocks and he swings up a fist and it hits Boeh's jaw. She stumbles backwards as he frees his left leg and rolls off of the fire, untying his other hand and then his other leg while Boeh recovers from the blow. Her nose is definitely broken: it's crookedly distorted and it gushes out blood, but either the insane girl didn't notice this or doesn't even care, because as soon as he's standing she tackles him again.

This is probably the most intense battle of the whole Games. Their injuries could easily be how I escape this Arena with my life. Boeh and Cliff fight and it's just then that I make my escape and wait to hear a cannon. As I run away I hear Cliff shout, "MCIALWAIN!" And footsteps chasing me, but they soon stop as I assume Boeh's decided to kill him now and deal with me later. I run until I get to the Cornucopia, then run inside until I catch my breath and try to get my heartbeat to slow.

Now, there's only one problem, besides the fact that now both of them know the general direction that I'm in. And that problem is that time flies by and there are no cannons. Looks like Cliff must've made his escape, which is terrifying to me because I was really depending on those two taking each other out. I decide to move away from the Cornucopia: far far away. I pack up my one single sleeping bag and backpack of supplies before setting off, leaving every empty item I have by the Cornucopia and taking anything I could use.

I eat lunch by myself and don't stop working, taking refuge in the driest area of the Arena, hopefully far enough away from the Cornucopia that neither of them finds me. I camp out far enough away from the stream that I don't see it, but still try to have a good idea where it is. I don't hunt, just eat, and as the sun sets, I see the tiniest red light in the distance, but don't hear beeping. At least I'm far away from one of them.

Night comes once again and I don't want to sleep at all. I decide to try and pull an all-nighter, staying up and watching. Tonight is the coldest night of them all, and I stayed curled up tightly in my sleeping bag and still end up shivering. I'm exhausted and all I want to do is sleep but I have to stay awake… I have to stay… Awake…

Maybe just a short rest of my eyes will be good…

"Well, that didn't last long," Elijah says, smiling at me smugly.

"Shut the hell up."

"Man, you swear a lot when you get grouchy. I remember when you used to never swear."

"Yeah? Me too. I miss those days."

"Trust me, we all miss them."

"So, Conscience, I thought you already gave me my share today. What the hell do I have to feel guilty about now?"

"Nothing. I'm not acting as your conscience. Even though it was EXTREMELY stupid to go watch the fight. That was very dumb and you're lucky you didn't get killed."

"What happened to not acting as your conscience?"

"I was wrong. I just have to yell at you because that was arguably the dumbest thing you've ever done. Be smarter, and wake up, for fuck's sake!"

I snap awake and get my stuff. All I hear is my own heart beating, hard, and I blink sleep out of my eyes. I feel like something terrible is going to happen. Suddenly I see those smiling green eyes that I am terrified of right by me.

I must be hallucinating. I have to be dreaming.

But no… I hear an insane laugh, "MCIALWAIN!"

Boeh runs toward me and I put up my sword immediately. I'm ready for her now. I have my weapon, and I can take her.

She pulls out a match from her pocket and says, "I am FINALLY gonna set your ass on FIRE!"

I don't hesitate, I run at her as she throws the match at me, dodging the fire and preparing to kill her any way that I can.

Suddenly, though, something terrible happens. The entire plain in front of us, where Boeh's match landed, sets on fire. It's a fire unlike anything I've ever imagined before, and I don't pause. I run forward, toward the Cornucopia and away from the flames. She runs after me and suddenly I'm tackled and we roll across the grass until we pause. She thrusts her knife up and it hits my hip. I cry out, in pain, but can't think about it now. I get up and she jumps up, as well, chasing me as I run away.

As fast as I can, I swivel on a foot and ram my fist into her face. She falls backwards, focusing on trying to trip me as opposed to getting up and running herself. Boeh's feet catch on fire and she screams, now realizing that she should focus on herself staying alive instead of killing me, but it's too late. She tries to get up then the rest of her body ignites.

I run, as my arm catches fire again and sears with pain as I scream, but I don't stop running. The back of my shins and thighs burns, but I can't let it stop me, not now. I run until the atmosphere gets cooler, and when I turn around all that's left is a big puff of smoke. I hear a cannon just then and know that the fight is over. And I won.

All I need to do is kill one more person, and then I will be the Victor of the 2nd Hunger Games.