Author's Note: Ok, so you twisted my arm. Here's Chapter Eighteen but don't say I didn't warn you when I said things get dark and depressing from this chapter on. This chapter made me cry... so does the next chapter and next.
Anyway, Please enjoy.
Oh and Thank you for all the kind birthday wishes, they're really making my day, so thank you, thank you very much.

Chapter Eighteen

I woke a dawn, but I didn't get up.

I simply lay in my sleeping bag, staring up at the treetops, at the leaves that were being painted gold by the dawn light, birds flittering about the treetops, singing for the new day.

Even though I think how pretty the image above me is, I can't help but feel that today is going to be a bad day. And when I feel that a day is going to be bad, it usually is.

I looked over to where the others are sleeping, noting the Serendipity is the one on watch, but she like me, was staring up at the glittering, gold scene above her rather that keeping watch for trouble.

I sit up slowly and look around me at the others. We're all starting to look worse for wear now. We're reasonable clean still, what with having a brief splash around in the lake yesterday afternoon before we were attacked by the Kraken, but our clothes were stained with mud and in some cases, blood, and tears were starting to appear.

I ran a hand through my hair, which had long since fallen out of the strict and formal braid that Eyria had plaited it into so long ago. Long ago? No, it was only something like four days ago.

I shake my head in disbelief.

It felt more like a life time ago, or even another life almost. I didn't feel like me anymore. I didn't feel like the Annie I was only a few days prier.

I look down at my hands with my broken nails and cracked skin. They don't look all that different from how they usually look back home, only that they are. They're the hands of a killer now.

I squeeze my eyes shut and tell myself to stop it, to stop thinking about... about that! I have to stay strong, for the baby if for nothing else.

I force myself to get up, to start moving or else I don't think I will be able to face the day.

"Morning." Serendipity greeted me quietly as I came to sit by her by the fire.

"Morning." I said and tried to smile at her. Out of all of us, Serendipity is probably looking the most run down. Her once bright eyes were now dull and almost lifeless, as was her hair which hung in a limp rope over her shoulder.

She smiled weakly back at me before staring blankly back out into the trees. I wondered what she was thinking about before deciding that I probably didn't want to know as it would only get me thinking about things that I really didn't want to think about.

The others woke up shortly after us, Jade being the last and in the best of moods. When Jeopardy ventured to ask why she was so happy this morning, she smiled her somewhat insane smile at him and said that she had dreamt that she had won the games. She didn't elaborate further but the dreamy look she got while eating breakfast made the rest of us want to sit as far away from her as possible. Even Cole.

I don't know who decided that we were going to make a move, probably Cole or Merle but after breakfast we were packing up and heading off in really no particular direction. We just started walking and seeing if any tributes or food came into our path.

Sera stayed pretty close to me and Jeopardy fairly close to the both us and both watch closely as I gathered up roots and berries, occasionally asking what each were and if they were editable or if they could be used as some kind of remedy for an ailment.

The more questions they asked me the more I started to wonder if they were going to sneak away from the group and try and survive on their own.

I don't blame them as this was exactly what I want to do; it's just finding the right moment to sneak away that is the problem. Jade seems to be keeping an extra close eye on us, glancing over her shoulder back at us as we walk and coming to stand with us as we stop and pick fruits, roots and herbs. I can tell that this sudden interest in us from Jade is terrifying Sera, who is barely keeping a grip on her screams by midday what with Jade continuous popping up beside or behind Sera.

I hear a frighten little squeal as I'm kneeling down and digging up some roots.

My hand immediately goes for my knife, even when I hear Jade laughing and saying that she was kidding and that everyone needed to lighten up.

"Will you knock it off?!" Cole growls at Jade, causing her to raise an eyebrow at him, "your scaring all the game away." I wasn't sure if he meant food or tributes. For some reason I had a feeling he actually meant food.

"Actually," Jade replies, "it's her," she jerked her thumb in Sera's direction, "who is scaring all the 'game' away."

"I don't care." Cole says running a hand through his messy hair, "just knock it off. This place is bad enough without…" he doesn't finish his sentence but I can see a sort of hopelessness to him that I hadn't seen before.

Jade snorts at him in disgust before striding off ahead.

"You okay?" I ask Sera as I get up and go and stand by her.

She lets out a tiny sob before shaking her head and shot me a very weak glare.

"Of course I'm fine!" She snaps at me shrilly, "what do you take me for? A weakling?"

Before I have time to answer – I wasn't even sure what I was going to actually say in return really – when we all heard Jade's triumphant yell and yelp of pain.

We ran without thinking to where we thought Jade and her poor victim were. When we got to them I felt my heart sink.

Ronan.

No, not Ronan. Anyone but him!

I look quickly around for Willow, but I don't see her.

Oh let her be safe.

"Look what I caught." Jade said sounding smug as she twisted her spear that was sticking out of Ronan's upper leg. The boy was sweating and I watch as he presses his mouth into a firm line to keep himself from screaming.

Leave him alone. Please just leave him alone!

"Now what am I going to do with you?" Jade was asking in a singsong voice, still twisting her spear around in his leg.

I watched a tear roll down his cheek but he didn't say a word and the glare that he was giving Jade with his steel grey eyes made my heart freeze. Though not Jade's apparently.

"I asked you a question, and it's rude not to answer questions." Jade said as she gave the spear a yank, sliding it a few inches out of his leg before shoving it back in. Ronan couldn't stop the cry of pain when she did this.

Leave him alone!

Somewhere nearby I thought I heard a ragged little sob. Looking around slowly, I saw the source and felt my heart stop again.

Steel grey eyes met my sea green.

Run, I mouthed at her, run away.

She looked at me desperately, looking between Ronan and me. I shook my head and fought back my own tears as more tears rolled down her face.

Ronan's cry made me look back to him and I felt like being sick. He's down, he can't escape, so why? Why are you torturing him, just kill him quickly.

"Maybe since you've been so rude to me," Jade was saying as twisted her spear in one hand and knife that she was carving patterns into his cheek with the other, "maybe I should just..."

I start to shake as she draws back her knife and stabs him right in the chest, but missing his heart completely.

Ronan didn't cry out when she did this, but he's eyes were wide and watering and his breathing heavy and laboured but still he doesn't make a sound. But when he looked at me, recognised me, I saw that he was sending me the same look; at least I think he was, as the girl from the other night.

Jade kicked him in frustration and raised her knife again, but…

I don't know how I got from being near the back of our group to her side so fast, I don't remember running, but somehow I was there and I had seized the wrist that held the knife before she could shove it cruelly into his stomach.

"Enough." I said and she stared at me with utile loathing. "He's dying. Just finish it. These games are terrible and horrible enough without a sadist like you in them!"

Jade stared at me, her mouth hanging open a little, but rather I think because of what I said about the games then about what I said about her being a sadist.

I felt a little nervous myself, but it's true! These games are terrible and horrible without people like her in them!

"Hey!"

I had never thought that he'd actually have the strength to try and crawl away from us, but Ronan clearly had more strength in his scrawny body than you'd ever imagine. But only so much strength, not enough to survive one of Cole's spears, but really who would want to?

A cannon sounded around us.

"You took my kill!" Jade was screaming at Cole, for now completely forgetting about me, which allowed me to walk over to Ronan's body and gently, gently as I possibly could, pull the spears from his body before carefully laying him on his back.

I fought back tears as I took in all the torture that Jade had put him through. All the torture that I had just stood by and let her do.

I could have stopped her earlier, I could have done something and maybe he would have actually gotten away, maybe…

"I'm sorry." I whispered to him, only him because I didn't want the others to hear, "I'm so sorry."

I gently folded his arms across his chest, hiding the worst of Jade's cruelty. His grey eyes stared sightlessly up at me and I felt a sob building in my throat, but I forced it back and closed his eyes.

Behind me I think I can hear Sera sobbing quietly, Jep trying to calm her down before the other three noticed.

I can hear the Hovercraft coming for Ronan's body and I know I need to step away, to get away from him so that they can take him, but I don't want to. I don't want to move, I don't want to leave his side even though his dead.

Dead. Never to speak or heard again, never to be seen walking, running, laughing, being with his best friend and his best friend's little sister.

Willow?

I looked to where I had last seen her and saw that she was still there, still crying. Seeing her makes the tears that I've been trying to hold back fall.

"I'm sorry," I mouth at her, "I'm so sorry."

She nods and I feel my heart break some more.

"Run," I mouth at her, "you have to run."

She nods again before making a motion with her hands, a come motion.

She wants me to come with her? After I did nothing to save her district partner? How can she want me anywhere near her?

Her motioning becomes more frantic, but I shake my head, mouthing for her to run again.

After hesitating for another moment she does as I ask and I watch her silently disappear into the trees. It's when I can't see her anymore that I step away from Ronan's body.

"You stole my kill!" Jade was still screaming as we moved away from Ronan so that the Hovercraft can pick him up.

"And you! How dare you!" it took me a moment to realise she was talking to me, shoving her still bloody knife in my face. I just look back at her, not really feeling… anything. For the moment I was numb. I don't even think I would feel her knife when she shoves it into my stomach.

"Easy Jade." I hear Merle say unexpectedly, "we still need her."

Jade swings around to face him and for an awful moment I think she is going to attack him. So does everyone else apparently because we start fanning out and away from the two of them.

But nothing happens and Jade simply sniffs at us before heading of ahead once more.

"Annie, no offense, but next time Jade wants to play with her kill, how bout just letting her do so." Merle says, running a hand through his hair and sounding nervous.

I nod and say ok, though I doubt that will happen, so does everyone else who simple shake their heads at me but they all walk with me, not with Jade who keeps screaming back at us to hurry up, but with me.

I honestly thought the horror of Ronan would the worse that this day could offer. If only I knew that it was only just the beginning.

Author's Note: Told you it was darker than previous chapters and will continue to do so.
I really didn't want to kill Ronan, even though this was how I was planning for him to die right when I started writing Part One, when I actually got to this chapter, I really didn't want to write it. I barely wrote anything for him, no more than that tiny, tiny little scene between him and Annie during I think the first day of training, but I really, really like him. Ok, now I'm making myself sad, which is bad because its my B'day and you're not suppose to be sad on your B'day.
Ok, so before I go, I have a question for you all. What gifts do you think Annie should receive from sponsors because I was trying to write a scene where she gets a gift from a sponsor and I've only come up with one idea, which I'm keeping because its important but I'd like some other ideas too. So if you have any, please let me know and I'll try and throw them in. Any ideas, I love to hear them.
Anyway, I'm off to do some birthday-y things, so I will say bye for now.
Thanks for reading and reviews are loved!