The Living Games

A/N This was my favorite chapter to write, and honestly I was writing chapter 7, but I was so excited while listening to music that I just had to write this while I'm in a great mood! This is the chapter where what our friend Aubrey said, will be used. There are so many surprises coming up in these next few chapters, you will just die. Not literally, though. But other people will.

Chapter Eight: Who's Laughing Now?

Today was a Sunday, and Aubrey couldn't have been more nervous. She was literally feeling butterflies in places she didn't know she could (were they supposed to be in her legs?), and Zane said he would come get her at 9:55 so they could watch the games in the Town Square. She didn't really want to be around all those people, but her little TV at home wouldn't cut it, and she wanted to see every moment, even her death.

"Stop it!" Aubrey scolded herself. She couldn't afford to think like that, and she really did believe Arianna would come home.

She continued to pace in her house, rubbing her palms together and trying not to think of disturbing thoughts.

A few seconds later, Zane knocked on the door and saved her from her dark thoughts.

Her whole family planned on going to the square, but she didn't want to be around them. They didn't believe in Arianna and neither did anyone else, but she just wanted to be with herself and Zane. And even if Zane didn't believe in Arianna, he was very supportive of her.

He smiled at her and she attempted to smile back at him, but it quickly turned into a grimace.

"Hey," Zane pulled her into a hug. "It'll be okay."

"How do you know?" Aubrey was sick and tired of people telling her not to worry. Oh, your sister is going into a death match, but you shouldn't be worried at all!

"Because as long as we have each other, we'll get through this."

She sighed and grabbed his hand, pulling him towards the square. Her family had already left, so when she saw them in the very back, she picked a spot right in the front. The screen was raised up, so you could see the games from wherever you were in the square. People made a huge path for her, and she knew it happened to everyone who had a family member in the games. She noticed her family had a big circle of empty space around them.

After waiting a few minutes, the screen cut on, and Aubrey cringed. It was a desert, filled with sand and rocks. There were no trees anywhere she could see, just miles of dirt and rocks. One path lead to a dry, dusty wide spread area, and another lead to small rocks that got bigger as you went farther down. The cornucopia had food and weapons scattered around it.

"Let the games begin!" Claudius Templesmith shouted.

She instantly found Arianna, and followed her line of sight to the District three boy, who was looking between her and the girl from district five. What? It was probably just a coincidence. Then she looked over at the District One boy—what was his name? Sinny? Shin? no, Shine. Her eyes filled with an emotion that was gone as quick as it came. Too quick to decipher. He nodded his head at her, and she looked determined.

59.

Arianna started to take off her jacket, which must have been for the cold nights that were sure to come. Aubrey groaned. She knew that she had to get sponsors, but did she really have to be naked again to get them? Aubrey was confused when she ripped the sleeves off and balled them up, and she saw the District three boy doing the same, and the District five girl. They started to take off their shoes, socks, and belts. Then they started ripping it up until they each had seven pieces in their hands.

26.

Their eyes fell on the tributes around them, District Two's girl on Arianna's right, and District Seven's boy on her left.

24.

She heard confused murmurs from the people around her, and she saw the three look at each other and nod. Aubrey gasped and her eyes went wide, because she knew what her sister was going to do. She knew exactly and if the plan went how it was supposed to, her sister just might make it out after all.

18.

Suddenly, they all balled up their seven items, and looked at the seven tributes around them.

15.

The 7 kids around Arianna were District six's boy, District three's girl, District eight's boy, District ten's boy and girl, plus the girl from two and the boy from seven.

14.

Then, they started to throw their items at them with precise aim. It must have taken all three days of training plus more to do what they did. Aubrey already knew her sister had a good aim, though.

Everyone in the square started screaming out in confusion and then realization, and people were crying, laughing, screaming, passing out. It was chaos. But somehow, Aubrey didn't seem to hear them. All she could see was her sister and 21 tributes simultaneously blowing up. Dirt and sand was flying up into the air in only the certain tributes area, and there was blood, body parts, and fabric shooting up in the sky.

8.

When it all suddenly stopped, there was nothing left of the blown up tributes except some blood stains on the ground. And there was 3 seconds left.

3.

2.

1.

Arianna, the boy from three, and the girl from five ran to the cornucopia. They picked up weapons and started fighting each other.

Arianna threw a knife at District Three's face and he ducked, but it sliced his eyebrow. The other girl sneaked behind Arianna while she was focused on the boy and stabbed her right arm. Arianna whirled around cursing and pulled out the knife. She kicked the girl and stabbed her with her good arm that wasn't bleeding, which happened to be her dominant arm, her left.

She hit her eye with her knife and twisted it around inside of her eye socket unitl the cannon sounded as she fell to the ground. Arianna looked at the boy, and he ran away. Arianna grabbed a mace, and ran after him. Aubrey didn't know she could swing one, but she must have learned during training. She swung it at his back, and he leaned forward.

He ran again and Arianna picked up a pack of knives. She threw knife after knife, and almost each one hit him. There were knives all in his back, and he stopped running because he couldn't run anymore.

Arianna swung her mace at his head, but he ducked and stabb7ed Arianna in her stomach with a sword. She bent over, and her stomach started gushing blood and other stuff she didn't want to know what it was, but she stood up holding it all in, and swung the mace as hard as she could. If she didn't hit him, Aubrey knew she was dead.

It slammed into his head.

His head rolled off.

Everyone turned silent and looked at the screen as Arianna's hand fell to her side in what Aubrey saw as slow motion, and her eyes rolled backwards and she dropped the mace and fell to the ground. The trumpets sounded, and Everyone started screaming and yelling and Aubrey cried tears of joy and was jumping up and down and Zane swung her around. Everyone was beyond themselves with joy.

"I—I give you the Victor of the 41st Hunger Games, Arianna Oric!" Claudius yelled.

Aubrey saw Bronc in the corner of her eye and he was coming her way.

When he reached her, he opened his mouth to speak, but Aubrey cut him off.

"No! Don't speak!" Aubrey walked away

Bronc kept walking towards her.

"What? What do you want?"

"I-I wanted to say sorry. I'm sorry."

Aubrey smiled at him. She was so happy she didn't care.

"You know what? Whatever! My sister just won, and I'll be living in the Victors Village, and I'll be rich as fuck, and you can no longer tease me and say I'm poor and not a Merchant, because I'll be better than you, and my sister is coming home! So go shove your fake apology up your ass before I shove my foot up there! Don't talk to me and we won't have any problems. And I can see your girlfriend coming over here, so bye!"

She pushed him away and met Payton halfway.

"So, your stupid sister won after all." Aubrey didn't rise to the bait like she usually would have.

"Oh, I wouldn't say stupid, she just outsmarted all of the other tributes, so I wouldn't talk if I were you. Wanna tease me? About what? That I'm poor? Have a dead sister? Because those things aren't true!" She grabbed Zane's arm and pulled him out of the square. She knew people would be coming to apologize and suck up to her so she would give them stuff and hopefully take pity on them and give them money, but after what they did and what they said, she knew there was no way she would forgive them. They wanted to make and spread rumors, now they can eat her dust. And oh, she would make sure they would.

They would pay for everything they'd ever done.

And good for her, but bad for everyone else, Aubrey was feeling especially devious.

It had been a good start to the day.

It had been a week since her sister had won, and the interviews were that day. Aubrey was so nervous. She was afraid her sister had died, or she was messed up in the head, like the Victor from a few years back. He saw a Career skin a tribute, layer by layer, and use the skin for clothes. He was so sick when he won, he couldn't eat a thing for weeks, and they had to feed him through a tube. They had to knock him out because every time he saw skin he freaked out. After he got over that, he stole morphling and became the first ever morphling addict for District Six. Then they all started doing it, and that's how they came to be. It was easy to smuggle stuff into District Six, with all of the equipment going in and out.

She didn't know the full extent to what happened to Victors, and how messed up their heads became, but everyone with eyes who watched the Victors while they were watching the re-runs of their games knew how they felt. If they cheered they were either Careers, or they were just simply born in the wrong district. If they were quiet and shrunken back in their chairs, they were embarrassed, and just wanted to shrink into nothing, or they just didn't want to speak about it. If they were constantly looking away, they could barely stand to watch it. And lastly, if they kept their eyes on it the whole time, they were determined, but did not approve.

But of course, no one really approved of the games. No matter how much they cheered or how much they seemed to love the games, no one liked the games. It was all an act, and being from a Career District meant they had to be tough, act or no act. It's just the way the Capitol saw them. And if they were to be weak, people would treat them differently.

Even though most of the people from the Capitol loved the games, not everyone did. There would always be a group of people trying to end the games as long as they existed. For each person in the Capital who hated the games, there were hundreds who didn't. Some people say the people from the Capitol don't know any better than to love the games. But what about when the rebellion ended, and the games started? The people back then loved the games, and they knew better. Those were the people that raised everyone in the Capitol who lived there now. Did they really know better? If they were born in the Districts would they act the same? If the people born in the Districts were born in the Capitol, would they act the same?

Aubrey never considered that maybe being born in the Capitol instead of the Districts wasn't their fault. They just happened to to born where there was unlimited food and loved the games. If she was born in the Capitol maybe she would know how you were raised is out of your control. But they should know better. They shouldn't need someone to tell them. It's like a new born baby breathing for the first time. It was depending on something else, but it has to eventually breathe on it's own.

Even if they were brainwashed, there comes a certain time in one's life where they should know the difference between right and wrong.

She didn't feel like getting into the deep stuff, so she came back to the world.

Her family gathered around the small TV. They hadn't wanted to go to the square because of all the people there who would be eyeing them as if they were their next meal. If those people thought they would get money, they were delusional. She still wasn't talking to her family, or her parents to be clearer. Her little sister had been completely oblivious to what was going on, as Aubrey was trying to be as protective as she could.

The show started, and Caesar Flickerman was there, in his classic midnight blue suit, and bright, so bright it was almost blinding, yellow makeup and hair.

She watched as the prep teams came onto the stage, bouncing and waving, as if they did a good job. Next the escort Kerri Klark came on stage, surprisingly sporting a short, blonde haircut, ending at the point where her shoulder meets her was wearing a tight, peacock printed short sleeved dress that flowed out at the end like a skater-girl skirt, with black see through-ish tights and eight inch purple spiky heels. She almost looked normal, or as close as you could get to normal in the Capitol.

Next came the stylist, with a bright smile on her face and she looked like a . . . horse? No, it was more like a unicorn. She had on a purple body suit with a white tail, and her hair was between the ears on her head, which was behind the bright, rainbow colored horn plastered on her forehead.

Aubrey slapped her face into her palm and sighed a long, deep sigh. The stylist looked like such an idiot, she wanted to reach through the TV and smack her with reality.

Usually the mentor came next, but District Twelve had no mentor, so Arianna rose up from under the ground.

She was clad in a tight red strapless dress that ended mid-thigh, with a sweetheart neckline. There were also black fishnets tights on her legs. She had on leather finger-less gloves, with a choker around her neck, and four inch high heels. Her hair was down and curled, thrown over her right shoulder. She had dark makeup on, with dark purple lips, and black eyeliner.

She looked . . . beautiful. Deadly, but beautiful. And Aubrey loved it.

Her sister looked like the ultimate badass, and the outfit she was wearing looked like something Aubrey would wear if she had a choice.

While the outfit looked deadly, Arianna's face looked dazed. She sat down in her chair, with a red cushion beneath it, and a gold outline. The show would only be minutes long, since she didn't even spend an hour in the Arena. It was decided that they would do the interview right then and there, after watching the re-run of her games.

Caesar complimented her on her outfit, made a few jokes, and the show began.

Aubrey didn't watch the games, she watched her sister face. Arianna's eyes were trained on the screen, and they never left it. She cringed a few times, but she mostly looked confused, and was trying hard to look crazy and unbothered, like an I do what I want attitude with a hint of But I still care. Aubrey lived with Arianna her whole life, so she knew when her sister was faking something.

After the viewing was over, the interview began.

"So . . . Arianna. Can you tell us what was going through your head when the gong started and the games began? Let us in on your plan."

Arianna took in a deep breath and rubbed her hands up and down her thighs.

"Well . . . I wanted, needed to go home to my sisters, my family. I knew the other tributes were strong, and I couldn't outfight them. I knew the only way I would get back to them was to outsmart them. Ever heard the phrase 'Brains over brawn'?"

Caesar nodded his head and made a hand motion to make her keep talking.

"It was the only way. I guess the phrase is true, since I'm here, and they're not. Isn't that enough proof?"

"Yes, dear. Were the tributes from District Three and Five in on it?"

Arianna nodded her head.

"Yes. We made a pact that we would do what we did, and then fight each other. All during training we worked together on it. I didn't know if I could trust them but . . . I stuck to what I said I'd do. And so did they."

The rest of the interview passed through without anything happening. They talked about what she did during training, how she came up with the plan. Arianna said she remembered one year where the boy threw his shoes at two Careers beside him, and the idea struck her. (A/N ;))

When it was time for the crowning, President snow looked like he was about to explode. When he put the crown on Arianna's head, he smiled a cold, evil smile.

Something was wrong.

Sure, Arianna made it out of the Arena, and she didn't do anything rebellious like back talk or openly defy the Capitol. But she did use the Capitol's things against the other tributes. The Capitol never thought someone would risk doing that, and it made them look like fools. If there is one thing the Capitol doesn't like, it's looking like a fool.

It wasn't like she did anything that wasn't allowed, she just outsmarted some people.

Aubrey slowly realized that her sister victory wasn't a thing to be celebrated. Arianna would have been safer in the wooden box Jones Harrell was being shipped back in. The Capitol was going to strike back. And knowing President Snow, it wasn't going to be fair or pretty. One of them could die. Arianna could die.

And Aubrey would be there for her through it all. That's what sisters do, they stick by each others sides through it all.

Even if Aubrey was a horrible friend, she was a great sister.