60, 59, 58, 57, 56… I look around. I am standing on my starting plate, ready to begin the Hunger Games. Wait…I already won the Games with Quaid. As I look at my fellow tributes, I don't see anyone I recognize. Lucifer, Flitter, Camilla, Quaid and Stiles aren't there. They are replaced with bloody versions of themselves. It looked like they have already been through these Games.
46, 45, 44, 43, 42… The clock above the Cornucopia counts down. I turn to my left and Lucifer is there, with his throat slit and eyes a pale gray. On my right is Faith, my throwing knife in her back. Blood dripped from the wound and onto the plate. Camilla was five plates to my left. She looked like a hunk of meat.
32, 31, 29, 28, 27… Do I have to fight in the Games? Everyone is dead. Or mangled to the point of not looking like a human anymore. I see Kade from District 7 with my butcher knife still in his skull. Blood was dripping into his pale eyes and on his pale skin. Everyone is dead.
17, 16, 15, 14, 13… The clock continued to count down. I had a feeling that the Capitol set this up so I have to kill zombies of my fellow tributes. Do I have to kill them all again? As the final seconds count down, my heart beats faster than the first time I was in the arena.
3, 2, 1… The gong sounds and I make a dash to the Cornucopia for the throwing knives. When my fingers wrap themselves around my weapon, I turn around and see everyone already dead. They lie on the ground, not breathing, and not moving. I look at every corpse and see their face. Lucifer, Flitter, Devin, Faith, Kade, Jae, Carly, Neal… Twenty one cannon shots fire in the air.
Twenty one? Where is Quaid? As I search through the corpses, I kick each one that isn't my lover. Rahi, Collin, Lily, Parker, Milo, and Hollis. When I reach my love, his face is in the grass. When I pull at his body, his face faces me. His eyes are a dim shade of green, no longer the emerald I've known to love. His skin color was drained and his whole body was gray scale. Everything in the arena, except me, was gray scale. I was as colorful as the rainbow.
A knife with a purple tinted handle was lodged in his heart. Blood was stained on his jacket, skin, and all over his body. My mouth dropped and my heart hammered more than when the clock was ticking down to my death. I won with this boy. Why is he dead with my knife in his chest?
A sound escapes my lips. It fills the arena and bounces back to me. It wasn't an echo; it was the jabberjays! They screamed my screams back to me and I just couldn't stop. I looked at the knife that was lodged in my lover's chest. It was my knife that the sponsors gave me. It was my knife that he placed in my hands to kill him. I killed my lover.
I kept screaming.
"Jada!" A boy's voice called in my ears. "Jada! Jada, wake up!" His hands clench my wrists and I open my eyes. I see Quaid, holding me down with him on top of me. "Are you okay?"
"It was a terrible nightmare." I say, slowing down my breathing. "I killed you. I screamed and jabberjays repeated my screams. My knife was in your chest. I…" Quaid's finger placed itself on my lips and silenced me.
"Like you said, it was a nightmare. It wasn't real." His voice calmed me. "I'm alive and I'm here. Don't worry about a thing. Shh." He wipes my tears away and kisses my forehead.
He fell off of me and onto the bed. Today was the day. Today was the day I left the Capitol and Quaid to return home. Six months from now will be our Victory Tour and I have to make a choice on where I will live. District 1 or 10. I look to the ceiling and slow my breathing down even more. I turned to my lover and curled up beside him.
His arms wrapped around me. By the look of the windows, it was about six in the morning with the sun just peaking out above the horizon. My bedroom door swung open and I saw Annabelle in the frame. Her hair was in a messy bun and her eyes looked bloodshot. "I heard screaming!"
"It was just a nightmare." I say. "It's fine."
"I remember the nightmares." She replies, rubbing her eyes. "They go away after a while, just you see." She closes my door as I close my eyes again.
The sun spilled into the bedroom, telling me it was time to wake up. Actually, that was Quaid. During my sleep, he picked me up and placed me on the carpet where the sun was shining. I woke up to intense heat on my cheek. When I saw him snickering on the bed, I tackled him with the Capitol pillows on my bed.
I got dressed in the same green dress I wore on Reaping day. As we boarded the train, the Capitol citizens saw us off. They kept screaming, 'We'll see you on the Victory Tour!' at us as we departed. Quaid and I were sitting in a separate compartment than Kiani, Duce, Annabelle, Shimmer and everyone else. We put in past Hunger Games tapes and watched them in their entirety.
We decided to watch the 74th Hunger Games. That wasn't my favorite Games, but it always intrigued me. I loved Katniss's stylist and his idea of fake flames. Quaid loved the Games themselves. I didn't mind much; he came from a district where the Games are an opportunity to bring pride upon your district and family. As I look at the tributes that year, my favorite was the girl from 5, Genevieve. She was the prettiest of all the girls, including Glimmer. She was also the smartest. She got a seven in training and survived the best way anyone could; sneaking food out of the Careers and staying hidden. If it weren't for the nightlock berries, she would have won. I wonder what would have happened if she won. There wouldn't have been a Second Rebellion, District 12 still would have been here, and maybe the lead over Panem would have been more relaxed than it is now.
I didn't mind so much for Katniss and Peeta. After learning about them in school, I learned to detest them. Instead on focusing on them, I focused on everyone else. Glimmer, Marvel, Cato, Clove, and Genevieve were my favorites. I wonder if Quaid knows anyone from Glimmer and Marvel's family. Almost everyone looks like them. Blond hair and green eyes are common in District 1. Kind of like how brown hair and blue eyes are common in District 10. As we watched, I loved Cato's speech before he suffered a painful death. Just one more kill. One more kill and you win. That always gave me the shivers.
Just as the 74th Hunger Games tape ended, Shimmer popped into our compartment. Her blond curls bounced and her green eyes shown as she looked at her victor. "We are nearing District One. They want you both out there, so you can say good-bye to the public." She snarled at me as she returned to her compartment.
"Does she hate me?" I ask. Quaid shakes his head.
"She just lost all compassion after her Games. Just ignore her." He holds my hand, fingers woven through mine, and stands up. The train slowed down as we arrived at Quaid's home district. When the train stopped, I saw the large crowd of people ready to see their victor. "Come on. They won't hurt you." He coaxed me to leave the train.
As I stood beside Quaid, our hands interlocked, I couldn't help but feel nervous. This isn't my district and the only way these people know me is that I made out with their victor. A boy with brown hair came up to Quaid and me. "Nice job on the victory, Ethers. Is this Jana?"
"Jada." I correct him. He nods and looks at Quaid.
"She's a pretty one. Better keep tabs on her when she goes home." He smacks Quaid's shoulder and walks away.
Quaid and I turn to face each other one last time. He draws me in for an embrace, our last embrace for six months. My eyes filled with tears as he squeezed me. "You'll see me again. I promise."
"I know. I'll see you on the Victory Tour." I say, letting the tears fall. He releases me and uses his index finger to pull my lips to his. He picks me up and spins me around, just like on the Hunger Games recap night. When he placed me on the ground, Shimmer whisked him away and Annabelle led me back into the train.
The rest of the way home was boring without him. I watched past Hunger Games, but it wasn't the same without Quaid. With each kill I watched, I only though of my lover. As one tribute smashed another tribute's face in with a brick, covering it with blood, I barely winced. All the death has left me numb.
I fall asleep on the couch watching people of Panem die. When I awaken, Annabelle is telling me to get ready to see everyone again. I wait until the train stops and walk out with Annabelle and Kiani. The first people I see are Jace and Jetta. The run to me, screaming my name and hugging me tighter than Quaid did. My parents also come to greet me. I wrap my arms around my father, squeezing him tight.
The last person I see is Hadley. When my siblings let me go, Hadley wraps her arms around me. Her auburn hair has more color and definition than when I last saw it. Her body seemed to have more meat on her bones, just like I told her to do. Tears seeped from her eyes onto my shoulder. My family and Hadley lead me to the Caldwell farm. We will only be using the Victor's Village house when we need a break from working.
When I see Philomena, I jump the fence and wrap my arms around my favorite animal. "Jada, be careful. She is in…a delicate condition." My father says as I release my grip on my cow.
"She's…pregnant?" I ask, my voice oozing with excitement. My dad nods in response. I hug Philomena more gently and kiss her neck. "You'll be a wonderful mommy cow." When I let her go, I run to the horse barn. I see Locomotion eating his dinner, not looking at me. When I come closer to my horse, his eyes light up. He rubs his nose to my cheek and pulls at my hair with his teeth.
I'm finally home. But…do I want to stay here? Will Quaid want to live on my farm with me? Or will I live with him in District 1? I will have to wait and see.
A/N: This is the end, guys. I'm so sad. But! I am writing a sequel! I'm not sure what I am naming it yet, but I want to thank you all so much for reading my FanFiction. I want to thank every single one of you. You kept me writing and you put up with my countless grammar mistakes that I typed to fast to catch. Thank you so much. :) Read and review on, guys!