A Dangerous Game
Chapter Twelve: Promises
"Well, look what we have here! Four tributes for the price of one!"
Are the other tributes going to let me have a decent night's sleep anytime soon? Kurt thought. This was becoming all too familiar. Tentatively, he opened his eyes. Sebastian was standing over him, a cruel grin on his face. Kurt reached for his sai swords only to find them missing.
"Looking for these?" Sebastian had his sais, and threw them into the brush. He had a sword, dried blood caking its surface, pressed against Kurt's chest, effectively pinning him to the ground. Blaine was lying next to him but was staying perfectly still, knowing that any movement on his part would mean Kurt's death. He glanced over at Kurt, mouthing words of comfort. Sebastian glanced over his shoulder, "Karofsky take care of those girls, would you?" he said lazily. "Then we can have our fun with these two."
The other career nodded, but looked distinctly uncomfortable about Sebastian's plans. He too had a sword, and had the girls cornered against the valley's wall. Santana was standing protectively in front of Brittany.
"Karofsky! What are you freakin' waiting for?" Sebastian growled, "Oh for goodness sakes. Keep an eye on these two, I'll take care of them." He crossed over to Santana and Brittany, keeping his sword and a throwing knife aimed at the two on the ground. Karofsky moved to guard Kurt and Blaine. Santana saw her chance, and holding Brittany's hand, and darted away. Sebastian turned, throwing the knife in the direction of the fleeing girls.
It hit Brittany in the back and she screamed. As Santana caught her, lying her gently on the ground, Brittany's cannon went off. Santana cried out, clinging on to Brittany's body. Santana's hair fell over her face as she wept.
Sebastian pulled Santana off of her. Santana twisted, screaming and kicking to get free. One of her flaying feet made contact with Sebastian's groin and he went down with a groan.
Kurt took advantage of the fact that Karofsky was distracted to kick out, sweeping the Career's feet out from under him. Blaine grabbed the Career's sword, swinging it towards Karofsky, who was back on his feet. Karofsky had a second sword, which he had had secured to his back, which he now withdrew holding at the ready. Kurt looked around, feeling completely powerless to defend himself. In a nearby bush he noticed the glint of metal that was his sai swords. He ran to grab them.
Meanwhile, Sebastian had managed to hit Santana with his own sword when he had gone down. She was leaning against the valley wall, clutching at a deep gash on her leg. Sebastian was moaning, but managed to scramble to his feet. He stumbled a few feet forward, sword in hand. He pinned Santana against the wall, his sword at her throat. With the slightest amount of pressure, he drew a line of red across Santana's neck. Her eyes widened, and she let out a final gasp as she went limp and dropped into a heap on the ground.
Her cannon went off.
Sebastian collapsed, his hand clamped over a Santana's knife which was sticking out of his stomach.
Blaine was at a stalemate with Karofsky, his arms straining with the effort off keeping the larger boy's sword from beheading him. Without thinking, Kurt sent one of his sai swords at Karofsky and it lodged itself in his chest.
Blaine stared at Kurt for a moment, his eyes wide, then retrieved the sai from the dying boy's chest. He ran, sword in one hand, sai in the other. He and Kurt fled, leaving the bloodshed.
Kurt glanced over his shoulder as Karofsky's cannon went off. Sebastian was nowhere to be seen.
As they walked through the woods, Blaine was silent. They had lost their backpack and their water bottle, so when they came upon a river they drank from their hands. Blaine washed the blood off the sai, handed it back to Kurt, then got to work scrubbing the dried blood off the sword he had claimed from Karofsky. "You promised."
Kurt sighed, "Blaine, he was going to kill you. I wasn't going to let that happen." Blaine was ignoring him, his jaw hard set. "Look at me!" he grabbed Blaine's arm, making him face him, "It is not going to change me. Karofsky was trying to kill you." He couldn't get the image of the sai sticking into Karofsky's chest out of his mind, knowing that he had killed someone would haunt him for the rest of his life. But it wouldn't turn him into a monster. He wouldn't let it. "I did what I had to do."
"Then you should have let me die. Kurt you promised not to kill."
"I wasn't just going to stand there and watch the man I love die, knowing that I could prevent it!"
Blaine ran a hand through his hair. "One of us will have to," he said darkly, "We can't be together Kurt. Only one leaves."
"I'm not leaving this place without you!" Kurt threw himself into Blaine's arms, his sobs muffled in Blaine's jacket, "I can't lose you Blaine!"
Blaine gently lifted up Kurt's head, placing a single kiss on his lips. "Go," he whispered.
Kurt held on tight to Blaine's shirt, not understanding what was happening, "Blaine?"
"Go!" Blaine said, more forcibly this time, "Go, because I'm not going to have you risking my life for me. Go, Kurt. So you won't see me die. Win. Live your life. You know I love you. But I can't keep doing this, I can't keep pretending."
Tears ran down Kurt's face, "I'll always love you. I don't want to leave you!"
"Go!" Blaine detangled himself from Kurt's arms.
"Blaine!" Kurt's vision was blurred by his tears.
Blaine got up, gently pushing Kurt away from the stream, "Go!" That last word had finality to it. Kurt knew that he was no longer welcome.
He stumbled backwards, grabbing his sais and securing them in his belt. He ran off, glancing over his shoulder one final time. Blaine had gone off in the other direction. Kurt stopped, leaning on a tree because his body was shaking so violently from weeping that he could barely stand. He sunk to his knees, his face in his hands. He didn't know where Blaine had gone, but still considered going after him. For the first time since the games began he felt alone and more vulnerable than he had ever felt in his life.