Responses to my reviewers:
Ace - Thanks for that. Your overly attentive eyes are pretty useful. Oh, and I don't regret killing you in the most gruesome way possible at all! :)
A Reviewer: Purely coincidental. Didn't even notice it until you told me!
Millz: Thanks!
Meep23: Here you go then!
Lya200: Sorry Cyan (she's the one with the scythe) had to die.. :(
FalknerBlue: Go Dravannah!
DauntlessClove: Fingers crossed!
"Shit we lost another one!" one the shoulders, Henri, cursed.
"That means they have entered the Finals. Who knows what kind of torturous death awaits the other two?" Johanna said, to no one in particular, bitterly.
"Hey guys," I called over my shoulders, disbelief clear in my voice. "Do my eyes deceive, or is that a hut I see?" I pointed towards the run-down hut that was partly made out of wood and straw. It looked deserted, like no one's been living there for years.
Peeta limped over to my side. "Weird. One would expect for Hazard and his crew to have a mansion full of state-of-the-art weapons and technology. Maybe this isn't the right place?"
"Unless of course, this is a trap," I took a tentative step forward, the haunting memories of Boggs' death suddenly appearing in my mind. We hadn't been careful then, and look where that had gotten us. Me, not being able to do anything but stare as the life seeped out of him.
We trudged down the dusty ground carefully, and finally reached the door. I signaled for my team mates to cover me, as I kicked the door open.
Nothing. Not even a piece of furniture.
I gave an exasperated sigh before turning to Henri. "Are you sure we're at the correct place?"
He double-checked the device he was carrying. The screen showed a big red dot surrounded by several other white dots. It was vibrating like crazy. "The white dots are us. And the red dots are what we're after," he explains.
"So we must be in the correct place," Johanna states matter-of-factly. "Now get a move on everyone! Or else our mission will change from saving the children to retrieving dead bodies!"
I cringed at her words but I had to admit, she had a point. There were only 2 remaining survivors.
We stepped in cautiously, guns ready to be fired at a moment's notice. Henri raked his hand through his jet black hair, tousling it. "I really don't think there's anything here. Maybe the Sensor is broken?" he took another step forward, and that was when he stumbled on something. There was a snap, and I only had time to cry out, "Oh!" before I found myself free-falling into a realm of darkness.
Third Person P.O.V, The Games
The very earth was quaking, strong enough to throw Savannah off her feet. As she scrambled up to a crouching position, she saw that the arena had been split into two equal parts, and the area around the two border lines were crumbling down.
Unfortunately, she was in a particularly crumbly area.
Without a moment's hesitation, she was off running towards the other direction, never slowing down. She knew it would be a foolish action to just stay put or climb a tree. The only thing she could do now was to get to a safe place as soon as possible; that and hope she's faster than the rate of crumbling. After a while, she realized that the rumbling had stopped. Savannah slowed down, turning her head around to check. Sure enough, the ground had stopped quaking and crumbling down.
She sighed, relieved, sure that would be the last of the trouble.
She couldn't be more wrong.
Like there was some unimaginably strong magnetic force, the two borderlines (which were now quite far away from each other) started pulling themselves together. The force was so strong that the arena jerked violently, and this time, Savannah fell flat on her face. She felt a sharp burst of pain, and then a trickle down her nose. Blood. Wiping it away with the back of her hand, she grabbed hold of the trunk of a particularly colossal tree.
Her mind whirred, trying to make sense of the events unfolding before her very eyes. She then realized what Hazard was trying to do. Decrease the area of the arena, so the two remaining tributes can't stay very far from each other. She smiled dryly. It was a clever plan, one that ultimately forces her to fight Alicia.
"I won't fail you, Drake."
Alicia wasn't exactly proud of how she landed unceremoniously on her bum when the arena was separated into two. And then there was the scrambling away, tripping on the roots of the undergrowths, while the ground started crumbling away. Even when that stopped, she didn't let her guard down, for she knew Hazard was hatching a plan that she can't figure out yet, but it clearly wasn't completed yet. She was proven right when the two borderlines started pulling themselves together. This time, she was ready and didn't lose her balance.
Alicia narrowed her eyes. 'I see,' she thought silently to herself. 'A ploy to get us together and fight to the death. It's a clever plan, Mr Hazard, I'll give you that.'
She was undeterred. A smaller arena means it'll be easier for her to hunt down the remaining tribute. Who is it anyway? Alicia recalled the faces of the 26 tributes and matched them up with the faces of the dead that had been flashed in the sky some time during the week. Ahh, she remembered now. The girl with the bow and arrows, the Katniss wannabe. Savannah White.
After a while, the two borderlines stuck together. The only evidence to show that it was once separated was a thin, jagged line that runs through the diameter of the entire arena, where the two borderlines met again. Alicia, with her velvet thread, prowled silently, crossing the line. The Eagle, hunting for her prey.
'I won't fail you, Silver!'
Katniss P.O.V
I was bound and gagged, strapped tightly to a chair. Looking around frantically for Peeta, I found him a few feet away from me, also in my current state. He had a dark purple bruise on his forehead, and his injured ankle hangs awkwardly. Where is the rest of my team? And on top of that, where exactly are we?
Grunting and squirming in my chair, I tried to break free, or at least work the dirty cloth gagging my mouth off.
"I wouldn't waste my energy doing that," a familiar voice rumbled from a distance. "Zeus is the master in tying knots."
Hazard.
I growled viciously, but it was hard to sound threatening with a cloth stuffed into your mouth. Hazard gestured towards Peeta. "He's still unconscious, huh? Well he did knock his head pretty hard. I won't be surprised if he has a concussion."
A tiny burst of panic flared in my chest. I looked around frantically, trying to find some means of escape. I need to get to Peeta, and I need to get to him now.
"LEF MMH MO!" Okay, this gag is really bothersome.
Hazard clunked himself in the head, and cried out dramatically, "Oh, where are my manners?! Gagging a woman like this! Devious, free her of the gag!"
"Right away, sir," obeyed Devious, who apparently was standing behind me so quietly that I didn't notice her at all. I jumped a little, quite surprised, and was rewarded with a snicker from Devious. She ripped the gag off; none too gently at that.
"LET ME GO!" I repeated. "And where are the rest?! What have you done to them?!"
Hazard inspected his nails, a bored expression on his face. "I'm sorry to disappoint you but, I'm afraid I won't be able to let you go. And to answer your questions, take a look at this."
The light suddenly flickered on, which caused me to blink rapidly to adjust to the light after being in the dark for so long. I screamed when I saw the terrible sight.
Each member of my team was unconscious, bruised and bloodied. They had been locked in a humongous metal cage, like the ones usually used for caging wild animals, only 10 times bigger. I can just make out Johanna's pale face, her dark hair matted with fresh blood.
"What did you do to them?!" I screamed, struggling harder to break free. I could feel my tears welling up in my eyes, but I held them back. I refuse to cry in front of them.
Hazard looked up from his nails and answered suavely, "That? That's nothing compared to the torture they'll experience later if you do not cooperate."
It was as if there was a balloon inside my chest that was expanding with every passing second, making it hard for me to breathe. "W-what do you want me to do?" I choked out, staring him down.
"It's simple really. Leave the two kids. Go back to Paylor and tell her your mission failed. And I also need you to be my double agent. I want you to feed me with classified information, military tactics, the President's background and schedule, and well, you get the picture. Easy enough?"
I swallowed back my fear. "And what would you do, if I don't agree?"
"Another simple question. Let me show you. Devious, please bring Mr Henri McRiver here."
Devious, though she was slim, had the strength of an ox. She dragged a half-conscious Henri across the room effortlessly with one hand, then dumped him down in front of Hazard's feet. Hazard held out his hand, and Devious took out the knife that was strapped to her belt.
"Watch."
With that, he raised his arm and brought the knife down, right into Henri's left eye. Henri, now undoubtedly wide awake, shrieked in pain, clutching at his left eye. A wave of nausea crashed over me and I couldn't help but turn my head to the side and vomited all over the floor.
Hazard didn't stop there. He had Devious pin Henri down, while he stabbed him over and over again. Hazard showed no mercy, even though Henri screamed until his voice was cracked and hoarse. He didn't stop, until at last, Henri stopped twitching on the blood covered floor. During that time, I would occasionally hear a high pitched scream, which I highly suspect was me. I don't know what to believe, what to do anymore. The sight of Henri's lifeless body, his guttural screams still resounding in my ears; it was all too much for me to handle.
I passed out.
