Ronen lies near the edge of the waterfalls steep drop. His chest is spilling blood and his eyes are open, but unresponsive. Justin wasn't there and at the moment he was the farthest from my mind. Ronen was dead and it felt like I was being torn in two. I turned in violent circles, searching for his attacker who would target me next. No one was there and I was alone with the dead.

I turned once more and flinched as the feeling of being torn in two felt even more real. Ronen stood there, blood still running down his chest, but his eyes filled with fire. His hand holds me at my back while a fist his thrust towards my stomach. Something foreign was lodged in my midsection and filled me with fire and ice at the same time. I look down and see the hilt of a blade buried in my stomach, dripping blood.

Ronen twists the knife and I collapse in his arms, choking on my blood. He gathers me close to his chest and starts to hush me as he slowly removes the blade. I want to scream but I am drowning. Ronen lifts my head up and kisses me deeply, his lips like the lips of death. When he pulls back, blood is smeared over his chin, but it is no longer Ronen. His faces shifts, changing into the features of Engle Arons and he grins.

"Shhh. Don't fight it, little girl. Just close your eyes and sleep."

I wake, my screams lodged in my throat and my frame a mass of pins and needles. Morning light washed over me with the traces of smoke from a dead fire. Justin was no longer at my back and the solitude instantly brought me back to my nightmare. The dream had felt all too real and I could even feel the blade slicing my flesh. A quick feel around of my torso told me I was safe, but my mind was still unconvinced.

"Good, you're up."

Sitting up I looked around and spotted Justin standing at the very edge of the cliff. He didn't turn to look at me, but was staring intently out at a hazy sky that was just beginning to warm with hues of pinks and gold. Shifting forward, I brought my legs beneath me and stood shakily, taking in a calming breath. My heart still raced and I remained high strung like a taut bow that was ready to break. The hilt of my sword finds its way into my hand and I accept the bit of comfort it brings me. It was funny really. I never thought that holding a weapon would bring such comfort.

Justin sinks down to his haunches and I come to join him, searching for what he saw. It wasn't long before I heard a distant beeping drifting through the morning clouds.

"We've got company." Justin says as the shadow of a capsule makes its way towards us. "Another gift from our guardian angel."

"Someone up there must really like us." I murmur.

"I'm thinking it's more than one."

Justin catches the capsule out of the air and backs up from the edge, taking me with him. He opens it before the parachute has time to deflate and retrieves a black cylinder as long as my hand. Pressing a button on its side the cylinder begins to whir with mechanics and opens up into a small telescope. Pressing the eye piece to his eye, Justin does a slow swing over the arena's landscape while manipulating the other end. He whistles softly and then hands it over so that I can take a look.

"They're betting on us, Em." He says as I raise it to my eye. "They really want us to get far."

I don't have to ask what he means, the visual in the telescope telling me everything. It wasn't just an ordinary telescope that only gave far sight. The piece was combined with infrared lens, coordinates for tracking, and a lens that picked out body heat. Gazing out over the arena I was able to pick out the movement of the Careers all the way over at the cornucopia. I direct the telescope to the sky and bite my lip to keep from smiling. Prema had done it again. She had given us a way to map the stars.

"You can see everything from up here." I say.

"Well, almost everything. The view isn't as perfect as it would be from the cornucopia."

Collapsing the telescope that meant life or death out here I hand it back to Justin and turn back towards the cornucopia. I had to wait for my eyes to adjust as they were still used to the magnified vision. Blurs of movement could be seen on the single hill, the Careers no doubt gathering for their next hunt.

Justin is busy gathering his things into his pack and I sheath my sword, still watching the arena. Trees moved to my left about three waterfalls down. There was no wind blowing above them and the branches shook as if someone were climbing through them. My first thought was someone waking up after a long night. My second thought was cynical, turning to the possibility that someone might be setting traps. I make a mental not to avoid the area and, if I'm forced to go through there, to be careful. There isn't a third thought to tell Justin, just an ugly instinct to survive at whatever cost.

"So what's our next move then?" I ask feeling the guilt of my decision. "We better work quickly before the gamemakers decide for us."

Justin cinches his pack, throwing it over his shoulder and pointing towards the center.

"I need to move towards the middle of the arena…You see that knoll there?"

I search the sea of treetops until I catch sight of a grassy hill sprouting up near the center hill. Personally I felt that it came way too close to the enemy's camp, but I had to agree that it would provide the perfect view. That is if you aren't skewered before you can get a proper look. I wasn't so sure it was worth it.

"Why can't we track things from here?"

"Because I could miss something important."

Like a constellation that could tell us where we were. Neither of us had to say it, but I knew we were both thinking it. We just couldn't say it aloud in case the big man upstairs was listening in. Judging by my history with the faux President Snow I knew that I would be his number one interest and Justin would be number two.

I nod, turning to gather my few belongings.

"Fine…But we're going to have to avoid the forest to the left."

"I know." says Justin. "Someone is building traps."

I wince and feel the guilt of not telling him earlier weigh down on me. The guilt however is quickly replaced by shock. Justin had known that there was a possibility of traps and he didn't choose to tell me. Granted I had done the same thing, but realizing that this was coming from my brother left me stunned. We didn't trust each other. They were getting to us and our minds were adapting to the games. We wanted to live and that desire was keeping us from working together.

Securing my bag over a shoulder I work to mask the onslaught of suspicion and hurt at my realization. I face Justin, but he doesn't notice. He is staring into the capsule, his mouth pressed into the same hard line as the night before. I take a tentative step forward and take his hand, searching for the brother I knew.

"Are you ready to go?" I ask.

His warm hand encompasses mine and he squeezes it gently, but does not look up.

"You can't come with me, Emma." he says. "I need to do this alone. You'll be safer that way."

"Are you serious? Justin did you not listen to a word I said last night? I can't leave you alone and I can't just let you walk off into danger."

"And I said that you don't always fight for me." His tone was fierce, protective. "Right now I'm the one who needs to fight for you. Do you even see where the knoll is? That's way too close and I can't worry about your safety when I'm trying to-" He stopped before revealing our plans to study the sky and at last faced me. "Look, you just-can't come with me. They'll be looking for you, not me and I can't risk your life."

"You're not risking my life, Justin. So what if they're looking for me? Let them come and I will fight them. I will defend you, because you are all that matters right now. You are the one who needs to survive this."

"What do you mean?"

It was my turn to look away and I gaze down at our joined hands. Tan skin met pale and to the world they couldn't look farther apart, but to me—to me they were my brother's. His hand, his life was on me and no matter how hard the faux President Snow tried I wasn't going to turn my back on that. I couldn't let them change me—not anymore.

"Let's face it," I say. "No one is going to come for us and this is a game where only one can win. If it has to be anyone it's going to be you, not me. You're the one who has to survive even if it means I can't."

"Don't say that. Don't you dare say that, Emma."

Without warning Justin pulls me into a crushing embrace and I burry my face into his shoulder. The capsule hits the ground as he holds me close. It was like comfort and safety all wrapped up into our arms at once. For the first time since our capture I felt like I was at last holding my little brother and I was never letting go.

"I guess that's it then." His voice was muffled, trailing out from behind me. "You're coming with me no matter what whether I like it or not."

"Exactly. I'm the stubborn pain in the ass remember?"

"I remember."

I gasp as something sharp and sticky is pressed into the skin of my neck. Immediately feel myself falling towards unconsciousness and struggle to hold on, but it is too late. Justin had already tricked me and I was going down.

"I'm sorry," Justin whispers, supporting my sagging body. "I'm so sorry, but you gave me no choice."

My head lulls to the side and I catch sight of the empty capsule whose parachute was gently picked up and dropped by a breeze. The cloth lifted momentarily revealing that the capsule was not entirely empty. An open wrapper rolled around on its side, hitting the metal walls and bouncing back.

It feels like I'm falling and my gaze turns over to a morning sky that began to shift and blur with shadows. I hit the ground, the dirt as soft as feathers under the drugs my body was taking. Justin's face appeared above me, at first in full clarity and then fading into darkness.

"It had to be done, Emma." His voice sounds fractured in the darkness and I barely feel the gentle kiss he places on my forehead. "Stay safe. I'll be back as soon as possible."

"Justin!" I shout, sitting up abruptly.

I scramble to my feet, ready to smack him for what he tried to do, and stop. It was night out. The morning was gone as well as Justin and I was alone. Cold blue stars twinkle from above; their appearance unhindered as they have been by the cloud cover. This was what Prema had told us would happen, but I had been kept from going with Justin. I had slept through the day and yet it had only felt like I blinked.

Slapping at my neck I locate a tiny patch and remove it, grimacing as I feel a needle slide from my skin. Holding it in my hand the last of the drowsiness leaves me and I am able to think clearly again.
The patch had been in the capsule sent down to us that morning for the purpose on knocking someone out. Someone like me. Either Prema had set it up so that Justin would go out on his own or the patch had been used on the wrong person. Personally I believe that had been used on the wrong person. But that wasn't even the worst part.

The worst part was that Justin was out in the arena alone. Any number of things could happen to him and I wasn't there to protect him.

Curses fly from my mouth as I throw the used patch to the ground and quickly begin my descent down the cliff. I don't watch my footing like I should, determined to get to the bottom as fast as possible. Soon I enter the treetops where the night makes it hard to see the rock right in front of me. Still, I continue to be reckless and even allow myself to slide every few feet to speed up the process.

I feel myself fall and let go, landing a few feet down on my back and rolling to my feet. Catching my breath, I wipe my hands off on my jacket and peer through the darkened forest. I stare back up the dead waterfall and try to get my bearings, searching for the direction of the knoll Justin had pointed out. Deciding on a general direction I start into a sprint through the trees, dodging their trunks split seconds before I can hit them.

My hearing is directed all around me, waiting for a hint of an attack or-heaven forbid-the screams of my brother. Nothing happens and the only thing I can hear is gasps of my breathing and my drumming heartbeat. How could I have been so careless with him? It wasn't like Justin hadn't played this sort of trick on before. Granted the last time this happened we were children and it had been a worm infested mud pie.

I skid to a halt, breaking unexpectedly from the forest's grasp. A deep gulley carrying the water of one of the falls opened up before me like yawning mouth. The other side was only seven feet away, but in the dark and above the rushing waters it might as well be twenty feet away. Grasping a trunk of a young tree I edge towards the gulley and gaze down into its depths. Jagged rocks sprouted up from the rapids like spikes found in a pit from an adventure movie. It was clear that if the rocks didn't get you, the waters would be there to tear you apart and drown you.

I shiver, backing up from the open mouth and assessing the opposite bank. It wouldn't be too hard to make it. I had jumped farther gaps before.

Taking a deep breath, I run and jump the distance, giving myself no time to think over the stunt. My limbs flail around me and I swallow the scream I want to release. It's over within seconds and I roll over the soft tufts of grass before coming to a stop. I stare at the stars above me, bound my shock and working to breathe regularly.

The thought of Justin forces me to move and rise to my feet, my hand instinctively going for my sword. I was close to if not already in Career territory and I couldn't be too careful.

I barely take a step forward when I hear a whooping laughter echo out from somewhere up ahead. It is followed by various taunts and I recognize the voice of Engle. Then there is a strangled scream and my blood runs cold. Justin.