Chapter Fourteen

A/N: Thank you to Lya200 and Guest for reviewing the last chapter.

With another pair of their hands brought to their cause, the door was far easier to maneuver than it would have been with only three pairs, and soon they had access to the incredible maze that the Careers had mastered as the largest part of their tactics. And when young Abby spoke of mazes, she gave no exaggeration. This was the secret to the Career Tributes' success. A labyrinth.

'I should have thought of it before.' the girl berated herself, annoyed that she had not thought of this strategy, as it seemed so obvious in hindsight. 'Sneaking up on Tributes in the dark, when they had never once been spotted out in the open, of course they were using paths in the rock. It's the only explanation, really, unless they managed to become invisible for a little while. And even though they blatantly gave Career Tributes advantages all through the Hunger Games, from their training to their slight prior knowledge of the Arena, even the Gamemakers would not give them that much of one. It would never be tolerated. We hope.'

"How long do these tunnels go on for?" Costa asked the others, sharply turning corners every few moments, with the others fighting to keep up with her, so that they would not be detected. "They could be miles long, for all we know. How will we ever find the Careers in this?"

"We'll just have to keep looking." Harry suggested, as they continued to walk, slowing their pace a little, so that they could formulate a plan for what they should do, once they met the Careers, before the confrontation was already upon them. "They have to be here somewhere, and they can't outrun us forever. Besides, they don't know that we've found the entrance, or that we're coming to find them either. At least we'll have the element of surprise on our side."

"We hope." Belle pointed out. When the others looked at her in confusion, she elaborated her point. "I've trained with Ainsley, and he's a Career. I know him, and some of the others, and I know that they would always have the sense to disguise their tracks and their location, just on the off chance of anyone finding the entrance of the labyrinth. If anyone is going to have surprise on their side, it's them, not us."

"Belle's right." Abby agreed, nodding her head in solemnity. "The Careers have been trained for the Games, and the training has gotten tougher. They won't just hide in plain sight anymore, like they used to do in the Games, back when they were always the ones that always won and thought they were untouchable. They're cleverer than that now, because they know that they aren't."

"Exactly." the youngest of the group replied, smiling a little at the thought she had shared with her new friend. It was nice to see that she had been listened to for once, and not merely disregarded because of her age, something that Harry did, whether he was aware of it or not, very often. "After all, each of our parents beat the Career Districts at one point or another, to win the Games, so why shouldn't we be able to?"

Suddenly, Abby stopped in her tracks, which prompted those around her to do the same, a little confused as to why she, the one that had told them not to remain in plain view, had paused right in a place in which she could be seen from almost any angle. They were also confused by the look on her face, an expression that suggested she had suddenly pieced together a puzzle, or that she had come to a conclusion that had been staring her in the face for a long while. They would soon discover that this was precisely what had happened, as the child began to speak quietly, her eyes widened as if she had realised exactly what she had been missing all that time.

"How could I have missed that?" she wondered out loud, though her voice was no louder than a mere whisper. Her mind was racing with the revelation she had made, and the girl felt her breathing increase in pace before she could prevent it from doing so, as she began to panic a little, having realised just how much danger they were actually in. "Oh, I'm so stupid!"

"What've you missed, Abby?" Harry asked, posing the question that each of them had thought on behalf of the group. It was slightly worrying for the young man, having known Abby for so long, to see her so frustrated, especially as he knew her to be one of the calmest people he had met in his life, quite the opposite of her mother, Katniss, at times, and more like his own mother, Annie, who was so calm that it was almost impossible to comprehend at times how she could remain so.

"The Games, the Quarter Quell." she began, speaking quickly, though each of the three members of the group were hanging on her words to such an extent that they did not miss a single one of them. "It has only been ninety nine years since the Hunger Games began, so why do they have a Quarter Quell now, when there shouldn't be one until a year from now? More than that… isn't it a little bit too much of a coincidence that the Victors' children are to be selected in the very year when all of us are at Reaping age, or almost at least? That's because it isn't a coincidence."

One glance at her comrades told the girl that, at least in the cases of Isabelle and Harrian, they now understood exactly the point that she was making. Nevertheless, for the sake of Costa, and equally because she wished to get the truth out of her system, along with the anger that was building with it, Abby continued to explain.

"There is a reason that the Quarter Quell is happening during the 99th Hunger Games, and not the 100th, and that reason is us, or rather our parents. This isn't the Quarter Quell of the Games themselves, it's of the rebellion, twenty five years since my parents defied the Capitol and were named joint Victors. This is a trap, and we've all walked right into it."

However, another look told the girl that she was no longer referring to the Games themselves, as eight figures emerged from the shadows, their weapons gleaming in the dim light of the candles that they had lit on the wall. Abby could hear her gasp echo across the pathways, as she realised that there were only seven Careers, and felt the tears begin to swim in her eyes as she realised the identity of the boy that had led them right to her.

"Alex."

A/N: Please review!