"After interest in the Games drops to an all time low, President Snow is determined to regain the once amazing popularity. Twelve tributes. One 'arena.' And one game-changing twist. Welcome to the 80th Hunger Games, the Rebirth."

~ The Rebirth Games ~

Chapter Fourteen:

Locked Up

I can't believe I fell for it.

"Help!" I yell as I slam on the door. "Somebody save me!" But it doesn't take long for me to know that screaming is useless. The ground is several layers too thick, even this wall. No one is going to hear me scream down here.

I turn around and look at all the weapons before me. Explosives. I pick up an explosive spear and hold it tightly. If I blow it up, could I get out? No, not at all. The room is far too small. I'd be dead instantly. Not to mention that the wall probably wouldn't break. Gamemakers aren't that stupid, neither is the Mockingjay to lock me in a room full of explosives... I slide my back down against the wall and curl up into a small little ball. I know it's going to be a long night...

My parents are probably watching me right now. Away in the Capitol, planning their upcoming television show, probably worried desperately for my safety. I never had to say one last goodbye before the Reaping. I never even got the chance to see them for the last time once I was reaped. They always thought I would make it. Everyone probably thought I would make it. Cas. Seidon. Maris.. Nobody ever enters the Games knowing they'd be entering them, apart from volunteers. To everybody else, it was just a tiny risk. But for me that risk proved that it could happen to just about anyone.

Nothing from the Games makes sense at all. Crazy being so crazy. Solly acting so weird just minutes ago. Everything about Maris and Finnick... I feel like I'm never going to get answers. Maybe this is the answer. To have no answers. That's the whole plan. Make me go insane, drive me to the brink of breaking point. Maybe it's not just happening to me. What about Tren? Are? Fern? Crazy. Maybe that's why he is mute. Maybe that's why he's so weird. He's gone completely mental from the things the Capitol did to him.. That would make sense, but it wouldn't make sense as to why they're doing it. I'm wrong about it all, I know. Obviously there's some deeper, personal meaning to at least me only. Otherwise I can guarantee Tren would have told me she's experiencing things too...

Suddenly, I hear a small buzz whispering in my ear. I turn my head and see a sharp blue color floating in the air. I rise to my feet and walk over just as it begins to spread out and take form. Another hologram. It sits right beside the other one showing the main entrance. Umbree sure loves giving us holograms every goddamn second. But this time it's different. There's no text to read. Not Caesar Flickerman giving me another message. Instead I see the living room filled with all the other tributes. Celia sits on her chair at the top of the room, holding onto Livvy's hair who sits cross-legged by her feet. Tren, Are and Fern sit together on one sofa while Igneous continues to stare at Obedience all alone. Destiny seems to be talking and laughing to herself while Crazy stares at the wall.

"Where's Danix?" asks Are.

"Why wonder where he is?" Celia asks. "With him missing, it's pretty clear that he's the murderer ready to strike." I wish I could be upstairs right now to defend myself. That cow has some sort of obsession with me. What have I done? What did I say? All I can think of is back at the parade when I was sarcastic with her, but that was because she shoved Are onto the ground. She was being a pig so she deserved to be disrespected.

"With all this murderer talk, I'm beginning to think you're the murderer.." says Tren.

Celia throws her hands up into the air and forces out a fake squeal. "Oh, me?" she says sarcastically. "A woman like me could never be such a horrid thing!"

Luckily the Capitol anthem cuts her off. It booms throughout the house, even I can hear it down in the basement. Once it ends, a familiar voice begins speaking. Caesar Flickerman.

"Good morning tributes! It seems as though a certain house member is missing..."

"Yeah!" Celia shouts. "The murderer!"

"If you wish to find and rescue Danix, you must do so within an hour. Once the hour comes to a stop, he shall be immediately executed." You've got to be kidding me. Why me?! Why not Celia? She's the biggest brat in this place. I look at Tren's face, her blank expression saying way too many things for me. Then a lone tear streams down her cheek and Are wraps his arms around her.

"To save him, you must free him with a very special key.. This key, however, is located in the village at the base of the mountain. Find it, free Danix who remains locked up in the basement and free him! Happy Hunger Games, and may the Mockingjay live forever..."

His voice shuts off and a huge holographic countdown floats above the coffee table in the center of the room, ticking down from sixty minutes.

"We need to go right now!" yells Tren, jumping up from her seat.

"No, we do not. Let the buffoon get executed. That way the murderer gets killed and we all win the Games," says Celia.

Livvy nods her head in agreement. "Celia is right! We must not give in to the murderer's game!" Celia stares straight down at Livvy in horror and her face begins to fill with redness.

"I told you not to call me Celia! You're supposed to call me master! You know what happens when you don't call me master..."

Livvy frowns but Celia yells at her. "It's your price for not following the rules. Do it!"

Slowly and hesitantly, Livvy raises her hand and looks at it.

"Do it!"

At full force, she slaps herself across the face and gasps. "I'm sorry, master..."

The room is dead quiet, everyone looking at them both. Tren is the first to speak up. "Are you crazy? You cannot just treat other tributes like slaves!"

"No, I'm not Crazy.. Crazy is over there!" shouts Celia. "Are you blind or something?!"

"We're wasting time," says Are. "We need to go to the village, find the key and save Danix! If Celia does not participate, she will be expected to be the murderer by all of us."

She jumps up from her chair. "What?! No! I will not be expected to be the murderer! You are bananas!"

"Everybody, get out the door," Are orders.

"No!" shouts Celia. "You cannot boss everyone around!"

"And you can't boss Livvy around. Get out the door now."

One by one, everyone files out the entrance, Celia, Tren and Are.

"I'm warning you..." growls Celia.

"I don't care," says Are. "Lets move it."

Unwillingly, Celia storms out the door, Are following out behind her. That's when I see Tren head down into the basement on the hologram. But of course, there's a delay and I know she's hear already.

"Tren!"

"Danix! Where are you?"

"I'm here behind the wall!"

"Oh crap.. I see a key hole for the key.. I just wanted to say that you shouldn't worry at all. We're going to rescue you."

"Thank you, Tren... I just-"

"I love you."

Oh wow. I never expected her to say something like that. I'm instantly taken aback by the three little words. I can't tell what way she meant it though. Seriously, or was it just a friendly 'I love you'? Either way, I don't learn anything soon after because she leaves straight away. She heads back up to the main entrance, she closes the door once she leaves and the entire house falls into silence. It's weird when the house is this silent. I've never felt it like this before. It feels so peaceful, like nothing odd is going to happen like usual. But of course that's not the case.

It took maybe fifteen, twenty... Maybe even thirty minutes for it to happen. I didn't really count the time so all I can do is guess. But after a certain amount of time, I hear a loud click run through the wall and the sound of mechanics. The door opens up instantly and I can see straight through into the basement. I'm free.

Did they find the key already? No. Of course not. They would have had to unlock the door. So how am I free? I can only think of one option: it was all a trap. That must be the case. All the tributes in a village searching for a key. I'm locked away so I can't help out. I don't know whether I should take that as a compliment or not. Maybe I'm too smart or too strong, I'm just not sure. But anyway, as I was saying.. All the tributes together, all distracted on one focus: a key to rescue me. Of course none of them will be expecting to be murdered by the Mockingjay.

That's the plan. It must be the plan.

Immediately, I sprint through the basement, up the stairs and into the main entrance. I run out the door, shut it behind me and embrace the strong, freezing winds. None of us are wearing jackets to protect ourselves. Instead we're just in skimpy black shirts and trousers, completely exposed. I march through the snow, following the footsteps until I reach the start of the steep mountain slope. I look down at the village and I see small black dots hop over a fence. They've just about made it.

But I know that even if I sprint, I'll never catch up in time. The journey is too long. All I can do is hope and pray that nothing bad happens before I warn them.

All the Gamemakers stare at the large television screen propped up on the wall. A small figure appears at the top of the stairs leading to her main office. She coughs, gathering all the attention in the room as all the heads spin. Head Gamemaker Umbree.

"They've reached their destination," she calls out. "But now it's time to make sure that all of our plans run smoothly.."

She swipes her hand through the air and a translucent image of the Mockingjay suit floats high in the air.

"Once the hunt for the key begins, we zap that costume into the arena for our Mockingjay to have some fun."

Author's Note:

Oh my goodness! Are you ready for some fun?!

Hello everyone, welcome to Chapter Fourteen of The Rebirth Games: Locked Up! Obviously because Danix was locked up... but not for too long. Were you expecting it go this way? What did you think would happen to Danix?! Also, how do you feel about the entire thing being a trap to lure the tributes into the village? xD

I thought it would be a great idea. Having them all in one mansion is a little bit too crowded for the Mockingjay to have some work done.. In a village, anything could happen. Maybe nothing will happen at all. You just have to wait and see. ;)

Thank you for all the great reviews and PMs! I already had two people asking me for advice on writing stories! The support for this story has me BUZZING with happiness! I'm super sorry if I didn't respond to your PMs/reviews just yet, I'm definitely going to! I'm not on my laptop a lot, but when I get notifications about reviews/PMs, I make sure to read them on my phone. Just because I haven't spoken back, doesn't mean I haven't seen you write! ;)

This was a short but sweet chapter. I feel like Danix getting trapped was perfect for a cliffhanger, then Danix getting freed was perfect for THIS cliffhanger. Besides, for me it's not just all about wanting to make long chapters or short chapters because I'm tired or really energetic or something. To me it's based on what happens in the chapter. I have a set amount of things I want to happen in each chapter, and I split chapters based on how it's good to the story.

Example: I don't sit down and say "I want this chapter to be 3,000 words." Then I stop writing at 3,000 words no matter what. It could end in a spot that doesn't feel like a good place to end! Like what if I stopped halfway through a conversation. Sometimes it works if something shocking/interesting is said halfway through the conversation.. Mostly it's bad. I hope you understand what I mean xD

I totally could have moved onto the next part of this story with the stuff in the village, OR I could have kept this cliffhanger ending. I feel like each chapter is their own story. 13 was about Solly. This one was about freeing Danix.. Next one will be about- NOPE! Spoilers ;)

I'm not going to combine chapters just to make them longer, if you know what I mean. I know for me - at least me - I find it harder to read long chapters. I prefer lots of short ones instead of few long ones. I feel more accomplished each time I finish one xD

If you liked this chapter, please review if you would like to!

Stay tuned for Fifteen! ;D

Thank you all so much for reading, byeeeee! :D

(P.S, just opened a poll on my profile.. Please vote if you have a bit of spare time. I want to know who you think the killer is. You have two votes because settling on one person my just be a bit too tough!)