"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 Sixteen:

Wings

Igneous continues to look at me, completely puzzled, confused. He mouths something to me and I think it's "What are you saying?" But it's too late. The Mockingjay lifts up their bladed wing and slashes him across the back. He gasps and stumbles forward, leaning up against the window and staring right back at the killer. Blood pours out from his wound and his shirt soaks it up. The Mockingjay pulls up their wing again and runs forward. Igneous dodges and leaps to the left and the blades slice through the window. The entire glass pane shatters before my own eyes and I see the perfect way to help. Nothing but a blank space lies between me and the room now.

I charge through the snow, watching as Igneous battles with the Mockingjay for his life. The masked murderer grabs him and puts him into a headlock just as I climb over the frame of the window. They raise their wing again, ready to give the final death chop to send his head flying, but with all my might, I storm straight at them and shove the Mockingjay out the door. Igneous falls to the ground and the Mockingjay looks startled. The person decides not to fight and instead dashes like mad down the hallway.

"Leave it be.." groans Igneous.

"No!" I exclaim. "I'm not letting the fool get away!"

I step out into the hallway and begin to chase after the Mockingjay. They turn around every few seconds, catching sight of me and picking up their pace. I follow them around a corner and watch as the person chops their wing at a fire extinguisher. I don't need to be told to turn back. I automatically do. I watch as the blades slice through the extinguisher and the Mockingjay is launched backwards into the air. Ash and smoke fills the hall and a huge spark of light blinds my eyes. I fall onto the ground and watch as the smoke shoots over my head. My ears ring with a horrible sound and I feel the dust clog up my throat. I bury my face into my arms to block out the toxic fumes, but just seconds later, everything goes black for me.

An explosion. That's all it would take to turn me back. And by the time I'm being poked awake, the Mockingjay is probably long gone.

"Danix..."

I tilt my head up and see Igneous towering above me, holding onto his back in pain.

"I can't.."

I stand up on my feet and I'm able to steady him before he falls onto the floor. The complete backside of his shirt is stained with blood and he seems like he's not going to make it for much longer. He squints his eyes trying to hold back the pain. I look down the hall and see the walls completely scorched black. Some of the ground has been torn up, but the most terrifying thing is further down. An open emergency exit.

"They escaped."

"We need to get back to the mansion right now.." chokes Igneous. "Before.."

"I'm not going to let you die," I say.

"Then let's go.."

He wraps his right arm over my shoulder and I manage to keep him up without falling. We both slowly walk out the exit and back outside into the snow. We ring around the corner, past the window and towards the long fence. I don't know how, but I'm able to get him over it after a minute or two of painful groans and sighs. It doesn't help that the pelting snow has seemed to pick up even more. The air is thick and foggy, making the mansion up the short mountain seem even further away. But I eventually notice a small dot running up the hillside, not too far away. I know they're not too far away because I can easily recognize who it is: Celia.

"What is she doing?" I whisper to myself. I should have known all along, and now this only proves it even more. She's the Mockingjay and she's now running to safety back at the mansion after almost killing both Igneous and I.

"Is that.."

"It is. It's Celia," I say. "Up to no good, of course."

The trek doesn't take long, but it's battling through the storm which is tough. The tiny snowflakes nibble at my exposed skin and the freezing cold breeze makes my teeth chatter. When we reach the top of the slope, we fall through the open doorway and into the warmth of the mansion. It's getting hard to keep Igneous up and I know he can't hold on for much longer. I look to the right straight at the door to the basement and I bring Igneous over to it. This is the only place that could possibly have something to heal his wound. Cream, medicine, maybe a scarf to make a tourniquet out of. Anything. Just anything. We stumble down the steps, and once we enter the darkness of the room, I see two faces beam at us.

"Oh my god.." mutters Celia. "He's out! He's out of the room without a key and the room is full of weapons! He's the Mockingjay!"

"Stay back!" yells Obedience who grabs onto Celia for protection.

"Igneous is dying! He was attacked by the Mockingjay!" I exclaim. "You need to help us now!"

"It's all an act. You're the Mockingjay and you probably hurt Igneous yourself!" squeals Celia, suddenly holding up a knife in her hand. "Let go of the idiot or I kill you right now."

"No! He's going to die! I can't-"

"DO IT!"

"Celia.. We can't let Igneous die.." whispers Obedience. "What if Danix is actually not lying?"

"What, are you crazy?! You two are done with each other and now you're defending him!" Celia screams. Without another word, Obedience yanks the knife straight from her hand and holds it up to her face. She remains frozen, completely stunned.

"He is not acting. We need to help him now!"

"Fine! Fine, fine, FINE!" roars Celia, sprinting towards the stairs. "I'll get some oinkment from the bathroom!"

"It's ointment," I add, slowly lowering Igneous to lay him on the ground.

"WHATEVER!"

Obedience mysteriously heads towards the stairs once Celia leaves. "I'll be back in a minute. I'm making him a cup of tea." I don't have a chance to question him because he exits instantly. A cup of tea won't help right now. At least I'm pretty sure. I doubt tea will save someone from dying..

"Give me one second.." I whisper to Igneous. I stand up and head into the small room where all the weapons are. I need something to defend us of course. Almost every inch of the room is covered by something. The walls are barely visible, either having crates stacked up or shelves leaning up against them. I scan through a rack of explosive spears and pick up the second one. I inspect the sharp blade on the tip, but then something flickers in the corner of my eye. I turn to the left to see the familiar hologram showing a broadcast of the main entrance. Through the floating pixels, I see the Mockingjay run straight towards the doorway to the basement.

The delay. The delay of around twenty seconds. I remember it instantly. The Mockingjay did not just run through the door. They ran through it about twenty seconds ago. I turn around, and just in time, I watch as the Mockingjay slams the blades of their wing straight through Igneous' head.

COMING SOON ON 'THE REBIRTH GAMES:'

All the tributes lean forward on the sofas, listening to Celia carefully. "If we stay in this house, we are all going to die!"

The fewer the tributes...

"Someone is picking us all off one by one!" exclaims Are.

...the higher the body count.

The Mockingjay pulls open a pair of gardening shears outside in the snow, surrounded by hedges.

Friendships will be pushed to their limits.

"Don't even lie!" yells Fern. "You're the darkest bitch out of us all!"

But when new mysteries arise...

The box plays out twinkling music as the plastic ballerina spins on a small disk.

...the blood will be SHINING!

Celia screams in the corner of her room as an axe smashes through the wooden door.

And when the blood shines...

The Mockingjay stands on the ledge of the roof.

...even the strongest will fall.

"Take off your mask!" I yell, pointing my gun straight at them. "Now!"

Author's Note:

OMGGGGG! IGNEOUS IS DEAD!

Well hello everybody... Welcome to Chapter Sixteen of The Rebirth Games: Wings! Wings simply because of the way the Mockingjay was attacking today... with his/her razor wings! And sadly... IGNEOUS GOT THE CHOP! Were you expecting that?! What were you thinking when he was first attacked? Did you think he would die? And of course, once you found out that he could possibly survive, did you expect that final little twist at the end?! Yes, I have been foreshadowing his death all along with the 'twenty second delay' on the hologram in the previous chapter. ;)

What do you think is going to happen next?! Remember, these small little teasers at the end will come every three/four chapters, but the Games will go on for a bit longer... What am I hinting at? Well don't expect the end to be coming this soon because of the final line in that teaser... One thing I find funny is that EVERY line I teased in that gives a lot away, but so little at the same time. Like if I continued writing what happens immediately after in the next sentences to these lines, it would be huge spoilers. xD

Once again, I have a poll on my profile asking who you think the Mockingjay is. Now that Igneous has fallen, he is OUT of the circle!

If you have some spare time, leave a review if you'd like to! I'd love to hear your thoughts on this chapter. :)

FUN FACT: the scene with the fire extinguisher exploding was meant to be an explosive spear that Danix brought with him. He'd throw it, it would hit the floor and explode, knocking him back onto the ground. But... - me being stupid me - I forgot to write into the ending of the previous chapter that Danix brought a spear with him. Once he escaped, I wrote that he ran straight out the door. I was supposed to make him grab a spear but I forgot! So I just wrote in that there was a fire extinguisher! xD

Stay tuned for more chapters to come as the hunt for the Mockingjay becomes tighter than ever. ;)

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