I hate doing author's notes at the beginning of a chapter, but yeah, it's worth pointing out that Hadley's POV and Mirane's POV messily overlap chronologically. That said, happy reading!

Day Five, Morning

Lorelei Draven, District 2, 17

I knew Pullox was up to something.

And he knew what I knew. There was just something incredibly off about him ever since he had told Honora my secret. He seemed to be basking in some kind of hidden glory, as if he knew something I didn't. And because he knew I knew, he'd taunt me. Every time he looked at me he gave me a smirk or a sarcastic, half hearted wave. The worst thing was nobody else suspected him. Honora was distant from all of us since the Day of Secrets, but I'm pretty sure Pullox was still her favourite. I tried to tell Jericho how I felt too as we hunted alone, but he didn't buy it:

"Pullox? Really?"

"He's up to something and I know it," I sighed. "All this time we've been bitching about Honora, but she's less threatening. She's very open about her intentions for one, and secondly there's a human in there somewhere. With Pullox there's nothing."

Jericho smiled. "Pullox isn't weak, I'm sure, but he's only a few inches taller than you, and you're small. Not to mention that while you're a whizz with knives, Pullox doesn't really seem to be... A traditional Career."

"Firstly, he volunteered for a reason," I glared up at the towering Jericho. "Secondly, I'm not small."

"Right. You're mountainous," he chuckled.

I grinned, hoping he wouldn't see it. I really liked Jericho. It didn't really have to be stated, but he was my favourite in the alliance. He was just a regular guy. His dad was a butcher, he got on with his family, he was the weightlifting champion in his school, he got B grades, he'd had a friendship group and he dated here and there. I wish my life was that regular and serene. I think the reason I liked Jericho was because he was the person I wanted to be, and he had the life I wanted. But I didn't resent him for it; I was instead filled with admiration and respect for him.

We walked down another corridor. Jericho kept his rifle close and I slipped a knife out of the sheath, very subtly peering around. After signalling to Jericho that we were in the all clear, we proceeded down it, combing through whatever rooms we could as we went. I knew Palaces were big, but this kind of took big to a whole new level. We'd been here for five days and every turn still seemed so new and novel. And we hadn't even touched the grounds - no doubt that there were some clever tributes who were lurking around outside.

"This is dull," Jericho announced as he left a very bare room.

"Yeah, tell me about it," I grumbled. "I just want to whittle down the tributes and get out of this arena..."

"Agreed," Jericho sighed. It was kind of awkward, because only one of us could leave, but we were at the early stages - we were Careers, and neither of us really had to worry about death or losing each other for another couple of days. Still, the prospect of death was still looming over us, and it felt as if it was inching closer. It felt like the creeping shadows in the arena that almost lurched forward subtly as we heard the surrounding grandfather clocks tick over and over again. "Why don't we play a game or something?"

"I could do with a game," I said. "I'm thinking more along the lines of... A drinking game."

"We don't have alcohol, and even if we did we're way too young to drink it!" I forgot how disciplined Jericho was. I shrugged. "We don't want to make ourselves vulnerable."

"I was only joking," I said, not sure if I was lying or not. Alcohol could seriously hurt the baby growing inside me, so even if I was offered the stuff I don't think I would drink it. But it would be nice to let loose once in a while, instead of trying to hunt and kill people. Maybe that was just me. "What games did you play to ease the boredom?"

"Ever played anywhere but here?"

"No..."

"Oh, it doesn't last long but it's just fun," he smiled. "We give each other a letter and then we have to think of a place we'd be beginning with that letter, who we'd be with beginning with that letter and the activity we do. And that has to begin with that letter too."

"Huh?" I said, confused.

"Just give me a letter!"

"Hmm, okay, D."

"Hm, I would like to be..." Jericho smiled. "In District Two," I laughed. "With my friend Delta, and we're..." He paused. "I don't know, dancing or something."

"Are you a dancer?" I raised my eyebrow. "You're not a dancer!"

"Okay, I'm not, but that'll make it funnier," we both laughed.

"Who is Delta?"

"Oh, just my friend..." He sighed. "I haven't really thought about her that much. She wouldn't mind though, she's always smiling. She was a ray of sunshine. Me being such a grump, it can grate on me sometimes but... Well, she brought some much needed enthusiasm for life into my small group of friends." He smiled weakly. "I bet she'll be watching this, smiling now... In fact, lets not talk about it. Your turn."

I peered around another corner before we proceeded. "Okay."

"I give you the letter... A."

"A? Erm, okay."

"I want to be with..." I paused. "Alex."

"Alex?"

We passed a comfortable looking seat. My legs were beginning to tire me, and the back aches that came with pregnancy were slowly managing to creep their way into my senses. Huffing, I made sure to sit down. Jericho looked at me questioningly, but just kind of took it in his stride.

"I'm naming my baby Alex," I smiled, rubbing my hand over the very subtle bump. "I don't know, I don't know the kid's gender, but Alex is a very gender neutral name anyway. I like the name Alex. And I don't know..." Jericho looked very uncomfortable. Maybe it made the fact he'd have to watch a pregnant woman die much more horrific now the baby inside her had a name. "And we'd be doing something nice beginning with the letter A. But I honestly don't know what activities there are... Does 'amassing great literature' count? I think this kid is a little genius or artist or something," I smiled, rubbing my stomach a bit. "He or she is very active, though. Kicks a lot. Maybe you can feel later."

"Er, maybe," Jericho said, a little uncomfortable. I stood up and started walking. "So, where would you and Alex be amassing all this literature?"

I laughed. "I honestly don't know anywhere beginning with A, so maybe I'll just give you another boring answer and say 'anywhere but with Pullox'-"

As we turned the corner, Pullox was there. It was as if he could hear his name being called and teleport wherever he pleased. Jericho reached for the rifle and stopped when he realised it was our ally. I smiled weakly, feeling very embarrassed. Pullox obviously heard what I said, though he didn't look remotely perplexed. As usual, he looked indifferent, though he did give me an amused smirk.

"I'm assuming you didn't bump into any tributes," he said as if he hadn't just heard me slandering him.

"No," Jericho answered, trying not to look awkward. "Where's Honora?"

"She thinks she's tracked some tributes, we have to follow the trail though," Pullox told us, leading us forward. "Which is pretty wonderful... I'm sure by this point we've all been vouching for nice little droplets of blood."

Trojan Reid, District 3, 15

Seb was growing tired now, which was annoying. Come to think about it, I was tired too. But in the Hunger Games we had to repress our physical instincts to push ourselves to victory. Obviously we'd have to sleep soon, but we'd do that when we weren't in a sewer with ankle deep sludge and rats that scurried around everywhere. My eyes had adjusted to the dark, and Seb stumbled after me blindly as I turned down a tunnel and started walking down there. I paused when I noticed something at the end of the large lead tunnel:

A door.

"What's up?" Seb said. We actually hadn't spoken once since entering the sewers. We both paused, looking at the door.

"We're about to find out," I said. It could be bad, but I was prepared to run and Seb also had a gun. It would just be nice to be somewhere which didn't smell of urine.

Seb noticed the large doorway, and followed me as I approached it. I grabbed its brass doorhandles, stepping back as I pulled. It put up no resistance and swung open to reveal an extremely interesting room: before us was a giant computer with a modern looking leather seat there right in front of it. This was very anachronistic, but I think it was supposed to be. So this arena was more than a historical Palace - it was a historical palace with a twist.

Seb squinted, stepping onto the solid ground as the light attacked his eyes. As I walked towards the computer I left footprints of sludge. Still, there were some very interesting things that I could do if I figured out the computer's processes. As Seb found bits of food and stuffed them into his backpack, I tapped a few buttons. I finally accessed the system configurations and found myself very curious.

"Looks like this computer controls the sewage and the plumbing system," I mumbled to myself, pressing a few command keys and watching the percentage metre fill the screen. "Forty-nine percent of the arena's water supply has been used..." I wondered if there was a key to refill it, considering I wanted more water. I pressed the key, but a large flashing message on the big computer screen told me that this action was unable to process. Maybe because we didn't have servants or manual workers to give the arena more water.

"You can work computers too?" Seb asked me as I accessed a GPS map of the sewers, a little red dot flashing in the area where we were.

"I'm a man of many talents," I said dryly, fiddling with a few more of the command systems the computer had to offer.

"I've actually never seen a computer before... Well, before going to the Capitol," Seb commented, looking fascinated.

"They're not household items here," I said. "But they control a lot of District Three's industry. And we also create a lot of computers for the Capitol. Being a computer whizz is a compulsory requirement in the District Three education system," I told him as a very interesting command option flashed on the screen before me. I scratched my chin, thinking.

"So you do live a normal life... You go to school, anyway."

"Yes, I go to school. I'm not an alien," I mumbled indifferently. "This computer is giving us the option to combine the sewage and water systems. Basically, we can taint the arena's whole water system. Only half of the water is left anyway," I said, showing Seb the percentage on the screen. "A quarter of the water was used yesterday. Somebody must have ran themselves a very big bath."

"Hm," Seb paused. "It would cripple our enemies if we did take away their water supply. But it's best that we have a water supply, too." I thought about it, my finger hovering over the button. "Most of the people dependent on the Palace's water supply would be weak, anyway. They'll all die in the time naturally. You won't take away the strong competition - the smart kids who will access water in other ways, and the Careers who have enough to last them the Games without the Palace's water supply."

"Yes," I pressed backspace, watching the screen revert. "You're entirely right."

He smiled. It must have been nice for him to hear some approval slip from my lips. I wondered why he trusted me after everything. After I warned him. Seb was my favourite person in the arena, but I still didn't feel compelled to express any loyalty. I leaned back smiling a little, typing something into the computer. The screen told me that my request was accepted, and I returned to a view of the map. Yes. I'm pretty sure it was clear which direction we had to go.

"What now?" Seb asked.

"I have an idea," I said, turning to him. "Do you have the food?"

"There was dairy and bread, but they were covered in mould," Seb frowned. "Still, there were tinned good, and some bananas. They're hardly fresh and new, but they're not mouldy, we'll be able to eat them within the next two days."

"Great," I smiled. "That's reassuring."

And with them I left the room, jumping back into the river of rubbish and waste that trailed down the giant sewage pipes. Knowing exactly where I had to go, I turned in specific directions and heard Seb's footsteps splashing only a few metres behind me. If the indications on the computer screen were correct, there could be something special there. It could be a nice surprise for Seb and the audience.

Magnus Carmine, District 5, 17

"Are you sure we go this way?" I asked Leda as we made our way further into the grounds. She turned to me, making sure to give a small smile.

"I know that the Gamemakers would include mazes for a reason," Leda said with a sly smile.

As the bright sun beamed down off us it reflected off her golden dress, which dragged behind her as she walked. I could see the leafy fortress from a distance. We were surrounded by verdant grass, a spectrum of colourful flowers and well sculpted fountains which shot jets of water into the warm summer air. But the maze was the most eye catching thing. It looked as if it could be its own Palace. My head continued throbbing as we made our way towards it, and my damp clothes still rubbed against my sensitive bruises. This was going to be a long, hard day.

The grounds were very large. And the maze wasn't the only thing that caught my eye. About a few hundred metres away I could see the spectre of what looked like a giant church, well decorated, with a glistening tower that protruded much higher than the Palace. Parallel to it, to my left, there was a large domed building. I was willing to bet both were empty, and I was quite curious to see what they had to offer. They were potentially more interesting the maze, but Leda seemed to think that within the maze we would find something special.

There was something up with Leda. The joking had gone, as had the strange charm that compelled me to her in the first place. And I couldn't help but feel as if she was planning something. I shouldn't distrust Leda - she was the only person in the arena I could trust. And anyway, even if she did turn against me I knew I could take her out quite easily. The thought of ever killing her sent a bad feeling in my gut though.

"Through here?" Leda paused as the entrance. I glanced into the maze. It was long row with gravelled flooring. Sometimes the option to walk left or right presented itself. I tried smiling, but there was something about the maze that made me feel incredibly claustrophobic. Maybe it was the fact that it kind of reminded me of a prison.

"If I can find any medication in the centre, yeah, lets try and crack this maze," I said.

"We have all day," Leda reassured me.

As soon as we stepped into the maze I was cloaked in shade. The uneasiness without me continued to build, and despite the hot sun I felt a chill as a breeze swept through, rustling the small leaves that protruded from the maze. We didn't exactly have a strategy, so we continued to walk until we found our way at an intersection. Leda rushed forward and I was about to step forward too, until I almost bumped into someone.

It was a girl. She was tall, but I still towered over her. Her dark eyes snapped towards me suspiciously and her hands immediately found their way towards a gun. She aimed it squarely at my forehead and a breath found its way stuck in my throat as I realised she was threatening me with it. Not far behind her were two other guys. One was weaponless, the other held onto a fancy looking dagger.

"Drop your stuff," she commanded. My hands relaxed and my bags fell. "Darius, Hadley, you get his stuff. He probably has food."

"Leda!" I snapped, calling my ally. She had been leaning in the hedge, from view. But she quickly made herself useful. The girl almost pulled the trigger, but Leda made sure that her sickle found its way around said girls' throat. Leda wasn't a good fighter, but she had the element of surprise on her side. The girl squirmed for a few seconds, looking terrified when she released what was happening.

"Drop the gun," I snapped at her. She commanded.

The two boys looked terrified too, almost standing by idly. There was a moment of intense, actionless silence. Then the taller boy with the dagger spoke up, almost terrified:

"Look, you take your supplies back," he said, kicking them at my feet. "Wh-Why don't we go? We're not Careers. We don't have to fight," he glared at Leda. "We can save the bad stuff for them. W-Why don't we just go on our merry way?"

"You command me," Leda said to me, keeping the blade against the girls' throat.

"I-" Leda dug the knife in deeper. The boy with the blade looked as if he was ready to start a fight and drive his knife right into Leda, but I knew that this was a stalemate which could lead to a loss of life. "He's right Leda," I decided. "We'll save that stuff for the Final Eight, okay?" She looked up at me, annoyed. "W-We don't have to do this."

"Your ally is too much of a coward to kill me," the girl laughed. Leda didn't even register an emotion. She just shoved the girl into the gravel. I found myself looking down at her blankly. When she stood up, I scooped up my supplies and watched the three edge themselves away from us, still preparing ourselves from any conflict. There was something... Not right about this. Something surreal.

"It's fine, we won't hurt you," I told them. The dagger boy held the girl close.

As they trudged away, Leda made her own merry way too, almost as if she knew exactly where to go. I almost blanked her out as I inquisitively watched the alliance of three rush away from us. Occasionally the shorter boy, who I think was from District Seven, would turn around and give us a strange glance. It was almost as if he couldn't quite believe what he could see. It was a look filled with suspicion, fear and most of all confusion.

It was almost as if he had seen something strange.

Hadley Allard, District 7, 16

The Five convict, the tall and scary guy with a buzzcut, gave me one last glare. It was kind of sad, actually. As soon as he turned away I looked at Darius and Mirane. Nobody had been hurt, thank god, but it felt as if we were only a brush away from death. Darius was holding Mirane close, but she was uncomfortable with it. Not that she didn't want Darius close, but it was obvious she had just been humiliated and wanted to continue acting strong and mighty. Mirane was pretty sharp and tended to be right, which meant she had a lot of pride which was very easy to bruise.

"Are you okay?" Darius asked for the fifth time.

"I'm fine," Mirane said, a little annoyed.

"That was close, though..." I thought of Magnus' ally and shivered. "I can't believe... Well, am I the only one who was very creeped out by that alliance? She..." I paused, wondering if I was using the right wording. "She just popped out of nowhere."

"The Gamemakers are definitely trying to give quality entertainment this year," Mirane nodded before there was a clear opening in the maze. "So we turn right Hadley?"

"Yeah," I smiled. I remembered reading an effective rule of thumb during training, one that stated that if you put your right hand on a wall and continued following the wall you would eventually find yourself in the centre of the maze. It was only an algorithm, and it wasn't perfect, but I knew we'd get in the centre eventually. Hopefully there would be something there for us.

We continued walking for another second before the ground beneath us started to rumble. The gravel beneath leapt up in the air and fell again and before we knew it the shrubbery seemed to be moving and engulfing us. I gave out a quick cry and stumbled back, feeling my heart stop as shrubbery quickly filled up the void I had occupied a mere second ago. When I turned away from the hedge, I realised that the maze had completely reinvented itself. There were a lot more pathways than there were originally. I tried to shake away my nervousness, not knowing what this meant.

I turned back to the wall of greenery which had blocked me.

"Darius?"

A tense pause. "Yeah."

"Are you okay? Is Mirane okay?"

"We're both together, we're fine."

I tried to squint and see him through the leaves. There were only branches and leaves, so dense that it wasn't remotely transparent. I kind of wish I had accepted Darius' dagger now: maybe I could try and cut through. Mind you, that was a stupid idea; the hedge was so thick I think you'd need a chainsaw to skim through it.

"Are you okay?" Darius finally said.

"I-I think so," I wasn't injured at all. I don't think the maze rearranged itself with the intension of injuring someone. The Gamemakers obviously wanted us apart, though I had no idea why. I wish I was with Darius and Mirane though; they were the ones with weapons. All I had was my wits. "Look, we need to meet up again. Do you remember what I said about the right hand rule?"

"Yeah."

"Cool, we'll get to the centre and we'll meet up there. How about that?"

"That's great, see you later," Darius said. His voice hovered in the air for a second. I waited for the sound of four feet crossing the newly formed gravel pathways, but Darius was as reluctant to leave me as I was to leave him. I leaned against the hedge trying to collect my thoughts together. Eventually I found the strength to continue walking. I put my right hand against the maze wall and trudged forwards, not knowing what to expect.

A part of me still felt empty... Especially when I thought of the Bloodbath. Helping Darius kill Freya, watching Conifer die and seeing Brandy's dead body lying helplessly at the bottom of that large staircase... It was too much. I shut down, and I was pretty sure that nothing could help me to recover from that day. But to be honest, things had gone pretty smoothly from there on - just like broken bones recover, my broken mind did too. I was managing to function. Sometimes I would even feel happy or grateful. And when I thought about my parents back at home I felt motivated to survive.

What did they think? No doubt they were nervously watching the television now. I hoped that they were managing to eat and sleep. But how could they sleep when they knew that they could wake up the next morning and see recaps of their son being brutally killed? I shivered. I couldn't let my parents see me die. I couldn't let them see me break down again. I had to keep strong.

After a good thirty minutes of walking, going through multiple routes, my heuristic finally seemed to work. I couldn't believe it as I walked into the large circle. The first thing I noticed about the centre of the maze was the small, almost awkward tree. It had frail leaves. Around the perimeter there were large, bronze statues of faces everywhere - faces of previous Panemian Presidents. The air hit me again and when I looked up I could see the azure sky, clear with the exception of a few minuscule clouds. In the middle of the maze's centre was a large altar. I couldn't see what was there, but I knew that I had to find out.

I hurried forward desperately, accidentally knowing over a bronze bust of an old President, President Raenyt. Her stern face smashed into frail tiles, sending cracks darting across the floor with a loud bang. I jumped, but everything was okay. What was that going to do? Kill me. I composed myself and turned around. But I found myself staring at an angry face. It was him again.

It was Magnus.

"You killed my ally," he hissed.

Magnus Carmine, District 5, 17

I felt sick to my stomach. When the cannon fired, I knew it was all over. Leda's body lay against the pavement. Her dress was red like the blood that shot against the multiple tiles. She looked as if she had been shoved. Her skull was shattered underneath the large bust of a powerful looking woman. I knew what had happened. The Seven boy had shoved the forced statue onto her head. They had obviously had some kind of scuffle, and he did his worst.

The anger flared up inside me as I tried to regulate my emotions. I couldn't think logically, all I knew was rage. He killed her, and it would only be fair that I would kill him.

He looked at me. His eyes were wide - guilty. "Wh-what?!"

"Don't play innocent," I said, moving to the altar to see what the Gamemakers had to offer.

Surrounding Hadley and I were multiple openings that broke the circular fortress of wilderness. But he looked paralysed, as if he wouldn't try to run away. And if he did run? I'd make sure that the knife on the altar that I just picked up would find its way into its skull. It looked good for throwing - nice and thin, with a gold plated handle. And next to it was the one thing I thought I wanted; a packet of pills which were naturally designed to keep my sanity in check. But I'd give anything to trade them for Leda.

"I don't know what you-"

"I've killed before," I said to Hadley, calmly. "One night I went out to a restaurant with my parents. They were always reluctant to take me out," I moved the edge of the knife against my palm, feeling it press into my skin, the friction too weak to cut through it. "But it was ironic that the one night they took me out and told me about the evils of the world I would experience that evil. When we had our nice meal we left and found our way into an alleyway. We were confronted by a man I knew," I looked up at Hadley, who was approaching me slowly. I expected him to run. He was braver than I expected. "He was my tutor. He said something about pay and then bang-"

I slammed the knife into the table, watching the handle poke out of it. Hadley flinched. But he still edged closer.

"My dad lay down onto the floor dead. All it took was a bullet and this man who had done so much... His life just crumbled into nothingness."

Hadley sat on the end of the altar. I glanced at him as I tore the knife out of the table.

"I'm so sorry," Hadley tried to touch my shoulder, but I budged away. He was disgusting. He killed my ally, why would he try to be my friend? Because he knew that unlike Leda, I couldn't be shoved onto the ground and pummelled with a statue?

"The same way Leda became nothing when you toppled that statue over her head and watched it smash her skull," I accused, glaring at Hadley. I was keeping myself surprisingly calm, which shocked Hadley. He didn't say anything, he just looked dumbstruck.

"Look-"

I suddenly snapped. "Shut the fuck up!" I roared in Hadley's face, the air from my lungs melting his expression into a petrified one. "Do you want to fucking know what I did to the man I killed my father?" I gripped him by his shirt, standing up and lifting him as if he were nothing. "Do you want to fucking know?"

"Magnus, lo-"

"I killed him," I said, quietly, almost whispering it to him. "They wanted to know why I went to prison. Now they had the answer, my murder was justified. I fucking killed the man who killed my father." I laughed manically. "And I enjoyed it. Because I believe in revenge. When people hurt me, I hurt them, and there's no exception to that rule." I almost lowered him. Hadley had gone pale, too scared to move or talk. His feet touched the ground as I lowered him. "Why do you look so scared?"

"What are those pills?" Hadley said, quietly, his eyes on them.

"They were for me," I retorted as I set the blade back down onto the table: "Do you think I'd be sane if I went to prison? If I woke up by my parents' and their killers' corpses, laughing and covering myself in their own blood?"

Hadley stuttered. He looked terrified. "B-But..."

"I said there were no buts," I gripped his shirt tighter, pulling him towards me. "I cannot wait to see you bleed after what you did."

"He didn't kill your mother, he shot your father," Hadley glanced up at me and suddenly I felt the terror. I remembered exactly what happened. I remembered grabbing the gun from the man who killed my father and turning it on him, blasting him right in the face. And when my mother screamed in shock and turned around, I shot her once. Twice. In my grief and madness I released a third bullet into her spine and watched her tumble. It was the first time I truly comprehended it, because I'd been in denial my whole life. I could create lies so intricate in my mind I believed in them fully. Not all of my killings were justified... "You killed your mother..."

"No..."

"You killed her too, didn't you?" Hadley muttered, terrified. "And that's why you were sent to pri-"

I shoved him so hard his body slammed into the table. He bent over it, choking on his own air as he slammed into it. "Shut the fuck up, you murdering sack of shit!"

He tried to move, but I stepped forward once. Effortlessly, as if he weighed nothing, I span him around so that he was facing me. He was crying. I pinned my elbow into his chest and gained great satisfaction in watching his expression distort with pain.

"Can't take a little bit of pain?" I said to him. He opened his mouth to speak, but I laughed and grabbed his jaw, clenching it into my hand and hearing it crack underneath my grip. He whimpered, his agonised moans getting louder and louder. "I couldn't imagine what it felt like to have your skull cave in... To have your brain smashed into mush. I'd like to think it was instantaneous, but there'd be those painful microseconds where you'd lie around, feeling the blood seep out as you fade into nothing. I can imagine that'd be the worst feeling in the world." I lifted his head, smashing it back into the table. "How does it feel!"

"I didn't kill her!" Hadley screamed at me. I paused. Of course he did... Who else could have... I hesitated, but that gave him the opportunity to scream for his armed allies: "Darius! Mirane!"

"They won't save you!" I grabbed him by the throat, squeezing it. "How far away are they?" I watched his hand edge closer to the knife which I had put down earlier. His fingertips grazed the shining handle. "Do you know how long it takes to crush your windpipe? It only takes me seconds..." I tightened my palm around his throat, hearing him choke out loud. He deserved this. He killed Leda. He deserved to die.

I was only playing with him, though. I wouldn't give him the mercy of a quick death. He deserved so much worse than that. I was going to snap his jaw and then use my knife to rip out his tongue. I was going to make him suffer until he was begging for death. But then I realised that wasn't possible.

Hadley managed to grip onto the edge of the handle, and I turned my head as he went to stab the blade right into my neck.

Mirane Saffell, District 8, 17

The earth shook again. The maze was rearranging itself.

Or at least that's what I thought. Darius and I barely had any time to glance at each other before the hedges sunk in between us, dividing us again. I cursed, leaning against the hedge and trying to call Darius' name. But there was not enough time: the maze wasn't rearranging itself. It was closing in on itself, and threatening to crush anything that was between it.

Terrified, I turned and ran, making sure that I held tight onto the gun just in case the Gamemakers had sent a mutt or something. I heard the maze moving and overlapping right behind me, sometimes feeling the rough leaves scrape the back of my scalp as I ran, trying to hold in the urge to scream as the air was knocked out of me. I had to have been running for a whole minute, my energy slowly sapping out of me, and it was still trying to crush me.

I finally reached a turn and practically dived left, screwing Hadley's right hand rule. The whole area where I was became overran by the maze, blocked off into nothingness. But I was okay. I was alive. I felt sweat creep down my face and held onto a stitch that burned into my side, leaning into the maze and trying to keep all of my thoughts collected together.

Suddenly there was a scream. It was distant, whatever was happening it was a fair walk away. But close enough to hear.

It was male.

"Darius!" I cried out, walking forward desperately. Suddenly I was at an intersection - left, right, or continuing to walk forwards? I felt my throat sink into my stomach and melt, struggling to cry out again: "Darius! Where are you!"

The noise continued as I tried to get as close to it as possible. Should I fire my gun into the air to alert Darius where I was? Maybe... But I could also attract mutts or unwanted tributes. Confused and upset, I ran rightwards, continuing to walk forwards as tears slipped from the corners of my eyes. Darius might have been caught by the maze. And what would happen? Would he suffocate, be crushed? There was a possibility that he'd died, and though I didn't want it to, that absolutely terrified me.

"Darius! Please!" I called, raising the gun in case I ran head on into an enemy. I turned another random corner.

And bumped into someone.

I almost pulled the trigger, but he was there, looking down at me. He looked as terrified and worn out as I did, but relief spread across his face, mirroring mine. Oh thank god. He was okay.

"Darius, thank Panem you're-"

I didn't finish my sentence. There was something feral and desperate about it, but Darius picked me up and before I could even think I felt his lips against mine. There was a moment of hesitation and I didn't know quite how to react, but I gave in. Without even thinking about it, I felt myself kissing him. I would pull away, but our lips quickly met again. It wasn't a romantic first kiss. It was intense, and desperate. It was almost a proclamation of relief.

But it was also wild and passionate and surprising. It was everything I didn't expect from Darius. I felt my back brush against the leafy wall and I stood on my tiptoes, trying to get better leverage of Darius' lips as my thoughts almost melted into nothingness. My hands draped themselves around his neck. This wasn't right, but it felt perfect. Darius and I would have continued, but something fired through the air so fiercely we almost threw ourselves away from each other.

A cannon.

"Shit," I said, as if nothing happened. I grabbed onto my gun. "We need to find out who that was-"

As I rushed forwards, Darius was hot on my heels. He was trying to reassure himself. "Hadley will be okay..."

"Yeah, we just need to get to the centre of the maze," I said, trying to collect my thoughts. Worry was beginning to build up inside me, but a part of my mind was fixated on the kiss. "Hadley will meet us there. I-I heard a scream, it was from a guy," I turned to Darius quickly, trying to follow Hadley's right hand rule. "Was that you?"

"No!"

"If you're trying to protect your fragile masculinity, you can just stop, were you screaming when you were running for your life?"

"No, I didn't scream once!" Darius snapped, horror etching itself on his face. "M-Maybe it was the Five guy?"

Darius wouldn't dare think it was Hadley. He couldn't afford to think that. But I knew it was a possibility. Shit. This is why you don't let feelings take control. Instead of kissing we could've tried to find Hadley. Chances were that he was fine, but if I just thought rationally instead of succumbing to the moment I could've dodged a lot of stress and worry. I rushed forwards, taking twists and turns desperately and trying to reassure myself that it was okay.

Suddenly I found myself stumbling into the centre of the maze.

... It wasn't okay.

The first thing I noticed was that there was blood everywhere. It covered a table, it was smudged against the floors, dragging into a direction. I heard Darius pause behind me as my eyes followed the trail to a tree that seemed out of place. But he was there.

He was swinging from the tree, tied to it from the neck by his intestines. He almost twirled midair, his lips carved into a gory, terrifying smile, contrasting his eyes that were wide open with terror. As for his body... There was nothing there. He had been butchered. It was almost as if everything had been taken out of him, left to rest at his feet. It was Hadley. And he was dead... It was worse than death. It was mutilation, torture...

Darius keeled over beside me, spewing his guts out as I tried to keep my head together. Hearing the noise, the Five boy almost strolled into view. He looked relatively amused and he was covered in blood. Most of it was Hadley's, though I noted the knife wound that was obvious around his shoulder. I hoped Hadley managed to do that... I hoped it fucking hurt.

"Wondered when you'd join the party," he said. Blood was dribbling down his jaw onto the floor as he showed us a knife. He licked the blood off, looking bemused. "You see, your ally killed my ally. So I made sure he suffered as much as possible.

"Wh-What?" I snapped, feeling overwhelmed and confused. Darius was still retching, leaning against the maze wall. "Hadley wouldn't hurt a fly!"

"He killed my ally," Magnus roared, stepping forward. He paused when I raised my gun, pointing it directly at his chest.

"You sick bastard..." I whispered, screaming it out loud again for all to hear: "You sick bastard! Nobody deserves this, especially not Hadley!" I watched as Magnus removed what looked like two pills. As if he wasn't at gunpoint, he swallowed them, smiling at me in a way that made me feel uneasy. "Hadley wouldn't hurt anybody! You weren't with anybody human," I stepped forward, keeping the gun pointed at him. I was scared, even if I had the advantage. "Who the fuck did he kill then?"

"Leda, my ally."

"Who?" I paused.

"The District Five girl!" Magnus pointed and I followed his direction. There was a statue there, but it was smashed against the floor. There was nothing there. "You know her, brown hair, short, freckly, weird shaped eyes. Her, there! He bashed her brain in with a statue! He fucking killed her!"

"There's no-one there," I screeched furiously. "I fucking hope you've taken psycho meds, look there!" I waved the gun in the direction he pointed at. I didn't know what Darius was doing behind me. "There is no-one there you fucking freak!"

He glanced in the direction. I think for once he saw what I saw. His eyes widened with shock. He went pale. The arrogant, crazed smirk disappeared from his face when he saw what I saw. There was no-one there. I knew what he was doing. He was questioning his sanity, not knowing what the hell was going on. His whole world was suddenly tumbling around him and he had no control.

"No... There is, there was!" He paused. "Look at the blood! Her body... It's been taken..."

"The only blood I can see is Hadley's!" I roared, not even daring to look at the carnage. "What the fuck have you done?" I raised the gun, screaming at him: "What did you do!"

"Leda... My ally..."

"You have no fucking ally!"

"Yes I do! Leda Viscoy was my ally!"

"Leda Viscoy died on the first day! She died in the Bloodbath!" I shouted at him angrily. My angry voice echoed around the nothingness and then was quickly replaced by total silence. There was a sense of shock.

And then he exploded. He screamed in protest, his features filling up with fury at the news. I watched him with horror as the monster before me wailed, distraught. But he was still after blood - after roaring furiously, he charged towards me. Keeping my expression blank, I began shooting him in the chest. Magnus stumbled back as the bullets struck him, but tried to continue with his onslaught. Wanting justice for Hadley, I mercilessly shot again and watched indifferently as he fell to the floor and blankly looked at the pretty clouds that were draped across the sky.

Magnus Carmine, District 5, 17

That hurt. But it was a lot less painful than I expected.

I expected to feel the bullets streaming through my ribs. But instead they almost bounced off me. I thought Leda had the bulletproof vest, but suddenly I was wearing it. My mind was constantly in darkness, never knowing what was real. I stared up at the sky, hearing sobs. The girl turned to the boy, the alive one, and I think she tried to talk to him as I lay thinking. I felt... Numb. Only a minute ago I felt surrounded by tragedy. Now everything inside had collapsed. I expected the pills to give me clarity... And they did. But now I knew that my life was a lie. I killed my mother. And I killed Leda too. I remembered doing it, I remembered a mutt jumping out and instead of killing the mutt I grabbed Leda and killed her.

I didn't mean to. But I was crazy. Not even pills could stop that. Pills can only go so far, but now... Fuck it. I didn't regret killing Hadley, and now I discovered I was wearing the bulletproof vest I thought Leda was wearing I knew that I could kill his two allies. I had enough of suffering, of watching the world burn around me. I wanted others to feel the pain I felt, to endure the tragedy I'd been enduring my whole life. Now it was my turn to really mess things up a bit. A crazy smile found its way against my face.

Leda gave me an excuse to actually try to be a good person. But I didn't have to fight Magnus now.

I had always been Magnus.

I stood up, making sure the blood soaked knife was still covered as I made my way towards the two. I think they thought I was dead or dying. The Eight boy sobbed into his District Partner's shoulder. Her hands brushed his hair, almost tentatively. But she was much more reflexive than I thought. As I charged towards him she raised her gun. Once again, I halted.

"Bulletproof vest," I laughed.

"This time I'm going for the head," she hissed.

"Are you angry...?" I cackled. "Why? You said it yourself Mirane... I'm crazy... I have no control over my own actions."

She looked at me as if she couldn't quite believe I was real.

They're innocent... You can't just kill them!

"Shut up," I snapped to myself.

You're angry. You're angry Leda's dead. You're angry that every thought you've had is a lie. But who are you to take this anger out on anyone else?

"Shut up!" I screamed again. But I wasn't screaming it. The Eight boy had taken the gun from his ally and was aiming it at me. His face was red, but it wasn't soaked with blood like his friend's. He was angry, bless. He pulled the trigger directly at my head only for someone to walk in front of it. The clockwork robot slumped, its mechanisms failing completely as it lay on the ground in smashed glass. It was wearing a mask that resembled Leda's features. It held her golden dress.

That made sense. I wasn't crazy enough to create whole illusions of my life. I could only put myself in denial thousands of times. As the dozens of clockwork robots swarmed around me, chanting robotically together as I was surrounded by a sea of coloured fabric - each of them wore a different dress. And I thought they were Leda. Clever. I should be sad, but I wasn't really. Now I was free to truly have fun, with nothing to incentivise me to be a good person. And Leda was really annoying anyway, now I stopped and thought about it.

The robots weren't programmed to kill me. I was much too fun. But as they kept me out of aim, they charged towards Mirane and Darius. I heard the loud bang and some slumped, but there were lots of robots. Lots of different dress colours. And they were walking right towards Darius and Mirane, trying to kill them. Darius screamed something about killing me, but Mirane seemed to be sensible. Eventually, they ran deep into the maze and I couldn't see them anymore. I watched almost nostalgically as my little army of Ledas followed them.

I turned to the dead body, walking towards it and shaking its hand.

"Sorry pal, nothing personal," I think I shook him too strongly, because the fragile intestines that kept him suspended snapped and he fell into a puddle of his own blood. "But we put on a good show, right?"

I turned back. Now, where were his allies? That was only the beginning. The Games were going to get very, very twisted now.

I was free from jail. I was free from my sanity. Nobody could escape now. And it was perfect that way.

So, exams end and I kind of return... To this. Yeah.

I've been building up to things a lot, and this is where it all explodes so fasten your seatbelt because I think this is the moment where the Games really start to get brutal :p

That said, it's worth explaining the Leda situation, which most of you guessed but I'll put it in writing just in case you didn't get it between the lines: Magnus' childhood isolation and upbringing had meant he was always insane. Magnus has a mental ability to basically distort and deny facts that would destroy his sanity. It's like a defence mechanism. Which is why he never ever believed he killed his mother. He also believed he didn't kill Leda, but he did. But he was never alone; the Gamemakers made sure Magnus was always accompanied with a clockwork robot which he perceived to be Leda. They were all slightly different, hence the dress colours, but in every scene with Magnus all of them were snooping around somewhere.

When I said the revelation would basically affect everybody - this was why. I knew Magnus was going to snap, and it's pretty much going to make sure everybody is caught in the fallout.

I left a lot of red herrings (despite you guys working it out, or at least suspecting it, I think even at the end a lot of you weren't sure), so if you still have any questions that need answering pop me a PM, because I understand that I kind of have a lot of explaining to do!

~Toxic