Day Fifteen, Part II

Trojan Reid, District 3, 15

Considering the rest of the Palace had been reduced to mere ruins, when I ran across the only building left in the arena it made sense to seek shelter inside it until I quickly realised that every other tribute was going to seek shelter in the same place. I had gone through the lobby and had eventually entered an auditorium. I had realised that one tribute had already found shelter in here; a spotlight shone down on the single stage, illuminating it nicely. Operatic music blared through the building, supplemented by the good acoustics.

I swallowed, feeling my nerves build up until they formed a lump in my throat. I'd never been nervous before - or I couldn't remember being nervous, because the last time I felt nervous was a long time ago. But this was it. I would emerge a winner or die a loser, and it was more likely that the latter would happen. Trying to stop myself from trembling, I walked through the aisles of the auditorium. I felt as if it were a bad idea, but I was drawn to the stage. I approached the stairs to the stage and finally made my way up, standing in the middle of the spotlight and looking out into the many empty chairs where an audience would sit.

There was an audience. Millions and millions sitting in their living rooms, or maybe standing around in the town squares and watching with baited breaths. No doubt my parents were one of them. I had to remember every little thing they taught me.

The music still played, and reached a crescendo - orchestra and all - when I heard one of the auditorium doors open. Through the light, I could briefly see a figure as the music ended at the most appropriate time. I stepped out of the spotlight, squinting to get a more clear view. Then I could see her: Mirane. I'd wanted to bump into her for a while. At one point I was determined to kill her, but now it seemed like she was the last face that I wanted to see. She still had that coldness to her, though she'd taken a beating since I last saw her. Her forehead was dominated by a purple and sore bruise. There were two somewhat deep gashes on her cheek. Her body had also been torn and punched at, judging by the multiple wounds she had.

"Still got your gun?" I forced a smirk.

She looked up at me. She showed the same hesitancy for a brief second.

"Maybe," she paused. "What about you and your magic potion, or whatever it was?"

"What magic potion?"

"I saw all you could do," she scowled, slowly making her way to the stage. I could see the gun, and realised I probably had a pretty significant disadvantage. She also had a knife. That gave her a lot more weapons that I had. Despite her looking injured, I also could tell that she had been more well fed and well rested than I had. I couldn't let myself lose confidence or hope, though. "What if we promise a fair fight?"

"I think the audience would like that," I said, grabbing the hilt of my dagger. She removed hers, stepping onto the stage. I brandished my knife too, watching the metal glow under the beam of the spotlight.

"Oh, bravo!" A voice resonated through the room. It wasn't familiar to me; it was cold, though it had a hint of mischief that made it all the more menacing. I heard clapping, too. But the sound came from everywhere - it had no identifiable source. It must have been the One boy. "I thought I would have to been pulling all the strings here to make this fight popcorn worthy, but you're both ready and bloodthirsty." A laugh filled the air and I noticed Mirane look around with a panicked expression. "This is perfect. I'm imagining it now... Act One: Mirane versus Trojan. The thawed ice queen against the stoic thief. That's what you are, right, Trojan? You may not want to announce it live on television for fear of punishment, but it's an easy puzzle to put together. I've been watching you."

"What the..." I glanced around the stage. The perimeter of the stage was suddenly enveloped by walls of fire. Flames leapt up and licked up whatever oxygen they could, effectively caging Mirane and I inside the stage.

"Now, I know there's some history between you two, so make sure to fight with feeling..."

"No," Mirane mumbled. "I'm not fighting you," she turned around and said to me. I just looked at her confusedly, keeping hold of my dagger just in case this was some kind of ruse or scheme. "Look, whatever beef we have with each other we need to push it aside. We're not half as... as... evil as Pullox. We're not deceptive in the way he is, you've got to believe me. This is part of some scheme of his. He wants us to kill each other. It'll make things so much easier for him if there's just one of us alone on this very stage. No doubt he has something planned."

... Okay... "What do we do?"

"We need to get off this stage, we're where he wants us," Mirane glanced at the red curtains. "Follow my lead!"

Pullox Shimmers, District 1, 18

What a shame. I expected a showdown and instead I got a group hug. I should have expected Mirane to see through me. Not only was she a smart girl, but she knew me well. I was willing to bet Trojan was no moron either: he'd gotten somewhat far. However, just because they'd started some little circle of love didn't mean that they now had the advantage. I had a plan B. And a plan C.

I watched Mirane and Trojan immediately rush to the red curtains, grabbing one each. I thought they would try such a stunt, and would be happy to see their plan fail. I sat in a special effects department. I had control over the lighting and the sound. I clicked a button which switched on a spotlight above both curtains, only I had tampered with said spotlights. Sparks flew out and caught onto both curtains, quickly turning them into an inferno. Mirane and Trojan had almost identical shocked expressions and both leapt away as the wall of fire that embargoed them grew bigger. Their attempt to smother any flames had only failed, and I had them right where I wanted them.

"So it's automatically act two?" I smirked, talking into a microphone. "You could've both been in for an easier ride. This is where things get... Nasty."

I flicked a switch and watched from the distance as smoke began to cascade around both Mirane and Trojan, rising from underground smokescreens. At first it was the amount you'd expect to see at a theatre; it formed a grey veil around their feet, making the stage look atmospheric. Then it had rose even further until it enveloped the whole stage, making me unable to see them. I could only see the outline of fire now. They were completely at my mercy.

"Be careful you don't end up walking into the flames," I said, relaxing in my chair slightly. I spun it around and laughed into the microphone as my chair twirled me to another panel which controlled so called special effects. This one was much better: it would control traps above which I had rigged. Hopefully their reflexes were slow and they would be crushed or sliced open.

And if they weren't I would make my grand debut onto the stage. Now that would be a spectacle.

Trojan Reid, District 3, 15

"Watch out!"

I heard some kind of clattering just as Mirane grabbed the fabric of my shirt and flung me to the floor. I was on the verge of stabbing her, momentarily believing it was an attack, but when a stagelight crashed into the ground where I stood and shattered I knew Mirane had just saved my life. That could have easily caved my skull in. I could barely see Mirane through the smoke, but heard something else clatter as Mirane mumbled in pain. I thought that any tiredness and hunger I had was masked by adrenaline, but it appeared as if my reflexes were more jarred than usual.

I looked up and heard some kind of groaning. Rolling over and gritting my teeth, I avoided a few blades which had somehow fallen from the sky and been buried into the ground. Trying to keep my resourceful nature, I yanked some from the ground and stashed them away just in case they would serve a later use later. Thanks to Pullox's smokescreen I could barely see anything. How the hell could I defend myself while I was blind?

... So this was how the One boy played games. Mirane certainly hadn't lied. It was pretty fortunate that I hadn't been subjected to him or his little tricks before, but I needed to learn to deal with them now. I glanced upwards, noting Pullox had set most of his traps up on the ceiling, which made things considerably easier as I could see what was above me. There was something heavy and metallic which looked like a weight, and after something had triggered it to collapse I watched it plummet. It missed me anyway, but I was confident Pullox hadn't set something up on the floor.

"Eight?" I said, referring to Mirane. I quickly corrected myself: "Mirane?"

"Yeah?" So she was alive.

"You okay?"

"I got cut up a little, but I'm fine," I followed her voice and stepped backwards. Soon my back brushed against hers, though we could barely see as the smoke swirled around us. She continued: "He may have a lot more supplies than you and I do, but his resources are finite. He'll run out eventually. Once the traps run out, there'll be some way we can get to him."

"How? There's the fire?" I said, glancing upwards again. This time I noted some of the stagelights above. Two of them had been switched on, last time I checked: one a dark blue, the other a pale red. This time, bar the main spotlight which seemed to always shine, I noticed an aura of orange beam down at us. Was I looking too into things, or did this mean something?

"He's got something up his sleeve. He always does," Mirane mumbled. "When did you last see him unleash a trap?"

"A-About two minutes ago? Three?" When you were fighting for your life, keeping track of time was pretty hard.

"Okay, that's longer than I recalled him dropping one," I glanced up around the ceiling, noting the beautiful wood above. But I couldn't see anything that could be dropped, which seemed to be what Pullox was doing. Maybe Mirane was right and he really had ran out of traps, but it didn't sound like he had run out of schemes. I didn't know this guy, but I knew he was twisted and smart... Which wasn't a good combination. "He'll be here any minute soon."

"How do you know?"

"I just know this guy," a pause. "You should get your - what the-"

A cry and a crash. I turned around as I felt some kind of force behind me, and the warmth that came from Mirane suddenly disappeared. After the clattering, I couldn't hear any noise. If it wasn't for a cannon, I would be fearing for Mirane's life. And whilst I wanted Mirane to die in order for my own survival, I definitely didn't want to be alone so that Pullox had me to himself.

"Isn't she smart?" A voice said behind me, I jumped forward and turned around but there was no-one there. How the hell had Pullox gotten through the fire? And how did he know where we were... The sound of our voices? "It's like she almost saw me coming. Too bad she couldn't see me coming," was Mirane unconscious? I didn't like to think so. "But she's blind, Trojan. And so are you, I mean, could you see this coming?" Something clobbered the back of my head and I stumbled forward. "Or this?" As I looked up I saw a blur in front of me, it thwacked me across the face and sent me lying on my back. Pullox was quite a bit stronger than he looked.

"What the..." I crawled forwards, desperately looking around for Pullox but being unable to find him.

"Look out, Trojan!" Mirane finally called. She had probably been silent in fear of attracting Pullox to her, but I heard her hiss in pain. As I slowly stood, I heard Pullox rush past me quickly, followed by a sharp sting in my side. I reached at my side and felt the blood leak from the very shallow cut. So Pullox had a knife? I did not want to know what he planned to do with it.

"You know, you're kind of lucky I'm not killing you quickly," Pullox said behind me.I turned around and tried to fight but he already slashed at my back, a few inches underneath my neck. I yelped in pain, but the wound was far from fatal. Pullox ran back into the smoke again with gales of laughter. This was clearly some kind of joke to him. "I mean, I could have just driven the knife into you and ended you. But because of me you get to live that little bit longer..."

I walked forward, almost stumbling over a weight which Pullox had dropped earlier in an attempt to kill me. I tried to keep silent so that he couldn't see me. I was used to stealth, maybe I could use the smoke against him. I kept still, breathing lowly as I heard Mirane hiss with pain on the other side.

"That said, the extra few minutes you were won't be fun..."

I felt his breaths on my neck.

"For you, anyway."

I thought he was going to drive the blade into me and end me, but he slashed down my arm. I yelped, grabbing onto my arm as he shoved me forward and I almost fell to the floor. I had kept still. How had he find me? Last I checked, he wasn't some kind of god. So how could he see when Mirane and I were blinded? What had given him an advantage? I heard Mirane struggle again as Pullox probably tried to take another slash at her with her knife. This time she seemed more prepared, and I heard Pullox curse lightly.

I'd hoped she'd stabbed him or something, but judging by the crashing she had merely punched him. Pissed off, I knew he'd come to me in an attempt to take out his frustration. I slowly walked forward, trying not to make a move. When I silhouetted figure appeared and charged at me, I immediately readied my knife to stab it: thankfully Mirane grabbed my arms before I could.

"It's me," she said. I could see slashes across her chest and down her arms, and she had an extra black eye to her portfolio of injuries. "Thank god you're alive."

I looked up at the spotlights, noting that they had changed again. One was green, the other light blue.

"Not for long if we don't figure Pullox out," I paused, keeping my eye on the spotlights. Mirane didn't seem to notice what I had noticed.

When the light blue light was extinguished, replaced by an orange one, I immediately expected Pullox's arrival. I knew I had solved the puzzle, or a piece of it. Grabbing Mirane, I forced her to duck down as Pullox rushed around and slashed his knife blindly. I grabbed his arms, barely making out his figure. Mirane caught onto the fight and stood up, immediately swinging at him and catching him squarely in the face.

But Pullox was cowardly. Or smart, depending on the angle you looked at it. He knew we'd gained the upper hand and quickly rushed back into the smoke. I looked back up at the spotlights. Green was still alight, but a dark blue light glared down at the stage.

"Shit," I paused.

"Huh?"

I whispered in Mirane's ear so she couldn't hear: "He's just as blind as we are. H-He's using the fucking lights."

Dark blue was again once extinguished, replaced by a yellow hue that was a near identical colour to the spotlight. I had no idea where Pullox was coming from this time, but quickly he used his precious time to spare us. He shoved Mirane into me, making us almost stumble over before he disappeared into the smoke again that creepy laugh of his. If Pullox didn't get off on watching us suffer, we'd probably both be dead by now. I had to take advantage of the fact that this was some form of entertainment for him. I needed to catch him when he was weak.

So I knew that when orange was alight, Trojan came from behind me, when yellow came on he came in Mirane's direction. With silence, I kept one eye on the surrounding area and the other on the stagelights above.

"The lights?" She whispered back.

"He must be using motion sensors or something," I hoped to god Pullox couldn't hear. The lights above changed into a flurry of colours as I heard Pullox rush around us and cackle. Mirane glanced towards them too, though I glared at her in the hope she'd get the message that subtlety was the key to victory. Thankfully, I think she did. She turned back to me.

"Don't fucking move," she hissed. "We have to pretend we have no idea what his plan is..." She paused. "And hit him when it hurts. Do you know the colour code yet?"

"We're green. Dark blue is somewhere far away on the stage, he likes it there for whatever reason," I said to her. As soon as dark blue turned to a scarlet colour I shoved Mirane to the floor; she'd avoided Pullox's blade as he charged in from the left side, slashing at me and leaving an impressive gash above my eyebrow. I felt the blood spill out as he ran away laughing again. "Yellow is behind you, orange behind me, and scarlet from the left of us," I smirked up at her as we both shakily got to our feet. "As we just found out."

"When is he going to kill us?"

"When he thinks we're getting boring, he's enjoying this," I whispered back.

"Oh god, Trojan, no!" Mirane shouted so loudly and convincingly I almost jumped out of my skin. She gestured I lie on the floor, which I did. She must have had some kind of ploy or decoy. She got down to her knees. "Trojan, stay with me! Trojan!" She began shaking me as I lay there, alive and well. Mirane made sobbing noises that were so convincing I wondered if any emotion she'd felt the past week was genuine; the whole thing with her District Partner, the anger in her eyes when Willow died. It was some kind of hidden talent.

And it was going to save us.

"Oh, wow, you have a penchant for losing people you team up with, don't you?" Pullox laughed, the spotlights above me a changing inferno of colours as he ran around the stage in an attempt to confuse us. He continued taunting: "I don't think I could count on one hand how many people you've buddied up with just to see them die, and Trojan is the last of them..." He smirked as Mirane continued to make despairing howls, despite her face glancing at me in a completely resolute manner. "If it helps, just know that I didn't mean to kill Trojan. In fact, I quite liked the kid. He reminded me of... well, me!" I felt insulted. I was nothing like Pullox, who was merely deranged. "But you know, sometimes a knife can just slip in too deep..."

Pullox sounded so sure of himself. It was strange to know something that he didn't for once, as he usually won because he was one step ahead. He was no longer running, and dark blue shone down with the green light that alerted him of Mirane and I's position.

"But trust me, your death will be full of purpose. You don't know where I am or where I'm coming from. I may just be quick enough to make you squeal..."

A violet light shone on us. I think that meant he was to the right of Mirane and I, but I wasn't sure. I held onto the hilt of one of my blades, still lying on the floor like I was playing dead. Bar the outline of Mirane's features, I could barely see anything, but I had to rely on knowledge and pure gut instinct. If I could do that, Pullox would be dead and I would live.

"Here, piggy piggy," a subtle shade of yellow replaced the violet. "Here, piggy-"

Mirane didn't even need me to warning, but a cautionary cry almost came out of my lips. She stood up and forced herself aside as Pullox tried to drive a knife into her back. His blade jammed through nothingness, and he blindly continued slashing at Mirane who continued to dodge for her life. Eventually she removed a blade and slashed at Pullox, who blocked and kicked at her. She seemed like the better raw fighter, but the years of training Pullox had invested in had shown for the first time.

When Mirane stumbled back, leaving herself vulnerable to be killed, I jumped up and charged at Pullox who seemed to see me coming from his peripheral vision. He laughed, as if amused by the prospect of me faking near death, and turned around just to block the deadly stab wound I would have otherwise inflicted onto his chest. However, he didn't seem to be a match for Mirane and I put together, and he was backed too much into a corner to run away into the smoke that he revelled in: Mirane sent a slash down his arm which disarmed him.

The golden opportunity arose. Time froze, and Pullox seemed to be frozen for those few seconds while I realised that this was it: I was going to kill a Career. I was going to kill someone who I thought was undefeatable a moment ago.

"Carlie said hi," I smirked at him as I tremulously forced my knife into his gut.

Pullox Shimmers, District 1, 18

Trojan's eyes looked just as shocked as mine. Our eye contact was strangely intimate, his eyes boring into mine as I held in a cry of pain. I desperately reached for my gun, hoping to smite him, but he kicked me off his blade. Somehow, that hurt worse than being stabbed. I held back another yelp as my blood began to spray down my front, stumbling backwards.

"I got him!" Trojan shouted victoriously, voice trembling.

Just as I held onto my gun to kill him I felt strong hands seize my jaw. I barely got to look at Mirane's features before she shoved me back into the wall so harshly I felt my skull shatter. I didn't cry out in pain as I kept myself stable against the wall. Mirane was much more relentless than Trojan, surprisingly: I felt her slap my gun out of my hand before she smashed my skull against the wall again. I was completely locked in her grip, barely able to talk as she lifted me a few inches above the ground. I was too weakened to even struggle thanks to a single goddamn stab wound. I'd accepted that there was no point in even fighting at this point.

"So you both worked me out?" I smirked at her weakly. "Congratulations."

"We're smarter than you thought, right?" Mirane said, glancing at me. "We noticed that the coloured lights above lit or didn't light depending on where we stood. We used that to figure out where you were. Your own plan backfired," the smoke which I had used to hide in was slowly beginning to fade. I could see Trojan standing close to the edge of the stage, flames flickering behind him. He was all cut up thanks to me, his expression neutral, his eyes refusing to even look at me. "You've outsmarted so many people in this arena. Always thought you were one step ahead. How does it feel?"

"To lose?" I smirked up at her. "Maybe you'll find out."

I was growing weaker as blood continued to exit my rather large knife wound.

"Maybe..." I thought about provoking her, just one more time. I couldn't help but give a maddened laugh. "Maybe I'll even ask Darius just how it-"

I wasn't sure if I would ever regret bringing him into this. Mirane's expression was certainly satisfying, but I had triggered a side of her that was more vengeful than I had expected. Before I could talk any further she forcefully used her hands to force my jaw shut. I mumbled, trying to still talk, trying to still taunt, but she was quick to jab me in the windpipe. It caught me off guard for a second and my senses seemed to all go numb as the air left me.

And then she punched her hand into my wound. The pain was agonising when I was slugged, but it grew worse when she began to punch her way through where I was stabbed. Despite her gluing my jaws together with her hands, my mouth was automatically open and I was screaming in pain as her hand was inside my guts, squeezing my innards, punching deep into me and making pain fill every cell in my body.

And she seemed hellbent on making it worse. Not content with literally punching her way into someone's stomach, her hand tore away at my intestines. I felt her nails claw into organs that were vital to my survival, tearing them apart. I think I could even feel something brush against my spinal column.

Her furious eyes glanced into mine, which were wide with pain. Blood gushed out of my mouth as I failed to hold back a howl of pain that was greater than anything I could imagine. I tightened around her, curling up with agony, limbs instinctively flailing around. And then I slowly felt myself lose control of my body. My vision immediately went blurry as I became limp, almost being cradled by Mirane as she ripped her fist and a good chunk of her forearm out of my torn stomach.

She let go of me and I slumped to the ground, blood spilling everywhere around me. I looked up at Mirane as she glared down at me. I was supposed to be dead right now, but I clung onto life. I wanted my final words to be etched in their memories forever.

"It feels kind of good, killing, doesn't it?" I laughed at her, showing my bloodstained teeth. I could taste iron in my mouth, blood was somehow still making its way down my front. If I looked down, I could see my innards beginning to pool out of me. Trojan's wound was most probably fatal anyway - assuming I didn't have medical intervention - but Mirane had swept in and sealed the deal. How I was still alive was a mystery.

Mirane didn't respond as something that felt like tiredness hit me. I realised I would be going into a sleep, only it would be more finite.

"Whatever, you guys enjoy your victory, you truly deserve it," I wasn't sure if that was ernest or bitter. Maybe I was just rambling, going mad as a lack of oxygen began flooding over my brain. I seemed to slump more and more until I was almost sprawled across the floor. "I wanted to win... But I can accept a victor when I see one. And you know who the victor is going to be, right?" Trojan joined Mirane, standing by her side. He looked at me almost as indifferently as she did, but I knew my choked laugh got to them. Blood was still coming out of my mouth. "The first to drop the lovey facade. I made you work together against a common cause. Common cause gone, now you have to turn against each other... You have to fight... Be brutal..."

Their silence told me what I needed to know. I wheezed with laughter, my vision slowly fading for good.

"You'd always hated each other, I knew that. You'd always seen each other as inhuman. As the enemy. And I just have to be the twisted fairy godmother who made you realise that you both aren't so bad after all... But it doesn't matter. One of you has to snap, one of you has to drive the blade into the other's throat..." I felt blood dribble out of my nostrils as I sniggered. "Do you think you can handle that? Hey? Do you?"

The Games truly had broken them, only they were too proud to admit it. I had been too proud to admit that the Games had broken me. Only I had embraced the feeling of brokenness. Mirane and Trojan would be ruined by it. They were once normal teens, albeit with their flaws. Now they were both broken little murderers. And one of them would have to kill again and live the rest of their life miserably. It truly was a beautiful ending.

Pain was still searing in my stomach, but it didn't stop me from laughing as I felt my life leave me. I died with a twisted smile on my face.

So, I'm evil. It wasn't technically a finale :p

Thank you so much for 1000 reviews, btw! That's definitely something worth celebrating. I'd have never anticipated the story getting this big o_o And I feel this was the perfect time to reach the benchmark. As you can all probably guess, the Games don't have very long left... at all. It feels so weird that they're ending after all this time, but hey, there'll be new tributes :D

~Toxic

P.S - Vote in the ultimate poll! Who do you want to win?