STILL ALIVE LIST:

Calamity Astrea(D3 Female)

Azurine Bahari(D4 Female)

Cameron Bordeaux(D6 Male)

Cornell Wheaton(D9 Male)

Jackson Winters(D12 Male)

Calamity Astrea

His smile was wide as I spoke the words, filled with triumph, like he had already won, and diminishing upon my confidence. I tried not to shake and lifted my chin, meeting him square in the eye as he contemplated, very, very slowly.

Finally he said, very puzzled and with a hint of humor, "Did you really think I'd tell you everything?" He propped his chin on his splayed palm. "Did you really think I'd tell you all my plans?"

My eyes stung and I forced myself to swallow, a gulping sort of noise that made me ever so self-conscious. I dared utter, in a voice which betrayed falseness, "Yes," so quavery I wished I hadn't spoken at all. I felt like I had lost. Like he had already won. All the strength I had built up in the last few seconds, all the determination, had vanished like fluffy white clouds on a good, blue-skied day, to be replaced by storms, thunder, and rain.

He choked on a laugh, his eyes glinting with deadly malice. "Really. As if you aren't lying. As if you would really tell the truth to the 'bad guy'." Such hollowness stuck to his voice I was almost afraid he would do something foolish, something not part of his plan, like kill me now and be done with it.

"Would you expect me to tell the truth?" I mustered, hating how he talked so casually, when I was about to die. He should make it quick, painless, not draw this out, so long that I almost yearned to die. It was torture, talking to this inhumane soul who leeched all of the kindness out of the world.

"I expect you to be realistic and know that the cost for saying one wrong word is your life," he said calmly, tilting his head through narrowed eyes. "I'm an easily offended person and if you insult me, you'll have to pay a decent price." He paused eerily. "And you do not have much. So all I ask for is your sacrifice."

"I know," I snapped, suddenly impatient with the slow, mysterious way he spoke. "Just get on with it. What is your plan?" When his eyebrow raised, I added quickly, "You did tell me you would satisfy every single one of my curiosities, if I went through with my deal. Has a cat got your tongue or are you just afraid of talking? By how I know you, I would've thought you'd been blabbering on already." The words which had come out my mouth made me regret the whole thing immediately, but I didn't care. They had already stirred the air, a bold, insulting move that might just be the wrong move he had been talking about. But hopefully, if I understood him right and I had struck his pride...maybe he could change his mind and feel injured.. Though, of course, bad guys didn't feel injured. They didn't care about insults. They didn't care about promises. They only cared about power.

He folded his arms, a scowl suddenly coming over his face, shredding the finest sophisticated features of his face, the everlasting patience, of mystery. "Fine," he spat. "I'll tell you if you really want me to. But don't expect your death to be fast."

"You said you were going to 'end my life easily'," I countered, suddenly afraid of the power he had in his hands. He could kill me, and he had the decision whether to make it fast or slow. By making this promise, I had let him have the upper hand, the choosing to go through wit his side of the deal or not. I had relied on trust, that maybe there was some ounce of good still inside him. But maybe, there was not..

"I did?" He seemed to have forgotten. "Well, I take that back. Your death will be very, very satisfying for me, and very, very painful for you." He regained that oozing of the voice one more, that slow, quiet demeanor.

"Then get on with it," I said crossly. If he wanted to make it painful, so be it. I had no other reason to be living anyways. "Tell me, first, what exactly is your plan, and what do you want? And why are you freaking even in this arena?"

"My plan is quite complicated, I'm not sure someone like you could handle it," Wendigo said matter-of-factly. "But if you insist..." He took a deep breath, inhaled, exhaled, and a vision of goodness, of self-pride, in believing he was doing the right thing crossed his face, for just a split second. Then it was gone, the signature calmness back, no emotion registering in his eyes.

"It begins simply with the fact that everything the Capitol is doing, is wrong," a passionate tone overtook his voice and his eyes glazed over with memory. "Don't you believe it? They are hogging all the food while we commoners have to do the work-"

"But you're not a commoner," I cut in, "aren't you? You're with the Capitol, you were born there."

"Smart you are. It was the books, wasn't it?" His brow wrinkled. "I was born in the Capitol. But then I realized, everything I stood for, everything I was loyal to was all a big, fat lie. They told us schoolchildren, in the 2th grade, that they were doing right, that the Districts had been cruel to them before and this was their revenge. But, in the 4h grade, I did a research project, and I found out about what really happened. What really happened was horrible, I had nightmares for months of myself being evil, a young child I was back then. But then I grew stronger. I told myself I had to toughen up, and so I did. I did a lot of things to prove to myself I could be tough." Nostalgia rolled across his face in heavy waves, an emotion which looked so strange on his usually blank face. "Robbed people, killed my parents..you name it. I'll begin my little explanation with something you understand more, however." He sighed. "Do you remember your allies, Tyler and Mica?" He didn't give me time to respond. "Well, I was the one who killed Tyler. I changed the waters, hacking into the technology controlling it in the Capitol. I was going for Tyler at first but then stupid Mica had to jump in, and he died instead.. And also, I am Murray's mentor. I disguised myself and, with a bit of persuading, managed to get in. Plus, do you remember trouble-making Algar? I cause all of it, I put everything in just the right place where he would encounter it." This was when he paused, a look of utmost pain coming across his face. "I don't know if you know Mia, but she's a girl in District Ten, friends with Dahlia, I believe, Dahlia Rhodes in these Games. She is my daughter."

I expected to feel surprised but instead..I was just, there. All of these revelations had been a suspicion and now they were just being confirmed. I didn't even know who Mia was, anyway.

"Because I'm a supposed criminal, I have a secret that she doesn't want anyone to know. If somebody found out that she was connected to me, she would be put in jail. And she can't report to security. I threatened her about that, and they wouldn't catch up with me, anyway. So, she went through with my deal. It was that if she worked for me, gathering information, being my little spy..I would not reveal her secret, the secret which would destroy her reputation. Heck, even her own mother doesn't know she's working for Daddy, and that's why she lives in fear all the time, because she thinks somebody must have found out eventually.

"I saved Alice's life, too. The Alice who died in the arena? I was in District Twelve for a little vacation, just enjoying how terrible it was there because luxury can be a bore when you're drowned with it like at the Capitol. I thought I might be good to her and later she would feel the need to repay me, and she could be my spy in Twelve.

"I did all of these things, but you might be wondering, what is my plan? Why am I here in this arena? Well, I decided this would be the perfect time to strike. So many people I had once known were in this arena, so many I had coincidentally met. I had saved others, of course, but this was still a good time for me. And so, I made a plan. To get into the arena, I would have to be someone working with the Capitol, so I faked it into a role as mentor, making it easy for me to accomplish many things. You might be noticing how I have left you five alone, at least for now. And, you're still here, too. You are not part of my plan, except that I like your attitude and it would be a shame to see you leave, although you need to work on your impatience. As for Azurine, she is excellent with the throwing knives, a part of my plan. Cameron, he's the center of my plan, and Cornell's his ally, I don't want to kill Cornell just yet because he's protecting Cameron and because if he died, Cameron would be devastated and weak. Jackson's not part of my plan, he's like you, someone I admire because of his sacrifices and history. But, he'll be dead by the end of today.

"I genuinely feel sorry that I am killing all these people. But it's a part of life. They'd be dead anyway if I hadn't interfered, I'm just making it quicker. I hate the Capitol, and everything that I am doing now, is going towards defeating them so we can replace their unfair government with mine. Only the ones who are willing to sacrifice the most should be the leader, and I think you agree with me that the Capitol is starving everyone, especially in the outer Districts.

"There are special knives underneath the arena, which are rumored to be called the Dead Which Can Kill Dead. These knives need a good wielder, hence, Azurine and Cameron. They are both good with throwing knives, but I have chosen Cameron to be in my plan because he is young, easy to be manipulated. Azurine is my backup, just in case something with Cameron fails, although she has a mighty stubbornness and temper that won't help.

"With these knives, you are basically the center of power, it's like a gift from the gods. Anyone whom the knives sense are good, and kind-hearted, perhaps not me, are eligible to use them. Once Cameron gets his hands on the knives, he will have the utmost power, and I will control him, since he doesn't know better, to attempt to assassinate the president. Once the president is dead, the Capitol will fall, and we can restore order and just to the world.

"And it must, if possible, be Cameron, because he is young and easily manipulated. I can use him, tell him exactly what to say during his Victory Tour. Since he'll be a victor then, he'll have practically a whole District willing to do whatever he wants to get on his good side, so they can have a share of the riches, and with that authority, he can persuade the Capitol to stop the ongoing search for me. I'll tell him exactly what to say, I have it all planned out, word by word. And I know, I'm a criminal, it'll be difficult to persuade the Capitol, but anything's possible if a good guy's saying it."

He finished, quite proudly, and I had to admit, the plan was just about genius, satisfying pretty much all my questions.

"And now it's time for you to die, I'm afraid," he said, with a little sigh, and a glance at the trees above. He withdrew his spear, hurled it at me, and everything disappeared like a blast of smoke, finally extinguished. I had thought it would be fast. But I suppose he had forgotten, after, I dared to believe, the guilt his confession had caused him.

Over my dead body, Wendigo did not realize that there was a hidden camera, staring him straight in the eye, and that it had just broadcasted everything he had said, on national television.

Jackson Winters

Beep. Beep. Beep. A sudden sound shot across my ears and I groaned, looking up. I had gotten over Alice, but it hadn't been easy, she had been a true friend. And true friends, would never be forgotten.

The beeping continued, then suddenly a voice rang out onto the speakers. Wait a second...but this wasn't anyone from the Capitol. In fact, this was a pure stranger...no. I had heard this voice before, someone I never wanted to hear again, and it was Wendigo.

What's he doing on the speakers? I wondered. Then I realized this was spilling much more than just his drawling voice, it was spilling secrets. I listened, my stomach coiling around and around as more and more of his plots, his plans were made public to us. It was worse than I had imagined. Before, I had thought he was just some killer, but now it was...well, terrible. I was against the Capitol, sure, and that was what made it hard to believe. He was doing all of this to get rid of the Capitol, it sounded like good intentions to just about anyone. But then he was going to kill so many people in order to achieve what he called just...

I shook my head. He was evil, enough said. I shouldn't question exactly how evil, because whoever did all this certainly wouldn't be good.

This happened in the afternoon then at dusk, I saw him again. He finally looked like he was apart of the wild, his hair all over the place, nose dripping. The snow acted as a glowering white backdrop to the hatred radiating from him.

He said nothing, as if he was finally done, his mouth curled into a permanent snarl. I had just enough time to remember all that had happened in my life, my volunteering, the abuse, my parents, the bruises, the scratches, the crying, the strength, the love, the fight, the torture, the anger, the unfairness, the stings, the crashing, the roaring, everything.

And then he released the spear, and everything which had just occurred to me, disappeared in a millisecond as blood oozed out of my stomach, like his voice which came ever so slowly.

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