Damien and Clay's fish is an important morale booster for our group, but it's short-lived. Inspired by their first catch, the boys return to the river for more, but the fish evade their homemade spears for the rest of the day. After a few hours, it gets too dark to hunt, and the boys return to our makeshift camp by the berry bushes.

Now, the four of us are lounging by the river. Clay and Damien sit next to each other, talking about Clay's job as a logger. Next to me, Sienna sits silently. I've noticed that she's been quiet ever since the boys came back with the fish.

"Hey," I say quietly, nudging Sienna with my arm. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Sienna says with a shrug, staring at a beetle as it crawls across the ground in front of us. "Just worried, I guess. I know I shouldn't care about Colby, but I'm still worried about him."

I rest my hand over Sienna's; she doesn't move. "I get it," I tell her, even though I don't. "But you remember how he treated you, Sienna. And just like Casper, you know that he's gonna have to go eventually. Honestly, it'll probably be better for him to go now than later, just to get it out of the way."

"I know," Sienna says, shaking her head. "But still, I can't forget about everything we talked about up on the roof. I know he cared about Casper, even though he refused to admit it. I just hate to think that he could be out there alone without anyone to be there for him right now. His brother just died, Luna."

A shiver runs down my spine as Sienna talks, and I pull my hand back. Of course, as soon as I feel comfortable in the strength of my alliance, Sienna reminds me that all of this is an illusion. Even after everything Colby did to her, even after Casper and I tried to pull her away from him, she still feels attached to him. How can I feel safe being in an alliance with someone who could abandon us at any moment to go with a boy who doesn't care about her half as much as I do?

The moon flashes above us, bathing us in red light. Clay and Damien fall silent; a few seconds later, so does everything else. This time, we're expecting the silence, so it's not as disturbing as before. Still, I can't stop my heart from pumping fast as I'm enveloped in silence. No matter how hard I try, I can't shake the paranoia that I could be killed at any moment.

I feel a hand nudge my leg, and I glance over to Sienna. "Thank you for caring," she mouths with a small smile gracing her lips.

We're interrupted by a flash of light in the sky; I glance up to see the Capitol seal in the sky. The seal disappears after a few seconds, and it's replaced with a simple message. NO FALLEN TRIBUTES.

I look away from the message with mixed emotions. I'm happy that there are still competitors out there who can help take down the Careers, but it doesn't make me happy to know that there are so many tributes still out there.

Sienna and Clay decide to take the first watch of the night; luckily, it's easier for me to fall asleep tonight than it was yesterday. I must finally be adjusting to the Arena.

On the morning of our third day in the Games, we decide to head back into the Arena. I think the silence of night is really starting to get to Damien. He seems to think that staying at the riverbank will leave us exposed to the other tributes, so here we are, trekking through the endless orchard.

"I wonder how Dawn's doing," Sienna says, referring to her twin sister. "She's always been overly anxious about everything, so I'm sure she's going crazy right now."

"I'm sure she's fine," Clay says, turning around for a moment to offer Sienna a grin. "At least she's not fighting for her life or anything."

Sienna laughs, but Damien interrupts her, holding his arm in front of Clay and stopping us in our tracks. "Quiet!" he hisses.

I nervously clasp my hand around the small knife in my pocket - what's going on? In front of me, Damien silently points at a boy walking in the distance. From this distance, it's hard to tell exactly who it is, but it looks like it could be the boy from Twelve. He doesn't have Colby's signature hair, and I can't think of anyone else who would be out here in the Arena alone.

Damien sighs, glancing over at Clay, who offers him a small nod. Damien reaches over his shoulder, unsheathing his sword.

I only connect the dots once Damien starts to walk toward the boy. "Damien, stop," I beg, pulling Damien back by his arm. "You can't."

Damien looks back at me, hesitating for a moment. I'm relieved by what I see in his eyes - he doesn't want to do this. I can't let him become a killer.

Damien closes his eyes for a second, deep in thought. Then he pulls his arm away, and just like that, he's gone.

Sienna grabs my arm to stop me from following the boys as they break into a sprint. After a few seconds, the boy spots them, and it becomes a chase. I cling to Sienna, looking away as the boy begins to scream. I hear him beg for his life. He begs my brother to spare him like he's a monster. And then, it's over.

The boys are silent when the boys return; Damien avoids my gaze as he wipes blood from his sword onto the mossy ground. Above us, a bird chirps, blissfully unaware of the murder that occurred below it. A cannon shot booms in the distance, and the sound makes Damien jump.

"Let's go," Clay says quietly, turning to walk back in the direction we came. Back to the riverbank. Finally, I let go of Sienna's hand as we follow the boys.

The tension in our group is palpable. We've crossed over a threshold that can never be returned from. We've truly entered the Games now; everything has now come into focus.

I shudder as I follow my allies back to our old camp. There's no ignoring what just happened in this orchard. Damien is a murderer now, whether I like it or not. He chose to kill that boy, and there's no way that he could possibly take that back now. Only one question remains: if Damien wants to win the Games, how many others will have to die by his sword?

A/N - Thanks to everyone who got this story to 1500 views, it means so much that people are taking the time to read this story! I'm starting to write ahead a bit on this story and I've started thinking of the next story after this one... all I'll say is that I'm SUPER excited about the ideas I'm coming up with and I hope you all are too!