"I'm surprised we're down to just over half the tributes in only two days," Dad comments as we all sit down for breakfast. Well, just him, Aquilo, and me anyway. Mom was out of the house before I even woke up. I don't remember the last time the whole family's had a meal together. Mom is either at work super early, or comes home super late.

But I can't do anything about it, so I don't comment on that. "Yeah, the Games are moving pretty quickly."

"My favourites better not die today," Aquilo pouts, looking more like a young child than a sixteen year-old. "I'm gonna sponsor all of them with giant swords."

Dad gives Aquilo a look. The rules he sent in place is that if we do want to sponsor a tribute with a gift, he'll get one of his friends to do so but we have to pay back that friend the amount the gift cost as a thank you. Of course that brings up the question whether he can afford that many giant swords with his allowance, given that he's never had a job.

In all fairness, I'm unemployed right now too, but I think I'll get a pass with the whale "marriage Games" thing.

"How many swords are we looking at?" Dad asks.
"I wanna give the Careers boys some. Not the girls though, they all suck. Okay, maybe one for Coral too. One for Kai, because he's the only non-Career that isn't a coward."
"Belinda has a kill too," I remind him.

Aquilo scoffs. "She killed her district partner. She has no morals."

Does anyone? I catch myself thinking. I have no idea what brought that up. Now would probably be a good time to excuse myself from the table. I load my dishes into the sink and then head upstairs.

It looks like much hasn't changed between when I got up to watch the Games and after breakfast. Hyacinth is still curled up in a small ball, tucked underneath a giant leaf. Her face is red from all the crying. I feel awful for her.

Suddenly, there's a small beeping noise. Hyacinth looks up as a silver parachute sails down to her. She reaches out to grab it and opens it up, to reveal a giant loaf of bread. There's a note that comes with it, which Hyacinth reads silently to herself, before sighing. A small smile spreads across her face. "Thank you," she says quietly, hugging the gift close to her chest.

It makes me feel a bit better to see that all not hope is lost for Hyacinth. Someone is still looking out for her and she isn't complete cannon fodder after losing Indigo. At the same time, it also hurts to see someone who was so nice to me in such a bleak position.

I try not to think about it too much. Don't get attached, a part of me thinks. So many of these tributes are going to die anyway. And I still don't like it.

What is the point of the Games anyway? To punish rebels? I don't know, it seems like 150 years of punishment is enough. This is the world I've grown up in; the Games are yearly entertainment. What would life be like if they just…stopped?

Thinking these things makes me feel dirty. This is rebel talk, which I shouldn't be doing. My mom's the Head Gamemaker, for crying out loud! These Games are literally her entire lifeline.

Ugh, I need a distraction. Well, time to go back to the Games, I guess.

Gaius and Coral are hunting as a duo again, which maybe works out the best given the split of the Careers. The maturity gap seems quite visible. Cyrus offers to stay back at the Cornucopia, so Chanel and Beatrix go hunting as well. I wonder if the Careers will find anything this time, given they weren't so lucky yesterday.

Then the camera suddenly jumps to a wandering Kaydyn.

"Oh fuck," I say out loud. I know what's happening. Oh God, not Kaydyn. I don't know if I can stomach seeing him die. Coral and Gaius creep closer and my heart pounds. The distance closes between them.

Then it happens.

Gaius throws a spear and it skewers Kaydyn through the side of his stomach. Kaydyn spits out a wad of blood into the dirt. He grabs the spear in an attempt to yank it out, but his hand slides off the shaft as he sinks to his knees, then tumbles face forward.

For a moment, all I can hear is an annoying ringing sound that blocks out everything else. Then I realize it's not coming from the arena. The arena is silent. It's in my ears.

Then Coral breaks the silence. "Hey! Asshole!"

"What?" Gaius asks, yanking his spear out of Kaydyn's body.
"You stole my kill!"

Gaius rolls his eyes and walks off, not saying another word. Coral follows after him. "I was gonna kill that guy, I called dibs! What, do you not have a sense of honour or anything?"

Gaius continues to ignore her. I want to scream at the TV. That's a dead man she's arguing over! A real life human being who was just killed. Who the hell complains that someone stole their opportunity to kill a living person?

It amplifies the guilt that I've been feeling lately. I want to tear my eyes away from the TV and curl up into a little ball. But for some reason, I can't. Something compels me to keep watching.

Ari dips his water bottle into a shallow pond and fills it up. He takes a sip and sighs happily, wiping droplets from his chin. He tucks his water bottle back into his backpack, before suddenly freezing up.

The grass around him rustles. Ari suddenly perks up and freezes in place. He reaches for his knife. The rustling in the grass grows louder and Ari throws the knife as someone approaches him.

Chanel ducks as the knife sails over her head while Beatrix tackles Ari into the water. He tries to push her off him, but Beatrix is much stronger as she rams a sword through his chest. Ari manages to spit some blood into her face.

Beatrix growls and yanks her sword free, stabbing Ari in the head with it. Ari's eyes go unfocused as blood trickles down his face, his grip loosening off Beatrix. She stands up and gives the body a kick, Ari falling further into the water until it obscures his body.

Beatrix splashes some water on her face to clean Ari's blood away. She marches out of the pond, cold and unfeeling. As if this is just an order of business for her. "Let's get moving."

"Of course." Chanel is equally unfazed, following Beatrix into the grass.

The two cannons fire: one for Kaydyn, and one for Ari. Shadow jumps at the sound, glancing around rapidly. "Hey," Kai quickly assures him. "It's fine. It wasn't one of us."

"I hope it's the Careers," Cordin mutters. "They scare me."
Kai makes a show of flexing. "They don't scare me. I could totally take them on. They got nothing on me."

Shadow laughs loudly for a joke that honestly I didn't think was even that funny. Kai's face grows red. Cordin suddenly looks awkward and I realize I don't blame him. Are Kai and Shadow…flirting with each other?

"I'll keep us safe," Kai insists. "I promise."
"You'll be my knight in shining armour?" Shadow asks playfully.
"Oh, I can be way more than that."

Cordin rubs the back of his neck. "Guys…is now really the time for this?"
Shadow shrugs. "In a morbid kinda way, maybe."

Cordin doesn't appear to have a rebuttal for that.

Now, I decide, wouldn't be a bad time turn off the TV. Maybe the Games are romantic to some, but I don't think I can take anymore of them right now. I tuck myself under my blankets and shove my head under a pillow, shutting myself away from the outside world.


13th place: Kaydyn Gupta, District 6. Speared through the side by Gaius.

12th place: Ari McBride, District 5. Stabbed in the chest and head by Beatrix.


We're now down to just under half of the tributes remaining. Thank you to Pi and Gaia for Kaydyn and Ari respectively.

What do you think of Tati's conflicted feelings towards the Games thus far? Will Coral's allies steal anymore of her kills? Will Cordin get all grossed out by Kai and Shadow's flirting?

See you all next chapter,

-Vr