Chapter 14:

Amara Harvelle, District Ten, Age 15

Victor of the 89th Hunger Games

It was honestly miraculous that Amara had made it to the finale. She certainly wasn't the oldest tribute but thankfully there had been younger. She wasn't the strongest by any means – wrangling bulls could only give a scrawny fifteen year old girl so much strength. She was taller than some, a fact she resented over the years as she struggled to feel comfortable in her body.

But quite simply, she was not victor material.

Yet here she is, getting chased down the moving hallways by a murderous clown. She thought nothing would make her run more than a raging bull with his eyes set on her, but woo boy, this clown takes the cake there. The clown laughs once more and Amara stumbles over her feet, struggling to stay upright as the floor keeps moving underneath her. "Fuuuuccckk this place," Amara mumbles as she glances back over her shoulder, immediately regretting that when she sees the clown gaining on her and flashing its sharp teeth.

As she turns to watch where she's going, the room spins around her and she slows for a moment, worried she hit her head or something, but no, it's just this awful arena they put her in. One last high pitched laugh over her shoulder as her throwing open the door at the end of the hallway with her shoulder and immediately stops when she comes face to face with her reflection.

"Shit, I thought I looked awful before all of this," Amara says as she grimaces at her reflection, but jumps when the door shuts behind her. She can hear another door shut, but all around her, she just sees her own reflection as she finds herself in a maze of mirrors. If they were going for maximum terror, they certainly picked the scariest place to put someone who struggles every time she is faced with her reflection.

"Where are you?!" Tumelo shouts in the room, the noise echoing around them. But thankfully, there is no more clown laughter. There's a thud as Tumelo runs into something and Amara realizes that as disoriented as she is in these mirrors…so is the boy from Nine.

She goes around a corner and jumps when she sees the boy across the room. When he catches sight of her and starts running towards her, only for him to run straight into a glass wall. He bounces off of it, clutching his head and Amara darts around another corner, bumping into a mirror. If he's just as confused as she is…

She can use that to her advantage. She needs every advantage she can get against the older and stronger boy.

Amara keeps her hand along the right edge as she crouches down, slowly following the wall of mirrors and glass as it twists and turns, all while listening for Tumelo. Every so often she catches a glimpse of him or he sees her and they try to run towards each other, only to get stopped by the maze.

"God damn it!" Tumelo yells as he slams his fist against a mirror and Amara jumps, realizing he's much closer than she thought he was. Her heart is racing as she slowly edges around a corner, creeping close to the floor in the hopes that she'll see him before he sees her. The time for her to fight was getting closer and closer… Yet she is still hesitating. What if she gets this far just to lose it all in second place? How can she do that to her family when she's so close to victory?

But the sound of clown laughter on the edges of the room having her moving once more, frantic to avoid getting forced into the fight by a killer clown. Not today, please.

If she gets out of this arena alive…she is never getting in the same room as a clown.

"Fuck this room!" Tumelo shouts and Amara realizes he's right around the corner now. Her hand shakes as she grips her knife in her hand and slowly peers around the corner, ready to move immediately if he is facing her. But luck still hasn't left her and he faces the other way, not noticing her in the mirror in front of him until she leaps forward.

Amara tackles Tumelo's legs with a cry, bringing him down to the ground. His head bangs against the mirror and Amara quickly stabs her knife into his legs a couple times until he kicks at her chest. She gasps for air as she darts back around the corner and Tumelo stumbles after her. From the loud thuds coming from behind her, she knows he hasn't figured out how the maze works.

She finds an alcove where he'll see her as he turns and waits, her hand hurting from how tightly she grips her knife. When Tumelo sees her, he runs right at her, only for his fist to slam into her reflection. Amara jumps onto his back, using her weight to knock him off balance. He backs up into the wall, trying to knock her off of him, and she barely holds onto him as the air is slammed out of her lungs. With a cry, Amara starts stabbing her knife at his chest, over and over as she hangs on for dear life as he thrashes around, shattering the mirrors around them and desperately trying to get her off of him.

"You fucking bitch, I'll kill you!" Tumelo screams as he grabs the knife with his hand, slicing into his palm as he rips it out of her grip.

Amara quickly shoves herself off of him and stumbles to the ground. He hovers over her, bleeding from the stab wounds on his chest and fire burning in his eyes as he stares her down. Her hands sting as she backs away from him, getting sliced up by the shards of mirror and she grabs a piece. She lunges up at him as he makes his move towards her, screaming as her hand gets cut up as she drives the shard into his stomach. Tumelo stabs the knife into her shoulder and she shoves him away before he can yank it out, watching him bleed out from the injuries she gave him.

There's one final laugh in the room as Tumelo drops to the ground, sending a shiver down Amara's spine just before the final cannon booms.

We have Amara Harvelle, victor of the 89th Hunger Games! And we love spooky fun house of death! Just kidding, I would absolutely hate being in that arena lol. But yeah, this one was a fun one to write and develop Amara! She is just a good bull wrangler tryin' to run away from spooky clowns.

Well that's all I got to say. Currently I have through the 97th Games written (a few were already written) so I'll have consistent updates for this for a few weeks (as long as I remember to update lol).