Chapter 35

NARRATOR | Verity MacIntyre, District 5

TIME | Day 6

TRIBUTES REMAINING | 15

I groan as I crack my eyes open. Every single day in here has felt like an eternity, and being around these stupid people has made it exponentially worse. Every part of me feels like I should have just stolen the sapphire and left these idiots behind days ago, but I have to remind myself of the bigger plan. I will benefit if I can keep the two major alliances pitted against each other, and I have to make sure that they take each other out just as I tell them to.

I'm startled awake once I realize that Eddie is staring at me mere inches from my face.

"Eddie, what are you doing?" I hiss, scrambling back a bit. Can't anybody around here act like a normal person?

"Sorry, I was about to wake you," Eddie whispers. He's taking the last watch, so he should be looking out for the other tributes before we all wake up to start the day. "Do you know what that is?"

I follow Eddie's finger, and my heart leaps when I see pink smoke drifting up into the sky above the trees. Finally, after all these days, it's happening...

I can barely hide my excitement, but I manage to disguise it beneath a lie. "Eddie, that's pollen from the Thorntree bush," I lie, making up the name on the spot. Gamemakers name things after themselves all the time, so it's a logical choice. "When the berries are ripe, it lets out a plume of pollen into the air!"

I scramble to my feet, trying my best not to wake up the others. "It doesn't look too far," I say, grabbing my knife and preparing to leave. At the last second, I remember to grab a basket from my bag; after all, Eddie thinks I'm going to pick berries.

"The berries are only able to be picked for an hour," I tell him. "We should let the others sleep; I'll go and we can have berries for breakfast."

Eddie nods, naive as usual. I laugh to myself as I turn and head towards the smoke. Eddie has no idea what he's gotten himself into.

I'm beyond relieved to see that Violet has used the packs of powder I gave her from Training. It was always our plan to reunite, for me to betray my allies and help her kill Safira. Once Safira died, though, I was unsure if Violet would still bite the bait I'd laid out for her. I'm still aligned with her District partner, Ansel, and I don't know if she wants him to die just yet.

It looks like Violet's bloodthirst has struck back up, though. I knew that she couldn't resist this temptation for too long. Now that we've taken Wyatt in, it'll be an even fight of four-on-four, so I'll have to make sure that as many of the other tributes kill each other as possible.

I run through the Arena towards the pink column in the sky, stopping to catch my breath when I finally arrive. When I finally find the source of the smoke, a massive bonfire of piled-up wood, I see Violet and her allies tending to the fire. Lucas, the boy from Six, glances up at me, but Violet has her back turned.

"I'm here," I call, and Violet jumps to her feet. She whirls around, sword at the ready, but relaxes when she sees me.

"Finally," she sighs, her eyes darting around the clearing. "Let's go into the trees where we can't be tracked..."

The look in Violet's eyes is unsettling, especially because of the precarious position I'm currently in. I'm depending on her to execute this plan for me, but I can tell that this isn't the same Violet I schemed with in Training. Something has happened to Violet... for some reason, she seems frightened, and her arrogant exterior has been stripped away.

Violet leads us much farther into the woods than she needs to - she really must think that we're being hunted, but I don't understand the concern.

"You called," I say, giving Violet a mocking bow. This better be good...

"Didn't have much of a choice," Violet shrugs, her eyes turned to the ground. "It's my neck or theirs."

"After Safira's death, it's obvious that her friends are going to want revenge," Evelyn jumps in, and her eyes tell me everything I need to know. "We have to take them out before they try anything."

"Have they been plotting?" Violet interjects, her eyes wild. "Verity, if Judah gets to Ansel, I know he'll turn against me-"

"It's not looking good," I shrug. "Judah has his ways. I've been able to fend him off for now, but I won't be able to control the others forever. We don't have to give Judah the power, though. Let's wipe them out before they know what's hit them."

"Okay," Violet says, relaxing visibly. "We have no other choice, then."

"You have the sapphire, right?" Evelyn asks. "Violet said you would."

"Of course," I smile, telling the truth for once. "I don't break promises. You want it, I assume?"

"We do," Evelyn nods, but her allies don't look so sure. Lucas looks terrified, and Declan hasn't said a word since I arrived.

"Okay," I nod. "Here is what we're going to do."

"Wait-" Violet interrupts, looking back at her allies. "I have one condition. Nobody touches Ansel."

I stare at Violet for a moment, taken aback by her lack of intelligence. So this is supposedly my biggest threat in this Arena, someone who will kill at the drop of a pin but wants this boy to live just because they come from the same District... Clearly, this will be easier than I thought.

"Fine," I shrug, but I have no control over what Violet's allies do. I won't be there while they fight, so if they want to spare Ansel to feel good about themselves, that's their choice.

Taking Violet's condition into mind, I lay out our plan. It's perfect; by the look on their faces, these four have no idea what is going on. They think that we are going to massacre the other group, steal their sapphire, and skip merrily away. I don't even mention that Wyatt has been added to the other group... that will be a fun surprise for tonight.

"Arrive when the sun begins to set," I order, and the others nod. "I'll be waiting."

"We'll be ready," Violet says, but it sounds like she's trying to convince herself.

With the plans set, I hurry back to my camp. On the way back, I come across a bush of berries we haven't encountered yet in the Arena, and I fill my basket.

"You're a lifesaver," Eddie sighs, digging into the berries when I return to camp.

I fall to the side of the camp, organizing my bag and preparing my weapons. Tonight will be the most important night of these Games, and I have to be ready. Both sides of this war are prepared to kill; if all goes well, I'll be left standing at the end with nobody left to oppose me.