District One Female: Anika Brand

Anika.

A-ni-ka.

Five letters, three syllables.

Brand.

Five letters, one syllable.

Anika meant "grace". Brand meant "sword". Put those two words together, and you get graceful sword. That was one of the reasons a sword is my preferred weapon. It stayed true to my namesake, not to mention it was relatively easy to use. Many people had complimented me, back in District One, about my sword-fighting skills while I was training. And many times, the word "graceful" was used.

You look gorgeous, they said, the Capitolians will love you. You're so graceful with a sword. It looks like you're dancing.

Do I? Does the flurry of attacks from the silver-bladed beast look like a graceful pirouette? Does the crimson blood that spurts out of the fatal wound of my enemy count as my trophy? Am I really Anika Brand, the graceful sword, or am I really a monster?

I guess this was a good time to find out.

As the glass wall surrounding me disappears, wind immediately smashed into my face, making me tether dangerously on my pedestal. The countdown started, and I immediately whipped my head around, peeping around the arena. Shockingly, the 24 of us were stationed in a perfect circle around the silver Cornucopia in front of us, and we were in the center of a labyrinth. The walls of the maze were made of out cold, grey stone that gleamed in the sunlight.

There goes the notion of just grabbing something and running. Come on, use your head, Anika! What does Father always say?

"Without self-discipline, success is impossible, period," I murmured, the voice fading into the wind. The timer hits 25 and continues counting down. The sky above me is a soft shade of light blue, with several cirrocumulus stratiformis clouds floating above me in the sky. I puckered my lips, wondering why the Game Makers chose cirrocumulus stratiformis clouds to put in the arena. I'd always favored cumulonimbus. They seemed much stronger, so much more powerful, as if stating a message; 'I'm the biggest one here. Don't you dare touch me.'

The timer read ten, and I diverted my attention away from the pale stretched clouds and to the Cornucopia. I was going to win this.

Eight. For mother.

Six. For father.

Four. For honor and glory.

Two. For Lauren McKinley, the girl who broke me heart in two and crushed it mercilessly in her hands. I was going to show her that I was Anika Brand. That I was the biggest one here.

One. That I was the graceful sword.

The gong sounded, as if sounding the deaths of 23 other tributes all at once. I jumped off my pedestal along with everyone else, my icy blue eyes narrowed. With blood roaring in my ears I made a beeline towards the Cornucopia, not even caring where the rest of my allies were. Beside me, the boy from District Eleven, Jayden, slipped on the emerald green grass that was wet with dew, and fell with a cry of pain beside me, slipping and sliding. Despite myself, I smirked. Amateurs.

Unsurprisingly, I was one of the first tributes to get to the arena. Dashing into the mouth of the horn, my shoes screeched to a stop before a rack of swords. I took one at random, knowing that I didn't have much time. There was suddenly a shriek of surprise, and I swung my sword instinctively towards the source of the noise. There was a sound of metal sinking into flesh, then the ever-familiar cannon boom. I jerked back my sword, before glancing down at the tribute I'd just killed. A girl with long, wavy brown hair. Noura. Vermillion liquid poured out from the fatal stab wound I had created in her chest, and I watched, my breath coming in ragged gasps, as a thin stream of red flowed out of her dead body, winding its way like a preying snake towards me. Graceful sword, preying snake.

"Anika!" someone called, snapping me out of my trance, "We have to go! Now!"

Altrin.

I quickly clamored out of the horn, sword grasped tightly in my hand. As I exited the belly of the beast, I saw the dead bodies of Jayden, Heather and the District Nine boy, all lying with various wounds around the Cornucopia. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched as Dayshia entered the maze without a weapon. Idiot. She'd be dead by daylight.

"We need to head inside the maze," Altrin breathed out, coming up behind me. I gave him a brisk nod before taking off towards the nearest entrance, Altrin hot on my heels. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the rest of my allies following me as well. We had the biggest alliance in the whole Games. Step A, completed. More allies equal less chance of death. The downside? More chance of backstabbing.

As we entered between the intimidating stone walls, the air cooled dramatically, giving me some relief from the heat. Hopefully, the others had picked up a backpack or two, with water. I had been too busy to get anything besides a sword.

Too busy...what? The stern voice of my father suddenly echoed throughout my ears, too busy googling a pretty sword? Too busy 'mourning' that girl, Noura's, death? I could practically see him shaking his head in disappointment, stroking his grey-tinted beard, I thought I raised you better, Anika.

"Anika!" someone called, sounding far, far away.

Then pain exploded in my jaw, and I was sent tumbling backwards onto the mossy, wet earth. My ears rang, and my vision swam. I tried to get up, before getting shoved into the grass again. I something warm and wet trickle down my cheek, before my flailing left hand touched something cool and metallic. My sword.

I reached out my left arm, stretching it was far as it could go, to grasp the hilt of my sword. The tips of my fingers touched it, and I grunted, gritting my teeth through bits of dirt and grass, stretching my arm even more to get it. Almost there...

I got it.

Grasping the hilt tightly in my hand, I arched my arm over the attacking tribute's head, before plunging it downwards with all the strength I could muster. There was sickening crack of bone breaking, before the tribute shuddered above my beaten body and went limp on my chest. Gasping my breath, I threw his body off me, before scrambling up to my feet and dusting myself off shakily. That was a close one.

Turning around, I saw the rest of my allies finish off Natalie Pitchford, the pink-haired girl from district seven. I watched wearily as Athena stabbed Natalie's limp body viciously with a sword, turning the once beautiful girl into a bloody human kebab. Wrinkling my nose, I turned away from the gory scene to wipe the blood of Anthony off my hands, before realizing something that made my mouth drop wide open.

Anthony's body was gone.

What the--? I pivoted hard on my heel, looking around frantically for the body. It was right there! Wasn't it? Wasn't it?!

"Hey, Anika," piped up Catherine, coming up to me. She looked worried, but I paid no attention to her, instead I dropped to my knees, mumbling the mantra of 'where-did-he-go?' under my breath. Where, where, where?!

I'm going mad. Crazy. Insane.

Am I?

"Altrin," Catherine's voice cut through my thoughts, "I think something's wrong with her."

"Why does she look so weirded-out?" asked Colin.

"Because Anthony's body's gone!" I screeched, launching my body up and grabbing Colin by his shoulders, shaking him. Can they not see how bad this situation is?!

"Whoa, whoa," Egan muttered, prying away my stiff, trembling fingers from Colin's shoulders, "Anika, calm down. What's this about Anthony?"

"I killed Anthony, before!" I wailed, desperate, "And I rolled his body off of me, but now he's gone! Something's wrong!"

"Yeah," Athena snorted, "With you."

This time Christian sighed, "Listen, we're wasting time. We need to get out. Anika, you probably just saw things-"

"No she didn't," Altrin remarked, staring at me thoughtfully. Thank god. Someone who doesn't think I'm a nut-case. "I warned her about Anthony coming her way just before Natalie attacked us. Anthony was here."

"See! See!" I shrieked, gibberish spilling out my mouth, "Anthonywashere!"

Athena glared at me, hands on hips, before opening her mouth to say something. She was interrupted, however, by a very loud creak that vibrated through the lofty stone walls, shaking the grassy ground. Unexpectedly, a hole, about three meters in diameter, opened up not two meters away from where I was standing. I watched, horrified, as the dead bodies of two tributes-Jayden and Heather, respectively-crawled out of the gaping hole, their eyes wide and red with bloodlust. Arms outstretched, they staggered towards our terrified little group. Heather's head was titled at an unnatural angle, while Jayden had a spear sticking out of his abdomen, intestines visible.

"Flesh," Heather hissed, her voice deeper than usual, "Meat."

"Food," Jayden moaned, still staggering, "Flesh..."

"Run?" Catherine squeaked from somewhere behind me. Altrin nodded, his head bobbing in stiff little jerks, eyes filled with dread and horror. We didn't need another prompting, as we all fled back the way we came, screaming and brandishing our weapons like lunatics. Adrenaline coursed through my body as the haunting melodies 'food, flesh, meat' followed our retreating figures like a shadow, and blood rushed into my ears. Run! Get the hell away from there!

After what seemed like an eternity, the voices of Heather and Jayden died away, replaced by an eerie silence that seemed to smother the entire arena like a smelting blanket. Our alliance stopped at a fork in the maze, panting, trying to catch out breaths. Egan looked downright sick, while Catherine was sniffing, her eyes filled with tears. After a few minutes, Athena announced, "We have to go."

I nodded in agreement, before rasping, "Yeah."

Slowly but steadily, we started our long trek throughout the maze, until finally, about an hour later, we found the exit. The arena was humungous, with what seemed like several different biomes scattered to the north, south, east and west. My weary blue eyes immediately landed on a sweet-smelling meadow, and my eyes connected my Altrin's.

"Meadow?" I asked, gripping my sword. Graceful sword, or monster?

"Meadow," he replied, before setting off towards the green, grassy plain.

As we trekked towards the plains, one question still nagged at me from the pits of my mind.

Am I a graceful sword, or a monster?

I don't know.

District 2 Female: Athena Kelso

No entry

District 3 Female: Myka Sterling

No entry

District 4 Female: Coralie Dunbrylle

A single tear slips out of my eye as my metal plate pushes me upward toward an impending doom. The cylinder is unbearably stuffy and I just hope that when I break into the arena the air will offer some respite.

After what seems like forever, which has really only been about twenty seconds I'm sure, I see light. I remind myself of what Altrin told me the night that he pulled me away from his sobbing escort.

"You need to act more confident. It'll get you farther than you think."

"But I'm not."

"I don't care if you're not. Just try. Head high, chin up. Fool them."

Fool them. The words echo in my head. How can I fool anyone when I'm terrified? I can't believe I brought this on myself. Volunteering was stupid. Oh so stupid.

With my chin up and head high, my body slowly emerges from the underground tube. I look around me to take in my surroundings.

"What?" I quietly mumble.

It's a square. We're trapped in a perfect cement square with the Cornucopia gleaming in the middle. What are they trying to do? Have us kill one another in a matter of seconds? I fail to see how that would be popular among the Capitol dwellers.

I keep looking around me as my plate stops moving and locks into place. Upon further inspection, I notice two openings on each wall.

It hits me.

We are trapped in some sort of maze. Fear instantly takes over. How will a maze play into the Games? What does that mean for me?

At this point there is probably only about forty seconds left for me to stand unmoving before the gong rings and tributes begin murdering one another.

I look around the ring of teenagers surrounding the Cornucopia and find Altrin. He sees me and taps his chin as a reminder. I nod my head and take a deep breath.

You can do this.

I check what items are around me. I can't afford to run to the Cornucopia. Unfortunately, all of the best items are spilling out of the mouth of the Cornucopia. Supplies get worse the further away from the mouth they get. They always do.

Around me there is a bright green backpack with reflectors on it, some knives that are surely too dull to be of much use, rope, and various different foods. Nothing is exciting. Maybe I should just run into one of the openings...

The gong rings. I haven't made up my mind yet. I'm not ready for this. I'm not ready to die. Within a matter of seconds I witness two deaths, both in the hands of the Careers. One of them was Anthony, he wasn't close to me but he was from home. The other was the girl from 12.

My feet stay planted in fear. Everything is complete chaos around me. Metal clinking against metal, fists connecting with skin. This is awful! All of it is terrible. I should move. I need to move.

I notice Altrin charging towards me. He's going to kill me. Everything was an act. Him being nice to me was all just a show so I'd trust him.

Slowly, I back up while repeating, "No, please, no."

"Duck!" he screeches.

It takes me a split second to understand what he's saying. And in that split second I'm knocked to my stomach with a thud.

I haven't the slightest clue who's on top of my back, but I know they're heavy and clearly much stronger than me.

Fight back, you wimp!

I try my best to thrash my body enough to get this person off me. It's no use.

I scream out as the cold, sharp tip of a knife slices my arm, clearly missing it's mark. Thankfully wiggling around isn't entirely useless.

Shortly after, the weight is ripped off my body and an ear piercing scream fills the already noisy arena. Instinctively my hands cover my ears while I curl up into the fetal position and rock.

This isn't real. None of this is real. I'm going to wake up and find that these past few weeks have been only some terrible nightmare.

I will not cry. I'm stronger than this. I'm better than the behavior I'm currently exhibiting. It's all just so terrifying...

A person rips me off the ground and starts pushing me forward. At the moment, I'm too stunned and disoriented to do anything but stand and run in the direction I'm being pushed.

"What happened to being confident?"

It's Altrin. He just saved me. I look back to where I was attacked and see the girl from 8 laying on the ground. Her head is no longer intact with her body. I want to vomit, but know that now is not the time.

"What are you doing? Don't you have other allies to be helping right now?"

"Just keep running. And put this on while you're at it."

He brings himself beside me and hands over the horrid green backpack. I'm going to stick out like a sore thumb with this thing! Not only is the color brighter than the sun, moon, and stars combined, but it has reflectors. Those were obviously put on there to draw attention. It's the Gamemakers way of punishing me for not being brave enough to run for the Cornucopia.

"How's your arm?" he yells between heavy breaths.

"I'm fine."

Running. Our feet carry us further away from the bloodbath and closer to the uncertain maze. The walls are incredibly tall. They grow as we quickly approach them.

There are massive signs beside each of the openings that I hadn't noticed earlier. One reads "SHADOW FOREST" and the other says "OCEAN".

"Listen, these are your options for now. You don't have much time so pick one fast and don't stop running."

Altrin slows his pace and grabs my shoulders loosely. He looks hard into my eyes with a fierce urgency. In the unnatural sunlight of the arena, the gold flecks in his eyes are more prominent. They aren't much, but they are there.

"Choose wisely, Coralie. You can do this."

He lifts up the hem of his grey jacket that's identical to mine and pulls out several sleek throwing knives. With his free hand, he holds my right so that my palm is facing the too beautiful sky. Next to his skin, my hand looks whiter than the perfect clouds hanging above our heads, clearly generated by the Gamemakers.

He sticks the cold metal into my hands and closes my small fingers around their hilts. I briefly glance at the objects and then back to his handsome face.

"Why are you helping me?"

"I believe in you, pretty girl. Now go."

"But-"

"Coralie, you need to get in there and put as much distance between you and the other tributes as possible."

Tears threaten to spill out of my eyes from the pure kindness he's showing to me. He didn't have to save me. If I were dead, that would get him one spot closer to home. But he did save me.

"Thank you." I stand on the very tips of my toes and kiss his cheek.

I don't allow enough time for him to say anything before I run into the side of the maze that directs me to a shadow forest. I'm afraid of what might have happened if I stayed. I felt more behind my little thank you than I should've. This s the Hunger Games. Feelings don't have a place here. Yet, somehow they always do...

I remember hearing somewhere, a long time ago, that if you run your left hand along the wall that it will lead you out of said maze. Hopefully the Gamemakers were too stupid to think of that before they made this thing.

Judging from the outside of the maze, this is not what I expected the inside to look like. The walls on the inside are made from a beautiful white marble. It looks so pristine and perfect. It's surely just a distraction...

After running a fair distance from the opening, I quickly slip all the wicked knives into my belt holster and clasp the front clip on my backpack. Hopefully this will make running a little easier.

Before I'm able to get much further with my hand running along the wall, a searing pain instantly immobilizes me and I fall to the ground screaming. This pain is infinitely worse than the cut on my arm.

With a shaking arm, I lift my hand up to examine it. It's covered in brilliant red blisters, already oozing with pus. Some of the skin on my palm has turned black.

The pain is...the pain is indescribable. Imagine sticking your hand in a fire for a few minutes and multiply that pain by at least ten.

This can't be good. I quickly scramble to my feet and run, this time without actually touching the wall. I need to get out of here. I should have known better. Of course this thing was going to be rigged with traps. How else would a tribute wandering through a maze be exciting.

A sickening feeling settles in my stomach like an anchor hitting the bottom of the sea. If that was only the first trap I've encountered, how many more are there?

Don't stop. Keep running. I can do this.

The phrases become my mantra as I'm running for any kind of safety.

A sound of growling coming from behind catches my attention. My head quickly turns to examine the source. Some sort of cat like mutt with yellow liquid oozing from its mouth is chasing after me.

Where did that thing come from? What is it? More importantly, what does it do? I've not even been in the arena for half an hour and already a lot of bad has happened.

While running as fast as my legs can carry me, I stumble over some sort of rock. I can't regain my feet so I crawl away from the mutt.

It reaches me and latches hold of my leg. My screams come so loud and high pitched the noise makes even me dizzy. The teeth of this mutt are razor sharp and they sink into my leg. I soon realize that whatever concoction burnt my hand is what is dripping from this mutts mouth. I can feel it burn me as it seeps through the tears my pants. I use my other foot to kick the thing off me and run.

With any luck, there will be no broken skin. Hopefully my pants took the most of the bite. No matter, that hurt like crazy. I don't understand why Altrin had faith in me. It was clearly misplaced. I'm going to die before tomorrow at this rate.

I won't die without trying. I need to get out of this bloody maze! I can't take much more of this. The beauty certainly was a distraction. It created a false sense of security, even if the feeling was brief.

I see an opening into a forest so dark that seeing my hand in front of my face may be hard, but I don't care. Beside the opening is a sign that warns about this being the wrong entrance. Maybe reading it in full would be a good idea...I just want out, I don't have time for the Capitol's mind games.

Cautiously, I approach the opening. What if this really is the wrong entrance? What will happen?

Slowly I stick my arm through. Another shriek of pain rips through my throat. There's some sort of invisible barrier made of the exact substance that has harmed me two, now three, times.

I don't know what to do. I can't keep running like this. My adrenaline is gone and I can feel every bit of pain. It's crying out to me to stop. I've been put through a lot in my life, but it's never been anything like this.

"Hey," an unfamiliar voice says quietly.

I should throw a knife at the boy that's coming towards me, but I just don't have it in me anymore.

"I heard your screams. This way's no good, you know?"

"So I've learned."

"I'm Dan. I've found the real entrance. It's in the opposite direction of here."

With a defeated sigh, I say, "Why don't you just kill me now and get it over with?"

"What? No. I think we should be allies. You look like you could use the extra help right now."

I don't give Dan an answer. This could be a huge set up. It's probably just an elaborate plan to kill me.

He begins to walk away. "If you come, watch out. There are a few fire traps along the way."

Fire traps? This nightmare doesn't end! If this is only the maze, I'm starting to feel wary about the forest bringing forth any sort of respite. The Games have hardly begun and it's already a disaster for me.

Slowly I begin to limp after Dan. If he knows the traps, he could end up being of some help. If I encountered anymore surprise I'd probably give up and let myself die.

"So these fire traps...what are they?"

He slows his pace to match mine. "Finally decide alone wasn't your prime option?" he teases.

"Now is not the time."

"The wall spits out these fireballs. If they miss you and fall to the ground, they pursue you until you're engulfed in flames. I'm almost positive that we'll be okay if we crawl."

"Wait," I say, thinking about the moment the wall turned into a trap. They could very easily do that to the ground too.

"Wait what?"

"What if...what if they want us to crawl because it's actually the worse option?" I keep my voice quiet. Offering up ideas isn't exactly my strong area.

He raises a thick brown eyebrow at me and crouches to the ground. He lays his palm flat against the perfectly smooth ground for a few seconds before pulling his hand away.

"Okay, so there is something on the ground. Extended contact would surely hurt us."

"I'm very aware that it would." I've only dealt with the burning pain three times thus far.

"This is the way through. How exactly are we supposed to do this?"

"You said you found the entrance. How did you not make it through?" I look closely at him and notice that there isn't a single piece of singed clothing or hair. "This is all a trick, isn't it?"

"No, I witnessed the girl from Three die. Her body is just at the other end."

"That doesn't tell me how you know there's an exit."

He points ahead, "You see there, it's shiny. Kind of wobbly looking, almost. It's an allusion. We can break through it without a single adverse effect."

"How are you sure?"

"I studied stuff like this during my free time in school. Secret nerd. So how are we going to do this?" he asks slowly.

"Um..." My foot begins tapping as I try to think of a solution. The fire will obviously burn us and the ground will eat at our skin. This isn't possible.

I look down to both of my hands that now have varying degrees of burns on them. The one I used to push my arm through the acidic force field is nearly just as bad off as my other hand.

Wait...I pushed my arm through. Not just my hand. Yet, the only thing burnt is my hand. And my leg hasn't started burning anymore...

"Our clothes. They resist the stuff! That's probably why the jackets are extra baggy. Cover every inch of your skin with your clothes and crawl."

"Are you sure?"

I nod. I'm not exactly positive, but right now I need to be. It seems like our alternative is to get attacked by pursuing fireballs. We have to try something. This plan is better than getting burnt immediately.

Dan pull up his hood and ties the strings tight so most of his face is covered. I do the same. With all of our skin covered as best we can, we drop to our stomachs and slowly inch our way along the ground.

"I think it's working," Dan calls back to me.

I smile. Maybe I'm not so worthless after all. I actually had a good idea that saved our lives.

Dan gets to the end of the corridor and stands up. Upon seeing him stand, I do so prematurely.

"No!" he shouts.

I hear a hissing sound along with the unmistakable crackling of flames. With a quick glance behind me I see a fireball gliding across the ground in my direction.

"Run," Dan shouts.

The further I run, the more the hissing and crackling noises seem to follow me.

What did I do?! This would be such a dumb way to die. I had everything planned out. I shouldn't die like this.

"What do I do?" I scream.

If they follow until they consume their target, I'm dead.

Dan takes my hand, sending sharp pains through it, and pulls me through the almost glittery wall.

Wow that was close. It's a good thing running is something I'm actually good at. I've done a lot of it so far.

"Thank you."

"No problem. So what's your name, now that we can relax a little."

"Coralie."

"Nice to formally meet you."

I laugh and smile. "Nice to formally meet you as well."

I look around and see the setting we chose is very accurately named. It's so dark. It's the shadow forest.

District 5 Female: Catherine Malfoy

The huge metal door busted open and the arena's blinding lights came flooding my eyes.

I shielded my eyes as walk towards the elevated stage of the arena, my long blood red tail dress, trails wonderfully behind my back as I made my way to the stage.

The crowd cheered as I bowed my head low and confirmed my presence.The microphone screeched as someone picks up the mic. And not long after when the cheers dropped and a voice speaks.

"Another Attractive yet smart looking young lady has come to embody her district. A strong and brave female and the face of a very fine district. Catherine Malfoy!" The crowed erupted into a series of clapping and cheered as I spun around, give my dress a fine grip and the skirt came alive.

The pale red (almost pink) dress became blood red. "Wow what a stunning dress!" The announcer said." Now altogether let's send her through the tunnel for the preparation for the games."

I smiled and tipped my head low into a bow before I gave a final waved and it was not long after when I was swallowed by the darkness of the tube.

The dark tube extends long and seems endless. The platforms seems to came into an abrupt stop, making me stumble backwards and the chamber opened.

Here they were, waiting for their cue to be sent to dressing rooms to change. Some are talking, some are playing but mostly we're just standing still at a corner.

I scanned the crowd and spots some of my allies, huddled together in a corner as they whisper to themselves.

I move my eyes around and saw some familiar faces that I met before the sponsorship. Some of them just either walk by and some, who had tried to talk to me that I can or might be called an acquaintance or maybe even allies.

I move deeper into the crowd and at the sudden click of my heels, all eyes fell on me. My allies' serious face became delighted and beamed at me.

I smiled back.

Their dress' looks stunning, all dotted with silver and gold.The skirts and polos were all designed with a series of glittery sequence and the sight of them are just like a bunch of gold and diamond placed in a corner.

"Nice dress" Christian says. I looked down, to see my blood red gown standing off the rest because of its color.

I looked around to notice the same glittery gowns being worn by different tributes. Heavy necklaces and bangles, complementing their light skin and hair.

I shook my head.

"Did my difference means a nice dress?I think not," I pouted at my dress.

Everyone looked around, noticing my difference and everyone in the group laughed. Even Christian who was serious, snickered a bit.

"Thanks for the greeting guys,"I rolled my eyes playfully and join them in.

Some of the tributes arrive by their group greeting them, some just came in and silently place themselves at the sides.

The whole lot waiting for the tributes to come is like forever. But by the time my feet starts to ache, it was the time everyone was complete.

A tall and blond woman appeared in front and ask everyone to gather.

"What do you she is? A big fat wolf or a wild boar?" Egan asked, all of a sudden behind me. I turn around and raised a brow at him, clearly clueless to what he was asking.

" You know what I mean is something like what she will be in the games?" he shrugged. I crossed my arms and tapped my chin as if thinking.

"Oh I got it!" I said in fake enthusiasm.His smiled got wider and he beamed down at me.

The enthusiasm melted from face and I frowned at him. "That makes no sense, honey."

I dropped my arms and patted him at the back before walking away. I heard my other allies snickered. I smiled

We gathered in front of the lady won was now holding a pen and clipboard.She raised her chin and counted us with her pen. " 24, complete" she muttered and check her clipboard.

"Good evening ladies and gents, you are here as an embodiment of your district of the games," She started, her thick accent was laced through her words.

" We are now here at the under tunnel of the arena. And what you did up there was just to introduce yourself to the people to know you and for the public figure.

"By the way, I'm Samantha Barren. The head assistant manager of the games, and I suppose you need to be sent to your room to be sent to rest and prepare for the games.

"I will accompany you to your own cubicles and have you to stay there until the games will start and have you sent at Cornucopia," she says as she arranged her glasses in her eyes, before she looked up at us.

Murmurs erupted into the group, echoing throughout the tunnel. I looked behind me to Egan. He tilted his head before he looked up and frowned at me, I smiled.

Everyone stopped when someone cleared their throat. I look up out front, to see the same pair of glasses, staring back at us, scowling.

"I will have you all sent at your rooms to rest now,"she said before setting off towards the dark tunnel.

We set off and everyone fell silent again. The tunnel was just like the tube, dark and endless.

My feet felt sore at every step.I gripped my dress as I follow the crowd towards only Samantha knows where.

In this tunnel, the walls are dull, the long corridor are painfully still, and every second is like a dreadful hours, with no any other signs of life except our very own presence.

At the end of the tunnel, there are large door frame with glass in between. Samantha lowered herself and punch into the dial before she stood up again and stand aside to let us all in.

The elevator was huge, enough to accommodate the twenty five of us. When the elevator closed, it darted upward to the speck of light.

I remember the first time I entered the city hall, the lobby was crowded and the tellers were all busy scurrying past the heavy flow of the crowd and into their works.

That day was the day of releasing files. My mom hovered over the front desk, busy digging in her purse.

"Why was it like this?" she groaned. I looked up at her and stared her for a long time.

She just kept digging while tugging me along with her. The elevator opened and she happily trugged me inside.

The elevator boy stood at a corner around the pad and turn our way.

"Where will you be ma'am?" He asked.

My mom smiled and confidently answered."I'm going to the chairman's office."

I face palmed my self when she said that. She was supposed to say the floor, and there's a lot of chairman in here.

The boy looking at her ridiculously, as if he was talking to a maniac.

I poked my mom's arm and she looked down at me, questioningly. I mouthed 'floor', and with that realization hit her and she smiled sheepishly and announce the floor we should be in.

The boy nod, obediently and punch through the pad and we set off to another floor.

It was the day, when it is our first time to be in an elevator and my mom got humiliated for her over confidence. I can't help but smile at the memory.

The group of us, sauntered along the light blue corridors, filed with sets of endless line of doors.

The group was put in abrupt stop and Samantha came facing us.

"Now here we are. Both tributes in the district have the same rooms. The doors had your names, so feel free to enter it if you found yours," she pause as she looked around at us. "Okay, so districts 1 to 5, your rooms are here on the left. 6 to 7 , you here on the right. Have a good evening and good luck. Good night tributes," and she set off, leaving us behind.

Hunter came behind me and urged me to move forward. " Would you want your room or not?" he asked.

I frowned at him. And went to looked for our room.

I opened the door and was amazed by the modern look of the room, the walls are striped with black and white and the couches were long and cream. The sight of vases planted along the walls are elegant with different sizes. Behind the couches, beside the vases was a huge stapled glass, showing off the entire city of the capitol.

I walked over the and admired the city at every corner. I looked over the horizon where the sun had set and just stared at it, thinking that the little hours of luxury were having now is just a small gift in exchange of our petty lives for the entertainment of the others.

I sighed. I stare off the space and let the city view eat me whole.

It was not long when I heard a sigh at my back, filled with misery and grief. It shook me off to know he's thinking the same thing and that brought me more misery at the thought.

"Do you think this is the right choice?"he asked. His words are low that I can hardly hear, it was more like the question was supposed to be his and not mine.

I shook my head at the thought and sighed, a long and full of grief sigh,lost.

"There's no doubt were doing this all wrong. What we have decided is all wrong," I said and took off to the kitchen where our food for the dinner waits.

Clinking of spoon and forks are the only ones that can be heard in the room as both of us stayed silent throughout the middle of a fantastic dinner( or more like last dinner).

We devoured our foods as we try to distract our thoughts and shove the fear inside us. The whole dinner was just nothing when the door swung open and our coach came in.

"Hello son and daughter of Panem!I am glad to see you enjoying your lovely dinner," Clausious says as he bounce off inside the apartment(room).

He went up on either sides and kiss our cheeks as his greeting. Nice.Just nice.

I looked up and put on a fake smiled at him before I dropped my utensils at hand and stood from chair.

Both men's eyes looked up from their agenda to look up at me. Clausious stopped speaking and Hunter dropped his fork.

I looked away not meeting their gazes and muttered." I'm tired, I think I nneed to go to bed," and walked off.

I grabbed the card from the table and swiped it at the door pad of my room and I slipped inside. I slumped on the humongous bed and let myself drown in today's event. Tomorrow. Tomorrow...

I woke up as the sunrays peeked from my heavy curtains and through my eyes. I sat up and yawned, rolling to the side to get ready.

As I walked toward's the bathroom, a silk black cloth caught my eye. I turn around and took a closer look at the cloth.

About it was a letter, a letter with a special and elegant birds engraved in it.

I opened the letter and saw the golden letters:

Dear Catherine,
This is the clothes you will wear for the Games.
Clausious

I stared at the clothes and and take in the smooth dark fabric that made the suit. It sleeves were long and reaches until my elbow. The pants are skinny and tight with matching boots to complete the suit. My eyes hovered over it before deciding to wear it and head off.

Downstairs, Hunter was wearing his own with a matching armor, slung across his chest and a bag, full of pockets. He looked like he was more freshened up and relaxed than he was last night. While me, as stupid as I was. When I woke up in the middle of the night, thoughts streamed back and hit me. The thought had made me stayed up all night then.

He looked up and saw me coming. He then flashes a wide grin before he continued shuffling inside his bag.

I shuffled down the stairs and picked up my own armor. The spear was long and gas a golden tip, framing the silvery body of the armor. At the end of the handle engraved an elegant, ancient and ionic design, picturing a bird and a lady with wings.

Hunter stopped dead at his works and look at my weapon, whistling at its beauty.

"Were really doing this," he said.

I nod." Yes we will. We might be scared of what awaits us in there, but it's worth a shot right?" I said, finally realizing that there's no turning back.

He nodded, oblivious at the thought, just like me.

"We can do this," he said

I smiled and nod. And we set off together.

The governance is huge and Samantha was already there when we came. He instructed us to pile in the hovercraft and sat by our co districts.

After the craft was filled, we set off. The craft ride was long and dreadful. But it was then the pilot had announced to fasten out seatbelts as the craft, lowers at the Cornucopia.

The craft opened and the pilot order us out into the field to our standees. I walked anxiously at the elevated circled stage and looked around to see my allies piled in as well.

The dome roof above, ignitedand the face of the president came into the view.

"my dear tributes. Today was your day to show us your strength and agility. To show your intelligence and wit to all of us. I bid you my greatest goodluck. I hope you survive the games."he pause and begin explaining the mechanics, explaining briefly. After a minute or so, he was finished. I can hear my heart hammering against my chest, butterflies starts to bump against the walls of my stimach and I felt a lump in my throat rose from my chest to my larynx. I felt nervous.

I looked at the screen and the president smiled down at us" Let the 65th hunger games begin!" the crowd in this back cheered and a timer set off

10....

9.....

8....

7.....

6.....

5.....

4......

3.....

2....

Start!

Everyone set off their stage and run off towards the armies set infront of us. The bloodbath started and their are blood shed, many laid, lifeless with blood pooling around their faces.

I dropped from my stage and run off to the skirts of the arena to the large tunnels, avoiding people aling the way.

I might have chickened out but I think this way's better. I picked up my speed but as I reached the edge, my eyes caught a flash of pink and later I know, I was tucked by a woman into the ground. Her eyes excited and serious. She darted her hands back and she was about to stabbed me when I kicked her off of me and grabbed the knife.

She rolled onto her back and I put my foot at her chest and stabbed her with her own knife.

As the knife mest her she howled in pain and the blood starts to pool around her, then her breathing stopped.

I crouched and darted for the tunnels again and heard an approaching footsteps behind me. I turned around and threw my knife, prospectively across me and hit my target in one eye. He fell.

I dashed in the tunnel and rub for my life alone. I skipped through the huge blocks of ice and dodge the sharp ice along the way.

'This was it, the maze...' I thought

I turned sharp to my left and opened a large door.

The ice were all still and quiet. I paused in my tracks and breath. I leaned on the ice and perked my ears up to listen to something who might be coming after me.

Nothing..

I lay down the ice and rest. Waiting my allies to come. But hours came and no one ffollowed.

Great. Just great.

I poked around the doors and entered when I saw it clear. A's I was about to turn into a corner. I heard a cry, a quite cry coming from a child. I opened the door and saw the Heather there.

She stood up and saw me, her eyes alert. "don't you dare or else," she warned.

I put my hands up as if to give up and tell her I got no weapon, she stared me hard before her eyes softened.

I walked up at her and and asked her why she was alone. But as an answer she just sobbed hard. I patted her back and told her everything was alright.

She stood up and say," alright," and we set off.

At the middle of the maze a huge monstrous beast came to us. His arms shivered as he run and darted in our place. I screamed.

We run and run until we came in another door and there, my allies stood with their captures. They smiled wickedly at me.

I smiled at my bait and pushed her at the center.

" Ah, were now complete, seems like their whole group was here, let's kill them," and with that they all fell together in the ground and died.

After the group kill, we headed off the maze and was able to conquer the obstacles that cone our way. It was not long the were out of the maze.

District 6 Female: Alyssa (Lyss) Cameron

No entry

District 7 Female: Natalie Pitchford

It was dark. For a second or so until a light emerged from the top of the tube. I was grateful for the light however, it meant that I was closer to entering the bloodbath that was the games. I looked over at the other tributes. Some looked pretty scared others like, district one's Anika and district four's Anthony, looked smug. I was kind of confused at this but all of a sudden a siren sounded and some of the tributes ran to the cornucopia and others ran in the opposite direction.

I didn't know what to do so I just stood there for a few moments and then realized that I could be killed any moment. I jumped down from the stand and then ran to the closest entrance of the maze that was surrounding us. I entered the maze and it started to get dark the further I walked in. I thought it would be a good idea to try and hide in the walls of the maze. I decided to sit and wait until dark having not ventured far and wanting to get some sort of weapon from the cornucopia. I hid in the corner and covered myself as much as I possibly could. I then heard footsteps and started to panic. I hoped that I was far enough into the shadows to not be noticed. Then a tribute from 5 ran past. She looked panicked. She stopped and then looked up at the walls. She started to climb the walls and then another tribute that I couldn't make out ran over to her and grabbed her ankle. She let out a scream and then fumbled to grab anything that would allow her to pull herself up and away from the death grasp the tribute had on her. All of a sudden, a 'swoosh' sound was heard and then a clump. I presumed that she fell and then she started begging for her life, I didn't want to hear her so i closed my eyes and tried to block out my ears, however I could still hear her as the tribute started to brutally attack her.

I don't think I would be able to sleep tonight especially after hearing her die. I had underestimated the instinct of survival and the impact the games would have on it. When I managed to open my eyes the tribute had started to walk further down the maze, and when I couldn't see them anymore I came out of the shadows. I walked quickly past the body of the tribute from five. I then found my way back to the opening of the maze. I tried my best to look over but I couldn't see anyone in the first few metres so I walked out as quietly as I could, stopping every now and then to make sure that no-one was following me. I knew were the cornucopia was as there were some small lights located around the edge of it. I had manage to get to the entrance. I peered in and grabbed the first thing that resembled something that could provide a source of light. I flicked something and it turned out to be lantern with a very dim light. I then looked at all the things that had been left in the cornucopia. I moved my eyes over a few bags but I found one that looked like it had a few more supplies in it. I moved to grab it but a shadow caught my eye. I panicked. I didn't want to hurt someone unless I really had to. So, I grabbed the bag and then started walking backwards. An arrow, had all of a sudden swished past my head missing me. I looked behind me and found the male tribute from district 10 on the floor, he had a knife in his hand and I assumed it was meant for me. I looked over at the person that had fired the arrow.

"Um....Thanks, I guess." I said quietly.

"It's no problem. I however, would like to make an alliance with you 7. I'm Hunter, Do you remember me from the sponsorship day?" He said.

"Oh. I do. I don't think I will be much use to you, though." I muttered.

"You see I have heard some things about you and I think that you might have a few more survival skills than me. You know about poison berries, right?"

"Uh, yeah I do. But I might slow you down."

"Well, if we formulate a game plan then we might not be slowed down."

"Ok, I'm Natalie."

"I remember."

"OK, So I think we need to get into the maze. I saw someone get murdered earlier and she was going to climb the maze walls, so maybe we can do that? There has got to be some rope around here."

Hunter nodded. I rummaged around the cornucopia looking for a reasonable long piece of rope that had a few hooks on each end. Afterwards, we walked back to the entrance of the maze. We had walked back the way I came and I had to look away again when we passed the girl from district 5. We turned left and then right.

"I think this will be a safe place to climb up." Hunter said.

"I agree. Here tie this around you waist. We can climb side by side hopefully. As long as we work together as a team it should work."

Hunter nodded and did as I had said. We then proceeded to climb up the maze wall, really slowly. After, half an hour at least, we managed to reach the top. I was pretty tired so I sat down and then proceeded to untie the rope.

"Maybe we should keep it around our waists. Just in case something happens." Hunter suggested. I looked over at him and then redid the tie. We laid next to each other until it became light again.

We stood up and then proceeded to follow the maze around. We were about half way away from the end of the maze when I realised that my hands were really red. I looked over my arms and saw the same thing.

"Hunter, do you have red arms that are kind of itchy?" I asked looking at his face.

"Come to think of it, I do. I thought it might have been my body reacting to the environment but now I am not so sure." He said with a hint of worry in his voice.

"I think we may have touched a poisonous plant when we were climbing. Perhaps the whole point of it was to make sure you didn't actually get to the top. There has got to be a -" I had started but got cut of by my own voice. My throat felt like it was closing up, like I was having an allergic reaction to something. I feel down on my knees and held my throat. I tried to recall all the plants that could do this to a person and came up empty.

"Oh god. What do I do? I need you. We are better as a team." Hunter said. He looked down and then looked at me. He grab my and place me on his back tying the end of the rope on my side to his but still allow him to use both hooks. He managed to get us down the bottom of the maze. I was struggling to breath. I couldn't feel my lungs. They were burning. I needed oxygen right now. I started to daze in and out of consciousness and I didn't realize that hunter had disappeared or that he was talking with another tribute.

I woke up and felt like I had just ran a marathon. I said up and tried to speak but my throat felt different, it felt like a locked box and nothing would come out unless I had a key to it.

"You're awake. You were out for a few fours. Chance here had suggested that we give you a plant called hemlock to stop the convulsions you were having and to ensure that you could breathe. I also had some and I feel totally fine right now." I looked over and saw the other tribute from my district, Chance. We had a chance to talk on the way to the capitol and we managed to get along. I nodded my head at him in thanks and then sat up.

"I th-think, we might have t-touched En-English yew. Deathly-ly poisonous." I managed to say. I looked around and realized that it was almost dark again which meant that it will be better to try and navigate the maze without being caught by another tribute. "W-we should go." I heaved. Hunter and Chance looked at me a bit weirdly and I gave them a pointed look to which they helped me up.

We had finally managed to get to the end of the maze without being caught by another tribute. However, we did pass a few of the dead bodies of others from district 9 and 12. I looked before us and I saw some biomes. I looked over and I saw that there was the ocean. I mean, I had read some things about the water and some of the special properties that the plants can have but I have never really been near the ocean before. It sparkled as the light grew over the horizon. I looked to my left were Chance and Hunter were. I looked at them.

"What do you think?" I asked with a hint of caution in my voice.

"Let's do it" The boys replied at the same time.

District 8 Female: Phoebe Beckham

Phoebe was practically pushed into her tube as she trembled is utter fear. There was no way she could do this. There were so many others. So many others that had potential, skill, talent, and determination. She had nothing. All she could do was make clothes and punch stuff. Punching stuff wasn't exactly a formidable skill compared to the others who trained with weapons. Most of them were really smart, too.

I'm not gonna make it.

The capsule zoomed through the tube and Phoebe winced as it halted with a shudder. With a sigh she realized her eyes were closed. Opening them, she put her hand on the glass.

"Whoa." She said out loud. There were tubes all around the Cornucopia holding the other tributes. Behind them was a maze, and beyond them - beyond them was a horizon split in eight displays. There was a strangely dotted valley, a blank and golden earth, ice sculptures that hunched over the ground, the tops of thickly grown trees, a vast openness of water, a mountain that jutted into the sky, and a dull green flatland. Which one would she choose?

Looking to her right she saw Christian. He, too, looked on in amazement. Phoebe picked out her allies. Christian, Alyssa, Destiny, Dayshia, and Kale were all there. Kale was too far away for her to see his expression, but Phoebe could just make out Alyssa's pretty face.

The count-down started and Phoebe frantically tried to put together a plan.

Step one: Don't die.

Step two: Stay close to strong allies.

Step three: Get spear or knife.

Step four: Repeat step two.

The clock hit zero too soon. There was no way she could be prepared for this. Before jumping off her platform, she remembered who she was doing this for.

This is for Mom... and for Markus, she thought. She wondered why suddenly Markus entered her mind, but she didn't regret it.

Before she knew it she was running beside Christian. Quickly he turned away and ran towards the forest. He had said he would do that. It just took her by surprise that he barely even glanced at her.

But there were other tributes there, too. Anika, the swift beauty from 1, had broken into a heated fight with Colin Vann. Phoebe shook her head from the sight and ran towards the Cornucopia, avoiding people in general. Trying to lock into stealth mode, she dodged from on-lookers and slipped into the structure.

She had been lucky so far. But would that luck last?

Phoebe snatched a knife and looked up. A hand came down to strike her and she threw herself backwards. She couldn't see who it was from the light behind him, but she didn't want to find out. She jumped to her feet and dashed away, looking around for her allies.

A reflection of light caught her eye. She turned to see Altrin from 1 trying to wrestle a sword from Kale. Phoebe ran towards him and collided into Altrin. She expected a fight, but when they tumbled over, he didn't even move.

With a grunt she pushed him off of her.

"Phoebe, how did you-." Kale stopped with a loss for words. Phoebe cupped her hand over her mouth.

Her knife was embedded in Altrin's chest.

"No!" She hesitantly pulled out the knife from his chest and shook him, unwilling to admit he was dead. "I didn't - I didn't mean to. I didn't want to I-... I'm sorry." Guilt flooded her senses and quickly she felt numb. She wasn't sure what she was doing anymore.

Kale patted her on the back, wanting to get out of there.

"C'mon."

Without warning, a splat landed on Altrin's chest. It was white and gross, but soon it started to sizzle and burn through the corpse. Phoebe looked up in awe. There were birds flying around in the sky, pooping acid waste on all of them! "Let's go!" Kale said panicked, tugging on Phoebe's sleeve. She followed him, passing an impaled Myka and a decapitated Coralie.

There's so much blood.

She looked away, shielding her eyes from the gruesome scenes. Anika had managed to tear Colin Vann apart, and Chance had sliced through Egan Blake.

So much blood.

Alyssa was crouching next to Destiny, staring at the sky. Phoebe refused to look at Destiny's shrinking head.

"It's raining acid!" Alyssa exclaimed in disbelief as she stood up. Her eyes were wide and it was obvious she was just as lost as Phoebe. Nothing was right, here.

Dayshia came up to them with a flip of her fabulous hair.

"We need to go right now." She said seriously. She said it too soon. Suddenly Alyssa was sliced in the back by a fleeting shadow. Phoebe wasn't sure, but it looked a lot like that Casper Roswell. Alyssa fell into Dayshia's arms with a wild scream.

Kale ran to support her. Casper didn't do it well enough, she was still alive. Phoebe suddenly felt tears in her eyes.

The blood is everywhere.

"We have to stop the bleeding or she'll die!" Kale said.

"No!" Alyssa croaked. "I can't make it, just kill me and win!" She sobbed.

"You can, you just have to-."

"NO! Finish me!" Kale and Dayshia looked at each other.

"Okay." Kale said with regret in his voice as he pulled out his sword to slice her neck. Phoebe turned around and closed her eyes. But that wasn't enough. Phoebe put her hands over her ears and prayed for everything to stop. It was too fast, too wrong.

Too bloody.

Phoebe jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Kale stood behind her. His eyes were sad and his shoulders slumped.

"Where do we go?" Dayshia asked weakly, trying to change the subject.

"Christian went to the forest." Phoebe sniffed as she wiped her sleeve across her face.

Dayshia shook her head.

"That's where everyone will go." She made sense.

"What about the volcano?" Kale suggested. Dayshia glared at him.

"No."

"What about the swamp?" Phoebe asked.

"Mosquitoes." Kale grimaced.

"What are mosquitoes compared to this?" She barely spoke above a whisper. The other two looked down in thought.

"I think she's right. Not many would go there." Dayshia agreed.

They were all startled when another acid-bomb fell between them and ate into the ground.

"Okay, well, let's go then." Kale nodded and they followed Dayshia to the maze.

Away from the blood.

This wasn't going to be good.

District 9 Female: Destiny Muriala

No entry

District 10 Female: Noura Katalin

It reminded her of home. Atop her platform with shakiness and nerves, Noura saw rhyme and reason in the arena before her. It was a maze, like her mind, with a center in place of her heart. Her eyes wouldn't focus on one specific area, so they were left to dart back and forth between the other tributes and the cornucopia. The thing that bothered the most, however, was the inevitability of the one, extra tribute. It was no ordinary tribute, for it was another person, making the count twenty-five, not four. It, he, was no avox, no Game Maker, no host. He was someone Noura knew. He had a name, too.

His name was Thom, and he was standing right across from Noura, whose face went pale.

"Hello," he mouthed when the said "lovers" met eyes. Her heart constrained, lifted, tightened, and unscrewed, all at once. She didn't understand her emotions. She couldn't understand them. Complexity wasn't the right word, but a simple verbosity of feeling. There was a simultaneous rush of airiness and weight that made Noura question her foundation and ability to move. She willed the countdown to slow its decline, for she needed to gather herself first.

Thom was there. He was there. And he was smiling nonetheless. She rotated her neck to see if the other tributes were noticing him as well. Seemingly, they did not. Normality shone in their faces. Well, however normal one could feel on their forsaken pedestal. Flushing cheeks, heavy breaths, limbs of reigning tremors, every tribute feared the possible, ensuing darkness. A scale-breaking earthquake settled and stiffened in Noura's veins; there was no escaping the inevitable.

From where she was standing, she could see his hands fly up, palms open. All ten fingers were outstretched, flexing as if rubber bands were attached and pulling at every inch. He blinked, and then one finger dropped, relaxing into his palm. Then, another, and another. The ringing, the pounding, the excruciating echo of the countdown fell in sync with his fingers. Every second that raced by, a finger fell. This made Noura realize the Games were about to begin, and she hadn't even formed the slightest second of a plan. Suddenly, she felt screwed over, in more ways than one.

Her thoughts and vision clouded her clarity until only one of Thom's fingers remained. And then, it fell. A shockwave of hesitation coursed through her as Thom turned and fled like the weakest tribute usually did. Yet, Thom was not a tribute, so why was he fleeing? More importantly, Noura stressed to herself, why is he here? Like a mirror, fogged up with steam, Noura needed a sense of transparency.

And, as much as she refused to admit it, Thom was the only provider of such comprehensibility.

Time, in terms of awareness, felt slow. Noura put on a mask of clay, picked up her feet, and ran after her boyfriend. Strange, that someone as determined as her would abandon weapons and supplies for a boy. Her straightforward path was blockaded, however, for the other twenty-three tributes didn't exactly agree with her plan. They wanted her dead; they needed her out of the way. The maze surrounded the field, and was adorned beautifully with entrances that were laced with flowers.

Noura watched as Thom disappeared into one of the openings of the maze, but she was soon distracted by her own balance. Equilibrium failed its course as she toppled over an object she couldn't recognize, until she was face-to-face, chest-to-bloody-chest with none other than Phoebe. Noura didn't even know the girl's last name, but she was covered in her pouring blood. The murderer had taken the time to extract the knife, probably to wander off and continue the weapon's personified killing spree. For a moment, Noura saw a sliver of life exit Phoebe's irises. It was gone completely when the living Noura lifted her hand to close the dead Phoebe's eyes.

Somberly, Noura picked herself up, and forgot the image entirely.

"Look what the Katalin dragged in," a female's voice rang out, above the chaos, behind Noura. Her body stiffened even more. Where she was cement before, she was now terra cotta, solidified into place. "I hear Katalins always land on their feet. Maybe we'll find out."

Unfortunately, as Anika grew closer, her statements only continued: "You know, I've heard of Kat on a hot tin roof, but what about on a hot tin grave? And, if you were in said grave, would we have to let the Kat out of the bag, or would we, again, say grave?" she rhetorically asked with an unrealistic tone of a hyperbolic storyteller.

"Smart," Noura muttered like she was calm, but, in all honesty, she had never been so afraid. "How long have you been waiting to say those?" she asked.

Anika spun Noura around. "Too long, and I'm not done."

"Oh, lucky me," Noura nearly spat.

"Soon, it'll be raining Kats and dogs. Or, you know, blood works better than dogs. They say Kats have nine lives, wanna test it?" Anika spoke like a true district one citizen. Pampered, egotistical, and able to embellish words like she was a Capitol actress. Noura was sure that audiences everywhere were getting a kick out of Anika's tirade.

"However did you come up with these?" Noura asked sarcastically. She was confused with where the confidence in her tone came from, and her mind, truly, only focused on Thom.

"I was just thinking..." she feigned a pause for an annoying, dramatic effect. "There's more than one way to skin aKat, and I'm looking forward to proving it."

At this point, Altrin was finding his way over, spear stained red with the blood of many. Behind him was Dayshia's mangled body, an impalement of her chest left the tip of Altrin's spear tainted. "Oh really, Anika, how many ways can there really be?" he asked, obviously in on the running gag.

"Well, many, really. Curiosity is the biggest problem, I hear." Anika laughed over her words, bending over to stabilize herself.

Noura rolled her eyes around the full circumference of her skull, so she missed the moment when Anika was abruptly stabbed- the sword going in one side and completely out the other- in the chest. Noura didn't expect it and she couldn't see who killed the Career. Altrin's eyes were wider than Noura's and, honestly, it made her laugh.

"What, Al? Kat ­got your tongue?" she asked with a frown. Her body didn't move, and she didn't know the full scope of how much time passed, but Altrin was soon laying half-dead on the ground beneath her. This shocked her, removing any, and all, remembrance of the situation. Her mind flourished with even more thoughts of discovering where Thom had gone. She bent over to close both of the tributes' eyes.

Looking down, fists clenched, Noura spotted a trail of blood, expanding from the district one pairing's bodies. It wasn't a straight-lined path, but a route of footsteps, all crimson. She shook her head, aware of surrounding danger. Checking around to see where the movement had gone, she still felt uneasy, unharmed.

The footsteps led her to an entrance of the maze. Before she walked, she halted before Dayshia's body, leaned over, and closed the terrorized eyes. The entrance, bordered by red roses and nothing else, felt, in simple terms,right. Something in Noura's subconscious told her to enter. However, around the first turn, all she felt was fear.

Attached to a wall of the maze, around the first corner, was a bruised, distorted, torn apart body of someone Noura hadn't expected to die so soon. Egan was tied up with vines and several branches stuck out, embedding themselves in his cut up skin. His face was emotionless, bare, yet terrified to an extent that sent shivers up and down Noura's spine. Feeling pitiful, she closed his eyes out of mercy. Someone else did the killing, so she felt compelled to bring the peace.

Conversely, citizens from all around the country were beginning to despise her. Everyone saw her as a killer, but why?

As her eyes left the horror and expected to meet empty space, she saw a shoulder brush past a corner up ahead. She squinted, believing the stigma would enhance her eyesight in the slightest. Forgetting about Egan, she walked faster to the next turn.

This time, when she noticed the disarrayed body, she didn't cringe. Even though, this time, there were two of them.

Myka. Athena. Noura hadn't even known the two would be together at their end, but maybe it just wasn't planned. Noura would never know; she'd only ever see the mess of blood, gashes, panic, and death. She sauntered closer, in order to be within reach of the girls, to close their eyes.

When her palm brushed over the face of Myka, the curly hair twitched and her whole body convulsed, as her hazel eyes widened instead of closed. Noura flinched backwards, face contorting in disgust and nightmare. She watched as the younger looking girl tore into Noura with a gaze of hatred.

"Why?" Myka asked, voice unable to carry much. Gradually, her seemingly small stature of seizures stilled, sending her down the stairway to, whatever was past death. Noura closed the youthful, dead girl's eyes.

Then, like she had before, she glanced over and saw a figure disappearing around a corner of the maze. Running, running out of breath, she tried her best to follow the person she thought was Thom.

She was right; it was him. As soon as she turned the next corner, her mind erased all of its capacity, and she couldn't really recall exactly how long she had been in the maze. But, against any wish she had ever wished before, she saw Thom standing there. His face was covered in blood, the same with his hands and legs, and his teeth contrasted brightly with the darkened red.

"Hey, Noura," was all he was able to say, before he drew back both of his arms, throwing them at a downward angle, thrashing into a boy's body.

He never had a Chance, Noura thought, drawing from the clever, pun-making beings of district one. Noura thought of herself as morbid at this point, for she was joking about Altrin and Anika, both deceased. At least, Noura thought they were gone.

"What're you doing here?" Noura asked, a sensation of something indescribable flowing into her voice. There was an array of contradictions coursing through her body. She felt unsafe with Thom's actions, yet protected by them at the same time. She was afraid of his eyes, but their color lured her in with their calamity. His hands were ones of murderous grace, appearing lethal, yet soft in a romantic way. None of this made sense to Noura. She was overwhelmed.

"What're you doing?" he asked. His words created an eerie echo around him. At the same instant, his hands freed the knife and it thumped against the ground. The blade hit with such a force that a few blades of glass were cut by a sharper blade than they. Like the grass, Noura's brain disconnected from the rest of herself. His mouth no longer moved, but the words continued to forcibly stammer throughout the air. Then, as if Thom was an anomaly of the maze itself, he merged with the hedge and disappeared, leaving Chance's body.

What're you doing?
What're you doing?
What're-
doing?
-you-you-you-
doing?
doing?
-you-What're-you-
doing?

What're you doing?

Like a crescendo wrapped in a mist of wistful whispers, the question repeated and repeated and repeated and repeated....over and over...until Noura no longer felt overwhelmed with the sounds, only detached. In a dream-like state, Noura wandered until she found an exit, leading somewhere she held no interest in.

Nearly surrounded by trees and shadows, Noura didn't have the motivation to look up and see the faces of the fallen tributes. A tint of blue masked the landscape and taunting music began its haunting. Hopefully, despite how unraveled the anthem made her feel, she would be able to live to hear that music once again.

However, what was odd about the sky of faces, were the victims.

Altrin, Anika, Athena-

Myka, Egan, Chance-

Phoebe, Dayshia-

It wasn't their names that held peculiarity, but the fact that Noura had encountered them all. With no memory of seeing any of the dead, all eight pairs of eyes were closed by her.

Noura believed that Thom killed them all, correct? Then why, when the tapes were replayed for those willing to re-watch, were they all seen being slain by Noura herself? Why, when Noura lay down, back against a stump, were her hands stained with the blood of eight different victims?

Hazily, there was no answer. At least, not for her.

District 11 Female: Dayshia Kelly

Dayshia was really, really regretting her choice for a token.

I mean, seriously? A multicolored wool bracelet? How pathetic. Makes me look like some sort of dork-which I am totally not. Who cares if it was Mom's? I could've bought something way cooler, like, say-a tube of my favorite lipstick!

The tube shuddered to a halt and Dayshia looked up, both startled and annoyed. As the glass wall around her vanished, Dayshia folded her arms and held her head up high, showing that she was unafraid to kill, and unafraid to win. She was unafraid to show that she was best. Her cool chocolate-brown eyes swept across the arena, and her daintily plucked eyebrows shot up-not too little, not too much-when Dayshia realized that she was centered in the middle of a maze. A freaking maze!

Oh, how terribly unoriginal. Bo-ring.

Still, there was nothing to do but wait as the timer started counting down from sixty. Dayshia sighed loudly, causing several eyes to shoot her way. Sixty seconds. So long. Dayshia hated waiting. She hated the suspense, the fidgeting hands of her fellow tributes. Was Dayshia the only one who was actually calm here? Oh, wait. Dayshia's brown eyes connected with the icy blue ones of another girl, a Career. She seems calm-ish. But weren't Careers usually better than that?

Speaking of Careers, Dayshia let her smile fade away from her face to be replaced by a scowl. They hadn't let her in their group, curse the idiotic bastards. Instead, she had to ally with some mere little girl from Eight-Phoebe something-and another two girls whose names Dayshia hadn't even bothered to remember. In training, Phoebe had approached her-rather nervously, Dayshia thought-and told her this whole, dumb, insignificant little plan that Dayshia promised she'll follow during the Bloodbath. Not. She was her own person, and she was going to do things her way. Dayshia Kelly was not running into the midst of battle and getting killed.

The timer struck ten, and all around her, tributes tensed on their pedestals. Dayshia just smiled on unruffled, knowing that she'd be fine. Everyone was going to run off towards the Cornucopia anyway-no one would bother about her.

Seven. Oh, come on already!

Five. Gosh, I hope I don't die.

Three. You won't die, Day, get a grip!

Two. But I have no weapons!

One. Too bad.

The gong sounded, the powerful sound ringing out around the circular center of the stone labyrinth. All around Dayshia, tributes leapt off their platforms, the majority of them charging like a herd of wild horses towards the gleaming silver horn, shoving and pushing each other to get there first. Others slunk away like snakes into the various entrances located around the labyrinth. Dayshia inhaled and exhaled, trying to calm her beating heart, still standing on her pedestal. Then, the first cannon sounded.

Startled, the girl jumped off her pedestal, before taking off like a rocket towards the nearest entrance. Suddenly everything became all too real. Dayshia ducked into a narrow entrance and kept on running, her breath coming out in ragged gasps.Someone just died. Ohmygosh. Someone died.

That could've been me.

Dayshia came to a fork in the road before veering left, taking a path at random. No, don't think like that, Day. You're Dayshia Kelly. You're better than all of them. You're smarter than them. You won't get killed.

Lost in her thoughts, Dayshia collided into something hard yet fleshy, and with a muffled shriek, fell onto the moldy, wet ground. Pain shot up her backside and Dayshia winced, before her eyes widened when she looked up into the face of Dan Lincoln, the boy from ten. He wielded a hunting knife in his right hand, and was looming down on her. Instinctively, Dayshia crawled backwards using the palm of her hands, her brown eyes glued on the razor-sharp blade that caught the sunlight. Dan smiled, before stepping forward. Dayshia stopped her crawl, her heart pounding so loudly that it drowned out the cannons and the far-away screams of the dying and wounded. Dan raised his knife, inhaling sharply.

In that split second, a million thoughts ran through Dayshia's mind. A million memories resurfaced. Emotions overwhelmed her mind and body as Dayshia looked on, eyes wide, at her impending death. One thought stood up from all the rest:

I'm going to die.

No you're not, piped up an annoyed, high-pitched voice fro the back of her mind. Dayshia's voice. Time seemed to slow.

Yes! There's a knife! Oh-my-god-I'm-going-to-die.

Shut up, wimpy. Think! You're Dayshia! Fabulous, beautiful! Smart! Strong! Fight, you idiot!

But-but, knife!

I see it, stupid! But you're not going to die at the hands of some insignificant district 10 boy! I don't allow it! If you have to die, then go save a whale or whatever. Die with honor. This, my dear Day, is not honorable.

But what do I-

Figure it out. You have, oh, approximately three seconds.

Time returned to normal, and Dayshia blinked, surprised, as the knife came whooshing down onto her face. Her mind suddenly jumped to overdrive, and screaming, Dayshia reached out and grabbed Dan's arm with all the force she could muster, before giving it a violent twist. Dan cried out in pain, the knife falling out of his hands. Seeing her chance, Dayshia wasted no time to bring back her fist and smash Dan's nose, sending the younger boy sprawling onto the grass. Dayshia stood up slowly, her muscles aching, before heading over to where the hunting knife lay and picking it up. The hilt of the weapon seemed to fit perfectly into her sun-kissed palm. Like, it was made for her.

What did I say, dummy? Asked the high-pitched voice again, in a slightly drier tone. You just have to think, that's all.

Confidence bloomed inside her chest, and grinning, Dayshia practically skipped over to where Dan was lying, blood trickling down his nose. His right eye was already a nasty shade of purple and blue. Dayshia couldn't be more proud of her work. She delivers a sucker punch, all right.

But would she kill?

Come on, Dayshia, said The Voice, sounding annoyed, Hurry up. Finish the job.

Hesitating slightly, Dayshia raised the hunting knife above her head with one hand, while pinning Dan's body down with another. She sat there, knife poised above her head, ready to kill Dan. One less enemy.

She couldn't do it.

Oh, come on Day. What are you?

"Fabulous," Dayshia mumbled underneath her breath. Dan groaned, obviously in pain. But she didn't care, right? Because Dan was some insignificant boy from ten. Dayshia was obviously better. Dayshia was obviously more important than Dan.

And what else?

"Amazing," Dayshia breathed, clutching the hilt of the knife so tightly that her palms hurt, "Beautiful. Smart."

Then finish the job. Prove to the world that you are.

Inhaling sharply, Dayshia squeezed her eyes shut and plunged the knife downwards. Blood splattered the ground, some splashing onto Dayshia's face, and she let out a whimper. Fabulous, amazing, beautiful, smart. I don't care, I don't care.

Do I care?

Stumbling, Dayshia stood up, her eyes still tightly closed. Feeling lukewarm liquid wash around her fingers still holding the hilt of the knife, Dayshia swallowed down bile raising from her throat and yanked out the knife, gasping as she did so. Quickly, she forced her eyes open but didn't look at Dan's deceased body, instead staring straight ahead into the depth of the grey stone maze. Trying not to freak out, Dayshia carefully stepped over Dan's body before taking off like a rocket deeper into the maze, never looking back. The Voice had gone silent now, and the reality of Death was becoming clearer to Dayshia now. She had no idea how many more people had died. She hoped no more will.

Finally, Dayshia stopped, panting, at another fork in the path. The sounds of battle had long since faded away, and the cannons had gone temporarily silent. The hunting knife still trembled in her hands, and swiftly Dayshia pocketed the bloody weapon, trying not to break down and weep. Fabulous, amazing, beautiful, smart. That's what you are, Dayshia!

Am I? Or am I really a monstrosity that deserves to be killed?

The Voice didn't answer.

Sighing shakily, Dayshia swiped the blood splatters from her face wearily, before choosing the right path. She had been walking for a little less than an hour, lost in her thoughts, before something caught her eye. Something strange. Something strange about the sky.

Tilting her head up, Dayshia gasped in surprise as suddenly, a black orb of dancing shadows, appeared in the darkening sky. Dayshia watched, mesmerized, as it seemed to hover in the clouds for a few moments, before unexpectedly dropping like a stone into another part of the maze, not far from where Dayshia was. She waited a few seconds, tense and waiting, before the first scream was heard.

Dayshia recoiled back, her eyes now wide with horror, back pressed against the back of the grey stone wall. Oh my-what is this?! The scream sounded familiar, and Dayshia thought furiously to place it before a name jumped into her mind. Myka, the sweet girl from Three. Her screams cut off unexpectedly, throwing the entire arena into an eerie silence. But, not for long.

Dayshia nearly screamed herself as the black shadows raised up from the ground a few minutes, carrying Myka's limp and bleeding body in it's midst. She cowered against the walls, trying not to move, yet her eyes didn't seem to want to leave the shadows. She watched in terror-filled fascination as the shadows suddenly glowed brighter, energy radiating off evil silhouette, before the shadows suddenly entered Myka's mouth, making the young body shudder in mid-air.

Bloody hell, what is it doing?!

Then, as suddenly as it appeared, the shadows, along with Myka, disappeared into thin air.

Dayshia blinked, stunned beyond comprehension, as she unsteadily stood up, eyes searching the everlasting sky for any sign of the org of darkness. Was it gone, the thing? When would it come again? Myka, Myka, poor Myka...

"You shouldn't feel sorry for me, you know," piped up a sweet, innocent voice from behind her. Dayshia whirled around, hand instantly going for the hunting knife in her pocket. Her eyes widened as she saw Myka leaning causally against the wall, a few feet away from Dayshia, arms crossed.

"Wh-what?" Dayshia muttered, trying to keep her knees from knocking but failing. A lump appeared in her throat, and Dayshia struggled to keep it down.

"After all," Myka continued, paying no heed to Dayshia's trembling figure, "I'm still here, aren't I?"

"Who..." Dayshia nearly collapsed with fear. Her mantra of confidence was gone now, offering no comfort to her, "Who a-a-are you?"

"Oh!" Myka smiled, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. Her eyes. Dayshia stumbled backwards, smashing her back into the stone wall roughly, but the girl hardly felt the pain. For Myka's eyes were no longer a sparkly shade of hazel. No, far from it. They were pure, dark, black.

God help me.

"Who-who are you?!" Dayshia squeaked, holding onto the hunting knife like her knife depended on it-which it did, "Tell me who are you, bitch!"

"Well, Dayshia," Myka smirked, and shadows appeared around her small, petite feet. Dayshia looked on, petrified, as a long, tall scythe appeared in Myka's right hand. With that, before the girl's very eyes, Myka Sterling's body cracked open like a cocoon, revealing a gigantic figure dressed in ornate pitch-black robes, with a hood covering his-it's-face. The hunting knife dropped out of Dayshia's hand as she stared, panic-stricken at the demon in front of her. Her brain seemed to freeze up and stop completely. Oh my--

"Well, Dayshia," drawled the figure, twirling the scythe around his fingers with obvious skill, "Hello. I'm Death."

And with that, he lunged towards her.

The air around her seemed to drop a hundred degrees as "Death" approached, scythe in hand, shadows dancing at his feet. A rotting smell wafted through the air, and wherever the figure stepped, the grass turned black and withered before Dayshia's eyes. She couldn't think. Couldn't breathe. Couldn't do anything, except watch with terror-filled eyes at her impending death. Death's feline-like yellow irises suddenly glowed under his hood, and he swung his psyche at Dayshia's quavering figure. Dayshia squeezed her eyes shut and waited for the end.

Except, the end never came.

Feeling no change in her body whatsoever, Dayshia cautiously opened her eyes, just to see a large, iron pole-thing smash into Death's cloaked body. Death whirled around, scythe at ready, but before he could make a move, his body exploded into black shadows, and disappeared into the wilted grasses. Behind where the fiend had been only a second earlier stood Anika Brand, grasping the said iron pole. Her face was slick with sweat and her pale blue eyes were wide with shock-but they also held another emotion. Perhaps, pride?

Anika looked up at Dayshia's alarmed face, before swiping at some blood trickling out of her mouth, "Today's your lucky day, kid," she said dryly, before offering a hand to the jittery girl. Warily, Dayshia took it and stood up, swaying on her feet. Anika steadied her.

Once Dayshia thought she sort of had control over her voice, she swallowed and asked, "How did you--?"

"I didn't kill it. Its still out there, but I bought us time. We gotta move," Anika replied, her voice crisp and to-the-point. She bent over and picked up Dayshia's dropped hunting knife and handed it to her, before giving her back a hard-thump and moving down the pathway. Dayshia followed blindly after the blonde Career, stunned and shocked. In the depths of her mind, she hoped that her hairdo wasn't a mess.

"So," Anika murmured to herself, a thoughtful xepression on her face, "To get out we have to go right twice, turn left one, and follow the pathway until we see a bright light." Nodding to herself, Anika grabbed Dayshia's clammy hand and pulled her along, "Come on!"

As the two girls hurried along the path, Dayshia's mind suddenly whirled back to life, as If turned on by an invisible hand.

"Death came after me," she announced robotically, her pace starting to lag. Anika tossed her a queer look through her tangled blonde curls but kept on jogging. Dayshia followed, struggling to keep her cool. She would not freak out, no, no, no. She was Dayshia Kelly. Dayshia Kelly did not freak out.

"How did you know what to do, to kill that...thing?" Dayshia asked softly, stilling jogging after Anika.

Anika sighed loudly from in front of her, but answered, "I studied that stuff, okay? Back home, for training. As Daddy always said, 'Expect the unexpected in the Games'. And no, again, I didn't kill it. Iron repels demons. I happened to find an iron pole in the Cornucopia and took it for good measure."

"But-but," Dayshia stammered, as Anika veered sharply to the right, "It said it was Death. How can you repel Death?"

"It wasn't Death. It was a Reaper. Basically Death's minions. They collect souls." Anika stated causally, as if saying 'the sky is blue'. The couple turned around right corner, down an even narrower pathway.

Dayshia nearly gagged, "Then how can the Game Makers get a damn Reaper?!"

Anika shrugged, before suddenly yanking Dayshia to the left, nearly causing the other girl to lose her footing, "I don't know. It's probably not a real Reaper, anyway-no one can control them, according to the myths. Probably a hologram. Or a clone, at most."

"A clone became a shadowy thing, killed Myka, possessed her dead body, turned into Dea-a Reaper, and tried to take my freaking soul?!"

Anika nodded curtly, dragging Dayshia along, "That's about right."

As Dayshia spluttered incoherent words under her breath, Anika pointed to a small, white light in the distance. "There!" she cried, pointing at the light, "There's the exit!"

Suddenly energetic, Dayshia and Anika both charged straight towards the exit, as the bright speck of light suddenly grew bigger and bigger as they ran. Finally, the exit appeared, an ancient-looking stone arch with the words, 'Good Luck' engraved in crooked letters. The two girls passed under the arch and out into the sunlight, where Dayshia gulped in large amounts of fresh air. She was never going in that maze. Never. In front of her lay different sections of the arena, with a lush, green meadow directly in front of her. I want to go there. Looks good.

"Meadow?" Dayshia asked softly, glancing at Anika whose eyes were also glued on the grassland.

The taller girl nodded, a faint smile on her lips, "Meadow."

With that, the two girls headed towards the meadow, but Dayshia couldn't help but wonder why Anika had saved her. Why was she even there? How did she show up at such a convenient time?

"Well," Anika looked over her shoulder and flashed a smile at the girl, and Dayshia realized that she had voiced her questions out loud, "Let's just say you're worth it."

But as Anika turned to face the meadow again, Dayshia thought she saw the Career's icy blue eyes flash to a shade of pure black, but it was gone so quickly that Dayshia couldn't be sure. Nonetheless, the tribute felt cold to her bones as she followed behind the blonde Career. She didn't trust Anika. Not one bit.

District 12 Female: Heather Xaria Quire

No entry