WHEN THEY GOT BACK TO THE CAVE, Elias refused to engage with them. Minutes after they'd cleared out of the area and made it back to the river, carefully avoiding the traps within the forest, a hovercraft had been sent for Lila's body.

When they heard the quiet roar of the hovercraft overhead, they celebrated. Iko even let Titus pull her into a one-armed hug before he moved onto dogging after Elias about his first kill like a proud parent, even though Elias was clearly not in the mood. Even when Titus tried to congratulate him, albeit sarcastically and with cruel intention, Elias acted as though they didn't exist. He'd always been quiet, always sat apart from them. Now, though, he'd withdrawn so far into himself they couldn't reach him, and they didn't try. Iko had shrugged off Elias' antisocial behaviour early on. As long as he didn't do anything out of turn, it wasn't her problem. The arena demanded blood, and they had paid their respects.

Iko's only regret was that she wasn't able to kill Elias' district partner herself.

In the morning, Iko woke to the sound of Titus shuffling around the cave, shaking them awake. The swelling in Opal's leg had gone down considerably, and she was walking almost normally now. Running was a whole other story, but their mission today was just to check the traps they'd set the evening prior.

Since they'd set up traps in the forested hills on either side of the river, Alex decided it was more effective to split the hunting party in half. Iko, Sage and Alex would comb one side of the valley, while Titus and Opal checked the traps on the other. As usual, they left Elias with the supplies—it wasn't much of a choice there, really, since he refused to speak with any of them, and had voluntarily sat down by the crates while Alex proposed today's program.

"This one's empty," Alex said, slightly disgruntled by the undisturbed snare. It was their third one already.

The sun bore down on them, pressing its hands into their shoulders and hurrying them up the hills.

"Maybe someone saw you guys setting up," Iko pointed out. "Plus, the other four tributes could be hiding anywhere else outside of the valley. This is just one part of the arena, remember?"

"Maybe you should make more traps and set them up anywhere else outside of the valley, then," Sage snapped, slanting Iko an incendiary glower. She'd been quiet all morning, even when they left, she hadn't tried to crack any jokes. Especially not to Iko, whom she'd been giving the cold shoulder the entire time. Iko hadn't thought it was a big deal, plus, she had an idea of where Sage's hostility was speaking from.

Iko sent Sage a flat look. "Don't be a child. You made a mistake last night. You could've gotten us killed. Don't act like I'm the one at fault here."

Alex sighed, but didn't intervene.

Sage's face flushed a furious red.

"Me? Be a child?" Sage sneered. A dangerous glint flashed in her eyes. "Take a look at yourself, Two. From day one you've been acting like everyone else is beneath you. You think you're better than me? You don't call the shots around here. You've proven nothing."

Iko flicked her an unimpressed look. "And you've just proven you don't think at all."

With a menacing snarl, Sage took an aggressive step towards Iko, towering over her like she was about to snap her like a twig. In a flash, Iko had a knife in her hand, poised to shred Sage's intestines to ribbons if she tried anything. She met Sage's nuclear glare with a cool glower. If Sage's pride was hurt from last night, when Iko took disciplinary action against a particularly stupid call on Sage's part, then Iko wouldn't be in the wrong to off her there and then, especially when she posed a threat to the Career pack.

"Back off, Sage," Alex said, his voice like stone. "Now."

Sage bristled, the fury in her eyes still raw and bright. A beat passed and, without taking her heated gaze off Iko, she took a step back.

"Can we get moving before the others catch up with us?" Alex drawled, pinning Iko with a warning look.

She ignored him, and shouldered her way to the front, gripping the knife in her hand so tight it felt like the hilt could fuse into the flesh of her palm. If it were up to Alex, maybe he wouldn't have hit Sage. Maybe Iko struck Sage because—even though she was happy to go with whatever the pack wanted, happy to kill, happy to contribute to eliminating as many tributes as they could before it was time to split—the girl was a loose canon. Announcing their presence to the entire world when stealth was very much required to catch virtually anyone in this arena was a stupid move. Maybe Iko hit Sage because someone needed to be the victim of her aggravation. Granted, it wasn't like she had time to dwell on whether the action had made her feel any better.

By the time they got to the fourth trap, which was empty, Iko and Sage were happy to ignore each other.

As they were trekking up to the final one, a burst of static crackled from their radios, then, Titus' voice came through. "There's no one on our side of the valley. Any luck with yours?"

Alex was the first to react. "Not yet. Meet us at the last trap."

"Copy that."

And then the line went silent. Alex pocketed his radio. They kept going, climbing with the sun. Sweat poured down Iko's back as her calve muscles burned from the gruelling hike, her pulse thrumming in her neck, a reminder that she was still human.

Iko was about to suggest they just keep going past to explore a new sector of the arena, since the forest was too quiet, too devoid of struggle, until she saw it. The ropes, tied between two trees had been raised two feet off the ground. Alex and Iko shared a glance. The trap had been activated. A morbid thrill shot through Iko's veins. True enough, at the centre of the trap, like a fly caught in a spider's web, a boy, tangled and helpless in the net, his arms twisted in the ropes. His dark eyes were wide, fearful and darting to and fro as Iko, Alex, and Sage stepped into view. All the colour seemed to drain from his face.

"Lost your way, kid?" Sage mused, smirking.

Iko took a step closer. Something deep within the boy snapped. He began to thrash violently like a deer in a bear trap, desperation overruling rationality. The net held. Nothing would save him now. An animalistic snarl emitted from his throat as he started chewing on the rope pressing against his mouth, trying to gnaw his way out. Still, his efforts were futile. As far as everyone knew, this boy was already dead. Brick by brick, Iko thought. One step closer to the throne.

"Should we wait for the others?" Sage asked, not taking her eyes off the trapped boy.

Alex started to say something, but Iko wasn't listening.

"No," Iko said. She blinked, and the world crackled sharply into view with a sudden clarity that clouded her vision. "I think it's about time we gave the Capitol the show we promised them."

Iko cocked her head, studying the boy. He was stretched sideways, all baby-faced and thin from near-starvation. He looked no older than fifteen. Iko stepped over the rope to inspect the number on the back of his shirt. 11. Looks like District Eleven wasn't going to have a victor. Again.

The knife in Iko's hand flashed in the light as she flipped it over her knuckles. He went so still Iko thought he'd died from shock, but his chest heaved, his eyes were seeing, and he was going to be her kill. And although it wasn't something she often did, she was going to have fun. Iko crouched down to eye-level and dug the tip of her knife into his cheek. The boy flinched, and the blade dragged a shallow red line just under his eye. Breathing hard, the boy whimpered like a scared animal.

In one swift move, Iko slipped the knife under a knot and slashed upwards.

The ropes slackened and gave and the broken net spat the boy back onto the forest floor. He coughed, groaning as he shook off the abrupt impact, and Iko could see now, the angry ligatures were the ropes bit into his skin. Blood trickled down his pale forearms from red abrasion burns on his wrists like he'd torn his skin open from yanking his arms too hard against the ropes. He must've been trapped here the entire night, just after Elias killed Lila. Nonplussed, the boy blinked, fear and confusion clouding his eyes as he lay on the ground. He met Iko's gaze as she straightened to her feet and nudged his shoulder with the toe of her boot, pushing him over onto his stomach. When his eyes met Iko's stare, filled with mild interest and zero remorse, they were charged with something that sent a shot of adrenaline down Iko's spine. Pure fear.

Iko grinned. "Run."

Scrambling to his feet on his hands and knees, the boy kicked up dirt as he half-stumbled away, as though he were just learning how to walk.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Sage asked, arching a brow.

Iko shrugged. "It's more fun this way."

Watching as he staggered through the underbrush, scaring a small pack of rodents out of a bush, Iko counted down to three in her head. When the boy was a good twenty feet ahead, Iko flipped the knife over her knuckles and took the shot. The knife sliced through the air for a second before striking the back of the boy's thigh. With a pathetic cry, the boy fell, clutching his leg.

"You missed," Sage said, condescendingly.

"No, she didn't," Alex said in a tone of steel, watching as Iko stalked towards the boy. Better than anyone, he knew what she was doing. She was staking her claim over the crown, over the title of the perfect monster, the way she'd carved her name into those boys' flesh back in the Academy just for doubting her abilities. She was sick of the inactivity. Sick of being the prey instead of the predator. Iko was wired for a fight, and this was the only way to quench her blood-thirst.

The boy cowered as Iko's shadow fell over him. She bent down and yanked the knife out. Blood sprayed out in a small stream, drenching the knife ruby-red. The boy squealed in pain. Iko kicked him onto his side, the blood rushing to her head, a high-pitched whining in her ears drowning out the rest of the world. All she was was red. All she smelled was the coppery tang of blood staining the air.

All at once the world tunnelled and there was only the wicked rush twisting and unravelling in her gut, secretly savoured and addictive. Like a long term smoker ached for another cigarette from a dismally empty carton, like an insanity driven morphling frantically searching for another untapped vein, like an arsonist and the incessant need to watch the world burn to ashes; it was her ultimate vice. This—this was better than catharsis could give. Power. It felt like corrupted oxygen, tasted of sadistic currency. There was never enough of it.

"Get up." Her eyes were ice and her words exiled mercy. There was not a bone in her body capable of sympathy in the moment. All that had been excised the moment she stepped into this skin. Why waste time chasing good when you could live a monster?

The boy whimpered, scrabbling at the ground in an attempt to get to his feet. Iko watched, grinning wickedly as he collapsed when he tried putting weight on his hurt leg.

And even in uncontrollable fits of shining, blind mania, she relished in the rush of power that came with the adrenaline. People called her obsessive, psychopath, inhuman—maybe she was all of those things; maybe they were just over-sensitive.

"I said, get up." Iko commanded, a venomous bite to her voice. A drop off blood slid off the blade, landing onto the tip of her combat boot. "Don't make me repeat myself."

"I can't," the boy sobbed, a disgusting mixture of tears and snot dripping down his face. He sniffled, his red-rimmed eyes widened, imploringly, rising to his knees, hands raised over his face, begging her for mercy she would not give. "I can't. Just get it over with. Just kill me. Kill me now, please. Please—"

In a lightning-quick motion, Iko cracked her knuckles across his face. His head snapped to the side.

"You are pathetic," Iko sneered, the high-pitched whining in her ear ratcheted up, like someone had wound up a dial, "are you not going to fight back? Your family must be so ashamed of you. How can you die knowing you're about to disgrace them?"

"JUST KILL ME!" The boy roared, ripping his vocal chords raw, and his face bore a new emotion. Contempt. "WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? COME ON!"

Red slashed across Iko's vision and she was moving before she could even think. Her arm lashed out and whipped the blade across the boy's face. The boy let out a scream of pure agony. Blood poured out of a gash that gaped open, running over his left eye. It was deep enough to rob him of all sight in that eye. But it wasn't enough to kill him immediately. Good. Iko wanted to take her time. She could only hope none of the others intervened. Especially Alex.

"Do not tell me what to do, fledgeling," Iko snarled, and something feral inside her broke out of its shackles.

She whipped the knife across his face again. In that moment the sheer action had cleared out every single distraction from her mind. Her head had never been as sharp as the knives she carried.

This time, he reacted quicker, and raised his arms over his head. Blood sprayed in a thin line across both forearms. Rage boiled her blood like there was lightning lashing through her veins, and the boy's screams were lost as the whining in her ears grew louder and louder as the frustration from the past two days worked its way out of her system as she slashed at the boy's face with unabated control. Until the world fell away into blood and mangled flesh. As she slashed and hacked and sliced, the lacerations blooming like a line of poppies dripping crimson, the easiness of it all brought a new nuclear wave of calm over her body, convincing her that everything was as it should be and the world was new and she was reborn in it.

Death by a thousand cuts. Iko had read about such ways of execution and torture from the Old Ages, before the Games were created. Before the Dark Days. Before Panem. Somewhere in the middle, a canon boomed in the distance but she didn't hear it, and the boy had stopped screaming and sagged to the ground like water, but nobody moved to stop her, as though they knew that if they did, they would be next.

Finally, the world came back in jagged pieces.

First, the whining in her ears had faded and Iko heard Alex calling her name. When she looked down, there was the body, rendered almost unrecognisable from the mess she'd made, all that blood smothering the nasty gashes she'd slashed into skin. The numbness began to recede, and all the feeling in her nerves bled back into her body. Still, her chest remained untouched. She turned, and the others were standing there, a couple feet behind. The silence of her mind was jarring, and so were the others. Opal and Titus had caught up with them, which made Iko wonder how long she'd really spent cutting up the body.

Iko blinked, flexed her sore fingers. Whatever mania had been clouding her head earlier had since dissipated, lifting off her shoulders like a clearing fog.

As Iko wiped the bloody knife on her pant leg and slid it back into its rightful sheath, she rejoined the group. Opal was staring at the body, clutching the cross around her neck and murmuring something indistinguishable beneath her breath, so quiet Iko was convinced she was just mouthing words. Titus only smirked at her, for once in his life refraining from commenting. Sage was grinning, all animosity and harboured resentment towards Iko having miraculously evaporated in the span of the time Iko had exhausted killing that boy. And Alex—

It was as if she'd traded places with the mutilated body.

He was looking right at her, but there was no recognition in the searing press of his piercing stare.

AUTHOR'S NOTE.
i never said iko was a good person.... 😳