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f i f t e e n

| " D E A D . " |

___♔___

"Lana, c'mon. It's time to get up." Someone says from overhead, waking me from my peaceful sleep. I open my eyes to see all of the careers, including Seth's group, surrounding me with expecting eyes.

"What?" I question, rubbing the sleep from my eyes as I sit up with a groan.

"Can you walk?" Seth asks. I look down to my thigh only to see that there is no longer a gash where Deedee had stabbed me. There isn't a single scrape on my body, including my side.

"Probably." I reply with a smile, happy with the results. Seth and Triton put their hands out, and I take them. I lift myself off of the ground without any pain, letting out a small chuckle as I steady myself on my feet. "I guess the medicine did work."

"It sure did," Lily chimes. "Now lets go hunting."

Seth grabs my hand, holding it as we walk. Triton and Bane shoot him disapproving glances, only to be ignored by both of us.

"We need to take the waterfall route. If there are any sane tributes, they'll be getting water before they dehydrate." Grace speaks up, turning around to glance at the others.

"But that's the problem. We don't know where the water is," I shake my head. "Unless you guys have saw it."

"Well, I'm sure we'll find it. But for now, lets split up into three groups," Grace states.

"Grace, Triton, and I are a group. Then Raley, Seth, and Bane. Last group is Lana, Jonah, and Lily," Laila speaks for Grace. Protests are cut off by Laila as she rolls her eyes, holding up a hand to silence the. "Just shut up and listen to me. Go in different directions. Meet back up at the cornucopia before dark, now move it."

At her snap, the others begin to disperse into their groups, Jonah and Lily stepping over to me.

"Lets head south," Jonah suggests. I nod, taking the knife that he hands over to me. Lily pulls an arrow out, and readying it on her bow.

"Okay, lets go." She chimes.

As we leave the group, I finally notice that we're surrounded by not just the forest, but the wet ground. A smile lights up my face as I turn to the others, gesturing to the muddy ground beneath our feet.

"Guys, we're close to the river. There's mud everywhere, there has to be water nearby." I tell them, turning to run in a random direction. As Jonah and Lily follow me, I stop in my tracks suddenly, Jonah almost crashing into my back.

"I found the stream," Lily says from my left, pointing to a far direction. I grab her arm in an attempt to silence her.

I put my finger on my lips, Jonah furrowing his eyebrows in confusion.

What is that noise? It's not the river . . .

It's a crackling noise- one that echoes around us. I look all around me, only to be met with nothing. What the hell is going on?

"It's a fire." Lily whispers as she walks towards me.

That makes sense.

She walks in the direction of the noise, and I try to grab her arm in realization. No one would light a fire in daylight- not even someone who didn't know what they were doing. And they most certainly wouldn't do it in this weather.

But Lily walks right into the clearing, shoving away my attempts to stop her.

"Lily, no!" I yell, chasing after the girl.

Someone jumps in front of Lily before I can catch her, putting her into an immediate headlock. She scratches at the person's arms, looking to me with wide eyes. Jonah holds me back, despite the fear evident in his eyes- she was going to die.

"Well, well, well. Look who we found," Chris chuckles, his grip staying tight on Lily as he looks to me. "Have you finally decided to join us?"

"I'll never join your group," I snap, eyeing the girl in his hold. I struggle against Jonah, aching to lodge my knife into Chris's chest.

"Wrong answer," He says, clicking his tongue with a smirk.

Then everything seems to move in slow motion. Chris pulls Lily from the headlock, and slicing her throat in an instant. She screams out for a moment, then begins to choke on her own blood when she falls to the ground.

The girl moves violently for a few seconds, before going limp as I cry out.

"No! Lily!" I yell, tears hot against my cheeks.

"Chris?" Someone asks from the brush, catching my attention. Leane, Maria, Lance, and Creve step out of the bushes, their eyes focused on Jonah and I.

"We have to go, Lana!" Jonah yells, pulling me through the woods with him. Protests ring out from behind us, followed with close footsteps. But they soon stop, as well as the yells.

I sob in between my jog, my heart pounding in my chest. The backpack and water canisters weigh me down as I keep sprinting beside Jonah, choking through my tears.

"It's okay, Lana." Jonah says soothingly as we slow to a stop. I throw my backpack on the ground, wiping away my tears in frustration.

"No it's not okay. Lily died because of me," I state, my bottom lip quivering.

"She didn't die because of you," He argues.

"Yes she did! If I would've traded to their side, Lily would be alive and well right now. You can't tell me I'm wrong."

"The games work this way, Lana. It's supposed to be like this."

"Yeah, well this shouldn't be happening. These games aren't helping anything." I shake my head, staring at the sunset with tears still clouding my vision. "C'mon, we need to get back to the cornucopia before the others come looking for us."

___♕___

"Where's Lily?" Grace asks as we enter the cornucopia, her eyes searching behind us for the girl. I slouch into the ground next to Seth, laying my head on his shoulder as I close my eyes.

"She's dead, and it's all my fault," I reply, fighting back the tears that begin to well up in my eyes again.

"She died?" Triton asks as his group comes into view, his lips parted in surprise.

"Yes, she did. Chris slit her throat," Jonah mumbles, laying his head on the wall behind him.

"You guys ran into Leane's group?" Bane asks, earning a nod from me.

"It was terrible. I told them that I wouldn't join them, so Chris killed her," I manage, my voice cracking. "It all happened so fast, we couldn't do anything."

"It wasn't your fault," Seth assures me, rubbing my back.

"Yes it was," I snap, sitting up. "She was your ally, and I was supposed to keep her safe, but I didn't. You should be angry with me."

"You tried to keep her alive, Lana. That's all that counts." Triton speaks up.

"Whatever. I'm keeping watch tonight." I stand up, moving towards the opening of the cornucopia stubbornly. Triton grabs my hand, keeping me in my place.

"No you're not. You're sleeping next to me tonight," He says with a small smile, pulling me into a corner.

"Ugh. You know guys, that sounds really disgusting," Laila says, sticking her tongue out at Triton. He does the same, narrowing his eyes at her.

"Stop acting like two year olds. Laila and Grace, c'mon. We're taking watch." Raley commands. I use Triton's chest as my pillow when I lay down, sighing as memories flood over my vision.

"What is it?" Triton questions, staring down at me.

"I'm just still grieving over Lily." I reply quietly.

"Don't think about it, and get some sleep. I promise everything will be fine."

He's right. Just don't think about it.

___♕___

I wake up to a scream. I jolt up, looking around me frantically. I grab a knife and look to the other careers in pure panic, my eyes still glazed over from sleep,

"Who screamed?" Bane asks, pushing himself into a standing position with a weapon readied in his grasp.

"I'll go check." Grace says, grabbing her sword without another word.

"I'm coming, too," I pipe.

And before anyone can protest, I follow Grace outside. We follow the screams far into the forest, stopping at a clearing where three figures rest in the distance.

My eyes widen when I look over the scene, bile rising in my throat from the horror. Liam and Nason stand over the girl from District thirteen.

Her arm is severed, almost cut off from what I can tell. There are gashes covering her body, a gag triggered within me from the amount of blood that pools around her.

"Help! Someone help me!" She screams as Liam readies his axe, holding it high over her head.

"Stop!" I yell, Liam and Nason turning to look at me quickly.

"Lana, what the hell are you doing?" Grace whispers in my ear threateningly. "We need to get out of here!"

"Trust me," I murmer, low enough so the others can't hear.

"Hello, princess. It's a pleasure to be in your company," Liam speaks up sarcastically, dropping the axe to his side. The girl sighs in relief, her eyes flashing to me.

"Yeah, it sure is," I scoff. "Just leave her alone, and I won't slaughter you where you stand."

"You slaughter us?" Nason asks with confidence lacing his voice. "I don't think so. You see, that's the difference between us. We don't hesitate to slaughter people. But you, on the other hand , . . . "

"You couldn't kill a fly." Liam finishes. "Especially since your brother got murdered. I bet he was glad that he got reaped. I mean- at least he got away from you, right?"

My heartbeat speeds up.

"Shut up." I growl, glaring at the boy with pure hatred.

"It was unlucky for him to get a twin like you. I bet he was glad when he took his final breath. I'm surprised he actually kept that locket on while he was in the arena, seeing it was bad luck since you gave it to him."

"I said SHUT UP!" I yell. In a flash, my knife is lodged into Nason's chest, and another into Liam's forhead.

Two cannons go off as I burst into tears, sinking to the ground. Grace looks over the bodies in shock, before falling to her knees next to me. Another cannon goes off, signaling the death of the girl on the ground.

What have I done?

"Lana? Are you okay?" Grace asks frantically, looking me over. I shake my head, and wipe away some of my tears. Footsteps are heard, coming in our direction as Grace's eyes widen.

"C'mon, we have to go. Someone's coming," She whispers. But she's too late. In a short moment, three people step into the clearing.

"Thank god." I mutter as I take in the sight of Bane, Triton, and Seth. Triton takes one look at the bodies of Liam, Ashly, and Nason, then looks back to us.

"What happened here?" He asks.

"Lana killed Liam and Nason. The girl died from blood loss," Grace says hesitantly, pulling me up from the ground.

"Are either of you hurt?" Seth asks.

"No, Lana saved us." Grace tells them.

"Okay, lets head back to the cornucopia," Bane says in relief, leading the four of us back with his arm around my waist.

But as I sit back down on an empty crate in the cornucopia, I can't help but let those words replay over and over in my mind- haunting me like a nightmare that would never go away.

Could those words be true?

"It was unlucky for him to get a twin like you. I bet he was glad when he took his final breath."

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