| " G A M E S . " |

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I get out of my seat, ignoring the calls from Bane, Triton, and Seth, and storm to my living quarters. I bust down the door, and furiously look around the room. As soon as he's in my line of vision, I walk up to him, and slam him against the wall. My elbow is stuck into his neck, and he looks impressed with my actions. I scowl up at the man who's caused my problems, my hatred flaring severely.

"So Paul, this is your way of keeping me alive in the arena?" I hiss.

He chuckles, removing my arm from his throat.

"Yes, actually. It gives both you and the boys more sponsors. Of course I cleared it up with them and their mentors before I did it," He says.

"You IDIOT! DO YOU KNOW HOW THE CAPITOL WILL REACT WHEN THEY FIGURE OUT THAT THESE BOYS ARE LYING?" I yell in his face, flailing my arms.

"But that's if they are lying. Think of it this way, princess. What if they aren't lying when they say they love you?" He questions, grabbing my arms to keep me in place.

"You're lying." I manage, sucking in a sharp breath.

"Nope. If you want to check, you can go talk to them right now. They're actually quite interested in seeing you at the moment. Especially Seth, you didn't even know he liked you, let alone love." He says clearly. At this point, I'm shaking. "Are you okay? You're a bit pale."

"N-no. I mean- I'm f-fine. I'm just gonna go to my room," I say softly, and push myself into my bedroom with tears pooling in my eyes. I throw my heels into the wall as if the bottoms of them were knives. I toss my dress to the floor, punching the bathroom door with all of the force in me.

"This can't be happening," I whisper, and lay on the bed.

I'm in the 100th Hunger Games, and I am getting attached to people. It's not supposed to happen. Seth, Triton, and Bane have put themselves at risk by loving me. After I die-because I know I will- I don't think they'll take it too well.

I sigh, and let a single tear roll down my cheek.

I can't let them get hurt like I got hurt when Hollon died.

I can't.

___♕___

The next morning was awful. Aven had shook me until I decided to give up on sleeping. But the bad thing about today is something I've dreaded since I came to the Capitol. Today is the beginning of the Hunger Games.

So I'm screwed.

"Here, wear this." Aven says as he hands me a shirt and some jeans with combat boots. "You'll change into different clothes before you enter the arena."

I nod, and put on the clothes silently. After finishing, I walk into the living room with Aven. There is a negative vibe as everyone sets their eyes upon me- a vibe that I recognize as pure sadness.

I give them a fake smile, and sit down in a chair. Paul sits a plate full of food in front of me, and expectant look on his face.

"Eat all of it. Trust me, you'll be starving by the time you get into the arena if you don't eat." He states before taking a step back, then moving to sit down in his chair across from me.

I eat the food slowly, looking up from Paul when Bane enters the room. He smiles at me, and sits in the chair beside of me. Reena, Krystal, Leo, and Aven join us, all hesitant to sit down.

"How are you feeling?" Krystal asks as she places her hand on mine.

"Terrified," I reply honestly, my hands shaking in the slightest.

"Don't be. I promise, you'll win." She says confidently. Bane's hand caresses my back gently as he stares at me.

"No I won't. All these tributes think that they can just keep me from dying, but I don't think that's possible. What if I choose to commit suicide?"

"No. You won't commit suicide." Paul snaps.

"You can't stop me. If I feel like I'm at a low point, I'll turn to dehydration, starvation, or suicide."

"And how will you commit suicide if you don't have any weapons?" Leo asks.

"I'll throw myself into a lake." I shrug as if the answer were obvious.

"What if there are no lakes?"

"I'll jump off a cliff."

"What if there are no cliffs?"

"I'll fall out of a tree."

"What if there are no trees?"

"I'll walk myself right into the territory of Leane's group." I say smartly.

"I'll keep an eye on her. She won't be doing any of those things as long as I'm alive." Bane mumbles.

"Time to go to the hovercraft." Aven interrupts, tapping the watch that rests on his wrist.

"C'mon, Lana," Reena says.

"O-okay. But what about you guys?" I ask the mentors.

"We'll be at your landing." Krystal says reassuringly.

"I'll see you in the games," I say to Bane, swallowing down the urge to cry. He nods, and does something I've been longing for.

He kisses me.

"Sorry about this, love birds, but we have to go." Reena says, tugging my arm.

"Bye." I mumble before I'm yanked into the elevator, and out of our building. The hovercraft lands, and a Peacekeeper puts me in a seat that is attached to the walls of the hovercraft.

I gulp as Triton is seated on one side of me. Chris is on the other side of me, with Leane on the opposite side. Laila, Grace, Maria, and Lily are in the same hovercraft. Bane, Jonah, Seth, Lance, Creve, and the others are on a different one, from what I can tell. There are twelve people in each of them.

Chris nudges my arm as the rest of the tributes enter. I look over at him, spotting the smirk on his face. He winks, and I scoff. I turn my attention to Leane, and she has her eyebrow raised at me. I brush it off, clutching the seat as the hovercraft takes off. Triton tries to catch my attention, but I ignore him.

A lady walks up to me.

"Arm," She says plainly, and puts out her hand. I let her put the tracker into my arm, and squeeze my eyes shut as we land.

I don't want to do this.

"Alright, tributes. You are allowed to be with one of your mentors for five minutes, and it's your choice which one it is. After that, you will have ten minutes to change, and one minute to see your stylist before the games begin," The lady announces.

I have to see Paul.

When I get out of the hovercraft, I run up to Paul, watching as a grin appears on his lips.

"C'mon, we have five minutes inside of the preparation building." He says, leading me over to a large building. Inside, he shows me to a room specifically for changing, leaving me inside with my outfit as he waits outside.

After allowing myself to change into the accustomed outfit for the arena- of which consisted a black t-shirt, a pair of spandex leggings, and a tight black zip-up jacket- I exit, following Paul into my room.

I see the tube in the corner of the room, and turn away from it with a gasp.

"You need to hunt a ton as soon as the blood bath is over. Triton and the other careers, along with Seth and his group, are going to watch over you. Fill up canisters with water as soon as you can." Paul starts.

"Do I go into the blood bath?" I ask.

"No. Definitely not. You run into the woods, climb a tree, and Triton, Bane, and Seth will go looking for you. The others are taking over the cornucopia. Hopefully, Leane and her allies won't take it over first." He replies.

"I want to go into the blood bath." I state, shaking my head at his words.

His eyes widen.

"I thought you didn't want to kill anyone." He says, the confusion clear on his face.

"Well, I have to if I'm going to keep up my act for the Capitol. Most of these tributes are vicious anyway, so it won't really matter."

"You're still not allowed to go to the cornucopia. Don't even go for a backpack or weapon." He says sternly.

"But what if I run into someone on my way into the woods?"

"Hand to hand combat. Don't run away from them, put up a fight."

"Please Paul! I really want to run into the blood bath! It'll be good for me, I'll definitely get more sponsors." I whine.

"Fine, but you have to be allies with Triton." I scowl. "And you have to let him help you when you're in the blood bath."

"Fine." I cave.

"One minute." Benjamias announces through the intercom.

"Remember, you can win this. There will be people protecting you until their death, okay?"

"Got it," I murmer, trying to hide the shaking in my hands.

"Thirty seconds."

"You have to rely on us, okay? Don't believe anything you see in those games. All of it will be a part of our plan. Don't let any of it get to you." Paul says, copying what Krystal told me yesterday.

"Twenty seconds."

"Bye princess, I believe in you." Paul says. With a kiss to my forehead, he is gone. Aven walks-more like sprints- into the room, pulling me into his chest.

"You can do this." He says. Aven pulls away, and hands me a pin. It's a crown, and it's completely silver with gold and black diamonds on it. It's not very big, but it'll remind me of the good times I had here.

He puts the pin on the right shoulder of my shirt, and backs up. He smiles, and I finally see that his eyes are glossy.

"Aven, don't cry for me," I whisper, wiping away a stray tear from his cheek.

"Fifteen seconds."

"You need to get in the tube," He says. "Goodbye, Lana Clark."

I place a kiss on his cheek, then back into the tube.

"Ten seconds."

"This isn't a goodbye, Aven. It's a see you soon." I say quietly, and let my tears fall when the tube closes. He squeezes his eyes closed as the tube moves upwards, and I go with it.

When a blinding light is in view, I scrunch up my nose and eyes.

I look around, but it seems that all of my allies are on the opposite side of the cornucopia. Leane and her group are nowhere in sight. The tribute plates are set up in a circle, surrounding the cornucopia.

Backpacks and weapons are placed everywhere. Deedee is next to me, sending a glare my way, triggering a wince that shakes me to the core.

Then I gasp. This arena is the same one that was used in the seventy-fourth Hunger Games.

When I was getting my training score, the box was set into the woods-where the seventy-fourth games went down.

Benjamias gave me a hint . . . What if he wants me to win?

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