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A throbbing pain in my head is the first thing I feel when I wake up. I sit up slowly, shoving my headache away, and focusing my attention on the scene around me.

Triton, Bane, Seth, and Jonah are all tied to large crates. We are somewhere in a cave, which wreaks of blood and rotting flesh. I almost gag, then notice that I'm tied up, too.

"Finally awake, are we?" Leane asks, coming from nowhere. How do they do that? It's like they just disappear, then reappear whenever they want.

"Yes," I spit.

"Someone's in a bad mood," She rolls her eyes. "But now that you're awake, we can get on with the fun."

"What fun?" I question.

"You'll see."

Maria, Creve, the unknown boy, and Chris all walk into the cave, weapons in their hands. I yank on the ropes that are wrapped around my wrists tightly, trying to get free.

"Don't." I growl.

"We'll do as we please." Maria speaks up. I scoff at her.

"I'm so happy we killed your little boy toy, Lance," I taunt. "He was such a waste."

"You'll pay for that, Clark," She fumes.

"Whatever. We all know that I always win."

"How so?" She raises an eyebrow angrily.

"Well, you see Maria, no matter what, even if you do win, Lance will still be dead. So have fun winning," I grin evily. "Now how are you going to punish me?"

"This," She says.

In a quick motion, a spear is thrown into Jonah's chest. I let out a loud cry as he falls to the ground on his knees, blood pooling from his wound. He gasps for a second, a croaking sound burning in his throat.

"BURN IN HELL!" I yell at her as she smirks. But I don't let my tears slip. "Jonah?"

Small noises come from him, like they did Laila. But to my horror, his cannon doesn't fire. He's going to suffer.

"Lana, don't let them get to you," Bane says, struggling against the ties that hold him.

I close my eyes tightly, and listen as Jonah's cannon fire. I choke back a sob, biting my cheek.

"Aww, such a shame," Chris pouts. "Your boyfriend's dead. Are you gonna cry yet?"

I don't say anything as I stare at the ceiling.

Be strong.

"Do we have to kill another one of your allies?" The boy asks, twirling an axe in his hand.

"No," I say calmly.

"Okay then," Leane nods. "But one of us has to win. And it has to be today."

"What we're going to do, is give the Capitol a show," Chris pipes.

"And how are we going to do that?" Triton asks them.

"It's pretty simple." Leane shrugs. "A blood bath. After we kill the four of you, the rest of us will battle for the crown."

"So you're just going to hold us hostage, then slaughter us?" Seth interrogates.

"Yes," She replies simply.

"Well, there's one flaw in your plan." I say steadily.

"And that is . . . ?" Maria trails off.

"You always underestimate us." I send her a wink. Triton, Bane, and Seth rip themselves free of the ropes, with me following. I throw a knife into the boy's forehead, grinning as his cannon goes off.

"Life for a life," I shrug with a chuckle.

That's my new punchline.

Maria's head is taken off by Triton's trident, and her cannon fires right after the boy's. Seth and Bane stab Creve repetitively, until his cannon sounds throughout the arena.

Leane and Chris somehow get away from us, but stab Seth in the back before they take off. My eyes widen as Seth falls to the ground.

I kneel down beside him, and watch as he coughs up blood.

"Bane, Triton, you have to make sure she wins," He says softly, fighting through the pain that is evident in his eyes. "She has to win."

"No, Seth, please don't die," I beg, staring down at him. He smiles, and caresses my cheek.

"Win. For me," He murmers as I nod. "Promise me."

"I-I promise." I stutter.

He gives me one last warm smile, before closing his eyes. A cannon fires, my heart breaking inside my chest. I keep my eyes on Seth's now limp body.

And I finally break, letting a single tear fall from my eye.

___♕___

"I want to be the one that kills Leane," I speak up as I sit in the cornucopia with Triton and Bane.

"Lana-" Triton starts.

"No." I cut him off. "She did this to them. And I want payback."

"Fine. But they could be anywhere, and I seriously doubt they're in the same place," He caves, Bane nodding in agreement.

"We need to wait until morning to do it, that way they won't expect us." Bane states.

"No," I shake my head. "We're going while they sleep. They'll least expect us then. They already think we're exhausted, so why give them a chance to run?"

"That's a good idea. But we have to find them first," Triton says.

"We also have to consider the fact that there could be mutts sent here by the gamemakers." Bane speaks up. "The Capitol will want an action-filled finaly."

"There won't be any mutts," I shake my head, once again. "I know for a fact."

"How?" Triton raises an eybrow.

"That's not important right now. We need a plan."

"Okay then, leader. Tell us the plan."

___♕___

When night falls, I feel ready to attack Leane immediately. After all, she was the one to kill all of my allies. It might've been my fault, but she is responsible for it. Therefore, I will torture her until she begs for me to kill her, then torture her some more.

Chris is Bane and Triton's kill. Apparently, they've wanted to slaughter him ever since he threatened me. So in the end, the Capitol might have to accept three winners.

Hopefully.

The three of us slowly make our way through the woods, knowing exactly where Leane and Chris are hiding. It took Bane a lot of thinking, but he finally decided that they would be hiding on low grounds, not in trees like they were. Therefore, they would be hiding in an obvious place: the lowest part of the arena.

It took us a while to figure out where the lowest point is, but with a map that was sent in a parachute by Paul, we found it.

I duck down even lower than I was before, hoping that I wouldn't get caught yet. If I do die, I want to die after I know that Bane is safe.

"Did you really think that our spots are obvious?" A familiar voice asks from behind us.

Leane.

"Yes, actually." I say, nodding my head as I turn to her. Bane and Triton stand next to me in a protective stance, ready to attack Chris at any given moment. "Why else would we be here?"

"To find a place to cry some more," Chris glowers.

"Lets just get this over with." I roll my eyes. "I'm tired of your bullshit."

I run at Leane, slicing her stomach with a grunt. But to my surprise, she doesn't even wince before throwing her own knife into my thigh. I groan in response, but rip the knife out to throw it into her shoulder.

I take her pain to my advantage, and look over at Bane and Triton who are winning the fight with Chris. But Chris is staying very strong, blocking everything they throw at him.

I guess Leane notices my distraction, because the next thing I know, I'm thrown into a tree. I gasp for my breath as I hit the ground roughly. Leane waves at me in a girly way, then jumps on top of Triton.

"No!" I yell as Triton doesn't see her coming. She straddles him, holding down his limbs. Bane throws a kick to Chris' ribs, then receives a blow to the jaw.

I lie on the ground, helpless, as I can barely breathe. I put my hands on the ground, trying to lift myself up, but fail as I fall back to the ground. I know for a fact that at least three of my ribs are broken.

Everything seems to go in slow motion as Leane glances at me, smirks, then stabs her knife right into Triton's throat.

That's when I scream.

I finally find the will to move as I jump from my position, and throw Leane to the ground, off of Triton. I straddle her, then stab her repeatedly, even after her cannon goes off. Blood covers my body, and I continue to mutilate her body.

Remembering Triton, I get off of Leane's dead corpse, and fall at Triton's side. He gapes for air, blood soaking his shirt. I press down on the wound, trying to stop the blood.

But I can already tell he's going to die.

"I'm so sorry," I whisper, placing my hand on his cheek. He swallows hardly, and shakes his head.

"You h-have to win." He croaks.

I choke on my tears, and nod at him.

I won't be keeping this promise.

I kiss Triton on the forehead, and let it last as a few tears fall from my eyes. He gives me one last smile, then falls limp. I sniffle, but wipe my tears away as his cannon sounds. With a last look at him, I stand up, looking around me.

I run over to where Bane and Chris are fighting, my vision still blurry with tears.

But they're so far away!

I can't see what's happening, but I watch as Bane stabs his spear into the back of Chris' head. A cannon fires, and I almost cry out in relief.

But as I get closer, I almost quit breathing. As Chris collapses in front of Bane, Bane stares down at his stomach, clutching a knife that Chris had impaled him with.

"No," I breathe, feeling my heart stop in my chest.

Bane falls to the ground just as I get to him. I hover over him, looking down at him with wide eyes.

"Bane, just breath okay?" I say, trying to stay calm. "You're gonna be fine."

He can't die.

I touch the wound lightly, then breath heavily again, starting to panic.

"I don't know what-" I cry, letting the dam of tears bust. "I don't, I-I can't-"

"Lana," He says, touching my cheek. "It's okay."

"No, it's n-not, Bane!" I yell. "I was supposed to help you win! And I failed."

"You didn't fail, Lana," He whispers. "You kept your promise to everyone. And now you have to keep a promise to me."

I can tell he's in pain from the way his chest rises and falls slowly.

"I don't want to win, anymore!" I sob. "I don't want to live without you, without all of them!"

"You have to," He says. "Do it for all of us."

I shake my head, and bury my face into his neck.

"I'm so sorry this had to happen to you," He whispers.

"I was the one who volunteered, remember?" I ask, sitting up.

"Still . . . " He trails off. "Even though I didn't win, I would like to think that I changed your life. Hopefully, you'll remember me."

"Of course I will," I smile sympathetically, tears falling freely. "How could I ever forget you?"

He chuckles painfully, shaking his head.

"I love you, Lana Clark."

My breath catches in my throat.

"I love you too, Bane Haze," I reply without hesitation. Then I lean down, and kiss him like I never have before. He smiles into the kiss, and pulls back slightly, wincing at the pain in his stomach.

He stares at me for a moment, before letting a small smile fall onto his lips.

When his cannon fires, I completely lose it.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the winner of the 100th Hunger Games," Benjamias announces over a loud speaker as I fall back, realization hitting me hard.

I won.

I actually won.

But I never knew winning could actually mean losing . . .

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