CHAPTER FOURTEEN
SHE'S CHANGING

two years prior, the arena

"Are you okay?"

Malcolm is playing with some pulled thread from his bear, the events of earlier playing through his mind over and over again. Arella had killed somebody, murdered them in cold blood because of him. He had made her into a killer, she will have that on her conscience for as long as she lives. The girl had thrown herself in front of him at the first sign of danger — she hadn't even thought twice.

"It's just harder to see in person I guess," Malcolm breathes quietly, scooting closer to the fireplace. Arella has to stop herself from flinching at that, knowing that she'd been the cause of his distress.

Arella doesn't know what to say to that, how to ease his clearly troubled mind, because her own is running haywire. His innocent eyes hold a deeper disturbance, tainted by the horrors of the Hunger Games so quickly. The Capitol simply take and take from all of them, it's a harsh reality of how fast this young boy is going to lose every ounce of innocence with him because they feel as if the Districts deserve this.

"You should sleep a little," Malcolm suddenly says, taking note of the bags underneath her eyes. The shake of her head is almost instant, the last thing she wants him to do is be unprotected whilst she sleeps. "If you don't sleep, you won't be able to help either of us,"

The brunette watches him for a few moments, his words running through her mind. She knows he's right, realistically if she doesn't sleep, she won't be able to defend them. Arella doesn't want to break her promise to protect him, it would crush her if that were the case. Not fulfilling her promise would end with Malcolm dead and that's the last thing she wants — he deserves to live, he needs to live.

"Will you be okay?" Arella's voice is a little croaky as she looks to him.

Malcolm nods.

"You'll wake me if anything happens?"

"I promise,"

Arella gives him one last glance before settling on the blanket, closing her eyes and letting sleep overcome her rather swiftly. Malcolm looks at her for a few moments and can't help the small laugh that leaves his lips when she begins to snore lightly, the teenager already fast asleep.

The bear in his hands is what he glances at next, switching his eyes between the two of them before scooting over and laying it down beside her. In her sleep, rather unconsciously, Arella puts her arm around it.

Malcolm can't help but notice how peaceful the older girl looks when she's asleep, her expression soft and carefree which is the opposite of what she's been since they've been in here. There's a large part of him that wishes he'd met her before all this, known what she was truly like before she was labeled as a killer. Arella has shown him nothing but kindness, her heart gentle when with him, yet there's obviously more to her.

The boy leans against the wall and stares at the ceiling, listening to the sounds of nature outside of the window. He can't hear any people, he's extremely thankful for that, so it's simply the chirps of birds and the gentle patter of snow on the glass.

He doesn't know how long he simply sits there and waits for her to open her eyes, to wake up. Malcolm doesn't want to disturb her, she needs sleep.

"Is that a cabin?"

Malcolm straightens up, immediately scrambling over to his District partner and shaking her awake. The girl shoots up and the knife is instantly in her grasp.

"There's somebody outside," Malcom whispers.

Arella slowly gets to her feet and the young boy shelters himself behind her form, peeking around her body to see what's going on. The brunette stands beside the door so they'll be hidden when it opens up, which it does only moments later. Two girls stumble in, one of them letting out a relieved laugh.

Arella surveys them as best as she can, both of them are smaller than her and the only weapon she can see is one knife between the two of them. She could take them.

"Someone's only just been here," One of them mumbles, looking at the blanket on the floor and Malcolm's bear next to it.

"That kid from five was lugging this around on the flight here," The other responds.

"I'm surprised he's still alive,"

"You won't be much longer,"

Arella's voice startles to two of them, the girl emerging from her hiding spot and tilting her head as she stares them down. Their fear is evident, it radiates off them in waves, the girl holding the knife is shaking.

Malcolm moves as well but he still hides behind his protector, allowing her to take the lead in the situation. He trusts her with his life, he'll always trust her with his life.

"We don't want any trouble," Arella recognises her as the female tribute from District Nine.

"And yet here you are, intruding on our space. Not only that but you're making comments that I'm really not fond of," Arella hisses, referring to what they'd said about Malcolm.

"W-we'll leave. We will pretend we never saw this place,"

"I can't let you do that. How do I know you won't just come back here and kill us when we sleep?"

The girl with the knife is now holding it firmer, her knuckles paling. Arella glances at the weapon and then back to the two girls, her lips flicking up into the smallest trace of a smirk. Nine lunges at her but Arella is quicker, kicking her leg so hard that she lets out a yell and falls to the ground. When the other girl attempts to follow her ally, Arella uses her knife and slashes at her chest, a deep cut appearing through the split fabric.

Nine grabs a hold of Malcolm's leg as tightly as she can, wanting to find some sort of leverage in the situation but Arella stomps down on her wrist, the crack of the bone echoing throughout the room. She screeches in pain and holds onto her broken wrist with her free hand.

"You two never should have come here," Arella's voice is harsh and so unlike her that even Malcolm eyes her. "Mal, maybe you should go and hide in that box I found you in on the first day. You shouldn't have to see this,"

Malcolm nods shakily, his breath almost a stutter as he rushes off. Arella watches him go and waits until he's safely tucked away before turning her attention back to those who have threatened their safety, their security.

Malcolm holds his hands to his ears when he hears the first pained scream, scrunching his eyes together tightly so that he can try and hide away from what's happening just across the room from him.

He instead imagines life back home, his parents dancing in the kitchen as they cook a delicious lunch. Arella sits beside him, laughing with a couple of girls from their District, girls he's seen around his home that are around her age. She looks so carefree, so happy. None of them have a worry in the world, how life should be.

Malcolm hums a nursery rhyme from his childhood as he rocks back and forth.

Arella throws the knife to the side, dragging the two girls outside and letting the two canon sounds fill her ears. She was merciful, never cruel, even if they were here to hurt them. A quick death, that's what everybody will get from her because whilst this arena may turn her into a killer, she'll not be a cruel one.

Kneeling down on the ground, Arella uses some of the snow to help and clean off the blood on her skin. It's minimal but it's there and she knows it'll scare Malcolm so she'll try her absolute hardest to make it go away.

When she returns indoors, Arella walks over to where Malcolm is hidden away and helps him out. She tries to ignore the fact there's tear tracks down the sides of his face, pulling him into her embrace and allowing him to clutch onto her like a lifeline.

"We're okay, Malcolm. We are going to be okay," Arella soothes, gently caressing his hair in a way that can only be described as motherly.

Arella can hear the sounds of the planes that take away those who pass and she knows that those two bodies will now be gone. Two more threats wiped out and only a step closer to sending Malcolm home.

One step closer to fulfilling her promise.

note!

The games are beginning to get to her....

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I hope to see you next time!

made by fireandbloods