CHAPTER FIFTEEN
BROKEN PROMISES

two years prior, the arena

THE NIGHT passes by slowly, neither of the tributes able to get a wink of sleep after the earlier events. Malcolm is fiddling with his stuffed bear, a blanket wrapped around him as he tries to fight off the cold air. Arella, on the other hand, is staring at the door to the cabin with such ferocity that it may explode into flames any second. She's paranoid now, that she knows for certain, because anybody could stumble upon them like those girls had.

Malcolm wants to speak with her, wants to ask her if she's okay, but he can't bring himself to break the silence between them. She's now killed three people, three different individuals, to keep the two of them safe — to keep him safe. He isn't so sure how to approach the situation, her mind must be racing.

Arella is quite happy with the quiet between the two of them because it gives her the opportunity to listen in on what's happening outside. Any sort of sound will send her into defensive mode. The girl has already made sure that she's the closest to the door, the one who will be able to spring forward and fight off any threat that comes their way.

It is finally broken, however, when Malcolm seeks answers. "Do you know how many people are left?"

Arella doesn't move her gaze away from the door, simply shaking her head in response to his question. She hasn't been keeping any sort of count, it hasn't exactly been high on her priority list at the moment. Malcolm nods at her, taking her answer in and allowing the quiet to return.

He pulls the stuffed bear a little closer to him, seeking comfort in one of the two reminders he actually has of back home — the other being the girl sitting away from him. Malcolm knows his parents will be watching, praying for him to make it back home and with every passing second, he feels himself believing that he can. Arella has proven that she's more than capable of taking care of them, she hasn't allowed him to be harmed in the slightest.

Arella reminds him of his father's older sister, harsh to the outer circle but protective and loving of those within it. He truly wishes to make it out together but he knows it's impossible — for one to go home, the other has to die. It's grim but it's reality, Malcolm doesn't know if he'd be able to handle watching Arella die, if he'd be able to go on without her.

"You should sleep," Arella voices, the rough sound echoing throughout the cabin.

"I don't think I can," Malcolm admits, causing her to finally look away from the door. "What if somebody else finds us? If they could do it, surely the rest can,"

Arella frowns and pats the ground beside her, the boy not even hesitating to shuffle over to her side. He burrows herself into her warmth, allowing the older girl to wrap an arm around his shivering form. The bear is still tightly grasped in his hands, the frown on her face flickering up into the smallest of smiles.

"You never told me his name," Arella says, nodding to his token from back home.

"Would you believe me if I told you his name was Teddy?" Malcolm responds, a glimmer of childish amusement in his eyes.

Arella laughs, the first genuine laugh Malcolm has heard from her in a long time, and it sparks his own.

"Dad wasn't a very creative child," Malcolm smiles.

"I love it. Simple and straight to the point," Arella responds lightly.

Malcolm looks up at her for a few moments before deciding the speak again. "Could you tell me something about your childhood?"

Arella lets out a small breath, the sound shaky and almost hesitant. "Did I ever tell you about my big brother?"

Malcolm shakes his head, only having heard about him from the girl's interview days prior. It's not something he'd want to talk about either, losing somebody you love is awful but having to watch them die would be even worse.

"Elgar was a really happy person, even though we live in a world like this. He used to find these rocks around the district and bring them home so that we could decorate them. It was so silly at the time, none of them ever looked any good but he was so happy when he made them," Arella says, her eyes watering slightly.

"Do you still have any of them?" Malcolm asks.

"All of them. They're all lined up on one of the windowsills in our home. But, my favourite one is on this little table beside my bed. It's fading now but he drew a little halo on the top and stuck some leaves on the back,"

"Why?"

"He used to call me Angel, it was his nickname for me growing up,"

-—————

By the time morning rolls around, Malcolm has fallen into a rather deep sleep. He doesn't notice when Arella pushes away from him, grabbing a stray bucket from the corner so that she can grab some snow to melt. They'll need some more water to keep going, so she's going to get it for them. With Malcolm still asleep in the cabin, she won't stray far.

Humming softly, the girl shovels snow into the bucket with her hands, giving herself a break every now and again to stop the cold from setting in. There's not much sound around her, just the chirps of a few birds that are managing to brave the weather, hardly anything else. It's rather peaceful, as peaceful as it can be here.

Malcolm wakes not long after to an empty cabin and it causes his heart to race erratically. Arella's things are still here, which means she has finally decided to ditch him, but she's still not here. His protector has left their safe place.

He leaves the cabin and goes looking, spotting her not too far away as she collects snow. A sigh of relief leaves him, trudging over to her so that she can actually hear him and won't turn around and attack.

"Arella," Malcolm calls her name quietly and she looks over her shoulder with a small smile, one that he assumes is supposed to be assuring. "I was worried,"

"Just getting us some snow to melt down is all," Arella responds. "Sleep well?"

Malcom hums in response and moves to help her, the job will get done faster and they'll be able to return to their home.

"You could've stayed inside. It's very cold," Arella speaks, shoveling more snow in and finally filling it to the top. "Go on, I'll meet you in a moment,"

Malcolm nods and she squeezes his arm as he walks by, reminding him that she's got his back. The boy heads back towards the familiar building before coming to a halt, eyes widening as he spots the boy by the door. He slowly tracks back but it's too late, he's been seen.

He spins and runs as fast as he can, calling out Arella's name loudly and urgently, his heart racing erratically. The brunette's head snaps up and she abandons the bucket, sprinting as fast as she can. Malcolm all but throws himself into her arms, clutching onto her as tightly as possible.

"What's wrong? Hey, what's the matter?" The girl places her hands on his cheeks as she moves away slightly so she can get a proper look at him.

He opens his mouth to speak but instead he coughs, blood flowing onto his chin. A pained noise leaves his lips and he stumbles forward into her once again, Arella now seeing the issue. Several daggers imbedded in his back.

Arella screams, tears already falling down her cheeks as he slumps even further. It's only a brief glimpse but she sees another tribute heading towards them, a boy probably only a few years older than Malcolm — usually she would have a little more care for somebody so young but all she sees is Malcolm's blood.

Grabbing her knife, she throws it at the approaching boy, the noise it makes as it lands in his throat is sickening. He falls into the snow, his blood now staining the pure white ground.

Arella holds onto Malcolm, lowering him to the floor slowly so she doesn't cause him anymore pain. The boy looks up at her, his eyes glossed over with tears, his hand reaching up to touch her face.

"Thank you for trying," He manages to breathe out, his blood still seeping from his mouth. "An angel just like your brother said,"

She's sobbing now, if anybody were to come along she would be dead. Arella lays her hand over his, squeezing it as gently as she can in order to provide some sort of comfort.

"I'm so sorry," Arella cries.

"Look after Teddy for me,"

His eyes stare up at her but there's no longer any life behind them, the girl letting out a scream so loud that anybody could have heard it. But in that moment, she doesn't care, because Malcolm is gone and she failed to keep her promise.

Now she's going to take it out on everybody else.

NOTE

Malcolm 😔

Thank you for reading! Hope you enjoyed and I'll see you next time!