What makes you different makes you dangerous

~Chapter 21~

J A C K

I had it all figured out and I was pretty confident. All I had to do was to wait for the Resistance to bust us out of the Hunger Games. I wasn’t worried at all and I thought that getting through the Games would be easy.

Boy was I wrong. As soon as we were put in our individual capsules, I had to say goodbye to Elsa. I told her it would be okay and that she should try to look for me when we were on our platforms.

“I’m scared, Jake,” she whispered, as the guards took her away.

“We’ll be fine,” I assured her, though in my heart, a doubt started to grow. I hoped and hoped that The Resistance had a plan.

*

Three hours later, we were finally put in our capsules and I could hear the drums. The countdown began and with each beat of the drum, my heart felt like it would explode out of my chest. Be calm, Jack, I ordered myself.

If I didn’t remain calm, Elsa would see the panic in my eyes and my face and she’d freak out too. Then we’d both get ourselves killed and I wasn’t about to let that happen.

The thing was, Elsa was different for me. Before the Guardians got captured and I was Jack Frost, I didn’t care about anything or anyone. I would freeze people for the fun of it. I’d hurt people if I wanted to. It was revenge for them not believing in me.

 The point is, I’d bring on blizzards just for the fun of it. I didn’t care about anyone but myself and even then, I’d hope that I’d find a way to kill myself.

Now that Elsa was here, I was actually concerned for her safety. I was scared for her and all I made it my goal to protect her at all times. I wanted her to be safe and I wanted her to be able to see her sister again.

What’s more is that I wanted nothing to happen to me because I knew that I was Elsa’s only hope. If we didn’t get out of the Hunger Games, she’d die and I would rather give myself up to President Black then to see her get hurt.

I loved Elsa and I needed to protect her at all costs.

“10…9…8…” The countdown came down to the last ten seconds.

“…7…6…5…4” In my mind, I could only think of Elsa.

“…3…2…1…” The loudest beat of the drum went off and the sky turned dark as our capsules launched us out of the case that we were in, like a catapult. The platform disappeared as we fell face first into the water. I tried to spot Elsa but all I could hear was screaming.

The guy in front of me tried to drown me by dragging my face underwater but I was too quick a swimmer for him and managed to get away. I wasn’t worried about myself but I was worried for Elsa.

I hopped onto the large platform and hoped to find some trace of her over there but I was in for a shock. Blood splattered the entire floor and a decapitated head lay face down on the floor in front of me. That’s when the reality of what was happening dawned on me.

I was in the freaking Hunger Games and I was in danger along with the girl I loved. All this time, I was denying the fact that I was in danger but now, seeing the thing in front of me, I could deny it no longer. I tried to come back to real life but I could feel myself going into shock.

I leaned against a pillar of the platform and with a lot of effort; I managed to gain control of my senses. Barely breathing, I put as much distance between me and the head as possible. I knew that it couldn’t have been Elsa’s because the hair on it was brown-colored and hers was platinum blonde, like snow.

  But I also knew that the inhumane monster that did this was probably not far off. I grabbed a few weapons like knives and swords and tried to look for food, for Elsa, but found none; it had already been taken by everyone.

I cursed myself because I wasn’t quick enough to get to the Supply Platform and starvation could be the cause of her death. Nevertheless, I ran off to find her. The weapons were a bit hard to carry but I succeeded in carrying them to a safe place.

I could hear the sound of cannons being fired which meant bad news. Cannons being fired meant that people were dying and this many cannons being fired meant lots of people were dying at once by environmental hazards or by being killed, I couldn’t tell. I wasn’t very religious but I did make a silent plea in my heart for Elsa to be okay but I didn’t know and didn't care who I was pleading to.

I ran back to find her but all I could see everywhere was blood. Someone had killed another person. A spear was protruding from their chest and their eyes were open. I checked for a pulse or some sign of breathing but there was none.

I bowed my head and moved forward. It would do me good if I didn’t dwell too much on peoples’ deaths but I knew one thing for sure: If I ever survived the Games and got Elsa out of there safely, I would make it my duty to kill Pitch and make him pay for all the horrific things he had done.

Suddenly, I came face to face with the point of a sword. A tall boy with red hair held the sword in his hand pointing it towards me and he had a gang of other boys, who looked like him, and they each held one person captive. They looked so very familiar. I could have sworn that I had seen them somewhere...

And then my heart stopped because Elsa was being held captive too.