"Where the hell have you been?" Tobias asked me harshly as all the other Careers made their way over to us. I stood there awkwardly, not glancing over to the tree like I wanted to. Cage was probably watching all of this and facepalming as I rocked back and forth on my heels with Tobias glaring at me.
"Trying to survive, and as you can see, I have." I finally said as the other four tributes joined us.
"Where's the boy?" Tobias asked and I acted surprised, as if I had no idea who Tobias was talking about.
"Is this the bitch? What's her name, uh, Coral?" Lucia asked and I flashed her a fake ass smile as I looked the bitch up and down.
"Acorn right?"
"Excuse me?" Lucia asked as she took a step forward.
"Your name, is it not Acorn?" I asked with a smile and then pretended to look sorry. "Oh, it isn't? Sorry, I was under the impression that because your head is shaped like an acorn that it'd be your name."
"You little..." She said, looking real mad now and Arlen had to hold her back from attacking me.
"Where is the boy? Is he dead?" Tobias asked and I put a hand on my heart, giving him a look of hurt.
"Oh, so there's no 'hey Reef how are you?' You are quite the charmer Tobias." I said and then sighed when he didn't give up. "Yeah, he's alive, and I've been tracking him for days but the little asshole is slick."
"So you came to us." Cadogan said and I nodded my head, looking at Tobias with a serious face.
"We can go after him in the morning." I told them as if we were all best of friends, as if I hadn't just arrived here to join their group.
"You don't call the shots here." Arlen told me but I gave him a look that made the boy step back.
"So you want to go out in the freezing night to look for a boy who can hide pretty much anywhere and pick us off one my one?" When Arlen was silent I smiled. "Yeah, I didn't think so." I said and then turned my back to them, walking over to the Cornucopia.
When I walked inside I admired all the supplies they had, wishing that I had some of it when I needed it. There was medicine and weapons and food and water, all things I'm sure everyone wanted before they were ruthlessly murdered by the people who were glaring at me now. I tried looking for a bow but I didn't find one and when I looked back to the other Careers, I saw it in the hands of Xena. There was only one bow and she had it. Well, she wasn't going to have it much longer. That sounded very evil.
I made my way over to the fishing equipment that I remembered from the day I had risen into the arena. There wasn't much there but I knew they'd have the giant shark hook and strong rope that I used for the skill scoring, it was the least they could do after giving me a four.
A fu*king four.
I still wasn't over that bullshit.
I took the rope and tied it to the hook, swinging it like a lasso a couple of times to test the knot. Once I had done that, I tied the rope around my waist like a belt with the hook sitting on the side of my thigh.
"How did you do it?" I turned to look at Tobias standing with his arms crossed and looking me up and down as if I were a ghost.
"You didn't think I was alive?" I asked and he shook his head.
"No I knew you were alive." He said as he took a step towards me. "But how did you survive that storm?"
"Because I'm smart." I said back. "I'm not as dumb as you think." I walked past the boy, about to leave it at that but he seemed to have other plans.
"You know, I never understood why Finnick liked you more then me." Tobias suddenly said and I turned to face him, trying to hide the blush when he said that. I knew why Finnick liked me more then him but I know he would never get it. "I was always a better tribute then you, a better Career."
"Maybe that's why Tobias." I said but the boy didn't like that.
"He always watched over you, always gave you the advice. He never once came up to me." He said, trying to make Finnick look like a bad guy which really got me mad. "What kind of mentor does that?"
"Tobias..."
"You know what, I know, the kind that wants to sleep with their tributes, that's it!"
I turned on my heels so quickly that Tobias didn't have time to react before I slapped him hard across the face with the palm of my hand. He looked shocked, his head turning from the force of the blow but I didn't care, grabbing him by the shirt and slamming him against the wall.
"Maybe the reason Finnick gave me advice was because I asked for it." I said harshly through gritted teeth while Tobias just stared into my eyes. "You were too busy being a Career that you forgot how to be a tribute, so don't you fu*king dare think for one second that you can talk trash about Finnick because he is a better man then you could ever be."
"You have no chance out here Reef Barlowe." Tobias whispered harshly to me and I just smiled at him menacingly.
"We'll see about that."
"Hey!" We heard Cadogan call. "We all good in there?"
"Yeah." I said, slamming Tobias against the wall again before I released him with a smile on my face. "I think we're okay over here." Then I actually walked away from him and he let me go.
I didn't sleep at all, too paranoid that if I did then I'd wake up with a blade through my chest. The night went by very slow and there was always someone on watch but they never decided to start up a conversation, which was fine. They did give me dirty looks, constantly, but I didn't care much for that either. I was too busy wondering how Cage was doing out in the trees on his own.
Maybe I shouldn't have left him on his own, maybe we shouldn't have done this in the first place. Well it was too late, couldn't do anything now because it's already begun. I could kill them, I really could, right here if I wanted to, but I didn't. If I was going to kill someone then they were going to be awake, killing them while they were sleeping seemed like a cowardly way to get the job done. The viewers would love it, get some action, but I didn't care about the viewers.
When the sun rose all the Careers got up quickly, getting something to eat from the Cornucopia before getting ready to leave. I looked out to the tree line, not being able to spot Cage and I wondered when he was going to give the signal. Whatever that was supposed to be.
Then, there was a crashing in the forest that was followed but a light yelp. It wasn't a signal, I knew it wasn't, but it was Cage. I knew the other Careers heard it too because their heads darted to where it had come from, clutching their weapons tightly.
"What was that?" Xena asked as she took out an arrow, loading it up but not aiming.
"What was what? I didn't hear anything." I said suspiciously but they weren't paying attention.
"I bet it was him." Cadogan growled as he picked up his sword.
"Who?" I asked, trying to cover up for Cage.
"The boy from twelve." Lucia said flatly and I sent her a glare.
"Oh yeah, of course." I said flatly and Tobias took the lead, marching through the snow with his trident. He seemed determined to kill Cage, probably because once he killed him I was next, which was unsettling.
"Let's go." Tobias said and it annoyed me more then it should have.
"LeTs gO." I mimicked in an imitating way under my breath, unwrapping the hook from around my waist and holding it in my hand. We all ran towards the forest, right where I last left Cage which really confirmed that it was him.
I was running side by side with Arlen, the sound of crunching snow beneath our feet and the raging wind hitting us from the side. This was the coldest day since the storm so far, not that I've been here long though. Once we had made it to the tree that Cage was in, I saw the scene and saw what had made that big crashing sound. It was definitely him, the rushed footsteps engraved in the snow confirmed that.
There was a big tree branch sitting in the snow, drops of blood staining that snow in the direction the tracks went. This wasn't part of the plan. The branch must have broken beneath him, causing the boy to fall down with it. My blood ran cold and I felt the anxiety build up in my stomach.
"He was watching us." Lucia said as she kicked the branch away and I rolled my eyes.
Congratulations for pointing out the obvious Ms. Pretty Bitch.
"Follow the tracks." Xena said and everyone nodded in agreement, all except for me as I was thinking about Cage.
We had followed those tracks for not too long until they disappeared, clearly Cage had pulled his little snow tree thing and covered them up. I didn't look up to the trees in fear that if I did then so would the other Careers and then Cage is screwed. But I had a feeling that he wasn't up there, not here anyway.
"We split up." Tobias announced. "The kid couldn't have gotten far." He's right, Cage couldn't have gotten far, but that's what scared me. We should have stayed in the cave where we knew it was safe. But if we did then I'm sure the Gamemakers would find some other way to lure us out of the cave. At least we did it on our own accord.
"I'll go with Xena." I said quickly, glancing at the bow in her hand for a split second before looking at everyone else.
"It's fine, but if you pull anything then I'll slit your throat." The girl warned me and I nodded, turning around and rolling my eyes as me and her took the left while the other Careers split up.
It was an awkward silence between the two of us and I constantly kept looking back to see if the others were out of sight. Not once did Xena ever look back to me, which wasn't very smart of her seen as I could just kill her if I wanted to. I could. I should. She's right here so what's stopping me?
Then, I saw the girl load up her bow, squatting down slightly and completely ignoring me. I looked to see where she was aiming her arrow but I don't know why, there was only one real thing she would be aiming at. But there he was, Cage, sitting super still on the branch of one of the trees. He looked so scared up there, looking out to the forest, completely oblivious to the fact that there was an arrow aimed for his head.
"Got you ya little shit." Xena said under her breath and those words snapped me out of whatever thoughts going through my head.
I took the rope and swung it like a lasso around Xena's neck, the hook getting wrapped up in the rope and acting like a noose. By then Xena's arrow was lowered and Cage could see us standing there. The girl clawed at the rope around her neck and I looped my end of the rope around my hand before I yanked back with all the strength I could muster.
Xena fell backwards limply, the crack of her neck and the sound of the cannon going off echoing in my ears loudly. I didn't even take a second to let anything process through my head before I ran up to the girls corpse, wrapping my hands around her bow to rip out of her hands. She didn't let go. Her dead fingers would not release the bow.
"Give me that!" I whispered aggressively to the corpse before I was finally able to free the bow from her fingers. It made me feel like a horrible person, like I was a bad guy, but I didn't have time for that. Once I freed the bow and arrows, I untied the hook and threw it to the side.
I looked up to Cage who was kind of just staring at me as I held the weapons in my hands.
"Catch!" I called as I threw up the bow and arrows that the boy then caught. He seemed a little disoriented but at this point I've already killed three people, I can do a forth and a fifth just so he could survive. That's the difference between me and a Career, I'm not fighting for myself, I'm fighting for Cage.
"I wish you didn't have to see that." I finally said but he shrugged it away, obviously not okay with it but he wasn't going to say anything.
I heard the voices of others coming in our direction but there was no way they knew exactly where we were. I looked up to Cage again, noticing a pinecone that hung from the tree. It gave me an idea.
"Hey, Cage, throw me a pinecone!" I called up to him silently and the boy nodded, crawling on the branch and snatching one of the pinecones. Then, the boy chucked it and it smacked me right across the head.
"OW! What the hell Cage!" I winced as I picked up the pinecone.
"You said throw you a pinecone!"
"I didn't say throw it at my head!" I whispered back aggressively, picking up the pinecone and looking over to where I heard others approaching.
Out of the thick trees I saw Arlen and Cadogan, both on high alert as they searched for me and Xena. I gripped the pinecone in one hand and my hook in the other, glancing up to Cage who had an arrow loaded, showing he was ready. I looked back, lifting the pinecone up and throwing it as hard as I could at the two boys. It hit Cadogan, bouncing off of him and making the boy look back in fear.
Arlen looked back as well, his spear gripped tightly in his hands as he looked around. Then, above us came the jet coming to pick up Xena's dead body, which was really bad timing. At this point, her body was being clawed up and the boys knew I was there so the plan was going to be a little more aggressive than originally planned.
Arlen was the smartest one to take out first seen as he had the spear which he could throw at me. The boy had it aimed, ready to throw while Cadogan stayed behind his line of fire. But before he could make the throw, the swooshing came quick, followed by the arrow that then pierced the boys heart. Then came the BOOM of the cannon, confirming that the boy was now dead which left Cadogan.
I threw the hook out, wrapping it around Cadogan's leg and pulling it out before yanking him to the floor. The boy fell on his back and I had my knife pulled out, ready to end him, I was right next to his body, the anger pulsing through my veins. It was an anger I had never felt before in my life. It was an anger that made me hate myself. But fear can do weird things to a person.
Before I could kill him, the arrow got there before me, piercing his skull and the BOOM went off once again. I looked up to Cage who now lowered his bow, looking at me again like he had looked at me before.
"I could've handled it." I said and he nodded, showing me that he knew.
"Yeah, well, I don't want you to have anymore blood on your hands for me." He said, loading up another arrow.
I smiled really softly, a little touched by that even though it had to do with murdering. The thing was, I was trying so hard to make sure that he wouldn't have to kill anyone either. I didn't want him to leave this arena with that kind of emotional damage. But he killed two tributes, and soon, I was going to be dead too.
A sharp pain in my arm snapped me out of my thoughts and I looked to see the knife that cut right through me, now sitting in the snow. I yelped in pain, Cage trying hard to keep quiet as both Lucia and Tobias were there, making their way towards us.
Because Lucia had not seen Cage, the bow was successfully able to take her out, shooting her in the stomach and she screamed in pain. But Tobias, no, he was coming right for me and he knew all too well that Cage was in that tree. He didn't care about the tree, he cared about me and my gasps for air when he stabbed his trident through my lungs.
I made a bolt for it, Tobias hot on my tail and Cage calling out my name with worry. My feet pounded against the ground, snow flinging up with every stride. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest and there was this screeching ring in my ear. I didn't know where I was going but I knew that it wasn't going to end well for me.
"Your dead Barlowe!" He yelled at me and I picked up my pace, feeling Tobias getting even closer to me. If I was going to die, it wasn't going to be by his hand, it would be by my own cause Cage wasn't going to kill me either.
As I ran, I found myself coming up to an open field in the middle of the forest, it was just a circle of clear land. I ran faster, the fear inside of me rising as I could hear the boom of the cannon going off, obviously being Lucia. I could hear Cage yelling my name but he was too far away, unable to keep up with me and Tobias.
I finally made it to the break in the trees, Tobias a little more further back from me meaning that he was getting tired. The adrenaline pulsing through my veins was keeping me going. I stepped on to the field, my strides faster and heavier. When I was at around the middle of the field, I stopped, something seeming off, wrong. Then, I heard a sound.
CRACK
I looked down to my feet to where I heard the crack, it radiated through the floor and climbed up my legs. With my foot, I wiped away the snow covering the ground and it slid away easily. I felt my heart drop and my blood turn cold as I looked down to the huge crack that ran through the icy ground. This wasn't a field, it was a lake. It was a frozen over lake, and it was breaking.
Any shift of movement from me brought on more cracks, the whole lake becoming unstable grounds. I tried to move as little as possible, try to get to the other side of the lake safely without falling in. I think it was just me being terrified but I felt that taking one breath would create more breaks.
I turned quickly to see Tobias running on to the lake, finding out that the ground wasn't solid just like I did. His eyes met mine and he gripped his trident tightly in his hands. I knew what he was going to do.
"TOBIAS, NO!" I screamed but it was too late. The boy lifted his trident in the air and brought it down as hard as he could on the icy surface.
Then, the ground beneath me began to break.
Finnick
I watched her run for her life through the forest, feeling the fear rise inside of me but I hid it. I wished she had gotten the Sponsor gift, not because it had something to help her but because I wanted her to read the note. I just wanted her to know that I was watching and supporting and praying that she wins. That I know she can win.
Even though all the odds were against her from the start with the cold weather and snow, I know she can do it. There was something special about Reef Barlowe, something special that I wanted to explore, I just wanted her to make it back.
I looked over to Casimir who seemed tense as he watched what was happening on screen. He had underestimated her just like she guessed he would, just like she thought they all would, but it was clear that he was still voting on Tobias. He then turned to face me, the worry clear on his face.
"You were right about her."
"I know I was." I said back, looking to the screen as Reef made her way to an open field in the arena. It was weird though, kinda random.
"Was Tobias right about your relationship with Reef?" Casimir suddenly asked and I kept my cool even though there was an anxious feeling rising in my stomach.
"Excuse me?" I asked in return, knowing that no one could know anything about my relationship with her. It could get her killed. I wasn't exactly allowed to have a girlfriend, not when they needed my body for profit.
"Don't act stupid, you remember that conversation between her and Tobias."
"Casimir, I can't have a relationship with anyone." I said and that seemed to make the man drop the subject. He knew all to well why I couldn't be in a relationship, which was why he was one of the biggest people who couldn't know.
Then, there was a loud gasp from the crowd that sent me through a wave of fear as I looked to the screen.
"TOBIAS NO!" Reef screamed through the screen and both me and Casimir watched as Tobias threw his trident into the ground, huge cracks spreading across the field. But it wasn't a field, it was a lake, and Reef was right in the middle of it.
"What the hell is he doing?!" Casimir said before I could and I shook my head. "He's going to get both of them killed!"
I knew he was right, I just hoped, prayed, that she would make it. She has to survive.