I stepped onto the plate, feeling the vibrations in my bones. The glass slides shut, separating me from my stylist, Catarina. Her golden cat-like eyes meet mine, and she nods, mouthing "Kill them all," to me. I smirk, rolling my eyes.
Suddenly the plate begins moving up, quickly. As I wave my arms to balance, I catch the wall under my palm. But it's useless as I move up, scraping the inside of my hand raw. I shake off the pain, looking up into the blue sky. Clouds are dotting the otherwise calm space, and I worry. Is there going to be water?
I finally make it up, my plate coming to a halt at the surface. The sky is everywhere, above me, to the left, to the right, even below! My plate is teetering precariously on a small bit on land, possible a large stone, floating in midair. Gasping, I slowly lean over to look down. The sky is never ending, no ground in sight. Nada, nill, zip, nothing.
The Cornucopia seems miles away, and I'm only connected to it by a tiny bridge, waving slowly in a breeze. My breathing speeds up in excitement as the timer slows to it's last digits, the numbers flashing on a small, square cloud above the Cornucopia. As it reaches zero, the cloud disperses and a harmless lightning bolt beckons us to the killing. I sprint off my plate, but jog semi-cautiously over the bridge, checking each step.
The other careers are already at the weapons, picking up and examining blades and spears before killing smaller, weaker tributes. I see Callisto go for Cherry, slicing open her chest with a wickedly long blade, but a deliberately shallow cut. Cherry gasps, stumbling ever-so-closely to the edge. I grin, sneaking up by her. "Hello, dear. Miss me?" I whisper in her ear, dragging my sharpened nails over her neck. The young girl whimpers when I draw blood along an artery, smirking.
Cherry backs away, but by her own loss. Her foot missed the ledge, and she tumbles into space. She screams, and the sound gets fainter and fainter as she falls father away from our oasis in the sky. I sigh, annoyed. "Damn, what a waste of a kill," I grumble, hefting a nearby pack over my shoulder.
When I turn around, the freak, the blonde one, jumps on me, teeth bared. She clamps her mouth around my arm, growling. I scream, trying to throw her off. As I swing her off, she lands on another tribute, biting on his neck. He struggles, blood pouring out of the wound as Noelle thoughtfully chews on his flesh. I get a good look at his face before the girl tears at it with her claws, and recognize him as the guy from District Five, Cal. The friend-zoned guy, yeah. Zeke shoves Noelle off him, shouting.
"He's dead, you sick freak! Just leave his body alone!" He rages, brandishing a sword in her face. She barely flinches, smiling a bloody grin. I notice Florina sneaking up behind Zeke, spear in hand. Smirking, I decide to sneak up on her. When she releases the throw to impale Zeke, I shove her to Noelle. Zeke is impaled, and the freak pounces on Florina, tearing at the other girl's skin. Florina is screaming as she's skinned alive, gore seeping into the lush green grass surrounding us. Gagging, I pass Noelle as she begins to tear strips of skin off Florina's arms.
"Enjoy, you sick animal," I whisper to her, curling my lip. She ignores me, fascinated by the bloody mess in front of her. I'll admit, it was hypnotizing watching the pale paper-thin skin peel off the dead girl's still-warm red flesh. Shaking my head, I force myself to turn away.
Good thing I did, because just as soon as I did, Sparrow, the girl who wore a hideous feather dress to her interviews, was running up behind me, knife in hand. I jump to the side and she trips, falling over the hunched down Noelle. Sparrow tries standing, but I gently push her. Nonetheless, it was enough to send her over the edge, literally, to her oblivion. I chuckled as she fell, calling out to her, "Fly away, little birdy!"
Elaine runs up to the edge when she sees Sparrow fall, screaming. "Sparrow! No!" She sobs, reaching out to where she fell. Sparrow is just a dot in the distance, having falling farther than we can see now.
Elaine slowly turns her head to me, cold murder in her eyes. "You. You did this!" She screams, turning her body to me. I cock my head, smirking.
"Yeah, El. I did. Got a problem?" I laugh in her face. She growls, jumping and slicing at my throat with a throwing knife, barely cutting the skin. I pad the shallow cut with the tips of my fingers, impressed. "Close one, El. But you got to be faster than that to kill me," I say to her, bouncing on the balls of my feet, casually twirling a spear I picked up in between bodies.
I jab the spear at her, just barely plunging it in her stomach before she jumps out of the way, blood dripping from the wound. She moans in pain, holding her abdomen. "No, no... I promised I wouldn't die!" She cries, sinking to her knees in front of me, clutching her wound shut. I huff, stabbing the spear into her left hand, the one not holding her stomach. Elaine screams as the spear tip lodges itself in the ground under her hand, pinning her to the spot.
"I don't have time for you, so if you don't mind, die quickly," I snarl in her ear, taking her belt of throwing knives off her waist and strapping it to myself. Elaine screams as I jerk her body, more blood pouring out of her stomach now. I notice the large cut is even bigger, showing the organs inside.
Elaine looks pale from the blood loss, gasping for breath. I roll my eyes, kicking her on her side. She screams as the impaled spear rips through the side of her hand, blood spraying the grass and spear around her. Scrunching up my nose, I bend down to her height on the ground. She meets my glare with a weak plea for mercy, and I smirk. "No way in hell, El," I say as I plunge a throwing knife in her heart, twisting it to provide that much more pain. Her eyes roll up in her head in pain, and her body convulses one last time before her cannon booms.
Titan approaches me, patting my shoulder. He mutters a "Nice kill" in my ear. I don't need him to point that out for me, anything I kill is going to be a spectacular death. We make our way to the blood-stained Cornucopia, picking out whatever supplies are left. There are 4 whistles, a couple blankets, some jerky, bread and crackers, and one rather large crate of fresh fruit left. I nod, it's a pretty good haul for how many outer districts got here before us.
We back into the Cornucopia as the hovercrafts pick up the bloodied, mangled bodies from the Bloodbath. I look out at the blood silhouettes, wondering what their families are thinking. Smirking, I imagine how they all must be plotting my death. Well, I'll show them.
Ian excuses himself for a wizz, and just as he leaves, the anthem blares out. We all look to the setting sky, the sun already low on the horizon as the Panam emblem hovers in the air. I watch as each dead tribute's face comes and goes in the sky, ended by the anthem again. I count how many dead tributes.
There's Cal; Cherry; Florina; Sparrow; Elaine; Zeke; I noticed Willow also was in the sky. I was hoping to kill her myself, but oh well. We distribute the blankets to each Career, then tuck in for the night. It is pleasantly cozy, as I fall asleep almost immediately as Titan and Red take the guard.
With seven down, and seventeen left to go, I see myself with really good chances at winning this.
Let the Games begin.