| " L U C K . " |

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I sigh, but nod to the boy that stands in front of me. I open the door wider, and allow Triton walk inside of the living quarters, still hesitant with my decision. Paul's eyes land on Triton, his gaze immediately turning stern.

"Paul, can you give us some alone time?" I ask.

An angry look crosses face. He huffs, but leaves, nonetheless.

He's still mad about the punch.

Triton turns, his eyes finding mine. There are dark circles under his eyes, proving that he hasn't been sleeping. This happened the other night, too.

"Lana, I'm so sorry. I didn't know you were watching us fight. I wouldn't have thrown that punch if I had known that you would jump in front of Bane. I-" He starts his ramble.

"It's okay, Triton. I forgive you," I say plainly, cutting him off.

"What? Y-you do?" He stutters.

"But that doesn't mean that we're allies in the games." I say clearly, nodding along with my words. "I still hate you for threatening my friends."

His eyes turn glassy, a small bit of guilt erupting in my chest. But of course I couldn't let him off the chain so easily, even if he did cry.

"You hate me?" He questions softly. I look to the floor, not meeting his disappointed gaze. "Please Lana, you can't hate me. I can't go into the games thinking that you hate me."

He places his hand on my cheek, gently tilting my head up. His thumb runs along my jaw before I jerk away from him, shrugging his hand off of me.

"And I can't go into the games having an ally that will kill my friends when my back is turned. I want to know that when I die in that arena, that someone will help them live another day. Not kill them in the most vicious way possible." I spit.

He flinches, his eyes filling with tears from my harsh words.

He's actually going to cry. Triton Hall, one of the toughest guys I know, is actually going to cry over me.

"Lana, I promise I won't kill them. If I knew it was going to hurt you, I wouldn't have said it in the first place. I love you, Lana," He breathes. "I tried not to get attached to you, but I did. I fell in love with you when I first met you. Will you please just be my ally again? Please?"

"I-I . . ." I trail off, not able to form the words that bounced around in my head. I let out a shaky breath, not wanting the cope with the tears that begin to pool in my eyes.

"I won't kill Bane, or Seth. I won't kill anyone that you are friends with, if that's what makes you happy. I know that you hate me for threatening them, but I want to die in the arena knowing that I kept you safe. Knowing that you'll win," Triton states, his eyes pleading.

I don't reply, allowing a lone tear to roll down my cheek.

"I'm going to die in those games for you, exactly like Bane will. Hell, all of my friends are dying for you. They want you to win, and die themselves. That's how much of a friend you are to them."

"I won't win. I'm not a career like you, Triton. Yeah, I can throw a few knives. But I throw them at dummies. I can't do that to real people! I watched it happen to Hollon, and I know how much I hated Kalem for it. Imagine what the families of those children will think of me when I kill their child. They'll want revenge, just like I did. Hollon got to the final two, and Kalem killed him."

"Those kids have made promises to their families that they will win, and come home to them. They support their families through their starvation- they have people that need them. I can't kill them. I'm not a murderer like Kalem," I murmer, shaking my head as I angrily wipe the tears from my eyes. "And I sure as hell won't be one just to save my own ass."

I storm to my room, ignoring his calls for me. I slam the door behind me, sliding down the wall in wracked sobs as memories flood back to me.

The twenty-second cannon goes off, and Kalem smirks to himself. He walks to the cornucopia, his eyes searching for Hollon as his hand tightly grips a knife. Hollon hides in the horn, waiting to strike. But he doesn't. Because up until now, he had been fortunate enough to not kill anyone.

Kalem spots him almost immediately.

"You might as well come out now! You're dead anyway!" Kalem yells, Hollon shaking his head in disagreement.

"I made a promise, and I'm keeping it," Hollon announces, jumping down from the horn to land in front of Kalem. He immediately takes a stab to the shoulder from Hollon, and grunts, but swings his spear in retaliation.

Hollon dodges it, stabbing Kalem in the leg in a flash. The boy yells out in pain, but tackles Hollon to the ground with force. He holds Hollon's legs and arms to the ground, pinning his knife to Hollon's neck. Hollon finally stops struggling, closing his eyes as he breathes out.

"Any last words, Clark?" Kalem asks, his teeth showing through his grin. Hollon sighs, a stray tear falling from his eye. He holds the locket in his hand- the one that he got from me for his birthday.

"I'm sorry Lana, I failed you. I told you I would come home, but I broke my promise. I'm so sorry," Hollon says softly, looking right into the camera. A couple more tears fall from his eyes, before he finally lays his head on the ground, preparing for his death.

And with that, Kalem slits Hollon's throat, blood pooling around the two immediately. His cannon goes off instantly, but his grip on the locket is firm as the hovercraft takes his body away.

"You could never fail me," I murmer as I stare at the ceiling, my silent cries filling my room as I clutch the locket that rests around my neck.

___♕___

I stay locked away in my room for the next hour. But when training scores are half an hour away, I decide that I have to come out.

I finally open the door, after checking my appearence, and head for the elevator with the plot to ignore anyone and everyone. When I get to the waiting room I sigh, plopping down in my assigned chair. The careers, and a few other tributes, are already here, passing the time with small talk.

Five minutes.

Triton and Bane enter the room, taking their seats on either side of me.

I let out a frustrated huff as they begin to start their conversations with me. But I'm relieved when the rest of the tributes enter, and Raley is called in for her private session.

"District one, Raley Denary." The head gamemaker says.

His name is Benjamias Creed, and got elected after the first Rebellion failed. And let me tell you, he does his job well. The natural disasters and mutts are always a huge problem in the games. I see why they chose him- he takes a liking to his job.

After about five minutes, Raley comes out with a smile on her face.

I bet she got a good score.

"Good luck." She says to the careers, Bane, Triton, and I. I shoot her a smile, ignoring Bane's stare.

"District one, Triton Hall." Benjamias announces.

Triton stands up with a confident look on his face. He sends me a soft smile, and wishes me luck, but I look away from him. After letting out a deep breath at my denial, he enters the score room.

Another five minutes quickly goes by, filled with nothing but silence for me. And then, Triton shows his face, exiting the room with a confident look still plastered on his face. I scoff as he wishes me luck, once again.

"District two, Lana Clark."

I feel terribly nervous as I step inside the score room. I look around, to find the gamemakers and scorers sitting on a balcony high up, their gazes all trained on me.

"You have ten minutes Ms. Clark," Benjamias says loudly.

I nod, picking up around ten knives. I already know what I'm going to do- I had planned this out while I was locked away in my room.

I walk straight to a box that is placed under the gamemakers and scorers. I bring up the settings, and set the difficulty level to 'extremely hard.' I type in fourteen competitors, and smirk up at the balcony. Stepping the box, I look around at the cream-colored walls.

I drop nine of the knives onto the ground, keeping the last one in my hand. One of the gamemakers, Sienna Kerry, looks hesitant as she watches the screen in front of her. From where they are, they watch a television screen that shows them the video footage of my movements and reactions.

I nod at Sienna, as if telling her to press the button. She sighs, and gives me a doubtful smile as she presses 'start' on the control pannel. Immediately, the box goes completely dark, and the settings around me change. The walls disappear, and woods surround me. I know where I am.

I'm in the seventy-fourth Hunger Games arena. I turn in the different directions, and ready my knife with a tight grip.

Out of nowhere an orange animation comes at me, throwing a spear in my direction. I duck, and throw a knife at it. It disintegrates into pixels, shattering across the ground. Four other pixelations surround me. That's when I panic.

I do a summersault to dodge the trident being thrown my way, slinging knives at each of them, watching as they, too, disappear. One after one, I kill off all of the animations. After I slice the last neck of the last figure, I take a deep breath, stepping back.

The lights come back on, and I can see the cream walls of the box again. When I exit the box, the gamemakers and scorers have all wear shocked expressions. Except for Benjamias.

He is smirking proudly.

I send a grin his way, then exit the room with a set posture. I wish the careers and Bane good luck, along with Seth, before moving to the elevator. When I get back to the living quarters, I plop down onto the couch, facing Paul.

"How did you do?" He asks, placing his coffee cup down on the table next to him.

"I guess we'll find out."

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