Another Tribute

It's dark out by the time I regain my senses. My stomach rumbles, but I don't feel like filling it. With the loss of Eli still fresh in my mind, I realize that tonight his face will be illuminated in the sky. As much as I don't want to confirm the truth, I can't resist the urge to see his face one last time. I crawl out of the cave just enough that I can see the stars twinkling. It seems weird to be waiting for the announcement that I've been avoiding the whole time I've been in the arena. Usually I don't even bother, it upsets me too much to see the faces of the dead. If I'm going to survive, I'm going to need to know who's left. Sooner than I'm ready for, the voiceover begins, but no pictures light up the sky.

"Congratulations to all of you contestants who are left! What an eventful day we've had!" the voice says encouragingly. I can just hear Dianca snikering in triumph.

"As you might have noticed, we're not showing the contestants who are out of the running tonight, and you're probably wondering why that is," the voice continues. It annoys me that he doesn't say "dead people". Geez, get it right.

"We've decided that to add an extra challenge by not showing who's dead, but by only announcing the Top Five and Top Three contestants!" the voice announces radiantly. My stomach drops. I bet Dianca has been keeping tabs on who's left. Me, on the otherhand, not at all.

"Good luck contestants, and may the odds be ever in your favor!" The voice says before it dies out. Great. This is so great. I'm alone, and I have no idea who's out there ready to get me.

"Hey, Harpon, have you completely forgotten about me! Thanks a lot for all the help you've given!" I scream in no particular direction. And with that, a little white parachute falls from the sky. Shocked, I open the little box to find a vial of bright blue liquid. The color reminds me of a robin's egg. I cautiously uncap it and take a teeny tiny sip. At first, nothing happens, but then I see a cut on my hand magically disapear as if it had never been there. As I wait a couple seconds more, I feel more energized and restored than I've ever felt in my life. Just as I bring the vial to my lips to chug the whole thing, I realize that this must be for something special. Or atleast, not to be chugged in one sitting.

"Thanks for the magic in the bottle, but what's it for?" I whisper to myself. Only the crickets answer me as I fall asleep in Eli's sleeping bag.

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When I wake up in the morning, the sun is shining pleasantly. Luckily, no bad dreams have plagued me.

"Eli, wake up," I whisper. When my eyes adjust to the light, reality hits me like a ton of bricks.

Eli isn't here.

The memories of the previous day overwhelm me with grief. I glare into the daylight, how dare it mock me with all it's sunny goodness. How dare it!

Then I realize how silly that was and begin to assess my situation. My stomach rumbles, so I decide to get up and go find something to eat. I find a bush with berries on it and try to recall if they're safe or not.

"Hello berries, come to mama," I mutter as I pick them off the bush. If they're not safe, I seem to be immune to their poisons as I stuff my face. When the hunger problem is solved, I realize that I'm truly all alone. Despite the sadness I feel at the thought of it, I can do whatever I want!

What I should be doing is making a plan of action...

But what I decide to do is lay out on a nice flat rock and relax. Let death come knocking, I'll be ready. To hell with it, if death comes knocking I'll slice his head off.

With this in mind, I spend my whole afternoon sitting on a sunny rock and sharpening my sword with a rock. I'm not even sure that it works, but it keeps me busy. I wait all day for someone to come, but nobody approaches. Darn, and I was so looking forward to kicking some butt!

But my day comes to an end without anything to show for it, except I think I might have gotten sunburned, go figure.

As I fall asleep, I begin to feel ominous...and I know what's coming before sleep even comes.

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"Hello again, Auden," Nico says, juggling some knives. In a normal situation, this might be comical, but this is Nico. He's mental.

I choose to stay silent and stare. Maybe if I don't say anthing he won't do anything.

"The silent treatment, eh babe?" he says, laughing. I frown, this is not going well.

"Alright, I'm really tired of you messing with me. This is just a dream!" I yell defiantly. He smirks.

"Oh, is it? Then these aren't your real parents I suppose?" he asks, snapping his fingers. My mom and dad appear, tied to some kind of metal chair.

"Honey, what's going on?" my mom asks me gently.

"They're not real, they're not reall, they're not real," I mutter to myself.

"What's happening?" my dad says, sounding helpless for one of the first times in his life.

"They're not real, they're not reall, they're not real," I keep chanting.

"Darling, what's that boy going to do?" my mom asks my dad, grabbing his hand for support. They look happily at eachother, and then they look at me.

"Come here, sweetie! We haven't seen you in ages!" my mom says, although she can't move her arms to hug me anyways. My parents both look at me eagerly, and I can't stand it any longer. I run towards them with outstretched arms.

"Mom! Dad!" I say, excited. Suddenly, I look up and see Nico with a small box. On top, there's a red button, which he presses just as I'm about to hug my parents for the first time in who knows how long. I stop abruptly as electricity flows through my parents as they scream with horror. I'm paralyzed to my spot as the electricity seizes them. When they finally stop screaming and flailing, they fall limp. I feel the hot tears flow down my face, and I can't stop them to save my life.

"H...h...how...c...could...you?" I stutter. Nico laughs his evil, molesting laugh.

"Gotchya!" he says, looking happier than a kid in a candy shop. The pain of seeing my parents die is the final straw. I feel my sorrow become anger, and I approach Nico in a way I never have before.

"You will pay," I say, clenching my hands into fists. Before he can process the change in events, I pummel him to the ground until he begs for mercy.

"Auden...you've gone mental..." Nico says, laying facedown on the ground. But it doesn't sound like Nico's voice anymore. I know that voice.

As I reach down and flip Nico over, I'm shocked to see Eli's face, cold and dead.

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I wake up crying, and the sleeping bag around my face is soaked in salty tears. I sit up and let the tears flow, and prepare to wait until they decide to stop. It takes a whole eight or so minutes before I can wipe my eyes and become me again.

As my mind clears, I remember Eli's face and anguish grips me like it never has before.

This is when I decide that Eli can't have died in vain. It wouldn't be right. I imagine Thisbe telling me this.

"Auden, it's the honorable thing. You've 'gotta do it for Eli, he was a great friend," she'd say, nodding encouragingly and pushing the hair that strayed out of place behind my ear.

How I miss her...and home.

But enough of that. If I'm going to get home I need to figure out what to do. But first thing's first: get breakfast.

I creep out of the cave, noticing that it's a horridly overcast day. Not so good for hunting, but I try anyways. I end up with nothing, but atleast I gave it a go. Out of precaution, I slid under a bush to do my thinking. Everything looks different from the ground. The roots look bigger, the flowers look taller...and the person hiding behind the tree right in front of me becomes very clear.

Ariella.

I take out my sword and prepare to tactfully stab her in the back, when she turns and sees me. I expect her to snarl or growl or do something feirce...but instead she looks panicked and mouths something to me. I watch her lips carefully and translate it into "Be quiet".

Should I trust her?

As much as I don't want to, she looks sincere. Which probably means nothing, but it's all I've got. So, I lay on the ground, silently. A few minutes pass, and I see what the quiet was for.

"Oh Ari...come on out sweetie..." Dianca croons. Her group is looking everywhere for something, and my guess is Ariella's the prize today. Is it just me or does it look like a few of them are missing?

"She's not coming out Dianca, let's just forget about her," a tall, handsome guy tells her. Dianca turns towards him, looks him up and down for about two seconds, and promptly slaps him across the face.

"Is anyone going to question my authority again?" she growls. Everyone shakes their heads.

"My apologies, Dianca. I was just making a suggestion. Dianca smiles sweetly at him.

"Well, just don't make a suggestion again," she says. He nods silently. Ariella at this point is shaking profusely. I'm starting to get nervous too, and the group is looking closer and closer to my bush every minute. I look over at Ariella, and she mouths something else to me.

"Don't come out," her lips are saying. I really hope she knows something I don't, because they're getting awfully close. Suddenly, as they're about to look under my bush, Ariella jumps out and attacks one of them. He screams as she stabs him, and slowly he falls to the ground.

"Damn you Ariella! Would you stop killing my friends?" Dianca asks, motioning for those who are left to grab her. Unfortunately, they succeed.

"Just going out with a bang, Dianca. I thought you'd be proud!" Ariella exclaims, breathing heavily.

"Shut up, you...you...dog!" Dianca yells. Her voice echos through the woods, and the overcast day is not helping the mood.

"Make me!" Ariella says, yelling right back.

"You're going to wish you never said that," Dianca says, motioning her crew forward. I notice absentmindedly that there's only guys left. Where did all the girls go?

"So be it," Ariella says as the group approach her. What happens next it too horrifying for me to explain. It's just the worst thing I've seen in my life!

Why didn't I stop it?

Because Ariella said "Don't come out". And if she said it, I'm going to listen.

"That'll teach you, mutt," Dianca says triumphantly and her crew runs off. As soon as they're out of sight, I rush out to her.

"Ariella, I'm so sorry," I say, begining to cry despite all the suffering she put me through. I grab what's left of her mangled hand and she manages to speak.

"Don't...worry...me...ok...." she says, gasping for air.

"Ariella, what happened with them?" I ask her.

"Not...important...took some...down....with me," she says. So she killed some of them. And by the looks of it I'd guess they were mostly female.

"Ariella, I have something to help you," I say, remembering the blue liquid. I take the vial out of my pocket and uncap it. Ariella looks frantic.

"Don't...waste....too...late...save..." she says. She doesn't want me to use it on her?

"Don't be crazy, it'll help you!" I insist.

"Please...my...time...come..." she says, her breathing becoming more shallow. I puzzle over this.

"Ariella, are you sure?" I say gently, putting the vial back in my pocket. She nods and closes her eyes. I sit beside her for a moment, and then she quickly opens her eyes again.

"Eli..." she says quietly. My heart starts to beat faster.

"What about Eli?"

"No...helicopter...hovercraft...no..." Ariella mumbles. She looks up at me with eyes that say "I hope you understand". I nod just to make her happy, and she smiles peacefully.

"Thank you, Ariella. For saving me," I say. She smiles faintly. As her smiles fades, I let go of her hand. She's gone.

I should get some kind of prize for watching horrific deaths.

I rush away from Ariella, and I hear the hovercraft or whatever they are come take her away. I can't help but imagine a terrifying claw grabbing her and her plain, wooden coffin. I wonder what her family thinks of this; watching their child become brutally murdered. It pained me, imagine her mother or sister.

I wonder if my family is proud of what I've done so far?

I'm unsure.