² SECOND CHANCE ─ the hunger games

eighteen - running from myself

— EUNICE —

I STARE at Cadence in shock as my friend and ally collapses to the ground, and the only thing I can see is red.

This is the first time in the arena... where I feel threatened. I snarl at Cadence and run towards Kunboss.

"Kun. Kun. Stay with me," I chant, and he doesn't respond. The only thing I can see is Kunboss' dark eyes staring back up at me, asking me why I hadn't protected him.

BOOM!

He's with Zoey now.

Tears fill my eyes and dampen his lifeless body as I sob, and I remember where I'm at. The arena.

I have to accept the fact that I cannot save Kunboss now. I can, but only by winning the whole Games and bringing him back. Even more motivation, added to the list of Zoey, Gwyneth, and my family. All the more reason why I have to fight these people now. I turn, my bag whipping against the dense forest surrounding us.

I hold my bow up in defense, and before I know it, my arrow finds target in one of the boys' abdomen.

Cadence drops down to the floor holding her ally, and I run. I run, away from her, away from Aiden, away from the boy that I just killed. Something silver whizzes by and implants into my leg, and I hiss in pain as I extract her knife.

I run against the harsh cold wind. My legs are aching, and my chest is so tight I can barely breathe. The air is chilly, and sweat is pouring down my body.

My heart is beating harder and harder as my hair hits me in the face. I'm scared. Terrified, and I stumble to the ground.

THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.

I feel like someone is chasing me, and the hair on the back of my neck stands up straight. I have to run away. I don't know who or why or where, but the feeling of being followed torments me.

I don't know how, but I'll go. I'll leave, far away from here, and I'll never be coming back.

I stand up and continue running. To wherever my feet take me.

The small voice in my head reminds me that I'm in the arena, and I can't go anywhere unless I win the games. But why would I want to do that?

And what exactly am I running from?

Not Cadence. Not Aiden. Not even an animal, or a muttation.

I tremble in fear as I realize that I am running from no one but myself. Eunice Seyfield.

The person I have become. A cold-blooded killer.

But I think about everyone that loves me. They need me, and I need them. Especially now. My parents appear in front of me again, and I shudder.

I must promise to myself that I won't ever look back. Because you'll never miss what you've never seen.

I know eventually, I will have to face myself or who I've become. But not just yet.

I'm exhausted. I cannot think. I spot a cave, not far from where the fight on Day 1 occurred, and I aimlessly venture into it, deeper and further than I've ever been.

I drop down next to a lake in the cave and look down at my leg. It's worse than I thought it would be, and I wince as I apply the disinfectant in my first-aid kit.

For the first time since I started running, my thoughts go back to Kunboss and Zoey.

I was here with two others, and now they're gone. They.. they're dead.

My heart is missing a piece. With her knives, Cadence took that away from me.

My eyes well with tears of pain as blood flows out of my still-fresh cut, but I'm crying for another reason. A reason of which anyone not in these Games wouldn't understand.

I feel incomplete without them, and I vow to win, and bring them back.

My tears drop down, one by one, into the gravel below my knees.

Each symbolizing a lost soul in these cruel Games, and my desire to bring my best friends back. For me, and for them. They seemed unsignificant to other people, but every tear that drops from my eyes are a constant reminder that I must continue on, for them.

I finally finish patching up my wound despite the constant stream of running tears, and I think how pathetic I must look to all the viewers watching now.

I wonder if Gwyneth is watching this. Gwyneth. Since I've entered the arena, she seems so close, yet so far away. I want to reach her, but I can't. I'm trapped with no way out, and the shadow of myself creeps up on me, haunting and scaring me with every turn.

I find what must be a camera and mouth that I need food, hoping that she sees it and sends food my way, and after I'm done, I collapse to the ground in despair.

I've stopped running, but I can never seem to face the ghost. The evil killer of a girl that is myself.

— CADENCE —

Eunice disappears into the distance, and I immediately fall onto my knees, cradling Rylie gently into my chest. I take his ice-cold hand in mine, and look into his fearful hazel eyes.

"It's going to be alright," I lie, tears in my eyes. "You're going to be fine, Rylie."

I blink and the tears run down my face. I touch the wound gently but it's obvious that it is fatal. However, Rylie doesn't know any sign of pain except for the quick and sharp breaths that he is taking.

Rylie nods, hiccuping. "Stop crying. Don't look at me. G-go. Win. And b-bring me b-back. I love you, Cady."

He takes his last shuddering breath as his hand goes numb, and his cannon sounds.

BOOM!

Tears run freely down my cheeks, and with a trembling hand, I slide Rylie's eyelids shut. He looks like he's sleeping- but he's not.

He's dead.

But he's away from these cruel Games, peacefully away from everything that ever happened to him.

Is it a blessing or a curse?

To me, it's a curse either way.

I bring myself together and Aiden helps bury Rylie under a heap of flowers as I shrink into a corner. Aiden and I glance at the way Eunice ran. She needs to die for us to get out alive. And with one last touch on Rylie's forehead, we're away from my dead best friend and following Eunice's trail through the woods.