Stay with me, always.

Chapter 26. Catching Fire

Going to the control room again with my Father wasn't my idea of a sunny afternoon. But, it was better than spending the day with Mother, who was "stress cleaning". Meaning, she had all of the Avoxes doing the actual cleaning, while she watched. The house was no longer safe as long as she was in a cleaning mood, so my Father and I figured it was best to stay out of her way.

When Father said he was going to the control room, Eudora practically flew down the stairs to tell him it was a "fabulous idea sir, in fact, take Coriolanus with you!" Rude. Maybe-Aslen didn't even see us walk in, too busy coming up with new evil ideas I suppose, so we sat in the viewing room. It was now Day Five and the Careers were on the hunt again, watching Cleo and Beckett walk through the woods and plan out their next murders wasn't easy, especially since there was no alcohol provided in the control room. Wouldn't want to hit the wrong button.

"You think they'll be together?" Beckett asked, using a large stick as a cane, it seemed Zeren wounded him more severely than we thought. Thank you, Zeren, I thought, it would make it much easier for Jessup to kill Beckett if he was injured. "They have to be," Cleo said, looking up at the trees as if Soarynn and Jessup would be hiding up there. Little did they know that Soarynn and Jessup were sleeping in their little cave, a bit too close for comfort if you asked me. "And it'll be easier for us," Cleo said, looking back at Beckett with her evil grin, "like killing two birds with one stone."

A small part of me wanted Beckett to cut Cleo down with his sword and get rid of her once and for all, but I knew he wouldn't, not with him injured. Plus, Cleo was a good shot when it came down to fighting. I suppose it would be better for Jessup to fight Cleo rather than Beckett, at least Soarynn had more of a chance against an injured Beckett. "Yeah," Beckett said, panting as he pulled his stick out of the mud, "the sooner we find them the better." At the pace they were going, they weren't going to be finding anyone soon, they were constantly having to stop for Beckett. His walking stick kept getting stuck in the mud, and it was clear that Cleo was getting more annoyed by the minute.

They reached a small clearing with some large rocks lying on the outskirts, allowing Beckett to rest while Cleo looked around. She walked into the clearing, covering her eyes as she looked up into the rain, "We should probably head back soon if we don't find them," she said, looking back at Beckett. He nodded as he stood up, making his way toward her. He almost face-planted as his foot shot deep into the ground, he tried to pull it out but it wasn't budging. He shot Cleo a nervous look, his eyes becoming more alarmed as he saw that she was sinking too.

"Oh my God," she said, nervously looking at her boots, now almost completely submerged in the mud, "It's like quicksand!" They both lost it, trying to pull themselves out, and doing so very slowly. Cleo was a bit more resourceful than Beckett because she started to rip her feet out of her boots, and began crawling across the mud, trying to reach one of the rocks. Beckett saw what she was doing and did the same, abandoning his boots to try to make it to safety. The mud was relentless, trying to pull him in the entire time he was crawling. This can't be good for his shoulder, I thought as he army-crawled through the mud.

He eventually made it to the same rock Cleo was lying on, catching his breath. He looked at her as she watched the mud completely submerge their boots, "Looks like we're going barefoot," he said to her. She nodded, standing up shakily, "Let's get the hell out of here," she said, helping him up.

Maybe-Aslen walked into the viewing room with a proud smile on his face, "We almost got them," he said to my Father who returned his smile. "Yes, leave it to you Game Makers to pull the ground from under their feet, so to speak," my Father said. Maybe-Aslen nodded, "But don't worry," he said, his attention now focused on me, "We have lots of surprises in store." Yipee. "I can't wait to see them," I said, giving him the fakest smile I could manage, "Come watch," he said to me and Father as he walked back out to the control room.