The Mentor. (Cato Hadley)

Chapter Thirteen.

Awoken from my sleep while Johanna is keeping watch, I hear the sound of a loud bang. It's not the cannon signaling a tribute's death though, it's more like sound the District Two Justice Building makes signaling that it's twelve.

"I counted twelve," Johanna says, noticing that I'm awake. "For the twelve districts?"

"I have no idea," I watch a tree in the distance get struck by lightning, the loud sound hurting my ears. "You should get some sleep, it's my turn to watch now."

Without another word, Johanna turns over on the soil. My eyes scan the arena, my back firmly pressed against a tree. How is this my life? Highly sought after Capitol prostitute, thrust into the Games for a second time. As I sit here thinking about my life, and how it's in shambles, I hear the rain starting to fall.

"Guys, wake up, rain!" I say quietly, shaking awake the tributes from Seven and Three. We had been on the search for water, but haven't had any luck. I realize my mistake the second I open my mouth to catch the water - we all do. Instead of the water we had expected, the thick, metallic blood coats our tongues.

"It's blood!" The blood rain begins falling faster, blinding us, completely cutting off our senses as it almost drowns us. "Run!"

Following Blight's orders, the group of us begin to run. Without our vision, this seems to be harder than we had originally thought. Boom. We hear the sound of the cannon, as Blight runs into an invisible wall. An electric shock from the force field ended his life, and sent his dead body straight into me.

Johanna pries his body off of me, staring down at him in a moment of silence. "Goodbye, Blight," she says softly, grabbing my hand and pulling me off the ground. "Avoid the force field," with Wiress and Beetee following behind us, we make it to the beach. Another cannon goes off, this time not someone I can see. Not even ten minutes after that cannon, it sets off another. "We'll find them, Marblyn," I know who she's speaking of, she's talking about Finnick and Mags.

Suddenly, I hear a scream as the four of us make our way out of the blood rain and into the beach. I watch as a wave from the ocean covers part of the jungle. When the wave recedes, a cannon sounds, the hovercraft picking up a body from a tree. I help Johanna drag Beetee onto the sand, Wiress looping around in circles.

Beetee collapses on the beach as Johanna stomps her feet in frustration. "What the hell is wrong with you!" She screams at Wiress, shoving the woman over.

Wiress, in her deranged state, can only say two words on repeat. "Tick tock."

"Marblyn!" The familiar voice allows all the fear I've been holding in my body to leave as Finnick sprints across the beach, wrapping me in his arms. "Johanna!"

Johanna let's out a sigh of relief at the sight of the man from District Four. "We thought it was rain, because of the lighting." Johanna begins to explain our current predicament as Katniss and Peeta make their way to our section of the beach. "We were all so thirsty. But when it started coming down, it was blood. Thick, hot, blood. You couldn't see, you couldn't speak without getting a mouthful.."

Sensing speaking on the loss of Blight might be rough on her, I decide to continue the story. "We couldn't see, and Blight hit the force field."

"I'm sorry, Johanna," Finnick apologizes for the loss of Blight, but I can't help but notice that Mags isn't with him. Was she one of the cannons?

"He wasn't much, but he was from home.." she trails off for a second before catching herself. "And then he leaves me alone with these two, at least Marblyn is half useful." I don't take her insults to heart because quite honestly that's just who Johanna Mason is.

A small smile appears on my face to the District Seven girl. "Awh, Johanna, that's the closest thing to a compliment I've ever gotten from you!"

"He got a knife in the back at the Cornucopia, and her," she scoffs, rolling her eyes at Wiress.

"Tick tock! Tick tock! Tick tock!" Wiress has been repeating these words for awhile, with no explanation whatsoever. I didn't bother to try and understand, but the repetition bothered Johanna to no end.

"Yeah, we know, tick tock. Nuts in shock," Wiress steps toward Johanna, to which the latter pushes her back down on the beach. "Just stay down, will you?"

"Hey!" Katniss protests, taking a step forward. This breaks the silence she has held, drawing attention to her. "Lay off her, will you?"

"Lay off her?" Johanna glares at the Mockingjay, taking a step forward. Before I could even react, she smacks Katniss across the face. "Who do you think got them out of that bleeding jungle for you?" Finnick tosses her over his shoulder, dunking her into the water as she screams insulting things at the District Twelve girl.

"What does she mean, she got them out for me?" Katniss questions, her eyes focusing on me.

I shrug, rolling my eyes. "I don't know, I've been in this arena for almost two days and it seems as though nobody is telling me shit." Which is true. I had no idea about the alliance with Katniss and Peeta, but Finnick did. I didn't know about protecting Wiress and Beetee, I just saw that Johanna and Blight didn't have weapons and wanted to help my friends. Virtually, I know nothing, and every piece of information I learn ends up causing more questions.

"You did want them originally," Peeta points out, gesturing to the District Three tributes.

"You're not going to have them long if we don't help them, Beetee's lost a lot of blood, just barely made it through the jungle. Where's Mags?" In the case that something bad did happen to her, I didn't want to ask my question to Finnick Odair. It would hit him harder than anyone.

"I'm sorry, Marblyn," Katniss' words are almost a whisper and I know she doesn't want Finnick to hear. I'm sure that he has had a rough night with the loss.

Katniss strips Beetee with Peeta's help, washing the blood off in the water. "How?" I ask as she puts a handful of moss on his knife wound.

"There's acid fog," Peeta sets his hand on mine gently, a sad look in his eyes. "I hit the force field and Finnick saved my life. I couldn't get out of the fog quick enough. Mags sacrificed her life, so I could get out safe."

"The first cannon was Blight, the second was Mags.. who was the third and fourth?" I quickly count the living tributes in my head. As of right now, Cashmere, Gloss, and Brutus are still alive. Wiress and Beetee are right in front of me, as is Finnick. Paula seems to be living, as well as Eliza, and Johanna. Then there's Jackson, Chaff, Katniss, and Peeta. I just have to figure out who the two who have died are.

"The female Morphling from Six, she sacrificed herself to monkey mutts for Peeta." Sacrifice. It seems to be a common theme, why are they giving their lives so Peeta can live?

"Eliza," I say through gritted teeth. "Say her name. Know her by her name, not her addiction. I couldn't imagine if someone referred to me as the female alcoholic from Two."

"Sorry, Eliza," Katniss doesn't fight me on the matter and simply fixes her mistake, calling her by her name.

"Mags was Finnick's mentor you know," I sigh, helping her wash the blood off of Wiress. "She was half his family, in District Four that is."

"I didn't know that," Peeta looks almost guilty at this information, seemingly holding himself responsible.

"Don't look at it as your fault," I give him a small smile. "Mags knew when she volunteered that she wouldn't make it out alive. It's just like her to decide to go out on her own terms.

"Tick tock, tick tock," Wiress continues repeating the words, staring at Katniss and I intently. Like clockwork, lightning hits the tree, just like it did around midnight last night.

"The arena is a fucking clock."