Could We Burn, Darling?

... A Man Was Born

"Oh just do it, kid."  

"It's not that difficult, come on, Woolnough."  

"Don't be such a pussy"

"Alright, alright fine." I finally gave in after days of them pestering me. I sighed and raised an eyebrow. "F-" I squirmed. "Come on kid. Do it for mommy." Lila teased. I began to tense. "Don't." I began. She started laughing her old wicked laugh. "You fucking dare." Her jaw dropped as she turned to Barrone who began applauding. "Well, that took you a while, didn't it kid." I eased up a bit and rested my shoulders. "That was gross, why do I have to swear?" I asked. I've never been comfortable with cursing - even hearing people curse. It made me feel unpleasant. "You're too much of a mommy's boy." Lila laughed. "STOP TALKING ABOUT HER." I dropped my bag and pushed Lila with all the force I had - bearing in mind I hadn't eaten in days. She fell to the floor, in tears from laughter. "Drew, have some self control." Barrone said softly as he picked Lila up. "But sh-" "we're going to find those last two tributes now." He stated, interrupting me. I sighed as we trudged forward.

We walked for a few hours, killing as many animals as we could find for later on when we'd get hungry. Thirst was beginning to take over and my body was getting weaker. We kept moving, Lila and Barrone both seemed fine so I shut my mouth. At some points, I'd ask to rest and Lila would starting touching Barrone's arm as she spoke to him and laughed. He'd stare right back at her and pull her by her suit, closer to him. "Okay we can go now." It always took a while to get their attention, but we moved forward eventually.

"There" Lila whispered as she pointed to a girl with long brown hair, starting a fire. She had a lighter, she must have been given it by her sponsors, like Lila got her knife. "That's Ramona." Barrone whispered, Lila flinched but kept her gaze forward. "Go on, kid." She said, ignoring Barrone. "Kill her." She turned to me, eyes colder than they had ever been before and held out her custom knife. I took a deep breath in as I stared at it before me. I looked up at Barrone, then to Lila who's eyes now looked senile. "W-why me?" I said louder than expected. "SHUSH." They said at the same time. Ramona quickly jolted up from her position next to her pile of teakwood. She looked around the forest, moving backwards towards her bag. We ducked behind the trees and bushes we were close to and I quickly grabbed Lila's knife. I was now crouched under a bush whilst Barrone and Lila remained behind the tree. "Go" they mouthed as they made hand gestures to lead me towards her. I squeezed the knife in my hand and stood up. Ramona's head moved quickly in my direction and her huge brown eyes widened. Still squeezing the knife, I walked towards her. I walked slowly, trying to calm myself down. She edged back; nearly at her bag, she crouched down quickly and grabbed a knife of her own. I stepped back quickly and turned to the tree Barrone and Lila were hiding behind. Lila's head popped around the trunk "do it." She mouthed, eyebrows curved down. She looked even more agitated, I turned back to Ramona when a blade ripped the air in front of me. I made an attempt to duck away but it hit me and sliced my cheek, down to my lip. I fell back and dropped the knife. Ramona started to approach me when a spear shot through the air, she turned in it's direction and it pierced her through her heart. She looked back at me as her eyes turned ice cold and she fell backwards onto the floor. I turned to see Lila standing with her right leg forward and her arm dangling. She had thrown the spear. I turned back to Ramona - now sputtering blood through her mouth. My jaw dropped as a twang of pain burst through it. I raised my hand to my lip and analyzed it to find blood covering it. "God damn it." I cursed under my breath.

"You're weak, you maggot!" She exclaimed as she ran back from where we came. Barrone edged out from where they were. He gave me a disapproving glance and ushered me over with a head tilt. I looked back at Ramona and ran towards Barrone.

"Ramona was one of Lila's good childhood friends." Barrone said whilst we sat by the lake together, dipping our legs in the water. "Lila wasn't the most pleasant girl, growing up." I looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "Let me rephrase that." He laughed quietly. "Lila's always been the way she is. It started when she was young. Three or four years old." He gazed at the reflection of the moon on the lake. "Her father was abusive and that made her push people away. Everyone except for that girl." He sighed. "She was kind of hoping you'd be able to kill her. I think part of her new she'd have to do it herself bu-"

"What are you doing?" We both twisted around to find Lila, looking down at us. "Sorry Lila." Barrone said looking back out onto the lake. I turned back as well and heard footsteps approach the edge of the water. Lila sighed heavily and sat down next to Barrone. "You okay?" He asked "I'm fine." She snapped. From the corner of my eye, I saw Barrone reach out for her hand. She held his and rested her head on his shoulder. "I'm going to go take a walk." I said, standing up, but they ignored me and stared forward. I gritted my teeth and put my shoes back on.

I walked for a while, the darkness cleared my head, the sound of the night creatures surrounding me soothed my thoughts. I pulled what I had left of the cream i was given and placed it on my lip and cheek. It stung like hell but I kept applying it - shit was magic. I stopped at what seemed to be the opposite side of the lake to where Lila and Barrone where and looked down at my reflection. My eyes looks awry and decayed. My cut looked even worse. This arena had changed me without me even knowing. I tried to distract myself. I looked back up, past the body of water and saw two figures, Lila and Barrone, still hand in hand. I saw Lila lift her head. I waved across to her. She wiggled her fingers teasingly as she turned to Barrone, grabbed his jaw and pointed it in her direction. I saw him let go of her hand and nearly push away, but she moved forward and planted her lips on his. My eyes widened and i quickly looked back down at the reflection. This time i saw pain, I saw all the pain i had been feeling throughout this entire experience. The pain quickly turned to anger as i raised the knife i had taken from Ramona and analysed it carefully. I looked back up with narrowed eyes but Barrone was gone. All i saw was Lila running towards the forest. "HELP" I heard her scream.

I immediately ran back towards them, through the forest, to our base. It was silent. Not a single noise was coming from anywhere. "HELP GOD DAMN IT" the yelling had turned to shrieking, I ran towards it. "DREW" she was crying for my help, as if she was in pain. Her voice sounded shaky.

I got to them. Barrone, Lila and the last tribute. I knew him from somewhere, I had seen him before. I tried to remember, thoughts of music were circling my mind. I looked at him carefully as he held Lila by the neck, cutting off her circulation. I saw Barrone lying on the floor, blood gushing out of his leg, but I just kept staring at the tribute. He had thin long legs and a strong upper body. His lips nearly slanted downwards, his eyes were hazel and his eyebrows were nearly perfect. His hair was short at the back with a fringe that swept over his eye, the color red.

"Kier?"