Changed

It Burns

Anger enveloped me and I felt a tight grip on my wrist. Jem had made a deal with Luke and all of his vicious friends; I didn't know why, but he did. I was tugged out into the night and stopped right in front of Luke. My palms became sweaty and my breathing hitched as soon as my eyes met his. My skin crawled and I knew that being near him would only make me feel sick.

"I see you brought us a little gift. How kind of you, Prince Jem." Luke grabbed my waist and was holding a knife in his other hand. I spotted Payton behind him and she shot me an evil look. His girlfriend was the Devil's spawn.

"Not for you, Tripe." Jem pulled me away from Luke and I felt a strange sensation rise within me. His expression was cold once again and I shivered as I saw his dark and expressionless eyes. Nothing scared me more than the thought of Jem not having any feelings while I was with him. If anything dangerous came along, he wouldn't even care and who knows what would happen then. "She is for another person. Now, we have to move fast if we want to reach the destination by dawn."

I glared at all of them, not really Jem but the rest of them. I was sort of hoping lightning would explode from my eyes, maybe something along the lines of Superman. That would make this entire game easier for me. Still, I kept my mouth shut and bit my tongue whenever a sarcastic or rude comment presented itself.

"Since the rest of you are... normally paced, you will have to run like you never have before. I'll take..." Jem looked down at me with a strange expression on his face. "The girl with me. We'll jog ahead. It'll beat all of us walking. Not only will we be slightlly spread out, but we'll cover more ground."

The next couple of hours were the worst ones of my life. I tripped over roots and stumbled over stones like they were aiming to trip me and only me. Jem wouldn't wait for me, though. With the others around he would be the cold-hearted prince that they only knew. We were running for twenty to twenty five minutes and then the'normally paced' would walk for about ten.

We killed about twenty seven people by the time dawn came around. By 'we' I meant everyone else. I couldn't bring myself to kill anyone unless I really had to and since I had a bunch of murderous teenagers around me I decided I would let them do everything.

We had been sleeping in a clearing for about two hours but after that we were going to be sticking to energy potions and spells. I rolled onto my side and listened to Luke and Payton have a heated discussion nearby. They weren't smart enough to keep quiet, or maybe they just thought that I would be tired and stupid enough to fall asleep with everyone around me. But, I was still full of energy and wide-awake. Payton continued to argue that they should just kill me now, but Luke warned her that if they ruined Jem's deal then Jem would kill all of them. Not only that, but he also stated that Jem's anger would continue outside the game.

"You are so over-dramatic, Luke. He wouldn't kill you... probably just beat you until you were on the brink of death," Payton chuckled after Luke expressed what he thought Jem would do to him outside of the game.

"No, he's about right this time, Payton. This deal may let me win the game. So, if you want to kill Princess Vanessa then go on ahead, but you must have a death wish if you do kill her," Jem apparently was also smart enough to stay awake. The few of us who were awake all knew that falling asleep could mean the end of the game. But, knowing that Jem was awake and intent on keeping me alive, I let myself fall asleep for a short nap. Before I fell asleep, I remembered thinking that I wished Jem really was hostile towards anyone who planned on hurting me.

"Time to wake up." Payton kicked me in the ribs and as she made her way away from me, I swiftly stretched my leg out and tripped her so that she fell face first into the dirt. I stood up and smiled before she quickly got to her feet. She was furious, but I didn't mind. I hurried over to Jem.