Kai From Four

Arena: Day 4

It was still dark when I woke up. I wasn't sure what time it was, but I was extremely thirsty.

I drained the supply of water before fully realizing that Artemis and I wouldn't have anything to drink. Then I remembered the stream.

I mainly felt my way around, so my hands were thoroughly dirty by the time I reached the water. I plunged my hands inside, noticing it was colder than usual—much colder, even for the sky being dark. With the help of the current, I washed the dirt off.

For the first time, I looked down at my wrists, submerged underwater. Blinking, I looked closer.

My silver bracelets were glowing.

I drew my hands out of the water, and the glow faded. When I put them back in, it returned.

"What..." I muttered, and observed them while they were underwater. The names "Madi," "Lukas," and the string of numbers stood out from the glow, as if they wanted to tell me something.

I'd looked at the numbers before. 5702. I had given up trying to figure out what they meant due to training, but now I had time.

My eyes slowly widened. Month, day. And what day could they possibly mark?

My birthday.

Unfortunately, the 57 was on my mother's bracelet, and the 02 was on my father's. I solved this problem by swiftly connecting the two bracelets to one large circle of metal.

Click. The metal glowed brighter. I touched the numbers and they swapped places. 5702 became 0527. May twenty-seventh, my birthday.

Click. The names of my mother and father faded, save for the letters "K," "A," and "I."

A glowing fingerprint appeared to the left of my name. I pressed it. The bracelet stopped glowing.

Confused, I took my hands out of the water, and the side of my bracelet opened with one final click.

A thin syringe rolled out.

My hands started to shake, and it wasn't just because of the cold. "Opposite of tracker jacker venom," I read off the label.

I disconnected the bracelets, filled back the canteens, and sprinted back towards our tree. It was getting lighter, and the air had turned bitterly cold for some reason.

Artemis was awake, and accepted the water without question, drinking it and setting the canteen back down. Suddenly, she turned around as we both heard rustling.

"Do you hear that? I'll be right back." Artemis got up and grabbed her knives.

I cleared my throat, and felt less pain than I expected. "Do you want me to come too?" I asked, trying not to strain my voice. I reached for a spear.

She shook her head violently. "No!" Then she looked down. "I mean, no. It's all right. I got this."

I looked at her for a second, and then nodded. Artemis was better than me at close-combat, so she'd defeat whoever was hiding there.

She left. I arranged our packs, thinking.

Opposite of tracker jacker venom? That would mean it isn't lethal. Tracker jacker venom brings out false, horrifying fears of the future, so this should bring out true, pleasant...

My hand tightened around the syringe.

Memories.

A gust of sleet blew in my face. The trees started to shake and lower. I jumped with our supplies, landing on snow. I turned around. Every hint of vegetation or sand was gone, the arena completely blanketed with snow and ice.

I wandered around for a few hours, gripping my spear. I came upon two shadowy figures. I couldn't see well due to the blizzards raging all around, but one figure toppled over. The other ran to the fallen tribute's side. It couldn't have been Artemis, so I threw the spear as hard as I could and saw the other tribute fall.

The death didn't feel as personal as the last few; I didn't know who I killed, just that it wasn't my ally.

Hours later, I found Artemis. We found shelter behind a hill of packed snow—not much, but it shielded us from the harsh winds.

We ate a little bit of food and water. Rationing had become extremely important. Fatigued from the strain of the weather, Artemis and I hid a little in the snow and drifted off.

Just before falling asleep, I took the syringe out from the backpack and pressed the needle to the vein of my left wrist, just beneath the cool metal. I took a breath, and then emptied the contents of the syringe to my bloodstream.

The syringe fell from my grasp and the wind carried it away. My eyes closed, and the wind died all around me.

Silence.

Word Count: 772