Kai From Four

Arena: Day 5

Golden-tinged memories raced through my head, playing like a beautiful movie. My mind was flipped, and flipped again from the constant intake of revelations. But I didn't mind. I was so content, I almost wanted to stay asleep forever.

This desire was shattered completely when Artemis screamed.

I woke up with a jolt. Watery blurs filled my vision. Instantly, I knew I'd been crying hard for a very long time. I wiped my tears away, and swallowed, closing my eyes. Several seconds had to pass for me to fully regain my composure.

Then, I turned to Artemis. "I'm sorry about that," I said quietly. "I–"

Artemis was scrambling away, green eyes wide in pure fear. She clutched one hand in her other like it had been badly burned.

Concern rushed through me, and I hurried to her side. I have to help her.

"Don't touch me!" She cried, backing away more, and I froze.

Or not...?

Artemis took a few breaths to calm down. She held up the hand she was cradling, which had turned blistered and a shiny red. "I-I tried to wake you up, and that happened. My body hurt everywhere, too. If I'd touched you for longer, I think I would have died."

My jaw dropped, and I looked at my hands. They looked innocent enough, but I knew that Artemis wouldn't lie to me, especially about something like this. She wouldn't burn her hand on purpose.

A chill ran through me as I realized the Gamemakers must have tampered with me overnight to give me this lethal touch. This didn't sit very well with me, but I couldn't do anything about it now—it was too late.

"Artemis..." I trailed off, noticing the fear and pain still in her eyes. I bit my lip, hiding my surprised hurt and thinking. "It's too dangerous to be around me right now. I don't want to hurt you again."

"I can get water," she suggested, taking out a knife with her free hand. "I can cut small blocks of ice out and melt them in the canteen."

I nodded quickly. "Good idea. And try to take out any tributes you find. I'm pretty sure there are about seven left."

"Gotcha. What are you going to do?" Artemis asked, slowly letting her guard down.

I grabbed a spear and stared out at the white horizon line. "I'm going to go tribute hunting."

Crunch, crunch. I trekked through the snow, careful not to sink too deep in its frozen grasp. An icy hill lay up ahead, and I decided to rest there. So far, I hadn't happened upon any tributes. Lucky me—or unlucky, depending on the point of view.

That changed when the male tribute from Two walked around the side of the hill. He saw me before I could do anything, and for a second, we both stood stock-still.

Cayden's eyes were red-rimmed, tinged with desperation, grief, and anger. His fists shook with a vengeance at his sides, and I had the sudden feeling that if he were to face off against a block of cement, the cement would lose—and badly.

With that thought, I hurled the spear with all my might. I must have underestimated his speed, for he dodged the throw, and it stuck in the snow next to him. I must have also underestimated his strength, because he then picked up the spear and snapped it like it was a matchstick.

The Gamemakers must have given us all powers. And Cayden's was clearly strength. That explained why he didn't reach for a weapon when he leapt at me.

His fist swung to my face, and I knew that if it landed, I was a goner. So as it approached, I grabbed it.

The force of the punch lessened and disappeared rather quickly. Cayden howled in pain and sank to the ground. He tried to yank away, but I held on, unwilling to give him an advantage. Tears streamed down his face, and his thrashes slowed before he gave up and slumped to the icy floor.

I looked down at the hand I was still holding, and gasped at the horribly blistered skin. The entire hand was red and pulsing, and I dropped it immediately, letting it land with a thud.

Suddenly, Cayden leapt back up. He swayed from side to side, clearly still feeling an immense amount of pain, but landed a punch on my face with his good hand before I could do anything.

Wham. My head twisted to the side, and I heard him cry out again, likely finding blisters on his good hand's knuckles. My vision shook. It dimmed to nearly black and slowly recovered. By the time I could see properly again, Cayden was a speck on the horizon, running away.

My hand came up to touch the already-forming bruise on my cheekbone, just beneath my left eye. I could feel it swelling.

The only reason I was still alive was probably that Cayden hadn't hit me with full force—he couldn't, after the pain weakened him. But he'd still delivered an extremely solid punch, and that bruise was sure to stay for a while. Hopefully my powers included fast healing, too, but I doubted I was that lucky, and the still-swelling bruise was a good confirmation of that.

Weaponless, I wandered back to base. Artemis hadn't returned yet, so I sat and rationed my food. There was a depressingly small amount left.

"Hey."

I looked up and saw Artemis. I looked back down again, remembering how I hurt her this morning.

"Don't get too close," I muttered, but she didn't hear, and sat in front of me. She smiled, but I still couldn't meet her gaze. Don't touch me, she'd screamed.

She gasped in excitement and put on some black gloves. The material looked really odd and very protective, which was great, but I didn't see how it helped in the present moment.

I looked back at my food and picked apart one of my rations. I hope you don't accidentally touch me.

"Hey, Kai." A hand pressed on my shoulder.

Oh, great.

I looked up, wincing, and closed my eyes, ready for her scream. It didn't come. I blinked. "What...?"

"It worked..." Artemis smiled, and her eyes glowed in pleasant surprise.

I didn't get it. "What—what just happened?"

"I got sent this from a sponsor." She tossed me the note that came with the gift and nodded. "I guess we have someone on our side."

I nodded back and finished my ration. "Good, we need all the help we can get."

After cleaning up our small meal, we leaned against our backpacks and watched the broadcast. The only victim this lifeless landscape had claimed was Marshall, from District Seven.

Soon, we'd be down to six tributes. Then five. Then four. And eventually, one. And then the Games would be over, over and done.

I looked at Artemis, who had dozed off a minute ago. I sighed, and cast my gaze into the darkened sky.

No matter what, these next few days would be bitterly painful. But I had to stay alive. The memories...

The memories stirred again from the back of my mind, filling my head with warm moments of the past. I closed my eyes.

I had to stay alive for my parents. I couldn't let the memories die with me.