Haymitch's Hunger Games

Chapter 12: Games

Haymitch rose up from the basement of the arena. His heart had pounded so hard that morning while he was getting ready for the games, he hadn't spoken once to Maysilee since the kissing incident and now he didn't know if he ever would. As he rose up into the arena, he breathed heavily and tried to focus. He waited several seconds, and then the glass was dissipating and he was in the arena. It was beautiful- the Cornocopuia sat in a grassy meadow. The meadow stretched on as far as the eye could see, complete with gorgeous, blosomming flowers. The sky was a deep blue, accompanied by large fluffy clouds- and the tributes all around him looked menacing and deadly in their matching, brown arena gear. He spotted Lilya looking focused and ready, staring only at the Cornucopia, as the timer started to count down. He spotted many other tributes whom he reconized from training and was suddenly intimidated as he thought of skills they'd shown while training. Haymitch tried not to cringe as he could hear the timer counting down the seconds until the games would start. He scanned the arena some more, observing the long, abundance of meadow before him, until he heard a voice start to count down 10..9..8..7..6..5..4..3..2..1..let the games begin! Shouted a voice over and unseen loud speaker. As soon as that last word was uttered, Haymitch bolted off of his platform and sped towards the Cornucopia, he could feel his heart pounding so fast, he felt it would jump out of his chest. He barely saw the other tributes who were barreling towards the cornucopia as well, he didn't feel fear though, Haymitch knew he was fairly fast and felt confident that he would get there quickly and then run for safety. He reached the cornucopia at that moment and chose a long dagger, and a camoflauged backpack that he felt weighted down with supplys inside. Haymitch quickly turned and started to run, but was startled when he felt an arrow fly dangerously close to the left side of his head. He had ducked however, just in time. Wisely, he did not turn around to see who had pursed him, but merely kept running, heading towards a dark forest that he could just barely make out from beyond the meadow. He heard the cannon that signified a tributes death, as his feet hammered on the grassy meadow. He also saw another tribute, with long glossy black hair, headed towards the woods as well. She had been running quite a distance from him, and now was running almost straight ahead. Haymitch hesitated, but then quickly tightened his grip on the dagger that occupied his right hand. He willed his legs to move faster, and he tried not to gasp for breathe too loudly. The girl was Closer now, but still could not hear him. Haymitch made a risky decision, and prayed that his sword practises would pay off. He gulped nervously, and then skillfully threw the sword, where It buried into the girl's left shoulder. A shriek escaped her lips as she fell on to the ground, clutching her shoulder. The knife had not sunk in that far, though a gaping would occupied her shoulder, she yelled once she saw Haymitch coming towards her, her eyes were filled with tears as she screamed 'somebody help me!' But of course, no one came to her aid, Haymitch felt a sinking in his heart, and at that moment, he knew he had to kill her quickly. He ran over to her, as she moaned on the ground, the knife had fallen beside her and was covered in crimson. He felt like a monster, but knew all Capitol eyes were glued to their screens. Haymitch smiled devilishly, while picking up the dagger, he knelt down beside the crying girl, and let as much coldness as he could, come into his voice, 'let the games begin' he whispered to her, as he plunged the sword into her chest and heard cannon sound. It was like he could hear the Capitol people cheering, the sponsors rolling in. Her dark green eyes rolled back into her head and Haymitch felt tears brim at his vision. He felt horrible-these games were turning him into a monster. He had just killed an innocent girl, who now lay dead in the meadow, surrounded by beautiful flowers. He heard more cannons sounding and realized he was out in the open, quickly he retrieved a small pouch that had been hidden within her gear, the pouch contained a clear creamy substance that he assumed was medicine, it also contained an empty container. Haymitch felt a twisting at the pit of his stomach, this girl had died because of him. He heard the cannon twice more, as he shoved the medicine and container into his backpack. More people were dying- Haymitch was stunned that there hadn't been a cannon for him yet.