Daughter of the Games (Sequel to Pregnant in the Games)

Chapter 20: Revealed

Dedicated to kirstymercer for completing the survey!

And that's when I head the water-choking scream.

The lantern in the room flickered back on, and all I could see was a thick cloud of blood. The entire room was filled with the liquid life. I felt the water grow warmer around me as the blood reached me. 

"Grey!" I yelled out, but the mouthpiece muffled the words. I swam forward, diving into the thickest part of the blood. I managed to spot Grey's dark brown hair through the water. I paddled closer to her and, once I had her completely in my view, I found that the blood didn't belong to her. She seemed okay. The blood belonged to a different tribute. The girl with the rock. Her body was making it's way down to the bottom of the lake. A cannon went off. Grey still held the rock in her hands. Somehow, she saw the girl coming, took the rock, and killed her.

That's two kills that Grey has made now. After the first one, she seemed to become numb, like she was too devastated to even show human emotion. How will this kill effect her?

Grey turned to me and frantically pointed to the surface. I nodded and started to swim upwards. She followed. Out of the corners of my eyes, I could see other tributes in the water. The girl with the rock wasn't the only one who's come to attack. There are at least three other tributes in the water, all with their sights set on Grey and I. I didn't pause to see who they were. My only thought was of getting to the beach.

I broke the surface of the water and took out my mouthpiece. Then, another tribute came out of the water just beside me. All I saw was a blur of black hair before I was shoved beneath the surface. Water rushed into my throat, stealing all the air in my lungs. My throat burned. Bubbles surrounded me, created by my own personal struggle. I shoved myself away from the hand and blindly kicked forward. My foot made contact with a semi-hard surface. I'm assuming it's the stomach of my attacker. Then I swam to the surface again. 

Once I broke the surface, I started to cough up water. I was too weak to try to swim to the beach. I could barely keep myself above water. My entire body ached. I lost track of Grey. I tried to move my arms and swim to the shore, but my arms felt like lead. Fire coursed through my lungs. The edges of my vision were blurring. 

My attacker broke the surface again, this time too far away to attack me. He ripped out his mouthpiece and turned towards me. My heart sank instantly. Now I know who the source of the black hair was. It was Ni. He was the one who tried to kill me.

Suddenly, it no longer seemed important to me to save myself. Disappointment weighed over me. I have completely tarnished my relationship with Ni. So much so that he's willing to kill me without even giving it a second thought. I felt defeated. It hurt too much for me to even try anymore. I simply just sat in the water, moving my legs a little to keep my mouth above the surface, and stared at him.

I have deep, physical pain in my chest. Not just from the water, but from this betrayal, too. It actually feels like someone stabbed a knife through my heart. The first time I felt this feeling was when Mom died. The second time I felt this feeling was when myself, Ivan, and Grey were all put into the games. The last time I felt like this was when the train drove away from District 1, and I watched Cane and Drea disappear. And now I'm feeling it again. It's a feeling I've seem to become familiar with. Ever since I watched that tape of my mom's Hunger Games, my life has been one hardship after another. 

If I die during these games, would that really be such a bad thing? 

I looked back to Ni. Our eyes met, and I felt the knife drive itself in deeper. His big green eyes were bloodshot. He had his lips just slightly parted. Each breath he took, his shoulders rose and fell.