The 8th Writer Games & The Reader Games & Writer Games: The Deadly Decade

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Eponine Thénardier

There I was, standing at  the edge of the ship, ready to dive into the probably icy waters. One  jump, and nobody could rescue me. I'd just end up drowning. But then  again, that was exactly what I wanted. Death was the only solution to  this problem.

The Games had turned me  into an awful person, a killer even. They'd made me kill several people,  as well as betray two of my allies; Roxie and Ursula. Where did that  get me? Absolutely nowhere. Just on my own.

I thought of Marius,  what he might be doing at home right now, how he was living. If he was  alright. Hopefully he was fine. If not, I wouldn't be able to cope.  Maybe Marius and Cosette were sitting in front of the television right  now, watching for me.

Would they be cheering  for me? I felt like Marius would be, though maybe it was just hope. No, I  was his best friend, he'd be cheering for me. Something inside told me  Cosette would secretly be hoping I didn't make it back. She was probably  worried that if I came back a victor, it would steal away the advantage  she had of being rich.

I looked out to the boat  one more time, wondering what it might have been like to live one day  more. Sighing, I told myself the same reason, almost as if my emotionnal  side was scorning the rationnal side of me that clinged to life.

"One more day here on my  own. One more day of him not caring ." I enumerated, the tears swelling  to my eyes. Yet there was something bothering me; I didn't want to die a  killer, and it was too late for me to not kill anybody. So I'd have to  outlive the guilt.

"Attention tributes!"  Brielle called, "As you all know, we are down to the final six!  Therefore, it is now time for a feast. Each tribute has an item they  desperately want waiting for them. For some of you, these items, which  we had to steal, would make winning a whole lot easier. And some of you  have people waiting for you to rescue them."

My heart dropped into my  stomach. What if Marius was there? Maybe.... Maybe I still had a  chance, maybe I wouldn't be alone in this place! I jumped off the ledge,  sprinting towards the front deck.

I waited a little bit,  panting and catching my breath, and then walked on. Nobody else was here  yet. "Marius!" I shouted, rapidly heading over to the post he was tied  to. My fingers rapidly worked on the knots around his hands, which tied  him to the post.

As soon as he was free,  he wrapped his arms around me in a big hug. "Ponine! I missed you!"  Smiling, I burried my head in his chest, attempting to hide the furious  blush on my cheeks.

"What are you doing  here?" I asked. "Why aren't you with Cosette?" That question was  probably the one who made my nerves climb the most. Had he left her?

"We were watching the  Games together, and the two of us heard you talking to that Ursula woman  about singing a contract to have me." I gulped, I should have known  that would be televised. "Cosette started insulting you, to which I  reminded her she should be there instead. Then I left."

"Really?" I asked, my smile pulling into a gigantic grin.

"Yes," he said. "So stay away from that Ursula woman, you have me. I'll even sign a contract if that's what it takes."

"A contract? What do you mean?"

"A very official  contract, one that's important to both law and religion." he got on a  knee, and my hand instantly reached to cover my mouth. "Eponine  Thénardier, once we survive this dreadful place, will you marry me?"

"Yes!" I shouted, hastily wrapping my arms around his shoulders.

"Hey lovebirds!" Artemis  shoited, running away with a girl I didn't know -probably his visitor-  "hate to rain on your parade, but the ship is sinking!"