Kalen was never that close with Cadman and Maddyn. Some days, he can hardly remember what color Cadman's eyes were or what Maddyn's voice sounded like. But he had Elodie, even if the pair could never relate to each other. He'd had her since they lost Cadman and Maddyn. After Cadman's games, the house felt emptier, and it only got worse after Maddyn's. But they still had each other.
That didn't stop Kalen's mind from wandering, however.
Kalen wasn't tired, not with the adrenaline and fear coursing through his veins. Dawn was upon them, but there was no mistaking the bags under his eyes. The only sleep he got was fitful and full of images of himself dying. Dying at the hands of the careers, dying at the hands of Elodie.
He knew—Godheknew—that Elodie wasn't going to kill him. His father had established that. A whole new wave of tears had hit his mom at the idea that Elodie would betray him in favor of victory.
Yet, Kalen also knew that part of Elodie was still resentful to that fact. Resentful that she had to die. Die in the games she had spent her life preparing to win.
Kalen, himself, was still resentful to that fact. He didn't want his big sister, his only sibling left, to die. Especially not by her own hand. Not in the games that had already taken Cadman and Maddyn from him.
He didn't want to be left alone with their father.
And the games change people. People get angry, people get desperate. He could only hope that the anger and desperation didn't affect Elodie the way he had seen it happen in the games before.
That her emotions would take over and Kalen would never see Mom again.
Kalen finally decided to get out of bed when he could see the sun over the mountains. His heart was beating erratically in his chest and his hands were shaking as he moved around his room.
Kalen put on a comfortable outfit, just some loose-fitting cotton pants and a V-necked t-shirt. Though, it was more of a struggle than it should've been due to his inability to control his hands.
Kalen moved towards the door, his fingers rubbing over the thumb that adorned his thumb subconsciously. His footsteps echoed down the hallway slightly due to the quietness that came with the early hours of the morning.
Kalen reached the dining room to find Elodie already there. She was drinking some water (which was her regular substitution for coffee.) He gave her a small smile, one that she didn't reciprocate. That didn't surprise Kalen, though, as that's just how Elodie is. Holding his smile suddenly felt harder.
Yeah, he was going to miss her.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
