Losing my Head (Hunger Games Fanfic)

Betrayel

Here's the next one, I feel like I rushed into it, but that's for you to decide.

"One must tolerate a world of demons for the sake of an angel" -Madam de Pompadour, Doctor Who

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I didn't understand what I was seeing in front of me. Manter's breath came out in huge pants as sweat dripped from his forehead. Quain was unconscious on the floor behind him. Manter's dark brown hair was in a tangled mess and his hazel eyes had all of the life sucked out of them. My own sword lay against my neck, almost cutting into my skin.
I couldn't die like this, there were too many questions circling my head. This was the same boy that had been trained with me by Finnick.
Despite the fact that he could kill me right now, he was hesitant.

"Manter..." I said slowly, trying to hide my fear. "Please...calm down... we can work as a team. We don't have to fight yet. We can team up."
Manter's eyes lit in anger, "Is that what you told Tyler?"
My muscles tensed up, "How did you-?"
He pressed the blade farther to show he didn't want to talk about that.

My mind seized up in every moment that I knew about him. He went to my school. We weren't friends, I didn't even know his name, I just recognized him as one of the kids. His father... worked at District Four's water dam. I think his mother died. No surprise, she probably became ill. Disease is common because of District Four's climate. Still, it's not as bad as some districts. For example, District Seven is terrible. Manter probably had a few siblings, I think I've seen them before.
How had it come to this? A kid I never really talked to, but I've known for years might kill me today. If worse came to worst, Finnick might lose two tributes today.

Annie! If your head isn't in the game, if your confidence is low, you won't be able to win! Think!
I felt as if Finnick was yelling right now at me.

Okay. Fine. I swallowed my spit. Assess the situation. Manter wasn't killing me right now, he was waiting. For something... I didn't want to ask him to push my luck. Was he hesitant to kill me?

I looked him in the eyes and his eyes bore back with hatred. No, if he wanted to kill me, he would've already done it. Which means, something might be stopping him.

Next I tried to think how he got here. He may have already been here before the Earthquake, but that wasn't likely, since we all did a thorough search. I only saw his shadow after about twenty minutes on the dam wall. Which means he got in after we arrived. Was he following us? And how did he get past Metallia when she was setting up the traps at the entrance?

Manter's eyes kept darting to the store room door as if he were waiting for something... or someone.

"You have an ally don't you?" I asked him.
He put more pressure on the blade, "Who gave you the right to talk?"
"You can't kill me without their permission. That's what you're waiting for; they're not your teammate, they're your boss. Aren't they?"

For a brief moment, his face changed from anger to fear. In that moment, I used all my body strength to kick him off me. The sword clattered out of his hand and I made a quick grab for it. I pointed it to his neck.

"Drop the sword, chick," a voice snarled behind me.
I spun around to see a boy and girl at the entrance. The boy pointed a bow and arrow at me.
It was Jake and Katie.

I slowly put down my sword. How did they all get in? I thought we set up a wall of traps at the entrance!
"How did you all get here? How did you get past Metallia's traps?"

"Well now, that's probably because I let them in."

Coming through the storage door right now was Metallia and Sparks. Thank goodness, I'm saved!
But something was off. Metallia gave a small smirk and Sparks didn't seem the least bit worried. Neither of them were getting ready to attack Jake and Katie.

"What's going on?" I asked, afraid of the answer.

"Sorry Annie, we're just following your plan," Metallia answered.

"What plan?"
"Why the plan to betray Quain of course! We discussed this a long time ago, saying we'd give him a nice death, and rake in the sponsors. That was your plan, remember?" she asked with a cruel laugh.
I stayed silent.

"Well, if you forgot it, I'll clear things up with you. We haven't gotten a single sponsor yet, so your idea sucked. Another thing me and Sparks noticed, is how much of a liability you are! 'No, we shouldn't kill him' 'Let's not kill her' Blah, blah, blah. I think you've forgotten where we are? We're in the Hunger Games. You've got to kill off the weak."

Metallia took a pause to continue, "So we all met each other while you and Quain were busy on those useless errands. We all seemed to agree on something! Jake and Katie want Quain dead for blowing up all of their friends, and Manter wants you dead because of Tyler's death."

I couldn't wrap my head around this strange situation.
"But... Manter- how did you even know Tyler?"

Manter seemed to go quiet, so Katie spoke up, "While you were clowning around with Quain and the others during training, Manter and Tyler had gotten close. They agreed to become allies, but that didn't even happen because of your idea at the library to use that boy as a distraction."

I looked incredulously at Jake, "But he's the one that killed him! Manter, why are you teaming up with him?"

"Wrong again, girlie," Jake cut in.
"I didn't kill Tyler. That boy did," he pointed at Quain's unconscious body.

"What are you talk-?"
"Tyler had a bomb attached to him while he ran like a maniac. Both we and him didn't notice until the last second."

I looked at his damaged hand. He didn't get that from the explosion at the Cornucopia, he got it from Tyler's death...

"But that still doesn't explain why you think Quain did it!"

Sparks sighed, "If you haven't noticed, Quain is the only one in this damn arena that knows how to work these bombs. He slipped it on Tyler while none of us were looking, and took him out. He was hoping that Tyler's bomb would end up killing the rest of Jake's party."

Katie picked up, "But when that didn't work, he decided to pull that stunt at the Cornucopia. And hey, it worked, only halfway."

"No... no Quain couldn't have... he's just a boy-"

Katie laughed, "Just a boy! Do you wanna know why he wanted Jake's team dead so bad? Because I'm a part of it. Oh he hates me and my family so bad. Back in District Seven, he's homeless because of me! There was an argument between our two families over a house. It was a cheap house, but it was the only one we could both afford. My family won the house, and his ended up on the streets. His mother died from illness, with no roof over her head."

Just like Manter's mother...

"You should have seen that boy! He was furious! He would always catch the squirrels running along the trees, and tear them to shreds. I watched as he would leave them on our doorstep and run away. He thinks he can get revenge by killing me in the Games? He can try! But I'm not going to lose to him!"

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. It was all wrong...

Metallia approached me up close. The bag of bombs lay loosely on her shoulder.
"Too bad sweetie. Looks like we get to replace you two and Nathan with these guys."

She stepped in front of Jake's arrow as she threatened me. That's when I made my move. I grabbed her in front of me while I also grabbed the bag. She screamed, "Shoot her!"

Good luck with that since you're in front of his arrow.
"Get out of the way!" Jake hollered at her.

It was too late, I had found the bomb I wanted. A smoke bomb. Thanks to Quain, he explained which bombs were which before the Earthquake. I pulled the pin and threw it to the ground. I quickly scooped up Quain's body and ran out the front door while everyone choked on the smoke.