The 200th Annual Hunger Games - The Ultimate Games

The Ultimate Games - Day 4 (Morning)

Arwin Yates POV

BOOM!

I jolted awake at the cannon, blinking rapidly as my eyes struggled to adjust to the darkness. I saw movement a few metres away and scurried backwards, immediately reaching for my bow and putting an arrow in the string.

"SHIT, ARWIN, STOP!"

I lowered the bow, frowning into the darkness at the figure.

"Fern?"

"Jesus Christ, you scared me," she said. She sounded nervous.

"Did you hear the cannon?" I blinked more, my surroundings starting to come into focus.

"Yea," Fern muttered, "It sounded close."

"Benj, you hear it?" I asked.

No response.

"Benji?" I asked again. I turned towards his sleeping form, touching the crook of his neck lightly.

My fingers came away wet.

"Shit," I muttered. I scurried closer, checking Benji for wounds. My fingers brushed across a large gash in the nape of his neck, and my heart stopped.

"NO!" I screamed. My hands clenched themselves into the collar of Benji's shirt, paying no regard to the blood seeping onto my fingers, shaking him as if I thought it would wake him.

He would never wake. He was dead.

"God, no," I murmured, hanging my head. My shoulders shook with silent sobs as Fern sat a few metres away, staring at the scene with a look of utter disbelief on her face. I shut my eyes against Benji's chest, trying to remember him without the blood. God, the blood.

"We need to go," Fern said softly, "Whoever... killed him might be near."

"I don't care."

"Arwin," Fern grabbed my shoulder, "We gotta go, okay?"

I sniffled and staggered to my feet, picking up my pack and my bow. Fern wrapped an arm around me, turning me away, but I still caught another glimpse of Benji's corpse. I screamed in anguish, burying my head into Fern's shoulder as we awkwardly hobbled from the clearing, leaving the corpse of one of the only friends I'd ever had lying on the dirt.

Xenia Hale POV

"Attention, tributes,"

I glanced upwards as the voice of the Head Gamemaker echoed throughout the arena. Aria looked up from carving something into the side of a tree, her brow furrowed.

"The capitol have been voting on something very, very special to give to you today. We know many of you are missing family, and so, we decided to bring in three! They will be sent in just a short few moments, and will be picked up at tonight's death toll. If they're still alive, that is. May the odds be ever in your favour!"

"Who do you think will get them sent in?" Valentina asked casually, "I imagine Arwin's sister would get sent in, she's a cripple and she was the one originally reaped."

"Nah," Aria said, "She's too weak a target, it'd be boring for the Captiol."

"We'll see," I answered. Suddenly, three beams of light struck down at the centre of the arena, where the cornucopia was. I watched as two moved to the west, staying right beside eachother, and one headed straight for us. I bristled immediately.

Perhaps it was my mother. Maybe it was someone from Valentina's family. Or maybe...

"Oh my god," Aria gasped. She staggered forward and towards the person that had come from the beam of light, "Elinor,"