Chapter 5

I hold Paige’s limp body in my arms, sobbing. Guards start to surround me.

“Congratulations. You have won the Hunger Games. Come with us, we will guide you out of the arena.”

I nod, standing from the ground, I pack back up everything we received into the box, and I grab Paige’s corpse.

“We will take her.” The guard says.

“Where are you taking her?” I say, wiping away some of my tears.

They don’t answer. “Where are you taking her?” I repeat.

“We just need to do some research.” They say making me scoff. “If you don’t comply, we will use force if necessary.” They threaten. 

I reluctantly stand to my feet, watching them grab Paige from the ground.  They instruct me to follow them, and I do. 

We eventually reach the building we started in, maybe we never even left.

Half of the guards split off, taking Paige’s corpse somewhere, and the other half guides me to a bedroom. 

“You can stay here as long as you need. Some family and friends are outside waiting for you. Would you like them to enter?”

I nod, the guard nods in return and walks out of the room holding the door open as the room floods with my teammates, family, and her family.

I sit down on the bed, and they all crowd around me. “Hey girly-pop,” KK says to me. “We have something to tell you.” 

I cock my head to the side, feeling my tears shift that I didn’t know were still coming. I look around the room, and no one is crying; most are giving me pitiful looks. 

Her dad moves to the front of the crowd, “Paige isn’t dead,” he announces. 

I shake my head. “What? She is. I literally just killed her.” 

“You don’t know this because you weren’t there. But throughout the entire time, she was constantly talking to her mentor. Who set it up to make it look like she died, but she’s very alive. When they took her body, it was to wake her up. They gave her a sleeping syrum.”

“No, I watched her bleed out!” I say, slightly shouting. 

“We should give you some space to process everyone out,” Caroline says, making me shake my head. “Anyone on the team can stay; everyone else, please leave,” I say.

Her family and my family leave the room, leaving me alone with KK, Caroline, and Aubrey.

“Why didn’t she tell me?” I asked. The three girls look at each other. Eventually, Aubrey takes charge, speaking up.

 “No one knows that part. You and all the other contestants are the only ones who didn’t know about this. “

My tears start flowing even more. “Last night she texted us, told us not to tell you, but it only felt fair for you to know.”

Her words make me cry even more, making me realize she never intended for me to find out. 

“However you move forward, we will support you, whether it’s confronting her or ignoring her the rest of your life.” 

“I’ll give her what she wanted. My absence in her life.” I say, wiping away my tears.  “You don’t even want the slightest revenge?” KK questions.

 I shake my head, making her dramatically sigh. “Well, we are getting revenge even if you don’t help! She broke up our happy home, you guys were our overly in love parents, and now you’re a fake widow!” KK announces making everyone laugh softly.

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Paige’s POV

I wake up in a dark lavatory with people surrounding me. “Is it over?” I question. The masked scientists nod.

I stand up from my weird-looking chair. “Can I see my girlfriend now?” I question making them all turn to me.

“As far as she is aware, you are dead. And we wish to keep it as such,” they tell me, making me shed a small tear, wiping it away quickly.

“Your friends are outside. They wanted to talk to you. When you are done, let us know, and we will take you to your room.” They say, I open the door and immediately find my three teammates waiting for me.

“P-town!” Aubrey says dapping me up.

“Hey guys, how is she doing?”
I question wanting to know her current state.

“She’s a wreck; she hasn’t stopped crying.” KK overexadurates.

I look down at the ground sadly. Nodding my head, “I did what I had to do. If that means she has to be down for a while, then so be it, I guess.”

They all look at each other, knowing something I don’t.

“What?”

Caroline speaks first, “She wants to quit basketball.” She explains.

My head starts to spin from her words. She’s quitting? Because of me?

“You can’t let her do that!”
I shout.

She shakes her head. “Her mind is made. All we can do is support her decision.”

“They didn’t even let her stay to process; they immediately ran off with your body,” KK tells me.

“Of course, if you would just let us tell her you’re not dead and let us explain why you did it, she wouldn’t be crying her ass off right now,” Aubrey tells me.

I shake my head. “They said she can’t know,” I reply.

“You’re going to make her spend the rest of her life thinking she murdered her girlfriend when in reality you’re right here?” Kk questions.

“It sounds bad when you put it like that!” I exclaim, knowing I have my reasons.

“We have to go, guys, her food is ready.”

Food?

“What food? The pity food?”

“Yeah, she decided to take it,” Caroline explains to me.

“Don’t let her eat that shit! It puts her name in more times!” I exclaim.

They all shrug and walk away to the cafeteria.

Shit.

I walk back into the laboratory and let them guide me to my new room.

I plop down on the bed after locking the door.

Tears immediately poured down my face. This is my fault.

If she ends up getting selected again, it’s my fault.

If she quits basketball, it’s my fault.

The tears pouring down her face are my fault.

I should never have agreed to this.

Only even did this to protect her, but now she’s ruining her life.

I have to tell her. I have to see her, make her stop.

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Azzi’s POV

The three girls walk back into my room, sliding into the bed with me under the covers. KK on the left and the two others on the right.

“She nearly broke, she’s at least considering coming in here right now,” KK tells me

“What did you tell her?” I question.

“The truth that you’re up here sobbing a river, and some lies like you took their pity food, and that you’re gonna quit basketball.”

She replies, making me shake my head. “I don’t want her to think that!” I exclaim, hearing a knock on my door right after.

“It worked!” Aubrey says, looking out the peephole.

She opens the door, revealing Paige. I quickly wipe away my tears, not wanting her to see me like this.

“Paige?” I asked, still not believing what they told me was true.

“They told you?” She asks, shoving our teammates out of the room and walking over to sit under the covers with me.

“Yes, they did,” I say, still wiping my tears, scooting away from her on the bed.

“Did they tell you why I did it?” She says, grabbing my hand, stopping me from moving any further.

I shake my head, “They told me they didn’t know.” I reply

“At least they can keep one secret.” She says, trying to make me laugh.

 I don’t.

“I had to do it. I didn’t have a choice. They told me that if I didn’t…” She says her mood has a big change in it.

I wait for her to finish her sentence, but she doesn’t.

“If you didn’t?” I ask, provoking her to finish her sentence.

“They would let you die, bleed out.” She finishes her voice full of ache.

“I only bled once, baby? And we got a care package to fix it.” I say to her, and she nods.

“That’s what they wanted you to think. They had me give you something that made you forget. You were so close to bleeding out, I saw it every night. You kept begging me to just put you out of your misery, but selfishly, I couldn’t.” She says, beginning to sob. 

“They made me an offer. I took it; the only requirement was that I had to fake my death. Make you think I was gone.” She says between sobs.

I shake my head, “No, that didn’t happen, Paige.” I say in denial.

She looks into my eyes for a moment. Thinking.

She grabs at my back, flipping me over.

“What are you doing?” She lifts my shirt slightly, pulling out her phone, snapping a photo before letting me turn back over.

I look down at her phone, and I see a big scar going across my lower torso; it looks stitched up.

“What day is this from?” I ask her.

“The first night, when I found you in the woods.” She admits softly

“Tell me exactly what you remember,” I instruct her

She nods, “I was searching for berries, but then I heard you scream, which sent warnings off in my mind.” She says, pausing to breathe. 

“I began running through, screaming your name, and then I found you. With a boy hovering over you with a spear, I panicked and ran over and stabbed him with my sword, sending it through his body. But…” she pauses, not wanting to finish.

“But what, baby?” I question needing to hear the end of the story

“I realized it wasn’t just him I stabbed.” She said, just barely audible. Still crying.

“Don’t cry, Paige,” I tell he,r pulling her closer to me.

She leans into my chest, tears flowing down her face, falling onto my shirt.

“It’s all my fault, you almost died, and you begged me not to make you suffer through it, but I just couldn’t.” She mumbles to me.

I run my fingers through her hair as I speak to her. “You were trying to save me. That isn’t your fault.”

I can feel her shake her head, “It is! I should have been more careful. The only thing that was going through my head was that he was going to kill you.” She tells me.

We both sit there in silence for a few minutes, when Caroline walks through the door.

“The guards want to talk to you, Azzi, probably to talk to the press,” Caroline informs us.

“Okay, I’ll be out in a minute,” I tell Caroline as she walks out the door.

“Wait, no, you can’t leave yet, I have something else to tell you,” Paige says to me as I start to stand up.

I cock my head to the side, waiting for her to speak.

She takes a deep breath in before finally speaking up, “After press, I need you to get out of this building, as soon as possible. Promise me.” She says, confusing me even more.

I nod, “Okay, baby, but can I know why?” I say, wanting to understand what’s happening.

She shakes her head.

Of course she does.

“Okay, I trust you,” I say, standing from the bed. “I’ll see you soon?” I say, asking her more than telling her. She nods, and I give her a nod in return.

As soon as I exit the room, two guards are waiting for me outside.

“Ms. Fudd, this way.” One says, pointing to the right. I nod, walking in front of them, assuming I’m going straight.

We arrive at the press area, and I am met with a bunch of people waiting for me. I climb up onto the platform and sit in a chair with a microphone in front of me.

“Ms. Fudd, how was this experience for you?”

The first reporter asks, and I analyze the question, knowing the real meaning behind their words. I won’t give them the answer they want. 

“It was tiring, a lot of restless nights, which I’m sure everyone saw.” 

Another reporter speaks this time, “It has been rumored you are quitting basketball, is this true?”

I laugh at the ridiculous assumptions, “I am not quitting basketball, yes, I will be taking a break from basketball to mourn, but basketball is a passion that Paige and I shared. I won’t be quitting if not for me, for her.”

I don’t want anyone knowing I know she is alive. I don’t even want to think about what could happen if anyone finds out. 

“That’s all the questions I’ll be answering,” I say ending the interview way too early, standing up, and climbing off the platform, hearing people shout after me.

I follow Paige’s instructions. Get out of the building and far away, I consider running to UCONN, but that’s too far and they will expect that. I could book a flight hom,e but that will take too long. 

Right now, my only focus is getting out of the building.

I run straight through the doors out into the street, and guards are already there waiting for me. But none of them react to me. I look around, and no one is chasing me or trying to stop me. I brush off the oddness, and as soon as I run out of the gate, I am met with a car containing Paige, Aubrey, KK, and Caroline. Paige gets out of the car and runs to open the passenger door for me. 

“KK, get in the backseat.” She demands, KK mopes her way to the back, letting me take the passenger seat.

I get into the car, locking my door and buckling up. 

Paige immediately pulls away from the building and drives at a concerning speed above the  limit. 

The building we were previously in is very isolated from the rest of Connecticut, meaning there is a long open road with absolutely no traffic or stop lights.

____________________________________

We have been driving on the open road for hours

I’m growing tired, but I’ll do my best to stay awake.

“You should go to sleep, princess,” Paige tells me.

I shake my head, “Who will entertain you then?” I joke.

KK, Aubrey, and Caroline fell asleep hours ago. If I go to sleep, there is a possibility Paige will fall asleep from boredom.

“Baby, just go to sleep,”  she tells me gently.

“I can’t even get comfortable anyway,” I say to her. 

“Grab the blanket and pillow I brought for you. It should be in the backseat,” she says.

I nod, turning to look. “It seems occupied,” I tell her while laughing. She turns her head to look, seeing the girls are currently using them. She snatches the blanket from Aubrey, who is in the middle, and pulls it to the front, uncovering all of them.

“Here you go, Princess.” 

I laugh watching all the girls wake up from the sudden cold air.

“Thank you, baby,” I tell her to cover myself up and allowing myself to fall asleep.

I feel Paige’s free hand reach down grab mine tracing small patterns across it.

“Good night, Princess,” she says, planting a kiss on my lips softly before pulling away. 

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Authors note

Should I do a chapter where it shows what happens on the first night better? It’ll be short so I would release it at the same time I release another chapter.