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Chapter 4

{{ Sonya's POV ๐Ÿ”ช }}

"Get your filthy hands off me!"

The furious Sonya was thrown unceremoniously onto the cold floor of her stone cell.

"You're going to pay for this!" she yelled as the massive stone wall finished sliding back into its original position. Even though Sonya Ebony was small and petite, she had a temper that was twice her size. Her pale face was set with fierce brown eyes and framed with dark brown waves of hair.

Yelling at nothing in particular one last time, Sonya collapsed into a small heap in the corner of her cell and pulled her knees up to her chest. Sonya would not go quietly. She may look small, but they'd regret underestimating her.

A few hours after being brought back to her cell, a small slot opened underneath the barred window. The face of an unfamiliar guard appeared at the bars as he placed a metal tray on the open slot.

"What is it," Sonya snapped, eyeing the pile of so-called food from across the room. The guard looked at her through the bars for a few moments before disappearing again. She took the tray of food and the slot in the wall closed so that the wall was once again unnaturally smooth. Sonya began to pick at the food with the fork that came with her meal. It looked like it was supposed to be mashed potatoes, a slice of canned pork, and a stale roll. How delicious.

"You would think that they would want their contestants to be strong and healthy, in order to put on a good show," Sonya grumbled under her breath, attempting to pick apart the roll. She was just about to try the potatoes when a distant scream broke through the silence in her cell.

"Please! Please don't! I can't go in there! Please don't make me, I can't! Please! No!"

There was another scream and then her little stone prison fell back into silence. Poor kid probably broke a few bones and still got put in. A broken leg or arm wouldn't do you any good when you had to fend off murderous teenagers and psycho monsters.

This wasn't the first time she had heard that same scenario during her brief stay here. She liked to imagine what happened to each new contestant. This time it was a few broken bones, sometimes a bullet to the shoulder, and one time she was able to hear the actual bone snapping; that one was a neck.

People would fight so hard to avoid going into the games they would end up committing suicide. Sonya couldn't see anything she could hang herself by but maybe she could impale herself enough times with the fork? It was a generally morbid thought, but she seemed to think about those kinds of things often.

Her train of thought was cut off as the wall slid open for the umpteenth time that day, but this time the gap in the wall was especially unwelcomed. A girl was shoved into her cell and the wall moved back into place.

{{ Kiwi's POV ๐Ÿˆ }}

Kiara Walters had been dragged from one stone cell and thrown into another. The walls were made of the same immaculate grey stone and bore the same small barred window. And there was a person. A young girl, petite and glowering at Kiwi.

"Who are you?" the mystery girl sneered as Kiwi continued to size her up.

"I could ask you the same question," she shot back. She could already tell her new roommate would be a blast.

โ€œWell, you're the one who just showed up out of nowhere. I was enjoying the quiet."

Kiwi scoffed, "It's not like I wanted to come join you. These cells are too small for one person, let alone two."

The girl shot her a death glare before spitting, "Seeing as I'm going to be stuck with you for god knows how long, I'm going to need your name."

"I don't owe you anything, especially if you're going to be an ass. If I'm going to tell you my name, you have to tell me yours."

The girl gave a creepy giggle before answering, "Look who's talking. Sonya Ebony. Now tell me yours so we don't have to continue this awful conversation."

"Kiwi," she spat before moving to sit against the moving wall.

"Kiwi? That's a fruit, not a name. We made a deal so give me your name before I strangle you," Sonya threatened, her face showing no sign of emotion.

"Pester me anymore and we'll see who strangles who. I told you my name is Kiwi and that's all you're going to get."

Sonya huffed and lay back against her wall. Kiwi was at least a few inches taller than Sonya so she was fully confident that she would have no problems stilling that tiny little body.

The introductions finally over, Kiwi resigned herself to examining the slate-gray stone.

{{ Sophie's POV ๐Ÿ’ซ }}

Sophie Winters' brown hair was matted to her forehead and her brown eyes were void of their usual sparkle and joy. She had been sitting in a flat stone cell for almost three days and each day was the same routine of worry and confusion.

Sophie had been waiting for Coryn when a trio of guards jumped her from a back alley and had taken her to the mansion.

What was Coryn doing right now? She was probably out of her mind with worry and knowing her, had probably scoured the entire city.

She sat in the corner of her cell, staring out of the small window in the sliding wall. It was never good when Sophie had real time to think, she always thought through the worst scenarios, imagining all the things that could possibly go wrong.

Her train of thought was stopped when the wall began to slide open. A guard, not as ruff-looking as the one before, stepped into the space between the walls.

"Come with me please," he commanded, a hint of remorse tainting his voice.

"Where are we going?" she asked, voice shaking slightly. But she knew the answer before she even opened her mouth.

"I'm not supposed to speak to you, ma'am. I apologize."

So that was it. She knew he wasn't apologizing because he couldn't talk to her, he was sorry about where he was taking her. Now that she was out of the stone cube, she wished she could go back to its familiar walls. She thought they would at least give them some form of training, but that was probably just one of the many rumors she had heard about the games.

They continued down a few bright white hallways until they came upon a large set of double doors. The guard stepped through the doors and gestured for her to walk in ahead of him.

The room was small and housed a metal wardrobe that the guard unlocked with some sort of key kept on his belt. She heard the sound of clothes rustling and the man handed her a new set of clothes.

"You can change in there," he pointed to a tall cubicle in the corner of the room. "When you're done you can put your old clothes in the basket in the changing room."

As Sophie changed into the black t-shirt and the grey cargo pants, her mind ran through the possible escape options. The guard seemed nice, maybe he would let her go? Fat chance. She sighed and slid the army-green jacket over her arms.

After she dumped her old clothes in the bin, she opened the door and walked toward the guard. The pair retraced their steps but made a left instead of going right into the prison sector. The man stopped at another pair of white double doors that glided open to reveal a huge room lined with small, single-passenger drones.

He led them halfway down the line of aircraft and with a half-hearted smile, opened the hatch that allowed her to climb in. Once she was seated the guard moved to close the hatch but paused.

"I know it's not worth much, but good luck." And with that, he closed the hatch, and Sophie was lifted into the air and sent to the arena.

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