"Life is not a competition, each person is on their own individual journey. Live your life based off of your morals, values and dreams. Don't waste time trying to be the best- be the best you can be, sweetie."

Those were the wise words of my father in response to me arrogantly telling him that I had smoked all the old ladies at the quilting competition. I hated quilting, but I had taken it up just for the sake of winning. Because you know, winning is my favorite pastime. I'm actually really good at it too.

I remember being irritated with my father as soon as the words had hit my eardrum, so I had simply informed him that winning was my moral, value and dream, to which he laughed grimly and said that I was too much like him.

I haven't really had much character development with my obsession with winning since that conversation three years ago. Being the best was one of my driving forces. I made sure I was brave when no one else was, I made sure I saved people who couldn't save themselves and I always was making sure my head was untouchable. I guess you might be able to say that the only reason I went out of my way for others was to be the best. That thought made me dislike myself a tad, I mean I'd like to think that if I wasn't competitive I would still be the person I was but honestly I wasn't so sure.

********

The sun was rising as Danger and I sat at the foot of the old rickety roller coaster. I had climbed it (much to his common sense's horror) and nearly fell several times. However I did get what I had originally wanted, a good look around. It was definitely an island, I had been hoping this was a peninsula to lead the other people here to safety but obviously I was just going to have to find another method.

I was deep in thought when Danger spoke up. "Riddick, you have to calm down if you want to get out of this alive. I like you, I really do, but there is a fine line between stupidity and bravery and you passed that line a long time ago."

I furrowed my frown and tried to keep from grinning. "You realize that no one gets out of life alive, right?" A small laugh of astonishment at his stupidity escaped my mouth. "Like we are all going to die. Its just a matter of time."

"Well I can control when I go." He said, "Like I'd prefer to die when I'm 80 surrounded by my family rather than on this island of death."

I shook my head. "You have no control over when you die. Only God does, and whenever he calls my name I'm good to go. I mean I've lived my life, I've helped people and I chose to be happy. And I'll get to see my dad again and I can finally meet my mom.... Gosh I'm already 15, I'm older than most dogs." I laughed, "I have no regrets." I said before I stopped and remembered the haunting face of the girl I had accidently killed. My gut began to twist. Well... I had one regret.

Danger looked away at a stray peddle and began to push it around with his finger. "You don't know there's a heaven."

I pursed my lips and looked up at the sky, thinking. "Your right. I'm only like 94% sure there's a heaven. However I'd rather live my life like there was an afterlife and find out there isn't than live as if there's not an afterlife and find out there is. If I'm wrong then there are zero consequences. Everyone ends up with the same fate. If I'm right then depending on how you lived your life you and I could have very different afterlives...." I trailed off, my gaze drifting towards the ground. Yep, I was definitely digging happy froo froo cloudland way more than a being roasted alive in the earth's indigestive stomach.

Danger let out an uncomfortable sigh and continued to play with the pebble. "I don't know what I think."

That seemed like a stupid move to me considering that death was practically chasing us around with a bat, but you know people had to make there own calls I guess. I decided to be polite and not inform him of this.

Danger dropped the stick suddenly and stood up abruptly. "I'll tell you what I do know though. We are probably going to be trapped here for a while. We need to build a shelter, set up camp-"

The earsplitting groan of a intercom cut him off, ringing through the island. My eyes flew to the rusted old speaker that dangled from a long wire tacked to a pole. "I do hope you had a lovely first night on our five star island." A woman's voice drawled from the crackly speaker. I pursed my lips and cocked my head to one side, it was okay. I had enjoyed the ghostly figures floating around. "A shame not all of you have survived the night." She finished and I furrowed my brows looking over towards Danger.

"Such a waste." A male voice sneered heartlessly. "I do hope you all wake up quickly though. This time the challenge is a race. Markers are hard to find, but will lead you to the end. First one there will be rewarded and the last one will be killed."

The female voice let out a cold chuckle as the male voice made his threat. "Its breaking dawn tributes. "Blood will have blood - and so will the sun." The voice cut out and the microphone went dead. A deep, heavy silence loomed over the island like an invisible fog. My chest was filled with a sudden pressure whether it was stress, elation or both I had no idea.

"We can't go. This obviously is a plan. We can't play into it." Danger said evenly, though his eyes were wild with a sudden terror that he was doing his best to control.

"No. We have to. Whoever this is has to be stopped, if we play along I think he will have to show their faces. We have to kill them before they kill us." I said feeling sick at my own ruthlessness. It was one life versus the life of everyone here though. After we had come ashore I hadn't seen anyone, but they were probably hiding.... I had to save them.

Danger opened his mouth to object however the words never left his lips, a low snarl came from behind us. My neck snapped around to fall upon two big furry wolves. One was stoic with a thick brown coat and a regal glare as it lowered it's head and stepped toward Danger who returned the stare unblinkingly. The other wolf rather looked deranged, it's head crained sharply to one side as foam dripped from its mouth. It tried to growl at me but it's growl got caught in it's throat and it sounded more like a laugh.

Instantly I felt a connection with the wolf and knew it had to be my soul mate.

Danger obviously didn't have the connection with his wolf because suddenly he lunged to one side. "Run Riddick! Follow me!" His wolf lurched after him but mine continued to look me in the eye. I'd catch up with Danger later.

"What is your name, you beautiful creature?" I asked as the wolf's neck spasmed slightly and a large pile of it's spit fell to the dirt ground on it's feet. Ever so slightly I reached my hand toward the wolf's snout to touch it.

The wolf snapped at it, I withdrew my hand with lightspeed. "You're right! We need to get to the masterminds of this massacre and kill them! Besides! I need to crush everyone and win this!" I cried jumping to my feet and sprinting as fast as I could as my beautiful wolf lunged at my legs. "All right, all right I'm moving sweetie!" I yelled at I sprinted to the edge of the carnival toward the giant fence that surrounded it. A small purple tie was wrapped around a gap in it.

The wolf chased me, its mouth salivating as it tagged my heels. "Come on Fluffy! Through the hole!" I'm not quite sure where the name 'Fluffy' came from but it felt right. My spirit wolf was named Fluffy.

I ducked beneath the gap, the sharp edges of fence pulling at my clothes for a second before I tugged them free and stumbled into the woods. Catching my balance I began sprinting straight my feet crunching the twigs and leaves with each footfall. The branches seemed to reach upwards and tried to trip me but I refused to let them actually send me falling. I threw a glance over my shoulder- Fluffy was no where to be seen.... "Fluffy!" I screamed, "Come on Fluffy, we have to win so we can rub it in Danger's face!" I paused. "And obviously stop the forces of evil that reside on this island." I slowed to a stop and waited for my wolf to appear but after a long minute of nothing I couldn't wait any longer.

I started running again, trying to not feel disappointed. A purple tie caught my eye on the tree ahead of me. I briefly wondered if it meant I needed to turn but ignored my wonder and ran straight past it.

Right into a trap.

My feet were yanked out from under me as a rope net closed around me and sent me swinging up into the air. I tried not to scream as I reached for my boot, my fingers closing around the hilt of my knife. I glanced downward at the ground, it was only 10 feet. It shouldn't kill me. I don't think.

I forced my knife up against the thick rope and began sawing into it, just as I became aware of frantic footsteps drawing rapidly nearer. I looked down as a boy with a baggy black hoodie and a plump face came into view, I stared at him for a long second debating whether or not I should tell him not to go straight. I wanted to tell him. I knew I should tell him. Something held me back though as I watched him draw nearer and nearer.

I shook my head. What was wrong with me? "Hey! Buddy! Don't go straight it's a bad idea." I called down to the boy who stopped running and spun around as if a ghost was upon him.

I bit my lip as I saw his confusion and tried not to grin. "This is a ghost of a dead person. Do not go straight, go any way but straight." I made my voice wiggly just as the boy thought to look up and saw me, a bit of relief passing over his blue eyes. "Dammit. I had you really going there! Anyway, don't go straight because I went straight and now I'm in this net." I shrugged and continued sawing my rope.

The boy looked a tad irritated for some reason that was completely foreign to me. "Umm thanks. Do you want help?" He offered hesitantly continuing to look up at me.

I shook my head. "Nah. I got this. I'm like half ninja I think so I should be fine." I gritted my teeth and began sawing faster with a new vigor. The boy shrugged turning right and began walking. I looked down to focus more on my task at hand when I heard a strangled scream, my eyes shot toward where the boy had been and I felt a strangled gasp escape my lips.

There, right where the boy had been walking was now giant bloody spikes that had erupted from the ground, impaling him. I stared at the scene for a long time not saying anything. I couldn't. I should have helped him somehow. It was his eyes that really had caught me, wide, pale and empty bust like the girl I had accidently killed on the boat.

I felt sick.

Suddenly I heard a snap as I was sent tumbling to the ground. I crashed against it as waves of pain were sent through my body, it took me a second to register that the rope must have snapped where I had been cutting, my weight too much for the few threads that still held it.

I yanked myself from the remains of the rope and scurried over to the area that I was certain was safe, making sure not to look towards the corpse on my right. It was fairly certain that I was supposed to go left because the other two directions held traps, but I couldn't be expected to guess which way to go every time I saw a purple ribbon. I stared at it for a second before realising the knot was facing left. It was almost nothing to go on but it was the only thing I could think of.

I resisted looking back at the corpse one last time as I started running again, ducking and dodging through the brush. I had to stop thinking about him. I had to just focus on getting to the end and having my knife ready when I did. I saw the silhouette of a girl ahead of me. She was running, her face flushed with the effort.

I picked up my speed and passed her with ease. Part of me wanted to stop and tell her about the knots but I resisted. I had to focus on what was important, besides if she had made it this far it was safe to assume she had figured it out on her own. That didn't stop my chest from plaguing me with guilt. Ignore it and focus on the prize, I told myself.

Suddenly the brush around me fell away and I found that I was in a clearing. The ground dropped off abruptly after that. I tried to stop but I found myself falling forward from my own momentum. My body barreled toward the ground and I crashed into it, my arms and head dangling over the 70 foot drop into a ravine. "Wow... I'm just unkillable today." I breathed before scooting backward and sitting up in the tall grass.

The other side of the ravine was about 5 meters away and right splat on the other side of it was a purple ribbon that waivered slightly in the wind. I had to get across, but the question was how? A low growl sounded behind me, whispering into my ears like the hum of a motor. I crained my neck around only to see Fluffy standing there, a tree branch stuck out of one of his eyes. Blood dripped from it and formed a trail on the ground."Fluffy! You caught up! Are you alright?" It took a uneven limp toward me with a weird gleam in it's eye. It was only then that I registered it.

Fluffy was looking at me like it wanted to eat me.

Fluffy must have been awfully hungry. I shoved my hand into my pocket and yanked out my half eaten beef jerky stick and thrust it at the injured wolf that stood before me. It stared at the jerky stick for a long moment before it ripped it from my hands and devoured it. I decided now would be a great time to pet him and show him I was friendly. I reached underneath his stomach and began scratching it. I watched the wolf's tail begin to wag.

My grin widened. "I bet a lot of people judged you because you look a little different from other wolves." I whispered in it's ear. "People used to judge me too. I think you're special and completely worth the last of my beef jerky sticks." The huge wolf looked up at me with a sudden softness as if it understood what I was saying. "I have to get across the ravine." I said pointing to the gap in the land. "Do you care if I ride you and you jump? You're big enough to make it."

The wolf bowed it's head and I swung my leg over it's back and hugged it's neck. It took one hobbled step forward and then it was sprinting. Wind tore at my hair and the wolf's footsteps rattled my body. I grinned and let out a loud whoop of joy as I felt us lift into the air. My heart beat quickly in exhilaration in that one long, drawn out second of time in which I was flying.

Then the wolf's feet hit the ground again and it continued to run as if it were possessed and knew exactly where I needed to go. The landscape blurred past us as twigs and branches scratched my face leaving little red marks. I didn't care though. I loved it.

Ahead I saw the girl I had passed earlier. I felt a swell of irritation bubble up within me. I hadn't seen her pass me. I was going to win this if it was the last thing I did. Before I even realized what I was doing I had grabbed a branch, it snapped easily with the wolf's momentum. "Come on, Fluffy. Lets beat her!" I cried and cracked the branch against it's hind. The wolf let out a high pitched yip of pain and ran faster. I cracked the branch against it's hind again and we rushed past the girl right under a wooden arch.

Fluffy limped to a stop. "What are you doing Fluffy? We have to get going! We have to win!" I cried nervosa rippling through my veins. I stopped talking as Fluffy turned to look at me, his big brown eyes filled with hurt. My throat tightened up as I realized what I had done.

A slow clapping grabbed my attention. My neck shot upwards and I saw a tall man walking toward me with a look of disgust on his face. "Well you are a little late to be first. You are however early enough not to die... the poor girl behind you. As soon as she crosses the finish line we will have to kill her." A sickly smile played across the man's face. I stared at him completely frozen as I realized that by hurting my wolf to get past her I had sentenced another girl to death.

I tried to suppress the sudden nausea that engulfed my stomach. I was a monster. God no- I wasn't the monster! He was. I had to kill him before he killed the other girl, then I would ask my wolf's forgiveness.

I watched the man pull out a pistol. "As for the wolf.... God I gave you the ugliest one I could find! You were supposed to kill it not ride it to victory." He snorted as I swung my leg off of the poor animal's back. Fluffy hung its head a little in shame, a low whimper escaping it's throat.

It happened so fast I could barely process it. A loud crack erupted the otherwise silent island and Fluffy collapsed to the ground. And just like that the wolf was dead. I would never get to apologise or make things up to the poor creature. It had died wounded, betrayed and outcast from the world. My heart twisted in my chest like a rag as I felt my smile finally fall from my face.

"That wolf was a better creature than you will ever be." I snapped trying to keep the unfamiliar hot liquids in my eyes from tumbling down my face. I twisted my face into a scowl and unsheathed my knife. "Now tell me, are you ready to die?"