"Get Braken to come over to my window," I said, rushing to the cell door. There it was, just where they'd left it.

"What? Why?" Leo asked.

"Just do it," I snapped, reaching my arm through the bars. I could almost reach the hilt of my sword. It was still covered in Laszlo's blood, and seeing it made me sick to my stomach. I ignored it the best I could and stretched until I could just barely grasp it.

Leo was on his toes, poking his arm out of the barred window into the arena. He was speaking softly, coaxing Braken toward him. The younger Unnatural was frantic and wild, making soft, inhuman sounds of pain as he pushed himself closer to Leo. I couldn't see him or the screens from here, but I hoped he was close enough.

I could hear the announcer mocking them, and my heart burned with anger. "Aww, the poor thing needs someone to hold his hand. How sweet." The crowd burst into laughing and taunting, and my anger grew hotter. They didn't know a thing about these games. They had no right to laugh.

Slowly, I pulled my sword through the bars of door, and then ran over to the window. "Braken," I said quickly. "Braken, get him close. I'll -" My voice faltered, but I pushed through it. "I'll stab him."

Braken just glanced at me and pressed himself harder against the wall, his eyes filled with terror. I couldn't tell if he'd even heard me.

Mike prowled toward him, grinning like a maniac. "I can't kill Tristam, but I can kill you. I can kill the only thing he cares about. I can take everything away from him, just like he took everything from me!" he screamed.

I started to poke the sword point through the bars, shoving it awkwardly out into the light. He wasn't close enough. I couldn't reach him. The announcer noticed and quickly alerted the Refs.

I could see the screens now as Mike formed another energy grenade in his hand and knelt down next to Braken. Braken lifted his hand weakly to finish him, but the other grabbed both of his wrists with one hand, preventing him from touching him. He flinched when he'd done so, as if he'd half expected to disintegrate on contract, but then smiled grimly as Braken tried to pull away, his childish eyes wide in terror and filled with tears. "Let's go out together, shall we?" Mike said softly, still grinning.

Braken's eyes flickered to my sword sticking out of the window and he suddenly lashed out, kicking Mike hard in the stomach. The other Unnatural yelped and released him, and Braken grabbed the blade of my sword, yanking it out of my hands and into the arena. He cut himself pretty badly on the edge, but he didn't seem to notice.

"Braken, what are you doing?" Leo shrieked. "Just grab him!"

The Refs were readying their darts, the ones used to knock the contestants out if they didn't do what they wanted. One of the guns, I noticed, was loaded with bullets - to kill him.

I looked up at the screen - everything was happening so fast - and saw something in Braken's eyes that drove a blade of ice into my soul. He wanted to use my sword because he'd seen how much pain Laszlo had been in. He wanted Mike to suffer.

Tristam didn't enjoy killing.

Braken did.

Before Mike could recover and throw the bomb, Braken stepped forward, stumbled, and thrust the sword into his chest, and the crowd went silent. They had wanted to watch him disintegrate, not be impaled.

Mike let out a gasp of pain and dropped to his knees, grasping his chest as the energy bomb vanished. The Refs were screaming for Braken to stand down, to back up and put his hands in the air. This wasn't how it was supposed to go. Braken didn't listen. He just glanced up at them and his eyes hardened like diamonds. He tightened his grip on my sword and slowly began to pull it out, twisting it as he went. Mike let out a silent scream and doubled over, desperate to protect himself. There was blood all over, and a sick feeling entered my stomach.

"Braken, stop it!" I cried.

He just glanced back and then yanked the blade all the way out, and Mike fell over face first, and didn't move.

"This isn't how it goes!" one of the Refs screamed furiously. "You were supposed to die!"

"Drop the weapon and put your hands in the air," another one said, and five or six dropped into the arena, their guns pointed at Braken's chest. The silent Unnatural tossed the sword out to the side and held his hands up, grinning at them.

"He won!" Leo shouted in excitement and relief. He spun a circle around in his cage and ran up to our window, starting to laugh. "He did it! He really won!"

"Did you see that look?" I said, my voice low.

"It doesn't matter now. He won! He's coming back!"

"Leo, he didn't just kill him," I said, rubbing the back of my neck and staring at the floor. "He wanted him to suffer. He could have just touched him. Instead, he ..."

Leo quieted down and stood by the window. "Joel, you've only been here a week, so I'll cut you some slack. This world -" He pointed down at the ground. "It's different from that world, out there. In this world, it's kill or be killed. I don't think you understand that yet."

"But -" I started, and then thought of something. "What's Braken's real name?"

"That is his real name," Leo said, frowning. "Or at least that's what he tells me."

"Why can't he talk?"

"I don't know. He never told me, and I never asked."

"How long has he been here?"

"Why are you so curious all of a sudden?" he accused.

"I'm just trying to put the puzzle together," I said, thinking hard.

"He won't like it."

"What?" I looked up at Leo and he shrugged.

"He won't like me telling you." He shifted his weight and rubbed his neck, fingering one of his braids again. "His mom was an Unnatural," he said slowly. "They caught her a few weeks before she gave birth."

My eyes widened. "You mean -"

"He's never been outside," Leo finished, nodding grimly. "He's been here his whole entire life."

Living a waking nightmare for a lifetime ...

"They were going to kill him after his mom lost the games, when he was four, but then he started to show signs of Unnatural powers." Leo sighed and sat down against the wall, facing the cell door. "So they kept him to compete in the games. He told me that he fought for the first time when he was eight years old."

"Eight years old," I murmured. "That's so young."

"The woman in the next cell over taught him sign language and tried to teach him how to read and write," Leo continued, softer. "She was killed a few months before I showed up. I met him when he was ten and I was twelve, and ... it was an adventure, but I guess we bonded pretty quick. It probably helped that no one was willing to touch him. He hadn't had physical contact - other than killing the opponents - in nearly six years. I wanted someone to take me in, to be my friend, and all he wanted was someone who wasn't afraid."

I stared at him, speechless. My heart ached as I pondered his words, wondering what it would be like to grow up here, without any parents, without any friends, and with everyone in the country afraid of you. Maybe that's why he enjoyed killing. He didn't know any better.

"He's had a pretty terrible life, but I guess he's doing better than me." Leo sighed again, rubbing his wrist now, instead of his neck.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean he's happier than me. This is life. He knows how to accept death, and he knows that sometimes, it can't be stopped. I guess I'm just ... always in denial." He wouldn't look at me. He kept his eyes glued to the door.

"You know," I said, "I used to watch the games and think about how I'd love to meet you someday. You were always my favorite. I thought you were the strongest and the most beautiful fighter. I wasn't wrong," I said as he started to interrupt me. "But I wasn't right, either. I had the wrong mindset." I leaned against the bars and let my hand rest on his side of the window. "You are strong and you are the most beautiful. And I'm very glad to have met you."

He just snorted in response.

"Really, Leo. If I hadn't met you and Braken, I'd be on those stands, thinking you were animals. No, not animals. Objects. Game pieces. Characters in a show. You know that's how they think of you, don't you? Now I know something that very few other normal humans recognize. And for that, I'm grateful. Thank you."

Leo opened his mouth to say something, but then the lights in the arena shut off and we were swallowed in darkness. There was a pause, and then he swore softly. "I hate the dark." It sounded like he pulled his knees up to his chest, but it was too dark to see. "It makes me feel small and weak and helpless and afraid ..."

"Why don't you just use your fire?" I asked softly.

"Last time I tried that, they gave me twenty lashes. You know what that means, don't you?" I heard him shift again. I knew what that meant, and my back tingled uncomfortably just thinking about it. "I guess they want me to be afraid. They want me to stay submissive."

"I'm sorry," I murmured.

"There's nothing you can do about it anyway." I heard him lay down and curl up. "If you hear anything, just ignore it."

"I'm here if you need me," I said.

"I don't need you," he grumbled.

I shrugged, though he couldn't see it, and laid down to get some sleep. The truth was that I hated the dark, too. It reminded me of the darkness I felt in my chest when I killed Laszlo. If I didn't get out of here soon, I knew I'd have to kill more of them just to stay alive.

"Someday, I'm going to get you out," I said. "All of you. I'll stop this. I promise."

"Good luck with that," he muttered under his breath. There was a long pause, and for a moment, I thought he'd fallen asleep, but then he spoke again. "You know, I think you're lucky, Joel."

"What? Why?"

"Braken has trained himself to be near emotionless around those he doesn't trust. He doesn't trust easily, and yet he accepted you almost immediately." Leo shifted again. "And when you have Braken's trust, there is nothing he won't do for you."