The Divide: Luminescence

Chapter 8

We joined a throng of kids who were all walking towards the woods, and I couldn't help but think about Sawyer. I didn't know if it was the alcohol or the anticipation of the games, but my nerves were all over the place and I felt jittery. I steadied my breathing and tried to shake it out, and as we turned the corner, a clearing came into view.

There was a stage to one side, and a line of tents opposite of that. It reminded me a lot of an outdoor music festival, except late at night. People were gathered around the stage talking, painted in different colours and patterns, and I was about to head that way when Acacia grabbed my arm.

"We have to go to the tents first and grab our weapons. There's a special tent for you at the end. Your warrior buddies will be there. We'll meet you by the stage after."

I nodded and walked past all the other tents. The first two were loaded with multiple knives, and adults were handing them to everyone who was playing. In the next two tents, people were seated, getting painted in a multitude of different colours. I locked eyes with a girl who was getting purple tribal print on her arms, and it suited her. I'd never seen a purple shine so brightly, and I wished I could just sit and watch, but I had to go get my weapons. As I approached the fifth and final tent, I could hear a bunch of boys yelling and laughing, and I grinned to myself as I peered into it.

"Blondie!" I was assaulted as soon as I was in sight by a large multicoloured man.

"Hello to you too, Jamie. Couldn't decide on one colour, hey?" I looked from his face to his shirtless chest, which was covered in yellow, green, pink, and orange splatters.

"One is just so boring. Not my style Bee." I looked to the rest of the boys and whistled.

"Damn boys. You clean up nice." I looked between them and realized not one of them was wearing a shirt. "What happened to your shirts? Did they all disappear in a fire?"

"If you have the canvas for painting, use it, right?"  Jean-Luc smirked as he handed me my sais. "Here you go. They're lighter than normal, but still better than those knives everyone else carries around." I looked at the arrows on his back and huffed.

"Having a lot of those must be awesome for a game like this." His emerald eyes blazed as he winked.

"I do alright." I laughed as a bolt of green flashed out of the corner of my eye. Quinn bounded up to us and grabbed his weapon. I really wasn't surprised at all that he had chosen green paint. He was Irish through and through.

"Took you long enough." Ty mumbled under his breath. If Quinn heard, he took no notice of it, and instead just cackled and turned to the rest of us, holding up a flask. He took a swig and handed it to me. We passed it around until it was empty, and once it was Connor took the lead.

"Well now that we've all got our weapons, should we head down to the stage?"

"Wait, where is Sawyer?" Everyone else was accounted for, except him, and he was the one I had wanted to see the most. Connor was, again, the one to speak up.

"He's already by the stage, waiting to see if his name gets called. Shall we?" He gestured to the massive group that was gathering, and I scanned the crowd trying to spot Acacia and Eliza. I walked down with the boys, and couldn't help but notice the looks they were getting. Girls couldn't stop looking at them, but they didn't even notice. They were all in their own little bubble, just talking with each other. The first person I spotted was Jasper, so I left the guys to go talk to him. He was on the right side of the stage, by himself, wearing as minimal paint as possible, only on his face. Unlike all the warriors, he had a long sleeved black shirt on, and long black pants on. He could sneak around almost anywhere undetected, if not for the light blue paint that framed his face.