All-Stars: Non-Careers

Chapter 22

Arter Wire

I used to be afraid of death. Now I wanted to know more about it. There were so many things I didn't understand. There were metaphysical things I never even considered. They kept popping up wherever I went.

After the parade, I knew it was my destiny. I was the only one dressed in a long black cloak, like the stylist knew what I was going to become. I hadn't heard stories like that in ages, not since I was young enough to be afraid to look under my bed. Stories about a skeletal being hidden under a cloak, a being that came for you when it was time to die. I'd met him before once. I hadn't seen him again since.

The best way to learn more about death was to get close to it. When the Games came, I'd have my chance. Whatever I did, there would be death. If I took part in it, I could learn even more. It was the ultimate mystery.

I didn't remember much about being dead. But as I thought, one thing came back to me. I remembered what the Reaper looked like. He looked like me.

Olivier Fowler

I didn't know what to believe anymore. I used to think life was worth living and there were happy things to look forward to, even if there were also a lot of hardships. The Games were just a remote part of life, like the knowledge that some horrible illness could take you away. It never had, and neither had the Games until I died. It wasn't like my shows, when magic happened and things reappeared after they vanished. Once we died, we were dead forever, unless something like this happened. But I wasn't sure I'd really reappeared. I didn't feel alive like I did before. I just wasn't dead.

As soon as I saw Tariq I wanted to run to him. If I had even one friend, maybe there was something worth holding on for. But I remembered what happened last time, and it sickened me. I wouldn't have been surprised if he was more messed up than I was, and I didn't want to be a reminder. But I was cared about myself more than him, because I went up to him after all.

"Ready to pick up where we left off?" I asked with a fake smile. I wanted him to think I was the same jolly Olivier as ever. He was always so tense. I didn't want to upset him. I couldn't tell if he was angry, sad, or just scared after I said it. After a minute he walked away without saying anything.

It was the first time I really lost him, since I died first last time. Now I knew how much it hurt. I'd hoped he would somehow magically heal from the trauma and we could be like we were. Some things don't reappear.

Tariq Bluegrass

I wanted to be with Olivier more than anything, but I couldn't bear it. I was furious with him for dying. I was horrified over what I'd become and I knew he'd seen it on the tapes. Once he'd thought about it, he wouldn't want to be with me. I was contaminated. He'd abandon me, and I wanted to abandon him first so that couldn't happen.

I didn't want to be alone again. I remembered what it was like to spend those days in the dark pit. I had company there, but I was still alone. The first thing I did when I got up was call my family. They barely remembered me. I never wanted to stop talking and they brushed me aside. They knew I'd die again and they'd already given up on me.

The day after Olivier asked me to ally with him, I went back to him.

"Do you still want me for an ally?" I asked. Don't say no. Don't leave me. I'd hate him if he did.

"Of course I still want you!" Olivier said. He was so enthusiastic I didn't trust him. He wanted to be my ally so he could betray me. He couldn't leave me. I'd kill us both if he tried.

Now I had an ally, but I couldn't trust him. I wasn't alone, but I had to watch for myself at every turn. There was no way he could really want to be my friend. How could he? I was the coward who got eaten by spiders. He had some other plan. I'd find out what it was.