#Chapter 99: Doomed

The morning of the second elimination ceremony, I awoke with a big pit growing in my stomach. I still hadn’t been able to speak to Julian about his potentially saving me today. I had talked more with Joyce, but he remained apathetic about the whole thing. Nicholas was avoiding me. Granted, I was also avoiding him. Elva, at least, was feeling much like herself again. Even now, she bounced out of bed, ready to face the day, while I moved much slower. I had already explained to her that today was another day to pack and be ready to potentially leave, but after the stress of last time, she never seemed to take it too seriously again, no matter what I said. After Elva and I had dressed in our day clothes, I stepped out into the hallway to speak with one of the guards. Fortunately Mark had not arrived yet. I knew he would eventually hear of my request, but I hoped to put it off for as long as possible. For Mark to know meant Nicholas would know. I wanted to delay that. “May I help you