Eden strained his face against Stark's grip to look at Rye. He looked hazy and discolored, but he knew it was only in his head. As he spoke, his eyes deadened at the claims he made. He silently wished that he knew something about Stark that made him a target, but he had no such knowledge as far as he could see. He had no clue why he mattered so much to Stark. He thought of looking at Stark and asking him why, but Stark's emanating dominance told him to shut up and be still. Getting the sign, Emery casually began walking around Stark clockwise. She looked at the gun in Rye's hand, wishing that he would shoot and hoping that he wouldn't at the same time. She assumed Rye was feeling the same way since he was trying a psychological approach to stall the enemy.<br/><br/>Stark fluttered his eyelashes in a dull manner as he listened to Rye's bullshit. He scoffed at the boy's ridiculous assumptions about Eden's worth to him, amused by his attempts at sounding all-knowing. His brow furrowed when Rye started talking about the slander he supposedly heard from the others about him. He suspected it to be false, but the idea of others looking down upon him made him more than uneasy. His jaw clenched when Rye mentioned Coren's alleged insult to him. For a moment, he almost took pride in choking the last breaths out of her. Sense returned to him in the form of his father berating him. "Stop giving a shit about what others think," his father scolded in Stark's face; the tobacco on the man's breath stung his nostrils. "They mean<span style="font-style: italic">nothing</span>."<br/><br/>Stark cracked his neck with a jerk of his chin to the left and stared at Rye with dark eyes. When the boy was finished, he smirked and replied, "I'm glad you got that out of your system. Now prepare to be enlightened with the truth." With that, Stark yanked Eden away from the tree and held the shaken boy in front of him; one arm coming up from Eden's side and holding his shoulder and the other hand gripping his face. "Eden doesn't know a fucking thing about me. He's just a sneaky bitch who kept pissing me off by evading me." His blue eyes brightened as he continued with a lip corner raised, showing gleaming teeth. "He's like one of those prey who always manages to slip away. Not anymore." He lowered his eyes to Eden and spoke roughly as he grumbled, "If he had given up<span style="font-style: italic">sooner</span>, maybe things wouldn't have gotten so<span style="font-style: italic">difficult</span>." Stark sighed as if releasing the bitterness then put the smile back on and said to Rye, "As for your whole story about everyone belittling me, whether it's true or not I don't give a damn. Because you know what? They're all dead. They don't mean anything now, if they did to begin with."<br/><br/>Glancing at Rye's gun, Stark brought his brows together and asked, "Are you gonna kill me with that?" He took a look at Emery and added, "Or are you going to have her take me down?" Emery stopped moving once he looked at her, but maintained an unfazed glare. Stark rolled his eyes and returned his gaze to Rye. "Oh Rye, you must think I'm stupid." His expression almost looked pitying. "But I'm not. You think you can see through me." He took a tentative step toward Rye. "You think you've got everything under control." He kept moving forward with Eden, keeping his eyes on Rye's. "Because you've detached yourself enough to not care." Now, he and Eden were just a few feet from him; as if Stark was daring Rye to raise the gun. "But you're no different." Right in front of Rye, Stark leaned forward and whispered, "I can break you like the little boy you are."<br/><br/>With Stark occupied, Emery took her chance and attacked him from behind; wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him back. He yelped and followed back to prevent himself from falling, but felt a writhing Eden escape from his grasp. He lunged forward and struck Rye's body, being sure to hold his armed hand away from him. After that, Stark tore himself from the two assailants and stood up. When Emery grasped his foot, he kicked her in the face with the other one. Whirling around, he saw Eden scaling a thick redwood like a squirrel avoiding a dog. Fortunately, this dog could climb.<br/><br/>Stark jumped onto the tree and advanced on it, digging his fingernails into the bark above and scraping his feet against it below. When Eden looked below him, he saw the demonic being from before and climbed feverishly. He knew it was Stark, but that knowledge did nothing to comfort him. As far as he was concerned, Stark was a human embodiment of a demon. Whilst they began to pass by protruding branches, Stark was having trouble keeping up with the leaner boy above him. After catching his breath, he looked up and said, "Listen, Eden." A good three yards above him, Eden looked backed down at his pursuer, trying to blink away the evil image. "I'll make you a proposition," breathed Stark, evidently desperate by now. "You submit to me and I'll make your death quick and painless." Eden scoffed at the offer; the same as the one he made before in the bathroom. Seeing Eden's reluctance, Stark went on, "It's a whole lot better than anything else this hellhole has in store for you. Think about it."<br/><br/>To his own surprise, Eden was thinking about it. He'd had just about enough of the Hunger Games; he was ready to give up and die. He thought about the pain he endured with the arrow in his arm, the venom from the spider, and the emotional strain that has pushed him to the edge. He thought about the burden he was upon Rye and Emery... upon the world. And here Stark was offering to rid him of the pain and the burden. He looked into Stark's eyes and swore he saw compassion; that this wasn't for malice but for mercy.<br/><br/>Sniffling, Eden wiped his eyes with his fist like a child and asked, "You promise?"