Writers Games; Alliances

Finalist Amabel Trython [AwesoMEbeing_]

My throat was sore and dry by the time I calmed down. I felt empty and alone, like something suddenly vanished inside of me. I felt like my sanity just disappeared. Nothing is real. Nothing is certain. I wouldn't be surprised if the next thing happening was this room fading out, right before my eyes. Or if the ground suddenly disappears, leaving me floating in an endless void, which would lead me to yet another torturous situation which Occissora crafted.

My eyes were fixed on the wall opposite of me. A screen emerged from the wall, showing the logo of the Capitol. Another announcement. I pulled my knees closer to my chest and waited. I waited for the anthem to finish, and Occissora's face to appear, giving us yet another haunting task.

It wasn't long before I found myself looking at Occissora's beaming face. Disgusting. Her mouth was moving, and she seemed to be speaking, but I couldn't make them out. I felt like I was underwater and her voice was being muffled out.

I strained to understand her words. Why couldn't I? What's happening?

I stood up and walked towards the screen, thinking that if I did, I'd hear more clearly. But nothing happened. The noise just got louder.

But then, Myrtle, Aunt Ryss, and Uncle Leo appeared. They stood out to my eyes despite them being among the small crowd they were walking with. They looked so...confused and nervous, just like I was. For a moment, that small similarity between what we felt made me feel like I wasn't alone, in a way.

But the cameras focused back on Occissora talking in a more serious tone. I was surprised when I could finally clearly hear what she was saying. Still, they sounded foreign to me. I was a bit slow on understanding them. I only understood snippets of her speech. Some phrases such as "only three tributes remain", "chance to help", and "others will have to die".

My eyebrows furrowed. Only three of us are left? That was fast. I couldn't guess who the other two are.

The cameras then focused to a man dragging a woman across the stage by her long, gray hair. She was screaming and squirming in her hopes of escaping the man. But the odds were obviously against her, seeing how the man's strong build towered over her thin frame.

Occissora introduced her as Mrs. Parish. The surname sounded familiar to me... It was still fresh in my memory, like I only heard it yesterday, but I couldn't remember. Occissora started saying something about what would happen if we defy the Capitol.

There was a sour taste in my mouth. If there's one thing I learned from the Games, it's that I'd rather die defying the Capitol than obey them. At least I actually lived. Obeying them just means barely surviving life. I don't want that.

If only I could have enough guts to actually defy them.

My attention was back on the screen when the man suddenly drove a knife into Mrs. Parish's groin, leaving her choking in her blood as she screamed.

I turned away from the screen. The screams began, just like how they always do whenever someone gets killed up front. I stared at the ground while listening to the screams. Screams filled with agony, hatred, and anger. Screams that might either belong to the one being executed, or their loved ones who were also with them.

There always came a point where the screams suddenly stop, like someone muted them, which was just actually Peacekeepers knocking them out. I waited for that moment. When it came, I felt the haunting screams still echoing faintly in my head.

I shook my head, trying to get rid of the screams, when suddenly I heard a grating sound, like a rusty door being opened. I looked around the room to see an opened door across from me.