Dathan Lynn/D4M/17:
Without having a chance to see Araxie, we rush to the car and we're driven straight away from the riots. "Who were you speaking to?", I ask Finnick. He gives me a death stare and nods his head towards the driver. Looks like he doesn't want me to speak. I peer out the window and I watch as the Peacekeepers fire into the crowds, the people dropping dead to the ground. "They're killing them!", I shriek. I hear a click coming from the drivers seat and the door lock in front of me closes up.
When Finnick pulls me back from the window, only then do I realize that I've been banging on it. "Stop them!", I shout. "Be quiet!", he orders. But I don't turn quiet because he told me to; I go quiet because I know that most of the people outside are dead. I struggle in Finnick's grasp to take one more look outside, but I catch a glimpse of alive people being pushed onto a hovercraft.
After about ten minutes when the car stops, Finnick orders us all outside. When I step out, I see a large gate with the words "Victors' Village" written on top. "Ready to see where your going to live for the rest of your lives?", squeals Flinka. Eden says "Sure," but I just nod my head. Finnick enters some sort of password on a screen embedded in the wall and the gates swing open. We step inside the estate and walk down the paved stone pathway. "There's my house," he says, pointing towards the house on the right. "And who is in the house on the left?", asks Eden. "No one," says Finnick. "A woman used to live there named Mags Flurish but she passed away a couple of years ago."
"Anyone in that house?", I ask, pointing to the house with an open door. "Well..", mutters Finnick. "There was a girl named Annie. Annie Cresta." He sniffles and he says "Come on".
"This is your house!", squeals Flinka, not looking at anyone in particular. "Who?", asks Eden. "Both of you!", replies Flinka. "What do you mean?", I ask. "You are both living in the same house," interrupts Finnick. "It's easier." Easier? This seems a bit strange. Victors are supposed to get their own houses. Why do we have to share? "Easier for what?", asks Eden. "Oh forget it!", says Finnick.
We enter the house and we look around for a while. Every time I walk into a hallway, there's another three doors that lead to another hallway. It's massive. Prompa explains to us that a shipment of clothes are scheduled to arrive tomorrow from the Capitol. Let's just hope that they're regular clothes, if that's even possible. Finnick gives Eden and I a key each that were left on the kitchen table and tells us that they unlock both the front door and the back door. There's a back door? When Eden starts to investigate upstairs and when Finnick, Prompa and Flinka all leave, I lock the door behind them and I head into the kitchen.
I unlock the back door and I'm out in an expansive garden containing me in by hedge walls. There's beautiful types of flowers covering every spot of the grass and there's a lone tree in the top left corner, it's curved branches only on the right side. This is the first time I can actually take in a breath of fresh air since coming out of the Games. I never wanted any of this mayhem. It was all to kill Ole. It was all part of the Games. It's not my fault. It's the Capitol's fault. It was part of their own idea. And now Eden and I are both stuck in between all the trouble. I just want to see Araxie. I want to see Leith. I want to see my mother. I want to go home.
The peacefulness is interrupted when I feel a vibration run throughout the ground. I fall backwards onto the steps leading outside and the rumble stops. I don't need to know what it was to know that it was dangerous. Probably some sort of explosive at the riots, but it could be anything. Whatever it was, I know that if I had won the Games without chopping down the beanstalk, I wouldn't have felt it.
Eden O'Shea/D4F/17:
"Did you feel that?", asks Dathan, surprising me when he walks behind me in the bathroom. "I did," I reply. "What do you think it was?". He guesses that it was something that blew up in the riots, but it can't be. The train station is quite a while away and the Victors' Village is about ten minutes away from the square. It was something closer.
Dathan and I claim our rooms out of the six of them in the house. That's when I hear the doorbell. "I'll get it," I say. "No," says Dathan. "We'll both get it." We cautiously creep down the stairs and unlock the door. Standing on the red mat outside is Finnick. "I've got news". I lock the door and he brings us into the living room. Plonking down on the sofas he begins to speak.
"The Capitol are planning some sort of announcement in fifteen minutes," he says. "About what?", I ask. "Not sure," he replies. "Could be anything. We better hope that it's good."
I head into the kitchen and I grab three apples from the fruit bowl, giving one to Dathan and Finnick. It tastes perfect. When we were on the train, in the Capitol and in the Games, the food tasted unnatural. Even the water. Almost like the Capitol was putting different chemicals in them. I haven't really had proper food since I was back home. It just makes me feel a bit more comfortable within this crazy world. I stare at the clock on the wall, watching as the hand moves every second. It's almost time. Dathan and Finnick have been chatting, but I've totally blanked out. All I'm doing is staring at the clock. Tick tock. Tick tock.
The black television screen propped up on the wall comes to life and the camera focuses on some sort of stage. Fraux walks out from behind the curtains and sits on a throne placed on the middle of the stage. "Citizens, today I address all of Panem as one," he begins, his deep voice echoing out from the television.
"Since the Dark Days, Panem has been filled with peace and joy, brought to you by the Hunger Games. As you all know, the second rebellion shattered the peace. But not for too long, for we have rebuilt our nation and ridded of the rebels. Unfortunately, that's what we thought. As you watched in the Quarter Quell, the victors have inspired more uprisings. More riots. More deaths."
All of us freeze and we glare at the screen. "Understanding about what these tributes were thinking, they shall be pardoned of their actions." The tension in the room settles, but only a bit. Finnick is still leaned forward and he looks even more frightened. "He's lying!", he shouts.
"However, earlier today there have been riots in District 4 as the victors were arriving home. The people who were rioting have been inspired by the victors' actions, and they shall not go unpunished," continues Fraux. The camera cuts to a sunny setting that's familiar. The train station comes into view with the words "District 4" painted on the sides. A huge hovercraft hovers above in the blue sky and tons of holes begin to open up on the bottom.
"Any puppets who try to fight back against their own Puppetmaster..." Fraux's voice booms. Suddenly, people with nooses around their necks are dropped out from the holes and are left dangling in the air, struggling to breathe.
"...be prepared to face the consequences."
Welcome to The Puppetmaster's Strings! I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter! If you did or didn't, please leave a review if you have time! I can't wait to start telling this story because it's going to be a unique one! This first chapter was kind of short because I was only setting up some new locations, and as you read in Eden's POV, I was trying to dig deeper into the plot with Fraux. If you haven't read my first story, I recommend that you read it before you read this one as it will have a lot of references :)
Anyways, thank you all so much for reading and I hope you read the next chapter! Byeeee :)