A/N: Written for The Rebels forum Holiday Secret Fic Exchange. Merry Christmas!
23 Flies
She smiled a mad, bloodthirsty smile. She didn't move as she marveled at the fact that she knew she could win.
"Uh, Johanna? Johanna Mason?" The escort's annoying way of singing everything he said made her lurch back into reality. She forced her bottom lip to tremble and tears to well up in her eyes. She staggered onto the stage and let a sob go as the escort read the boy tribute's name.
She kept up the charade through the following days. To her support team, she was known as Jo-Jo. But to the other tributes and Capitol citizens, she was hardly noticed. She took to the shadows and let the others have the glory.
At the Interviews, she began to plot their demise. If she ever got the chance, Johanna would carry out her twisted, ideal victory.
The girl from One, she decided, would die slowly. And her district partner would watch, then be mutilated (preferably). Gerard Sullivan from Two, obviously the biggest threat, would die last, as the king piece is always defeated last in chess. His district partner, Sabrina, would be slaughtered as quickly as possible in order to shut her up. Districts Three, Five, Six, Eight, Nine, Ten, and Eleven would be killed... normally. Without special treatment. They made no impression on her. Nick, the boy from Seven, would be avoided as long as possible, and killed quickly if it came to that. The tributes from Four, she planned to drown. And the pair from Twelve would be trapped in an inconvenient avalanche or landslide.
These evil thoughts nearly made her smile, but she held her quivery ground. She would only have to wait until about half were gone, then reveal herself as a savage killer.
Johanna swiftly snatched a box of matches, three daggers, and a box of crackers. She was nearly found three times in the first two days, but managed to survive.
Nick was killed on the third day. That night, there was eleven tributes left; four Careers (including Gerard), the boy from Five, both from Ten, the girl from Three, both from Eight, and Johanna.
She decided to make her move in the morning. She would go for the insignificant ones first, and save the real show-stoppers for the end.
Another week, and seven players remained. Johanna had killed one of the four who had died. She counted those left on her blood-caked fingers. Gerard, both from One, the boy from Five, the girl from Ten, the boy from Eight, and herself. She got the opportunity to release her fury on that pathetic girl from District Three. She jumped on her out of a tree and strangled her. It felt... right.
Two more days passed. Johanna plotted her victory, sensing the end. She allowed the Careers to kill each other off, knowing Gerard would come out on top. And he did.
She slaughtered the others, leaving their bodies mutilated beyond recognition. She even bled one of them until the fluid was nearly gone. And then there was one.
Gerard cornered her on a ledge, but she wasn't worried. All she had to do was play her fun little mind games on him and get him to kill himself. It wouldn't be hard. He was a tempermental-
"Loser!" she taunted as he slowly advanced. He growled, but she had him exactly where she wanted him.
"Shut up, weakling. I'm not scared of you. You couldn't hurt a fly!"
"Oh, no! I could never hurt something as innocent as a fly!" she replied in a helpless tone. "But, maybe, I could hurt twenty-three."
"What? Twenty-three flies? Ha!" he staggered, obviously amused. She sneered, not impressed.
"Yeah. Twenty-three dead flies is all it takes in order to win the Hunger Games." His smile disappeared, and annoyance overcame him.
"Are you calling me a fly?"
"Of course not! I'm calling you the king piece on a chess board. The... leader of the gang. The President of the Tribute Committee! I am calling you, dear boy, the Lord of the Flies." She smiled smugly, crossing her arms over her chest. She didn't even need a weapon.
"Argh!" he cried and dove for her, but her slender figure moved aside quick enough to send him tumbling toward the forest below.
She watched him fall, and when he hit the ground, she looked into the sky and muttered to herself, "I did it! I did it. Damn, being a Victor feels good!"