Sorry for the painfully slow update! I went to Yellowstone! :D so I do apologize and hope you enjoy the next of the Reapings! Arriana's story reminded me of one I've read before. So, to be fun, I set up the format like that story. If you know the book I'm talking about props to you! Shrike was really really fun to write to be honest. He's scary and dark, but the narration I did for him makes him seem really like a teenage boy. :P I hope you enjoy!
WARNING: RATED M. This Reaping contains subject matter not suitable for the lighthearted. If you can't stand fuzzy animals dying or references to rape I advise against reading.
District Five: Reaping- PART ONE
~Arriana (Aria) Bokarvyova's POV~ (Age:16)
I clutch Caleb's golden hair in fistfuls through my fingers. The tears I shed from last night are long gone; dried on my face and never to be seen again. Until tonight.
Careful not to wake my brother, I wrap the thick wool blanket Babushka made, for the woman I should call mother, tightly around my shoulders. Outside the sun is rising higher and higher, with each second, into the storm cloud filled sky. I pray silently for a couple more moments of peace, of safety. I pray silently for a couple more moments away from THE MONSTER.
The sound of clinking coffee mugs diminishes my prayers. Caleb looks up at me with drowsy eyes.
Caleb: Aria?
Me:
Caleb: Is it morning time?
Me: Yeah.
In the mornings I never feel particularly talkative. Even to Caleb. Every morning is like a symbol of my defeat. My loss to THE MONSTER. Caleb has grown used to my sullen morning attitude. I watch as he slowly drags his feet towards our bathroom. The scent of fried eggs catches on the air; my stomach does a flip flop and I feel utterly sick.
After Caleb is done with his routine, I begin my own morning ritual. It consists of splashing a bit of freezing water on my face, slipping out of my pajamas and into a thoughtfully picked outfit, and then finally doing my hair. Strangely enough, vanity is one of the most important things to me. Besides my grades of course. For today's ritual I've pre-chosen a black and white marble dress. It's fancy, yes, but you see today is not an ordinary day. Today is the day I will finally speak. I decided it last night after THE MONSTER had left me crumbled on the floor. My thoughts:
Tomorrow is the day I will speak.
And that was simply that. After slipping into my dress, I decide to curl my coffee before cream colored hair. When I was little my dad used to tell me that one, but it usually pertained to his hair color.
Caleb: Ready, Aria?
Me: I guess.
Caleb always wears this adorable smile. Even though he's only eleven, it's easy to tell that the girls, if they're not already, will be swooning over him. I'm a terrible person, for sometimes I wish I could trade places with Caleb. Then again I go through the pain I go through to protect him. It's all for him.
Caleb and I make our slow way down the creaky hall. My footsteps slow and it takes every ounce of me not to run back and curl up in bed. Caleb sees the fear in my eyes, and he takes my hand in his. Together we make our entrance.
THE MONSTER is already sitting at the small circle table. His stubble on his chin has seemed to catch a few crumbs of toast. I look away from him. The Woman I Call Mother is standing in front of the stove. She flips an egg over and I hear it sizzle against the butter. THE MONSTER's eyes look up and see Caleb and I.
THE MONSTER: Ah! Arriana! Caleb! Please come and sit!
Caleb:
Me:
Caleb and I take seats on the opposite end of the tiny table. My head hurts which leads to my ears ringing. THE MONSTER chuckles at something in the book he's reading and then looks up and gives me a tiny grin. I can't take it. His laugh. My eyes blear with fresh tears. Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't cry Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't cry Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't cry Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't cry Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't cry Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't cry.
I can't take it. I stand abruptly.
The Woman I Call Mother: Yes, Arriana? Is there something you need.
YES. I NEED HELP. WHY WON'T YOU HELP ME.
Me:
The Woman I Call Mother: Hello? Are you even listening?
YOU'RE SO HUNGOVER YOU CAN BARELY STAND UP. WHY WON'T YOU HELP ME. WHY WON'T YOU HELP ME.
Me: I... Thought I saw a mouse.
~Shrike Lanius's POV~ (Age:16)
There she is. I've been watching her for a long while now to be completely honest. The thing I've been stalking so carefully happens to be a small, spotted brown mouse. I don't know my fascination with animals. It's just a love I'd had since I was little, I guess. I watch my mouse with a careful eye. Hm. Her tail flicks a little as she scurries about. She nibbles on a leaf. Then, mostly likely, finds it disgusting and returns to scurrying about. I smile when she stops by me. Wide chestnut eyes looking into my own. Such a delicate creature.
My hand reaches out and I grab her. My mouse squeaks in protest, but she's not match for my hand. Working quickly now, I impale my mouse's fragile body upon a tree branch. Small drops of blood splatter across my fingers and my mouse squirms with the sharpened wood sticking out through her stomach. The sight would make anyone sick.
Shrike what are you doing put it out of its misery!
To hell with them all Shrike! Watch its last moments with me. Let's watch it suffer and squirm.
I decide to side the the devil on this matter. My mouse squeaks in pain and after a minute of useless struggle, her eyes glaze over and it's done. I grin.
The walk back to my house is the part I dread the most. You know how every drunkard must down the beer over and over again, but the next day he wishes he hadn't. This is the situation I'm faced with. When I crunch through the fallen leaves and down the beaten path I feel a tinge of guilt. Sometimes I question my own sanity.
I dust my palms off on the thick white butchers apron. Oh? I guess you don't know what I know about myself. Sorry, I have a tendency to forget these types of things. My father is a butcher, so naturally I help out around the shop. Don't give me that look. You sometimes feed the pets, or maybe vacuum the steps. Yes? Same thing with me and chopping up dead animals. Well, if I put it that way...
"Yeah! Heh, so Marissa I was wondering what you were doing later tonight." I look up to see my former friend Scipio walking leisurely down the path with a fair looking blonde from our school. Scipio used to always talk about her golden-y hair with such admiration. I've always had a thing for brunettes though. Ew. Why'd I share that.
It takes Scipio a moment to realize that I'm standing before him. Scipio might as well be a blonde himself.
"Oh. Uh, hi." Scipio says when he sees me. Marissa's eyes widen and she even winces a little at my sight. I don't really blame her. The splatter paint blood apron, the work boots, and the fact that I've just come out of the forest would be enough to frighten anyone. The couple passes by me quickly without another word. I scoff as they leave.
Scipio was a terrible friend to begin with. He just all of a sudden stopped talking to me. What an asshole. One day we were best friends and the next day we weren't. Holly hell that guy keeps a grudge, you hear? It all started because of his stupid new puppy, Buddy or something was it's name, then after he got that damned dog the guy stopped talking to me!
Well maybe it had something to do with the fact that I impaled his cutesy wootsey puppy on a fence post. Naaaw. Who gives a shit about something so frivolous like that?
