Chapter 34: Rafael Fisher
A/N: Hi guys, so for this chapter, I used TheBookworm's idea of having an arena in an ocean of mutts with some islands in between, of course, with an added twist in the tale. The forgotten Victor with controversy swimming all around him, how did he do it and why is Snow so intent on making sure he remains relatively unknown? The descend to insanity has already begun for Rafael, but it won't stop now...
Katniss and Peeta exchanged a confused look. There was no photo, no stat, just a name. "Did Effie show us his tape?" Katniss asked.
Peeta shook his head. "No, but if you count the number of living and deceased Victors, he was still alive before the Quell. And during Four's Reapings, I saw Finnick, Nemo, Poseidon, Timmy and a quiet man who didn't seem familiar. Maybe it's him?"
"I wonder what he did, though," Katniss murmured. "Maybe he was a rebel?"
"Or a complete and utter monster," Peeta suggested.
"He was neither." Katniss and Peeta turned their heads. Haymitch had returned from his phone call with Effie. He had a sombre look on his face as he eyed the notebook. "Kid was fourteen, tied with Finnick for the youngest Victor. But Snow had all his Hunger Games records wiped out. His Games was the fastest, lasted only ten minutes, and he had the highest kill count too, fifteen kills."
Katniss raised an eyebrow. "They didn't teach us this at school. I thought your Games had the highest number of Bloodbath deaths."
"That's where you're wrong," Haymitch told her. "Capitol refused to acknowledge all his records. And Draco made sure Rafael's life was as hellish as possible. There are only five Victors who I felt sorry for, Finnick, Mags, Sterling, Sapphire, and him."
Rafael Fisher
District 4
Aged 14
15 Kills
I watched as my siblings' lives completely changed right in front of my eyes. Their tragedies became mine too. Just four years ago, I would have marched straight into a sporting competition all smiles, confident as ever. Now, life's pretty dreary. The sports are only a minor distraction. Even when I scored that outrageous free kick, there was no hint of a smile on my face. It was gone. Gone forever like my siblings' sanity. Three consecutive years of being forced to watch your only family compete in the Hunger Games, it's horrific. Every day was spent worrying, crying, praying, hoping for miracles to occur. I once had the brightest smile in the District. Now it's just dark circles around my eyes and a dejected pout. I'm going to be next, I'm sure of it. I spend literally every single day training hard as I can, worrying that if I miss even a single lesson, I won't have the skills to win the Hunger Games. Because I will be Reaped. Everyone knows it. Snow hates our family. He wants to wipe us out. Because I'm related to three Victors. He's scared of our influence. He wants me dead, so he can fill Jolien, Timmy and Iris's lives with the horrible memories of my blood splattered across the arena. I don't even feel confident that I'll make it past the Bloodbath. It's hard, worrying about your imminent demise every damn day. But it's the reality of life. There's nothing in it for me. It's all freaking hopeless.
The summer breeze by the ocean is a calming thing, especially if you're looking for an escape from life in Panem. You just need to find the perfect beach. Many of them are pretty dirty and clogged with pollution and trash, so usually, I would head over to a calm spot we locals call Paradise Beach to calm my nerves. It's also a good place to swim. The sand is a royal shade of white, a beautiful shade, not like Snow's idea of white. Not too far away is Surfer's Paradise, another beach that's an excellent surf spot. It's far from the bustling fish markets and noisy harbours and all I need to do to get here is ride a bicycle for twenty minutes, a walk in the park since I'm one of the fastest cyclists around. Dive usually joined me. She's like a third sister, Dive, and she's been pretty worried about the Reaping too. For all we know, Snow might try to use her death to punish Timmy, the price of freedom, I guess. Worst case scenario, we end up in that horrible, bloody arena together and only one of us make it out. Gosh, that would be awful. If it came down to the two of us, I could never kill Dive and I'm sure she would never in a million years kill me. The guilt of doing so would remain forever intact in our hearts. Dive's a good surfer and a pretty fast swimmer, but not as fast as me. We both train our swimming skills a lot. The paranoia of being forced into the Games really makes you push yourself to the limit at times.
Recently, Iris had been away quite a lot. It made me stay up all night, thinking of her going to the Capitol. I knew she'll be fine, but all those stories about the VPR, yes I'm not too young to know about that, I overheard one of Jolien's conversations with Draco, the Victor who killed Aunt Charybdis, it made me puke in sheer disgust. Jolien and Timmy seemed utterly ruined by it, judging by their dejected looks and nightly drinking sessions, but Iris, I didn't think she's a part of it. Maybe it's got something to do with the fact that she's dating Caesar Flickermann. Yep, Caesar Flickermann. After what his father supposedly, according to Iris, did to Switch, I wouldn't put it past him to follow in his father's footsteps and destroy my sister, the only person I can ever really confide in besides maybe Dive and occasionally Jolien, Timmy and Nile. She's been there for me whenever I needed her the most, and at times, I've got to admit, I rely on her for comfort. She probably thinks the opposite, but that's our relationship. The fact that she's with Caesar only fills me with extreme anxiety. He seemed nice, but who knows? Only the future can tell what it holds.
The day of the Reaping starts off with a literal bang. Timmy had dropped a tray he was cleaning in the floor, shattering it and waking all of us up. To be fair, I was already awake. I couldn't sleep at all. I was too worried about the Reaping. I knew I was going to be picked, but why wa I still so anxious? No one could really understand why I was so downcast. Everyone told me that I should just forget it since there's no use worrying about the imminent, but they don't understand. No one does. It was like how no one understood why Iris kept on believing that she was ugly. Our problems were relatively minor, and we shouldn't complain about them, or at least that's what everyone else told us, but the fear, the anxiety, it gets to you in so many undeniable ways that it's hard to stop worrying. It's in your very being, the notion of worrying. You worry and worry until you eventually worry yourself to death. The dark circles hadn't left my eyes. Great. I was going to the Reaping looking like a freaking sea witch. Fantastic first impression. Technically, the Capitol already knew me quite well. I've been watched by quite a few soccer scouts and I've been through my fair share of interviews. But they've never seen me in my current state, a shadow of the bright, energetic boy they have pictured in their small, anchovy-sized minds. I've never dressed too well for the Reaping, just a plain shirt and jeans. It's too hot to wear anything fancy so even the richer boys don't wear those fancy tuxedos those boys from One often wear. As for the poorer boys, well, I tried to donate as much clothing as I could, but there are simply too many impoverished children out there. District Four, in comparison to all the other Districts except for One and Two, is pretty affluent and rich, but that doesn't mean we can afford many luxuries beyond enjoying the sea and having a pretty sporty culture. The District at the time of my Reaping was still packed with poor households forced to beg for money, just like Jolien did before Sapphire helped her out. I've actually got to meet Sapphire once, in a video call interview about Iris's murder of Diadem. Gosh, that one really shook me, almost as much as it shook Iris. I couldn't imagine my sister doing that, not in a million years. And yet she had done it. Thankfully she didn't see Diadem die in front of her eyes, but on the screens it had been very brutal. Her body had exploded into bits of gore, like a bomb from the Capitol. Luckily, Sapphire didn't seem to hold a grudge. Apparently Timmy had sent Iris a different vial of poison, which was then intercepted by Freya and replaced with a more sinister one, the cunning woman from Two hoping it would kill Iris too. A few threats from both One and Four had done the trick, and she promised to never repeat it again. Draco hadn't known, thank goodness. Otherwise, Freya would have a leverage against both Districts. That would be horrible. Nile stood beside me, as usual, a grim look on his face. I knew he was worried it might be him. He's one of my closest friends. For all we knew, he might just get Reaped to further drown me in misery. Normally I would probably volunteer for him, considering that he has a family to support with his surfing tournament prize money, but this year, I didn't feel like it. He understood, not wanting me to see me get killed either. One person neither of us would ever volunteer for was Colin. There had been a time only a year ago when he had been a good friend of mine, and a damn good goalkeeper. But ever since it was revealed that he had spread rumours about Iris, rumours that Kai would later spread to the Capitol, he was no longer welcome around his usual group of friends. He had so nearly sent my sister flying right into the jaws of death with those rumours, making her look stupid and unworthy of sponsors, it was a miracle that Kai was unconvincing in front of the bright lights and flashing cameras of the Capitol. He was like driftwood to me. A poor slump in form had also meant he was out of our soccer team, for good after he failed to show up for three consecutive training sessions and was caught stealing by the Peacekeepers. I had made zero attempts to stop them from giving him a good lashing. As I said, he was like driftwood to me. I spotted Colin down the far side of the long line of fourteen-year-old boys, scowling and jamming his muscular hands in his pockets. The true face of a loser. I paid the piece of driftwood no attention, instead choosing to focus on the escort, excitedly bounding up the stage like a dying flounder. Another piece of driftwood, in my opinion. "Get on with it," I muttered, glowering straight at her. All the normal Reaping procedures occurred, the Treaty of Treason, the Victor's names being read out, blah blah blah, I don't care, just bloody get on with the stupid Reaping already! The escort walked over to the Reaping bowl for the girls. There's only one name I hoped wouldn't be picked, one name that would shatter my hopes of staying alive for the next week or so, one name I would desperately try to bring home. And that one name was picked.
"Dive Barnett!" I could feel my heart sink, deeper and deeper into an abyss of nothingness as the mayor's daughter, my brother Timmy's girlfriend and my closest friend outside my family marched her way up to the stage, her lips pursed, her eyes ablaze with worry like a fish out of the water. Seven slips, just seven slips out of tens of thousands, maybe even more. How could that be possible? I could see it in the eyes of the people on the stage, Mayor Bennett gasping and wailing for mercy, Timmy slamming his fist against the wall of the Justice Building, the escort wide-eyed and suddenly afraid. The people weren't much happier. As far as rich girls went, everyone had been looking forward to the day Dive inherited her father's leadership position. She wouldn't have much power, but she was a bright young woman with a keen eye for talent. She also spent all her savings trying to help the impoverished, just like me, and many of her friends, like Jenny, Periwinkle, Pavati and Coralia, were actually from the poorer parts of the District, not something you would expect from the third richest teen in the District, behind my sisters. Most importantly, she was my friend. And if my hypothesis was correct, she would be going into the arena alongside me. Brilliant. Brilliant shot taken by Hell's newest signing, Coriolanus Snow, and a fantastic assist from the veteran Hell midfielder, Draco Hadley. Sublime. Just sublime. Nile gave me a concerned look. I grimaced as the escort pulled out a boy's name. Mine. "Rafael Fisher!"
"Welp, knew it," I groan loudly, marching indignantly up the stage. Meanwhile, the District looked outraged. I got the feeling they were ready to tear apart the now trembling escort to shreds. I would too, if I wasn't bound by certain tribute rules. Everyone in the square glared at her, gnashing their teeth, looking at her like a great white shark looking at a seal. Trust me, witnessing those sharks make their kill is not a pretty sight. Then again, I am going into the arena. I didn't expect a single pretty sight.
The Capitol might be a wretched place full of lost, utterly brainwashed souls, but at least it had Tigris. She had helped Iris realise she was beautiful, plus she made some really neat costumes, which, if I weren't biased towards my own sister, I would say were better than the ones Iris made for the Capitol. Not like she wanted to, it was part of her compulsory hobby. Tigris styled me as a surfer, which was a humongous relief. If I had to dress half-naked as a merman or something like that, I would run straight back to District Four, regardless of whether the Capitol shot me or not. I wasn't worried about my own life. Right now, I wanted Dive to go home. Three Fishers had already won, what's my death going to be anything but a simple failure amongst three success stories? Ever since they'd met on that lovely summer evening by the beach, underneath the palm trees, I had always wanted Timmy and Dive to be together, to marry and get me some nieces and nephews, not that I would do a very good job of taking care of them. But her survival would be far better than mine. I was a broken, hollow shell of my past self anyway. All that negativity, all those horrific moments, those heartbreaking memories of watching my siblings see their souls torn apart by the mutts of memories, I could never live with it myself. Dive was stronger emotionally, she could probably handle it without too much of a hitch. She would make the better Victor. I would probably end up like Reyna or Shocker or Sterling, broken forever. The process had begun long ago, I wasn't sure if I could live with it much longer. "Impress them," Tigris told me. "Smile and try to act like those surfers they see on TV."
I frowned. "Like what?"
Tigris sighed. "Oh, right, you don't watch Capitol TV. Nevermind, just don't be nervous, okay? Your siblings did it, two of them with toxic partners, so you can do it too."
I nodded appreciatively. Sure, Tigris might look like a literal tiger lady and was the epitome of a weird Capitolian, at least in terms of looks, but I liked her. She seemed like someone I could get behind. If Iris liked her, so did I.
I joined Dive at the chariots. She was dressed like a surfer too, seems like they really picked up on us being sporty kids. She was already chatting with the other Careers from Districts One and Two. Goodness me, those kids looked brutal. They were painted like warriors ready for combat, so terrifying in their posture and aura that I nearly backed away. Then I remembered I was dead anyway. Still worrying that they would claw me on sight, I cautiously approached, in a casually defensive stance. I had a couple of karate and jujitsu lessons back in the Academy and did fairly decent at both. The element of surprise could see me knock out at least one of the Careers, three if I had a knife. Knives. My ultimate arena trump card. I was the best knife-thrower in Panem, no questions asked. Maybe the Careers failed to pick up on that, but they'll soon see. Everyone would see what I could do. Then they would worry about me, not the other way around. The boy from Two, whose name I never quite caught, looked at me, a bemused look in his stormy grey eyes. The fact that I didn't know his name wasn't an issue. He and his fellow Careers called Dive 'Four Girl' and she called him 'Two Boy'. Not knowing each other's names would only serve to lessen the excruciatingly painful guilt at the end of the day. "Four Boy," Two Boy acknowledged my presence, a slight hint of distaste in his voice. I raised an eyebrow, but as per normal, didn't say much. I had barely spoken ever since Iris's Games, except to my siblings, Dive, Nile and a couple other soccer players. The stress and the trauma had taken away some of my voice in ways I hadn't imagined to be possible.
"Hey, Rafael," Dive greeted me cheerfully. As cheerfully as possible at least. Her eyes shone with fear and her defensive stance showed she didn't quite trust the Careers either. "These are our allies."
"This one doesn't look like much," One Boy snorted, huffing and crossing his arms. How rude. Completely underestimating me. That was usually good, until I was kicked out of the pack. Didn't want that to happen. I gave him a hard stare, hoping I made my annoyance at his words crystal clear.
"That's what you said about his sisters," One Girl reminded him sharply. "And his brother. Last I checked, all three are now chilling out in the Victors' Village." I gave her a satisfied look. One Girl seemed to get it. Never underestimate a Four, no matter how young they were. Surprises were never too far away from us sporty fishermen.
"He's the best knife-thrower in the country," Dive said confidently. "He deserves his place in the pack."
I smiled gratefully at her. I knew I could count on Dive to back me up. "Thanks, Dive. Oh, by the way, have you seen her skills with the harpoon? Legendary, I say."
She returned my smile. District partners from Four actually backing each other up and being friends. Huh, never expected that to ever happen, considering our luck with bad matches, Kai and Iris being one of the worst. No wonder we had such a long losing streak between Mags and Jolien. It's ironic, because back home, everyone's pretty chill with one another, always willing to engage in sports, always willing to help meet the fishing quota, which has been higher recently. I heard smoked salmon was trending in the Capitol. Typical Capitol. A rich, chubby man's desire for a second helping of third breakfast beats the need for some much-needed family time between overworked, starving District people.
Two Boy gave me a curt nod. "I guess we'll see in training. Don't screw up, Fours and remember," he glared at Dive with a strong undertone of warning. I bit my lip. He was thinking about last year. Iris had caught all the other Careers off guard, killing off three of them and abandoning the other two in the Bloodbath. My sister had been treated like whale carcass in the Career Districts during her Victory Tour. The hate and fury was still strong. But it wasn't as if any of us were going to apologise for her making it out alive. Diadem and Cyrene would have killed her off anyway.
Dive raised her chin, putting her hands on her hips. She's confident on the outside, but I've known her long enough to know she has an excellent poker face. Deep inside, she's scared out of her wits. "Don't even think about ruling us out, Two Boy. See you later."
The Training Centre was not an unfamiliar sight to me. Three of my siblings have gone in and come out and they've described the Training Centre to me in full detail. Iris even sketched it once. Seeing it in real life, I expected no different. I had a good idea of all the stations I wanted to go to, all the places which taught skills I had to brush up on. My history with sports has given me a significant advantage in terms of skills and ability in the arena. Soccer taught precision, accuracy and anticipation. Tennis and badminton taught me to keep an eye on things and agility. Surfing taught balance. That one time I visited a makeshift gold course on a floating sea platform taught patience. It might not seem like it, but being a sporty Four gives you a good arena advantage, one more important than axe-wielding like Seven and sickle-wielding like Nine. After all, who's had more Victors, huh? Dive and I agreed to train separately, to maximise the skills that we learned. But before we did that, Two Boy and Two Girl wanted to see my skills. They didn't seem too fully convinced by me, especially considering the fact that I'm only fourteen. However, I wasn't a wildcard underdog tribute like I would have been seen as several years ago, maybe. Iris did it, Sapphire did it, sure they were both super pretty but I'm sure I can manage with my sporting skills. Besides, I wasn't coming home anyway. Dive would win, not me. But I would at least want to make it to the final two and ensure she survived. Two Boy pushed me towards the knives. "Go on, surfer kid," He barked. "Show us what you can do."
I rolled my eyes. "I'm not weak, okay?"
Two Boy snarled. "Never said you were. Now hurry up!"
The trainer handed me a knife. I could take it, but that would be too easy. No, I had to make them all respect me, to impress the Careers beyond a shadow of a doubt. I shook my head at the trainer, who frowned, baffled by my reaction. "Twenty-four knives, please."
A flurry of murmuring erupted all around me. I didn't blame anyone for doubting me. I've never actually thrown twenty-four knives at once before, the most I've thrown at one go was twenty. But hey, there's always a first, right? I could either screw this up horribly or be an absolute legend. The trainer eyed me with a shining curiosity, stuck frozen on the ground, taken aback by my queer request. Rolling my eyes, I went over to get the knives, taking the daggers with wooden hilts, not the metal throwing knives, myself. They were similar to the ones in the Academy, only a slight bit heavier. I counted twenty-four knives and positioned myself between two targets, zoning in on the bullseyes. Behind me, the sound of Two Boy snickering was like a cricket in the night, something I could easily ignore. Life in the fishing District required complete and utter focus. You wouldn't want to miss a big catch of tuna, would you? I raised my hands and let the knives fly. A split second later, six knives were lodged in each target, in one straight line. The remaining twelve knives were wedged in the hilts of the knives on the target. It's a cool trick I've done many times in the Academy, albeit on at this scale. Turning around, I gave a satisfied smile as everyone in the Training Centre began applauding. Dive gave me a wide grin. "See?" she gave Two Boy a knowing look. "Told you he was good."
Two Boy patted my shoulder. I instinctively flinched, backing away. He chuckled, his laugh too sinister for me to particularly like. I reeled away a little, glaring haughtily at him. He smirked. "Well, surfer kid, turns out you're most certainly a Career."
"What should I say?" I asked, staring at the ground, trying to think up of an interview line. As I said, my voice had greatly diminished over the years. I wasn't too sure I could pull off an interview without sounding like a sick dolphin stranded on a rocky beach.
Iris handed me a note. I raised an eyebrow. "Read it," she told me, a glimmer of mischief in her eyes. That was odd. Iris was usually known for straying away from anything too cheeky. She wasn't a teacher's pet for nothing.
I read the paper and my jaw dropped. It was a list of all the tributes, minus the Careers, and all their deepest secrets. It was an exhaustive list, listing down very clearly embarrassing moments, dark truths and scandals that would tear their reputations apart. "How did you get this?" I gaped at Iris. She was a clever girl, but even she couldn't possibly figure all this out on her own, could she?
"A little bit of bribery and some guesswork," she told me, smiling so widely I could fit an entire fishing rod in her mouth. I couldn't believe my luck. It felt as if a bright light was finally shining upon my gloomy and dreary days filled with anxiety. A final, positive moment before I went into the arena. One, final goal to save some grace for my team. The ninety-fifth stoppage time winning goal for Team District Four.
Tigris put me in a blue tuxedo. To be honest, I didn't expect anything much. Dive got a beautiful sea-blue dress that greatly resembled Iris's from last year, with the addition of a pearl diadem. A diadem. That couldn't be a coincidence, could it? Diadem was killed by a girl from Four, now a girl from Four is wearing a diadem. At least Dive didn't seem to notice the implication behind her costume. "Ready for tonight?" she asked, her posture confident as ever. She was the mayor's daughter, after all. She had given many speeches before, this was pretty much a mere formality for her. I, on the other hand, usually shied away from the cameras so this would be one heck of a hard catch for me. I could feel my heart thumping against my chest, battering my sore ribs like a gigantic sledgehammer. Dive seemed to notice that I was on the edge of my nerves. Her eyes flashed with concern. "They'll love you. You already got an eleven." Ah, yes. That eleven. Not sure how I had gotten that, but it was pretty much a statement of intent. I wasn't some underdog, not a lower-league team up against the big guns. I was a real contender, although how on earth I had the same odds as Dive, 1-5, remained a complete mystery. She had only gotten a nine. I guessed my age was still a huge factor in the eyes of the Capitol.
I gave her a sly smile. "Don't worry. Iris conjured a master plan for me. It's you I'm worried about."
Dive chuckled, rolling her sea green eyes a little. Seriously, I would love to have those eyes. My blue eyes are way too common in a District like Four, where literally everything was blue. Even the Justice Building was blue. The only thing not blue was the Peacekeeper unit, but those were never a part of Four. They were the outsiders, not deserving of a place in our lives. But Dive's sea green eyes were considered like a precious black pearl in Four, a symbol of good fortune. I would've loved to have that, at least so that I could say that in terms of appearance, I had one thing better than Iris. "Timmy's got a plan for me too. Just you wait," she assured.
"Ladies and gentlemen, from District Four, the boy who's got not one, not two, but three Victor siblings, Rafael Fisher!" Caesar yelled. He seemed especially pumped up for my interview. I guess Iris being his girlfriend had a huge role to play in that. The crowd began to roar wilder than I had ever heard them roar. My family had given me a strategic advantage here, now I had to utilise it. Swallowing back a wave of stage fright, I marched confidently up the stage, giving the audience a sly smirk. This wasn't me, but in the eyes of the Capitol, it had to be. This was the on-cameras-only version of me, one I would only have to display once. Caesar shook my hand and gestured for me to sit down. "How's it going?" he asked. It's hard to believe that he's fourteen, the same age as me. He's skyrocketed himself to fame and scored my sister as a bonus. Certainly the high achiever.
"I'm doing great, Caesar," I told him coolly. "In fact, there's something I want to share with everyone." I leaned closer, pretending to whisper. "A few secrets about my fellow tributes." Cue the shocked gasps from across the room. Caesar himself looked massively intrigued, like a dolphin approaching a surfer.
"Ooh, I love secrets!" he exclaimed. "Come on, spillt the beans!"
I smirked. Time for the kick off. "For starters, the boy from Twelve might seem like a mama's boy, but oh gosh, you should have heard all those nasty things he told his friends about her! It's why she lost her job, you know?" Appalled gasps and cries of outrage sparked from the crowds. I caught the miner boy's eye. He looked like he was about to zap me like a stingray. Eh, he'll probably be dead in the Bloodbath anyway. "His District partner's no better. She stole from the bakery every day for the past six months." I wanted to add in the fact that she only did so because the Capitol starved her family, but that would ruin the entire purpose of my interview. "The boy from Eleven seems like a nice, strong, handsome lad. But what if I told you, he once harassed a pair of twins in his class?" I could hear the farmer boy scream with fiery rage, his face a stormy hurricane about to come in like a wrecking ball. I continued with the carnage." And the girl from Eleven? Her mother's a convicted arsonist. I'd say, like mother, like daughter." That one made me stop for a second to swallow the gushing bile down my throat. The girl seemed so nice, so sweet. This was wrong and I felt horrible for saying it. But I had to. It was the only secret Iris could weed out of her." The boy from Ten is a dashing young rancher, yes? Well, this dashing young rancher has bribed the Peacekeepers on at least five occasions." To be completely honest, I had bribed a Peacekeeper myself once when I broke curfew laws. It had been easy, getting out of trouble as the brother of three Victors. For other law-breakers, things weren't so simple. Public executions by shark feeding were commonplace in Four and they were the most inhumane executions in history. "The girl from Ten looks all sweet and friendly, doesn't she? Tell that to her brother, who's arms she broke three days before the Reaping." This secret I had no problem belching out. Breaking your own brother's arms was bad enough. Doing it three days before the Reaping? What kind of a sister was she? The girl seemed unfazed, snoring on as she failed to catch on my words. "The boy from Nine, ah, the boy from Nine. His childhood immaturity led to his entire family dying in a freak accident when he was twelve." The poor boy wailed, clutching his head as he so desperately tried to leave his own self-inflicted hell. I rambled on. "His partner? Even worse. She once broke another girl's leg and she went into the arena, dying on the very first day. Cruel, huh?" The audience roared in agreement. "The weaver boy from Eight is part of this huge gang that robs old people and small kids. Like, that's one slimy eel, right there." The weaver boy soon found himself pushed to the ground by his furious District partner, whose brother had been killed by that same gang, I heard. I was about to dish her out next. "And the girl? Well, she sabotaged her teacher's files and got him executed by firing squad. Talk about not being grateful for your own education." The girl stopped slapping the boy and turned to glare at me. "The lumberjack and lumberjill, a brother and sister pair who have a combined total of ten robbery victims between them. Yikes." The pair from Seven stormed off, probably to the bathroom. I didn't care. They were driftwood to me. Let the carnage continue. "Both the kids from Six are druggies, and so is the boy from Five. They've all nearly overdosed at least once before and the girl from Six even hit her own father in one drugged incident. Don't think they'll be worth sponsoring." I barely incited a reaction from the drugged trio, all three content on staring wide-eyed and blankly at me like they had always been doing since they first arrived. "The girl from Five once sneaked her way into the boys' locker room, you know? She took pictures of all their dirty junk and sold it to other, slimy little sea snake perverts." Okay, that one was big. I had almost thrown up when I first read her secret. The sea snake was driftwood to me too. Actually, no. She was a little shark that I needed to get rid off to save my fishing grounds. Same went for the boy from Eight and the girl from Nine. "Dive, she's my best friend. She's Timmy's girlfriend, in case you don't know, and a delightful future mayor. Please sponsor her." This one wasn't a secret. Just a simple request. A beg. I hated to beg to the Capitol but this was for Dive's sake. She gave me a wide grin and a thumbs-up to keep going. "The tiny boy from Three doesn't look like he could hurt you. Unless you love your Internet connection and hated it when it went out two weeks ago." I didn't know what exactly this precious 'Internet' was, but I bet it was something luxurious, something technologically advanced and futuristic, which meant we District people could never get our grubby little hands on it. Seems totally fair, right?" And finally, to end things off because I don't want to piss of the pack, the girl from Three sent her own parents to the gallows by ratting out on them and spreading false rumours." The buzzer rang right on cue. I heaved a sigh of relief as all the Capitolians in the crowd rose to their feet, cheering and screeching like pelicans. I grinned. What a brilliant last-minute winner from Fisher! Oh, I say, what a goal! Caesar seemed delighted, his smile wider than ever, his eyes shining with glee.
"Brilliant! I have a feeling we'll see each other very soon!"
I gave him a cunning smile. "Same here. Oh, by the way, if I die, take care of my sister, okay?"
He nodded. "Sure will!"
The launch pedestal to the arena feels like it's taking an eternity to get there. I watch solemnly out the tube as Tigris gives me an encouraging feline smile. I couldn't return it. The anxiety was killing me. My heart was like a battering ram, smashing violently against my chest. What if I had a heart attack before the Games even began? From being a dark horse favourite, to a laughable Capitol meme. At least I would be remembered, although not in the best way. From above, a strong, salty smell that I could recognise in a heartbeat filled my lungs. The sea. That's when I saw it. A vast ocean with numerous island chains filled with jungles, rocky outcrops and even an abandoned school on one of them. The ocean was a beautiful shade of blue, a mesmerising final reminder of home, maybe? It would be nice, to take a final, relaxing swim. Then I realised that most of the tributes couldn't swim. How could they make it out of the Bloodbath? There was a small dinghy beside each pedestal, but it was too small to fit half of the tributes, had no oars or motor and worst of all, the Gamemakers forgot to add wind to the arena. Seriously, not a single gust of wind around! I scoured the tributes, looking for Dive. There she was, two pedestals to my left, the trembling boy from Twelve between us. We exchanged glances. This arena was a malfunctioned one. If we could swim our way to the Cornucopia, we could take everyone out in a heartbeat. District Four was having a fourth consecutive Victor! I had expected the Gamemakers to put at least some effort and research into the making of the arena, but those silly Capitolians couldn't even pick up a physics textbook to save their lives, literally. The gong rang and I dived into the blue, cool waters beneath. I swam and swam, strong strokes propelling me forward. I grabbed hold of the base of the floating Cornucopia and pulled myself up. That's when everything began to go downhill. I heard a scream. "DIVE!" I screamed back, catching sight of Dive only a few inches from the Cornucopia, thrashing in the water, surrounded by vicious shark mutts. Her wails, her frantic look, the blood streaming out of her stump of a waist, oh gosh, this wasn't happening, no! I grabbed hold of her outstretched arms and hauled her to safety but she was losing blood, fast. More screams in the distance. The pair from Two had jumped into the water too and were being devoured by shark mutts. The boy from Three had tried his luck with the boats and had toppled over. His fate was sealed by a group of angry electric eels. This was hell on earth. A paradise turned into a graveyard of tribute gore. I had to finish this quickly now. Finish it then commit suicide and save Dive! The Cornucopia was stocked to the brim with knives but there were no medical supplies. Not even a bandage for poor Dive, who was already convulsing on the ground. I grabbed as many knives as I could and started chucking them at random, hitting the girl from One, the boy from Six, the girl from Eight and the boy from Twelve. Just then, the Gamemakers must've realised their fatal mistake because a gust of wind flew by but it was too strong. Almost all the dinghies were smashed to bits, effectively ruining any chance of escape for the tributes. It also pushed the girl from Three, the pair from Seven, the boy from Nine and the girl from Ten into the now blood red waters below to their watery graves. I couldn't bear to watch for much longer. I made it quick for the rest, hurling knife after knife after knife until, the entire ocean was stained red with the blood of fallen tributes. They were driftwood to me, right? So why was my heart still throbbing for their deaths, bustling with unprecedented guilt? Dive. She needed my help, now. The guilt would only be worse if she died. "Someone, please, give her a first aid kit!" I begged but there was no parachute coming down from the heavens.
Time to end this, then.
The final whistle.
The final kick of the game.
The ultimate sacrifice to save the ship.
I grabbed the final knife in the Cornucopia and was about to plunge it right into my chest when Dive screamed, "No, don't do it, please!" I looked over and gasped. She had stabbed herself in the guts.
"Dive, no!" I yelped, but we both knew it was too late. I grabbed her in my arms as she started choking blood. "No, no, don't die..." A tear slipped down my cheek, a melancholic symbol of failure.
Dive clutched my hand, forcing herself to give me a pained smile. "Look, it's - it's, ack, fine. You. Deserve. To. Go. Home."
I shook my head. "No, you have Timmy, you have the mayor! I have nothing left in my life! Please, just let me-"
"Don't worry about me," she murmured, her voice now a deathly whisper. "There's a better place up there, you know? For all the fallen tributes. A magnificent seaside palace in the clouds with all the freshest seafood and the purest white beaches. With a fair and just king and eternal bliss. But you only get there if you die a hero. If you commit suicide, you go to the underwater realm of hell, for all the cowards, you know that, right? "
I gasped." But you-"
She handed me her knife. "Finish me. Let me be in peace."
With tears in my eyes, I did the unbelievable. I did a despicable, horrific act. I killed my own District partner, my best friend, my third sister, my fellow surfer. The cannon boomed. Gazing ahead and witnessing all the fifteen tributes whose blood was on my hands, I could picture it. Their spirits charging at me, riding atop those awful shark mutts, blood spewing out of their knife wounds. I couldn't take it anymore. I screamed at the top of my lungs. "AAAARRRRRRGGGHHH!"
Iris's POV:
Ten years later
Rafael still hasn't been able to recover from that arena. He's shaken, unable to speak beyond a terrified stutter and he seems to have lost his will to speak to anyone outside of Four anyway. But that's not the worst of it. The other Victors resent his kill count. They hated his actions. I didn't understand why. He had no choice! But Draco, Freya and surprisingly, even Axel and Gadget, two close friends of mine, couldn't understand that. They saw a monster. I saw a terrified, broken, hollow little child. Sterling is the only outsider who can communicate with him. I guess they could relate to one another, having witnessed two of the worst arena atrocities ever. They've become really close, those two. In some ways, you could call her a surrogate mother. Because he needed one after what the Capitol did. They cancelled his Victory Tour, cancelled all interviews, wiped out all but four recordings of the Games, erased the new records he had set, blurred his stats in the Walk of Victors, and worst of all, ordered Draco to bully him every single day. He would march up to him and unleash all of his Draconian bullying skills upon my terrified little brother. We weren't allowed to intervene. No one was. The punishment for doing so was a firebombing on District Four. Life's horrible for him. Even Gwen struggled to fix him up. Nothing Caesar said to console him worked either. I just hope, one day, justice will be served. The Capitol will pay for what they did to both him and Dive. They have to pay with their lives. It's only fair.
There was a long pause for silence to show respect for the long forgotten Victor. Haymitch took out a small photograph from his pocket and pasted it on the notebook. It was a pre-Games picture of Rafael, with his beachy waves of hair and sly but deeply anxious look. "He should get a lot more credit for making it out," he declared.
"Agreed," Katniss said, nodding. "I mean, I only killed five tributes across two Games and that gave me horrible PTSD. Can't imagine what he felt like."
With that, Peeta swiftly flipped the page and Haymitch left the room. The next Victor was a dark-haired boy with muscular arms and piercing dark eyes. His face was riddled with freckles, underneath which was a grim look. "Birch Davison."
VICTORS
District 1-Sapphire Huntington(4), Onyx Hibonite(9), Franc Montgomery(14), Crystal Montgomery(21), Sterling Jones(25)
District 2-Ragnar Sveinsson(5), Reyna Boudicca(6), Draco Hadley(10), Scipio MacAllister(17), Freya Carson(22), Hercules Nichols(28)
District 3-Nikola Johnson(13), Gadget Schroeder(24)
District 4-Marina Bluebell(1), Mags Flanagan(11), Jolien Fisher(31), Timmy Fisher(32), Iris Fisher(33), Rafael Fisher(34)
District 5-Shocker Crimson(8), Switch Kim(19), Flash Morrison(27)
District 6-Ford Hamilton(20)
District 7-Hassan Greenwood(2), Jill Wilson(15), Olive Sanchez(26)
District 8-Woof Casino(16)
District 9-Gwendolyn Whitfield(18), Laurel Flamsteel(29)
District 10-Ringo Alvarez(7), John Gatwick(23)
District 11-Orchid Bloom(12), Seeder Crue(30)
District 12-Axel Millar(3)
A/N: And there we have it! Honestly, this was the easiest chapter to write, because I feel like he is the Victor I can relate to the most. Just like him, I'm a fourteen-year-old constantly anxious about stuff and I love sports although constant recurring injuries (one fractured wrist, at least five sprained hamstrings, a torn knee, a swollen eye and a sprained hand) that have hit me since my birthday last year have prevented me from ever pursuing anything related to sports with the exception of archery back when I was younger. In fact, I'm recovering from two sprained hamstrings after running only two laps and it's kinda frustrating. I try to include bits and pieces of myself in these Victors, and you can see them scattered across the series from Marina to Gwen to John to Sterling to Iris and Rafael. Hope you enjoyed and pls review if you have an idea for future chapters and stay tuned for Birch! Cheers:)