Hey, here's the next part. It's getting very dark, so be warned. TW not only the "normal" brutality, but also for suicide attempts. That being said, here it is.
An alarm woke Regina Mills after a few hours of sleep. Mechanically, the brunette put on the shirt and pants that were laid out for her. They were different shades of a very bright blue, the pants very sturdy. Regina had no idea what environment to expect from these clothes.
Tink hugged her goodbye wishing her good luck. Then she was led to the hovercraft where she joined a number of tributes already sitting. Regina almost passed out from the pain of the tracker being injected into her arm. Her nerves were a total wreck.
In the catacombs below the arena, Mal was waiting for her. Of all the people she had met, Mal was by far her favorite. Where Tink was always so bubbly and enthusiastic, Mal was totally down to Earth. She felt real.
"Your token", the blonde said and pinned the brooch on Regina's shirt before pulling a jacket off the hanger. It too was sturdy and blue. The clothes were always supposed to be fit for the arena, so they were probably going to end up in a very blue environment, possibly one with water. District 4 would have a field day.
An automated voice stated that she had thirty seconds left. Regina went to hug Mal for the last time and stepped on the platform. Each step towards it felt like a step to her grave. The wall around her closed and she had a feeling she might have a claustrophobic attack. No matter what she did, her lungs wouldn't constrict. The platform began lifting her up.
When her eyes had adjusted to the blinding light, Regina could see that the gamemakers had decided to make these games particularly brutal by not giving the tributes a chance to camouflage. They were all wearing bright and neon colors in green fields. Great. Well, she wouldn't have been able to fly under the radar, no matter how bad she had scored. "Ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the 55th Hunger Games!", the commentator's booming voice resounded through the field.
The 24 platforms were arranged in a circle around an oddly shaped cornucopia that would hold the most valuable things. She should just make her exit while the others were busy slaughtering each other. That was one part of her arguing. The other part contemplated jumping off the platform before the countdown of sixty seconds was up.
She ended up doing neither. When the sound was heard that meant that the game was on, Regina was frozen on her platform. Some tributes ran towards the cornucopia - the careers were obviously the first - while others tried to reach smaller items. Everyone around her was fighting for things as lousy as a backpack while Regina could do nothing but watch.
When an arrow flew towards her, she panicked. While her nerves had been frozen before, they were now practically firing 100 miles a second. She instinctively dove to the ground, doing a roll to propel herself upwards. Her mind went totally blank and her body just reacted.
During the roll, her hands had found two throwing knives. The first one was embedded into the archer's head. The second took out another tribute to her left. Regina couldn't comprehend how she could be panicking so terribly but at the same time be such an emotionless killing machine. She was next to the archer in an instant. She yanked her knives out and grabbed bow and arrows, throwing and shooting.
No one escaped her. Arthur's eyes fixated on her as one of her knives impaled itself straight in his heart. Other tributes fell around her, at least not all killed by her. Belle made the smart decision to try to run away from the bloodbath, but a knife thrown backwards over Regina's shoulder without the brunette even looking brought her down with a strike to the head.
But Regina didn't notice anything. She didn't get out of her haze until she heard a cannon.
And another. Another.
The cannons were supposed to only start after the bloodbath was over. But she was still here!
There were 23 cannons.
Her mind reactivated and she looked around. Scattered around her were 23 corpses.
Regina couldn't breathe. Her knees hit the ground harshly. What had she done?!
Around her, hovercrafts were picking up the corpses until she was alone in the field. Only then came one for her.
She had killed them. She had killed them all without hesitation. What kind of monster did that?
Once she was brought back to her room, the girl immediately stumbled to the shower. She had blood on her hands and she needed to wash it off. But no matter how hard she scrubbed, she still saw it. Her hands, as well as her whole skin were rubbed raw and red by now, but she kept at it, desperately trying to feel clean again. But she would never feel clean again.
Her legs gave out and she slid down the tiled wall into a fetal position where she eventually passed out. She didn't feel the scalding hot water burning her skin for hours until she was found by Tink who had originally come to wake her.
Judging from the scream that woke her up, she must have given the escort quite the scare. The scream brought Mal into the room who immediately went to turn off the shower and wrapping Regina in a soft towel. She gently whispered calming words into her ear while Tink was off getting a lotion for her irritated skin.
The lotion took away the pain immediately and Regina felt like something was missing. She wanted that pain. She deserved it.
She was dressed in another beautiful purple dress, but this time, she felt out of place. She wasn't some beautiful queen, she was a beast! Mal had to apply more makeup today to bring color into her face. For if she hadn't, Regina could probably pass as Snow White. All color had left her face, she was as pale as a corpse. She was carted off to another interview. The one for the victor. What a good thing she was walking past a flower pot in that moment.
"One hour and 48 minutes. That was the shortest games in the history of Panem. She is the quickest victor and also the one with the single highest kill-count of all time. I present you: Regina Mills from district 8!"
The crowd cheered and chanted her name, but Regina didn't feel like celebrating. She was a monster! This time, there was no flower pot or bucket around, so she just threw up in her mouth and swallowed. Only her mask got her through the interview. Sidney was as nice as ever, but she wanted out of her skin so badly.
The interview had been organized on very short notice, no one had been ready for such a quick ending to the games.
Her team was brought on stage. "First up, we have stylist Mal, who is responsible for those memorable looks. She truly made you look like an angel. A gorgeous angel of death." The audience already knew Mal and applauded her art. Tink and Gold got an ecstatic applause. No one knew Rumple hadn't done a thing for her, and they had both agreed to never lose a word about that for it made no difference.
Mal's presence helped centering Regina just a little. But she was still relieved when it was done. She had done the interview on autopilot, she had no idea what she had been asked or what she had replied. When the highlights of the games had been shown, she had stared right above the screen and tried to block out the horrible sounds.
By the time she was in her room again, Regina was still seeing the blood on her hands. She needed it off! After searching the room like a maniac, Regina finally found a knife and didn't hesitate before starting to slice off her skin. Deeper and deeper did she cut and her blood was flowing. Her thoughts became hazy from the bloodloss, but all she could think of was that her own blood staining her hands felt right.
Mal found her passed out on the floor and called an avox girl to help clean the newest victor and fix her up. She knew that this shouldn't be made known and the avox couldn't spill. Regina awoke to soft hands wrapping her arms in bandages and an emptiness in her heart.