THE SEVENTY THIRD ANNUAL HUNGER GAMES
"Night Visions"
INTRODUCTION
After the kills and thrills of the year prior, Seneca Crane returned to the post of head gamemaker. To his delight, the masterpiece of the seventy-second games was extremely well received, and with the coveted third Quarter Quell on the horizon the Capitol was thrown into another one of the Hunger Game crazes that popped up every decade or so. Every time one of these crazes came about, they brought a myriad of new fads with them—colored skin, glitter, and the like, and this time it was face paint. Augustus Braun, the party animal of the sixty-seventh, was widely cited as the one to start the fad when he posted a clip on his social media of his face painted intricately like a tiger. In no time, the other District 1 victors had begun painting their faces like animals, and given the Capitol's state of always wanting to be like the victors it became the hottest trend in days. Prices for face paints skyrocketed in the Capitol, and as more victors began promoting different brands the list of the top hundred suppliers could never stay consistent for more than a few hours or even minutes. That Tuesday, April 13, however, a damper was put on the Capitol's cheer. Seneca Crane's wife, the elegant and beautiful Delphina Pine, was found dead in her sitting room, slumped lifelessly against the plush purple sofa, an obvious bullet hole in her chest. Her body was taken to a high-tech freezer to prevent decay as every square inch of her was combed over for evidence. The case was uncannily reminiscent of that of three years prior—the death of Magnolia Asher, President Coriolanus Snow's late wife. Upon further investigation of the murdered Delphina's home, it was found that a nearby window had shattered; when the larger shards of glass were reassembled, it became obvious that a bullet hole had been created in the glass. The entire house was marked with caution tape as it was inspected for any trace of a bullet, but none was found. The bullet had been shot through the window and then… vanished. But it couldn't have vanished, of course. Every adult knew that magic wasn't real. There was something fishy going on, and nobody could shake the thought out of their heads that the deaths of the two young women had been carried about by the same person…
The careers were a particularly unique bunch this year, and the composition of the pack hadn't really been seen ever before. District 1 offered forth two good-looking tributes that scored well, but for wildly different reasons. The male, Awesomeness Fantasticness, was the second of the three Fantasticness brothers who would compete in the games. Like his brothers, he was tall and slender and a lover of spears and swords, though he could fight with several different weapons well. He had less of a sense of humor than his brothers as well. The female was the weakest of the bunch this year, a lesser in weaponry but an extraordinarily manipulative girl. She even seduced one of the top gamemakers, earning her a ten instead of an eight. That gamemaker was later tried and fired for his actions. District 2's tributes were both wily and perky, a startling contrast to 2's usual crop of cold-booded fighters. The boy was the descendant of several prominent rebels from the Dark Days—somehow the academy never caught wind of this in the five years he had been training there, and this would cause problems later on. Meanwhile, the girl somehow displayed polar opposites; she had blonde hair, which was nearly nonexistent in 2, and she was sexy and tantalizing while being cute with a playful smile at the same time. 4 provided the weakest pair, but they were both good enough warriors. The boy was somewhat high-and-mighty, and he saw himself as the undisputed leader of the pack despite the fact that he was tied with two other tributes for highest score. He did score a ten though, as he was swifter than most and had dexterity to rival even District 1. The chosen female volunteer from 4, Sharka Nightengale, freaked out at the reaping and didn't volunteer. In recent years, the academies had started to choose backup volunteers in case the chosen one refused to volunteer, and so the somewhat-weaker-but-still-well-enough-trained Pila was sent into the arena. The training scores of the pack were great: three tens and three nines.
This year had one of the strongest outlier crops in ages; it had become apparent by then that a healthy group of outliers could have just as much impact on a Hunger Games' memorability factor as its career tributes, and as such many of the reapings were rigged such that lots of strong contenders showed their faces. An astonishing two tens were earned! Apollo Reinold and Kaelyn Ritter from 6 had been best friends since they could crawl, and they'd both put on a fair bit of muscle from years of work in the metalworking factories of 6. They were the first outliers to score double digits since Titus five years previously. There were also two eights, both of them earned by healthy, capable tributes. Zircon from 3 was one of the few District 3 tributes who earned their high scores not through brains, but through sheer strength; he towered over the rest of the outliers and had an extremely sculpted body that made the sponsors swoon like flies around a sugar bowl. Meanwhile, Rosanna from 12 was stunningly beautiful and a master of pickaxes, and throughout the pre-games she never failed to repeatedly bring up her loyalty to the Capitol. Rosanna was 12's best stab at victory in ages. Quite a few sevens were scored as well: Salix and Sucra from 7, Martha from 8, and Ranger from 10. The rest of the tributes scored between six and two in their private sessions. The final standout was a sad one: Margot Lyce from District 10 had been completely blind and deaf from birth, and at the age of thirteen her odds of surviving the next few weeks seemed slim to none. There were no volunteers besides the careers. Here are the tributes:
District 1: Awesomeness Fantasticness, 18, (9) 7-1 and Splendour Iufala, 18, (10) 6-1
District 2: Drusillus Rhodes, 18, (10) 4-1 and Katya Paine, 17, (9) 5-1
District 3: Zircon Miliken, 18, (8) 9-1 and Codi Somers, 12, (2) 79-1
District 4: Coral Monson, 17, (10) 4-1 and Pila Teofila, 17, (9) 7-1
District 5: Orval Prescott, 15, (5) 24-1 and Venetta Asbury, 16, (5) 23-1
District 6: Apollo Reinold, 18, (10) 5-1 and Kaelyn Ritter, 18, (10) 5-1
District 7: Salix Snodgrass, 17, (7) 13-1 and Sucra Nowak, 18, (7) 14-1
District 8: Dominic Crocker, 15, (5) 27-1 and Martha McLeoyd, 15, (7) 15-1
District 9: Robbyn Obrayan, 16, (4) 32-1 and Synthia Callister, 16, (4) 31-1
District 10: Ranger O'Riley, 16, (7) 15-1 and Margot Lyce, 13, (2) 82-1
District 11: Boazine Rykeheart, 18, (6) 20-1 and Deandre Barrows, 13, (4) 36-1
District 12: Webster Coalman, 14, (5) 27-1 and Rosanna Ansbach, 18, (8) 11-1
HGBO Bets: 11% on Splendour, Drusillus, and Coral, 9% on Apollo and Kaelyn, 8% on Awesomeness, Katya, and Pila, 7% on Zircon and Rosanna, 3% on Salix, Sucra, Martha, and Ranger, 2% on Boazine, 1% or less on Codi, Orval, Venetta, Dominic, Robbyn, Synthia, Margot, Deandre, and Webster.
THE GAMES
The arena this year was undoubtedly more terrifying than any that had come before. Seneca was young, bombastic, and sharply imaginative; all it took was a loyal team of gamemakers and a strong crop of builders and the horrors of his imagination would be emptied into the nightmares of district children. There would be no shortage of closets and corners checked for monsters during these games, that was for sure. The arena seemed to be suspended in perpetual darkness; it would be tough to define day and night in the always-nighttime arena. The cornucopia was located on a tall black mountain in the center of the arena, and the mountain was made of tough stone that was nearly impossible to break. Thunderclouds circled overhead, rumbling menacingly. As a tribute made their way down the mountain, they would find the slope riddled with monsters; witches with warts on their noses that could shoot red sparks from their fingertips, and banshees, who lived in crudely-fashioned stone cabins and had screams that would bring excruciating pain to anyone in earshot. The few trees that had managed to take root on the evil slope were fruitless and in fact looked like the bony hands of skeletons attempting to crawl out of their prisons deep within the ground. The rest of the arena spread out from the mountain, and it was so thick with fog a tribute could barely see five feet in front of their face. In essence, it was a forest, but it was spookier than any forest imaginable; there wasn't a single leaf on the thousands of trees, and stones carved with strange runes were scattered here and there. There was also no shortage of mutts in the dark woods—characters of legends that could drive the tributes crazy. Occasionally the tributes would see strange visions in the thick fog, visions of terrible things, and to top everything off, shadows would occasionally flicker across the full moon, giving the impression that a massive beast was flying overhead. This was not the stunningly beautiful arena Seneca Crane was famous for.
The sour-smelling wind was cold and biting as it whipped across the faces of the tributes. As clouds swirled and thunder crackled around them, many of them crossed their arms to maintain precious body heat. They were standing on the flat peak of the mountain, and they were precariously close to the edge; one or two steps backward, and anyone would be sent careening down the dangerous slope. The cornucopia, which was dimly-lit with several lanterns, stood in the center of their circle, bursting with weapons and larger stores of food and water than usual.
When the gong rang, all twenty-four tributes made the decision to head into the bloodbath. Nobody wanted to be helpless in the completely barren-looking terrain.
Apollo and Kaelyn from 6 made the first kill. Awesomeness' pedestal was situation between theirs, and they dove toward him at once, overwhelming him from both sides. His allies were too busy sweeping up weapons to pay any attention to his cries of help as Apollo punched him hard in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him instantly. Seconds later, Kaelyn appeared holding two machetes; Apollo took one, and the 6s polished off the 1 boy swiftly.
Awesomeness Fantasticness, District 1 Male: 24th, Killed by Apollo and Kaelyn, Bloodbath
Things were looking a bit more familiar over at the cornucopia. Coral, the fastest runner of the pack, grabbed up an oaken bow and quiver that were sitting near a large boulder about halfway between his plate and the cornucopia. Coral threw the quiver over his back and fired a volley of two arrows at a nearby girl; his aim was perfect, and the girl's screams were already choked by the sound of blood.
Venetta Asbury, District 5 Female: 23rd, Killed by Coral, Bloodbath
Katya had run all of the way into the cornucopia for a belt of throwing knives, and she started throwing as soon as the belt was clipped securely around her middle. A nearby outlier screeched as two of the throwing knives dug into his chest. He staggered to the ground, coughing up blood, as Katya ran to his side to retrieve her knives.
Boazine Rykeheart, District 11 Male: 22nd, Killed by Katya, Bloodbath
Splendour picked up a willowy girl and threw her to the ground like nothing. There was a sickening crack as several of her bones broke upon contact with the hard, slippery stone of the mountaintop. As she struggled to scramble away, Splendour grabbed a spear, and her desperate attempts to escape were futile.
Sucra Nowak, District 7 Female: 21st, Killed by Splendour, Bloodbath
Having wrenched both of his arrows out of the dead Venetta's abdomen, Coral fluidly attacked his next victims. About ten yards away, two district partners with locked arms were attempting to escape down the west slope with a spear and pack of wire. The male let out of a scream as one of Coral's arrows planted itself into his back; the female turned around, horrified, as the second arrow entered her mouth, digging through her throat and poking out of the back of her neck.
Robbyn Obrayan, District 9 Male: 20th, Killed by Coral, Bloodbath
Synthia Callister, District 9 Female: 19th, Killed by Coral, Bloodbath
Rosanna Ansbach, the stunningly beautiful girl from District 12, scooped up a pickaxe that had been placed there by the gamemakers specifically for her. Despite having never actively trained for the games in her life, she didn't seem to mind killing, and she didn't pass up the opportunity to make a kill as a girl with a high score ran straight past. She screamed as the point of Rosanna's pickaxe dug into her chest. In moments, she was writhing on the ground rather disgustingly, and she was gone in moments more.
Martha McLeoyd, District 8 Female: 18th, Killed by Rosanna, Bloodbath
After pillaging Martha of the few supplies she had been carrying at the time of her death, Rosanna sped toward safety. Before she could reach it, however, she was intercepted by Katya and Pila, who didn't want the strongest outlier to escape the bloodbath with her life. Rosanna had great reflexes, but even so she wasn't keen enough to outsmart the two trained careers. In no time, Katya had landed a throwing knife into her shoulder. Rosanna collapsed like a rag doll, screaming in pain. The 4 girl made the last move, skewering her spear through her chest and killing District 12's best shot at victory in ages.
Rosanna Ansbach, District 12 Female: 17th, Killed by Katya and Pila, Bloodbath
Pila started away from the 12 girl's corpse to look for more victims when Drusillus from 2 tackled her out of the blue. Pila stared, mouth wide-open, at the boy she had thought to be her ally as he grabbed the spear out of her hands and snapped it underfoot. Pila screamed for help as Drusillus grabbed the scruff of her neck and dragged her to the edge of the mountain. The rebel boy thrust his sword into her chest, knocking her over the edge. Pila tumbled two-hundred feet down the slope before landing in a field of sharp rocks that skewered through her head on all sides and pierced her brain. Drusillus watched from above, cackling madly as her corpse fell farther and farther down the slope before disappearing from sight. After her death, the 2 boy left quickly. He didn't want to be around when the careers deduced he was the one who'd abandoned the pack and killed a fellow career in the process.
Pila Teofila, District 4 Female: 16th, Killed by Drusillus, Bloodbath
The careers were quick to notice the absences of both Drusillus and Pila, and they were keen to investigate. Not wasting any time messing around at the cornucopia, they left Splendour to stand guard and ventured swiftly down the slope. Two hours later, Katya and Coral arrived where Pila's torn, battered body lay. Coral gingerly flipped her over, revealing the blatant sword wound on her back. "Traitor," Coral breathed as he and Katya shared morose eye contact. A career had never abandoned the pack so early, and what was even scarier was the fact that Drusillus was most likely armed and on the move. Katya and Coral didn't dilly or dally. They went hunting straight away, wanting to eliminate the threat as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, the outliers scattered, heading down the mountain and some even making it to the base. Drusillus made his way tactfully down the northern slope, immensely pleased with himself for pulling off his killing of Pila right under the noses of his ex-allies. He rested at the base of the mountain once he was too tired to go on, making doodles in the dirt with his sword. Zircon made it all the way down the black mountain in a few hours and delved into the dark forest that surrounded the rock feature on all sides. In hours, he became too freaked-out to walk any more, and he settled in a clearing with his only possessions, a broadsword and a bread loaf. Codi, the twelve-year-old girl from District 3, fled the bloodbath crying. She had absolutely nothing but her bare hands and the clothes on her back, and as soon as the horrid cornucopia was out of sight she fell into a pitiful little cave, crying herself to sleep. Orval had a grappling hook and two knives. He made it down the eastern slope and explored the eastern foothills before settling between two boulders that would hide him from view. Apollo and Kaelyn reached the foot of the mountain and found a swift, short stream: a tributary of one of the larger rivers that wound their way around the central mountain. They had hit the jackpot; they had a collection of knives, two spears, several thermoses of water, a first aid kit, and much more. They eventually discovered a roomy cave veiled by black vines, which they made their home. Salix sprinted down the mountain, almost tripping on the way down. All he had was a tin of saltine crackers, and he settled dangerously close to the stone house where the banshees lived. Dominic was terrified; all he had was a spool of twine and he was alone in the dark, rainy arena. To make matters worse, he had a gaping wound on his shoulder made by one of Katya's throwing knives, and he was losing blood fast. The 8 boy staggered to ground level and collapsed in an old gated graveyard, begging for the sponsors to help him. Ranger was moving away from the cornucopia when he spotted a small shape nearby: Margot Lyce, his blind and deaf district partner, was curled up into a ball on the cold, hard ground, crying and writhing miserably. Ranger felt bad for the poor girl and scooped her up in his arms, carrying her to a dry patch of trees about half a mile away before setting her down. He knew he couldn't lug her around everywhere he went; he had done enough to help the pitiful girl. Once Margot was safe, Ranger departed. He found himself in the same graveyard as Dominic, but strangely the two didn't notice each other for the remainder of the day. Deandre wandered through the shadowy forest and was met with a glorious sight: a warm-looking gingerbread house with walls and roof of candy. Deadre fell inside, leaving her water thermos and knife in a corner, and munched on candy until she couldn't fit any more inside of her. Webster fled the bloodbath screaming after witnessing his ally Venetta being shot in the torso by Coral from 4. Mere minutes after the bloodbath ended, Webster made a wrong move and fell forward, screaming. He tumbled fifty feet down the slope before coming to a stop on a flat shelf of rock, too tired and battered to move on and slowly losing blood.
When the sun rose on Day 2, Drusillus left his cave at the base of the mountain and made a start toward the eastern foothills. The 2 boy, who'd named himself "The Career Killer" wanted to start hunting as soon as possible; he hadn't killed any tributes in the bloodbath before Pila in order to make it even more jarring, and now he had to make up for all the kills he had passed by. Unfortunately, Drusillus had overestimated the amount of tributes that would be in the foothills. The only tribute within a mile radius of him for most of the day was Orval, but he was almost completely hidden from sight comfortably situated between the two large boulders he'd found the day prior. It was hard to define day and night in the always-dark arena, so Drusillus had to use the temperature to judge when it was noon, and in turn when it was time to eat lunch.
Far, far away, on the slope of the mountain, a chorus of screams rose up: screams that were made by both tribute and legendary creature mutt. Several sponsor notes had warned Salix of how dangerously close the banshee house was, but by Seneca's request the notes were all either incredibly cryptic or written in cipher. After receiving three notes, Salix finally decided to put more than just a fleeting thought into decoding the messages. He ate a few of his saltine crackers for breakfast and then perched himself in an area lit by the lightning. He worked at the cipher for a good half hour before deciding to take a short break. He packed up his things and ventured slightly west, unknowingly moving closer and closer to his doom.
In no time, he had reached the house of the banshees, and he was drawn toward it as if by some sort of magic spell. Attracted by the flowery smell issuing from the open window, he slid the door open and slunk into the cabin. Salix screamed and turned around to flee: three hump-backed, woman-like mutts with black cloaks and faces stripped of flesh stood before him, all reaching toward him with their skeletal fingers. Their first screeches sent Salix collapsing to the ground in agony (the gamemakers were really just shocking him with his tracker, but it gave the effect that it was the banshee's screams that were responsible for his suffering). It was nearly a minute before the ugly creatures humored his demands for them to end the pain. With a few final, haunting howls, the humanoid mutts drew silver daggers from their cloaks and ended him.
Salix Snodgrass, District 7 Male: 15th, Killed by Banshee Muttations, Day 2
The 7 boy's cannon shot was an ominous sign for many; the crowd was already thinning, and they all knew that danger was afoot. The only tribute without a clear reaction was Webster. Over the night, his fall wounds had healed slightly, but they were still slowly drizzling blood; to make matters worse, some of his wounds were starting to get infected; yellow pus had a tendency to curl out of his skin whenever the wind blew too suddenly, and Webster could do nothing but cry softly and wait for the reaper to take him.
Webster wasn't the only tribute that was facing hardship, though. Both having made kills, Apollo and Kaelyn were proving to be an extremely formidable duo. The gamemakers were eager to test their skills. Seneca used electrical pulses to send a swarm of bat mutts with glowing red eyes into the veiled cave that was their home. When the attack started, Apollo was resting while Kaelyn was sleepily standing guard. They were woken up by the furious whining of the bats instantly, and Apollo leapt to his feet in the back of to cave to join his trusted ally Kaelyn in the effort to take down the furry mutts. It was twenty minutes before the cave was silent and still once more; in total, they'd killed about a third of the swarm, while the others had taken the hint and retreated.
The second death of the day occurred at about five o'clock in the afternoon. After a long day of hunting, Katya and Coral were returning to the cornucopia; they had underestimated how much food they would need to take with them and had already exhausted their supplies. Less than one-hundred meters from the cornucopia, Katya perked up, hearing a soft crying sound from nearby. She and Coral followed the sound to a small cave, and inside was the miniscule Codi from 3. The twelve-year-old girl that had only scored a two in her private session turned her head slowly upward, staring at Katya with wide, tired eyes. She mouthed the word "please" at the bottom of her voice, and Katya was more than happy to comply. Codi just wanted freedom from the terror of the Hunger Games, and she finally got what she wanted as two of Katya's throwing knives dug into her chest. She and Coral returned to the cornucopia, where Splendour was sorting supplies to fill the empty hours of her day.
Codi Somers, District 3 Female: 14th, Killed by Katya, Day 2
In the graveyard that lied at the foot of the mountain, Dominic and Ranger received a nasty surprise. They still hadn't spotted each other the course of the day despite being in the same foggy graveyard, and they experienced the terrors the gamemakers had to offer individually. Ranger was resting against a tombstone when his entire body felt frozen, like somebody had poured a bucket of ice water on top of him. Standing in front of him was the tall, flickering ghost of a man with a bowler's hat and a fine suit. He was holding a briefcase as well. Ranger dragged himself backward, but the ghost didn't respond; it just stared at him with its wide, mysterious eyes.
On the other side of the graveyard, Dominic was presented with the light-blue ghost of a woman wearing a hoopskirt from the eighteenth century, long before the Great Disaster that flooded half the world and led to Panem's formation. He grabbed up a nearby rock and threw it at the woman, but it simply passed through her and landed with a thud a ways on; she was made out of air. Both tributes in the graveyard were unnerved enough that they would certainly leave it soon.
Once most of the tributes had finally managed to fall asleep, the third cannon shot of the second day woke them right back up again. Between noon and nine at night, Zircon from 3 had been walking in a wide circular direction around the mountain, wanting to cover as much land as he could. Mere minutes before midnight, Zircon saw something peculiar: two large boulders standing alone in the foothills. It took Zircon about a minute to reach the large stones, but once he was close enough he easily made out the form of Orval's chest rising and falling as he rested comfortably between them.
Once he'd adequately steeled himself for the difficult task ahead, Zircon lifted his broadsword behind him and thrust it forward, straight into Orval's heart. He let out a little gasp, the last sound he would ever make, and that was all. Now only half of the tributes remained.
Orval Prescott, District 5 Male: 13th, Killed by Zircon, Day 2
Day 3 was slightly less eventful but was still enough to keep the Capitolites satisfied. In the morning, the careers departed from the cornucopia, leaving Katya to guard. As Splendour and Coral ventured down the slope, their vastly differing personalities quickly became apparent. Splendour was all about looks, and she was constantly making sexy poses for the sponsors and brushing her hair with a comb she'd been sponsored a few days earlier. All of it really got on Coral's nerves, but he didn't say anything, at least not yet; Splendour's looks were the pack's main way of getting sponsors, and he didn't want to eliminate that when there were so many outliers left.
In the forest, Apollo and Kaelyn left their veiled cave to go hunting. The duo divvied up their knife collection and spear collection so that both were armed. The thing was, as soon as they climbed out of the narrow entrance to the cave, they were stuck—they had no idea where to hunt first. A sponsor note advised that there were more tributes in the east, but that it would be even better if they could go back to the mountain and hunt there. This led to quite a bit of disagreement between the 6s; Apollo wanted to stay in the woods and foothills, while Kaelyn wanted to hunt on the mountain face. They ended up tearing their sponsor note up and picking a random piece to decide where they would hunt. Kaelyn got her way, and they ventured toward the looming black mountain. Apollo wasn't very happy, but the decision had been made fair and square and he didn't want to risk the death of the group by arguing with his ally.
Drusillus, the bloodthirsty Career Hunter, had been waiting at the base of the mountain for several hours. He was desperate to live up to his name and kill at least one of the careers before the day was done, and he eventually came to the conclusion that he would have to do the moving himself. The traitor boy stalked his way up the mountain, swinging his sword back and forth at his side, as the cornucopia's lantern-lit form grew better-defined with proximity.
At noon, Drusillus settled in a small grove of skeletal trees for lunch, and to his surprise another tribute was there. The blind and deaf Margot from 10 was curled up in a ball nearby, too constricted by the stress of the games to move and find water. She was also distressed after finally deducing that Ranger, her guardian angel, was gone, and she was quietly begging out for him to come back. If Drusillus felt even a little bad for the handicapped girl, he didn't show it. He promptly skewered his sword into her chest; just because he was the Career Hunter didn't mean he couldn't kill outliers as well.
Margot Lyce, District 10 Female: 12th, Killed by Drusillus, Day 3
As Margot's cannon shot sounded, Webster Coalman once again had no reaction. Lying face-down on the mountain, his wounds had become even more severely infected. Some of the yellow streaks in his skin had turned orange or even red, and strange new growth was sprouted across his legs and face. He was on the brink of death from dehydration, and the only reason the cameras showed him anymore was to keep Capitolites on the edge of their seats about whether dehydration or infection would claim his life first.
Deandre had remained almost completely inactive for the three days of games so far. She'd been content hidden away inside her warm little gingerbread house, munching on sweet treats and forming her diet into one that no dentist would approve of. What she didn't know was that the owner of the house, an ugly witch with a wart on her nose, was away, and she would be furious when she returned home to find that her home had been trespassed on.
Diandre screamed and blanched, starting for the exit, as the large black cauldron in the corner of the gingerbread house began to froth madly with some sort of green liquid. A person's shape was rising out of the cauldron; she could make out her hat, her long nose, her broomstick. Diandre screamed even louder as the witch cackled madly. She held out her ugly green fingers, and red sparks jumped between them for a few minutes before firing out and hitting Deandre straight in the heart. The outlier girl loosed her grasp on the half-turned doorknob and slid to the ground. At least it was a quick death, her mentor later told the press.
Deandre Barrows, District 11 Female: 11th, Killed by Witch Muttation, Day 3
In the graveyard at the foot of the mountain, Dominic and Ranger received their next round of horror. While they were asleep the night prior, a massive hedge had risen out of the ground, trapping them inside of the cemetery and dubbing them prisoners to the terrors within. Despite their best attempts to climb the hedge, it was simply too tall and unstable. Shortly before the death recap, the two boys perked up at a clattering noise. They were on opposite ends of the graveyard, but they could still see it; the old, white cohort of skeletons tromping from one end to another. Because of the hedge, they couldn't have come into the graveyard from someplace else; they had to have risen straight out of the ground. Dominic fell behind a tall tombstone as two skeletons broke off from the pack, dancing in front of him. Dominic plugged his ears to block out the rattle, tears of frustration streaming down his cheeks.
Meanwhile, Ranger was making an actual attempt to kill the skeletons. The thing was, when he tried to punch one in the stomach, its bones merely spread apart, and his fist passed right through the gap. When he tried to strangle its neck, its head just sank into its ribcage so that no neck remained. Ranger sat cross-legged on the ground, unsure of what to as the demons bogeyed around him.
Day 4 was just as eventful as the three days that had come before it. These games were moving by incredibly quickly, much more so than the games of the year prior; Seneca was seriously considering ending the games in the first week just to see how the Capitol audience would react. The ever-watching President Snow couldn't get enough of Seneca's plan to kill off two to four tributes a day until the victor was crowned; he knew spontaneity was the best way to keep people's attention on the games.
The first death of the day occurred early in the morning. The poor little Webster had been suffering on the mountain face for four days, too beaten up to lift a finger, and he finally succumbed to a combination of blood loss and organ failure. The day began with his cannon shot.
Webster Coalman, District 12 Male: 10th, Killed by Blood Loss and Organ Failure, Day 4
In the graveyard, Dominic and Ranger finally saw each other. As it stood, each of them had been sticking to the far ends of the graveyard, so they never came into contact with each other. Around noon, they saw each other for the first time. A small mutt was jumping to and fro in the center of the graveyard. Ranger and Dominic both ran toward it, but by the time they reached it the mutt had scampered away. The boys were in one another's sights, and they moved tentatively and anxiously toward each other before shaking on an alliance. Ranger and Dominic shared their supplies, and Dominic finally managed to put his shoulder wound on the path to healing using some medicine Ranger had snatched from the cornucopia. They spent most of the day trying to escape the hedged-in graveyard, but it seemed like a lost cause. They hadn't given up hope yet, however.
Meanwhile, Drusillus left the home of the dead Margot and continued his journey to the cornucopia to ambush the career pack. For obvious reasons, the path up the mountain took much longer than the path down; not only did he often slip and slide, but he had to take frequent breaks to keep from dropping from exhaustion; the journey was trying even for a tribute as strong as the 2 boy. Drusillus made it about two-thirds of the way up the slope before he was just too tired to go on, and he fell into a small mist-filled cave, toying excitedly with his sword.
The career pack lost a member before the day was over. Splendour, Katya, and Coral were milling about at the top of the mountain. They were all too tired to hunt, but not tired enough to just relax for the entire day; their excitement and laziness pretty much cancelled out and created a sort of tense stupor. Katya occasionally sorted weapons and practiced with her throwing knives while Coral exclusively walked in circles around the horn.
The one career who stood out, though, was Splendour. She hadn't given up trying to impress the Capitol; she was strutting about and contorting herself into somewhat explicit poses for the Capitol men. It was working—she was getting a steady flow of sponsor supplies, but it ultimately spelled her doom as well. As the thunderstorm above began to settle down, Splendour hoisted herself onto a large rock, leaning on one elbow and smiling her pretty smile for the viewers. Though the rain had stopped, the rock was still damp, and as Splendour tried to roll off of it she rolled too far and tumbled off the side of the mountain. Katya ran to help her, but she arrived too late to save the girl. Splendour skidded hundreds of feet down the mountain, bouncing around and breaking her neck on a particularly sharp stone. She stopped breathing in pretty much no time. The three careers were down to two.
Splendour Iufala, District 1 Female: 9th, Killed by Breaking Neck, Day 4
The final eight had been formed: Drusillus Rhodes and Katya Paine from District 2, Zircon Miliken from District 3, Coral Monson from District 4, Apollo Reinold and Kaelyn Ritter from District 6, Dominic Crocker from District 8, and Ranger O'Riley from District 10.
The remainder of the day only featured one point of note. Apollo and Kaelyn were hunting once more, vowing to return to their veiled cave home by nine that night. Their daily routine was very rigid and they were beginning to fade into the background; in any other case, Seneca would have killed them, but he wasn't about to eliminate his number one chances of fitting in a memorable outlier victor after Remus Daley's career victory the year previously. At nine, Kaelyn returned to their shelter as promised; she waited awake for nearly an hour for Apollo to come home, but he didn't. As it turned out, Apollo had gotten lost, and he was so frustrated with his inability to find home that he almost cried. The spooky sights and sounds of the forest weren't helping with his paranoia. A sponsor note gave him directions back to Kaelyn, and he mouthed out words of thanks as he followed the instructions to the safety of the cave.
On the morning of Day 5, Drusillus finally arrived at the cornucopia, his thirst for blood stronger than ever. Katya and Coral had just woken up and were sleepily starting to and fro across the mountain's flat top putting things in order. Drusillus reached the top of the black mountain and ducked behind a large boulder that hid him from sight, unsheathing his broadsword and running over battle tactics in his head. A few minutes later, Coral ventured down the west slope to hunt. Katya was now alone at the cornucopia, completely oblivious to the fact that her killer was mere meters away.
Katya screamed with sheer terror as Drusillus leapt out of nowhere and tackled her to the ground. Coral, who had only made it a few feet down the slope, heard his ally's high pitched screams. Coral burst to Katya's side just as Drusillus shoved the end of his broadsword into her chest. She was gone in moments.
Katya Paine, District 2 Female: 8th, Killed by Drusillus, Day 5
Saliva dripping from the corners of his wide-open mouth, Drusillus staggered away from Katya's dead body. As he swung his sword menacingly back and forth, Coral was exploding with fury at the death of his ally. Coral charged forward so quickly that Drusillus barely had time to sidestep, but he did manage to do so in the nick of time. As Drusillus stumbled to the left, the 4 boy fit an arrow into his bow and fired it at the traitor boy's heart. Drusillus simply cackled as he slid out of the arrow's path, and the projectile promptly landed with a clatter a ways back.
Despite the failure of his first arrow, Coral wasn't one to give up after a minor setback. As Drusillus chuckled with amusement, the career boy fit volley of two arrows into his bowstring simultaneously. By the time Drusillus realized what he was doing, it was too late for him to dodge. Both of Coral's arrows landed into his neck, and he collapsed, choking out curses for the few seconds of his life that remained.
Drusillus Rhodes, District 2 Male: 7th, Killed by Coral, Day 5
After the hovercraft collected the body of his fallen opponent, Coral staggered back to the cornucopia. He'd sustained several small cuts and injuries throughout the skirmish; for the time being, he was not in hunting condition. The thought didn't even pass his mind that he was the only remaining career until he was resting on a small cot about an hour later, and he just laughed shortly, pleased he wouldn't have to kill any of them himself.
The remainder of the "day hours" passed with a singular peak of excitement. In the small cave that was their home, Apollo and Kaelyn had been sleeping closer and closer together for the past few nights, and when Drusillus' cannon fired they looked up from what they were doing and stared into each others' eyes. With only six tributes left, they knew one of them would have to die soon, and before that happened they wanted to get done what they had been building up to for days. A good half dozen drone cameras were sent into the cave to capture high-quality footage of the romantic scene as Apollo and Kaelyn drew closer and closer. They were far too close—they could see all the specks of grime on each other's faces—and then they kissed. It was a quarter of a minute before they finally drew away, and then they giggled awkwardly, preparing for the truckload of sponsor gifts that was about to be poured onto their shoulders.
Only one more death occurred before the day was done. Since the start of the day, Zircon had remained rather quiet as he hunted through the fog-laden forest and the foothills. He hadn't made a kill since Day 2, but the gamemakers kept him around because they saw potential in him to be District 3's first victor in a quarter of a century.
At eight in the evening, Zircon pulled aside a curtain of branches and found himself before a tall hedge; the wall around the graveyard. He cut open a hole with his sword and carefully stepped inside. The mist was even thicker in there then outside; even with his flashlight on full brightness, he had to squint to see more than a few feet in front of his face. Allies Ranger and Dominic heard him coming and shuffled behind a tall gravestone, but unfortunately they weren't fast enough. Zircon spotted them thrashing before they could still their flailing limbs, and he went in for the kill without hesitation. Zircon slashed his broadsword, and Dominic crossed his arms in front of his face to shield his upper body from the blow. The point slashed across his arm, digging out a gash that was a good half inch deep, and Dominic screamed. A nearby flock of midnight-black ravens cawed and flew away as his screams grew quieter and quieter before fading forever into nothingness.
Dominic Crocker, District 8 Male: 6th, Killed by Zircon, Day 5
While Zircon had been distracted killing off Dominic, Ranger had managed to scuttle away to the edge of the graveyard. Zircon swore he had seen another tribute with Dominic, but Ranger was a good hider; he managed to remain out of sight. Eventually, the 3 boy gave up and left through the entrance he had cut out for himself. Ranger silently slipped out after him, free from the yard of tombstones for the first time in days.
For the rest of the night, Ranger ventured aimlessly under the starless black void of the sky, muttering traditional District 10 poetry to himself to keep himself occupied. Despite his best efforts to cling onto rationality, he couldn't help but get a little unnerved by all of the shadows and howls that were sounding around him in the forest. In about an hour, he came to the candy house that belonged to the witch. He peeked inside and spent the next half hour fleeing from the red sparks that issued from the witch's fingertips. He hadn't gone completely insane yet, but only time would tell what would happen as more and more pressure was put onto his young shoulders.
On Day 6, Coral finally decided he was well enough to go hunting once more. He'd allowed himself a fair share of resting and healing and it was time to do what he had been training for since an early age. The 4 boy trekked down the mountainside and came to a stop beside a wide stream. He wasn't skeptical of the water; being from District 4, he knew how different the water would be if it was harmful to him. Coral sipped the water greedily for several minutes and took a quick moment to relieve himself before hunting for real for the first time in days.
It was half an hour before Coral needed to take a break. Even a boy as strong as him needed to rest occasionally, and the place he found to relax inside of was… a large cave with a narrow entrance veiled by vines. Apollo and Kaelyn were inside, toying with the bajillion sponsor gifts they'd gotten after their kiss, and Coral peeked into the cave and grinned at the sight of the two tributes. Kaelyn screamed and scuttled toward her weapon as Coral leapt into the cave, smirking delicately, eyes glistening in the light of the one flashlight that kept the cave lit.
Apollo reached for his knives and spear, but Kaelyn stopped him, tears in her eyes.
"I… I'll hold him off. Get out of here. I don't have anything to go home to. Win this for me!"
The gamemakers did a bit of research and found the 6 girl really didn't have anything to go home to; Kaelyn's mother had died giving birth to her eighteen years prior and soon after her father had abandoned her on the streets because he couldn't care for her. Since then, she'd lived in an airport, constantly trying to keep out of the sight of the peacekeepers.
Apollo didn't want to leave Kaelyn alone, but when he saw the sad and terrified shine in her eyes he knew he had to honor her request. Apollo crawled out of the cave as Coral pounced at Kaelyn, cackling. The 6 girl made a valiant effort to fight back but was ultimately doomed against the trained career. Apollo, who was peeking around the entrance of the cave, cringed as Coral buried two arrows into his ally's shoulder. Blood splashed over the walls and floor as she gurgled and died.
Kaelyn Ritter, District 6 Female: 5th, Killed by Coral, Day 6
Coral turned around just as Apollo's spear entered his chest. The District 6 boy had been waiting at the entrance of the cave so he could ambush his ally's killer and kill him in turn. The spear pierced his heart with almost impeccable precision. Without so much as a flinch, Coral fell against the wall of the cave and slid to the ground. The few breaths he managed to force out were his last.
Coral Monson, District 4 Male: 4th, Killed by Apollo, Day 6
The rest of Day 6 passed uneventfully. The final three tributes all milled about in anxious anticipation of the imminent finale. Zircon left the dark forest and began venturing toward the mountain, wanting to be as close to it as he could when the finale began. Apollo was traumatized by his sweetheart Kaelyn's death, but he found that moving around was a reliable way to keep his mind off of the graphic images that haunted his mind. Ranger was just growing more and more crazy as the day wore on; he kept mumbling something about the shadow man coming to kill him, and he was perpetually attempting to "kill" sticks and dead leaves. He was slowly but surely cracking under the pressure of the games, and his story from then on would be an interesting one no matter what happened.
Day 7 proved to be the last day in the arena. Seneca Crane had a devious ruse in mind to drive the last few tributes together, and he felt that its reception would be superb. In fact, it would be—it may have rivaled the sixty-eighth games for the title of most creative method used to drive the finalists together.
All three of the tributes let out little whimpers of shock as all of the fog around them was attracted toward them like they were magnets—it was almost like the fog was being spun around them, being stretched and pulled tight—there was a flash of movement and color—and then scenes were being displayed in the fog. Scenes of terrible things—the worst memories of the tributes. Zircon was taken back to his eighteenth birthday, when he mortally wounded a mother, father, and three children in a car accident because he had gotten intoxicated partying too hard with friends earlier that day. He saw the moment that night when he had to throw the rope angrily in the trash because it kept snapping. Apollo saw, in vivid detail, the moment his abusive older brothers had cornered him against the wall of their living room, saying they were going to murder him. He remembered his father not bothering to answer his screams because he was too occupied smoking on the porch. Ranger re-lived the moment when he saw his best friend Matthew hit in the chest by a punt football out of his second-grade classroom window. He saw the moment his teacher urged the class to remain calm as she sprinted out of the room and did CPR on the poor boy for half an hour, even long after his pulse had disappeared. The memories were so vivid, so real, that the tributes began stumbling over the ground, screaming. They had to get out of this horrific terror-fest at any cost. And the only way to do that was to beat down their final opponents and be the only man standing in the arena.
At least, two of the three tributes followed that line of thinking. Poor Ranger, who had been steadily going crazy over the past twenty-four hours, finally broke at the sight of the memory that he had been trying to suppress for eight years. Screaming with terror, Ranger grabbed a sharp rock and drew a heavy line down his arm, and the same for the other arm. He fell onto his back, tears running down his face as he bled out over the course of two hours. The memories would never haunt him again.
Ranger O'Riley, District 10 Male: 3rd, Killed by Himself, Day 7
Zircon and Apollo had been expecting the visions to go away as soon as they started moving, but they were wrong; wherever they walked, the horrible images from their pasts followed them. The boys spotted each other at the base of the mountain about an hour later, and they charged toward each other. The horror fog around them dissipated at once so the cameras could capture higher-quality footage of the duel. A victor would be crowned soon.
Zircon made the first move, lashing out with his broadsword. While the sword was the better weapon, Apollo had a spear and several knives; while his spear was invaluable, his knives were much more disposable. As Zircon made his devious move, Apollo discreetly grabbed a knife and hurled it at Zircon. It nicked his shoulder and kept on flying, and both tributes cursed, Zircon with pain and Apollo with frustration.
Apollo's next move disarmed Zircon of his sword; he pulled a clever move, snatching the boy's wrists with both hands and twisting so that he had no choice but to drop the sword. Disarmed, Zircon opened his mouth wide with shock, but no sound came out. Apollo drilled two knives and the spear into his chest in rapid succession, and Zircon shook violently on the stone ground before fallings till.
Zircon Miliken, District 3 Male: 2nd, Killed by Apollo, Day 7
"Apollo Reinold of District 6, you are the victor of the seventy-third annual Hunger Games!" Caesar and Claudius cheered together as the thunderclouds dissipated and revealed the hovercraft floating above.
Apollo sighed, already trying to shove the gory and graphic images of the games out of his mind.
Apollo Reinold, District 6 Male: Victor of the Seventy-Third Hunger Games, Day 7
AFTERMATH
District 6 was overjoyed to receive their fourth victor with Apollo. Their last victor was exactly fifty previously ago with Ashlyn Breston, and after many years of their tributes being mentor-less the transportation district finally had hope for a bright future. In districts like 6 where victors were so far and few, each victory was considered a major cause for celebration; even the Capitol had to donate quite a lot of money to keep their celebrations running for months afterward. Apollo was somewhat shaken up after his games, but only for a few years; around the time of the eightieth Hunger Games, he had grown out of his PTSD. From then on, he made it his goal to integrate into Capitol society and eliminate the memories of his games once and for all, and he succeeded; he melted into the Capitol society and enjoyed it thoroughly.
He moved into the Victor's Village of District 6, the fourth to do so.
His victory tour was spectacular, and it was a cause for celebration in District 6.
Apollo would live to age seventy-four, losing a long battle with diabetes around the time of the one-hundred twenty-ninth Hunger Games. He would marry and have two strong daughters, and though fleeting memories of his games occasionally attacked him he would lead an overall happy life.
NEWS
Apollo moves into District 6's Victor's Village, occupying the not-so-recently vacated first house.
Margaret Cartmill gives birth to her sixth child, Eva, but she dies mere hours into her life.
Cashmere Linden's fourth child, Greatson, is born.
Isaac Crandall, the victor of the ninth annual Hunger Games, is electrocuted to death by one of his mechanical projects.
Blaze Skalnik, the victor of the fourteenth annual Hunger Games, dies from HIV.
LIST OF VICTORS
1HG: Cordin Frey (#1, District 3)
2HG: Sapphire Waber (#1, District 1)
3HG: Molly Toliday (#1, District 4)
4HG: Amelia Spangler (#1, District 2)
5HG: Misty Sablone (#1, District 12)
6HG: Olivia Seager (#2, District 2)
7HG: Flux Stafford (#2, District 3)
8HG: Brandi Coyne (#2, District 1)
9HG: Isaac Crandall (#1, District 5)
10HG: Velvet Farrow (#3, District 1)
11HG: Mags Flanagan (#2, District 4)
12HG: Slate Ogston (#3, District 2)
13HG: Woof Dozier (#1, District 8)
14HG: Blaze Skalnik (#4, District 2)
15HG: Dina Wilmarth (#2, District 5)
16HG: Beatrice Toland (#1, District 6)
17HG: Amelia Bankston (#5, District 2)
18HG: Markus Gardd (#2, District 6)
19HG: Odius Ruttler (#6, District 2)
20HG: Seeder Kaiser (#1, District 11)
21HG: Freya Digard (#7, District 2)
22HG: Gold Carson (#4, District 1)
23HG: Ashlyn Breston (#3, District 6)
24HG: Dayta Albrand (#3, District 3)
25HG: Diamond Griego (#5, District 1)
26HG: Thor Rosner (#8, District 2)
27HG: Magnet Lisagor (#4, District 3)
28HG: Maria Dutra (#3, District 4)
29HG: Discordia Komine (#9, District 2)
30HG: Barley Chisolm (#1, District 9)
31HG: Marlin Coppi (#4, District 4)
32HG: Wyatt Kerdler (#5, District 3)
33HG: Molly Soltan (#5, District 4)
34HG: Grover Handa (#1, District 7)
35HG: Troy Stiles (#6, District 4)
36HG: Lana Voltaire (#10, District 2)
37HG: Lucy Said (#7, District 4)
38HG: Porter Tripp (#3, District 5)
39HG: Penelope Turek (#8, District 4)
40HG: Beetee Latier (#6, District 3)
41HG: Radiance Clinton (#6, District 1)
42HG: Technik Hartline (#7, District 3)
43HG: Dylan Levitt (#9, District 4)
44HG: Rye Boyum (#2, District 9)
45HG: Chaff Korsmun (#2, District 11)
46HG: Nolan Wrack (#11, District 2)
47HG: Klink Byrae (#4, District 5)
48HG: Brutus Cordley (#12, District 2)
49HG: Wiress Freid (#8, District 3)
50HG: Haymitch Abernathy (#2, District 12)
51HG: Lyme Mabbett (#13, District 2)
52HG: Ruby Rayfuse (#7, District 1)
53HG: Lily Eckel (#3, District 11)
54HG: Blight Holzer (#2, District 7)
55HG: Emily Pollick (#5, District 5)
56HG: Sally Vasilia (#6, District 5)
57HG: Mason Kittridge (#14, District 2)
58HG: Margaret Cartmill (#1, District 10)
59HG: Tiger Sterne (#8, District 1)
60HG: Cecelia Rieffel (#2, District 8)
61HG: Valerie Easton (#15, District 2)
62HG: Enobaria Rigatti (#16, District 2)
63HG: Gloss Linden (#9, District 1)
64HG: Cashmere Linden (#10, District 1)
65HG: Finnick Odair (#10, District 4)
66HG: Victor Xhang (#17, District 2)
67HG: Augustus Braun (#11, District 1)
68HG: Iuna Mosier (#12, District 1)
69HG: Alexander Westlake (#2, District 10)
70HG: Annie Cresta (#11, District 4)
71HG: Johanna Mason (#3, District 7)
72HG: Remus Daley (#18, District 2)
73HG: Apollo Reinold (#4, District 6)
A/N: Hey everyone! The seventy-fourth Hunger Games is up next, complete with the characters we know and love from the books as well as a few unnamed ones you'll get to know hopefully soon! I know I've said this a lot, but don't think I've died if that chapter takes longer than usual; as it's undoubtedly the single most heavily anticipated chapter of this story to date, I don't want to write it averagely.
See you all next time here on 23 Cannons. Cjborange, out :D
