A/N: Just in case I don't say it later- Merry Christmas '09! You guys are gorgeous. Thanks for reading.
The Trial Games.
It feels like my ribs are constricting tighter and tighter around my heart with each passing second. As I ascend the stone staircase, willing myself not to look back at Kringle's corpse, tears and snot stream down my face as I urge myself not to cry.
'You can't trust anyone.'my mind insists. '-but you might still find Holden... don't give up hope Maya, not yet. Not yet.'
I nod through the tears, and I crouch onto all fours as I reach the top balcony so no one below would be able to see my form. I crawl towards the nearest door and reach upwards towards the doorknob, twisting it as slowly as possible to make sure no noise was made.
...but it doesn't open. It's locked tightly, and I'm left squatting here on my hind legs like a fool. I grit my teeth as I fall back onto all fours and continue shuffling down the balcony, my face red with embarrassment, frustration and from all the crying I've done today.
Something makes a muffled noise. I stop shuffling and listen intently- but I hear nothing more. The familiar sense of panic that had flooded through me so many times today began to weave its course through my veins once more. Breathing deeply, I reassure myself that it's just a bird or some kind of rodent- even though I haven't seen anything living other than my fellow tributes today.
I pause for a moment to look up at the sky. The sky is becoming a deep shade of purple, a color I have never seen before. It has been cloudy all day, but now- all the clouds have dispersed and this strange vibrant color now replaced them.
Night was falling, and I had no place to sleep or hide for the night. I shiver as I pass the place on the ledge where Kringle fell from- and I try my best not to step into the dry smears of his blood that stain the ground.
I need to find somewhere to sleep. I eye the approaching doors, one ahead of me- the other around the corner. I could try to open all the doors in the block, but if they were all locked- and without any kind of way of neither breaking the doors down nor the ability to risk making noise- there wasn't a whole lot I could do.
As I begin to near the approaching door, the terrifying sound of the school bell alarm freezes my senses and I stop breathing. There's a strange jingling resonating through the air as the door around the corner opens quietly. Clutching my little tin lunch box in my hand, I push my right side into the balcony wall and pray that the assailant doesn't flee down my pathway.
...they aren't. I can hear light and rapid footsteps and the continued jingling disappear out of the block- and I realise that I am once again, alone. My heart beat returns slowly as I slowly peer over the balcony at the now open classroom door.
'You can rest there,' the voice urges. 'Go on, it's what you wanted- right?'
But I can't move. The alarm had rung, and someone had made a mad dash for freedom seconds afterwards. My mind suddenly remembers the faint muffling noise- and my blood runs cold as I recognise it as someone gasping for air.
There's someone dead in that room.
I can't sleep in a room where one of my dead classmates lies, strangled and lifeless... can I? The fact I'm questioning a statement I would previously have denied outright sickens me to no end. These games are tampering with my morals.
But night is falling, and soon it'll be too dark to see any potential assailants- and I may not be a genius, but I'm not an idiot- I wouldn't put it past some of my classmates to use the cover of night to aid them in their dirty work.
Besides, if I don't find a safe place to sleep- I'll be too exhausted tomorrow to keep struggling through these games, particularly with just a tin lunch box to aid me.
Quietly, quickly- I scuffle over to the door as my surroundings grow dark. I slip inside the doorway and slowly stand upright as I gently close the door behind me. Then, preparing myself- I turn to see the room before me.
At first glance, in the darkening room, it looks like she was sleeping at the front of the class. However- as I drew closer to her, I could see her eyes were wide open and cold, bulging from their sockets with her limp hands resting whilst reaching for her neck- marked with a thin red line that had strangled her.
Her name was Kendra. I didn't know her well, but she was in the year above mine. She was a musical kind of girl- I think she used to sing or play the flute. I feel strangely guilty as no tears form, just a strange kind of pity that wells up from the bottom of my ribcage.
I might have been able to help her if I had lunged heroically into the room, brandishing my little tin lunch box. Perhaps we could have been team mates.
No. She's dead. There was no opportunity for friendship, is no opportunity- and never had been. This sticks firmly in my mind as I reach forward and close her eyelids so that I may not have to look at those bulbous black pupils any longer.
I would have to sleep here tonight, Kendra's corpse or not. I swallow as I slip my arms under hers- dragging her to the side of the room.
I gently rest the girl down and cross her arms across her chest. Now it looked as though she were sleeping. I stand up and bow my head in solitude for a moment, out of respect for this girl I barely knew but would spend a night with.
I remained silent as the sun began to disappear from the sky and the purple clouds became a dark noxious black.
Suddenly there's a burst of light. I jump to attention, whirling around to see the source of such unnatural light- and am met with a suddenly luminous blackboard. I stumble forwards, reading the words "Roll Call".
The screen changes and my throat seizes up as a camera captures tiny Prose's last moments on earth- stepping from her plate onto the green pasture of the football field- only for the air to suddenly be thick with her blood. My eyes widen in horror as a very visible leg is flung into the air as bits of human scatter about.
It changes again. Young Ellivieve is pushed to the ground by Sin, a burly boy two grades below me- who promptly begins stomping her repeatedly in the face with her foot. The camera manages to steal a gruesome shot of her teeth being kicked into her mouth- her gums bloody as her eyes roll into the back of her head.
The camera angle changes- and Cobalt charges towards Sin with a baseball bat. The larger boy turns quickly and grabs the end of the bat with ease- yanking it out of Cobalt's hands in one swift motion. As Cobalt's face barely has time to show his fear- Sin swings the bat at full force into the boy's skull- killing him instantly. The camera doesn't stop for a moment to show Sin continuing his assault even as the alarm rings out.
Hendrix, Lola, Tilly and Wyde runs towards the canteen, but young Wyde takes a moment to look back. In a split second, a stake pierces through his eye socket and he crumples to the ground instantly. Hendrix grabs Lola and Tilly in his arms and runs full pelt for the canteen as Crux shoulders his crossbow and leisurely pulls the stake from his kill.
Sparkle and Cisqua run towards the blocks, but Sparkle is crying from exhaustion. She falls to her knees, and before Cisqua can even attempt to pull her up- a stake lodges itself into Sparkle's back. Without pausing, Cisqua runs through the block as her friend writhes in pain and the boy with the crossbow stands over her and points the next stake into her head.
Blood foams from Kringle's mouth as he topples forwards from the balcony once more. The sickening crunch is amplified through the microphone and I can taste the vomit climbing to my mouth.
-and finally, Kendra chokes for help as Valera- a quiet girl from two years above strangles her with a thin piece of wiring. She kicks and squirms as Valera's intense look of concentration doesn't falter until Kendra's dying moment – where she kicks the body away and runs from the room.
The screen then goes dim, with the words 'Good Night Students' printed in elegant lettering- and I can't hold back any longer.
I vomit, all over the carpet, my hands, my shoes. My body shakes as I crumple to my knees, unable to register all the horror and inhumanity I had just witnessed. Seven dead, seven dead students- all whom I knew. Two had been killed by Crux- and some had even been first year students.
The bile rises again once more, and I don't even try to hold it in. My stomach churns empty and tears and snot begin to dribble down my face as I heave over the nearest table.
'I can't... I can't believe any of this...'