Snapdragon Rasputun
They say that when God closes a window, he opens a door. Well, I'd believe that, if I'd be religious. Since I'm not, I don't believe in it.
Other people say that if you lose one of your senses, the others get stronger.
Wrong.
They don't. I don't smell better, I don't hear better, I feel more pain, and I don't go around licking people and houses.
Well, that's maybe because of Bartholomew. He just sits on my shoulder and warns me of anything dangerous. A step, a person, or the traffic. He just hoots and gently scratches me.
Bartholomew is my pet owl, no, more like my friend. I got him five years ago as a present and as a device to help me get around town and survive my days. He is a genetically engineered Scops Owl.
You see, I hope you've guessed that I am blind by my hints, and I need something or someone to look out for me. A dog is too large, and smaller dogs do not have the mental capacities, and owls are intelligent, so an owl was engineered.
I'm not completely blind, hallelujah, but it is progressive. I have a special condition that didn't appear in my family for centuries, until now.
Not even the docs here know what this is, which is kind of disturbing. I am slowly, but surely, going blind. Sometimes I see perfectly, sometimes my vision is hazy, sometimes my vision is reduced to colours and shapes. Sometimes I only see black and white, or nothing at all but white.
This is how Bartholomew comes. He is always on my shoulder being my guard, because my vision changes by the secound, I never know what'll happen.
And then there are my wanna-be friends. Coming from a rich family, I have everything I need in my life and more, but friends. You know how it goes with rich people, everyone wants to be my friend; if not, and they want my money.
They do not even know my full name! Snapdragon Cheskovicz Krassus Rasputun. But most people call me Snapdragon Rasputun.
Then again, with all our money my family cannot be helped.
Some goons spilled toxicants over my mom's work space and she inhaled it, causing almost fatal mental defections. Almost. She didn't die, but she gave life to my sister who got mental disabilities. So…that's almost good, she's fine but her daughter is not.
She was hospitalized for a year and a half, so I had to take jobs and live by my friend. I was good with skipping school; I have supreme intelligence and photographic memory.
Then again, photographic memory and going blind doesn't go together.
"Snaps, I'm gonna go shopping, I'll be back in an hour or two," mom says and kissed me on my forehead.
"Okay Basil," I respond.
Funny how I call everyone by their first names if they are grown-ups and by their surnames if they are teenagers like me. That goes for teachers, principals, governors and shopkeepers.
I was blessed with two friends, Nina Periglade and Gorse Actor.
The latter is the happy one. He always knows what to say to people to make them feel better. It would be better if he'd be not handsome, as he says, because then he could insult himself for others to be happy. Of course, he can be an asshole at times, but that is part of his 'beauty.' He is tall with broad shoulders, little stubble and a not so kind face. He doesn't look kind or happy or smart, but indeed he is. He is also a tiny bit twisted, but just a tiny bit. He threatens people casually, backhands them, usually their shoulder, step on their shoes or just speaks his mind. Which is not good, because you don't want to know what goes around his head.
Then there is Nina. Kind of hyper, okay, very hyper. She drinks energy drinks all the time, and she doesn't get sick. She eats junk food, doesn't get fat. Inhaled things that should not be inhaled, she got even better! She is like the twenty-fifth century Jesus!
And she looks like her personality. Long bright red hair, I mean, so bright it hurts your eyes, dark eyes and freckles, with an elfish features. She and Actor go together, one's the careless, the other the careful.
But then, Periglade loves to fall in love, and I can tell you all the twelve guys she played with. Sometimes her tricks backfired, and she was played with. Actor loved those times and took videos of it. He is also a sadistic person, but that goes with his description of being 'twisted.' He on the other hand, is very rational, serious, realistic, sometimes feeding himself with wrong theories about life, and he often changes his mind because of them. Not like he's wrong, but he is a very…protective and self-protective person. Like, he wouldn't stand up for me when I'd be surrounded by five guys, because he knows that even if we'd win, we'd be better of running away and taking revenge at night.
"Come on Nadia," I call in the living room for my pretty little sister.
Her mental disorder is nothing overly serious fortunately. She is just…autistic a bit. She is in her world of whatever-she-wonders-about and only listens to me. Which is weird. I dislike kids, except her. I love her with everyone part of my body.
"Momma?" She asks.
"She went to the shop."
And she is smarter than her classmates. Looks like the toxicants had good things in them.
"Ah," she nods and goes back to crayoning the paper.
"What are you drawing my liege?"
"The Games," she says.
Well what Games?
"Games?"
"You know, the one in the TV? Where the mostly innocent children are sent to an arena of their doom for entertainment of the Capitol citizens? Those Games." What? She never really acknowledged the Games, as in, the Games that tore families apart and leave broken hearts. Just…a game.
In her current drawing, there is a feathery humanoid's shadow walking away from a dead corpse with her eyes out. She had curly black hair and dark eyes.
"Who's that?"
"You. If you ever get into the Games, you will have the help of all owl like creatures, because of Barty. " Barty is Bartholomew.
"Oh…that is lovely."
"But there are more. There is a girl with a shady past, running along," she said, not looking up as she moved pictures aside. This girl had her hair in a ponytail, with weights on her legs and arm, shorts, and a tank top, running along a lake with the moon shining on her face. There was a scar on her forehead, blood gushing out. "And also the King and Queen of the Battlefield, the Water Nymph, and these two girls with a golem that protects them."
"Nadia dear, when did you start drawing these?"
"Oh you know, weeks ago. And since it is Reapings today, I drew this," she put a large drawing that is a mix of crayon and paint on the coffee table.
The picture depicted our district Escort who goes by many names, reading a name. No one really knows his real name. People call him Ghost, Freak, Ash-Face, Monster and all that bizarro names. He was wearing his signature look. Gray skin, poison green eyes, medium length black hair with a wide white streak. A long stitch from ear to hear, giving him an eerie look of grin, a black eyepatch, and a little demonic top hat. He is wearing his gray suit, with a darkened lab coat with formal shoes. It is not his looks that creep people out, it is his aura. He is a fine young men, but with a rather…dark personality.
There is also a girl, similar to the running girl next to him, with a large wolf by her. The picture is in first person, with Ash-Face looking right into my eyes.
"Snapdragon Rasputun!" I heard his voice calling me. "Snaps!" It Periglade.
"What?" I ask her as I turn around.
"I love you," she says dramatically.
"Alright, what do you want?" She doesn't say that usually, only when she needs something. She knows that I know that she loves me, and she knows that I love her too.
"Nothing, why would I do that?"
"Because you were born by the name of Nina Periglade."
"Oh you, stop flattering me. Gorse bugs me with everything again, how I am unreasonable and reckless."
"But it's true!" Actor screams from the kitchen.
"I will step on your balls if you don't shut up!" She screams back at Actor.
"If you won't stop shouting and arguing I will step on both of your balls."
"But I don't have balls…" She says.
"Oh do you know?"
Xanthe Rowan
It's dark. It's quiet, dead quiet. Perfect. I can hear anything going inside the compartment, and outside too. Separating my breathing and my heart's beating from other noises inside, putting together the sounds and their owners.
There is Wolf sleeping, the noise Yarrow's animals make, and then the noisy streets outside.
Yarrow is out for a good time, now is the time to escape.
"Wolf…" I stroke his fur as my friend sleeps. "I'll be out for a short while. Try not to eat any of the animals."
He opens one of his orange eyes and growls.
I'll try. I translate the growl.
I pick the warehouse's lock and leave.
The road is busy and I quickly blend into the passerbies' mass of people.
I have an unsettled business with Jeffrey.
That kid stole something from me and lied about it. Of course Yarrow got in trouble, he is my, what's the word, protector? No, he is my guardian.
He thinks just because he is rich he can do anything. Please.
This time he will learn not to mess with me.
I have everything I need to teach him the lesson of the century.
No need to skulk around, no one suspect a thing. A turn here, a twist there, cross the bridge and a little walk and…here we are.
Jeffrey's villa. It is funny how they didn't fix the security, only hired more security.
There are two gorillas by the front gate, but who says I need to use it? A large, climbable tree has its branches hanging into their garden, and I can jump from the branches into the secound floor of their house.
That is exactly what I do. I climb up the tree with ease, hanging upside-down from a branch, I'm thinking. Should I really do that? Take revenge and all? I mean, it is socially not the right thing, but logically, following Hammurabi's Code, an eye for an eye.
Haha, no. I like revenge, and we are not living in Hammurabi's time.
I jump from the branch into the balcony without a sound. Stupid people, the glass door is wide open.
I make my way through the room, wondering if I should take something or not.
Well I just happened to have an empty bag with me, waiting to be filled.
They are rich, we are poor. They shouldn't mind.
But they will. And Yarrow will get in trouble.
Focus on the goal. Revenge on Jeffrey.
Not like Jeffrey's not good or anything, he is just mean to the poor ones, and he is very snobby. If he'd be poor or I'd be rich, we'd be friends I think. I don't know.
I have a hard time trusting people since Dodger. He was just as rich as Jeffrey, only much meaner and uglier. Jeffrey is at least nice to look at, but still mean.
Jeffrey is also very sure of himself. The best, bravest, the 'hottest' whatever that means, smartest and all that.
Picking on fourteen years-olds like me is so brave.
He is sleeping in his room. There is my book, and my pillow, photo-book and all those things I lost.
I quickly pack everything I own in my bag.
"Time for sweet revenge." I grab a smaller bag with lots of small holes in it and duct tape. I duct tape his hands together, but only after I pulled them behind his back. Then his legs too, and I duct tape his mouth close too. Lastly, I pull the bag over his head and duct tape that too. It doesn't take long until he wakes up, but I just leave.
I'm not proud of what I did, but there is no way he will learn to do the right thing.
At home, Yarrow awaits for me with a more than worried look.
"Where were you?"
"If you know where I was, then why are you asking me?"
"Because I want to hear it from you."
"I retrieved stolen items and took minor revenge on a person."
"Xanthe, how many times did I tell you not to do that," he asked after a sigh.
"No one saw me, or knows I was there."
"But they're rich! It's like their world is law."
"Exactly. But we just need to fire up those cameras again in case the police comes around."
"What do you have in mind?"
Just a little reenactment. If we have proof that I didn't leave, we are safe. We just need to mess with the camera around a bit, make it look like I never left and it's done.
I still understand why Jeffrey and the others are mean to us. I guess I just say what I always say.
Humans will be humans no matter what.
For example. Dodger did something to my memory and I only that I ran away from somewhere and he adopted me. then he threw me out the streets. There I found Wolf, a wolf, according to Yarrow, Wolf is a Lupus Supreme. That might explain his size.
Yarrow's still only eighteen, but he knows more about life then anyone else. He is also very smart, teaching me ancient history and all that useful information I will never use in my life. But I am grateful that he does that. He is the only human I trust so far.
Wolf my furry friend is as large as a lion, with large, dark gray fur and orange eyes. He is very protective over me, and now over Yarrow too. Once, when he still didn't trust Yarrow, he actually attacked him.
I'm Xanthe Rowan, little over fifteen years of age, living from day to day, in the darkness, not trusting anyone. And quite frankly, I can say that Wolf is more humane than the others outside.
Snapdragon Rasputun
Before leaving, I make sure that Bartholomew was fed and he went potty. I need him every time I leave no matter if I have my friends with me or not. He is my life saver.
Lucky for them, Periglade and Actor shut up. They can be quite annoying at times, but hey, they are teenagers.
I wear tailored jeans, buttoned down shirt and a trench coat. Paraglide wears a long dark coat and Actor wears jeans with a white shirt.
My mom came back and offered us to drive us to the Reapings. Now that's fun. Actor sitting by my mom, Periglade in my lap, with Nadia next to us.
Strangely I am calm; usually I worry a bit that I get reaped, but not now.
Then this girl comes to me with her wolf, and we have a small conversation.
The sky is cloudy, a bit grey, but still good without a parasol.
Our dementor like Escort, Ash-face walks up the stage and starts talking monotonously, seeping our life force away. The fact that this year's twist endangers friends too, is much more devastating.
"May I present you this year's tributes," he says, "Snapdragon Cheskovicz Krassus Rasputun!" Funny how he knows my name. But why did he call me again?
Wait. What?
No no no. Not now, not me! Why? Oh jesus…what about my family? What in the world of seven hell? That's no good…ah goddamit.
Xanthe Rowan
After being scold numerous times by Yarrow, we go to the Games.
What I understand about the Games is this.
Every year, children suffer from their ancestor's sins, just so the Capitol will be entertained. Or something like that. The main thing is that it is bad.
Not like I am a genius or anything can't even say I am book smart, but I know what I need to know to survive, and then some trivia things.
Anyways. We get some stares as we go to the square, especially at Wolf, who responds by snarling and growling at the people.
We go and go, until we arrive at the square. I take my seat by the fourteens, just as Yarrow sits down in his pile.
Then I see this guy, he is tall and everything, nothing special, but he has an owl on his shoulder. An owl. He sits diagonally from me, and there is just an empty space close to him.
I see him every Reapings, and he just got the owl. Might as well just ask him.
"Wolf, be on your best manner. That owl will not be your snack."
As an answer, Wolf rolls his eyes.
I move up, next to him. He was talking to his friends, but they had to go to their piles.
"Excuse me, hey," I greet him. Not surpassingly, he notices Wolf first, but then he doesn't get scared, which is notable.
"Hey, what can I help you?" The owl hoots.
"May I ask, why do you have an owl on your shoulder?"
"I'm going blind. I need him to help me," he answers casually. "And why do you have a wolf?"
"He is my friend, kind of your owl for you."
"Ah, I see."
For the time, I have been hearing the Escort talk, but I was not really listening to him.
"May I present you this year's tributes are ,Snapdragon Cheskovicz Krassus Rasputun!"
The boy with owl walks up.
Wow, mayb I shouldn't have been so curious about his owl.
"And Xanthe Rowan!" I am surprised he could say my name.
Snapdragon Rasputun
That's no good. I have been Reaped, leaving my family to its end. You see, I was the link between mom and Nadia. Nadia never talks to anyone, but me, and mom gets sometimes panicky, and then it is total pandemonium. And now, turns out they will be part of the Games. Just what I needed.
I am fed up with the Capitol. Filthy rich, controlling us like pawns in the Games. No one dares to mess with the bosses' kids, no one wants the kings and queens mad at them, but the pawns?
They are replicable.
We shall see how replicable some Capitol personals are.
Nadia and mom came in, mom in tears, Nadia with a blank face.
"Oh Snapdragon, what will happen?" She asked, on the verge of tears.
"Rivers of blood will cover the Earth," I say naturally. I had enough, done pretending.
I am done acting the Mr. Nice-guy. That's over.
"Each and every one of them will be fed to the monsters of the forest. The ones our friends made. No one will survive the carnage we will bring."
I am dang sure I scared my mom to death, but Nadia is unaffected. She was listening to me, fiddling with something inside her hands.
I wonder about her drawings about Ash-Face and the running girl. Something tells me they are…Oh my god!
When they were about to leave, she gave it to me.
But I couldn't ask her that one question…how did she know?
Xanthe Rowan
My first visitor, quite unexpectedly, is the Escort.
"Ms. Rowan, your familiar will be a problem."
"The meaning of this?"
"Well, he is an animal capable of ending a life. You have to leave him behind, or take him with you and he will most probably end up dead in the Capitol."
"I'm disinclined to acquiesce to your request."
"Miss, please, don't make the choice harder."
"Sir, I am not. I simply cannot afford to lose a friend. Besides. According to the 'twist' friends and families of the tributes will be put in the Games. What does it matter if it is now or later that Wolf will be in the Arena?"
He thinks about him.
"You're argument is valid with true facts. I shall do my best to opens the Head Gamemakers' eyes."
"I'd appreciate it," I answer.
With a gentle nod of his head, he bids goodbye and leaves.
Next is Jeffrey, looking as fine and dandy as ever.
"You!" He points at me.
"Yes Jeffrey?" I answer calmly and innocently.
"You have infiltrated my residence and you have taken my possessions!" He accuses me.
"Please, I am just a street rat; I do not understand long words."
"You stole from me."
"You are to be proven wrong. I have taken back my items you have stolen from me and I took revenge. Nothing major, just the usual. But of course, you cannot prove that."
He took out a voice recorder.
"You have been busted."
I cock an eyebrow. "You didn't turn it on."
"What?" He shrieks.
"Sorry honey, maybe next time. Oh, and I'd be on the lookout, you will end up in the Games too."
My last visitor is Yarrow, his red cheeks, nose, and eyes clearly give away that he was crying.
I owe him a lot.
He was a homeless orphan too, but he took me in. And when Wolf came along, he took him in too. He'd give his life to me, and I'd do the same for him.
It is rather depressing that he will be in the Games too.