This is just a small chapter for bloodbath. I can never make good bloodbath chapters anyhow. So, enjoy and I hope I can get a longer chapter out soon.
…..
District 14: Karter Neandra's POV
Drip, drip, drip
Droplets of blood roll of the stairs and puddle on the floor in a rhythmic pattern. I try to count the total dead, but I keep getting distracted by the sound of the blood on the stairs. I give up and look at Astrid. Her face looks normal, emotionless. Yet, I see a small glimmer in her eyes of disgust. Disgust or that she is somewhat disturbed by the scene before her.
The smell of death clings to the air now. No, not the smell of blood, but the smell of despair and desperation. I'm sure in an arena with no roof; the smell would just float away along with the souls of those killed. Here, however, the smell lingers as do the bodies and souls. You can almost see their last thoughts on their face along with their final screams. Some aren't screaming though. Some didn't even know what hit them.
"We should go," Astrid says quietly. I hear her gulp slightly, but I don' think it is from her disgust. I think she figured out during the first sixty seconds that an arena like this will allow sound to carry faster. At the moment, we are like sitting ducks.
I nod and give her smile. As usual, she doesn't return it. However, she doesn't make a face at me either. Maybe her smart mind has come to realize that she needs me. The minute I think it I realize the idea is doubtful. She is probably just tired of standing here staring death in the eyes.
Astrid looks in all directions we could possibly go. We could tip toe our way up the stairs around the dead bodies. We could head towards what looks to be a dark dining room. There is one more option on the other side of the dining room, but it is too dark to see it clearly.
Drip, drip, drip
The dripping is beginning to slow and I find myself craning to here it again. The silence around us is unbearable.
"We should go this way."
At first, I think I am hearing Astrid whispering. However, when I look at her she looks at me in confusion. "What?" she asks me. I crane my head to listen for the other voices again, hoping I was just imagining things.
"Do you hear anybody?"
"Astrid," I whisper very quietly, my voice shaking. She looks at me and I see her eyes roll a bit. "Did you hear that?" Her annoyed look goes back to being confused. She shakes her head and watches as I motion towards the dining room.
"Did you hear that?"
Astrid's eyes go wide and she quickly grabs hold of my wrist. In the next second, we are rocketing up the stairs, paying no mind to the dead around us. I hear the voices more clearly. I think they know someone is on the stairs, that someone being us.
Just as the footsteps are coming out the dining room, we have disappeared to the right of the stairs. I hear shouting which I assume means the Careers had been on our trail. But soon their voices are no more. The last sound I hear from the stairs area is the clock chiming. The dripping and the voices are gone. For now.
The Capitol: Daze McNeely's POV
I sit on the couch in the apartment, smashed between my mother and Roxlie. My head and body beg to be anywhere, but here. However, it is a tradition for the McNeely family to watch the bloodbath together. Though, we are not watching it at the correct time considering both my parents and Jazz had places to be while it was actually going on. Instead, my father has recorded it so there is no way I can get out of watching.
The TV flickers to life and the faces of twenty-six teenagers appear. The arena is a boat this year apparently. They are all facing a large staircase covered in all the toys they need to play the game. I love looking in all their eyes before they go. You see blood lust in the Careers' eyes while others seem to be pleading for someone to get them out of there. When the gong sounds, the race to the top begins.
The first death is not as brutal as some would like. I had expected it to come from the boy from 1. The boy, Marco I believe, took a sword and sent it into the boy from 8's stomach. The poor kid throw-up blood as his final contribution to the world. We watch as Marco twists the sword for good measure and rips it out of the boy's gut. He doesn't even clean it before he is leaping up the stairs two at a time.
The second death is the first to cause Roxlie to squirm. Anna from 2 picks up a sword even larger than Marco's and with one stroke, beheads the girl from 12. The head of the pretty, young girl tumbles down the stairs, landing at the feet of the boy from 11, who looks about ready to throw-up. The camera focus back in on Anna and the body of the decapitated girl. In a close-up, Anna doesn't smile at her first kill. She looks to be showing actual remorse.
There is no time to decipher what that means though. The camera flashes to the third death of the bloodbath. The boy from 12 has already managed to strangle the girl from 8. He lets the body drop to the ground before kneeling down beside it. It looks like he will pray for the girl, but instead he leans close to her neck and bites into it. Both Jazz and Roxlie scream in unison and even I am shivering.
I have a feeling the Capitol was not a fan of that moment and the camera angle is quickly changed to a death that has managing to be a bit more pleasant. A fight has begun between the girl from 10 and the girl from 4. The girl from 10 kicks a piece of wood free from the banister and uses it to send a blow to her enemy's head. The girl from ten turns her piece of wood towards the side with a sharper point and tries to shove it into 4's throat. Before she can, she girl coughs off blood on to 4. The boy from 4 stands above the two, a knife he had sent flying in the girl from 10's back.
By now, the bloodbath sight has almost cleared. The Careers are still fighting it out. Actually, only 1 and 4 it seems. The pair from 2 is nowhere to be found. Marco seems to have another fight on his hands for a small pack. However, the fight only lasts a few seconds. His sword strikes the girl from 6 right in the center of her neck. He slides it out with ease and the girl collapses on the landing on the landing first landing of the stairs. Marcos smirks and slides the backpack on to his shoulders.
Besides the Careers of 1 and 4, only the bodies are left on the grand staircase. I think the Careers have realized 2 is gone. This does not sit well with Marco. My father has to cover Roxlie's ears as Marco begins to swear like a viciously. I find the scene quite amusing actually. Still, I am not sponsoring a boy with that kind of temper.
The boy from 4 says something about leaving the massacre sight. Marco lashes out at him, but does gather his stuff to begin leaving. The others follow suit. Marco says something about finding 2 and the others nod in agreement, by doing so reluctantly. Marco storms towards a dining room setting. The girl from 4 follows quickly. The boy from 4 and the girl from 1 share a look before walking slowly after the other two.
The TV clicks off just as the shadow of two other tributes appear on the staircase. Roxlie wipes a few of her tears away and allows my father to walk her to be. This is the only time she allows him to ever. My mother and Jazz begin talking about the scene that had just seen. I grab the remote again and turn the TV back on. The Hunger Games cameras show the splintered Careers pack back in the staircase area. Marco looks even angrier than before.
If the bloodbath shows any sign of how this year's Hunger Games will be, I will be tuning in more often. I look back at the screen to see Marco letting his anger out towards the decaying bodies that have yet to be picked up. Yes, this will be an interesting year.
…..
There you go the bloodbath. I will keep a list of the remaining tributes on the forum under the everything arena section.
I have decided the way I am going to do the arena this year. For the next few chapters, I will go in District order and shed some more light on their pasts. This will not be the format for all the chapters, but some. I promise there will still be action, but I want the arena to take a bit longer this year.
Reviews are loved. Peace, Love, and All That Jazz.
-Emma