Chapter V - Devil Town
Spring of 3189
District Five
D5F16 - Arda Menninker
I stare at the blank white ceiling above me, trying to prepare myself for getting out of my warm, warm bed. I can vaguely hear my parents downstairs making breakfast, but the thought of eating makes me want to stay in bed even more.
A sudden thud makes me sit up straight, and I turn to look at my window. Probably just a bird, I think to myself, flopping back down on my bed. The fluffy pillows bounce up around me and I smile to myself, grateful my family isn't in some financial crisis like most others here in Five. Both my parents hold pretty high jobs in the huge nuclear power plant at the center of the district. It's a scary, intimidating job, but my parents seem to be able to handle it and because of them I've always wanted to be an engineer, too. Sometimes my parents let me tag along with them and especially since I'm older now, they let me play around with the tools and teach me more about their line of work.
"Arda!" I hear the familiar voice from outside my window and smile to myself. Another thud sounds out and I spring out of my bed, towards the window. I unlock it and slide it up, putting my elbows on the sill and leaning my head in my hands.
I yawn, the crisp morning air biting at my pale skin and twirling loose strands of my almost equally pale blonde hair in front of my contrasting brown eyes. Looking down, I see my best and only friend, Zephyr. I flash a quick grin down at her and she reflects it back up at me. "What's up, babe?" I say.
"Nothing much, just waiting for your lazy ass to wake up!" she answers, her head tilting back and a loose laugh escaping from her lips.
"Well what d'ya wanna do, Zeph?" I ask, another yawn threatening my question.
"I was thinking… we've got a few hours to kill before the Reapings start, and I've got nothing to do 'til then except worry, so what do you say? Wanna have ourselves a little adventure?" she says, her hand twisting the left handlebar on her old rusty bike. Her bright grin fades into a hopeful smile and I roll my eyes.
"Fine, but give me a few minutes," I tell her. Her grin comes back in an instant and I can't help but let it spread across my face, too. Then I slide the window shut and start making my room pretty again. I fold my blankets and pull the comforter up nicely, then pick dirty laundry up off my floor and throw them into my hamper. I busily push through the clothes in my closet and land on some old loose ripped jeans and a colorful, warm sweater. I quickly pull it on over my underclothes, slather some lotion on my skinny ashy legs, and then spray something nice on myself after giving my pits a quick sniff.
"Arda! Don't make me come up there, 'cause you know I will!" Zephyr says, her laughter barely staying out of her voice. I smile broadly to myself and then slip on some comfortable shoes by my door before hopping over to the window and sliding it open again. I'm about to step off onto the roof before turning back around and scooping up a pae or two just in case. Of course, there's no real need to sneak out the way I am, but I'd rather do this than deal with my parents throwing insane amounts of food at me in the hopes I'll get over my anorexia.
"I'm coming, I'm coming. Can you get my bike?" I say, concentrating on not losing my footing on the damp roof of my two-story house. I reach the end of the roof and carefully climb down the old wood lattice that my parents once tried to grow an elegant vine on. I jump down, directly into a puddle, and groan, shaking my hands free of muddy water.
Zephyr lets loose a merciless laugh and covers her mouth with her hand. "You dumb fuck!" she jokes, laughing. Trying to pretend like I wasn't just offended by her comment, I make a sour face and bite my lip. "Come on, let's go," she says, softer because I think she's at least a little sorry about what she said.
I hop onto my bike and follow her as she speeds through the muddy puddles, sending waves of dirty water fanning out on either side of her. We race past my slumbering neighbors, Zephyr yelling and laughing the whole way. Sometimes she'll do tricks and show off, especially if she sees someone cute walking by, but I'm perfectly satisfied just quietly biking beside her, laughing and smiling every now and then. I'm not as bold of a person as Zeph is, and it sometimes feels like I'm the background singer to some big popstar, but I don't have as much of a problem with it as most people seem to think I do.
"I think that one just winked at me, Arda," Zephyr comments happily, standing up on her bike and closing her eyes. I look up at her and envy her bliss for a second, so I decide to make it for myself too. I stand up next to her, my feet digging into the pedals of my bike. The breeze seems to wrap around me and carry me forward, combing through my hair and pounding lightly on my shoulders and face. I let loose a laugh and Zephyr joins in, and for a minute we're invincible. Then Zephyr sits back down and I follow suit and we slow our bikes to a smooth halt as we approach the busy downtown area.
A few dirty kids sprint across the intersection in front of us, giggling maniacally. Zephyr laughs and then nods towards an old woodwork shop next to her favorite bookstore. "I don't think we've been there before," she says, raising an eyebrow at me.
I grin at her and take off towards the shop, narrowly missing another little kid. I lean my bike against the dusty window of the shop so that I'll see if anyone tries to steal it, and then I grab Zephyr's hand before she's even completely off her bike, and practically drag her into the shop. The intense aroma of wood and old people hits me square in the nose and I smile at Zephyr. "I don't think I've ever smelled wood before, really," I say. It doesn't smell anything like the skinny, dying trees planted along the richer roads of the district.
"It smells kind of like a ton of books," Zephyr notes, her nose twitching happily. I let go of her hand and shuffle over to a long shelf of carved creatures.
"Omg, look at this one," I say, pointing at a gnome-looking thing with a twisted face. I kneel down beside it and try to mimic it, making Zeph laugh embarrassingly.
"You kids here to buy anything or just make fun of my work?" a loud voice questions from down the aisle. I stand straight up and fold my hands behind my back politely when I see the aging owner of the shop.
"We weren't making fun of it, sir," Zephyr says, her expression serious for once. She glances at me, a side smile blossoming on her face. "She was." I narrow my eyes at her and then shove her roughly.
"So sorry, we'll be leaving now," I say quickly to the old man, backing out of the store. "Zeph! I'm never going back there again!" I say when we're outside, feigning anger.
She snorts and puts a hand on my shoulder. "Not like you'd ever have a reason to, anyway. Bet that place goes out of business in, like, a week," she adds.
I huff and cross my arms. "Actually, Zephyr, I've been really into woodwork lately. I'm always in the mood to just get right into a new project!"
"Is that so?" she says, tossing her hair and leading me towards the bookstore.
"Yeah," I say, nodding my head and trying not to smile.
"Sure, ok. Oh! I found this new series a few days ago and I instantly thought of you!" Zephyr's face lights up as she gushes about the series and how much one of the characters reminds her of me. I pay attention as best I can and end up sitting cross-legged with her in a warm corner of the bookstore with the entire series in a pile to my left and the first one in my lap. Later, one of the employees has to come over and ask us to leave, explaining that they're closing early for the Reapings.
"What?" I ask confused. Then I look over at a clock up on the left wall of the store that reads 9:30. "Shit, I have to go," I tell a mildly surprised Zeph, jumping up to my feet. She shrugs and waves at me.
"See you at the Reapings," she adds as I push past the employee and out of the store. Thankfully, I find that both Zeph's and my bike are still leaning against the window, albeit Zeph's is missing a tire. She'll be able to handle that though. I grab my bike, spin it around in the direction of my house, and start pedaling away.
…
I get to my house in mere minutes and dart inside, bounding hurriedly up the stairs. "Honey, where have you been?" my mom calls from the dinner table as I speed past her.
"With Zeph, Mom! I gotta get ready!" I shoot back, out of breath. I quickly peel off my sweaty, muddy clothes and exchange them for a flowy white knee-length dress. I pull my blonde hair into a silky dutch braid and then slip on some nicer-looking shoes.
"Don't forget to eat something, honey," my mom says, eyeing me as I walk down the stairs.
"Uh, I'm good. Thanks, Mom, but I'm really not that hungry," I say, avoiding eye contact with her.
"Hm," she murmurs, and then rubs her temples as if she's reading my mind or dealing with a headache.
"Eat something when we get back, alright kiddo?" my dad says from behind me, squeezing my right shoulder warmly. I bite my bottom lip and don't say anything in response. "Are we all ready to go?" he says. I nod and my mom stands up, loops a purse around her shoulder, and then follows my dad out the door, glancing over her shoulder to make sure I'm following.
We talk about engineering and how the nuclear power plant is going while we walk, and my parents tell me about the newest thing they're working on and offer to let me see when they go back to work tomorrow. I hug them both goodbye and then wander off to the line of kids getting their blood drawn. I stand on my tiptoes, trying to find Zephyr in the crowd of nervous girls. "Next," the Peacekeeper says. I tear my eyes away from the crowd and hold my hand out to the woman who pricks my finger and presses it against the white paper. She scans it, reads my name, and then waves me into the crowd.
"Arda! Over here!" I hear the familiar voice from off to my right in the depths of the sixteen-year-olds' section and turn to see Zeph waving wildly.
"Hey, Zephyr," I greet her warmly with a smile and a hug.
"You heard the news?" she says, looking up at the stage.
"What news?" I ask suspiciously.
"We have a new escort this year! Supposedly young and hot, too," Zeph adds with a wink. I roll my eyes and am about to say something witty back at her when the boom of a microphone interrupts me.
"Hello, District Five," a young man says from the middle of the stage. He looks about 20, with scruffy unnaturally natural dark brown hair and dark eyes. He has pale skin and seems pretty average from where I'm standing, which is a little weird, considering he's from the Capitol. "I'm Ziv Zephyr," he says in a boyish voice.
"Oh my God," Zephyr breathes beside me. I stifle a laugh as she clings to my arm. "He has my name," she squeals. I snort loudly and a few girls turn to glare at me, making my cheeks go red and starting Zephyr on another giggling chain. I try to calm her down as Ziv talks about what a pleasure it is to represent our district. He shows us the usual anti-rebellion video and the one explaining the Dark Days and then he walks over to the girls' reaping bowl.
I watch in quiet suspense as he reaches in a hand and pulls out a slender slip of paper. "Arda Menninker," he reads out, glancing over the girls standing in the square.
What, I think. Yeah, that's me. My eyebrows furrow together and I turn to Zephyr who looks as confused as I feel. "I guess I really won't be going to that woodshop again," I joke.
D5M16 - Bronte Tomlinson
"How about this one? He's kinda cute," I say, gesturing to a small fluffy puppy yapping excitedly at the mesh fence containing him. "Hey, buddy," I say, kneeling down and sticking my fingers through the little holes so he can sniff me. "Elissa's a terrible, mean-hearted person who doesn't want to adopt a perfectly good boy like you and give you a better home." The puppy barks loudly and my lips turn up in a smirk. "You hear that Elissa? He doesn't get why you're so cruel, either," I say, looking up at my best friend.
She sighs, exasperated, and puts her hands on her hips, tossing her copper hair around her shoulders as if she's not used to it being that short. "For the last time, Bronte, I don't need a dog right now. Besides… uh… Mum's allergic to dog hair!" she says, leaning forward and grinning as if she's finally stopped me.
"Haha, very funny… liar," I say, wrinkling my nose at her. "Come on, adopt him, he loves you!" I say, turning back to the little guy. He sniffs my fingers curiously and then bites down hard. "Ow!" I yelp, jumping back.
"Sure, he definitely seems to like you," Elissa says, stifling a laugh. I glare at her jokingly and then put an arm around her shoulder, directing her further into the dog pound.
"Think about it. Wouldn't you love to have a guard dog?" I ask, looking around for a good example.
"I don't really need one…" she says, trailing off.
"Sure you do! Everyone in District Five could use a guard dog," I say, stating the obvious. "Think of all the things that have been stolen from you," I point out.
"Bronte," Elissa protests. "That's just one more mouth to feed. And an annoying mouth, too," she says, rolling her eyes.
"Aw lighten up, Elli. Dogs are cute!" I say, grinning and skipping off to a large brown and black dog.
"Don't call me Elli," I hear her mutter behind me.
"Look at this one!" I tilt my head at the dog who pulls back his lips and snarls at me. "He seems really friendly."
Elissa kneels down beside me and stares at the dog who barks loudly at her. "I'll take him," she says.
"Wha- excuse me?" I say, not sure I heard her right.
"What?" she says, looking at me with a barely hidden, rare smirk. "You said I needed a guard dog and you're not wrong."
"I mean, I didn't really expect you to want to buy a dog," I say, raising an eyebrow.
"Who said anything about buying him," she says softly, looking over her shoulder to make sure nobody's in sight. "Think you can break down this door, engineer?" she says, nodding toward the dog kennel and crossing her arms.
I bite the inside of my cheek and turn to the dog kennel. The brown and black dog growls up at me and I wrinkle my nose at him. "How are you gonna bring him home?" I ask.
"There's a leash in his kennel," Elissa points out, gesturing to the rope hanging from a peg at the back of the kennel.
"Wow, they really put that in a convenient place," I say sarcastically. "Alright, if you really want one. He better love me or I'm never coming over to your place again," I warn her.
"Mhmm," she says. I curl my fingers around the holes in the kennel gate and then come to a happy realization that there's no lock on it. Laughing, I unhook the latch and pull it open just enough for Elissa to squeeze through. She gets down on her knees and holds out an upturned hand for the dog to sniff and with the other, she reaches for the leash. Eventually, the dog starts to lick her fingers and yaps happily.
"Wha-" I say quietly, bewildered. Some guard dog… I press my face up to the mesh and make a questioning face at Elissa, who laughs in response. She hooks the leash to his collar and then leads him out the gate. "What are you, a dog whisperer?" I ask, befuddled.
"Nah, I'm just more likeable than you," she says snarkily. I huff and follow her as she walks out the way we came. Surprisingly, nobody stops us, although we pass one tired-looking man who nods quietly at us. I wave at him as we leave and Elissa shushes me, picking up her pace.
"What are you gonna name him?" I ask when we get outside. His ears are folded but I can still tell he's listening attentively to everything going on around him by the way he walks with a sense of purpose and holds his head up as if sniffing the air. It's like he's never been out in the open world before.
"Name? How about… Dog?" she says. The dog turns around and barks once. "See? He loves it!" she says, her lips turning up into a happy smile. "Ready to see your new home, Dog?" she asks.
"Wow, that's… creative," I say, nodding my head sarcastically.
"Aw, shut up. Dog is a very refined name," Elissa says, swatting me playfully on the arm.
"Mhm," I say.
"Well it's better than Bronte," she snaps back.
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing, nothing," she assures me, looking across the road. I snort and follow her gaze.
"What time are the Reapings?" I ask.
"10:30. We have like an hour. I'm probably gonna get picked, to be honest. You know how much tesserae I have this year?" Elissa says, glancing down at the ground.
"Don't be silly. There's tons of kids in our district who have much more than you. I mean think about all those super poor kids!" I say, nudging her affectionately.
"Sure, whatever. You've never gotten tesserae before in your life, you wouldn't know how scary it is." While that's right, I've never taken tesserae, I still know how scary it is. My older sister Courtney took insane amounts of tesserae until I could work as an engineer and earn money for our family. Since my father died in the solar plant, we've been a little tight with money, which is weird considering all I've ever known is comfort.
"Yeah, you're right," I say to Elissa. She can think what she wants to think. "I'm probably gonna split," I say jerking a thumb in the general direction of my house. "Y'know, spend some time with the fam."
"K," Elissa says, her eyes on her new dog. "Say bye, Dog." He doesn't do anything but sniff determinedly at the dusty ground.
"Seems like a really obedient guard dog," I comment, nodding my head in mock approval.
"Shut up, we're working on it," she shoots back at me with a half smile. I swivel back around with a quick wave, and start on my way home.
My neighborhood is entirely awake by now, parents busily putting together their families and dressing their kids in the nicest outfits they have, because for that rare chance that their kid is the one dying this year, they at least gotta look nice. So it doesn't come as much of a surprise when I traipse into my house to be bombarded by Courtney throwing nice clothes at me and telling me to wear some of those clothes that pair well together. "And don't forget to eat something!" she yells after me as I stumble down the hallway with the immense pile of fresh, warm linen.
The first outfit I try on is a button down white dress shirt with grey slacks, and I decide to stop there. If the first outfit is good, then I'll settle with it, and anyway, I can always tell Courtney that I tried on all of them before finally deciding on this masterpiece. "Aw, they grow up so fast," Courtney says sarcastically when I walk casually into the kitchen, my hands digging into the pockets of my slacks. But I can tell a little bit of her is impressed at least partly.
"I toasted some bread for you," my mom says, leaning over the dirty tile counter and sipping a bit of some drink in a chipped pale cream mug. "Thank God you fixed that thing last month or we'd be going breakfastless for a while now. What do you say we go and buy cereal or something other than toast after the Reapings?"
"That sounds great, Mom," Courtney says, sliding me a plate with a piece of browned toast on it, still smoldering slightly. "Speaking of, we should probably get on our way now, if we want to be on time for once," she says pointedly.
"Let me finish eating," I say through a mouthful of breakfast. Mom and Courtney watch me finish off the piece of toast, Mom sipping her drink thoughtfully at even intervals, and Courtney crossing her arms and tapping her right foot in mock impatience. "Okay, okay, I'm done. Let's go," I say, starting on my way out only to stop, remembering something. "Crap, wait, you guys go ahead, I'll be right back."
"Don't forget to lock the door behind you, lil bro," Courtney says, following Mom outside.
"You got it!" I shout back, dashing through the hallway towards my room. I hurriedly push through the junk in my drawer until I find the old marriage ring my dad had before he died. I roll it around on my fingertips before deciding to put in my pocket instead of on a finger. For some strange reason, it seems too public to wear it, I guess. I close the drawer, breath a deep sigh, and then walk out of the house, remembering to close and lock the door behind me.
…
"It's still weird that my name's not in that bowl anymore," Courtney says, biting her lip in thought. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I don't miss this, it just seems kind of strange, seeing as how it's been a part of my life for so long. Does that make sense?"
"Yeah, I see where you're coming from," I say, nodding my head along as she keeps talking.
"I'm really glad I'm done with it. Just super nervous about you. For once I can't really control what happens to you. You know, I always took tesserae so you wouldn't have to, right?"
"Yeah, you won't let me forget it," I joke.
"Can't do that now that I'm 20," she says quietly. She needs to go and make a life for herself. I feel like I'm dragging her down somehow, but I don't say anything about it. "Oh, you'll be fine, Bronte. Your name's only in there like five times, right?"
"Right," I say, swiveling to face her and my quiet mother, since we've arrived at the district square.
"See you later, bro," Courtney says, ruffling my jet black hair. I huff in mock annoyance and comb it back into its typical fringe style with my fingers. Her hazel-colored eyes flash mischievously at me and I narrow my nearly identical ones at her before hugging my mom goodbye and being practically dragged by the crowd towards the near-center of the square. After getting my blood drawn, I find a place in the sixteen-year-olds' section and wait solemnly until the new escort shows up. He doesn't look much older than me or my sister and strikes me as a pretty normal person. The way he talks freaks me out, in that it's completely normal. What a world we live in, where normal becomes abnormal.
He reaps the girl tribute before I even realize he has the slip of paper in his hands, so I instantly stand straighter and try to pay more attention. The girl's pretty skinny with pale hair and pale skin. For some reason she doesn't look very nervous, just maybe a little frazzled.
"And now for the boys," Ziv says into the microphone. I brace myself, tensing up. "Bronte Tomlinson," he reads out. I hadn't really realized my eyes were shut tight, but now that I'm suddenly aware of everything going on around me, they snap open wide and I look around in shock. A few boys turn to look at me, recognizing my expression as the typical 'reaped' expression. But I've never taken any tesserae! A kid next to me nudges me slightly in the direction of the aisle and I take a few steps toward the stage. It feels like forever until I'm standing in front of the district, my hands shivering at my sides even through the Spring warmth.
I'm more determined now than I've ever been in my life. I'm determined to make it home to my family and Elissa and I'm determined to survive. It seems like I can hear every sound down below me in the square. Like if a pin dropped, I could hear it even through the crackle of Ziv's microphone. Like this is the first time I'm really out in the world. I'm Dog, I think with a shaky realization.
A/N: yoooo sorry that was a hella long delay :/ it took me a while getting started on these tributes, but aye at least i finished them.. oof. i was planning on updating yesterday, but then i had to go to sleep early so i could wake up at 2am and get on a flight that wouldn't leave til 5am lol spring break does that to ya ig
also since it's spring break, i'll probably post one more chapter this week(or maybe two if i can squeeze another one out *hopefully*) but also i risked my teacher not checking homework on friday and it paid off but now i have a ton of work to do before monday
ok so actually looking at my week, the only rlly free day i have is tmrw lol YIKES guess we'll see what happens! wherever the wind takes us..
THANK YOU SM IF UR STILL READING THIS *like bruh what a dedicated person i can't believe good people like u exist wow amazing thank u :)*
and a special thanks to Lazulies for Arda Menninker and District5Chemist for Bronte Tomlinson
i was gonna mention this in the last chapter, but i decided to make a form of currency for Panem(paes) get it cause europe has euros and panem has PAES (i should be in charge of all currency) basically, it's the same as a US dollar cause like panem is in post-apocalyptic US
don't forget to tell me what you think! who is your favorite of these two? who do you think will make it the farthest? i love reviews, they really make my day :)
-knifey
shower thought of the day: have i shampooed yet? (hahahah get it? i'm hilarious)