Serenity Jasper, 16, District 9
I stumble down the train tracks, my hands gripping at my stomach. The area around the knife has completely gone numb. My skin becomes more and more pale with each passing second. I don't know how much longer I can stand upright.
In the midst of the chaos, I lost sight of Conrad. I tried to find him, but with darkness rapidly approaching, I didn't want to take the risk of being out in the open. But here I am.
The faces in the sky remind me what's at stake. There's only five tributes standing between me and victory. When I was put onto that stage back in District 9…I'm not sure I envisioned myself making it this far. No. I know I would have. There's never been a time when my gamble hasn't paid off… when I haven't drawn the winning hand.
I stumble forward and have to catch myself to avoid collapsing into the ground, pushing the blade even deeper into me. I push myself onto my back, watching my chest rise and sink with each breath that passes through me.
As my eyes move up into the sky, I see a movement of something gradually getting bigger and bigger. I can't place what it is until it lands beside me, parachute and all. A sponsor gift.
Using whatever strength is left inside me, I push myself up to sitting and pick up the gift. My hands shake as blood stains the outside of the metal case, but eventually I'm able to unscrew the cap. There's actually very little inside, yet somehow, it's just enough. Gauze, a disinfectant, and a small needle and thread. This late in the games, I can't imagine what this would cost.
Well, considering I've survived a train crash, a knife to the stomach, and a fight with the deadliest tribute in this arena, let's hope the odds continue to favor me.
I bite down on the collar of my shirt as I slowly remove the knife. I try to ignore the light headedness that washes over me as I clean the area, my teeth grinding harder into my shirt. With that done, I thread the needle through the wound. It's a messy job, but fuck it, I don't have time for precision.
I tightly wrap the gauze around the entire area and then some, leaving none to spare. With most of the pain subsided, I release my grip on my shirt and collapse back down on my back.
I know I shouldn't lie here. I should move, find shelter, but there's literally no energy left in me. And besides…what are the odds someone will find me?
These thoughts somehow allow me to drift in and out of consciousness for quite some time. I wonder how many people watching this on their television think I'm dead. I wonder if they're even showing me.
I bet Harper is watching. The thought creeps into my mind quicker than I can stop it and I immediately lurch myself forward. I cough out the dust that has settled in my lungs from my time on the ground. How long has it been?
I stand up, immediately regretting the decision as the pain immediately shoots back into my wound. I look down at the dressing, and fortunately it's still holding. Good. I don't need anything else to go wrong right now.
My stomach rumbles and I can't remember the last time I had something decent to eat. The feast was supposed to help remedy that…. though I guess how could I have known I would have embarked on a train chase?
My head shakes. With messes I've scraped through in the past and the choices I've… that chaos on the train is hardly a surprise.
With the recently extracted knife in one hand and very little strength, I stumble down the train track in hopes of reaching the main town again. I have to stay alert for other tributes, but it's so hard to focus on anything.
Who's left? Conrad…Marissa…Harrison...Tatiana…and someone I can't place. And they all have to die if I want to see Harper again.
But in this state, how am I expected to do any of that? How are any of us? I didn't think I could ever see a person as broken as Conrad is. Physically and emotionally. Marissa has been losing her mind since Jade. Harrison…I haven't seen Harrison in a while.
If I put him out of his misery… I may be doing him a favor? That's the only way I can justify it in my mind. I've killed multiple times in this arena now… I have to find some way to justify it.
My mind shakes away these thoughts. What have I become?
I was always taught to stay one step ahead of my opponents. Yet right now I can't even stay a step ahead of myself.
I see the outline of a house come into my vision and I don't even bother to scout it for enemies before collapsing into the first house I find. It's similar to the rest I've seen before, small, one main room, a few cabinets, and some form of sleeping surface. This one has a worn cot and a small circular rug.
I stumble through the cabinets, disappointed at finding nothing but dust balls and empty cans. When I pull open the last drawer, for a brief moment, I believe I've found a full bottle of water. But when I pull it out and start to shakily unscrew the cap, I realize it's just empty.
"Shit!" I throw the bottle across the room, shooting pain immediately returning to my stomach. With one hand putting pressure on the gauze, I let the other lead me to the cot and sit down.
In my entire life, I've probably only ever truly cried a handful of times. I've pushed through more than I care to admit. But after a week and a half in this hellhole, the blood spill, the betrayal, it would break the strongest around me.
Click. The tears are put on hold when I hear something small clatter on the ground. The water bottle has rolled to one of the corners of the room, but the cap is missing.
I take a breath before walking to the corner of the room. I kick the water bottle away, peering at the wooden floor. It's cracked and creaky, but the thing that catches my eye the most is how it's lifting from the baseboard. And the small hole…where does it go?
I pull at the loose board, and it snaps with minimal effort. I peer inside and realize there's a whole basement underneath the floor. And if there's a basement, that must mean there's an entrance…
The rug. I drop the broken board and crawl over to the rug. I pull it off and voila, a hatch door. Do they all have these?
I pull at the latch, and it doesn't budge. Locked.
"Ha…screw you Gamemakers…" They must be enjoying this all too much.
I do another search around the house for a key, or anything to get the latch open, but I can't get it.
I take my knife and I just start hacking away at the wood, when a familiar voice grabs my attention.
"What the hell are you doing?"
Darrah Arinori, 12, District 7
I sit next to Harrison too afraid to sleep during the heart of darkness, meaning I always seem to be on watch. At first, I could tell he was still on edge with having me around. I'm not sure what happened with his old allies, but from the bits and pieces I've gathered…not a lot of good. Yet he's keeping me around, and I can't figure out why.
"If it comes down to just you and me at the end…" Where could he possibly have been going with that? At first, I thought he would use that as an opportunity to lay the scene. To clarify that he didn't owe me anything, and he would kill me the first chance he got? But when he saw me face to face with those vampires…I haven't seen anyone spring into action that quickly for me…well, anyone other than El.
She's in my thoughts constantly. When I'm awake, when I do manage to find some sleep, I see her face everywhere. I can't help but feel like I've completely let her down.
I've been rolling my device around my palm, thinking about using it to talk to her every night since I lost her but every time I start to, I freeze. I can't ever find the will to go forward with it.
I don't want her to be disappointed in me. At least, I don't know if I can hear her verbalize it. "You watched as I died. You ran as I died." Those words are too familiar to my nightmares. Even her treasure map has become a shell of what it was. The map and the markings have completely faded away, leaving behind a completely blank sheet of paper.
If you ignore the bloodstains and ripped paper…
"What do you have there?" Harrison pushes himself up to a seated position, looking at the device in my hand. I fumble with it, trying to obscure it from him.
"Oh, it's um, it's a part of the role I was given, I guess." I stammer. He yawns, clearly not swayed by my attitude.
"What role did you get?" He's clearly not going to drop this… "I mean, you know my role."
This is true.
"Medium. I can use this device to talk to any deceased tribute." Now I have his attention. His eyes shoot open.
"Any of them?"
"Yeah. I mean, I can only do it once per night, but, yeah. Any of them." Now I'm the curious one. Why is he so shifty?
"Oh. Who have you talked to?" He scratches the back of his neck.
"Just Adelina. Um, she was one of my allies. District Ten." I remember that moment as if it were yesterday. I didn't want to, but El convinced me to. El wanted me to have closure. Why can't I give her the same respect?
"Are you going to use it tonight?" Ha. Is it that obvious?
"I don't know. It was hard last time. I'm literally talking to the dead." I laugh at the absurdity of the statement, mostly so I don't burst into tears in front of this basically stranger.
"Yeah. I guess that would be kind of unsettling. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be insensitive." Is that relief that washes over him?
"No, it's a valid question. I mean, I'm sure someone other than me would be using it more. Learning things…" This immediately unsettles him again.
"Well, I think I've slept as long as I can. Do you, uh, want to try to get some sleep?" He asks. I'm about to say no when a big yawn washes over me.
"I guess I should. Thanks." I get as comfortable as I can, keeping the device close to my chest. I tinker with it a bit more, a million thoughts racing through my mind. I might not have another chance to use this.
On the verge of sleep, and with little time to change my mind, I select "Electra Shielle".
Just like last time, the area around me fades to black. I'm back in the same small white room with the same large metal door.
The door swings open and in she walks. She looks just as she did the last time I saw her. But where there was fear has been replaced with solace.
"Darrah. It's so good to see you." She smiles at me. I can feel mouth agape, words bouncing around in my brain wanting to all come out at once.
"El." These are the only words that manage to come to fruition.
"It's nice to see you're still alive." She says.
"I wish you were there with me." Any composure I had before coming in here has been ripped out from under me.
"I know. But I'm here with you now. I'll be with you until the end, Darrah. It's okay."
"It's not okay, El. How the hell is it supposed to be, okay? You're gone, and everyone that's left could take me out in an instant. I have no chance."
"Darrah…when was the last time someone as young as you made it this far?" She comes closer to me, taking my hands in her own. "You're more capable than you give yourself credit for."
"Everything I've done has led to my allies' demise."
"Anything any of us did could have led us here. It's the Hunger Games…that's to be expected. You'll overwhelm yourself by dwelling on it."
"How are you so calm?" I wipe a portion of the tears away.
"I'm with my parents again. Look, I spent many years angry. Angry at someone else for taking people I love away from me. It consumed me and ultimately, led to this moment here. I wish I didn't waste my time alive looking backwards. I don't want you to regret the same thing as me."
I'm at a complete loss for words. Even in death, she's thinking about me. She's looking out for me. If she believes in me, why shouldn't I?
"Thank you for everything, El. I'm so glad we met."
"Me too. I wish it were under better circumstances." She pulls me into a tight hug, a hug I never want to end.
But like everything else, it must come to an end. And for the first time in a long time, I feel like there's nothing more to be said.
And I leave the white room more whole.
Marissa Grey, 17, District 4
Serenity's skin loses all color when she realizes I'm standing in the doorway of her house. When I devolve into laughter, I can see the color start to return to her face.
"What the hell are you doing?" I ask a second time, pushing into the house. She stands up straight, knife in hand. I look at the dents in the wood, then I see the handle.
"Ooh, what's down there?" I kneel down, keeping one eye on Serenity. She's clearly uncomfortable, but she doesn't know what to do. If she tries to strike, well, I don't think she'll make it far. Regardless, I don't want to let my guard down.
"I don't know. I was hoping for food." She doesn't move as I pull on the hatch. It doesn't come open, but the wood does crack.
"You hit it good." I say, kicking my heel into the weak spot she created. One kick, nothing. A second kick, a single crack
"Maybe we should-" Serenity's voice is silenced by the CRASH of the wooden beams that break underneath my weight.
"After you." I gesture for her to climb down the newly revealed ladder, but she's frozen. She really doesn't trust me, does she?
"It's your find." I remind her. Seeing that I'm not going to back off, she finally descends into the basement.
I'm not far behind her. Although it's dark in here, there's just enough light from a weak lantern to show it's pretty barren, minus a few dusty boxes.
She's digging through one of the boxes, pretending like one eye isn't on me the entire time.
"So what happened to you?" I cross my arms and lean against one of the walls. She keeps searching.
"What do you mean?" She asks nonchalantly.
"I assume you didn't cause that big gash on your stomach." I walk over the box and pull it from her. It's completely empty.
"No. I was injured in a fight." She starts rattling through another box.
"Against whom?" I pull this box away from her. It falls to the floor, empty. Serenity finally looks me in the eye.
"Taliesin." Huh. Interesting.
"Wow. Isn't that ironic? He brings you into this alliance, just for you to be the one to end it all."
"I wasn't the one that killed him. It was Conrad." She opens the last box and pulls a full bottle of water out. She tosses it at me, and I catch it just as she pulls out a second.
"That means you were working with Conrad, does it not?" I let the bottle drop to the floor and keep my grip on my sword tight.
"No. I mean, yes. I mean-"
"This has been fun, Serenity, but we both know there can only be one winner." I crack my neck side to side, tired of talking. I really just wanted to prove to all my doubters aka - my parents - that me, not my sister, is the champion of Panem. She's probably on the edge of her seat, just anticipating my failure but I'll give her so such satisfaction…
"Wait, wait, wait! It was Taliesin! Taliesin killed Henry!" Serenity's voice bounces around my head, but the words don't register.
"What?" Henry? I don't see what that has to do with anything right now.
"It wasn't Jade. It was Taliesin. He set it up. He wanted to tear everyone apart. And it worked."
"What are you saying? You better make your point-"
"It doesn't have to end like this. It doesn't have to be us against each other. We can't let him win. He's destroyed us enough already. Don't give him any more victory in death." Serenity pleads.
"Let him win? Honey, he's the one that's dead. The only one that will be victorious here will be me." Enough. I lift my sword and slice it towards her. She's quick, and blocks just in time. As I go to strike again, she throws the second water bottle at me. It hits me straight in the jaw.
"Ah!" I stumble back, shooting pain distracting me as she rushes up the ladder. I grab her foot and thrust my sword up. It doesn't do more than put a small tear in the shoe. Her free foot slams into my fingers and I'm forced to let go.
She's through the hatch door and her footsteps indicate she's running out of the house. I get a grip, figuratively and literally, as I follow behind her on the ladder.
I push through the wooden door and find myself out on the street of the town. I don't see her. I don't hear her.
She's injured. She didn't go anywhere.
"Oh come Serenity, face me!" I yell. A single step makes me jump around.
There she is. Standing in the darkness, but I know it's her.
My feet pick up and bolt at her, sword raised for the kill. She dodges, then strikes back. I block it, slamming the hilt of my sword into her hand. Her weapon goes flying.
I swing at her again, but she dodges, leaping for her weapon. With one knee on the ground, I think I have her done, but at the last moment she blocks again.
She regains her footing, but the moonlight shows how pale she's getting. I think I even see blood seeping back through her wound.
"I'm not ready to die." Serenity's statement isn't said in a tone of sorrow, or regret. It's simply a fact. She looks up to the sky. "Harper…I'm sorry I failed you. I wanted to go home for you…I wanted that more than anything. But I failed."
Her voice breaks and neither of us move for quite some time.
"I know it won't be easy. It never has been, but I don't want you to ever give up, okay? No matter what happens in your life. Never stop fighting because I will always be with you. I will always be your biggest supporter. Never forget that. I love you." Her words to her loved one touch me. A second of guilt passes through me. A guilt I suppress, for the moment.
"I'll make it quick." I swing at her, catching her in the side where the bandage wraps around her stomach. The dressing loosens, releasing the injury it was holding within. She coughs out red.
I make a second lunge, my sword cutting clean into her abdomen. Her knife clatters to the ground. Her eyes shut.
I pull out the sword. Her body hits the ground at the same time as the cannon.
Roles
Serenity: Vigilante
Taliesin: Disguiser
Harrison: Vampire Hunter
Conrad: Guardian Angel
Nadia: Potion Master
Charon: Werewolf
Marissa: Ambusher
El: Pirate
Tatiana: Arsonist
Franz: Transporter
Darrah: Medium
Eulogies
Day 1
24th: Ricky James (D9M) Killed by Serenity Jasper - decapitated.
23th: Tristan Card (D8M) Killed by Jade Hastings – Slashed through the chest.
22nd: Jonathan Priel (D10M) Killed by Taliesin Ulysses – Knife thrown through neck.
21st: Elijah Axenfros (D7M) Killed by Taliesin Ulysses – Blunt force trauma.
20th: Emily Lynch (D6F) Killed by Heather Monroe – Knife thrown into torso.
19th: Kalen Demner (D5M) Killed by Marissa Grey - Sliced with a sword.
18th: Aeliana Decima (D8F) Killed by vampire mutts – bitten in the neck.
Day 2
17th: Henry Haines (D1M) Killed by Taliesin Ulysses – Throat crushed and neck snapped.
Day 3
16th: Adelina Claire (D10F) Killed by Gargoyle mutts.
Day 4
0 deaths.
Day 5
0 deaths.
Day 6
15th: Jade Hastings (D1F) Killed by Charon Aytigin – Throat ripped out.
14th: Charon Aytigin (D12M) Killed by Serenity Jasper – Shot in the chest.
Day 7
13th: Heather Monroe (D5F) Killed by Taliesin Ulysses – Throat slit.
Day 8
12th: Electra Shielle (D3F) Killed by Franz Kubo.
Day 9
11th: Seia Loam (D11F) Killed by Harrison Jones – Stabbed through the back.
10th: Nadia Miniera (D12F) Killed by Taliesin Ulysses – Knife thrown in into torso.
9th: Beckett Amory (D3M) Killed by Taliesin Ulysses – Stabbed.
Day 10
8th: Franz Kubo (D2M) Killed by Tatiana Emery – Impaled by spear.
7th: Taliesin Ulysses (D4M) Killed by Conrad Martell – Hung by the neck.
6th: Serenity Jasper (D9F) Killed by Marissa Grey - Impaled in abdomen. Serenity went through a lot this story, a lot more than she expected. She joined the Careers, she fought for her life, and in the end, she helped defeat the biggest villains in our story. She was fun to write from the start, and we loved exploring her character, her gambling, and her desires for more in life. She was a great chaotic addition to this already chaotic cast and we're really going to miss her and so is Harper. Thank you so much for submitting her Paradigm, she was a blast to write.
Jade: 1
Taliesin: 6
Marissa: 2
Heather: 1
Serenity: 2
Charon: 1
Franz: 1
Harrison: 1
Conrad: 1
Tatiana: 1
Mutts/arena: 2