Wangari Kariuki- Res D2F
I hesitated when I heard the crying. I knew what I had to do. There was no one left here with me who I had any connection to. We were all just strangers who knew nothing about each other except that we were the only thing keeping us from survival. Even so, I didn't want anyone to suffer. Whoever was lying in there injured, I'd do the best I could.
Normally it would set off some red flags that the door wasn't locked, but I could see it was just something the girl had overlooked. She must have just dragged herself here after a fight. It was a wonder I hadn't heard the struggle.
Fable was curled up in a corner of, huddled in between a couch and a wall, right under a window. She was wrapped up in the blanket from the bed, but she didn't seem to be cold. It was more of the childlike nesting people did when they were either sick or brokenhearted.
"Oh." Fable looked up at me with puffy eyes and wiped her nose. "I suppose you're here for a fight."
I should have said yes. I knew I should have. But I looked down at her. I saw her all curled up on the floor, looking up from so far down, and I saw something I knew I shouldn't. She didn't look anything like Kamau. They couldn't have looked more different, my dark little boy and this pale young woman. We were the same age, really. But when I looked at Kamau, I always saw a little boy, and when I looked at her, I didn't want her to cry.
I sat down on the edge of the bed in the middle of the room, my stomach dropping a little at how unexpectedly low it was. Oh right, pediatric ward. That's depressing.
"You lost your friend?" I asked.
Fable wiped her cheek with the heel of her hand. "Not the first time," she said bitterly.
I shrugged. "I lost my kid, if it makes you feel any better. Kind of rude if it does, though." Funny how you can laugh and hurt at the same time.
"We shouldn't have gotten so close," Fable said, her voice cracking. She looked up out of the window like she could see something better out there.
"It's what makes life worth living," I said. I'd never though Kamau was my reason for existing. I was my own person- a mother, but also just me. But I'd never known how vibrant life could be until I met him. My life had been complete when I was on my own, but it was complete in a different way with Kamau. I didn't even know how to say it.
"That's the thing." Fable smiled sadly. "I don't regret it at all."
"Sucks to live without them, though," I said.
"Even if I win, things will never go back," Fable almost whispered.
"I could say something stupid, like 'we'll always have the memories', but, well, that's stupid," I said. I had to appreciate the silliness of it all. Here I was passing my worldly advice along to someone who was chronologically a lot older than me and physically my same age. There was just something about crying that made you look so much younger.
Fable laughed. She looked up at me and suddenly looked her age, or older. "No one's ever going to understand this but us."
"She must have been a blessing to you." My voice caught as I said it. He was such a blessing. Every smile, every hug, every diaper, every mark on the wall, taller and taller…
"She was," Fable said. She looked out the window again, smiling this time. I smiled with her. Then I pushed off the edge of the bed and stood up. The blanket was piled up around Fable's head, so she was just peeking up out of it and it blocked some of her vision. She didn't see it as I raised my sword. I didn't want anyone to suffer, but I wanted my son back. No one else could come before him. Even so, I really had felt for Fable. I was glad that as the sword came down, she was smiling out the window.
Gabriel Farad- Power to the People D5M
Buzz buzz
I sat up straight in my seat where I'd been browsing through pages about the hospital. Someone was close by enough for a normal person to hear them. I wasn't sure how scared to be, since I had no idea how far a normal person could hear. My mom said it was hard for her to sleep at night because of the oil refinery across town. That was a few miles away, but how loud was it? If it was that loud, did that mean anyone standing right by it would have their ears blown out? This would have been a lot easier if I had some shred of context.
I didn't need the bracelet to tell me someone was pounding on my door. I could feel the vibrations in my feet. I jumped up in surprise and fear. The chair tipped over behind me. As it hit the floor, I thought of something. Whoever was out there might not have known if there was someone in here, but I might have just changed that. How loud had it fallen? Maybe… I looked down at my wrist camera. My assistant wasn't supposed to help me, but she was only human. Maybe her expression would give her away.
She was human, all right. My assistant was staring up out of the camera with wide eyes, her hands over her mouth. She assumed a neutral expression as soon as she saw me looking, but it was too late. Even with all the trouble I was in, I felt a little tug in my heart. It looked like she really cared about me.
I ran for the door to the office next to mine. I'd chosen this office specifically because it was connected en-suite to another one, with a door I could lock to slow down anyone who might chase me. I was halfway across the room when my bracelet went crazy. I turned and saw Braddock in the other doorway, the door frame split where he'd smashed through it. I didn't catch what he said, since I didn't dare look down at my watch. I did see his long, protruding fangs as he spoke. I thought Shinju was the vampire…
Braddock caught me before I could reach the doorway. He was unnaturally fast, which really didn't seem fair. He grabbed my shoulder and threw me to the ground on my stomach. I flipped over as he was lunging for my neck. I didn't have much time, so I did one of the few things I could: shoved my fist in his mouth.
Braddock made an awkward choking noise around my fist. He grabbed my arm and forced it sideways so he could bite my forearm. I winced, more at the grating of his teeth on my arm bone than at the initial penetration. As my blood started to drip off my arm and onto my cheek, I reached into my pocket. My token was a necklace, but I didn't always wear it. A crescent and star wasn't exactly a widely condoned accessory in Panem. I kept it in my pocket and only took it out when I was praying, which I did under a blanket. I wasn't ashamed of my faith, but parading it in public could get my people even higher on Snow's list. I took out the necklace, made of the finest cheap sterling silver, and pressed it into his cheek.
Braddock screamed so hard I would have been able to tell just from his breath on my face even without my wildly jigging bracelet. A flame flared up where the necklace was touching him, covering his cheek in an instant. He shoved up off me as he rose and turned, running for the door and presumably a room with a sink. I wasn't sure if it would help or not, but I took the chance to run the other way.
As I sat with my back to the door in an office three hallways away, I glanced down at my arm. Now we just have to see how this turns out. My own culture wasn't big on vampire myths, but I was pretty sure it usually took more than one bite. But why would Braddock let Shinju bite him multiple times? Are there any cures? I clearly wasn't a vampire yet, I proved as I ran my tongue over my unsharp fangs. My mind went through the few scattered vampire fragments I knew. Wait wait, I think I got something. I took out my crescent and star pendant. In the movie it was a cross, but maybe it was really the silver that was the important part.
The pendant fizzed a little as it hit my skin. It didn't hurt, which was a good sign. The wound didn't look any different after I lifted the pendant. It didn't look worse though, like it probably would if I was a vampire. Well, I've done all I can. I wasn't as worried as I might have been, though. Vampires were definitely unclean creatures. Surely Allah would protect me.
Arielle Ermin- 28th Hunger Games D4F
When I was little, I read somewhere that mountain lion screams sounded like humans but not quite. I'd always thought about how wonderful it would be if I heard a wild mountain lion. People said they still lived in Four- not plentiful and fierce like they once were, but an elusive few who refused to be wiped out. I used to sneak to the window at night and pretend there were woods out there instead of just my neighbor's house not even ten feet away. I never did hear a mountain lion, but if I ever did, I bet it would have sound like the scream I'd just heard as I walked down the hall from the restroom I'd just used.
At first I wasn't sure whether to go toward or away from the noise. Clearly there was a fight going on. I might be able to go after whoever hadn't been screaming. On the other hand, that was no normal scream. I wasn't entirely sure I wanted to rush in blind to whatever was going on.
Someone came barreling around the corner and I saw that the decision had been made for me. Braddock was clutching at his face, which was on fire in just that one spot, like he'd laid his head on a stove burner. I was just bringing up my trident when I happened to see inside his mouth.
Are those…? I blinked in case my eyes were blurry. That wasn't it, though. Brad did indeed have vampire fangs. Oh great, I thought as I dropped into a fighting stance. He's gonna be all strong.
In the split second it took to take in the reality of the fangs, Braddock smashed into me. I hadn't gotten my trident quite into position, so it only grazed over his side as he shoved past me, pushing me into the wall. Braddock barely missed a stride. Like I wasn't even there, he sprinted down the hall.
I let out a spontaneous laugh when I figured it out. He hadn't even noticed me- not really, anyway. He'd been focused on how his face was on fire, which was fair. He wanted a sink and the bathroom was his closest bet. I was just glad he hadn't come by a minute earlier. With his haste, it didn't look like he was going to be picky on gender, and the women's restroom was closer. I would have been mortified to quite literally die with my pants down.
When I thought about it, I owed Braddock one. I'd just started clearing out this floor. Clearly down the hall, in the exact direction I'd been going, there was someone who could make a vampire scream and run away. That didn't sound like a fight I wanted to get myself into. On the other hand, I didn't want to deal with Bathroom Dracula, either. Not until I had some holy water or something. If only Castiel wasn't dead…
12th place: Fable Anders- head cut in half by Wangari
I didn't specifically mean for Fable to die right after Jessie. It's just Wangari was slated to do this in my planning and she was up for a POV. Fable and Jessie are right up there with Floki and Whyte when it comes to star-crossed pairings. There are so many great people in these stories and it's so sad I don't have enough happy endings for them all. I plan to be here for a long time, though. Maybe someday.
Fun fact: It does in fact require total blood loss for vampirism to be contracted. Gabriel would have been fine whether or not he sterilized his wound with silver. The silver only fizzed at all because it was reacting to Brad's saliva.