MARE TRYBULL (25)

DISTRICT TEN VICTOR (43RD GAMES)

This was it.

A sly smile marred with a dash of malice spread across Mare's lips as she pulled the dark green cloak over her mane of red hair, her boots silently but swiftly threading across the empty streets of District Ten's main town of Austin, the horrid smell of rotting meat and animal dung filling her lungs. She didn't care nor mind, however. Twenty-five years of living in this wretched place had toughened her over the years, allowing her to deal with both the smell and the horrific realities of life in Panem.

They had tried to break her down so many times she could barely even keep track.

Her parents' murders, watching her siblings die in the arena, being thrown into the Hunger Games herself, made to withstand the relentless verbal abuse that came at the hands of Draco Hadley, placed under the horrific torture of posing as their newest poster girl.

Ugh, the mere thought of it made Mare sick in her mouth.

Earlier that month, she had received a phone call from Ruby Ashgrove, that nerd of a Head Gamemaker who Mare honestly couldn't have cared less about, telling her that this year's arena would be specially catered to torment her.

"Oh, trust me Miss Trybull," Ruby had drawled. "It will be extremely special. I am certain that it will give you a bit of a fright."

She had slammed the phone down, denying Ruby even the courtesy of a response.

Shrugging it off as nonsense, she had continued on her merry ways, thinking that there was nothing else they could do to hurt her. Especially not with a silly arena.

Glancing up at the sky as she crossed a street, walking in the direction of a blacksmith's shop that had been closed for the night, she could see a bright moon peeking out from the veil of grey clouds that floated about in the endless sea of night. The moon glowed with a tad bit of a blue hue, which only seemed to make it more magical as those bright stars twinkled around it, like little fairies worshipping an unearthly being.

But this sight was far from peaceful in Mare's eyes.

She shifted her gaze away from the enchanted-looking night sky, choosing instead to glare directly ahead with a fiery determination in her face, her fists tightly clenched and jammed in her pockets.

Why would she despise such a tranquil scene? One might ask.

The answer was fairly simple, really. It invoked horrific memories of Mare's turbulent childhood, riddling her with heaps of neglected trauma that she refused to acknowledge, despite the pleas of that therapist Victor lady Gwen, lest she reveal her inner weakness.

Mare Trybull was not going to be perceived as weak.

But what of this horrific memory, people had often asked. How could anyone be unable to bask in this peace and serenity?

Well, Mare had always responded, her voice cold and intimidating, radiating with an aura that inducted fear into the hearts of many with memories of the twelve kills she had racked up during her spell in the arena. This 'peace and serenity' was the backdrop of my parents' murders.

You see, this exact scene, this very same setting, had been the same one that had loomed ahead as a few drunken Peacekeepers gone rogue opened fire on an innocent settlement, snatching Mare's beloved parents away from her and twisting her heart, hardening it and igniting a blaze of burning anger towards the Capitol that would never be extinguished.

And now, after all these years, after apparently some good behaviour, one of those Peacekeepers, Titus Applebee, was back in town, having been appointed the new Head Peacekeeper of not only the town of Austin, but also all of District Ten, spreading his corrupt, tyrannical, strict regime of fear and terror all the way to the borderlands of Monterrey and Saltillo. Mare had no doubt in her mind that President Snow himself had assigned Titus here as a form of terrorising her, as he regularly marched up to her and gloated to her about that fateful night in front of his Peacekeeper cronies.

And there was nothing Mare could do about it.

Until now, at least.

That sneaky girl Dawn from District Fourteen had shared with her a secret plan over the phone the other day. Now, Mare was never too fond of District Fourteen, preferring the stricter District Thirteen, however, she was more than happy to collaborate with anyone who was anti-Capitol and had a burning desire to see that city of demons crumble to pieces. Her fellow Victors had all answered the call, each conducting acts of rebellion in their own little ways.

Now Mare was going to take it all the way to the next level.

She fished out the bomb from her pocket, the one that only Titus's right-hand man, Bernard, was supposedly the only person in District Ten capable of making these bombs.

However, Dawn had taught Mare well, instructing her step by step on how to craft her own bomb, a long, tedious task that had taken her ages to finish.

But it's one that would certainly be worth it once her mission was complete.

She then pulled out a cluster of messy blonde hair, Bernard's hair that she and her fellow District Ten Victors Ringo and John had taken turns swiping away from his big head for the past few months.

Just like Dawn told you to, Mare thought, licking her lips in anticipation as she neared Titus's house.

It was time for some cold, hard revenge.

Her heart thumped wildly against her chest as she peered into his open window and spotted Titus passed out on his chair, snoring loudly like the pig he was, that forgetful idiot leaving his window open and thus making Mare's job so much easier. The middle-aged bloke was wearing his Peacekeeper's uniform, drenched in a yellowish liquid that smelt like beer and open notebook lying on the ground, containing some weird drawings of what appeared to be a river with sparkles Mare didn't even bother to pay attention to. She sprinkled a couple of the hairs on the windowsill, before tossing the remaining hairs into the house.

Then, with one, mighty throw, she hurled the bomb into the house, and in one, mighty explosion, Titus Applebee, her greatest tormenter and her number one nemesis, blew up with a loud, fabulous bang!

Mare ran off into the streets, cackling wildly as a string of Peacekeepers groggily stumbled to the scene, screaming and trying their best to douse the flames as that wretched house of that wretched man crumbled to the earth, as all across Austin, people began to awaken at the sound of the explosion. Mare grinned broadly, a rare sort of satisfaction glimmering in her usually hardened eyes as cheers erupted across the streets when they had seen that the fires had consumed a couple more Peacekeepers and were continuing to ravage across the houses and barracks of their greatest oppressors.

As that Victor from Two Scipio had always told her, revenge truly was sweet.

SPONSOR QUESTIONS:

1) What did you think of Mare and Dawn in this chapter?

2) Did you catch on to any hints?

A/N: Well, there we have it! Our fourth and final prologue, which means pre-Reapings are coming up next! There are a few spots still left without subs so please keep the subs coming, we're almost ready to reveal the full cast! Hehe I'm excited and very nervous at the same time to start introducing these characters, do bear with me if I get your characters somewhat wrong, this is my first SYOT so go easy on me, 'kay? (Also Joseph are you happy I got a D10 Victor's POV lmao) Anyways, that's all for now, have a nice day, and I'll see you next time! Cheers :)