CHAPTER 10 - BARBARIAN
Basal felt sick. The sedation and lack of food made his guts clench. His stomach cramped terribly. He forced his eyes open.
He was back in the garden, surrounded by strawberries and slugs. Tears fell as a smile widened over his face; he cried with relief.
The paranoia was gone, too. Not the shame, or the pain, but at least he wasn't as on edge.
Lustre stirred beside Basal, opening his eyes. He took in the arena around him.
"There can't be many of us left." Lustre said, sleepy. "Maybe four or six?"
Basal shrugged.
"Cat got your tongue, big guy?" Lustre teased, clapping his shoulder.
Basal didn't flinch, though he wanted to.
Lustre stood and examined the serene gardens, inhaling deeply. "What a goddamn beautiful day." He stretched, excited. "Got me feeling pretty good."
Lustre turned to Basal. "You know what else would make me feel good?"
Basal's stomach dropped. His faze fell to the floor as he shrugged.
"I did something for you. Now you're going to do something for me." Lustre decided.
Basal didn't have any weapons. He couldn't run away, or Lustre would strike him down with blades. He couldn't resist, not wanting to be beaten before it even began.
So, he sat woodenly as Lustre settled beside him.
Basal froze as Lustre undid his pants, not bothering with foreplay this time.
Basal froze as Lustre forced his penis into his mouth.
It lasted longer than before, Lustre taking his time.
His hands wound through Basal's hair, and he forced himself deeper into Basal's throat. Basal was choking. He coughed and sputtered.
Lustre climaxed. Basal fought for air.
He gagged and vomited as Lustre pulled out of his throat.
"Good man." Lustre patted his cheek a few times, then viciously slapped him.
Basal saw stars. He wished he was dead.
Bushes rustled at the edge of the garden, as Lustre buttoned his pants.
"Aran!" Lustre's voice boomed happily, greeting the D2 male. They hadn't seen him so far, he was raised around the hellscape cornucopia, originally.
"Damn, Lustre! Good to see you! What do you have back there? Are you into animals, now?" The D2 boy grossly bantered, referring to Lustre adjusting his belt.
Basal was still concealed behind a garden bed, wishing he could sink into the ground. It was already humiliating enough, he didn't need an audience.
"Boys, boys, settle down." A feminine voice said, likely another career.
Maybe they'd put Basal out of his misery.
She stepped around the corner, and looked at Basal up and down.
She sneered at him. "Why so glum, chum?"
Lustre laughed, and embraced her. "Hey, gorgeous." She hugged him back.
"Serena treating you well, Aran?" He addressed the other boy as they bumped fists.
"Of course. We got everyone except for the D3 girl. She's slippery." Aran said.
"Who's this?" Aran said, asking about Basal.
"D7 boy, Basal." Lustre clarified, but waved like it didn't matter.
Basal kept his eyes glued to the ground.
"What's a big guy like you doing, not putting up a fight?" Serena tittered.
Basal didn't respond.
A hand cracked against his cheek, then sharp nails dug into his face as Serena forced his eyes up. "Look at me when I'm talking to you." She commanded.
Lustre ripped her hands off Basal's face, then shoved her.
"What the fuck?" Serena said, stumbling.
"He's mine." Lustre said, possessively.
"Fine, whatever." Serena said.
"Who's left from your group?" Aran asked Lustre. "Other than this charmer." He said, referring to Basal.
"I don't know. Never saw them. Could be another career, or an outlier. We haven't seen many other tributes recently." Lustre said.
"Did you actually do anything in hell? Or just fuck around?" Aran taunted.
Basal's stomach clenched.
"I was busy trying to survive, thank you. I don't know if you made it through the circles, but it was no easy task." Lustre replied.
"Whatever." Aran neither confirmed nor denied he traveled through the circles.
"So, there's six left. Four of us here, obviously only three that matter. What do you say we hunt the others, then have ourselves a little three-way for the final battle?" Serena flirted.
What was wrong with these people? Basal thought.
"Sounds good to me." Lustre said, shrugging.
"Yep. All good." Aran said.
"Well, let's get to it." Serena said. "Time's a wasting."
Lustre grabbed Basal by the collar of his shirt, and hauled him up.
Basal tried to fix his hair and smooth his clothing, but nothing he did offered relief from the disgusting humiliation.
Lustre clapped his shoulder. Basal couldn't help but flinch. Lustre laughed. "Come on, bud."
Basal wished he would stop referring to him by condescending nicknames.
"Keeping a snack for later?" Aran asked.
"Something like that." Lustre said, a cruel smile forming on his lips.
Basal thought bludgeoning himself to death might not be such a bad idea, and kept an eye out for a boulder.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the D6 girl's ghost waving at him. She still bled from the lacerations on her abdomen, but looked happy. She held the D6 boy's torso. The boy smiled as well. Basal waved back, and grinned, glad to see them. Small comforts.
The other careers jumped, expecting an attack, except for Lustre.
"Don't worry about it, guys. He sees crazy shit all the time." Lustre said, deflating the tension.
Serena and Aran exchanged judgmental glances. Basal didn't examine them too hard.
"What do you see?" Serena prodded.
"Your bloody head on a stick." Basal smiled sweetly at her.
Serena moved to strike him, but a warning glance from Lustre held her back.
"You asked." Basal grunted. Lustre chuckled beside him. The small smile that broke onto Basal's face immediately dropped.
They came upon the sound of moaning. The D7 girl, Basal's district-mate, lay crumpled on the ground. Her ribs were misshapen. It was amazing she'd survived hell. All her energy was lost now, though, and she looked to be on the verge of death.
"That's not very exciting." Serena sounded disappointed.
"Get Basal to kill her." Aran suggested.
The D7 girl stared sobbing, the sound broken by her improperly-working lungs.
"Fuck, no." Basal said.
"You think you have a choice?" Lustre said, dangerously.
"Kill me now, if you want to. I'm not doing it." Basal said.
Lustre couldn't force Basal to kill the girl, but he beat him for his insubordination, even letting Serena and Aran get in a few good kicks. It was futile to fight, he couldn't take on three careers even in the best condition.
As they took turns beating him, they killed his district-mate.
After the assault, Basal lay on his side, gasping for air. He heard Aran pleading to Lustre to give him a turn.
A turn at what? Aran already beat him.
It clicked quickly, though, and Basal started to cry.
Lustre took notice.
"No, bro, sorry. He only wants me." Lustre said, shrugging, like there was nothing he could do.
"Whatever." Aran said, relenting. His eyes zeroed in on Basal, though. Basal wished he could shrink to the size of a spec of dust.
…
Although Bliss had forgiven Afflatus, frankly, she couldn't sit beside the girl as her tribute and the other careers tormented Basal.
Earlier in the day, the cameras had panned away again from Basal and Lustre. Bliss didn't have to guess what Lustre had done to him. Then, the cameras showed the other careers approaching, and their callous, cutting comments, in full. Bliss' blood boiled in her veins as the camera panned back to Basal's dripping, traumatized face. She wondered if it would make the final cut of the Games reel.
Bliss asked Afflatus to leave after that. She said she understood. So, Afflatus sat with the other careers.
Harlem sat beside her, watching her screen. He wouldn't be allowed back into the monitoring room once he left, but he was still here for now. After his tribute died, he'd sat catatonically through the night, and looked like hell because of it. Bliss kept gently nudging him to go rest, but he wouldn't acknowledge her. He wouldn't acknowledge anyone. Bliss wondered how long she should wait before she called a medic. A reaction like this wasn't usual for him, and it worried Bliss.
However, Harlem recoiled when he realized what Lustre had done to Basal.
He asked her if she wanted to talk, but Bliss declined, unspeakably disturbed. She made him promise to go get some sleep. Having acquired proof of life, she rose from her seat and joined the remaining D3 mentor- Tait Peters, trying to calm down. She was too on edge. The woman was almost in her fifties. They'd become casual friends over the years. Tait was one of the victors that helped Bliss in the hospital during her recovery from the Games.
"Hi, Tait. Mind if I sit?" Bliss greeted the woman.
"Of course, grab a stall." Tait sat with the out-district mentors, although she numerically should be encased with careers.
"How's your tribute doing?" Tait asked, cautiously.
"Whatever you're hearing through the grapevine is true. He's not doing well." Bliss didn't want to delve into it anymore, fearing she would break. "How's your tribute?"
"She's wily, I'll give her that. She escaped the bloodbath and made it through the nine circles before being sent to the heaven arena. Since, she's been monitoring the career pack, careful to keep her distance, but never losing sight."
"Sounds like my strategy from my Games." Bliss said.
"You may have been an inspiration for my advice." Tait replied.
"Well, I'm flattered." Bliss said, genuinely.
"You taking care of yourself?" Tait asked, motherly.
"Trying too." Bliss pursed her lips. "And yourself?"
"Doing my best." Tait said, tiredly. Purple bags sat under her eyes.
"Do you want to get some coffee? I'll keep an eye on our tributes. I promise to call you if anything happens." Bliss offered. She hadn't seen Tait take a break yet.
Tait hesitated, but took Bliss up on the offer. She promised to be back shortly. Bliss assured her she could take more than a few minutes.
Tait smoothed Bliss' hair back, thanking her.
The older woman returned before the careers found her tribute. Even though Basal was no help, the girl didn't stand a chance. Tait held her head in her hands as her tribute fell. She accepted a hug from Bliss before leaving.
Bliss could feel the aftershock of Tait's trembling form well after the woman left the mentoring room.
…
The D3 girl was gone, the sun had set, and Basal craved death. There was no reason not to kill him, with the other out-district tributes already dead.
Instead, the careers called it a night, saying they'd have their final battle under light, rather than darkness.
Lustre beckoned Basal to come on a walk. Basal didn't meet the eyes of the other careers as he followed Lustre, not caring for their derision.
Basal sunk to his knees, without having to be asked, just wanting to get it over with.
Lustre followed his lead, undoing his pants and pushing himself down Basal's throat.
Unfortunately, though, Lustre didn't stop there. He pulled out of Basal, then punched him in the face several times. While Basal was stunned, Lustre forced him on his stomach and pinned him down.
"Stop! Lustre, stop!" Basal cried. "I was doing what you wanted!" He pleaded.
"This is what I want, now." Lustre said, pushing Basal's head into the dirt.
With his other hand, he tugged down Basal's pants.
Basal thrashed, but Lustre held him down by a pressure point on his neck. His body hurt too much from the beatings to fight him off.
"STOP!" Basal screamed, his pants and boxers at his thighs.
But Lustre didn't.
Lustre pushed inside Basal, tearing him. Garbled screams erupted from Basal's mouth. Nobody came to save him.
The pain and humiliation was all consuming. Basal didn't stop screaming or crying, not caring if Lustre got off on it. He couldn't stay still, he couldn't be silent as the last shreds of his humanity were taken from him.
When Lustre finished, he told Basal to meet him back at camp, then got up and left without another word.
Basal lay facedown, dirty, half-naked.
He eyed a small boulder to his left.
Basal dragged himself over, and began smashing his head against the stone.
The pain was staggering, but still not enough to bleat out his shame.
Blood poured into his eyes, a new flow after each hit.
Blood covered the boulder entirely, no clean stone visible.
Darkness encroached on Basal's vision.
He wound up for one last powerful strike.
As Basal's head smashed against the stone, he ceased to be.