that was when i ruled the world // renée's death

Renee hadn't been a friend, no no. Friend was too strong of a word. It takes longer than a few days to form a opaque friendship. Instead, we had been allies in war. I suppose that is close enough to friendship if there ever was any in this cruel world in the first place. I remember screaming as I swung my flail, the knife that would plunge deep into my friend's shining bright. I remember my legs rushing towards Renee as she fell to the ground. I remember Heath's arm flashing towards the little girl who had murdered my friend before delivering the same blow. You know the saying. An eye for an eye makes the world keep on running. Heath just took it a bit too seriously.

I remember grabbing a tarp and wrapping it around Renee's dying form, pulling her along with Heath into the darkness, searching for Emmery. For some strange reason, I felt as though I could save her from the hands of death, clawing at her from all around. I don't want anyone's soul to be trapped down here, down in hell where ghere is already too many souls crying out in pain. I don't want Renée's voice to join the chorus of screams that ricochet around my head.

As we hurry along, we find Emmery, all right and perfectly fine. We continue moving through the twisting, steaming corradors until we find ourselves at the edge of shining lake. It is made of gold. We all stop along the splashing waves, Renee dying at our feet. I bend down for a minute, my eyes shining from a mixture of tears and the light from the lake. "Don't worry." I whisper to her, "Everything is going to be all right." I rewrap her gently up in the tarp, as if it was a blanket. I stand up and turn away, forcefully holding back sobs.

Everything was not going to be allright.

Emmery comes close to her for a moment before I regain my composure and make my way back to my friend, shining in the light from the lake behind her. My friend tells me I am brave. I am not. I am a coward. I could have flung myself in front of her to save her, but instead I just stood and watched as her eye was stabbed out. I am not brave.

She tells me I should tie my hair back more. It seemed like such an odd thing to say at a time lime this, but maybe it was just an act of friendship. As she sets her hands back down I begin to cry again, my tears streaming down my face.

Then I lean down and whisper softly in her ear, "Goodbye golden angel."

I stand up, and walk away into a corner for a moment before I notice more people approaching. I take a few small sniffs, and wipe away my tears. Heath and Emmery are with Renee right now, far enough to not be able to hear me scream. Maybe it's time for me to die.

<3 U For the Table Frankel

home. it doesn't sound right, it doesn't sound like a place i know. i hear it every year, people on the interviews speaking of home, this strange thing i do not know because i have not felt home since i was a child and i've forgotten how it feels to belong. my home became hell and that hell is what i am adjusted to which is why as i run along the path i have carved for myself away from the bloodbath i do not feel uncomfortable. the arena is hell, but it is hell that i am used to and the only thought running through my mind is the corpse.



as i turned away from the cornucopia, seeing that nearly every person who was once present had fled, my eyes lay upon the corpse of my ally and the world blurred.



i am no stranger to death. no, not by a long shot - death is something i have imprinted into my mind, encasing it within the walls of my memories and burning the crystal clear image of my father's body, my mother's hollowed body into my brain. i have lost the ones who were supposed to be closest to me, and compared to that pain, the loss of my ally stings far less. but there is a sting. the sort of omnipresent ache in your heart when somebody you know has gone, the sudden shock that washes over your body when you realise it.



it's like the first time i experienced such a thing. before even my father died, i had one friend. we were just like ordinary kids, playing in meadows and running around the streets and laughing and having fun because we didn't know the true nature of this world. but one day, we discovered what death meant when her mother fell ill, bedridden and weak, pale, succumbing to the illness that robbed her of her youth. when she passed, the life escaping her eyes and her body falling limp in the desperate embrace of her daughter, we learned what death was, and we learned how cruel fate was.



i lost that friend. just like how i lost everything else in my life, first my father passing, then my mother falling into the depression that would soon end her life. my childhood twisted from paradise to hell and in comparison to that the hell of which i stand on seems like nothing. because although two corpses lay lifeless on the ground of the cornucopia, they meant nothing to me. not even my ally, despite our agreement to work together.



as for the other one, the little girl, i try to conjure up the memory of her name in my mind but it's slipped far away. it doesn't matter. none of it matters, not when she's now a face in the sky and a body bag heading back to her home district.



a small part of me prays that soon i will be heading home, not as a victor, but as another forgotten soul. i never wanted to be forgotten, i wanted to be emmery johnson and i wanted to leave my mark on the world, but now it fades, and is replaced by the want, the need, the desire to be forgotten and tossed away recklessly, shoved into a body bag, my face displaying on the hologram over the night sky, my name listed down amongst the dead and a small recap of my death broadcasted on screens around panem, and then nothing.



maybe then i'll find peace.

Made by Frankel

Alone. That’s the way he had planned to go in the arena. No one to look after, no one to be attached to, no one to hold him down. Alone is what he had been living life as before, but this was different. Life seemed to throw curveballs at him, always something new and crazy waiting around the corner. A life that Minos never wanted, sorrows deep inside of him pulling him towards the lonesome road. It started with being reaped for the dreaded Hunger Games. A dark world that would take children and tear them apart until they are nothing more than the darkness before them. Then fate threw a bigger curveball at him, friends, lovers, attachments to hold him down to wanting the sweet life, but that could never happen. Only one made it out. Only one. Minos’ heart sunk at the thought of being the one to escape, alone once again.

The ground feels hard as his feet slowly move forward, he had quit running a while ago. His peace of mind coming from the dark halls and quiet world around him. A sense of calm before the storm of deadly encounters that would kill them. Only one. The two words fumbling about inside of his head. Minos was a corpse with a new sense of life. A life that would be taken away within only a week. His sharpened horn in his hands, like a knife readying to be plunged deep into someone’s skin, but no one was around, only himself and the dark. Hopeful and yet scared eyes staring forward as his feet move towards some location that was a mystery. His dead brother would have called it a fun adventure, but to Minos it was a new layer of hell waiting to take him into the dark abyss of death.

The hallway lead to a set of stairs that seemed to go down for what felt like forever. The amber glow was pouring through the other end of the stairs. A golden light that could mean his absolute death to the world. Natalie, Daniel, and Hypatia never seeing his face again, except in the sky above, if they even considered it a sky. Minos climbed the last step, into a scene of gems and pool of some golden liquid. Something that he already claimed to not go near at all. Alone in a cave of gems that glimmered around like little lights. Gorgeous or deadly? Minos didn’t care. All he wanted to do was watch the glimmering lights and take a breath for a second. A breath to let out the emotions boiling inside.

The silver parachute chimed quietly as it floated into his hands. A bag, but not just any kind of bag, a pink one that shined against the light. A chuckle wants to escape his mouth, but he couldn’t let it. No noise was safer than noise. A small note attached to it, ”Thanks for teaching me what sex is? –Atticus” That’s when the light chuckle escapes him. The bag was empty, Minos could tell, but it still meant something to him and to Atticus. A happier memory of the time before he had to be shoved into hell with bloodthirsty children ready to murder him in an instance. A smile reaches his face before the sounds of footsteps enters the room. The smile disappears just like his peace and safety. The world warps into panic and Minos stands before it.

Noises echo through the place, footsteps of a group heading straight towards him. His ears trying to listen to the steps and number the people off. Frantic steps and noises adds to his confusion and frustration of being unable to tell. His mind screamed for him to hide. His body moved first. Hidden away by the stairs, trying his best to stay out of sight. Eyes frantically watching the four bodies exit the stairs into the hot, gem filled cavern. Two girls, one that he didn’t recognize, another that he did. The whisper exits his lips softly, ”Emmery.” A body in her hands. Minos pales at the sight, Emmery carrying the body of another familiar face, Renee Perdris. Tears threaten his eyes, his mouth feels dry, his body feels like it’s shaking. A familiar face with a helpful past. The addictions were eased by his own personal dealer. A woman who had been the only one to make him feel at ease in the damned dark. Her words still jumbling in his head, ”it’s a pleasure to be of service.” The cigarette still a memory upon his lips.

Minos moved to the alliance that he knew must have stayed longer than he did. The thought of tears being shoved back into the darkness of his mind. The amber light shining upon his body and clothes. The orange colored tank top a reminder of the hell they lived in. Renee’s body lays towards the shore, the three other tributes stand nearby. His voice wants to escape, but his mind tells him to stay quiet. Silence is what they needed. A friend gone to the darkness, her friends mourning the loss. The world seemed to be rocked by the scene, tears threatening again to fall, but Minos had to remain grounded, for the ones that needed him. A memory that would burn itself into his conscious, until they day of his death. Renee Perdris wouldn’t be forgotten.

That’s when he heard them, the people he called his friends, his family, his attachments to the world. A turn towards them and the typical smirk being forgotten in the heat, left with nothing but a frown. Natalie’s words didn’t even do anything to help him feel better, nothing would be better now. "Well, look who finally decided to show up." fell from her gorgeous lips, and yet nothing came out. Not a joke about how gorgeous she looked even with an injury. His words were simple and yet broken when they reached the outside, ”Sorry.” His arms want to hold the girl that showed him stability, but he couldn’t move. Heathcliff’s words echo out into the open, “You haven’t come to spill more blood.” The venomous words directed at his friends, who obviously attacked the poor kid. Minos’ words felt stronger and he spoke before his allies could, ”No. No more blood will be shed.”

His eyes turn back to the anchors that hold him down to the world. Panic sets quietly into his eyes as he watches Daniel’s leg. Broken for sure. He won’t be able to walk like normal for a long while. Minos already quietly talks, sobs threatening to escape his body, ” I-I shouldn’t have left you guys. His sadness transforms into frustration and his words fall softly, ”Damnit. I should have stayed and protected you, all of you. Renee, Heathcliff, Emmery, Natalie, and you too Daniel. I should have stayed and taken the brunt of the attacks. I-I should have…." It was too much. Silent tears flow form his eyes. Every injury, every death, every sorrow was his own damn fault and Minos knew it.

The storm was raging on, slamming Minos with emotions that he swore he had never felt. A calm was settling in and the boy who hadn’t cried since the first night leaving home let the sob escape just for a split second, now wasn’t the time to mourn. He knew this, he had to be strong for them. His anchors, his friends, his family. They were his priority and if it meant sacrificing himself to ensure one of them to survive, the boy would do it, in a heartbeat. Minos wiped the tears from his face and stood there, grounded to the world. Death and life were something that the fate played with like a game of chess, Minos was always one step behind, allowing the date to surprise him at every turn. Bloodbath was a surprise and so was Renee’s death. More surprises waited on the other side for him.

Minos wanted to speak to her. Calm and collected words forming in his head. Though, he knew that he couldn’t. He didn’t have that privilege like Renee’s friends. Minos Vallanso was a friend, but not enough of a friend to go see her. Renee Perdris wouldn’t be forgotten. Minos would keep her close to his heart. The boy from five stood next to Daniel, tears gone from his eyes. Life moved on and so would he.

Made by Frankel

Just like fire, burning out the way
If I can light the world up for just one day
Watch this madness, colorful charade
No one can be just like me any way

Death was really too strong of a thought, because neither alliance wanted to fight. From my corner I could see what took place. The second alliance, which included the beard, the quiet girl from 8, emmery's partner, and the girl from 3, had gathered around my fallen partner. One of them, the girl from eight, grabbed a flail similar to mine, and raise dit as if to strike my ally. I begin to rush forwards before I notice Heath speak a few words, and the girl lowering her flail. I decide to wait back a bit from my corner, watching the proceedings over a glowing lake. I sit down, and wrap my arms around my knees, observing what happened.

Suddenly, I hear a small noise next to me, it is a small bottle. Inside it is a mysterious red liquid. I sniffle slightly and wipe my nose on the sleeve of my outfit that oddly matched Emmery and Natalie's. My arms shakily moves to pick up the small vial of liquid and I examine it. It was obviously placed there by the gms, and so it is probably something horrid. I take a sniff, but my tear clogged nose can't smell a thing. I wish I had some tissues right about now.

I lift the bottle to my eye. My hands shake as I uncork it. My head is filled with reckless thoughts, taunting me, screaming at me. My expression sets, and I down it whole. Liqiud is meant for drinking, right? It has a sharp flavor, and I suddenly grow anxious, nervous for a moment before a bitter aftertaste comes. I realize it was only medicinal syrup. I tense up and want to yell and scream in frustration. It should have been something more interesting. Your becoming more and more boring with each games, gamemakers.

My eyes flit upward as I suddenly see the spider flying out of midair, slashing at my ally. I am there in a flash, one moment hidden in my corner, the next out and next to my ally. "Are you all right?" I say, worried for my ally. I can't lose another one of my friends, not now, not yet.

The girl rrom eight begins rushing towards the thing that attacked Heath in a rage. I look up just before she steps into the shimmering puddle. "No, wait!" I begin to yell, but it is too late. First noting that Heath is ok, I rush over to her.

"Crap, are you ok?" I say nervously as she pulls herself out of the puddle, her face showing the pain she doesn't want shown. Her leg is shining, and I notice that it has been incased in gold.

Never mind gamemakers, it seems like you haven't lost your game quite yet. I think to myself.

Just like magic, I'll be flying free
I'mma disappear when they come for me
I kick that ceiling, what you gonna say?
No one can be just like me any way

<3 U For the Table Frankel