fan the flame {Cameo}

Every muscle fiber inside him quivered as tears welled up in his eyes. What about Evelyn or Aaron? The rest of my family? He thought to himself. Nothing compared to the anxiety of his younger sister being tormented for something she didn't do. For a while he stared out the door screaming obscenities, but nobody walked in front of him. In fact, it was quiet, almost too quiet. His hands clenched shut tightly balling into fists. Exhaling slowly the world didn't seem too bad. After all he was trapped in the pits belonging to the famous peacekeepers. What would happen to Kraygon? He shook his head trying to forget about everything that just happened, but deep inside the memory of the spear lodging itself into her skull wouldn't ever leave his mind. And his artwork he created the moment her cannon sounded would forever reign.

All it took was a female's voice ringing through the air to make him realize that he wasn't alone. Someone was here in the horrible cramped cell. For how long she had been there, Kraygon didn't know, but she asked if he had brought anything in. Time wasn't in his favor because it all happened so fast. One moment he watched his cousin die on the giant screen in front of him, then the next minute he destroyed the district square in a matter of seconds, and then the peacekeepers swarmed him. Blinking he fought back the pain welling up inside him. They killed her. They killed her. She's dead. His eyes shot towards the ground fighting to hid every emotion threatening to form across his face, yet when he turned towards the lady who was already seated on the top bunk he couldn't help himself. A single tear slid down his cheek before disappearing forever.

"No." A simple one word answer for her question. Talking wasn't what he was there for. He wasn't there for anything other than the mess he created, and maybe if Esme saw what had happened, she would be proud of him, but deep inside the thought shattered. She would never approve of the things he had done. He paced the room turning every corner wondering if there was a way he could escape. But even if he did manage to escape what would be waiting on the outside. To think only a couple weeks ago he was the happiest man alive taking care of the farm animals with Esme. It all changed when the Capitol took her away. His entire life changed as those three tiny hurtful remarks burst from his lips. 'I hate you.' All he hoped was she understood. Kraygon didn't hate her. He loved her like a sister, but he'll never have the chance to apologize.

"I guess since I'm stuck in a cell with you for god knows how long I might as well introduce myself." He plopped down on the metal shelf turning his back from the door. Nobody would look at him. Nobody would see him. Not in the pain slowly growing more obvious with each possible second. "I'm Kraygon." And I don't fucking care who you are. He thought quietly. Only he wouldn't dare say that so she could hear. It was rude, and right now the only thing left inside was the tiny little girl he watched die only a few hours ago telling him it wasn't polite. And Kraygon lived to honor her life despite it being a little late.

Tears fell silently from his brown eyes as he stared at the white, concrete wall as the reality of his cousin dying sets in. He'll never see her again, and in repaying her death, Kraygon destroyed the district square when the anger raging inside like a ferocious animal waiting to attack it's prey should have been directed at the kid who attacked her jabbing the spike end of his spear deep into her skull, but that wouldn't have never happened had the Capitol not taken her away. In the end it was their fault. Each year they did this tearing families apart little by little until all that's left were those who stood firm believing the Capitol was right.

All of them would pay. Every last one of them for the crimes committed against humanity. It wasn't right, but for many years nobody took a stand. The one time Kraygon took a stand, he ended up arrested throw into a horrible pit controlled by the peacekeepers. The name given to them was stupid. Nothing about them was peaceful. Maybe it was the reason people called them peacekeepers. Everyone was afraid to cross the lines in front of them. His eyes shut as the memory of the spear jabbing his cousin in the eye lurks behind his eye lids. But today, right now, he had far worse things to worry about. Soon these peaceful peacekeepers would turn into the monsters he knows them as.

His family must hate him now considering everything he has done, yet the image of the flames dancing inside the justice building brings a grin to his face. The sound of the giant tv crashing against the ground continued ringing in his ears. But he quickly began worrying about his sister. Evelyn never did anything wrong, she always listened to her parents, and she always stayed to herself. What if the Capitol used her to torture him? He shook his head blocking the image out. They wouldn't hurt her. For a moment he forgot the world he was trapped in was a horrible prison. Maybe he would survive. Maybe he wouldn't. Maybe he would return home to see his cousin and his sister again. Kraygon only hoped Aaron would take care of Evelyn while he was gone.

That's when the girl spoke breaking the thoughts rolling through his mind little by little. Carefully thinking about his answer, Kraygon spoke. "I'm glad to know someone heard my screaming." Trying to keep up with this lady's snarky attitude, Kraygon tried joking around himself, but obviously this wasn't neither the time nor the place. All he wanted was to go home to his family and this all be a horrible nightmare he would wake up from. Deep inside he knew that was impossible. Nobody would wake oh from a nightmare surrounded by the walls trapped in a cell with another criminal. He sighed as he raised a shaky hand wiping away the silent stream flowing from his eyes. No female would see him as weak especially when he has no idea how long she's been trapped here.

"District Ten. Not that it matters anymore anyway since I'll probably never see it again."

A small smile spread across his lips. There was something about this girl trapped in the lions den. Kraygon couldn't pinpoint it, but it had to do with how she was constantly joking around like nothing was wrong. Maybe that was the way he should look at this entire situation, but he couldn't force himself too. He couldn't think of anything other than the image of the spear slamming deep into her skull, and he wanted that image to go away. Thinking about what had already happened wasn't anyway to repay her, but standing here in this horrible place was a disgrace. Part of him wondered what she would think if she saw him now.

Shaking his head he turned his back putting it against the wall so he could watch all the prisoners walk by. Maybe some of them did worse things, but at least his cell mate refused to conform. "I guess you're right. No need to scream. No need to gives these demons any satisfaction." He shrugged his shoulders. Nothing in life mattered anymore. The life was sucked from his body the moment the cannon echoed through the arena shattering the veil holding him to reality, and a different life was placed inside; one that didn't care what happened to him, one that fanned the flame burning through his body. Kraygon loved the flame that danced through the justice building, and now he could imagine how it looked. Hopefully it showed the nation what had happened. Hopefully that guy who murdered her would die the same death. If he returned home, Kraygon would make sure he paid. A hefty number placed on his head.

"Well, I went out with a bang." With those words his entire demeanor changed. The pain went away knowing his name would be remembered by all the citizens forever. The fire, the tv, the peacekeeper all of it brought on a new meaning completely. He turned on his bunk again planting his feet against the floor. "Well, I loved district ten. I had some of my own farm animals. I had my own pig, my own goat. My cousin had a cow. We raised them together. I live on a farm, and I enjoy it. It doesn't matter what happened because I was always able to get more animals. Sometimes I would herd the cows. It's warm there too. I was always able to go outside and watch the sunset over the plains." Tears welled up in his eyes thinking about home, and how much fun he had with Esme while she was alive. The two were inseparable, but the Capitol had different plans.

"I loved living there, but now I don't know if I can ever go back. Yeah, I have a family, but..." His voice cracked, and he's sobbing unable to control himself. All the anger and hatred he felt fled his veins in a massive storm, and now he's stuck trapped in a cell. His eyes shot towards the ground. She's dead. They took her. He killed her. And now I'm going to die. He thought to himself. Giant tears coated the floor in front of him.

"Sorry. What district are you from?" He quickly took the spotlight off himself in a feeble attempt to save himself from anymore pain, but deep inside he knew this was only the beginning.

Not knowing what would happen next constantly rested on his mind. Even before they dragged him away, Kraygon did what ever he could to keep himself distracted. But here he was now, tears rolling down his face as he sobbed violently. The salt water ran down his face falling into his mouth only reminding him of the flood that became her final resting place. Somehow he wiped the tears away because he couldn't give those demons any satisfaction. He couldn't let them know they were getting to him. That was why he asked the question fighting to get those dreaded thoughts out of the abyss lurking deep in his mind, yet trying to figure this lady out wasn't an easy task.

She's from two. The same district belonging to the horrible fool who sliced her leg clean off her body leaving her for dead. The fire starts boiling inside his veins again. Red spots dance before his eyes, and his hands clench tightly into fists. Fighting to remain control of his body he listens to her talk about how stupid the careers were, and Kraygon couldn't agree more. He never met a career. He didn't even know what they were, but based off her words and his own judgement he formed an opinion. It wasn't common, but people were stronger and definitely fought better in the games than those from different districts. It wasn't surprising how they won the games, yet Esme managed to kill two of them, and for that Kraygon was proud of her.

Fighting the rage boiling inside of him as more tears threatened to flood his face the teenage boy noticed her head dangling from her bunk, and for the first time he saw who he was talking to. She looked like someone who enjoyed getting in trouble, but it was wrong of him to judge a book by its cover. He forced a smile on his face because it wasn't right for her to see a man crying, but she had heard him. He inhaled sharply before blinking a couple times. Listening to her words and looking at her goofy grin, Kraygon forced the anger away at least for the moment until she asked what he had done to get thrown into the den of lions where they waited to pounce at any given second.

"I was standing there watching the hunger games. My cousin was in there - she was like a sister to me, and I watched as the fucking retard jabbed the horrible spiked weapon deep into her skull piercing through her eye. I watched as she died, and the last thing I ever fucking said to her was 'I hate you!' I couldn't take it anymore as they all went on like nothing happened. I destroyed the district square. I pushed the screen over, with the help of friends, and it shattered sending pieces all over the fucking place. I smashed the light fixtures. I smashed the lights and destroyed the cameras. Then I set the justice building on fire, and I watched the motherfucker burn."

He took a deep breath as tears streamed down his face again, but this time the tears were tears of anger mixed with the pain. "I made sure nobody in the district could view the games from the district square, and I'm going to make sure every last one of those fucking peacekeepers pay." An evil grin spread across his lips as he laughed hysterically. If he closed his eyes, he could still see the flames burning in the building as smoke bellowed from the top. He could see the swarm of peacekeepers moving towards him, but nothing made it any better. "I made sure nobody would ever forget me."

A tear fell from his eye slowly running down his face before disappearing forever. Crying made people look weak, and he didn't want this lady to think that of him, but each time the tears fell down his face she knew. A large evil grin spread wide across his face as the idea of making the peacekeepers pay brought a new hope. They would pay for everything they ever did. Kraygon didn't care he was trapped in a cell with someone he had never saw in his entire life until now, but all he had to do was have patience, and eventually it would fall in place. And that was the moment he looked forward to.

How much time had passed since he was tossed in here? Since the doors slammed behind him? How long had it been since the spear slammed deep into her skull? He shook the thoughts from his mind when the female responded. Fire burnt through his veins fueling him into whatever the hopes were of destroying this place. Maybe there was a way for a fire to burn. All Kraygon had to do was find it. When she responded, the smile spread further across his face. Maybe someone admired the damage done back in district ten. Maybe someone was proud of the destruction he had caused. Because the longer he thought about the destruction, the more hope grew inside.

But he didn't need reminding how long he would be trapped in this living hell. A life sentence. Somewhere inside he knew death lurked around the corner threatening to consume his soul. A life sentence could mean a lot seeing as the demons waited for the chance to murder a criminal. Maybe they would chop out his tongue and send him to the Capitol to work forever. Maybe a bullet to the brain wasn't that bad of an option after all, but knowing torture waited in another room, Kraygon was beginning to need a distraction, and his cellmate seemed happy to oblige with her next question.

He ran a hand through his hair trying to think of an answer because he didn't have one, but he had hope, and that wasn't exactly what anyone wanted to hear. Kraygon had a lot of patience and no matter how long he was trapped here the longer the chance of thinking of something. Maybe he could get others invoked. Maybe he could get people to help him, but the question was how. He planted his feet on the ground pushing himself into a standing position and headed over to the horrible sink. "Well, it'll take time because I don't exactly have a plan right now, but I'm in the process of thinking of one. I'm sure they'll open the doors soon to drag one of us away, and then I'm going to attack back. I'm not going to let them take me without a fight. I just haven't figured out how."

Then he splashed water in his face cleaning the dirt and grime away. Kraygon was done crying because he had a plan that needed developed.

When the girl laughed, Kraygon couldn't help but laugh with her. It was a stupid idea. Nothing would work here, and maybe it was best for him to realize this was a lost cause. Sure it seemed like a good idea, but in all reality when the doors opened, more than one demon dressed in white would stand outside dragging the criminal away. He immediately hung his head. All Kraygon wanted was to return home so he could be at his cousin's funeral when the games ended. Seeing her laid to rest after a horrible incident from the games. Maybe he should've thought of that before he destroyed the district square. He moved back towards the metal shelf and tucked himself away. Even this metal shelf was nothing compared to the bed she slept on in the arena. Horrible dark caves with no light. At least there's light from the halls here.

Anger got the best of him when he was home, and now he regrets everything he ever done. The last words he said to Esme would haunt him for the rest of his life. Maybe she realized he didn't mean it, but the way the words fled his lips. The way she shoved him out of the room. The way the tears fell down her face. Did she ever forgive him or did she die hating him? It was all he could think about since she left, and maybe he should change his mind, but words cut worse than any blade ever would.

Kraygon listened as she talked, and he wondered how long she had been here. Not that it mattered because soon she'll be gone and he'll be left by himself to rot in hell. "It's a stupid idea. I don't know. I want them to pay for killing her. Even though it wasn't them..." His words trailed off as he placed his head on the cold metal. His heart shattered inside his chest as the image of the spear slamming deep in her skull plastered itself in his brain. "Maybe I shouldn't take it out on them. Maybe I should find a way to kill every person in district right. Maybe they'll kill me then, and I can be with Esme, and I can tell her I'm sorry. Maybe I should just wade through this like nothing was wrong, and make them think they're changing me. I don't know. I just want to make things right..."

He sighed. Nothing would ever make it right. Nothing wouldn't bring her back from the dead, and he knew it. Looking around the room, Kraygon made sure nobody was coming before curling up in a ball. He didn't even know if the games were over, or if he missed her funeral. Maybe she would understand. Maybe she was sitting in the sky watching over him. It was a lost cause though, and Kraygon knew he should give up, but he couldn't, and he wouldn't.

Someone would pay.