Panem Et Circenses

Twenty-One.

Twenty One.

Something was tied around my eyes. That much I knew. My hands were gripped firmly behind my back and I tripped on my long dress as I was shoved along. From the way I was being shoved, it wasn’t by a man. Luckily, my mouth wasn’t tied like before, giving me chances to scream out. I didn’t though, I wasn’t about to waste my only chance. I turned the corners of my lips up and looked over my shoulder, even though what I aw was total blackness. Before I could say anything, I was shoved forward once more. The sound of a door creaking open welcomed me before I was shoved inside. The door was wooden and quite old from the sound of it. Once inside, the blindfold was taken off. I stood in the center of a small, dirty room with a single grimy window. It was too small to plan escape. The door slammed behind me, even though the woman remained in the room.

“Think you have it all figured out, huh?” the woman's voice spat at me from behind. I didn’t turn around, already knowing who it was.

“I believe you are just underestimating me,” I simply replied, remaining still.

“I'm leaving you here, I need to find another body to swap and yours isn’t good enough anymore. Good luck trying to get out!” She joyously called to me before walking out of the room.

Before she could get anywhere, I turned and looked at her. The face of Alasandra looked at me with dead, black eyes. My eyes met hers and she stopped dead in her tracks. I was completely confused at that point, why had she stopped? It wasn’t like I did any mind control on her. True, I had intended on using mind control, but I wasn’t nearly good enough to control her to the extent that she was now. All of a sudden, everything seemed to slow down around just her. Her body slowly crumpled to the ground, aging in the process. As it inced downwards, a black figure started to emerge from her. The figure took form as Alasandra hit the floor, dead. The dark figure, tall and shadowy, walked over to me. It was in the shape of a woman, that much I could tell. Her fingers were long and curled and her hair stood out in sharp edges. The eyes glowed a bright white color, as did her mouth, which was curled into a smirk. She floated up to me and in a raspy voice, spoke.

“Think you can use your little mind powers to control me, don’t you?” she said, almost in a mocking way. Her attention was brought a different way at the sound of someone clearing their throat. I looked around the black form to see Bernard standing in the doorway. He easily pulled out a flash and drank from it before returning it to a pocket in his jacket.

“Ah, I think you are mistaken. It wasn’t her who tried to use 'mind powers' on you, it was me. They mustn't be as weak as you think, as I just pried you out of that body.” Bernard stated. I was relieved to see him, the thing standing before me was slightly intimidating, even though I couldn’t admit it. She hissed at him, to which he replied something in a different language. She laughed.

“Oh and you think that you can stop me?” she screeched, her laugh sounding like something that wasn’t of this earth. Bernard stood unfazed by this though. For a couple minutes the room was silent, tension building as nobody dared to move from their places. Bernard occasionally pulled the flask out and drank from it. He was drunk, there was no doubt about that.

“What's standing in my way?” he asked, void of all emotion.

The dark figure slithered up to him, looked him in the eyes before appearing back in its place above Alasandra's body. She, it, smirked at Bernard before stretching her arm out so it was horizontal with the ground. Under thin hand appeared a form. As it started shaping from the gray smoke, I could make it out to be a young woman. Slowly and surely, color was added. A person was forming before us. Her back was turned to me, but I could make out the simple brown curls. She wore an elaborate evening gown from near twenty years ago. The smoke vanished and she stood before us. I couldn’t quite tell if she were real or not, or who she was. I had an idea though. She stumbled forward as though she had been pushed.