• Athena Spring has spent her entire life carefully curating the perfect image. Perfect grades, a proud family, and the Plinth Prize nearly within her grasp, Athena has it all. However, when her plans are derailed by an unexpected twist of events, s...
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It's mayhem. Athena stands frozen, her breath caught in her throat as chaos erupts around her. Shouts and screams of panicked families and their children assail her ears. The sharp scent of blood mingles with the zoo's musty odours, overwhelming her senses. Athena's horrified eyes are glued to Arachne, who lies crumpled on the ground, a broken bottle protruding grotesquely from her throat as the ground below her stains red. She stumbles backwards, away from the body and bringing her hands to her ears, trying desperately to block out the shrill sounds of death and terror.
Coriolanus, ever the opportunist, rushes to Arachne's side, begging her desperately to stay with him as he tries to quench the river of blood flowing from her severed neck. But it's too late; Arachne's eyes are glassy, life slipping away as easily as sand through fingers. Feeling as if she's in slow-motion with every sense overloaded, Athena only just manages to make out the peacekeepers charging towards the cage, rifles held menacingly in their hands. Her eyes move of their own accord, connecting with Treech's own horrified expression. He too seems in shock, unable to move, his chest rising and falling rapidly. Athena comes to her senses, time accelerating as she pushes Treech away through the bars.
"Get down!" a strangled cry rips from her throat.
Treech doesn't need to be told twice. He takes off running towards Lamina, hurriedly grabbing her and pulling her into cover behind their rock.
Gunfire rattles out death as Brandy falls, her rebellion quenched by a hail of bullets. Screams pierce the air, a cacophony of terror as visitors stampede towards the exits, desperate to escape the pandemonium. Bodies shove past Athena and she finds herself dragged with them, carried away from the cage, away from the zoo, and away the two corpses lying on the ground.
It's all over in just a few seconds.
***
Athena aimlessly wanders the opulent streets of the Capitol, her mind a tempest of horror and disbelief. The pavestones beneath her feet feel unsteady, as if they might give way at any moment and send her toppling over. She had seen death before—distant, sanitized images on screens during past Hunger Games—but never like this. Never Arachne's eyes wide with shock and agony, the crimson bloom spreading across her Academy Rouge, marring the perfection of the Capitol's façade.
The air is thick with the cloying scent of summer blooms, but all Athena can smell is blood; it clings to her senses, a relentless reminder of the recent brutality. Her heart races, her mind races. Arachne's face is imprinted in her memory. They were never friends, not truly, but they shared a history written in the gilded halls of their childhoods, their families intertwined as the wealthy 'old guard' of the Capitol is. The Cranes and Springs are neighbours, their mothers are close friends. Arachne had attended all of Athena's birthday parties, they'd stood in ration lines together, there are even photos of the two on Athena's bedroom wall, Athena frowning in annoyance, Sejanus beside her with an amused grin as Arachne beams a wide smile and holds two fingers up behind their heads. She'd never be able to look at that picture the same way again.
