❝𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐏𝐄𝐓𝐎𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐈𝐀❞ ━ TREECH

24. of snakes and antidotes

"Yeah, you've got enough to worry about with the Games coming up," her brother muses. "The only good thing I can think of is that Max wasn't born yet."

He pauses and looks back at her unamused expression, "That was a joke, you know?"

June sighs, "The entire assignment is just unfitting. I might as well get it over with and just hand in a blank sheet. I don't think any of us will be writing much."

"Well, if you don't need to worry about the assignment then you can always focus on what's really important," Cas says. "Because we've got someone that's relying on you. And I guess me as well in a sense."

June grimaces, "Mom was talking so much during dinner about how great it was to have you at work with her today. You didn't even get a word in." Just thinking about it is enough to make her roll her eyes. "So, how was it for you? Was it interesting at least?"

"I'll have you know, I saw the snakes," Cas says a bit more quietly. He walks back to the door and closes it before he approaches his sister's bed and sits down. They're at home but if their parents hear them, they could get into a lot of trouble. Technically, he's not allowed to talk about the details. "They were hard to miss. It's a huge tank full of them. Dr. Gaul was feeding them when we came in."

A shiver goes down June's spine from the thought alone but she's unable to hide that Cas confirming the snakes exist for sure is a relief in her eyes. As horrible as it is that it had to be Clemmie out of all people that got bitten by them, she's sure it was just a coincidence. The Dovecotes aren't considered troublesome in the Capitol, Clemmie even less so. She's well-liked but perhaps that was also a strategic move on Dr. Gaul's part. Had it been someone the Capitol considered unfavorable, it might have been more suspicious than it already is.

As much as Dr. Gaul cares about being discreet at least. It's an unspoken fact especially among the mentors that the bombing was not done by rebels. Not alone is that impossible, the countermeasures the Capitol would take if it was would have been much more extreme. But for all they know, that might still come.

Or, and she finds this a lot more terrifying, Dr. Gaul's response to the supposed rebel-bombing is the snakes. Forcing the people in the districts to watch their children die in a much more gruesome way than expected, all because of something the rebels supposedly did. If anything, she's just fishing for an excuse. But as the Head Gamemaker, isn't she already doing what she wants? She doesn't need anyone's approval.

"So Clemmie was telling the truth for sure," June concludes. "Full of them? Are they big? How many would you say there are?"

"It's hard to tell but they don't look very big. They're not small but I wouldn't say they're huge either," Cas says. "But what stands out are the colors. I asked if they had any meaning but... she didn't decline or confirm it either. I believe they might but I can't tell you for sure."

So the scales she saw in her mother's study really were from the snakes in the tank that Clemmie reached into. She hums, "So she was feeding them, you said? With her hands?"

Cas nods. "Yeah, she was holding them in her hands. I mean, they were on her arms too but they seemed comfortable there," he replies. "And they looked extremely calm. But they're used to her so that's hardly a surprise."

"There must have been a reason they bit Clemmie, then," June concludes. "If Dr. Gaul can pick them up and they don't try to attack her, there must be something that triggered it. But Clemmie just said she reached into the tank."