Writer Games | Masquerade of Martyrs & Family Ties

Task Four: False Haven - Females

District One - Jamilla Argentaria

She sucked in a deep  breath, really it was more of a gasp, when she stopped at the edge of  the tunnel. Her knees buckled under her and she had to lean against the  doorway for support. It was due more to fatigue than overwhelming shock  but she had to admit to herself that she was caught off-guard by what  she had found. The resemblance was uncanny, startlingly so.

"This can't be real."  Jace couldn't help but chuckle to herself as she looked around the  room. Something in her was hesitant to go inside but she still limped  forward, weapon in hand. Part of her knew that there was something off  about the whole situation but she couldn't resist the urge to enter.

Orion's room had  always been a sacred place. It had been a while since she'd been allowed  to set foot inside, his parents losing their trust of her in the months  leading up to her entering the Games. It had almost been her home away  from home when she was a child. They'd grown up together and when  growing up had been tough, she'd spent a lot of time in this room. It  had always been... well, it had been a safe haven from the rest of the  world.

It concerned her that  the Gamemakers had recreated his room with such accuracy. As far as she  knew, only four people had ever been allowed to set foot in there and  Jace knew that Vienna Heraohse hadn't been one of them. She knew she  could spend time worrying about it or she could finally get some rest.  The idea of comfort won out over her better judgement so she collapsed  on Orion's bed with her face buried in his pillow. It smelled like him.  She didn't know how they did it, but it smelled like her best friend.

His room had always  been surprisingly clean, considering how messy she knew he could be.  There were piles of laundry leaning precariously against his closet door  and a muddy pair of boots next to his dresser bit other than that, it  was pleasantly neat. Her own room had always been a mess. Her father had  always joked that it looked like a hurricane of clothes went through  her bedroom. She couldn't really disagree, she'd never been an organized  person.
All of the little details were in place. She didn't  want to know how or why, she was just glad that there was something  familiar in the confusion of this arena. It was almost scary how similar  the room was to the original. Same bedspread, same Victor posters on  the walls, same little dent in the floor from where Jace had smashed the  back of her head when they were young.

They'd been seven,  maybe eight at the time. She and Orion had been jumping on his bed,  despite his mother telling them not to, and she'd dared to try and push  him off. Needless to say, he hadn't been pleased. Jace could remember  exactly how it had felt to tumble backwards off of his bed when he  kicked her legs out from under her. There had been blood. He'd screamed  louder than she had. If she remembered correctly, she hadn't been  allowed back over for a month.
He'd always been a stable part  of her life, Orion had. Jace rolled out of bed and tiptoed over to his  dresser with a sigh. There were still cracks in his mirror. She'd  punched it once, she had been angry at him. He had said that he'd get it  fixed but he never did. There were still scars lining the backs of her  fingers from where she broke the glass. As she stared at herself in the  broken mirror, she was almost too relieved to find that she still looked  like herself. Jace Argentaria was many things and vain would always be  one of them.

It was then that she  spied photographs scattered on his dresser, hidden amongst the only  clutter that could be found in Orion's room. She'd been in here  thousands of times and she'd never seen those photos before. One of was  of her, staring defiantly at the camera with a sort of crooked smirk on  her face. She should've recognized that one. It was an Academy  graduation picture. But Orion couldn't have had that. It didn't exist  yet, she still had two more years to go.