It was Venus's eighteenth birthday when she finally received a letter from Coriolanus.
Nearly a month had passed since he and Sejanus left the Capitol, a month of her wondering and festering in her insecurities. She knew he was located in Twelve with Lucy Gray. Whether he was assigned that District already or used his charm to cheat the system was beyond her, however, she could feel the latter was how fate played out.
Coriolanus knew this was the end of his life and if he wanted any shot at happiness, possibly Lucy Gray could give that to him. Even though Venus wrote in her letter than she wanted him to be at peace, she never thought that his songbird would be the one to provide it.
That only made her demented soul turn further into the darkness.
Venus studied her gold watch, tracking a few minutes left until her car would arrive at the War Department building. Using each second wisely, she grabbed the paper from the pocket of her dress pants. Opening the letter, she carefully caressed the scribbled ink—wishing that she was holding his hand in that very moment. She waited so long to hear something, anything, back from him and now she finally received it on the day that meant the most to her.
Darling Nessie,
If my accuracy is correct and the postal systems do not fail me, you will receive this letter on the day of your birthday. How badly I wish I could see you, to feel your warm embrace, and to hear your laugh as you enter this new year of your life. I apologize that I've been distant, the adjustment to being a Peacekeeper is not easy for myself nor for Sejanus.
Quite like at the Academy, I find myself having to get him out of trouble and keep him on the straight and narrow. We had an incident, I can't divulge how gruesome it was to you, but his hesitation to act leads me to believe that this lifestyle is not meant for him as it is not meant for me.
He told me what you said, and to that I can not express how much I miss you and our life at the Capitol. District Twelve could never measure up to you and your charms. I've even considered taking the Officer's Exam to give myself a shot at a better quality of life. If accepted then I'll be closer to the Capitol, closer to you. I try to not allow myself to give into delusions but if I play my cards correctly, I could be home in a few years.
I promise I will do better with communication in the future. I'll have more positive things to discuss with you as time goes on and the more things I experience.
Happiest of birthdays to you, my Nessie. I love you the most.
Signed, Your Coryo
Her brown eyes clung to the words. Hearing each one in his voice, imagining the blue hue of his eyes staring back at her as he recounted his experiences. Coryo's letter held a lot of weight on her heart. The lack of mention of Lucy Gray only made her head spin more. She knew they were together, she could feel it in her heart, and she just wanted him to tell her the truth. She tried shaking the thoughts from her mind, finding herself focusing on Sejanus and his struggles.
He had to have known being a Peacekeeper never truly meant to keep peace, it was a more digestible title for crowd control. To maintain the compliance in the Districts that the Capitol needed to survive and remain in power. She hoped silently that Sejanus and Coryo would stick together, that he would be able to save him from himself. As the car glided to the front of the War Department headquarters, Venus folded her letter and placed it in her leather backpack for safe keeping.
Any and all sense of emotion and vulnerability needed to evaporate before she stepped foot into the marble building.
Working with Dr. Gaul proved itself to not be the worthy distraction she needed. Just as promised, their studies began the day after Graduation with Venus's first assignment being to chart and feed her flurry of mutts scattered across the Laboratory. At first the creatures unsettled her with their grotesque mouths, ragged skin, or how simply unappealing they looked to the eye. She was never scared, merely curious as to how Gaul conjured up such monstrosities in her mind and applied them to living things.
"Do you know what you'd like to study at University, Miss Hummingstill?" Dr. Gaul asked, handing Venus a feeding chart. The woman had taken a certain liking to her mentee, any hostility she had shown before was seemingly all part of her act.
With a gloved hand, Venus threw raw meat into the cage of a wild animal. Its snarls not sounding as loud as they did on her first day in the lab, it was growing more familiar with her. "I believe Science, Microbiology more specifically. However, as of late, the idea of Politics are fascinating."
"Politics could be a waste of your talents." The Doctor warned, handing the girl another piece of feed for the last of her twisted creations. "So rarely do they elect and allow headstrong women into governmental positions of power."
Venus nodded to herself, eyes scanning the chart as her mind continued to race. "What would you classify yourself as then, Dr. Gaul?" She asked, allowing her focus to be fully on the woman. Venus was met with a pregnant pause, the woman seemingly stumped at her simplistic question. "You are the Head Gamemaker. You carry out the traditions of the Dark Days. While you may not have been placed in an election and ran campaigns, you are still a powerful political figure. Do you see yourself in that light?"
Dr. Gaul's red lips spread into a twisted smirk, the smallest chuckle sneaking out of her body. Her ego demanded and craved satisfaction from the public, but, the intimacy of a young girl who reminded her so much of herself singing her praises was unmatched. Venus held so much potential, so much intelligence that if curated for the correct cause could have the ability to change Panem. Dr. Gaul held herself firmly in the belief that the trauma she inflicted within the last week of her time at the Academy was worth it. Purely instrumental in turning her from a silly girl into a dynamic woman.
Completely unaware that the trauma unlocked ways of wickedness that Venus had begun to fully embrace.
"I see myself as a God." Dr. Gaul said.
Stripping her gloves and disposing of them, Venus returned to her desk within the lab. "And what happens to the non-believers?"
"You break them," Gaul stated with zero hesitation. "And if breaking them is not enough, you eliminate them. Any non-believer that is not contained is a threat to everything I have built. If the option is them or me, I'm choosing myself each and every time."
As much as she wanted to protest, to suggest another way of thinking to Dr. Gaul, Venus could not part her lips to speak. There was no other point of view to be seen considering the women operated with a similar set of values. Venus used the Hunger Games, used Dill as a pawn, even used Coriolanus to save her life. She knew if her mortality was never on the line that Dill's health wouldn't have reached top priority in her mind. The option was Dill or herself and she didn't hesitate in her choice of who to save.
The girl nodded silently. Marking the last few feedings on her chart before setting it down on her desk.
"There's one other feeding that must be done." Dr. Gaul called out, hands clasped together in front of her chest.
Venus looked around the room, internally counting to herself as she tracked the amount of creatures. She had been doing feedings for weeks, there was a sense of order to it all and this threw things off immensely.
"To what, Dr. Gaul?" She asked, flipping through her sheets on her clipboard.
The woman chuckled. "Not to what, but, to whom."
She walked towards the desk, pulling a golden key from her pocket and handing it to Venus. A smirk on her lips as she passed over the burden of her creations. The young woman held the key in her hands, twirling it within her palm. What was she talking about? She thought. Dr. Gaul presented careful instructions to travel down into the under tunnels of her laboratory and proceed from there.
"Before you go, remember to take the bag of insect feed with you." The woman said, shooing off her mentee. Venus gathered her things, heart beginning to thud as the confusion piled on in her mind. With the feed in one hand and the key in the other, the rumbling voice of the mad scientist sent a chill down her spine. "And Miss Hummingstill, what you see is to be shared with no one else outside of this Laboratory. You will understand why."
The words replayed in Venus's mind as she made her way past marble pillars to the deep darkness of the basement. She was not even aware of the basements existence until today, being sent on a mission that made zero sense. This area of the lab seemed so drastically different from the rest of the building. There was no soft orange glow of the overhead lighting, yet being replaced with the grey hues reflecting off of the walls. The swirls of marble were nowhere in sight, even though the lab did not provide many with a sense of comfort, Venus could feel the energy shift into something beyond her comprehension.
As she turned the key to the doorway, it clicked for her why this felt so eerie, she had seen set ups like this in her school research—this secluded area was a prison.
Further pushing the idea that demonic energy resided within these bleak walls.
The large door creaked open, revealing a black hallway barely visible. Cautiously, she reached along the walls for a light switch, finding it after a few seconds and switching it on hastily. One by one the overhead light fixtures illuminated the pathway. It seemed never ending. The final light reflected on a glass enclosure with small circular pockets allowing for air to reach the inside. It spanned from floor to ceiling in height. The white florescence drawing attention to a figure with dark hair.
Nervously, Venus took shaky steps towards the cell. Not a single thought present in her mind as she allowed her feet to guide her way. She swallowed thickly, the presence of this figure making her stomach lurch in anticipation. "H-Hello?" She called out.
The mysterious being stirred slightly before settling into the corner, their face tucked into their lap. It did not respond, which further made Venus feel uneasy. Who was being held captive here? The more she thought, the more the possibility of who she believed it to be felt real. She's seen that raven colored hair before...the same girl that has been missing for the last few days.
Venus met the edge of the glass. Setting the key within her pocket and the feed on the floor, she bent down to be eye level with the prisoner. The iridescent hues of pink, blue, and yellow scales confirmed her theory. As if she could feel her staring, the figure snapped their head in Venus's direction, the eyes of a viper looking into her soul.
"Clemmie?" Venus breathed, her grotesque appearance nearly knocking her off of her feet.
The scales had continued to spread following her explosive madness in the hospital, completely enveloping the side of her body and growing on her neck. Her nails had absorbed the venom, chrome talons growing longer than she ever would have worn them. How long had she been under here? Did Dr. Gaul hold any concern for figuring out a cure?
Venus knew the answer to her own question, why would Gaul cure a mutt she created?
While seeing Clemmie so disfigured made Venus's anxiety spike new heights, the idea that someone of some familiarity was in her proximity made her feel a tad bit better. Clemensia was her friend, more like peer, but she was Capitol. She had grown with Venus and Coriolanus, even Sejanus for his brief time in the Capitol—Clemmie was her only reminder of when times were simple and here she was locked away like a pet.
"What?" The girl said in confusion. "H-How are you here? Is this really you, Nessie?"
"Yes, yes it's me." Venus studied the glass, watching as the small grin from Clemensia's lips began to fade into a scowl.
The girl slithered to the edge of the enclosure. Her now forked tongue jutting out repeatedly and capturing her scent. "You smell like him." She stated coldly. "I risked everything to warn you both in that hospital, and what did you do? Live your lives together as if I didn't exist. Like I wasn't begging you for help!" The girl screamed, banging on the glass and scaring Venus.
She fell to her butt, scooting away from Clemensia and breathing heavily. "There was nothing I could do to help you with my own life on the line, Clemmie." She defended. "No one knew where you were taken after we left the hospital. The Games started a-and we couldn't do anything without being watched—"
"How did you find me?" She interrupted, unamused by the tales she believed Venus was spinning.
The girl dug the key out of her pocket, holding it in front of Clemmie's face. "Dr. Gaul instructed me to visit this part of the building. I swear, I've only been in the lab a month, and I had no idea you were being held here until today. You have to believe me, please."
"She told me about you, you know?" The girl hissed. "That you are self-serving. That the only thing in this world you truly care about is Coryo—"
"That's not true." Venus snapped at hearing his name, the swirl of emotions hitting a breaking point.
Clemensia grinned wickedly, her teeth flashing a pair of fangs settled at the top and bottom rows of teeth. "Then why are you defensive? Everyone can see you for who you are, Venus. You're a spoiled little girl who always gets her way, even when she doesn't deserve it. You were supposed to die, but yet, they saw something special in you. Why did you deserve a second chance over me?"
"This happened to you because you decided to lie to please the person who put you in this cage." Venus shook her head. Hearing the truth about herself irked her nerves. Clemensia was asking the very questions she would have running through her mind late at night. "And now you're upsetting the one person with the patience to free you. My consequences came because I could care less about what Dr. Gaul or Dean Highbottom thought of me and they knew they harbored no control."
Clemensia tilted her head to the side. Her yellow eyes flickering between Venus's brown ones. "How sad it is that you believe you are in control." She laughed. "You will always be at their mercy and the mercy of a boy who will never love you the way he loves that District girl. Even though I saw everything on the tv's ... Dr. Gaul mentioned that last part just for you."
Venus's chest panged, licking her lips she refused to break eye contact with the madwoman. She was upset, she was hurt that she was left for death, and now she was saying anything to hurt her feelings. It was a game, a test of mental strength. Smoothing her outfit, she gathered her things and began to turn for the exit.
"So so quiet, Nessie." The girl snickered. "You must believe it to be true. The songbird and the snake together again with no room for Panem's goddess, that must hurt."
Then, a maniacal cackle reverberated from the grey walls. The sound of Clemesia thriving in her misery of Venus's broken heart. She continued walking the lonely pathway, every fiber of her being holding back a reaction. That's what the mutt wanted and she refused to give it to her.
Venus slammed the door shut to the basement, locking it quickly before letting out a breath. She hurried up the stairs to the main laboratory, the warmth of the lights beaming on her skin. Poised at one of the cylindrical tubes, Dr. Gaul waited for her unsettled mentee.
The girl huffed. Trying to straighten herself out before facing the mad scientist. Her mind spiraling with what she just heard, the shattering of her feelings that were left on the basement floor. Clemmie had been locked away for the entirety of the Games, how could she have known any validity of the venom she spewed? She had to have been spoon fed information by someone who was on the inside.
"Hippity Hoppity, what's got you down?" Gaul clapped her hands together. "How do you feel seeing your classmate this time around?"
Venus squinted her eyes. "Why are you still holding her down there?"
"For you, Miss Hummingstill." The woman replied instantly, nodding to herself.
The girl furrowed her brows. "Excuse me?" She questioned, taking a step forward.
"It is to my understanding that today is your eighteenth birthday." Gaul smiled. "You are a woman now, which means you need to make your own choices—no matter how hard they may be. Clemensia Dovecote is now yours, she is your mutt and at your mercy. Consider this a .... birthday present."
Opening her mouth to protest, she was met with a raised gloved hand to silence her. Dr. Gaul did not want to focus more on the issue, it was set in stone and there was nothing that could be done.
"Come. We have more work to do before the sun sets." She said eagerly, her sights set on the paperwork on her desk. "We have a shipment coming from the Districts in the next week that we need to be prepared for."
Venus simply nodded in defeat. Trying to spend the rest of her day without thinking of what Coryo and Lucy Gray were doing at this present moment in District Twelve.