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10. blood
TW: panic attack, blood uh. yeah. RIP arachne
Within a second, the previously much welcome warmth of the sun becomes unbearable.
It’s like the sun is suddenly trying to burn through her clothes. It’s just like back then. The scorching heat, though this time it’s not fire and only the sun.
The screams.
The cries.
The blood.
Arachne’s face pales almost immediately as she presses her hand to her throat. Even though she knows she wants to, Junia can’t tear her eyes away. Her body doesn’t — refuses — to move. She can’t do anything except stare helplessly, her eyes wide as Brandy lets go of Arachne, but not without giving her a final shove onto the ground.
The people that were previously entertaining themselves by watching the tributes, enjoying the efforts some were putting into getting food from the audience, almost leave in an instant. Much to Junia’s horror, the TV crew remains, the camera broadcasting everything that’s happening in the zoo for all of the Capitol to see. Livia Cardew is one of the first people to make a run for it and soon enough, the visitors are screaming, even trampling one another in an effort to get away. Food is discarded, stomped over on the way to the exit.
Much like most of the mentors, Hilarius and Felix step away from the bars. Festus and Persephone seem equally frozen in place, Coriolanus’ hand gripping onto the bars in front of Lucy Gray. He’s breathing heavily, his eyes wide open in fear.
Then, Junia sees Lucy Gray’s mouth opening and within a few seconds, Coriolanus is the first to reach Arachne. Cas rushes past his sister, almost tearing off his jacket, crouching down next to Arachne as well. The girl is holding onto Coriolanus’ shirt, her eyes however are beginning to dull slowly. Blood pours out of the wound on her neck and onto the floor. Cas bunches up his jacket, pressing it over her throat in an effort to stop the bleeding.
Coriolanus’ voice rings through to Junia. “Medic!” he cries out. His hands are shaking, both of the males trying to stop the blood from flowing. “Is there a doctor? Please, someone help!”
Junia feels like she can’t breathe.
Her eyes dart around, trying to focus on something — anything that might be able to calm her down — but all she sees is chaos. Chaos and blood. So much blood, she knows in an instant that Arachne won’t make it. Even with the Peacekeepers approaching, she knows none of them will be able to help her. It's like they're walking in slow motion while the rest of the scene is unfolding at its messy fast pace.
She can't breathe.
“Look at me!” Cas’ voice is unusually loud, unable to hide the panic he feels. His breathing is heavy, his hands are trembling and the girl’s blood slowly seeping into his jacket. It clings to Coriolanus’ hands as well, their effort in vain. “Arachne, look at me! You’re gonna be okay!”
He knows she won’t be. But even with the light within her eyes slowly fading, he sees nothing but fear in Arachne’s gaze. Like she knows this is it. She knows she’s going to die. They all know it. But at the brink of death, even the usually loud and boisterous Arachne is only a scared little girl.
Her grip on Coriolanus’ shirt loosens, her hand slowly dropping and the blond grips it tightly, refusing to let go. “Medic!” he cries out again. All he sees is people fleeing the scene, people being too scared to move. “Come on, please! Someone help!”
Cas shakes his head, hastily wiping the tears away that are streaming down Arachne’s cheeks with his thumb. She’s trying to say something but all that comes out are gurgling sounds. More blood. “You’re gonna be okay!” He tries to reassure her. “Eyes on me, okay? Focus on me!”
Tears begin to brim in his own eyes as well but he blinks them away. He hates Arachne, even their last interaction was just him throwing jabs at her, but that doesn’t mean he wants her to die. He knows he can’t save her, so he tries to at least offer her some comfort in her final moments. Festus is there, too, crouching down and trying to see if there’s anything he can do to help.
He can’t.
“June!”
Junia doesn’t know what triggers it, but the second Treech’s voice rings through to her, it’s like the air is pushed back to her lungs at once. He’s reaching through the bars and she notices he must’ve stood up while she wasn’t looking at him, his hand gripping her arm as if he’s trying to pull her up. The food is at his feet but that’s the last thing on his mind right now, even less that he's getting her jacket all dirty. When she follows his gaze, she knows why.
The Peacekeepers are approaching, yes, but none seem to be focused on Arachne. They’re reaching for their rifles, undoubtedly on their way to kill Brandy for what she did. But the girl from District 10 doesn’t budge, taking a bite out of the sandwich almost defiantly, staring straight ahead at the armed men.
She has no regrets. There's not an ounce of fear in her eyes — she knew what this would mean for her the second she reached for the knife.
If she's going to die here, it's giving her some gratification that she can take one of theirs with her.
There’s too many Peacekeepers. Why are there so many if there’s only one tribute they’re going after? Junia can count at least five of them and there are more right behind them.
Junia’s blood runs cold, Treech’s grip tightens. In the end, it’s Sejanus that pulls Junia back up to her feet. She’s almost limp, breathing heavily. She doesn’t even realize it but she’s crying.
“June, hey! Breathe!” Sejanus’ voice is panicked, his grip firm but not too tight. He exchanges a glance with Treech, Lamina is pulling at her district partner’s arm, too.
“Wait, don’t shoot!” Sejanus and Junia yell at the same time. Her throat is burning. She wonders if his is as well.
"Everybody down!"
But it’s too late. People begin to duck, Lamina grabs ahold of Treech and they manage to leap behind the rock they’ve been using to rest on. Sejanus turns Junia around, one hand on the back of her head while the other rests on her back, pulling her down with him.
The gunfire that follows is short-lived but effective. Brandy falls to the ground, her body limp and covered in bullet holes, blood seeping into the ground and mixing in with Arachne’s. The sandwich lands in the blood puddle and Junia loses focus once more. People are screaming, civilians that got hit by stray bullets crying out in pain and for help.
It's too much. Too much blood, too much screaming, too much noise.
Her head is ringing, her chest is heavy and with the tears in her eyes, it’s hard to see.
Arachne goes limp in Cas’ and Coriolanus’ arms. But she can’t see what they’re doing, can’t hear what they’re saying. Sejanus’ grip on Junia’s shoulders is firm as he searches her gaze.
“June!” He sees the distant look in his best friend’s eyes and decides they need to leave. She’s clearly having a panic attack, her chest heaving with every breath as if there’s no air in her lungs. He lifts her book bag before the blood reaches it, drapes it over his shoulder, and looks back.
He sees that the medics have finally arrived. They lift Arachne’s body onto a stretcher and with his own heart beating so loudly he fears he might pass out any second, he tries to be as gentle with Junia as he possibly can when he slowly but steadily walks her away from the monkey enclosure.
He doesn’t miss the way her tribute, Treech, is one of the first to lift his head. From the distance, it’s hard for Sejanus to see what kind of face he’s making. But he’s looking at him, watching him remove his mentor from the scene, watching him take her to safety.
Once he deems the distance safe, he finds a bench and makes sure to sit her down carefully. Her breathing has started to calm down but now the tears are flowing, yet there’s no sound coming out of her mouth. He crouches down in front of her, placing his hands over hers which are on her lap.
“June,” he says quietly, searching her gaze again. When her eyes find his face, he sees her slowly coming back to her senses. He squeezes her hands carefully, trying not to startle her too much. “Breathe, please. You’re okay. We’re okay.”
The girl nods, though she’s visibly shaking. Sejanus’ hands are shaking, too, but amidst the chaos, his touch is comforting. She heaves a shaky sigh and sniffles, trying to stop her tears from flowing but it’s no use.
He rummages through his own bag and hands her a handkerchief, handing it over to her. When she takes it and begins wiping at her tears, he looks over and sees the other mentors making their way over to the water fountain next to them. Coriolanus’ hands are stained in blood, his fists tightly clenched at his sides. He’s shaking.
Cas looks just as disoriented as his sister did just a minute ago. He’s holding his blood-soaked jacket with his fingertips, as if he can’t bear to touch it. There’s blood on his shirt, too, and he wipes his tears away with his sleeve. Festus is with them, quietly comforting Persephone, while Felix and Hilarius are both too shocked to utter a single word. They’re too shaken, breathing unevenly while desperately trying to cling to the last remains of their composure.
Only when he’s clean enough, does Cas approach his sister and Sejanus. He makes sure to leave the jacket out of her sight as much as he can, leaving it on the other side of the bench, before he crouches down next to him.
“Are you—”
“Okay? No,” Cas manages to reply. “I’ve been better.” The blood is still on his shirt, almost clinging to him like a second skin. He visibly shudders, looking over at his friend. “Thank you,” he says, “for getting June out of there.”
“You don’t need to thank me,” Sejanus says. “I thought she was going to pass out.”
“I thought so, too,” Junia replies, her voice quiet. With quivering hands, she grips the handkerchief tightly and takes a deep breath. “I couldn’t move. It’s like I wasn’t even there.”
“You’re not the only one,” Sejanus reassures her. “It was a mess. I don’t think any of us could’ve done anything to save her.”
He looks over at Cas. “But you… you and Coriolanus, you tried. That’s all that matters,” he adds, reaching over to squeeze his shoulders. “Don’t blame yourself.”
“It’s a bit ironic,” Cas mumbles and when his sister and friend look at him like he has gone mad, he sighs and continues. “You know how I always said her attitude would get her into trouble one day?” He pauses. “Well, this isn’t what I had in mind.”
Truthfully, he thought she’d get herself into trouble in other ways. Badmouthing a superior maybe, something that would get her at the very least kicked out of places, but death? Arachne is — no, she was a horrible person. He hated her, deeply so. But when he remembers the way she looked at him right before she died, he realizes he never wanted her to die either.
He always used to think how things would be so much nicer without her and her grating voice. Now, he’s not so sure anymore.
“No one did,” Junia says. “I can’t believe… I can’t believe they shot at them. All of them,” she whispers, “the others didn’t do anything.”
“I’m pretty sure I saw some civilians getting hit by stray bullets, too,” Cas says. “It’s a mess. All of it.”
When Sejanus stands up, he’s met by the sight of Lyssie, Clemmie and Pup approaching the group. All three of them are visibly shaken despite the fact that there’s no way they saw what happened. But the looks in their eyes say enough when they approach. They’re afraid what they heard is true.
“Sejanus, is it true?” Lyssie asks carefully, though she already knows the answer when she sees the twins talking in hushed voices. She sees the red spots on Castiel’s left sleeve and knows it’s not just cherry juice.
“We entered the zoo when all of those people came running towards us. It was a mess,” Clemmie says, her whole body shaking in distress. Lyssie takes her hand, squeezing it slightly. “We waited until it passed but there was this old lady that told us not to go in. That someone had been killed.”
“It’s true,” Sejanus confirms, though he really doesn’t want to be the one to break it to them. “Arachne is dead. Her tribute… she killed her.”
Just saying it now, it makes him feel strange. He bites down on his lower lip, his own hands still shaking. He balls them into fists. “It all happened so fast. In less than a minute."
“We couldn’t do anything.” The group hears Cas say and they look over at him. Clemmie and Lyssie gasp, seeing the bloodstains on his shirt. He helps Junia off the bench, protectively wrapping his arm around her shoulders. “It… there was too much blood.”
Pup is still trying to wrap his head around the whole ordeal. He can’t believe something like that happened so quickly. Just an hour ago, he had walked behind her. “How did.. How is that even possible?” he asks. Lyssie shoots him a pointed look but he doesn’t take his question back.
“A knife,” Junia says, her voice emotionless. “She had a sandwich for Brandy but taunted her with it. There was a knife and… she left it right at the bars.” She’s trying to detach herself from it as much as possible. She can’t burst into tears right now, not in front of everyone.
When the realization sinks in, Lyssie takes a deep breath. “You should go home. We all should,” she then says softly. She’s almost unable to tear her eyes away from the blood-stained jacket Cas is picking up, the red stains on his blue button-up shirt. “With what just happened, I don’t think they’ll care if we go home now.”
That’s true. There’s no way anyone can continue classes like this, not with the memories of what happened still fresh in their minds. Arachne's empty seat would be too much to bear right now.
“I want to go home,” Junia says weakly, leaning against brother. She almost recoils when she smells the blood and squeezes her eyes shut, focusing on the steady yet rapid thumping of his heart. “Let’s just get out of here. Please.”
When they exit the zoo, both Festus and Hilarius offer the fellow mentors to rest at their respective apartments. But after what happened, Junia doesn’t even think of it and neither does her brother. Clemmie and Coriolanus take Festus up on his offer and Lyssie decides to go with Hilarius along with Felix. Pup also decides to go home, and so does Sejanus.
Just a few minutes ago, she was joking around with Treech. And now?
Junia doubts it’ll be that easy to visit the tributes again. What happened to Arachne has only made things worse than they already were.
Her head is beginning to throb.
It’s just like back then — she was utterly powerless. She couldn’t do anything but sit there and watch.
Again.
Classes are canceled for everyone for the rest of the day, students instructed to go home.
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When they get home, both Junia and Cas take a long shower. It’s one of the privileges that comes with living in such a massive house, they don’t need to wait. They have enough bathrooms so that they can both wash everything off their bodies.
But when Junia gets out of the shower and checks her brother’s room, Cas is still not done. She hears the water running and, assuming he won’t be getting out anytime soon, she retreats to the safety of her own room. And only when she’s alone does she finally allow herself to break down completely, sobbing into her pillow until no more tears come out. Still, she’s shaking, wrapping her arms around herself for comfort.
Her head is spinning and throbbing all at once. When she tries to steady her breathing, all she sees is the blood. She feels the heat on her skin, reminding her of times passed, and sobs dryly until she’s exhausted.
When the images of Arachne finally leave, she thinks of the tributes. The Peacekeepers shot at all of them, not caring that the rest of them had nothing to do with it. She thinks back to Treech and Lamina, how they are just beginning to trust her. Especially Treech. She doesn’t blame him if this makes him a bit more hesitant from now on, but she still doesn’t like it.
She closes her eyes and exhaustion washes over her. Trying to give herself some peace of mind, she tries to cheer herself up by thinking about the simple fact that, at the very least, Treech is alright. He has something to eat, something to drink, and he’ll be okay. At least she hopes so.
Cas scrubs at his skin, the hot water making him feel like he’s boiling alive, but it’s the only way he feels like he can get rid of the blood. He gave his uniform to the maid and pleaded with her to wash it more than usually needed, feeling almost guilty for asking such a thing of her. But when she reassures him that she will take care of it, that he did a good thing at the zoo and that he should rest, he doesn’t think about it twice.
A good thing, yes. He tried to help Arachne despite the way he feels about her, but it was all in vain.
The water is so hot, he almost can’t breathe. But he feels like there’s some part of him that deserves it.
How can he possibly hope to be a doctor one day or work in the medical field alone, when he can’t help a classmate? When he can’t stop thinking about her blood, how scared she looked, and how nothing he did was helping? Him and Coriolanus were powerless from the beginning.
When he gets out of the shower after almost an hour and changes into some fresh clothes, he retreats into the garden. It’s serene and quiet, the birds are chirping on and there’s a gentle breeze drying his soaked hair. The water droplets run down his face, reminding him of the tears he shed in the shower, and he reaches for the pack of cigarettes hidden in his pants.
He doesn’t go back in until it’s half-empty. His face burns and so do his lungs, but he couldn't care less.
Once he makes it to his sister’s room and finds her curled up on her bed, he climbs in behind her and immediately pulls her against him. She turns around, buries her face in the crook of his neck and inhales deeply.
When she smells the cigarettes, she says nothing.
Neither of them know for how long they’ve been asleep when their mother comes home from work, Max right beside her. She fusses over the twins momentarily, checking they’re really alright and even she doesn’t have it in her to scold her son when she smells the traces of tobacco. She merely runs her fingers through his hair, praises him for his efforts at the zoo, and kisses both of their foreheads.
Then, she gets a call and is gone as quickly as she came. Max stays with them, albeit a bit unsure what to do. But all he sees is that his siblings are uncharacteristically quiet.
He slips off his shoes, quietly climbing onto the bed with them and tries to force his way in between the twins, not giving up until they budge and he can lay pressed up against both of them. He sees the dried tears on his sister’s puffy face, sees the way his brother stares off into the distance as if he’s somewhere else, and doesn’t really know what to do.
Earlier, he saw what happened at the zoo. The Capitol immediately broadcasted it, making sure everyone knows and sees exactly what happened to Arachne Crane. Even though his mother immediately told him to look away, he saw enough to know his siblings were there.
As someone who was born after the war, a scene like that shocked him deeply. Despite the fact that his mother pulled him away with trembling hands as soon as she realized what they were showing again, in public this time and all over the city, he saw. He heard stories of the war from teachers and very little from his parents, too, but to see that much blood and violence was enough for him to realize he didn't know as much about his siblings as he always thought.
He looks at his sister, poking her cheek until she opens her eyes. Like the rest of her face, they’re puffy and red. She blinks at him, her eyes heavy.
“What?” she manages to croak out, her voice hoarse. She reaches over and runs her fingers through his hair, finding a strange kind of comfort in the way at least one of them is able to be in a decent mood. “Did anything happen at school?”
Max shakes his head. “No, I’m okay,” he says. He looks back and forth between them. “Are you?”
“We will be,” Cas reassures him. Quietly, he adds, “as long as you stay still.”
“I am still!” Max protests, wiggling slightly to make himself more comfortable. Then, he pokes his sister’s forehead.
“Did you get to ask him about his hat?” he asks.
Junia blinks again. Her head hurts too much to think properly but when the realization hits her, she frowns and shakes her head. “No, I’m sorry,” she says. “I wanted to, I just didn’t get to. I’ll make sure to ask him next time.”
Max pouts, visibly disappointed. Usually, he might even pester her a little bit more if he really wanted to. But something tells him this is not the time.
“You better,” he mumbles. “Or I’ll sneak in there and ask him myself!”
Cas laughs, though it’s forced. “Can you do me a favor and just be quiet? My head is killing me.”
Even Max knows it’s not the posca. Not this time. Not today.
It’s like when they talk about the war, even though that rarely happens. He can’t help but feel excluded and doesn’t even know what kind of privilege that is.
He sighs, closing his eyes. Maybe resting with his siblings is not that bad of an idea after all.
He’ll ask more questions later.
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and life went on.
it was not the same.
but it went on.
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this turned out a LOT longer than i thought. i didn't mean to give her death that much of a spotlight but yk. you gotta do what you gotta do. i mean yeah she was really annoying but if something like that happened in front of me, i'd be traumatized too
i took the version from the book btw. it was only when i wrote this chapter that i realized some of the mentors weren't even there but i added them anyway lol
this is my first time writing a death scene so pls be kind. i know i dragged it out a bit but ykyk i hope it wasn't entirely unbearable
it did kind of help to show how the siblings deal with stress though. june shuts down as a trauma response, cas doesn't (even if he gets himself more traumatized in the process too) + i just wanted to show cas a bit more. he HATED arachne's guts but still didn't want her dead
(she did it to herself tho ngl. did she think brandy was gonna have a giggle?? dumbass)
also, hints of the family backstory!! i actually already have the chapter written out when june opens up about it (it's in the far future tho. and i still need to edit a bunch) so i could add some things when i was editing
anyway, so much for that. it's gonna take a bit for them to recover but i noticed when i reread the book just how insane the whole thing with arachne's funeral was. absolutely fucking crazy behaviour. the capitol is insane!!!
new chapter soon? i'll see how quickly i get to editing. i'm all alone today so i'll either do that or write the next chapter :)
wow. that was a lot of yapping i'm so sorry
i hope you're having a good day!!!<3
memes, anyone?
(he's coping)