A SNAKE HIDDEN UNDER THE SKIN OF A MASTERMIND
She reads people as if they're books.
She used people as if they're objects.
She manipulated their minds as if they're games to her.
She had the whole Panem in the palms of her very hands.
So when she...
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—— THE MUTTS WERE CREATED BY the Capitol, as far as everyone knew. But Irene was once a very curious child whose thirst for knowledge was never ending. She found an old journal, filled with scribbles and writings, few that she couldn't read considering how bad the owner's handwriting was. But the mutts were created by one specific person.
Though before she could dive further into the topic, the rest of the pages were torn from the book.
Including the identity of the creator.
Irene laid awake after Zane woke her up when the anthem began playing and the fallen tributes were displayed on the night sky. She kept her eyes glued to every single face and whispered a silent prayer in hope they find peace, and breathed out in relief when she didn't see his face. But not long after, there was a cannon fired and her heart lurched forward in worrisome.
Not yet. Irene thought.
She needed more time to give Snow a little pinch of 'hope' he had in her, before blatantly throwing it away by siding with the rebellion. Yes, she knew about Plutarch's idea. It wasn't hard to locate their secret meeting, when she knows everything that happened right under her noses. She had eyes all over the place, and ears hidden in every nook and cranny. The alliance was not only to protect Katniss and Peeta against expert killers, but to make sure that both — mainly Katniss, to survive so they could start a revolution.
The moment they announced the two victors, never had she ever seen the look of terror on Snow's face. The sight struck a nerve in him, and she wondered why.
Unfortunately, Irene never got an answer.
However, there's nothing she enjoyed more than infuriating the president.
"Do you know where we are?" Zane asked her. The boy turned to her since they were laying side by side with his arm under his head. "I mean this arena is huge."
"Somewhere close to the north." She answered simply.
"But how do you know that?" He repeated, before stopping himself as he realized. "Wait nevermind, you're smart, of course you'd know where we are."
Irene rolled her eyes, but the corner of her lips were lifted lightly before it fell. She stood up and gathered her stuff before lending Zane a hand to stand. "Come on, we should move. If we stay at the same place as we did during the day, it'll be easier for them to find us."
The two traveled east with Irene leading between them. Every now and then, Irene would look up as she carefully explained to him about the force fields surrounding the arena, telling him how to detect it to avoid getting killed from it. Meanwhile Zane kept talking about his home and the district 6, even asked about his brother from time to time, and Irene — despite being exhausted and annoyed, reluctantly answered.
