- 𝐭𝐛𝐨𝐬𝐚𝐬 -
"Why are you here? Isn't it a little past your curfew?" Treech spat, avoiding Vera's gaze. Vera chuckled to herself before extending a sandwich to him.
"Maybe, but I wanted to make sure you got dinner first. Eat up, I'll come see yo...
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"Oh my god!" Vera shouted as she rushed over to Arachne's bloodied body, stabbed by her tribute, Brandy, with her own knife.
"Arachne! Arachne!" Vera called out, watching as the girl stared up at her with tears in her eyes. Vera's hands shook fiercely as she tried to stop the blood, but all it did was smear all over her.
"Someone help her, please!" screamed Vera as she pressed her hands to Arachne's wound, blood everywhere. But no one answered, everyone just watched in shock. And then, Vera heard a gargled whisper.
"Vera," Arachne tried to call out to the girl holding her. Vera panicked as she watched Arachne lose consciousness.
"No. No. No. Why isn't it stopping?" Vera begged, turning her head back to Brandy for the first time, only to regret it when she watched Brandy get shot by Peacekeepers, so close to Vera that her blood splattered all over the girl. Vera's whole body began to convulse at the sight, slowly losing the ability to hold her hands still enough to keep the wound pressed as she let out a horrid shriek.
"I've got it, Vera. Festus, take her," she heard, though his voice was muffled by the ringing in her ears as she stared at the blood. A second later, she felt herself be dragged off the ground, held up by who she presumed to be Festus, but her mind was too clouded to be sure.
Then, Coryo began to yell, screaming for a medic as Vera stared at her hands, drenched in the blood of her classmate.
"Let's get her out of here," yelled Clemensia, running over to a crying Vera and shocked Festus.
"Wait, I need to check on Treech," Vera mumbled as she tried to move on her own, frantically scanning the exhibit for the boy who had been watching her the entire time behind one of the boulders.
Vera began to panic more when she was unable to find him, wobbling in Festus' grasp. Festus held her still, catching her as she almost fell from trying to move so much.
"He's fine, Vera. We need to get you home," Festus insisted, dragging her away from the crowd.
-
The walk home was quiet and bleak. Vera continued to stare down at her hands in silence, eyes stuck on the blood that stained her skin.
"I couldn't save her," Vera heard Coryo say, voice quivering.
"It's not your fault," Clemensia reassured him, "It's neither of your faults. You both tried your best to save her. There was just too much blood."
Festus nodded, grip tightening on Vera's shoulder as they approached his apartment. But Vera could feel the way his hand trembled. For a moment, Vera thought about putting a hand on his in comfort, the same way he had been doing, but then stopped and remembered Arachne's blood coated her hands.
