Breathe in, Breathe out • F Odair² •

VIII

"No one else gets to have this place. Nobody gets to taint it."

•∘♔∘•

The district-wide curfew was being implemented more strictly than ever. All citizens were to be in their homes by nine in the evening, and could not leave again until seven in the morning. Victors' Village was such a small, gated, isolated community with Peacekeepers rarely ever present that its residents were still able to move about the neighbourhood after curfew without there being any trouble, but being found outside the neighbourhood was not taken so lightly.

Anyone caught after curfew would be arrested, and if they were perceived as even remotely threatening or dangerous, they would be shot on sight. Already, two people had been arrested for breaking curfew. Despite this, Athena still made her way through the district after curfew on multiple occasions, either alone or with Finnick. She had been ducking and avoiding Peacekeepers all her life, after all, it wasn't very hard for her to do at this point. They might have been more vigilant now, but so was she, and she had learned from a young age to always be one step ahead.

For this reason, Athena found herself at her father's grave two nights before the Reaping. Peacekeepers almost never came around here, so she didn't have much to worry about once she got there. Maybe even they didn't want to disturb the dead. Athena, however, had become very closely acquainted with death. When they did come around, it was always easy enough to hide. Overall, she and her father had plenty of time alone that night.

Athena hadn't done this - that was to say, visit her father's grave in secret in the dead of night until the sun rose above them - in years. Any time she visited her father's grave, it was usually with someone, and even when she did go alone, she would always make it known that she was doing it, and never so late at night. Not long after her father's death, she had done it all the time, had been consumed by it, until she was doing these secret visits nearly every day. Still, she had thought that was in the past, so the fact that she was there surprised even her. She wasn't even entirely sure why she had come. She just hadn't been able to sleep and felt restless, so she left a note for her mother and Calypso that she'd needed some air and left. Once she was out, she found her feet propelling her forward until she found herself in front of his tomb.

"I'm sorry I haven't visited in a while," she said softly, running her hand along the grass, still slightly damp from a rainfall the night before. "Things have been so out of control lately."

This was likely an understatement. It had been a couple of weeks since she and Finnick had observed the meeting of the rebel group that had been brutally interrupted, but Athena could still hear the gunfire blazing, the cries of pain, echoing in her mind at all times. None of them had survived except for Genevieve Moselle and the woman, Shelley Murray, but the latter had been grievously injured and died before she could make it to the hospital. Genevieve had come out relatively unscathed, but they took her and questioned for hours to get answers out of her about their plans, but she never said a word, apparently deadly silent through the entire interrogation. They ended up executing her the next morning, doing it privately instead of making it a public affair the way Athena thought they would. Any other meetings and groupings that might have been happening stopped after that. They were being watched more than ever, and the Peacekeepers had proven they were unafraid to punish severely. The plan was halted before it could really even begin.

Hudson, heartbreakingly defeated, almost deflated, had finally told Athena what the plan had been. She had told her while they were out on the water, where their words would stay between them, the wind, and the sea. The plan had actually been quite straightforward; it was to take control of all the main points of control, in a siege not unlike the one District Eight had done months ago, only more organized and with more people. It would happen the morning of the Reaping, with the idea that the Capitol would have its hands so full trying to take back control of the district that they'd be unable to go on with the Games. The victors would be there to encourage more citizens to help and provide support and resources, perhaps causing diversions or posing as a distraction to buy more time.