FAILURE TO COMPLY ┃ f. odair

2.12 a break

Coming back to District Five no longer felt like coming home. What with the games and being kept in the Capitol afterwards, it'd been almost three months since she'd come back. Calypso had been changed several times over, and with every return, she felt like a new person entirely. This time, she was in a constant middle between being fine and being broken. It was like every traumatic thing was being held at bay by poorly welded metal, and only with the aid of people like Finnick, Cinna, Porter and Roman. Alone, she would've crumbled by now.

But she was alone. Stepping off the train onto the district platform, Calypso had no one ton greet her. The comings and goings were so unpredictable at this point that there was no point in warning her family ahead of time. Some days, they would knock and her door with no answer, and had to take their best guesses as to whether she was ignoring them or just wasn't there.

Walking through town, all was mostly quiet. District Five during the day had never been much louder than the distant hum of the hydroelectric dam of the river, growing louder the closer they got to the western side of the central town. She avoided that part unless going to the markets for necessary supplies, and often Porter volunteered to buy her food for her. As sheltered of a life as it was, it was safe.

Calypso was only halfway home when she encountered the small crowd. In the Capitol, it wasn't uncommon for people to regard her as some sort of celebrity, wishing to get their hands on her body even for the smallest caress of her skin, especially the steel of her bionic arm. Here, they stared from a distance with judgemental eyes. While she generally steered clear, Calypso had once or twice heard them murmur a name for her: blood mutt. Named after the dastardly creations of the worst scientists to exist, she was little more than a bloodied beast to her own people.

"You," a low growl came, sounding more like an animal than the angry woman that was now striding towards her. She looked only vaguely familiar, middle-aged with caramel skin and dark hair, sweet features contorted into an expression of grief and hatred. "You killed my daughter!"

Storm's mother. Calypso had killed many people's daughters, but only one of them was from her own district: that twelve-year-old girl who died to the very ally that she'd pushed so hard for, someone who was capable but self-serving. Aspen knew exactly how to play the game, but it still hadn't helped her. She was still dead.

"I tried my best to help her," she replied quietly. Did she? "I'm sorry I couldn't bring her home alive."

"That's what people like you always say!" the woman screamed, pushing Calypso back until she stumbled. "You're no better than those Capitol fucks! You think because you won the games that you're better than us?! You of all people are a savage! My daughter was dead the second you became her mentor, because all you bring is death!"

"Blood mutt," one of the accompanying men muttered, moving forward to stand next to the grieving mother. There it was, that stupid nickname. Others from the small crowd began to close in on her, and her survival instincts began to kick in.

Fight it, Calypso urged herself. Her anger was no good here. Even as the mob came close, and a fist connected with her face, she did not let her emotions flare. In fact, she couldn't feel them at all, she'd pushed them down that deep.

The punch hit her with enough force that she stumbled backwards, hitting a grass bank on the other side of the path. She was barely halfway to a sitting position when a kick was delivered to her gut by another man. Her eyes connected with Ms Madden's and the woman held no regret or worry at watching the victor get beaten by the men she'd brought. Perhaps it was her plan. However they'd found out when she was coming home, Calypso didn't know or care.

"Stop-" she urged, but another kick made contact with her face, cutting her words short with a pained groan. She rolled until her back was taking the brunt of the hits. Another. Another. "St-"