drapetomonia - the overwhelming urge to run away.
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When Junia Beaumont, her brother and their classmates get a last assignment before the end of the school year, she doesn't know just how quickly things will change for her.
Who would have thought t...
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32. murder and mercy
The shock of what she's seeing is hitting her so hard, June doesn't even feel like she can breathe. She wants to look away but much like everyone else, she's unable to even though it's definitely too much for her to take.
It takes her a moment before she can tear her eyes away. Instinctively, even though she knows it'll make everything much worse, she tries to catch a glimpse of Sejanus' face. But before she can snap herself out of her trance on her own, Lucky's following words already do that for her.
"Ooohh, Marcus!" He exclaims. He looks around almost conspiratorially, "Guess we can all sleep better now, knowing he's off the streets."
His nonchalance towards the inhumane display on the screen baffle June. Just how long did they even keep him? With how defeated he looks, with the way he's entirely covered in cuts and bruises, it's obvious they treated him even more harshly than they usually do with the tributes.
So this is it. The punishment for escaping the Capitol, the Games. The punishment for just wanting to be free.
She has to suppress a disgusted shudder at the realization and when Sejanus rises to his feet, she knows it won't be good. She has seen him angry before. Angry at his father, at the Capitol, at the Games - but this is an anger coming from so deep within him it frightens her, too. But she doesn't blame him.
Still, June can't help but gasp at the way he hurls his entire table towards the front. He must've been aiming at the big screen but even still, it sends his entire seat and the attached device and screen flying into multiple directions. When he turns around, his expression is one of pure anguish.
"You're monsters!" He screams with so much pain in his voice, she immediately feels herself tearing up again. In all of their years of being friends, she has never seen him like this before. "All of you!"
Sejanus' steps are fast and firm as he makes his way towards the exit of the auditorium. The only ones to really give him another glance are June, Coriolanus and Lucky. June and Coriolanus because there seems to be a brief moment in which they both consider going after them, Lucky's expression is harder to read.
But even though she knows the right thing to do would be to go after him, she also knows she promised Treech she'd be watching him. It's not that he would ever know if she left but she can't bear the thought of it. He must already feel alone and if knowing that she's watching over him is helping him, she can't leave. She'd feel guilty for it, especially if something were to happen in her absence and she wouldn't be there.
