Spooky Month: The Hunger Games (An AU Fanfiction)

PROLOGUE: A Normal Morning.

"Sadismus est motus naturalis humanus - adiuvari non potest quod dolor aliorum visus est subiectum extasis alterius." - UNKNOWN.

————

"..ugh.."

Kevin had woken—his eyes beginning to feel heavy as he barely managed to keep them staring at the ceiling. And instinctively, he gripped the sheets of his bed as he remained looking up at the ceiling. Light shone in from the window he had in his room, and he squinted at the bright rays that barely seeped into his sockets.

It was another morning like any other—and a morning like any other usually involved him lying in bed for a few moments before reluctantly getting up so he could get ready. So he could get the next boring hours of working at the candy store over with.

And with a frown upon his face, he groaned again—pressing his palms against the bed and slowly lifting himself upward. Shifting himself to the direction of the window, he pressed his feet against the ground—and once he lifted himself upward, he made his way toward the closet so he could get ready.

————

He got himself ready, or at least he forced himself too—slipping his white button-up uniform around his body, and his pink bow-tie around his neck. And forcing the cap onto his head as he let out a sigh. He was an early riser, for his job required him to be. And no time for rest remained for those who were early risers.

Kevin grabbed a piece of warm, crispy toast that he had heated up for himself—letting it graze his lips, and letting it enter his mouth as he gently bit down on it with a grunt. The piece slipped into his mouth, and he chewed as it's flavor mingled within his taste buds.

Staring ahead—he looked on at his living room. A boring, small living room with gray walls and wooden floorings. A deep blue couch sitting in front of a TV he had played for background noise in the morning most of the time, and that was playing as of now, as he ate his breakfast. He didn't need to leave until at least fifteen minutes from now, so he figured it would be better to savor his morning of peace before going off into work.

His eyes drifted, though as his attention went from thought to thought, and from different scenarios, it slowly focused on what the person on the TV—seemingly a news reporter, was speaking about.

It was a woman—speaking in the usual loud manner that news reporters often did, holding her papers in her hands. "—blood. Police say that they weren't able to find out who might have been the cause of death for the assistants death, and the mayor has yet to say anything about this. In fact—since the day of the incident, the mayor hasn't been seen in a couple of days."

..huh. That was certainly something to hear in the morning.

Kevin frowned a little, feeling his thoughts race, and something within his chest sink. But he quickly swallowed it down as much as he swallowed his toast. Now wasn't the time to be anxious, especially considering he'd probably need all of that anxiety for later today at work. And especially considering just what might happen if those damn kids came in again.

He sighed. Walking around the counter, and toward the couch where he had set the remote—he grabbed it, and turned off the TV—and the colors and shapes that flashed onto the screen vanished into black nothingness.

————

Kevin drove his vehicle along the streets of the town, and as ever as the sun lit the buildings up and bathed it in the unbearable warmth of the Arizona heat, Kevin noticed that the town had looked completely the same.

Children rode on bikes or walked together on the sidewalks. Different people talked with eachother on the sidewalks. Some had papers in their hands, clearly having some sort of job to do. While others walked alone, either with a smile or a frown on their face.

The air was humid—and he only didn't experience this because of the cold conditioned air in his car that brushed against his face in slight puffs. The sky was pink—slowly becoming more blue as time passed. He could hear whirring from other vehicles that drove by, along with muffled music from some buildings and so on. Bright lights shone into his face occasionally—usually either a traffic light, or the light of another car.

A car drove past, and Kevin frowned. Just when was there ever going to be some kind of morning where he didn't feel like collapsing? Would he even be able to find a better job then working down at some local candy store one day? As he thought long and hard, he sternly stared. His thoughts swirled. He didn't want to be in this position forever, but at the same time, he couldn't really afford to lose it.

Kevin sighed. Another vehicle zoomed past with a fast whir. And he turned a corner on the street. He really couldn't afford to lose his job. In fact, he needed it. What was the point in pondering getting another one when he barely had enough money in the first place? He had a house, sure. And he had enough money to have food, sure. But it wasn't like he made that much.

"You're just gonna have to push through it, Kevin.." He said aloud to himself, his voice flat and exhausted.

A vehicle drove past again—this time flashing red and blue lights. Kevin's eyes flickered over to where he had seen the car, and as he did so, two others followed behind it. Holding the same red and blue flashing lights. The same black and white coloring.

Police vehicles.

Kevin arched a brow. There must have been an emergency of some kind, or it.. could have had something to do with what he heard earlier that morning.

His shoulders slumped as his thoughts raced. His thoughts always seemed to race anytime he saw police vehicles, ever since that one incident with the 'sugar' that those damn kids had given him. If it was anything bad, he would have known by now. And he would have seen it on the news, or at least heard about it.

He shook his head. Pushing the thoughts out of his mind, he continued to drive onward.

————

The day went on as any other did, the sky brightly shimmering outside—children walking in and ranging from being fairly sweet, to adorable, to somewhat bratty. Parents walking in and usually being actually quite nice, or incredibly entitled. Yet even with the good people that came in, Kevin felt like collapsing right then and there.

The sky outside was dark now. And despite the conditioned air of the candy stores interior, it wasn't like this place was getting any colder. Occasionally, he felt warm flushes overcome his body, and he responded to them with exhausted frowns.

He looked ahead, pressing a palm against his cheek. Yet.. come to think of it, he hadn't really received a visit from those damn kids today. Perhaps they finally decided to leave him be? Or at least some part of his mind hoped for that to be true.

Stars filled the sky outside. And Kevin lifted his phone, briefly turning it on to see what might have been on there. He didn't really want to think about those kids right now, so he tried seeing if there was any way to distract himself.

As he turned it on—there were a few notifications. Messages from random numbers (most likely spam), and even friends. And some that weren't messages, but notifications. Notifications from certain apps, or other things like warnings.

Kevin blinked. He looked over to the bright warning that wa sin his notification list.

'LOCAL 25-YEAR OLD NAMED STREBER VAMPIRUS MISSING - APPEARANCE IS SHORT WITH A SLIGHTLY CHUBBY FIGURE, HAS BLACK HAIR AND A MISSING ARM. WAS LAST SEEN WEARING A GREY SHIRT, BLACK JEANS, BLACK SHOES, AND RED GLASSES. WAS LAST SEEN SOMEWHERE NEAR THE FOREST.

Kevin paused. He slightly gulped. He had remembered seeing that name before.. sometime during Halloween. That was fairly recently, actually. He had seen that name on a news article that had told of how a man named Streber had been attacked at his haunted house, and how his arm had been ripped off and..

He glanced away. With a nervous race of his heartbeat as the memory remained lingering in the back of his mind. And seeing a message from a friend of his (by the name of Radford), he pressed the notification, and it sent him to the texting app.