Bane Academy: The City of Games

Chapter 28

Becca

Not long after, the sky opens up, spilling sunlight - real sunlight - into the arena. The next hour or so is a blur. The standard Hunger Games aircraft appear overhead, sending down carriers to lift us up in. One takes the four of us, while others grab the other tributes. Once inside, we are greeted by the Hunger Games Representatives. All of them.
  "Well done, you four saved thirteen lives today." Katniss says. My hands are shaking as I reply, since no one else would.
  "So you know about the potions?"
  "Yes," Gale says, "We are looking into the cause of that."
Finnick comes over and claps his son's shoulder.
  "I'm proud of you. All of you."
Alex seems to glow - his smile is so bright.
  "But there's one thing. Until," Peeta says the word with a dark undertone, as if the next sentence was hard to say. "Until things are sorted out, we are asking that you four keep this whole incident to yourselves."
The request is somewhat baffling.
  "Why?" Tivan asks.
  "Because of difficulties," Gale says bluntly. "That need to be taken care of."
  "What about the Malum Honours?" Alex asks, looking up at his father.
Finnick smiles. Identical to his son's.
  "Don't worry about that, it's all taken care of. You four will be awarded with the Honours, for bravery and integrity in times of need."

It's Friday - the day of the awards ceremony. The main hall has been transformed into a giant stage and the open area decorated with floating lights and beautiful flowers. Food stalls line the circumference of the grassed area - hundreds of people run and laugh and dance, smiling as incredibly loud music plays from an unknown source. Shae and I wander aimlessly, enjoying the festival. We see Miles and a couple of other Demigods, who we stop to talk to. We also spend some time dancing with the Gladers, as well as changing the colours of the lights with Oak and some other wizards. Its great catching up with everybody. I spot Fade at one point, and leave Shae to chat with Nat. The sun is setting over the tops of the buildings.
  "Hey," I say with a smile, hoping to alleviate any tension. "How'd the events go?"
  "They were okay," he replies, also smiling slightly. His hair has been swept away from his face, revealing his dark eyes. "I heard you won the games."
  "Yeah," I laugh, "it's complicated."
We both go quiet for a minute. I look down at my shoes - black boots that go well with my jeans and dark red blouse.
  "I missed you." Fade says after a while. I look up, our eyes meeting gingerly.
  "I missed you too."
  "Hey," a voice says from behind me. I turn to see Tivan reaching out for me, Shae and Alex behind him. "The ceremony is about to start."
Tivan's eyes dart to Fade, then back at me, and I realise for the first time the situation I've got myself into. Oh great.
  "This a friend?" He asks.
  "Yeah, this is Fade." I half stutter.
Thankfully, Fade nods, extending his hand, which Tivan shakes. Huh, that wasn't what I was expecting.
  "Anyway, we better go, Dumbledore wants all winners up by the stage."
We say goodbye to Fade and head towards the stage. As soon as the sky is dark, the torches are lit and the ceremony begins.
Dumbledore opens the ceremony with a speech, and then the award winners are announced by the Representatives. One by one the winners are called up, by name, domain, then winning status. About halfway through, Katniss begins speaking.
  "Tivan Archer, Hunger Games division, tribute and winner due to bravery in disarray."
Tivan leaves my side, eyes like mercury in the torchlight. 
My insides jerk about as my own name is called. I barely feel myself stepping onto the stage. The crowd is roaring, so many people, so many eyes.
  "Well done," Peeta smiles, shaking my hand and placing the medal around my neck. The ribbon is red lined with gold and blue, representing the Hunger Games, and the medal golden like all the others.
I smile and stand next to Tivan in the line of winners.
  "Shae Fall, scholarship student, tribute and winner due to bravery in disarray."
Shae receives her medal and comes to stand by my side, followed by Alex. We look at each other, smiling like crazy, then out at the crowd. In that moment, all worries are washed away, replaced with sheer happiness as the crowd roars.

                           *     *     *

  "Hey, have you seen Liam?" Shae asks. It's about 11:30 and the festival is slowly drawing to a close. Three quarters of the people have gone back to their dorms and most of the stalls are being folded down and packed away. A team of wizards in orange shirts are taking down the lights. The music is nothing more than a dull thud in the background.
  "No I haven't," I reply. "Not at all actually."
  "Let's go find him."
So we look around for a while, but he doesn't seem to be at the festival. We then decide to look around the rest of the school. After about twenty minutes of random wondering, we come across a door, slightly ajar, leading into a dark room. An eery light flickers from within like a creepy hand gesturing for us to come inside. Something felt indescribably, terribly wrong. So of course, we step right on through.
The room is pretty small, with a line of computers facing us. Pictures in dull colour cast still shadows over the worn keys. Something cold reaches up through the concrete, wrapping around my exposed ankles. I shiver.
  "What is this place?" I ask.
  "I don't know," Shae says, leaning down and looking at the screens. "But I have an idea of who used it last."
I lean in next to her, and watch as the Hunger Games arena flickers in and out of focus.
  "So the games were hacked," I say quickly.
Suddenly, something revolting washes through my nose. Something smokey, pointedly familiar, mixed with a light metallic undertone.
  "The stoner guys!" Shae says suddenly.
  "What?"
  "That smell - it's exactly how you smelt when you came back from the stoners."
  "That doesn't make any sense." I say, almost defensively. They may be stoners, but they are still kinda friends, right?
  "What doesn't make sense?" Shae asks.
  "It wouldn't be my stoner guys - not the ones I know. They wouldn't try to kill me. It just doesn't add up."
Shae's face suddenly flushes white, as if realising something.
  "Shae?"
She goes silent, mouth glued shut.
  "Shae, tell me, now."
  "I, uh, may have done a bad thing. But it was for your own good!"
  "What did you do?" I ask impatiently.
  "I told the staff about Sheep - Scott Tailwing, actually - and the rest of the stoners. Sorry." She looks down at her shoes. She looks so disappointed, her cheeks slack as they face the ground. However, that couldn't stop the anger building inside of me.
  "You did what?"
No reply.
  "Why would you do that?? Without even telling me? Without consulting me?" My voice is rising on its own. Emotions swirl in my stomach before bubbling up to become my words. It goes against all my wills to let the anger out - but I just can't control it.
"What were you thinking? You almost got me, you and Alex killed. Not to mention all the other tributes who were at risk!"
  "I'm sorry okay,"  Shae bursts out, finally looking up at me. "I didn't know any of this was going to happen. I did it because I was scared for you!"
  "Oh yeah," I mock angrily, "you lied and went behind my back for me. Totally."
She goes to retaliate, but something stops her. She sniffs the air.
  "Wait..." She says, "what's-"
She takes a few steps away from me, peering around the computers and into the second section of the room which is hidden from sight. And she screams. She screams so loud, the sound so full of shock and horror. The sound makes my heart pulsate. I'd never heard her scream before. I jump to her side.
There, slumped against the wall and covered in slick blood, is a scrawny boy with short blonde hair. Bronze glasses frame his half open eyes. Jagged cuts run from his wrist downwards, vertical to his arm. Blood is everywhere. The wall, the floor, the body. And, most terrifyingly, death clings to the body, wrapping it's long, clawed talons around his bloody arms.
I scream.
I cry.
I run.