Writer Games | Masquerade of Martyrs & Family Ties

Task Three: Barely Human - Males

District One - Cartier Graff

I was never one for  dogs. The small ones were yappy and annoying, and served no purpose  other than to act as an unnecessary accessory. The large ones you didn't  see much of, other than when they were used as protection. By then they  were worn and scarred, with no aesthetic value.

The one before me was  like that. His face was pointed and angular, colored the deepest black.  Deep, jagged scars marred his flesh tearing open his jowls to show  pointed, yellowing teeth. The short black hairs continued down his torso  to become human skin, also scarred beyond belief.

It seemed as though he  beckoned me back to the tombs, I was already a short distance down the  tunnels. Jamilla and Calder had already started attacking the creature,  the latter throwing knives that bounced off of the creature that was as  tall as two grown men and seemed just as strong.

Jamilla was knocked to  the ground by a sweep of the creatures arm, knocking her out with a  groan. What were these imbeciles thinking? He was clearly there for me.

Part of me wished to  follow where this strange Jackal would lead me, but the desire to win  pushed me to fight for my own will. More specifically, fight him.

With a spin of my bo  staff I charged head on at the creature, sliding through its legs and  targeting the backs of its knees for a swift attack. It stumbled  forward, yet did not fall as I wished.

"Stop!" a voice hissed in my ear.

I smirked. "I didn't say speak, dog!"

"You do not belong here,  boy!" the voice was not a single sound, but many. I heard the voices of  boys, grown men, old men- all speaking to me in a unified tone. "Join  your ancestors in the underworld. There you shall be reborn."

My smile faltered, I  suddenly felt very vulnerable. I didn't belong there. I didn't belong  among the lowlife scum, battling for my very existence. I deserved a  chance anew, a chance for rebirth.

"Yes." The Jackal  reached out to me. "You could return as the ruler of all this. End the  Games, kill the Gamemakers and the President- govern Panem for yourself  and only yourself."

My head snapped up at his words. I tossed my weapon to the side and gazed up at the beast. "You can do this?"

"I cannot. Only you can if you join me."

"And I'll be dead?"

"Yes."

I looked back at the  unconscious Jamilla, and at Calder who stared at me, deciding weather or  not he should strike. "Then I ask only to tell you a secret before we  leave. It's very important."

"...Very well." The Jackal leaned down, and I met him at his pointed ear.

"I'm not really a dog  person." I pulled him down by his ear, suddenly light as a feather. I  slammed him into the wall and watched him shrink down into one of the  little yappy dogs I so despised.

"What are you doing!" it demanded, its voice changing from that of many strong men to a single child.

"You know, I like the  government. Especially the Gamemakers this year." I smiled, lifting my  staff once more. "Tunnels, hallucinations- it's all very dear to my  heart. You, however, don't exist. So this doesn't bother me too much." I  slammed my staff down on the puppies' head, watching it disappear in an  unglamorous glitch.

"H-How did you know?" Calder slowly approached. "Th-that it wasn't real?"

I ran a hand through my hair, fixing a stray strand. Darn, it must look like a mess. "Simple. Dogs can't talk."