105: Bloody hands

The next morning, we were led through the town like lambs to a slaughterhouse with the guards as our butchers. I wasn’t sure what to expect exactly, but I did know that I did not expect that we’d be fighting amongst the memorials of our loved ones. And so, when we stopped in front of the raven statue, with swarms of people crowded around us, I couldn’t help but find myself rather confused.
“Surely this isn’t where the arena will be set up…” I whispered to Xavier.
He chuckled before shaking his head at me. “After spending months… no, years at the mercy of Meera slash Katherine, you find that hard to believe?”
And lo and behold, the raven statue, something which should have been an inanimate object, opened up its beak before raising its head and screeching to the sky, as it did, the ground beneath us began to shake and the large flat stones which had once been paved to the ground, broke loose before shifting backwards in a circular direction. Eventually, they formed large rocky bleachers and carried the crowd away before seating them like waves at a beach receding before settling back into the water. The rumbling in the ground, however, did not stop. Instead, it intensified as the glass memorials shook and cracked before melting together. Slowly they began to form a large dome shape which grew and grew until it reached the wide borders of the rocky bleachers. The sixteen of us were sucked into the glassy dome immediately and were tossed into the air for a moment or so before we came tumbling to the ground. It was covered in rough heaps of sand which had already caused a few friction burns on my skin here and there. Bordering the edges of the dome was a large, fenced-off area, within which was a long row of benches which spanned the entire circumference of the dome. Seated on these benches, were the vampire council members who anxiously gazed at the nobles before them. Many of the council members had children participating in this last stage of the game, children they’d be bidding farewell to soon. Amongst these nobles was Meera who stood up, letting her eyes roam eagerly around the dome. Her hands were clasped tightly around a microphone which she waved in the air the moment her eyes met mine. A smile decorated her face and a sick, twisted look occupied her eyes. I shivered uncomfortably, shook my head, looked away from her, got to my feet and dusted my clothing off, before noticing that the dome had been divided into eight sections, each section enclosed off by glass, upon which were the names of the fallen nobles both from these Games and the ones before. It was a sadistic touch, reminding us all of what was at stake here- our lives. Leaned up against these glass walls was a large rack, each sporting a wide variety of weapons, similar to those that were provided in the training rooms. I soon noticed that within my section of the dome, I had another occupant sharing it with me. She was tall, well-built and much larger than I was. I recognised her as Hope Webber. We hadn’t met officially, but I knew of her and had seen her frequently during the games and the festival. As I recalled, she was a good fighter, strong too. But unfortunately, I knew she wouldn’t be strong enough.
“Welcome nobles to the final stage of the Game of Succesio. This stage will test your ability to fight off your own kind and will measure your determination and loyalty towards the crown. Are you willing to kill your own for the crown? Are you willing to set aside your feelings and emotions to do what you must for the vampire kingdom? There will be four sub-stages. This one will begin with sixteen potential heirs to the throne, stage two will have eight, stage three will have four and our final round will have two potential heirs. Needless to say, you *must* fight to the death, until there is but one heir standing, the true heir to the vampire kingdom, our sovereign leader. Long live the eternal monarch!”
I found it funny that Meera didn’t wish me a long life as she always had. Perhaps she was expecting me to die, perhaps she’d already planned it. All I knew was this- I now had to get my hands dirty, to kill all so that I could watch Meera crumble in the confines of her leadership.
There was a brief moment of silence, within which a thick sense of tension hung in the air as we all gazed at our competitors, nervous yet determined, conflicted yet certain. Once the moment of silence had passed, a loud ringing echoed throughout the entirety of the dome. Echoes of screams and chants from the crowd sitting on the rocky bleachers accompanied it and for a short period of time, we were all disorientated by the overwhelming noise surrounding us. But as soon as the cheers died down, the tension returned. I watched closely as Hope made her way towards the weaponry rack, cautious of me attacking as she grabbed her chosen weapon- a solid steel staff. She waited a moment, before asking, “Aren’t you going to grab a weapon?”
But I shook my head at her. Although my one shoulder was still tender and in the process of healing from the blow that the celestial struck previously, I was still much stronger than Hope. At least, with a weapon, she had more of a chance to defend herself against me than if she fought me without one.
I let her make the first move as she charged toward me with her staff. But I pre-empted her blow and dodged it with ease. She grunted before turning around and swiping the steel staff at me and as she did, the force of her swing let out a loud *woosh* in the air. It was a swing forceful enough to send a gust of wind toward my body, resulting in me losing my footing slightly. But still, she wasn’t quick enough for me and the moment her staff swung in the air, I ducked before swiping my foot on the floor, right against her feet, knocking her to the ground. She landed with a loud *thud* and began scrambling to her feet immediately, knowing that she was more vulnerable lying on her back than standing on her two feet. I gave her enough time to recover before attacking. This time, I dove to the floor, landed on my hands, and then pushed against the ground before launching my feet into her stomach. She flew across the room, landing against the glass wall. I ran towards her and tried to kick her in the face, but she caught my foot in her hand and twisted it so that I spun in the air and landed on my back. I was impressed, to say the least, even more so when she got up from the floor and pounced on me. Her hands quickly made their way to my throat where she began to squeeze with all of her might. I could see the rabid, desperate look in her red eyes and the fear swirling in them too. She didn’t want to die… but neither did I. And as I gasped for air and clawed at her fingers, I shifted my legs underneath her, opening them up before wrapping them around her torso. Next, I used all the strength I could muster to flip us over and once I had her underneath me, I managed to get my neck free from her grasp. She gazed up at me surprised, and the fear in her eyes only intensified. She knew this was it for her, her final few moments. I could only feel sympathy towards her. In fact, I even hesitated a moment. Taking a life was no easy task and each time it was done, it stripped away at who you were, ripping and tearing at whatever made you whole and pure and untainted by darkness. And so, I began stripping, ripping and tearing away at myself as I raised my shaky hands in the air and extended my fingernails into long, sharp claws.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, tears now stung at my eyes, and I could barely breathe. I wanted so badly to close my eyes as I brought my hands down towards her chest but didn’t dare to. I wanted her tear-filled eyes glued into memory, her sacrifice to be remembered. The moment my claws ripped through her chest, she let out a loud gasp and her back arched. Her eyes darted across my face in one last plead as tears fell down her pale cheeks. But she was too late, in the next moment, her heart was out of her chest, in the palm of my hands and as it left her body, so did the life leave her eyes.
Her blood now stained my hands, and I doubted the blood would ever wash away nor the look of fear ever leave my conscious. And as I stared down at her lifeless body, I couldn’t help but let the tears fall down my face. Did I regret killing Hope Webber? Yes, the second my hand ripped through her flesh.
But my moment of regret and self-hatred was short-lived when the sound of a large bell rang throughout the dome. I gazed up, confused and then froze when I saw a projection of me, reflecting on the dome. Underneath me was the lifeless body of Hope and overshadowing the murder I’d committed was the word “Winner” printed in bold over her corpse.
“We have our first winner of the first round! Phoenix Ackerman will be progressing to the second round!” Meera’s voice was sickening and filled the entire dome and when my eyes found hers, I couldn’t help but hate her even more. She had a look of enjoyment on her face, as though my tears brought joy to her, and her joy would only increase as this stage progressed.
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Stay safe! Stay healthy! Sending my love!