Post by Lucius Crane on Apr 1, 2015 21:35:14 GMT
Come Little Children
I'll Take Thee Away,
Into A Land Of
Enchantment
I'll Take Thee Away,
Into A Land Of
Enchantment
"Goodnight, Father." Lucius said softly as he nestled down under his blankets, closing his eyes as a gentle kiss was planted on his forehead and the blankets were tucked around his little body. He had always needed to be tucked in at night, it made him feel more safe and secure than just the blankets being loosely draped over him. He had been that way since he was an infant, always sleeping best and longest when he was swaddled. That or when he was snuggled up against Seneca or being held in his arms. He didn't like to bother his father for that though. He didn't like to have to listen to the games until he fell asleep anyway.
A bright smile crossed his soft pink lips as Seneca finished tucking him in all nicely and he responded to him with a gentle goodnight and a sweet I love you as usual. "I love you too, Daddy" he responded in a soft, tired voice just before letting out a rather large yawn, sleepily blinking a few times as he watched Seneca exit his room. He had asked him to always leave the bedroom do or open just a crack to allow a sliver of light to flood into the room from the hallway. It was comforting and easier than a night light, that was for sure. It wasn't long after that, that the boy's light blue eyes fluttered closed and his breathing softened as he fell into a deep sleep.
It was no big surprise that the child was quite the dreamer. He had quite the imagination and he had big plans in life. Things like going to visit Rue in district 11 with enough chocolate to feed everyone there. Plans to bring Rue back to the capitol someday and to show her around since there was much more to the capitol than parties, even if the majority of the capitolites even seemed to agree that was the main fun of the city. He could dream up beautiful scenery and put it down on paper. He could imagine silly situations that he would never actually be in. He could dream about doing so many things in his life and hope to actually get to do them someday no matter how impossible they seemed. A dreamer by day, but at night they always seemed to turn sour.
Nightmares plagued the boy's sleep for as long as he could remember. They always seemed to involve the same sorts of things too. When he was younger, before the games, he remembered having horrid dreams about being out with his father and becoming lost. Either at a party or in a store or just out on a busy street in the city. Another had come about the first time President Snow had showed up when little Luc had been at work with his father for the day. There was something about the man that just made the child feel so uneasy. Without even ever speaking to him he had managed to instil a large amount of fear into the child. Lucius knew that he was danger. He knew that the man gave them everything that they had and that he could take it all away. He could take Seneca away.
After his first experience with watching the games the nightmares had once again taken a new form. One that really could happen to him someday, even if it wasn't an imminent threat. Lucius often had dreams about being taken from home and thrown into the games, something he considered to be a living nightmare. For the kids who were thrown in there each time it was real and it could be very real for Lucius if Snow ever decided to make it so. He had that kind of power and Lucius knew better than to put it past him. The nightmares always had one thing in common and that was losing Seneca, the thing that Lucius feared the most. Whether he was taken from Sen or Sen was taken from him, it was his worst nightmare.
Tonight was a night where he would be plucked from life as he knew it and thrown into a hellish arena. One composed of his worst fears, with the worst of all being hung over his head.
[/font][/font][/div][/font][/div]A bright smile crossed his soft pink lips as Seneca finished tucking him in all nicely and he responded to him with a gentle goodnight and a sweet I love you as usual. "I love you too, Daddy" he responded in a soft, tired voice just before letting out a rather large yawn, sleepily blinking a few times as he watched Seneca exit his room. He had asked him to always leave the bedroom do or open just a crack to allow a sliver of light to flood into the room from the hallway. It was comforting and easier than a night light, that was for sure. It wasn't long after that, that the boy's light blue eyes fluttered closed and his breathing softened as he fell into a deep sleep.
It was no big surprise that the child was quite the dreamer. He had quite the imagination and he had big plans in life. Things like going to visit Rue in district 11 with enough chocolate to feed everyone there. Plans to bring Rue back to the capitol someday and to show her around since there was much more to the capitol than parties, even if the majority of the capitolites even seemed to agree that was the main fun of the city. He could dream up beautiful scenery and put it down on paper. He could imagine silly situations that he would never actually be in. He could dream about doing so many things in his life and hope to actually get to do them someday no matter how impossible they seemed. A dreamer by day, but at night they always seemed to turn sour.
Nightmares plagued the boy's sleep for as long as he could remember. They always seemed to involve the same sorts of things too. When he was younger, before the games, he remembered having horrid dreams about being out with his father and becoming lost. Either at a party or in a store or just out on a busy street in the city. Another had come about the first time President Snow had showed up when little Luc had been at work with his father for the day. There was something about the man that just made the child feel so uneasy. Without even ever speaking to him he had managed to instil a large amount of fear into the child. Lucius knew that he was danger. He knew that the man gave them everything that they had and that he could take it all away. He could take Seneca away.
After his first experience with watching the games the nightmares had once again taken a new form. One that really could happen to him someday, even if it wasn't an imminent threat. Lucius often had dreams about being taken from home and thrown into the games, something he considered to be a living nightmare. For the kids who were thrown in there each time it was real and it could be very real for Lucius if Snow ever decided to make it so. He had that kind of power and Lucius knew better than to put it past him. The nightmares always had one thing in common and that was losing Seneca, the thing that Lucius feared the most. Whether he was taken from Sen or Sen was taken from him, it was his worst nightmare.
Tonight was a night where he would be plucked from life as he knew it and thrown into a hellish arena. One composed of his worst fears, with the worst of all being hung over his head.
Come Little Children
The Time's Come To Play
Here In My Garden
Of Magic
The Time's Come To Play
Here In My Garden
Of Magic
The dreams always seemed to start with such an amazing and pleasant activity. Lucius and his father sat at the table, enjoying some sweet little art project that they both seemed to be enjoying. There was plenty of giggling and smiles coming from the the little boy as he happily worked with his father to create some new piece of art to hang or place in the house. Their house was filled with their art work, things they had done together and things they had done separate. It made the place theirs.
It wasn't long before the giggles and the laughs were interrupted by loud noises and yelling outside the apartment. Soon enough there was a pounding on the door and it was quickly followed by the door being busted in, slamming against the floor. Lucius yelped and jumped up, running around the table to where Seneca sat, climbing up onto his lap and clinging to him ever so tightly. A peacekeeper stepped inside and over to them. Lucius's heart immediately sank. If the peacekeepers were here and busting down their door like that it couldn't mean anything good. The only problem was that he had no idea what was going on. President Snow could have gotten angry over something that had happened in the games or something that didn't happen and he could have come to take Seneca away. Maybe something had happened with the games that Seneca needed to fix. Maybe they had come to take Luc away from Seneca, knowing that it would hurt the man. They could take either of them and what would happen after that was a mystery. There were really only two options. They could be kept like prisoners or they could be killed, neither of which were good options. Soon enough it became clear who they wanted, but not the reason why they did.
"Give me the boy." The man growled at Seneca, not even waiting for the head gamemaker to comply with his demand. Instead he just grabbed onto the child and pried him from his father's arms. Lucius let out a scream, a look of terror on his face as tears began to feel his eyes. "Daddy! Daddy don't let them take me! Daddy!" Lucius cried out and tried to grab Seneca's hands, but the peacekeeper pulled him away and another stepped in to grab Seneca, giving him a shot to make him sleep. He watched as hi father slumped in the other guys arms. He whimpered and tried to get out of the peacekeeper's grip by squirming and pushing down on his arms, but the man only tightened his hold around his waist.
"Cut it out kid. Stop squirming, it isn't going to save you." The man growled, shaking his head as he headed for the doorway, simply stepping on the door as he walked out. "President Snow made it very clear that he wanted young Lucius Crane to be a part of the games this time around. He was very insistent upon it. He said that you would be the perfect little game piece. I'm betting you don't even make it out of the bloodbath." he added, a wicked smirk on his face as he carried Lucius down the hall and toward the stairs.
Lucius' breath caught in his throat and he momentarily stopped squirming in his arms. "The games?" he asked, sounding like he was in complete shock really. He was overcome by a wave of fear at the mention and he wasn't quite sure if he had heard the man right. Why did President Snow think that it would be a good idea to throw him into the games? That was a terrible idea! He had no skill. The man was right to make his bet that he wouldn't make it past the bloodbath because realistically he wouldn't. He could draw and that was it. He couldn't fight or run or use a weapon. He didn't even poses any sort of social skills to get him allies or sponsors.
"I can't go in the games!" He protested, once again squirming a bit, but his efforts were getting him no where. The peacekeeper who had him was very large and very strong and he was holding onto and carrying Luc through the apartment building as if he was the same size as a newborn baby. There was no way that he could break free and the man's grip was only getting painfully tighter the more he struggled. "There has to be some sort of mistake! I am not from the districts! Kids from the capitol don't get put in the games!" he cried, still tense even as he stopped trying to wiggle his way to freedom. He thought more and frowned when he thought of something else. "I am only ten! I am not even old enough to go into the games even if I was in the district! There was a mistake! This can't be right! I can't be a tribute!"
The peacekeeper let out a sort of strange grunt, shaking his head. "These were the orders I was given, Kid. I was told to get Lucius Crane and bring him to the training center. That is exactly what I am doing." he told him. "I don't know why he wants you in the games, but he does and he was very insistent upon it. I am not going to be the one to disappoint him. He'd have my head and well, I don't want to die. He wants you dead for some reason and this is how he picked to have you killed." He carried him down the street toward a tall building in that Lucius had never seen before. He moved inside the huge metal double doors after putting some sort of code into a small panel outside, the room that they stepped into pitch dark so that Lucius couldn't tell if anyone else was around them or not.
He felt something grab his arm and he yelped. "Hey! Let me go! What are you doing?! Stop!" he tried to pull away, but the grip got tighter. "Stop moving." an unrecognizable voice growled. He felt a pinch in his upper left arm whimpering a bit. The lights flipped on in the room just as it seemed the entire place start to rotate very quickly. "Why is it all spinning..." he mumbled, his own voice sounding weird to himself. "Sshh, it isn't. It's just you." the person said, sounding annoyed as if it had been a stupid question. Just a moment later and his eyelids started to close. He tried his hardest to keep them open. "What is going on? I don't...I can't?" he tried to move and it was like he wasn't attached to his limbs anymore. "Take him upstairs." The man instructed the peacekeeper, his voice suddenly sounding very odd and like it was echoing. Soon after Lucius' eyes closed and everything went black once again.
Follow Sweet Children
I'll Show Thee The Way
Through All The Pain And
The Sorrows
I'll Show Thee The Way
Through All The Pain And
The Sorrows
Lucius wasn't sure how much time had passed between his strange entrance into the mysterious building and now, waking up on a cold, hard metal table. He felt miserably exhausted and like he had bricks of lead strapped to his entire body. He didn't want to move. He just wanted to "sleep" more. He still had no idea what was going on though or where he was now. This wasn't an arena, that was for sure. He slowly turned his head from side to side to look around him.
Cosmetics. There was make up and hair brushes and things of that nature littered on the counter. On the other side there were towels and a bucket of sorts and very colorful bottles of soap. What was that all about? He sat up as much as he could, his wrists, waist, and ankles strapped to the table with a thick belt of sorts. He could barely get his shoulders off the table, but he managed to extend his neck and hold his head up enough to look down and notice that he was dressed in some strange and fancy suit. He didn't dress up often. There were a couple of rare occasions where he had been required to when going somewhere with Seneca, but usually he tried to avoid the black tie events. Why did he need to be dressed up to go into the games?
He looked up as the doorknob turned and the door slowly opened, a rather scary looking capitolite with long finger nails and equally as long eye lashes and some crazy purple hair came into the room. "You are all set and ready for your interview now, Mr. Crane." the woman said, starting to undo the bands. "And don't you go trying to run off, their are peacekeepers waiting outside the door to take you to the stage and I am sure they will be watching you the entire time to make sure that you don't stir up any trouble." she added as she continued to set him free.
"My interview? Interview for what? With who?" Lucius questioned, still horribly confused. He rotated his wrists a bit and rubbed at them slightly when the belts were removed from them. The woman just chuckled, only causing a growth of the confusion in the young boy's eyes. "Your interview with Caesar of course. All the tributes do it so the entire capitol and everyone in the districts can get to know each of the tributes of course, Silly." She told him, shaking her head a bit, still amused that he had even needed to ask the question at all. He cringed at the thought of that, but he didn't have too much time to sit and think since the peacekeeper who had brought him here poked his head into the room. "Caesar wants the kid out there now. Is he ready yet?" he grumbled, looking toward Luc. Lucius frowned, but nodded and got up, coming toward the peacekeeper, but walking slowly. His legs felt like they were made of jello and he felt incredibly tired and shaky still. It was just such an odd and uncomfortable feeling. He wished he could just make it stop or that they could have, but he didn't have the time or the guts to ask.
The peacekeeper grabbed his arm and led him down the hallway, walking swiftly and practically dragging poor Luc behind him. "Come on, Kid. Quit dragging your feet." The grumpy old peacekeeper growled at him and Lucius did pick up his pace as best he could, not wanting to give anymore reasons for people to be cranky with him. He led him over to the stairs that would take him onto the stage and Luc could see the bubbly, colorful master of ceremonies waiting for him to take the stage with that big smile on his face. It made Lucius uneasy and he hesitated at the bottom of the stairs, only to be nudged a bit roughly by the peacekeeper. "Don't make me carry you up there, Kid. I will, but I really don't want to and you really don't want me to." he growled.
Lucius frowned at that, but just moved up the stairs, holding onto the rail tightly as he did. He moved across the stage and past the pulled back curtain, his eyes immediately locking on the large audience that sat there staring up at him. The lights were bright and in his face, making them a bit hard to see, but he could make them all out enough for it to entirely freak him out. He didn't do crowds. He wasn't good in front of people. It was hard enough to talk to one stranger let alone to a hundred or more. Then there was the fact that this was being broadcast to all of Panem, which just made it all so much worse.
"Lucius? Did you hear me?" Caesar asked. "Hello? Anybody home?" he air knocked against the side of his head. Lucius frowned and looked over to him, shaking visibly. He struggled to form words and make them come out, but after a moment he very quietly managed. "No...I mean yes, I mean I didn't hear you, but I am here. I'm sorry. What?" he asked, staring at him. The audience laughed and he could feel his cheeks burning bright red with the embarrassment. "I asked you what it felt like to be the first Capitol child to be entered into the games. Lucius Crane, the head gamemakers own son, going into the games as the first ever capitol child to play! Exciting, yes?" he asked.
Lucius frowned. "It feels awful. I have no idea why I am here! I have no idea what is going on! I want my father and I want to go back home." he simply blurted out all his feelings while trying to keep the tears threatening to spill from his light blue eyes at bay. He stared at Caesar as he waited for the man to say something back, but he couldn't hear what he was saying. His lips were moving, but a loud ticking noise that sounded like a timer was overpowering his words, even as he spoke into the microphone. He was about to ask him what it was when the lights started to dim until he was once again plunged into the darkness, only the ticking sound remaining.
Weep Not Poor Children
For Life Is This Way
Murdering Beauty
And Passions
For Life Is This Way
Murdering Beauty
And Passions
The ticking continued, but now it was louder and had a more distinct electronic sound to it. "10....9....8..." Numbers were being announced that went along with each beep of the timer. He knew what this was. He had heard it before. The darkness started to lift and was replaced by a small amount of sunlight that was filtering through the few small breaks in the canopy of dark, heavy, ominous clouds above. He could see that he was no longer alone, standing on a pedestal in a circular formation with what he assumed was twenty four other children. This year there would be 25 because of Lucius.
"7...6...5..." The person continued the count down and Lucius started to panic even more. What was he supposed to do? He knew what happened here and just the thought of it made him feel ill, just as the scene had the very first time he had seen it happen on TV. He wouldn't go for the middle, no, that seemed like the stupidest thing he could ever do. He looked around him and noticed that there seemed to be a forested area surrounding the entire center of the arena. He didn't know anything about a forest. He had never been in a forest before. He hardly even went outside apart from when he was moving from building to building. He wasn't groomed or built for anything like that, but it didn't seem that he had a choice.
"4...3..." He let out a small whimper. "2...1...." There was a ding and everyone started to run. Many ran toward the center, but a couple ran for the forest. Lucuis couldn't seem to get his legs to move. Instead he stayed put, almost being forced to watch the bloodbath unfold as the stronger and faster people got to the cornucopia first to grab the better weapons. He watched as some began to attack each other, murder each other as if it was some easy and normal task.
The scene brought about the queasy feeling and he swayed a bit on the platform, nearly falling off it, but managing to catch himself and remain standing. He briefly closed his eyes, but didn't stay that way for long since part of him told himself that it probably wasn't the smartest idea to stand in the bloodbath with his eyes closed. He opened them and looked around, about to dart over to the forest to at least try and get away from the worst of it when something ... no ... someone caught his eye. He would recognize her anywhere.
Rue. It was Rue. The sweet and kind girl from the party. The girl that he had shared his first dance with. The girl he had shared his first kiss with, even if it hadn't been a real kiss. That sweet little kiss he had given her good bye had meant quite a bit to him. He had introduced the girl to chocolate. To so many wonderful things. She hadn't been mean to him. She hadn't been like the other children. No, she had been the perfect friend and they had so many plans. He was going to go visit her home and meet her family. He was going to bring her back to the capitol for a proper tour of the place and more of the real experience than just that one party. They were going to go to the beach together and it was going to be fun and perfect. But now here they were, standing in the games together. She had been reaped too. It made him sad, of course, but a little part of him was glad to see the familiar face.
Lucius started toward her, wanting to be with her if they were going to be stuck in this place. It would at least be a little bit of comfort, hopefully for the both of them. He was about to call out to her to get her attention when a rather muscular male tribute stepped up behind her, grabbing her by wrapping one arm around her shoulders and then stabbing her in the back with the knife in his other hand. Lucius stopped, eyes wide as the sadness and anger and fear rushed over him, nearly causing him to fall to his knees. "Rue!" he screamed, but all it did was make the tribute drop her and look toward him, quickly starting toward him after he heard the sound of the canon that marked the end of his dear friend's life.
Lucius cringed and then turned on his heel, quickly running toward the forest. He moved as fast as he could, which wasn't very fast, but the adrenalin allowed for him to run more and faster than he ever had in his entire life. He didn't look back. He could hear the tribute coming behind him, but then he heard him let out a grunt as if he had been hit by something. He still didn't look. He wouldn't look. He just kept running into the trees.
Hush Now Dear Children
It Must Be This Way
Too Weary Of Life And
Deceptions
It Must Be This Way
Too Weary Of Life And
Deceptions
Lucius ran and he ran as far as his little legs and unconditioned body would allow him. He managed to dodge the tribute or the tribute had indeed been taken down back at the cornucopia before making it into the forest. He didn't care what the reason was, he was finally alone now and he could feel safe for a moment. He could at least stop running, though he had no intentions of stopping completely. He continued to walk on, hoping to find somewhere that he could go to.
It was incredibly difficult to calm down though. He had just watched his best friend, his only real friend that wasn't family get killed by some kid who had made it look so easy. It was like he had been born to kill. He looked proud of himself when he made the kill. The boy had been proud of killing one of the sweetest, most innocent children he had ever met. The killing was bad in general in Luc's eyes, but killing a helpless child who had never done anything to deserve it and probably would never have been capable of doing something so bad was just horrible. He didn't see how any of this helped anything. He didn't understand why President Snow felt this was good for their country. It was only making the districts more angry. It was only making him more fearful of the man instead of respecting him the way that a leader should be respected.
Tears streamed down the boy's bright red cheeks, red now from the running and the emotions that were coursing through his body. He had just watched his best friend get murdered. The image just kept playing through his mind in such vivid detail. It caused a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach and a hole in his heart. It was almost a deep ache that he felt. A deep ache for her to come around from behind one of the trees, alive and well so the two of them could get through this together. So they could find some way out of this mess and get back home so they could do all the fun things they had planned. So she could be back with her family and so he could be back with his father. So that neither had to feel the same grief that he was feeling right now. It wasn't fair. She was so young and had so very much to live for. He had a lot to live for too. They had a lot to live for together.
He cringed when he heard a sort of mixture between a roar and a growl. What could that possibly be? He glanced over his shoulder, noticing a large cat like mutt coming toward him. The poor kid sneezed as the creature got closer before he even managed to move away from it a bit. He sneezed again, shaking his head. "N...N...Nice Kitty." he said quietly, though he knew well enough that the cat was not nice. He sneezed again and sniffled before he started running again, the creature leaping after him.
It was harder to run this time, his nose running and filled up. His eyes itching and starting to swell. He felt like it was harder to breathe. There was no way he was going to be able to get away from this cat mutt. There was just no way. He wouldn't give up though. Maybe it would just stop and go away or maybe it would get distracted by something. He could hope that it would. He had no way of making it up any of the trees, he couldn't climb. Trying would just ensure that he would get eaten. He would just need to keep running as the cat creature started to close in on him.
Rest Now My Children
For Soon We'll Away
into The Calm And
The Quiet
For Soon We'll Away
into The Calm And
The Quiet
Water. Running water. He could hear it coming up. It wasn't loud enough to be a waterfall, but it was definitely some source of moving water. He wasn't sure if that would help him, but the mutt thing seemed to be based off of a cat. He knew from going to work with his father that the mutts often still held some of the traits to what they were based off of. Kitties and water didn't mix and maybe this thing wouldn't like it either. It was worth a try if he could manage to get to it.
Lucius maneuvered his way through all of the trees and finally he caught site of the river. It was small, maybe more of a creek than a river, but it would do. There was even a small chain link fence along it and he could see a pretty old arched stone bridge not to far away. At least it was a pretty place, though it seemed to be getting darker and darker under the canopy of leaves as the clouds seemed to become more and more saturated. He jumped over the fence when he got to it, or well, he tried to jump over the fence and ended up hitting it with his foot, making him trip and land face first into the water and mud. He cringed, but quickly rolled over and looked toward the cat mutt that was still coming at him.
He quickly brought his arm up to his face as if to shield himself, closing his eyes tightly as he waited for the inevitable. It didn't come though. When he opened his eyes to see why he wasn't feeling the pain of being eaten, he noticed that the cat was standing at the fence sort of growling at him. It couldn't seem to get past the fence and eventually it just gave up and ran off in search of new prey that wasn't behind a fence and sitting in water. Lucius breathed a sigh of relief and then looked around. He got up and moved over toe the bridge, simply nestling down under it, staying in the water for the moment. He wanted to rest, but he wanted to make sure that the mean old kitty really was gone.
He leaned back against the old stone, closing his eyes for a moment. He was feeling miserable. Apparently he was both allergic to mutt cat's and normal cats. He reached up and rubbed his eyes a bit, trying to get them to stop itching. He even splashed a bit of the water on them and cupped his hands together so he could scoop it up and drink. It felt good to finally have a nice drink and now he just wanted to take a small rest. Just a tiny rest.
Come Little Children
I'll Take Thee Away,
Into A Land Of
Enchantment
I'll Take Thee Away,
Into A Land Of
Enchantment
What was that noise? Wait, what was that other noise? He opened his eyes and the first thing he noticed was that it was now raining. Had he fallen asleep? It was raining pretty good, not like a gentle rain that had just started. He poked his head out from under the bridge and there was a bright flash and then a very loud crack of thunder that followed, actually making the child jump and yelp. Storms. He hated storms. They were scary and usually he would curl up on his father's lap or snuggle right up to him in bed so that he didn't have to deal with them alone. He needed his thunder buddy. He wanted to be held, but Seneca wasn't here. He didn't know where he was. Probably being forced to work against his will and still watch all of this. Forced to continue to run the games as if his little boy was not in them.
Lucius pulled his head back under the cover of the bridge, enjoying that he had something over his head, but it didn't take him long to realize that it was very bad that he was sitting in water. He got up shakily, both cold and overwhelmed with anxiety, making his way the opposite way from which he had come to the creek in the first place. He could only hope that the storm would end quickly and that he would be able to find some sort of shelter. He also hoped that he wouldn't run into anyone else, but he had this horrible feeling that he would no matter how hard he tried not to.
Another flash and an even louder crack made him jump again before wrapping his arms around his little body, shivering. He wanted to be home with his father. He wanted to be in his father's arms where he could feel safe and sound and warm. He wanted to be curled up under his big and fluffy blanket. He didn't want to be wandering around the woods alone during an awful storm while fearing for his life. He had no idea what to do. He was scared and sad and feeling miserably hopeless. There was no way he was getting back home to Seneca. This was it. This was the end and he hadn't even gotten to say good bye.
He was too busy being miserable to notice that someone was sneaking up on him. Someone who was quite big really. He didn't notice until the old man stepped on a twig and the snapping sound caught his attention. He turned around quickly, frowning deeply at who he saw. He had been expecting a tribute. A young guy. No, the man who was standing before him was tall, big, and old. He was dressed in a suit with a white rose pinned to the little flap. His hair was white and he had a pretty fluffy white beard to match. A scarier, less jolly version of Santa.
"Hello there, Lucius. Enjoying your time in the games?" President Snow asked him as if this was just a normal conversation. "I thought this was an experience that both you and your father could use. I thought it would spice things up a bit. Give Crane a very nice image." he said. He watched Lucius very carefully, his gaze very intense on the young boy. Lucius didn't speak, just staring at him with a frown. He didn't know what to say. He couldn't seem to form the right words. He had never spoken to President Snow before other than to very politely, and very, very awkwardly, excuse himself when he had been around his father when the man wanted to speak with him about something. He was careful to avoid him.
President snow sighed and watched him. "Not going to speak, Mr. Crane? Well...that is just fine." he said, reaching into the pocket of his pants, pulling out a knife. He wiped the shiny blade between his white gloved fingers before looking to Luc again. "No matter. I came to complete this little lesson myself. I couldn't let some district child have the pleasure of killing you. I wanted to do it myself. Make sure that it is done right." he grabbed Lucius before the boy had a chance to react and get away. Lucius whimpered, tears falling down his cheeks still. He just closed his eyes tightly and braced himself as Snow lifted his arm and brought it down toward him, the knife almost piercing his skin...
Come Little Children
The Time's Come To Play
Here In My Garden
Of Shadows
The Time's Come To Play
Here In My Garden
Of Shadows
...It was at that moment that the child jolted awake. Breathing hard and shaking, Lucius sat up in his bed, looking around his room with fear still in his light blue eyes. He was home. He was home. He was in his room and in his bed. It had all been a dream. It had all just been an awful nightmare. It wasn't real. None of it had been real. He was still home. He sniffled, tears still falling down his cheeks even in the waking world. He reached up and pushed his light, disheveled hair back and away from his forehead since it was sticking to his skin from being damp with sweat.
"I'm okay...I'm okay." He whispered to himself as he leaned back against his pillows again, taking a few slow and deep breaths to try and relax himself. He was still shaking. He still felt horrible and he still wanted Seneca, but he needed a minute before he would go and find him. He needed to stop shaking enough to get up without just falling over and he needed to just compose himself a bit. "You're home Luc." he continued to talk to himself.
Rue. Rue wasn't dead. Rue was still alive or as far as he knew she was still alive and she was home. She was in her district safe and sound with her family. He would still get to see her again. He was going to make sure that he got to see her again, especially now. He could still feel that pain. He remembered the ache that he had felt when he had watched her get murdered. When he thought he had lost his best and first friend forever. He could still go visit her, he could still try to bring her here and to the beach. Her family still had her and didn't have to grieve over the loss of a child and a sibling. She could live her life.
Lucius rolled over onto his side and curled up for a moment, just taking in the fact that it had all been a dream. At the time it had felt so real. His dreams always felt incredibly real and they tended to stay with him for a long time. This one had been particularly hard, but it wasn't an uncommon one. He had dreams like these all the time. Nightmares actually. It was rare that his dreams were good. They tended to all be horrible or he simply just didn't have dreams that he could remember at all the other nights. Those were the best. The ones that he couldn't remember.
After a moment he sat up and pushed his blankets off himself, sitting up and swinging his legs over the side of the bed at the same time. He reached up and rubbed his eyes, rubbing both the sleep and tears out of them. He wiped his damp cheeks off as well, taking another deep breath before he got up and moved across the room and out into the hallway. He went down to Seneca's room and simply moved into the bedroom and over to the big bed. He didn't speak, simply climbed into the bed and nestled close to his father, making sure he was as close as he could possibly get before closing his eyes to try again.
Words//6350
Notes// This post was entirely just for me because I was bored and wanted to do it. I used it as a bit of character development for Luc, exploring all of his fears, the big ones and the little ones. If you can pick all of them out then props to you.
I wanted to break it up a bit so I used song lyrics from a creepy little song I found. I just liked the way it fit. It was something different I was trying out and I kinda tried to match them up, but maybe it only seemed like a good idea to me. xD The song I used the male version since it was kinda more like Snow and a bit of Seneca who would be "singing" it for the way I was thinking about it.
Also I used a variety of characters here. These characters are portrayed as they would be in Luc's mind, not in the way that they actually really are. My intentions were not to control and play anyone else's characters.