Letters to no one {OpEn}

[*~Ink~*]

May Cherub

Dear Stranger,

You don’t know me. You never will. Natasha Brakeman had a story. She is unable to tell it because the dead cannot talk. I am the messenger. I will tell you her story, if you are willing to hear it. Take this letter, dispose of it, and come back tomorrow at noon for another one. Do not tell this to anybody. Do not wait for me. Do not write back.






It’s a pathetic little scrap of paper that I stick in a crevice in the brick wall of the old school, wiping away a tear as I turn around to make sure that no one saw me. Speaking of rule-breakers can get you in trouble. No one said anything about writing about them. I would have written more, but I ran out of room on the small piece of paper that I found on the side of the road.

I don’t know if anyone will find my letters, but I guess I just needed to get the words out. If I had kept the paper at my house, and it was found, I would probably get in trouble, maybe for “rebellious thinking”. Yeah right. I decided to leave the evidence at school, so it couldn’t be traced back to me. I wouldn’t want that to happen. Even if someone does find it, I wouldn’t care. I would just keep writing and hiding the letters in the same spot until her story was out. Or I was caught. Natasha needs to be heard, and her indirect killer needs to be punished, even if I get in trouble for it. I know that I could never face her alone, or anyone else for that matter.

I hide four other identical letters around the schoolyard, discreetly and quickly. I just hope that at least some are found and taken, so I can write Natasha’s story. The story that no one else except myself knows. It won’t be that way for long, if all goes as planned.

[BB]

Lance Crux

'Where the hell is she' Thought Lance as he stood there, on the school grounds, with his eyes closed, his arms crossed and his foot tapping on the pavement below. 'Probably pissing some poor bastard off again.' This wasn't an uncommon thing for Nelly, Lance's sister, to run her mouth and say something stupid to get her into some sort of trouble, and it would typically end in Lance having to bale her out. The only day of the year she ever keeps her mouth was the day of the reaping, and that day had already passed.

'Better go look for her.' Lance thought as he started to walk around the school grounds, looking for his sister. As he walked he came across an old brick wall, the very place he found out something about himself, something that would remain a secret for a while. "Who was that guy anyway." Lance muttered under his breath as his eyes latched onto the brick wall

After a minuet or two Lance's eyes were drawn to a small white object wedged between 2 brick. Lance quickly walked over to it and pulled it right out, only to find out exactly want it was. A note. Lance's eyes widened as he quickly looked around to see if anyone was watching and shoved the note right into his pocket. He then decided that he should find Nelly and go home, this wasn't the place to be reading secret notes anyway.

Lance quickly walked away from the wall and continued his search for his sister.

[*~Ink~*]

I see you found my first note. Good. Now I know where to start. You might know who I am, you probably don’t. That doesn’t mean you can’t know ME. I’m sure you’ll understand what I mean by the end of my story. Or rather, her story. Natasha was special, and I really do mean it. I knew her like you do not yet know me. I knew her story, I knew everything about her. She knew everything about me in return. It really is a good feeling to have someone to confide in, wherever you are and whatever situation you find yourself in, to know that your secrets are safe from anyone and everyone. Now I have no one except the birds outside my window, and of course you, Stranger. Do not leave me like Natasha did, so willingly and unwillingly. Do not tell this to anybody. Do not wait for me. Do not write back.



I once again shove the paper in between the bricks, a sly smile slipping onto my face. I am no longer alone. I have someone to confide in. I don’t care who they are, how old, or even their status. I just know that I am safe for now, as long as I don’t give away too much information about myself. I Re-read the note before I left to make sure there was nothing that would give me away, and saw nothing. At least nothing in words. There is still a lot that I wrote in-between the lines.

***
***

I check the old clock on the side of the school building, waiting for my little sister. School got out at 3:15, but it’s been 15 minutes since then. I scan the schoolyard, now empty from all of the other kids. My parents always make me and Hanna wait for May after school, but she’s never late to some and find us. I look at Hanna, who just turned 16, and I see her tapping her fingers against each other, a sure sign that she’s worried. I am too, but I’m a little better at hiding my emotions than she is.

I have places to go, places to be! May is ruining it all, wherever she may be. I know that Hanna is thinking over the possibility that something bad happened to her little sister, but that is at the back of my mind right now. How could she just leave us to wait for her, while she is off, probably looking at the pictures the kindergarteners painted, getting distracted as always.

I’m just about to get really mad when I see her little bouncing head peek out from the corner of the school- on the opposite side of the building. “Thank goodness. I was starting to get worried there,” Hanna sighed in relief and went to take her sister’s bag, like she always does. What was she doing back there? I don’t waste much time thinking about it, give her a piece of my mind, and then we all briskly walk back to our house like nothing happened. That’s just the way the three of us are, I guess. We only talk to each other when we have to, are there when we are needed, and no longer. As I open the door for May, I see a lump of folded papers in her pocket, and a pen. Probably just a project for school, but you never know with May.

[BB]

{OOC: sorry for taking a while I lost the internet for a bit BUT NOW I'M BACK! Didn't need to go all caps there but who cares.}

Lance Crux

'Back to the waiting game.' Thought Lance as he waited at the school once again for Nelly. As he waited he heard something chirping above him. He quickly looked up at the sky and noticed twelve birds above him. He quickly glaired at the birds flying above and let his gaze fall back to the school, Just as Nelly, and many other kids, started to poor out of the school. 'Well that was quick.' Lance thought to himself as Nelly ran up to him.

"Hay you're here this time." Nelly said with a not so subtle hint of scarscasm. "Well maybe if you weren't so busy mouthing off to everyone that wouldn't have happened now would it." Lance hissed in responce. "Whatever lets just go home." said Nelly as she quickly started a head of Lance. Suddenly Lance remembered something, AKA the note from yesterday.

"Hay Nelly!" Lance said before Nelly got too far ahead. "I have to grab something right mind waiting here." "Oh come on!" yelled Nelly as Lance ran over to the brick wall. As Lance was gone Nelly noticed a young blond girl running towards 2 older kids, both of whom Nelly assumed to be her siblings. She noticed as one of them, the boy, started to rant on about something {OOC: What I'm assuming was Daniel giving May a peace of her mind, oh fun fact Lance's beta name was at first Daniel, funny} and for whatever reason it reminded her of her relationship with Lance. Nelly quickly let out a quick, silent laugh right as Lance arived.

"Finally bout time you got here." Nelly hissed as Lance simply said. "Shut up." And began to walk ahead. This was going to be a long day.

[*~Ink~*]

I immediately hurry off to my room the moment I get a chance, hoping no one will notice I’m not doing my homework at the kitchen table like usual. Closing the door behind me, I breathe a sigh of relief that no one saw me, saw the notes in my pocket, with my handwriting scribbled all over them. Who knows what kind of trouble I could get my family into! I know that if anyone other than Hanna saw them, knew what I was doing, I would be in the Detention Center immediately. I wouldn’t even be surprised if Daniel turned me in.

Locking the door behind me, I flop down on my bed, filled with pillows and a fuzzy comforter, and put my hands over my face. What have I done? I know just writing words and hiding them may seem simple, but in Panem, it’s not. Before the Capitol, this place used to be called The United States, or at least my part of Panem did. We used to have laws for the people, not just against them. One of them was called the Freedom of Speech. But “free” isn’t even close to the laws we get now.

I uncover my face and put my hands to my side, lying there, looking at the ceiling, like a wooden board, inflexible, immobile. But not broken. I’m not broken. Yet.

***
***

“May! What are you doing in there? Mom says you need to do your homework!” Like she cares what Mom has to say. What I really should’ve said was I wanted her to do her homework. I knock on the door, and jiggle the door handle, only to find that it is locked. May never secludes herself like this, and I start to get worried. Why didn’t she answer me? I’m about to break down the door by the time her little face appears in the doorway, white as a sheet.


“Are you feeling okay? You look flushed.” Sometimes I wonder if I’m too much of a big sister to May, like I’m taking the role of her mother, when, in reality, I’m only 3 years older than she is. I brush that thought away as she says that she feels fine and stomps down the stairs.

I turn to follow after her, but I step on something thin and crinkly. I remove my foot from the spot I just stepped in, revealing a small scrap of paper that was already crumbled up in a hurried square shape. Slowly bending down, I reach for the paper and snatch it up. It feels worn, like it had been outside for a few days. I look around and slowly, quietly, unfold the note.

“Dear Stranger…”