Rivalry [Pogue]

[Will]

IAPITUS AURA

male district four seventeen

When you feel my heat Look into my eyes It's where my demons hide It's where my demons hide As Hammil's father drags him outside. I immediately feel an intense fear. What had happened? I slurp the shrimp that had been in my mouth up and then look around. Had my father been a part of this? Or was it just someone had said something rude and they were leaving. Well, the first option is much more terrifying and serious. Is my father approaching? Would I be approached tonight? The fear dawns and stays within me, causing adrenaline to course through my veins. That could be the reason I do what I do next, or just because I'm so darn nosey. I quickly slip outside, Hammil closely following his father. As they descend the steps to the porch, I am silently shutting the door, so as not to alert my presence. As I turn back around I don't even get to take one footstep before I see the fist of Hammil's father connect to his son's face. That wasn't something I expected. Usually the fathers of rich and wealthy families are much more well mannered than that. Hammil clutches the side of his face and I approach ever so carefully. I stop once I reach the bottom of the stairs, in which time I able to hear the following part of their conversation: "-sonal information? I would gladly hit you again if it weren't for the fact that I need to get back to the party. Now, as for you. Go back home. Don't go to bed. You and your siblings will all be getting a talk tonight." At that point, Hammil's father turns to go back inside. But before he does that he adds one last comment, "Oh. And Hammil, You are no son of mine after this. You and only you have brought this down upon your siblings and you. Remember that."" Oh my ripred. He was ripping! He was so furious! About what though? What was I doing standing here while a grown, strong male was in a full blown rage? And more directly so, why was I standing in his path? What should I do? It's too late to turn and run away. So I just stand there, crossing my arms as I do so. A smirk laces itself across my face. This is the moment when Hammil's father realizes that I'm actually there. His face goes ghost pale before it floods with red. "You!" He hisses. "I'm going to give you hell!" And what jumps out of my mouth from that point forward is fueled purely by my hate for Hammil's father. The adrenaline and loathing making every part of my body tingle, along with some fear. "Is that so?" I say in a voice full of mockery. "You wouldn't dare attack the son of your rival. And more importantly, we wouldn't want the district buzzing with the newest rumor." Hammil's father's face contracts and then forms an expression of what I can only perceive as puzzlement. "And what is that?" That the Algirdas' father is abusive. In fact, he was even seen punching his very own son right in the open of District Four." I sneer, ending with a cackle. "Not that he didn't deserve it. But I can clearly remember you telling him you'd gladly hit him again, if only the party wasn't keeping you." Hammil's father's face goes white. So white I almost think he's dead. His jaw sets, indicating that his teeth are clenched. His fists ball and he lunges forward. I almost dive out of the way before he attacks me, but he never attacked me. He was trying to get back inside before I did. I wasn't going back in. Instead I waited for him to enter the mansion and then I turned and ran for Hammil. Don't get too close It's dark inside It's where my demons hide It's where my demons hide ooc - Sorry this took so long! And that was so awesome! template by chelsy, edited by Kendall

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"You!...I'm going to give you hell!"

My fathers voice rings out as I suddenly hear him stop, his dress shoes scraping slightly against the sidewalk. I don't know who he's talking to, as my back is turned and i'm hunched over clutching my eye, but I can only guess that it's Iapitus. Iapitus, my rival and perhaps the reason i'm standing here half blind. A small amount of anger runs through me, but it's soon dampened by the fact that I just don't care anymore. I don't care because why should I? My father was right. I was the only reason that my face was cut open and bruised. Not Iapitus. Me.

Iapitus speaks with a calm and collected voice, his threats met with silence from my father. Calm as he was, I could still sense the fear in his voice, the anger, the guilt. But still, I can only help but feel respect for him, for threatening my father like that. For standing up for himself. For doing what I never had the balls to do.

I can hear my father storm off and for a few moments there is silence. Complete and utter silence. What was he going to do? Comfort me? I didn't see how he could do that, honestly. Because at this point, I was so full of mixed emotions that I was about to snap at any moment. He lays a hand on my back and I immediately tense up, slowly standing up from my hunched over position to look at him, removing my hand.

I can only imagine what it must look like by now. Probably a glorious mix of purple and red, bruises and blood. I'm so scared, i'm so distraught that all I can do is break, let tears run down my face and my head go down. My hands shake and I can only push Iapitus away with as much force as I can muster, standing there in a suit now bloodied because of my own actions. Somehow I manage to find the courage to speak, to say a few simple words to Iapitus.

"...Did...Did you tell...Your Dad." I say, a bloodied and bruised mess.

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OOC- This is awesome man!
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[Will]

IAPITUS AURA

male district four seventeen

When you feel my heat Look into my eyes It's where my demons hide It's where my demons hide "...Did...Did you tell...Your Dad." Hammil asks me, breaking down, tears running down his bloody face. The red liquid seeps out of a gash right above his eye and soils his suit. The blood mixes with the tears and forms a shiny pink-like fluid wherever they combine. I didn't. I never said a word to my father. Nor my mother or sister. How did they find out? I thought I was careful? I guess I wasn't I guess I wasn't careful enough to save my friend. To save his family. I feel so guilty and sad as I stare at the sobbing hideous mess that is, or maybe now was, my friend Hammil. "I never told anybody." I say, exasperated. This is the most awful situation that any human could be put in. His father disowns his son after he gouges a hole in his face. All I can do is feel sorry. I'm supposed to pretend we hate each other. I'm supposed to pretend. How can I pretend when a friend needs me? Because that's what my friend needs. So with that realization, I turn and walk back to the mansion, waiting for my very own set of horrors to come. Don't get too close It's dark inside It's where my demons hide It's where my demons hide ooc - Oh my gosh this thread is so incredible! I love how you write Hammil! template by chelsy, edited by Kendall

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"I never told anybody."

His voice reaches my ears and all I can do is stare at him, at his worried and almost guilty face. My mind battles and fights with itself to try and decide if he's actually telling the truth to me or not, because honestly, I have no fucking clue of what to believe.

On one hand he could be telling the truth, he could have actually kept his mouth shut and kept my secrets safe like a friend would. I want to believe that, I so desperately want to believe that because I need something to rely on right now. I need something that I can actually grasp as a solid fact because in those few moments where i'd been hit, my life had flipped itself upside down, and I was stuck. I was stuck and all I wanted to do was have a friend who I could trust, a shoulder to lean on. Someone to trust.

But then i'm hit again, and this time it's by an unseen but massive force. It's presence was even larger and more threatening than my father's.

Reality

The reality of it all hits me. Not physically, but mentally and it takes every ounce of willpower not to crumble right here and now, to just fall to my knees and sit there until I die. Reality, ah, reality. The reality that it had to have been Iapitus who said something. Who else could it have been? He was the only one outside of my family who knew. Anger floods through me but it soon dissipates. I didn't care enough about him anymore to let it dwell. Iapitus turns to leave and all I can do is mutter a simple sentence, just loud enough for him to hear.

"I don't think I can believe you."

I say it with no anger or venom in my voice but instead a certain emptiness in it, a painful and lonely emptiness. And then, with effort I can barely muster, I turn to slowly walk away, towards my home, an future horrors.

------------------------------------------

"Stay still. This might hurt a bit." I wince as Muscinda wipes the cut with some disinfectant, the pain spreading through my face and causing me to grind my teeth. It wasn't a big cut, but it had bled a lot, enough to make me more than a little light-headed and by the time I reached our front door my vision was already blurry.

I'd been met with stares of curiosity and a worried Aurana running to me. Muscinda had been kind enough to actually sit me down and clean out the cut while Thatch just stood there, the same permanent scowl on his face that was always there. The mirror had been the worst part. The whole right side of my face was a purple mess, a now bandaged cut in the center. I looked disgusting and felt disgusting. Disgusted in myself and my actions.

"So, you mind telling us what actually happened?" Muscinda says with a voice of curiosity and concern.

"That means we didn't believe your story about getting beat up when you were coming home." Thatch adds, staring at me.

I sigh and look at Aurana. Her face is red with dried tears, I can tell she's been crying non-stop since i'd left, and she sniffles every once in a while before wiping her eyes. I almost ask her to leave the room because I don't want her to hear what i'm going to say. It'll devastate her. I know it will. But I can't ask her to leave. I can't dismiss her because she deserves to know. She can't be kept in the dark all this time and as much as I hate to admit it, I can't protect her forever. There was always the chance that I would be reaped and, if the odds weren't in my favor, i'd end up dead. And who'd protect her then? No one. As much as I hated to say it, she had to grow up herself.

"It... Was Dad who hit me." I say it with a tone of sadness and anger. At first none of them believe me, but as I simply stare straight ahead they all realize that it must be true, that I couldn't be lying.

"But...why?" And there it was. The question that I didn't want anybody to ask but I knew it would come out sooner or later, coming from Thatch's mouth as he looks at me, an eyebrow raised. I sigh deeply, looking down with wavering eyes before I tell them what happened. What I did and why I deserved everything that had happened to me. I told our rivals all of our secrets and getting off with a single punch to the face was actually light.

When I finally finish a dreaded silence fills the room. Muscinda looks shocked, staring at me with her mouth open slightly. Thatch looks pissed, just like my father had when he'd brought me outside. With a roll of the eyes he leaves the room, and I can hear his door slam at the end of the hallway. And theres one person who hated me more than he already had.

Muscinda's mouth closes and I can see her thinking. As young as we all were we had a certain maturity about us, and Muscinda perhaps utilized it the best, in decision making and judgements. "Hammil... Why would you... I don't... Isn't he a bad person? Isn't his whole family just one bad thing in our lives?" She asks it with nothing but curiosity.

I bite my lip slightly as I try to formulate an answer, looking down at the ground and my shoes. "...People are seen a lot differently when you actually try to look at them in a different view."

With that being said, Muscinda stares me down, seemingly thinking before she gets up and leaves the room, closing the door softly and walking into her room, leaving just me and Aurana in my room. I don't know what to say to her, but I can imagine that she probably wants to disown me as well. Her brother, the one she's looked up to her whole life suddenly became the scum of the family, how would she react?

"Aurana... I'm so sorry." I say, looking at her with wavering eyes and a frown on my face. My sister's face only holds a worried and distraught look. I can imagine that her life had been turned upside down as well, with all that had happened. Slowly, she stands up and turns towards the door, taking a few steps towards it. I don't have the courage to say anything to stop her. Instead, she stops herself, turning towards me and walking towards me. She leans down slowly and hugs me, breaking the hug and giving me a kiss on the cheek. "I love you Hammil. You're really brave." With that she flees from the room, leaving the dreaded silence again.

But it's different now. She'd just called me brave. How was I brave? If anything I was the biggest coward in the history of the world. Why had she called me brave?

And for the second time that night my life turned itself upside down, and I was left with a wondering as I sat in a chair in my room.


OOC- Thank you so much! I love this thread and reading Iapitus!

[Will]

IAPITUS AURA

male district four seventeen

When you feel my heat Look into my eyes It's where my demons hide It's where my demons hide I walk along in the windy night, bright white moon shining down on me. All the stars twinkle in the sky. The salty smell of the ocean wafts through the air the closer I get to it. That's my go to location. The sea. The water. I hope to cleanse myself there. Cleanse myself of all the wrong I've done. "How could you do this to us?!" "What are you talking about? You're the reason any of this happened!" I look around at the palm trees. They sway ever so slightly. They're so strong. So tall. Consistently growing despite all of the blocks it faces. On it's surface, everything above the ground even, is gorgeous. The layers of brown bark. The round, milk filled coconuts. The luscious green leaves that sprout out of its top. I wish I could be as wonderful as it. "Do you know how awful that man is? What he's done to me?" "I know he's a bad person! He's an awful man! But his family isn't! His family is innocent!" But under that tree, under that tree is a mess. A mess of roots, rocks, soil, and bugs. Bugs who eat away at the foundation of this wonderful feat of nature. Rocks that form impasses. Where the roots must choose to stop growing, or grow around it. Soil that provides only just enough nutrients to let this tree grow. The tree must stick to its own devices if it wishes to grow taller. Let its roots grow deeper. "His family has nothing to do with this!" "Really? Are you seriously going to tell me that? His mother just attempted suicide! Hammil's father just punched him in the face! You personally went in and ruined their lives!" But it persists on growing. And so will I. Don't get too close It's dark inside It's where my demons hide It's where my demons hide ooc - I HATE THIS! I HAD TO REWRITE THE WHOLE DANG THING BECAUSE MY COMPUTER GLITCHED! Sorry if it's crappy, that's why! template by chelsy, edited by Kendall! lyrics by Imagine Dragons

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Bravery.

Three metal prongs strike into and through the head of the training dummy i'm standing over, pulling out with it several tufts of stuffing and a little bit of my pride, if I even had any left.

Bravery. Bravery was a foolish and stupid thing. Something we clung to in our darkest hours in order to say we actually had something about us that was actually admirable and somewhat redeemable.

But we lie.

We lie to ourselves. To others. To everyone around us because thats just who we are. Were figures raised to falsify ourselves and make ourselves into something we're not. Thats what life has taught me. Life has taught me to flawlessly mold and shape myself into something i'm not because my father wanted me too, because my sister needed me too.

And thats one of my biggest mistakes i'd ever made in my life. Thinking my sister actually needed me to protect her. She didn't. She had done just fine after my father had disowned me, taken away my personal trainer, given the trident i'd had since birth to my brother and actually looked at my sister as an individual for once. She was doing just fine now. Just fine. She was amazing at shooting a bow, I could see that. We'd still talk, but it was different now. Something was lost. Something was lost like my privacy had been lost when Iapitus had told his family everything.

And now? I was all alone, literally. Family dinners still included me, but they were silent. I could put a few words into the conversation here and there but what was the point? What was the point if it was reaching deaf ears, ears deafened by a vicious training program. There wasn't any. And as I stand over the training dummy, viciously stabbing it in the head over and over again, almost mindlessly like a zombie, I can only ask myself one question. What am I?

What am I?
Scum.

What am I?
Dirt.

What am I?
Rotten.

What am I?
Useless.