whispers in the night | {kay//ems//eyes of argo}

[pup]

There had been explosions in Districts Eight and Six. That was the most that I knew. Everything had been broadcasted on the state run tv. They say there were terrorists. That's code for rebellion. Somebody had fought back. Somebody had done what I know Navya, Harbinger, and Kirito had all been trying to do for years: succeed.

Or at least, they were the closest anyone got to success now.

All I know is that soon after the broadcast that we were to stay inside, our electricity cut out, shrouding us in shadow. More peacekeepers than ever lined the streets of district eleven that night like ghastly arms reaching out of the night's inky darkness that threatened to strangle us. This is what we were meant to be fighting against. This is what I was meant to be fighting against.

My eyes strained in the night, looking through a crack in the curtains. There were peacekeepers stationed outside our house. Earlier, they had barged in "to make sure everything was ok," which was code to make sure that no one that could be close to any rebellion was making trouble. It was a clear message: we're watching you. It was supposed to scare us, make us feel threatened. Anyone close to anyone else who were suspected of rebellion tendencies were probably being watched.

They didn't care about me, though. The sixteen year old watching five kids in a corner of the living room weren't a concern to them. No, they were focused on Navya. She was the one who they thought would be a real threat. I was never a threat to anyone.

I remember, three years ago when I had first learned about their plans. Building a coalition, a rebellion in district eleven to make our way to freedom. I had asked if I could help in any way. I wanted to help. I wanted to be the threat that the capitol feared. I wanted to help be a hero like they were going to be. They had essentially laughed me off, telling me I was too young to do anything. Well, now I'm older. I could do so much more, but their plans are still held secret. I've often wondered what the point of having plans were if they were never going to go into action.

After an inspection of a few rooms, the peacekeepers had left. Their visors blocked any emotions that they could have had. Sometimes, I wonder if the capitol had just figured out how to make robots, that there were no humans under those masks who could see the atrocities they were committing. It would be a lot easier to just think that then try to wrap my head around the idea that there were humans who could do what they have done. I don't understand how human emotions were capable of processing anything that they have done.

Hours had passed, and I became restless. My younger nieces and nephews tired out, eventually drifting off to sleep, leaving me with a blanket pressed around my body in the chair next to the window and an eye next to an opening in the curtains. I heard footsteps approaching and turned to look up at Navya.

"You didn't have anything to do with this, did you?"

---

Baby Wessex d9b [earthling]

[Baby Wessex d9b [earthling]]

NAVYA RHODES

"Navya. You need to take our kids and run. Before they take Vera from us. I'll stay behind and take the heat."

She'd cried. Not messily, not even an echo of the rage and pain that engulfed her. She cried silently, leaned into a final embrace, and spent the darkest hours of the night packing and repacking, making sure they'd have enough, but not too much to carry. In the quiet light of pale dawn, Navya woke Weavera first, then the triplets, then finally little Indira, who was not so little any more. She told them, simply, "we're going to stay with your aunts and Naani and Daadi."

"We're out for summer break early?" Madhav asked, not a bit sleepy despite the early wake up call. He was already tugging on a questionably clean t-shirt.

Navya hadn't answered, just rushed them through brushing their teeth, handed each a peanut butter sandwich and banana. At the door, their children waving enthusiastically to their father, like it was just another day, Navya paused. Any demonstration of fear or concern would immediately richochet through the children. She could not collapse, sobbing, into Harbinger's arms. She could not even kiss him as she desperately wanted.

The triplets ringed Indira, singing a silly song. Navya did not have to look down the porch to know that Vera waited for her.

Carefully, quietly, Navya kissed Harbinger, her husband of many years, full on the lips. Tears caught in her lashes but not fall. As she pulled away, she whispered, "I think we might get to keep this one."

And then she was gone, striding down the steps, taking Vera's hand.

They walked to the Rhodes' family home, collecting blooming flowers along the way.

That night, it was only the power of raging hormones that allowed her to sleep. She curled close to Indira, all of them on makeshift cushions and bedding. She'd not even had time to warn her family. She'd not even had time to wonder where they would go.

But if Harbinger was afraid, she would listen.

The next morning, exhausted and having to pretend to smile, she decided to stay. One more day, to supply, to consider. Should she ask her family to come along? Could she manage all of her children, provide for them, while in hiding? Would anyone take them in?

Then the announcement came, then the Peacekeepers. Madhav sat glued to the television until the power flickered. Somehow, the magic of children wove a delicate, blessed spell over them. They all played, collapsed.

She not make any of them brush their teeth.

In the dark, she crept through the house, ready to take watch, even though her entire body begged her to lie down, to rest, to come to stillness.

"You didn't have anything to do with this, did you?"

Navya jumped. "Oh, my. I didn't even see you," she said, breathless.

Pregnancy had always done strange things to her eyesight.

"Neysa," she said like a sigh. "No. I don't think so, anyhow. Harbinger doesn't tell me everything, but I think he would have told me about this. If he'd known how bad it would be," she paused to glance between the curtain folds. She'd never seen so many Keepers outside of the Reapings. "He would have come with us."

table coding (c) ghosty

[Knuckles]

Vera Rhodes

Removing the covers from her head, Vera stares out the window. Sometimes going to sleep early doesn't bother her, but tonight she's wide awake with her thoughts racing rapidly through her mind. It's hard to contain them. The excitement from the day has come to an end, yet tomorrow a new adventure awaits, and maybe her siblings will want to run with her. Maybe they can even get into something tonight instead of being tucked away under the covers as the moon rises higher into the dark, starry sky.

Bare feet touch the floor, and soon she's off tiptoeing from her bed to the door, but even the hallway is dark signifying that it's later than she even imagined. Everyone is probably asleep, but that doesn't stop her from trying.

Only she stops in front of her parents room.

So many times she's pressed her ear quietly against the door wondering what they were up to. Most of the time the whispered voices never reached her ears, and all the restlessness was for nothing. And with her twelfth birthday coming up, Vera wants to know the plans to celebrate. Maybe that's what they're talking about tonight.

Or maybe she's wrong.

Her father's voice sounds panicked, and Vera wants nothing more than to open the door and tell him it's all okay, but she doesn't want to get in any trouble. He's talking about leaving and making a run for it before they take her.

But why would they take me?

And soon the talking ends, and she's heading back towards her room as quickly as possible. She's heard enough that doesn't make sense, and yet she can't just break through the door and ask. Instead, she crawls back into her bed throwing the blankets over her head hoping for some sleep.

But sleep doesn't come.

Her mother walks into the room waking her from the slumber she would've been in without another word. Vera stands, staring at the window once more only this time the sky is getting lighter, and the moon is slowly slipping away for its chance to rest. All these questions continue floating through her mind begging for her to ask, however, she pushes the thought away.

She brushes her teeth quickly like everyone else, she grabs her peanut butter sandwich and banana before hearing her mother say they're staying with their aunts, Naani, and Daadi. A soft grin slowly spreads from ear to ear. It's a wonderful feeling, but at the same time, a pang of guilt sits heavily in the pits of her stomach. Something isn't right. Nothing is adding up, yet she doesn't say a word. Even when she stands outside at the bottom of the stairs, she waves at her father wondering what is going on.

Her mother takes her hand, and Vera walks along beside her slowly picking flowers with each step she takes, and nobody says a word. Every time her mouth opens no words escape, and she closes it again.

That night she sleeps with ease.

The next morning, Vera carefully climbs out of bed stretching her arms above her head. Today she wants to ask what her father was talking about, and why did he seem so panicked about it? She only stops moving when she's standing in front of the television listening to the announcement of what's going on. District Six and District Eight and a curfew also being placed in district eleven along with more peacekeepers, and then the television flickered, and the power turned off, and she simply turns to face her mother as her aunt asks a question.

Vera walks over towards Madhav and sits down beside him wanting to tell him everything she had heard the night before, but she decides against it as she keeps her ears open listening to the other two talk. Without saying a word, she walks over towards them as a smile slowly fades away. "What's going on?" She asks twirling her fingers through her hair. "What's so bad?"

District Eleven | Twelve

[googlefont="Oswald:400"]

[pup]

I glance back outside to the peacekeepers outside the house. Even if you wanted to get out, like I'm sure Navya wanted too, it would probably be impossible. Especially with five kids. When Navya had showed up outside the house earlier, five kids in tow, she didn't say why she had come back, but the fact that they had bags packed to the brim was telling. I could feel their anxiety was mounting with each day that came closer to Vera's twelfth birthday each time I saw them.

Every parent was worried when their kid reached that age. I can see why they were more worried than ever, though. It was hard to see how you could rig a slip of paper, but each year it felt that kids were increasingly chosen to die based on some twisted methodology to keep those with the most power in line. And this year would have even higher stakes. It's a quell. For all we know, Snow could decide to just publicly choose who would die this year based on who's causing the most problems.

It would be more confusing if they didn't try to run.

That's not something I could think about right now, though. That's something Navya and Harb are going to need to decide. That's a problem for the future and whenever we manage to get out of this lockdown.

"Neysa," she says with a sigh after the moment of being startled by my presence, "No. I don't think so, anyhow. Harbinger doesn't tell me everything, but I think he would have told me about this. If he'd known how bad it would be he would have come with us."

I keep my gaze focused outside, looking for any sign of an anomaly in the peacekeeper's patterns. I'm silent for a moment, thoughts and conspiracies trailing through my head. What really could have gone on. I wouldn't be surprised if the whole crisis was faked by the capitol to keep District Eleven on lockdown. We don't know what happened. All I know is that more peacekeepers than ever lined the streets of our district, and the capitol never did anything for our protection like they claimed.

Before I can say another word, a small voice speaks besides me.

"What's going on? "What's so bad?"" My niece asks, absent minded fingers making her way into her hair. She was just so small. It's hard to imagine that I was once that small just a few years ago, and looking at her reminded me why I was never told certain things about plans Navya and Harb and Kirito had, even when I asked. Just seeing her made me want to surround her in bubble wrap and tell her the world was in perfect shape.

And despite my internal feelings and contextual guesses, I can't begin to imagine the fear Navya must have for her eldest daughter.

I close the gap in the curtains, hoping it will bring some form of comfort to not see the ghastly figures in the night. I don't know how much Navya wants to say to her daughter, so I nervously glance at her for a moment before speaking in as calm of a voice as I could muster.

"Nothing much," I say with a small smile forced onto my face, "We're just talking about what to do now that we're all stuck inside for a bit. I don't think any of us expected something like this to happen."

I glance back suspiciously at Navya, looking for any reaction. I know that she said that she didn't hear about anything before this, but I also know that she's a lot more clued in to what Harb knows. And it wasn't the first time that they've kept me out of plans despite my protests.

---

Baby Wessex d9b [earthling]

[Baby Wessex d9b [earthling]]

NAVYA RHODES

There had always been precious little that she could keep from Vera, even when she was a tiny toddler. Her grasp of language and her empathy had blossomed so early. Navya had marveled at it. What a wonder to have a daughter who combined some of the best aspects of each parent: Harbinger's depthless heart and her verbose nature.

Not that it was always easy to have a daughter who knew herself. Even before this, they'd had plenty of reasons to shelther their children from the glare of the world. Too many dangerous things, apparitions of Capitolites and Muttations and even old friends, haunted Harbinger's every step.

She did not like to lie to Vera, so she often declined to answer.

It had been easier, that first night on the farm, when Neysa had intervened. Navya had smiled placidly at her daughter.

But now, a week later, provisioned, and feeling the hot breath of the Reaping upon her neck, she could not lie by omission any longer. "It's bad out there," she said quietly to Neysa and Vera in the pre-dawn light. She'd slipped into the room they'd been sharing, intending to rouse them first for the journey onward, to find they were already awake.

In that moment they seemed so alike, it brought tears to her eyes. "Last night, when we were watching the television, I - I almost didn't believe it. But I can feel it today, in my bones. Whoever set the fire, whoever is causing all of this turmoil," she swallowed heavily. Even saying someone felt like a risk, because in her mind she screamed SNOW.

"They don't have good intentions. We have to leave. Today."

table coding (c) ghosty

[Knuckles]

Vera Rhodes

Eager ears wait for a response, only she's met with words that offer nothing in return. Neysa beats around the bush. A hopeful heart plummets into an abyss. Being young isn't easy, and nobody knows she listened as her parents talked through the night, and she wants nothing more than the blurt it out. Only she holds back. Avoiding trouble is important, and with her mother sitting right here, she decides not to press it.

Sometimes Vera wants people to see her as someone old enough to understand. All her tiny heart desires is for people to treat her the way they treat others. I'm a big people, and they still don't understand. But she doesn't say a word. Instead she turns her gaze towards her mother's wondering if anything lingers inside, but Weavera finds nothing.

One day they'll understand.

The next few days are spent locked away from the outside world. Things seem calm, but she's growing increasingly bored. Playing with her siblings isn't offering her fun anymore when an entire world awaits her past the front doors. The grass is growing. It's time to play outside and enjoy the fresh air, but for whatever reason, it feels as though the stuffy house is all that exists. Sleeping at night is coming easy, but when it comes time for a nap, Vera simply refuses. Often times she's rolling her eyes or storming away wondering why nothing works.

A great adventure isn't far from her grasps, but each time her fingers wrap around it, something pulls it away.

So much has been happening, and even through the television, she knows something is bad. Something is happening, and her mind simply races back to the moment her father spent in panic begging her mother to take all the children and leave. But why? Comprehending it is hard, and now Vera is trying her best to understand and show that she's growing up, and that she doesn't fear the outside world. So much unrest. Fires burning higher and higher. Smoke fills the air. It doesn't help that the temps are quickly raising as the summer starts creeping in.

Her mother breaks the silence, and Vera finds herself staring through the windows. It's bad outside, but what if it's all fake? What if they're trying to get her to escape from this world.

Yet she's completely caught off guard when her mother suggests they leave.

"Why do we have to leave?" She asks rocking back and forth on her feet trying to keep her voice clear of emotion. "I don't understand. What's so bad? What's going on?" Perhaps getting them to explain isn't easy, but it won't stop her from seeing for herself. If she doesn't get the answers she needs, Vera plans on finding out for herself by venturing past those doors and seeing what her family may not want her to see.

District Eleven | Twelve

[googlefont="Oswald:400"]

[pup]

The last week was excruciating.

Sitting around, waiting for any form of news. There was no way of knowing what exactly was going on. Navya seemed to have some inkling of what was going on, or at least she had some suspicions, but she never let on to anything. Every mention of what was occurring was met with uncomfortable silence.

We just didn't know anything. And that's the worst.

If you looked out the window, you could still see the smoke in the distance, fresh from the silo fires. The timing of the fires were impeccable, right before the reaping. It was too much to just be a coincidence. It had to be someone in the Capitol, someone pulling the strings, someone who wanted to find an excuse this quell to take Vera, the key to her father's heart. Someone needs a way to grasp onto the strings they need to pull.

"It's bad out there,"

Her quiet steps into the room had awoken us. Navya's voice was tinged with fear, and I couldn't help but wonder if something new had happened, if a knew update had flashed onto the T.V.

"Last night, when we were watching the television, I - I almost didn't believe it. But I can feel it today, in my bones. Whoever set the fire, whoever is causing all of this turmoil,"

Her thoughts had obviously been drawing close to mine, but I couldn't place my finger on who could be manipulating all of this. Who would have the power to ruin all of this.

"They don't have good intentions. We have to leave. Today."

Navya's words struck me. There was no way to even leave the house, you'd be running into the open arms of the peacekeepers patrolling the district.

Vera had a similar expression of shock on her face, nervousness clouding her features. She had climbed out of bed and was currently rocking back and forth nervously.

"Why do we have to leave?" Her voice is flat, trying to hide whatever emotions she felt. Her body was betraying her, though. "I don't understand. What's so bad? What's going on?"

I was silent for a moment, churning the thoughts over in my head. Apparently Navya hadn't filled in the blanks for Vera on the danger from this reaping. She hadn't told her why they had run to the Sachdeva orchard in the first place.

I remember the days years ago when I had knocked on Kirito's door to find Navya, anxiously wondering what was going on just like Vera was now. Those memories had never faded, my head filled with confusion, wondering why they didn't trust me, why they wouldn't just tell me.

My eyes shift to Navya for a moment before looking to Vera as I swing my legs over my bed, "Well," I begin, choosing my words carefully, "You know that you're twelve this year, and that's a big deal. It means that we want to protect you, to make sure you're safe." I inwardly cringe, trying to stop myself from worrying her, "So that's why you came here in the first place, you were trying to stay safe."

I look back at Navya. In the back of my head I want to run with them, leave district eleven and never come back. I'm at risk too, each year that passes making it more likely that I'll die. But I know I'm not in the Capitol's eye as much as little Vera is, that her father makes her a target. They don't have an excuse to kill me. I also need to make sure the apricots are tended to.

"How are you going to get out?" I rub some bleariness from my eyes, "I can help you get everything together, but there are peacekeepers everywhere."

---