I ATE A BIG BAG OF FACTORY REJECT SEEDS UNTIL A HEALTHY FLOWER UNFURLED IN MY CHEST … I MISTOOK THE SENSATION FOR LOVE AND DIED. aggie o'connell. eighteen. district four. seventy eighth hunger games tribute, future victor. resident funny girl. only a little bit crazy. still fun.
these violent delights have violent ends // part five
TRIGGER WARNINGS: VIOLENCE, DEATH, BLOOD, GORE
RONNI
“fuc–” ronni had begun to curse but it was too late. he had reached out to try and stop aggie – his fingertips lingering on one of her hands – but it was too late. he could only watch as she toppled onto nike and drove the arrow further into her neck. the silence – save for the occasional scream coming from leon and goldie – was deafening. he ran without thinking and, once again, attempted to close the distance between himself and aggie.
AGGIE
breathing deeply, once it was clear the girl was not going to be getting up again, aggie sat back on her heels, still on top of nike’s body. ever so casually, she pulled her hair back out of her face, tying the baby hairs up with her scrunchie–that was a nice bonus the gamemakers had thrown in there before looking back at the rest of the careers.
“Now that’s that.” aggie said, a giggle escaping. “anyone wanna go exploring with me? maybe see what those mutts she was going on about are like?”
RONNI
ronni stopped abruptly at the sound of the cannon. It was too late. well, it had been too late the moment aggie bit off nike’s cheek. his steps slowed and he eventually came to a stop about five feet away from aggie. he watched her lean back with a bloodied mouth and a crazed laugh. he could feel his body beginning to become heavy and, with a sigh, he just stared deeply into her eyes. “aggie, i–”
Five cannons sound off during the second day in the Arena:
Phoenix Jung, District 12 // killed by Leon de Castanheira
Calix Belcourt, District 1 // killed by stuffed animal mutts
August Solarin, District 5 // killed by Landon Browning
Nike Aurelius, District 2 // killed by Aggie O’Connell
Aggie O’Connell, District 4 // killed by Leon de Castanheira
We want to thank Kat and Bridget for giving us such delightful characters! We loved their stories and we were blown away by their kill stories! They were a part of a torn-apart Career pack that we will never forget! We can’t wait to see who you will bring us next!
these violent delights have violent ends // part four
TRIGGER WARNING: VIOLENCE, GORE, BLOOD
RONNI
“man, what the fuck is wrong with you?! why are you biting her cheek? man, it’s gone. like, man, it’s gone, gone. what the hell?!”
GOLDIE
“what the fuck?” goldie screamed. “aggie, come on, calm down! i mean, we all thought you were crazy already! you don’t need to prove it or anthing, come on. get off her,” she pleaded. the emotions still stirring in her from nike’s supposed betrayal and calix’s death were bubbling back up to the surface.
NIKE
when aggie was shoved off of her, nike felt a burning tear on her cheek that made her scream again, writhing on her side. she reached up, hand hovering over the bloody mess of missing flesh on her face where her cheek once was. her eyes were shut tight, her entire body trembling on the floor. she barely caught the yelling from– was it ronni? had he knocked aggie off of her? the pain was too much for her to get back on her feet, but she started to slowly drag herself across the floor, attempting to keep moving to just get away from that crazy bitch from four.
these violent delights have violent ends // part two
RONNI
he didn’t hesitate. he held up a pair of open palms and let his eyes gaze upwards. “hey, man, all good here. no jokes.” he put them down lazily and into the pockets of the denim – jean? gene? whatever… – jacket and sighed dramatically. the whole situation, albeit incredibly humorous, was starting to rub him the wrong way. now leon, of all people, was beginning to get pissy. “I just think it’s funny how–” he began but stopped at goldie’s verbal lashing.
NIKE
“it wasn’t me, goldie!” she snapped, “how many times do i have to say it?! i dragged his body out of that goddamn store to try and save him. those mutts tore his throat out, i used my jacket to try and stop the bleeding! he was dead by the time i got out of the store.” her tone was cruel, the truth was just as harsh, but nike was trying to save her own ass because it was two against three, and of the three, two of them were more than capable of taking her out. and she hated the way goldie was glaring at her.
RONNI
“huh?” he barked before he could stop himself. the call would probably go on deaf ears, but goldie’s accusatory tone that was now directed at him was definitely rubbing him the wrong way. those twins were always gonna be trouble. he knew that. well, he thought as he crossed his arms over his chest, at least one of them was dead now.
these violent delights have violent ends // part three
TRIGGER WARNINGS: VIOLENCE, BLOOD, GORE
AGGIE
“I take offense to that!” aggie shouted in annoyance to leon, still remaining where she was standing, still with the arms crossed. but she was watching, she wasn’t that gone, not yet. she saw what leon did. fucking cheater. why did he care so much if she lived or died? the moment he mouthed the words to the girl, aggie rushed over to the girl, grabbing her hard by the back of her collar. “oh, not so fast over here, we’re having a discussion.”
RONNI
ronni, with his full attention focused on calix’s corpse and not the trouble that was quickly beginning to brew around him, leaned over slightly and let a long and thick trail of spit – or a loogie, as the bros from four would call it – slowly descend onto the boy from one’s face. he was paying attention, though; he was just paying attention only to the fact that nobody was watching him and nothing more.
NIKE
nike noticed someone shift and she lifted her head in time to catch leon looking at her and mouthing the word run. she gave a small nod, stepping to the side to try and get away from the group, but then she felt someone pull back on her shirt. her teeth clenched tightly, twisting to try and jerk out of aggie’s hold. the urge to swing back and hit her was strong, but nike knew better than to encourage aggie and give her a reason to lash out– whether it was to hit her or flat out kill her where she stood. “let me go!”
these violent delights have violent ends // part one
PREVIOUSLY ON TTW
the events of this take place in the morning of day two. leon has just left hot topic after killing phoenix. at the front of the store he was greeted by ronni when they both heard a cannon. nike and calix had gone off in search of food and/or water when calix was attacked by mutts. after he was attacked nike dragged his body out of the store in an attempt to save him. but unfortunately he died shortly after not far from the cornucopia where they had made camp. a shit show is about to ensue.
LEON
leon was still on a high from his first kill and making small talk with ronni when he heard the sound of another cannon boom, he looked around instinctively seeing nothing alarming or suspicious, but when yells from the other side of the cornucopia sounded, he ran around to see the complete and utter chaos. calix was dead. and nike was stood over his dead body covered in what he assumed was his blood. it seemed as though a silence had come over all of them as they processed the scene in front of them, then leon took a step forward, hands raised and eyes wide. “nike what the fuck is going on?”
RONNI
ronni, having also heard the noise, accompanied leon to see what the matter was. he expected to see an outlier lying dead – or, better yet, bleeding out – on the ground. his brow creased as he walked briskly over. god, he thought, he really needed to push it into overdrive. at this rate, all the kills would be taken. he was contemplating the future deaths of the outliers when he, like leon, came upon the bloody scene. a silence fell over the group. then, because he simply couldn’t help himself, ronni felt the corners of his mouth twitch upwards into a grin.
“Ha!” he barked at the sight of calix’s body.
AGGIE
aggie was sitting on top of the cornucopia absentmindedly typing the strings from the bags together into knots (and “acting as a lookout,” she had said when questioned, though mostly she just liked to be tall). when the cannon sounded and the scene made itself clear, aggie, like ronni, couldn’t help herself. she let out a cackle as she slid down off the cornucopia, bounding over to stand next to the others. “just couldn’t wait, huh two?”
OR ; Aggie considers murder and finds she likes the taste.
She keeps remembering the boy.
She’s itching to kill.
From the moment his head was separated from his shoulders, her mouth filled with the taste of copper and something thick, and the feeling stayed. Even though the hours passed, even when the blood dried and she could trek through the shiny floors without slipping.
The floors were very shiny. She could see her reflection in it, when she got close enough. Curly hair, wide eyes. Mouth, thin. Like a razor-wound. Like something had cut her open, like something was about to spill out. Insides coming out.
Her skin is waxy, like if she dug hard enough into it, it would cave in. Like she could take a chunk out. But when she tried, it was too too solid. Her cheek stayed her cheek, her arm stayed her arm.
It wouldn’t on other people, she knew. She could take a chunk out of another body, with her hands, her teeth. She could to it to anyone easily, especially if they weren’t looking. Their flesh could fall apart, just as easily as the boy’s. But Aggie’s wouldn’t. It stayed together.
Nice.
She can’t believe that Bada didn’t bother to tell her that she was invincible. That there was no way she was going down, because her flesh was solid and everyone else’s was elastic, stretchy, breakable. Her skin was an impenetrable film, all that red was not her blood. It belonged to someone else. She was never going to die.
Nice!
No fear, baby, not anymore. Who was tougher than her? No one. There was no one to be afraid of, not Bada, not the crowds that picked her apart because her hair was brown and dull, because her laugh was more of a cackle, scratchy and loud. Not Bada. Not Bada.
Bada wasn’t here, though she would love to be. But she wasn’t, just Aggie. What an amazing realization, that Bada could have never hurt her. That she should have never feared her, that she could have slit her throat whenever she wanted. Bada never went into the games, but Aggie did. Bada was made of mortal flesh, but Aggie wasn’t. Aggie was made of stronger stuff.
She’s itching to kill.
When she closes her eyes, she sees bodies with whip marks, knives marks, arrow marks, marked up like a book. Like a diary. Those bodies don’t have names, but she knows who they are.
It is a strange thing, once the thing you were born for finally happens. These were the moments Aggie O’Connell’s life was centered on--the training, the interview, the launch. She wasn’t sure how she was supposed to feel--the giddiness was there, sure. Maybe a touch of nerves. But not really. This was a forgone conclusion, the beginning of the rest of her life, her greatest moment, about to be over, in a few days time.
Her mind did go back to Caesar’s question--what will you do once you win?
How does this end?
When she imagined winning, it was just Bada’s smile that was concrete. Bada’s smile, Bada clapping her hard against the back, telling her what a good job she had done, how she knew Aggie had it in her.
Bada had never such a thing before, but she would say it once Aggie won. There would be nothing else to say.
Aggie laughs as her eyes adjust to the arena, indoors and bright and colorful. Her cackle echoes throughout the chambers of whatever it was they called this place--shopping mall? The only other noise being the girl shouting directions to the blind one, which was even funnier than the scrunchies and fanny packs. Why on Earth would you ally with the dead-meat that was a blind tribute? Sentimentality was a curse.
She’s jittery, shaking out her entire body with impatience. She wants to get started, wants to jump off this platform now and get to the bloody bits. She wouldn’t have been able to keep her footing on there if it weren’t a matter of life and death.
FivefourthreetwooneFINALLY!
So it begins. There’s a mad dash to the Cornucorpia, but Aggie is fast. She’s one of the first to slide into the Cornucorpia, her shiny shoes squealing as she slips across the equally-shiny floor. It’s all happening so fast and it’s all so fun and she’s ripping through bags, looking for her whip when she sees the District Six boy sneaking around in the corner of her eye. The whip could wait. Time for doing what she was born to do.
Aggie pounces on him, both their bodies clattering to the floor with harsh thuds. It was only then that it occurred to Aggie that it would have been smart to grab some sort of weapon, but she only dwelled on that for a moment--she had two weapons at the end of her arms, anyway.
And she’s off, grabbing his head and smashing it against the mall floor, once, twice, thrice, but he’s a toughie, struggling against weight, thrashing his body, trying to buck the smaller girl off of him. She’s about to jam her fingers into his eyes when Ronni comes on the scene, getting between the two of them as Aggie is pushed to the side, landing a few feet away.
She’s pissed but not surprised, watching for a moment as Ronni fights the boy for the bag he has in his hand, but the boy is still thrashing, and Ronni doesn’t have a weapon yet, either. Six manages to find his way out from under Ronni, but it’s useless. Out of the frying pan and into the fire, Aggie is waiting for the kill as soon as he’s far enough from Ronni.
She gets him from the back now, wrapping her arms around him in a choke-hold until he falls to his knees, at which point, Aggie does something stupid dangerous.
She sticks her hand into his mouth, pushing up so he can’t immediately crush her fingers underneath his teeth. Using her full body weight, she throws all her weight backwards, stretching his jaw father and farther until she feels muscles snap, bones crack, until the flesh of his neck rips and the boy gives one last scream and his head is gone. Or rather, in Aggie’s hand.
HUH.
So that’s how death felt. Bada forgot to describe it in great detail, Aggie realized. This feeling was new. Seeing the the distorted, surprised, desperate look on the boy’s face, the way she wanted to throw the head as far as she could, kick his body just so she could be sure, really sure he was dead. She’s frozen for a moment, then her body is overcome with the shaking of laughter.
Cool!
She tosses his head unceremoniously to the side, not even bothering to look as it rolls across the slick floor. Still cackling, she rips open the bag like it’s a birthday present. Not a whip, but still a weapon, thank god. Bow and arrows. Maybe she could switch it with Goldie. Or drive it through her eye as she slept (“Noooo, I have no idea how that got into her eye! Maybe it fell from the sky! Those tricky gamemakers!”).
She slung the bow around her back, looking up to see her allies are nowhere in her direct line of sight. Shit! Aggie thought, jumping up to her feet and beginning to take long running strides closer to the Cornucopia. Six’s blood had formed a sizable puddle around her at that point, she nearly slipped into it was she left.
“I’m sure there will be,” Caesar smiled. “And if there isn’t, there are a row of sponsors out there who will go shopping for the perfect one for you!”
He was surprised at her admittance of not having a plan. Many Careers knew what their purpose would be post-Games, had specific plans for the money, for their fame. And her last line made Caesar’s eyes widen. “This is a family show, Aggie!” he exclaimed with a hearty laugh. “I’m sure you’d make a great mentor: and speaking of mentors, Four has a wonderful team, don’t they?” The crowd cheered loudly. “Have they imparted any words of wisdom onto you for the days ahead? Or are you blazing your own trail?”
Aggie flashed a smile to the crowd, nodding along with Caesar’s point. “Ohhh, maybe I can get some back ups, then.” She liked the thought of that look--a whip on each hip, one in the hand. Nice.
“I’m gonna be honest, I’m gonna be honest--” Aggie said between laughter with Caesar, scratchy laugh and all. “--you can’t expect a lot of family content from me.” She paused for a moment when he spoke of the mentors--they were all so, so serious. So boring. But you can’t talk shit on your mentors in an interview. That was probably a no. Still, she hadn’t the idea to lie. “I mean, they’re very strict with me. Y’know, keeping me from eating all the Capitol food and stuff. Which is good, but, uh, you can’t keep me away from anything here.” Another laugh. “But good, good. Skilled, you know? Uh, good.”
He was in the midst of playfully flexing and sending kisses towards Aggie when Finnick walked in. All of the fun seemed to be sucked out of the air. His false kisses and playful nature vanished as he leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his bare chest. A sinister smirk crossed his face, however. His little defiant act – not putting on a shirt – must have been driving him to the brink. Or, at the very least, Ronni hoped it was. Fuck ‘em.
“Yeah, Fin’, you doin’ alright? You don’t look so hot.”
“Thanks.” Aggie said in response to Finnick, a pointed comment. “Y’know, Marina and Lincoln were both getting on me for eating all this Capitol food, so I appreciate it.” She could still feel the tension in the room, and was visibly feeding off it. When she though Finnick wouldn’t notice, she shot Ronni a confused look, head bent to the side.
What’s going on? she mouthed to her district partner. This seemed like trouble, which wasn’t a problem with her--Aggie loved trouble, thrived off trouble, but she would like to know what the trouble was.
“hmm but she did though.” he didn’t mean to purposefully antagonise aggie, it turned out that it just came naturally to him. he also didn’t feel like telling her what pixel had told him, mostly because she had told him in confidence but also because telling aggie didn’t benefit him at all.“i think she does, she’s smart - a lot smarter than you think she is.”
he was bored of talking about pixel and her eleven, he was more involved with his own score which people had barely congratulated him on. “anyway the last time the careers went hunting for an outlying girl that scored an eleven they ended up falling asleep under a tree and a tracker jacker nest got dumped on them.”
“Rigged.” Aggie said with a roll of her eyes. “Or something. She can’t deserve it, can’t possibly deserve it. She’s too fucking tiny.” She was getting more frustrated with him by the second. “Smart doesn’t win games.” she snapped. “Strength does. Weapons, whatever. And may I remind you, that the last time that happened, the girl wasn’t four-fucking-teen.”
“And I know how to climb trees.” Aggie added. After the embarrassment from that year, the trainers at the academy certainly made sure their tributes knew how to climb. “And I’m gonna get her in the blood bath, before she has the chance to run away. She’s mine, I called her. Don’t you have anyone you’re just aching to get at?”
Of course it was only natural that Pixel tensed as the punch landed onto inches from her face. Sure, she suddenly realized, the girl couldn’t kill her yet. But she sure could leave her pretty damn bruised and bloodied before any real fighting had to occur. So when Pixel’s eyes closed on instinct, she kept them closed.
“It’s pretty good,” she answered. “Not the best, though. Honestly, I’m kind of convinced they just got annoyed with me, you know? This is, like, what they’re wanting. Clearly they’re trying to stir up something if they’re only giving tributes like you an Eight.”
Pixel had no clue what kind of relationship a Career would want with a Gamemaker, but she figured one who had gotten an Eight would be a little mad at them, maybe want to get back at them. Maybe? It was more likely someone like Aggie would suck up to the Gamemakers to try and get on their good side, but that was what a smart Career would do. Pixel… didn’t read Aggie as being a particularly smart Career.
She smirked when the girl flinched--at least something was going right. For a moment, she really wished she had hidden that locket full of poison better--it had been for the games, but who would have known what happened, if she could sneak it before?
No, Aggie decided. That wouldn’t be any fun. Tearing this girl slowly apart in front of the entire country would be better.
“If the gamemakers want it, all the better for me. Who am I to deprive the Capitol of their fun?” Aggie was career through-and-through, a trained lapdog for the Capitol to play with. It didn’t even occur to her that some people wouldn’t want to. “No, I’m going to give ‘em a show they’re not going to forget anytime soon, ‘specially once I get to you.”
Her point was probably getting through at this point. Aggie lowered her slightly, still trapping her against the wall, but not exactly holding her either.
“That’s what we like to hear here!” Caesar laughed. “Confidence! I love it!” The crowd cheered, echoing his sentiment. Aggie was the kind of Career that could really engage the crowd. She was strong, cocky, just weird enough to keep it interesting.
Caesar nodded. “We haven’t had a whip user for a while! How exciting! I’ll put in a good word for you to get one of those in the Cornucopia,” he laughed. “We can’t wait to see what you bring to the table! Tell me, Aggie, what would you do if you won? Paint us a picture of Aggie O’Connell, Victor of the Games.”
Aggie laughed at his response, delighted that the crowd actually seemed to like her--she had been worried after someone had commented on her “stiffness” during the parade. Aggie O’Connell was anything but stiff, usually, but this was different. She had never, ever prepared for something like this.
“Oh, there better be a whip in there for me.” Aggie agreed. “Or else I’ll have to do some talking to the gamemakers after I win.” She giggled again, still goofy when Caesar asked his next question, though the answer didn’t immediately come out of her lips like the previous ones had--what would she do if she had won? She thought of Bada’s life plan for her, trying to remember what she had said came after the games. She couldn’t recall--she must have said something, right?
“Oh, I dunno.” Aggie said involuntarily, though even she knew that was a bad answer. “I mean, what all the Victors do? I mean, y’know. Mentor and stuff.” she paused, finally confident on the last part. “Ohhh, I’d be a good mentor. I’d make sure they had some fun before the games too.”
Pixel wasn’t scared. Of course she had that biological gut reaction of oh gosh there’s a much larger girl pinning me up against a wall and threatening my life, but Pixel had been there before. The woman at the cheese stall back in Three had sent her rather large son after Pixel once after realizing she was missing a wheel of provolone, and Pixel had been much more scared for her life then. But that boy probably could have killed Pixel then and there and gotten away with it. Aggie had to wait at least a couple of days before she was allowed to do that.
“What do you mean ‘really earned’?” Pixel asked. “Sorry, I just… did you not do that much? I didn’t even fight or anything; I don’t see why I’d be a target for someone strong like you.”
This girl was strong. Much stronger than Pixel was, as a matter of fact. As she tried to nudge away from the wall she found herself unable to wriggle from the grasp of the girl from Four.
Aggie had been in this position before, and usually the people pinned against the wall whimpered at this point. The fact that Pixel was keeping her cool was impressive, if frustrating. Any sort of grudging respect disappeared pretty quickly when the words “not do that much” came out of the girl’s mouth. She wanted to beat her to a pulp, though that would almost certainly get her in trouble quickly.
Instead, Aggie punched the wall next to Pixel’s head with a sudden burst of anger, hoping to make the girl at least flinch. Aggie didn’t even blink as her knuckles split, keeping her eyes trained on Pixel as she tried to wiggle away.
“Oh, I dunno, an Eleven’s pretty good. You must have done something. I’d want to get a threat like that over with quickly.” she paused, a glint flashing in her eyes. “Or, relatively quickly, at least. I’d still have fun with it.”
