Jasper watched the building as the flames grew higher and higher, the screams from inside ignited a flame within him. The red and yellow flickering tongues lapped at the windows and doorways, sealing the fate of the three Tributes trapped inside. Just a few more minutes and Jasper would finally be done with his nightmare. Just a few more minutes and they would all be dead.
The cannons echoed across the arena, and then there was absolute silence. The crickets froze, the wind ceased, and the coyote mutts stopped howling. In the absence of sound, Jasper began to spiral out of reality. He had murdered five people. He had taken their lives without thinking of the people it affected beyond himself and his own. The rage he had used to fuel his rampage came from losing his brother, and he had just planted the seed of betrayal in an innocent child. The same seed that had bloomed into the bloody blossom that grew inside him.
Loud wind replaced the deafening silence in Jasper's mind. A hovercraft floated just above his head, extending a ladder for escape. Jasper stared at the life line. He just had to grab onto one of the rungs, and they would lift him awaay from all of this. He reached out for the cold steel, clutching the icy metal. The cool sensation brought hiiiim back to reality, the building was still burning.
"NO!" he shouted, "They're still insiide, you can't leave them here. They need to get out." Jasper began panicking, his mind diving head first into a pssychotic hell. He could no longer rationalize that the three Tributes were already dead, he needed to save them from the flames. They were burning.
Jasper turned and bolted for the inferno, "They need help!" he kept shouting, over and over again, "They need help! They need help! They can't breathe!"
He was so caught up in his psychosis, he didn't realize that two Peacekeepers had descended the ladder and were dragging him back to the hovercraft. Thick white gloves dug deep into his flesh, trying to shake him free of his hallucination. When they finally entered the craft, the Peacekkeepers threw Jasper to the ground.
Another woman walked up and stood over him, "Sleep tight, Victor."
When he finally roused from his medically induced sleep, Jasper felt the stale air of his room in the Tribute Training Center flood his lungs. Sitting at the end of his bed sat a smiling figure, her eyes were soft and calming.
"Rhea?" he asked, hoping he wasn't hallucinating.
"Jasper, do you know where you are my boy?" the silver haired woman asked, "Jasper, do you know what you have accomplished?
It all came flooding back; the arena, the sand, the blood, the screams, the flames. Jasper breathed quietly, unable to make eye contact with Rhea. Minutes passed, and the room grew heavier as everything became clearer.
"You won," Rhea nodded and sighed, "Now hurry, you have an interview in twenty minutes, Tayru will have you're speech all planned out." With that she left, leaving Jasper to dress himself.
Jasper quickly slipped on the shimmering kelp colored pants, the thin black shirt, and finished the ensemble with a white vest. He looked in the mirror on the opposite wall, "You won."
A sharp rapping came from the door between Jasper's room and the dining car. Jasper quickly jumped from his bed, hoping it was only Tayru. There was a pit in his stomach, the same pit he hhad swallowed from his throat hundreds of times during the Victory tour.
"Open up Jasper, we need to talk," Tayru's voice chimmed through the mahogany door.
Jasper opened the door and stepped asiide, allowing his Escort to waltz into the room. Tayru was a rather large man, his belly was always swollen with wine and meat. Despite his enormity, Tayru had a soft voice, like tinkiling wind chimes. He breezed past Jasper; a whirl of pale blue and gold laced wth the scent of citrus and wild flowers.
"Plans have changed for your Welcoming back to the Capitol," the eccentric man twirled in his rhinestone heels, "you will be meeting with the President."
Jasper cringed, "What!?" What business could Snow possibly have with him?
“I’m just as surprised as you are,” Tayru flitted toward the wardrobe on the opposite wall from the door, “Let’s make sure you’re presentable, we will arrive in the Capitol shortly.” He pulled out a small button-like device and spoke directly into it, “Come on girls, you betta work.”
Moments later Jasper’s prep team pushed their way into the crowded room and began the grooming process; plucking, pulling, and primping. When all was said and done, they had dressed Jasper in the exact same outfit he had worn for his Victor’s Interview, but his face was a bit more Capitol Couture.
The floral arrangement on President Snow’s desk was pungent; cloyingly sweet perfume. Jasper twiddled his thumbs, awaiting Snow. Jasper remembered the first time he had been asked to come to this very office nearly twenty years ago. He knew why he was there this time, and his answer would be the same as it was for so long now.
“Jasper!” Snow’s fake excitement never got old, “So good of you to come.”
“Must we meet like this every year?” Jasper was exasperated, “You know I’m going to say yes. You know I stopped saying no when Pema got sick.”
“Oh yes, how is the youngest of the Bahav clan?” Snow smirked, already knowing the answer.
“Doctors in Four say she might make it a few more years, but she’ll never speak again. Too many holes in her brain. They say it looks like swiss cheese,” Jasper spat the last sentence from his mouth like it was venomous. He knew Snow was responsible for Pema’s condition.
Snow’s demeanor changed, he hunched over his desk and began riffling through documents and notes, “Alright enough about you, let’s talk business. Will you Mentor District Four in this year’s Games?”
Jasper stood, “With pleasure,” he gave a half-assed curtsey and made his way to the door.
But before he could exit Snow had one more thing to say, “Let’s make your brother proud this year.”
It took every ounce of will power he had to keep Jasper from turning around and punching Snow in the throat. Jasper gritted his teeth and whispered, “Thank you sir."
