"Evelyn Brinley, better known as Lady Red, victor of the 72nd Hunger Games. Won her games at 15."
"Why Lady Red?"
"Because she always wears red. Oh, and she won her games by burning the remaining tributes alive."
✮
"𝑮𝒊𝒓𝒍 𝒐𝒏 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒆? 𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝒄...
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EVELYN HAD BEEN ALONE BEFORE; everybody has. She remembered exactly when she felt the most alone, and it was the year that everything fell apart. Whenever she closed her eyes the memory of her walking into her old home, her father lying motionless on the ground rushed back to her. Her mother was already dead, her brother was getting ready to go to the arena, and she was left to take care of her father's body by herself.
She remembered how numb her brother had been when he returned, and how that only got worse when he found out what had happened. It took him months to be able to function properly again.
Evelyn felt a similar feeling as she sat in the justice building, wrapping a thin blanket around herself and curling up onto the bench. It was below freezing, which was strange since it wasn't even that hot outside. Then again, 8 didn't have air conditioners, and when they did they didn't work very well.
By the time her brother walked in he wasn't furious anymore, but it was clear that he was still tense. Evan looked at her with an emotionless expression that didn't falter even when his voice broke, "It was rigged."
Evelyn perked up at that, "What do you mean, rigged?"
"The whole thing was rigged," Evan sighed, running a hand down his face, "How many slips are you supposed to be on?"
"Four."
"You were on at least 70% of those slips."
"You checked?"
Evan shook his head, "Cassandra checked after my reaction. She found it strange. She might be ignorant, annoying, and immature but she's good for something."
Evelyn grimaced at her brother's words and looked down at her hands. There were rumors that the reapings were rigged, back in the day there were rumors that the mayors would call the name of someone they didn't like. That was why they started using escorts so there wasn't an issue with someone being biased, but there were still circulating issues with the reaping. She never thought about it too much because she never thought that the reaping would be rigged so the odds weren't in her favor.
"It's my fault," Her brother muttered, hiding his face in his hands, "Last year I was pissed off after my tribute died, and I said some things I shouldn't have."
Evelyn remembered that tribute. She had potential and nearly lasted the whole game until the game makers screwed her over by trapping her in an avalanche. Game makers were technically allowed to kill the tributes when the games got boring, but the games had been far from boring at that point. Johanna Mason was on a killing spree after acting innocent and weak the whole game, and Evan's tribute had been one of the final three.
Evelyn didn't look up from her hands as she swallowed back tears. She couldn't cry now. She wouldn't have a chance to clean herself up before heading out again, and there were going to be hundreds of cameras shoved in her face the moment she walked out that door. "It's not your fault."
