"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...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
TALKING TO PEOPLE WASN'T EASY, but it was even worse when you could feel the eyes of the tributes' families on you. Evelyn hated it. She hated how they all stared at her with narrowed eyes and thin lips. They looked like they wanted to kill her, or at the very least blame her for all of their problems. How could she survive, but everyone else died? What did she do to deserve it?
It didn't help that Cassandra's speech was uninspiring. The escort was trying her best to respect the districts and watch what she said, but it didn't always work out. Evan and Sasha had talked to her, or Xanther said it was more like yelling, about her attitude, and that conversation had helped are a little bit. The girl didn't give Sasha and Evelyn dirty looks anymore, but she still looked disgusted when they arrived at the lower districts.
12 was not one of the angry districts. They had lost the games so many times they didn't care anymore. They knew they weren't going to win, and they knew that it wasn't the victor's fault. It would've happened no matter who won.
Evelyn stood on the stage and spoke in a monotone voice as the crowd stared at her with similar expressions on their faces. She couldn't even alter Cassandra's speech since she barely knew the tributes from 12. She knew their names, but that was it. Their eyes were haunting the victors, judging her, asking her why she won. Why did the girl win? Because she murdered kids? She didn't win. She lost. They all lost.
There was one brunette girl near the front of the crowd that stood out to Evelyn. The girl's grey eyes watched the victor as if she was examining her every move, and Evelyn wasn't sure how to feel about it. The girl looked numb, and a smaller blonde girl was standing next to her who looked much more alive. Both girls had braids in their hair, and Evelyn wasn't sure why the girl was staring at her and why she was staring back, but it distracted her from the faces of the fallen tributes.
The other districts were not too different from 12. They all stared at her with a dead look in their eyes and didn't clap when she finished, even when Cassandra's cheery voice echoed through the square. Nobody cared. No one wanted to be there. Evelyn didn't even want to be there, but the escort couldn't understand that.
They should be treating you with more respect! You just won the Hunger Games!
Cassandra still had a long way to go before she could be considered a nice person, but Evelyn could respect the effort most of the time. She couldn't respect it when she said things like that.
The last district Evelyn wanted to see was 7. The victor's hand shook as she held the escort's notecards, and Joshua's face was haunting her. She was frozen, her eyes stuck on his eyes. There were water droplets on his forehead, and it had to be some kind of joke on Evelyn. The district was taunting her. They were shaming her for her actions. It was a reminder that she had drowned one of their tributes after working with him. It didn't matter that he had turned against her, she was the one who finished him off.
"Brinley," The mayor of 7 whispered in her ear, and she jumped as she felt his hand on her shoulder, "Speak, we aren't going to bite you."
Evelyn nodded and cleared her throat, "I am honored to be standing here before you today as a symbol of glory and strength. I am fortunate to have the Capitol, and I would not have been here without them. None of us would've been here without them. The games are reminders of the fateful events that took place 72 years ago, and they are also there to remind us that the Capitol helped Panem rise from the ashes. They helped create the beautiful and united country we are today. And while we could not have done it without them, we can not have done it without the fallen tributes either. Their bravery has brought pride to their families and honor to their people-"
