It had been exactly six years and three hundred and twenty-two days since I had last breathed properly. A figure that looked small on paper compared to the history of this world, a storyline infused by nothing but never-ending death and cruelty. But still it felt like half an eternity to a person who had spent almost their entire life in darkness.

Over time, I had forgotten how natural it had once been to turn my face to the sky and take a deep breath without having to cough immediately afterwards, because the percentage of dust in the air was higher than that of oxygen.

The muffled sound of my footsteps on the gray concrete floor was contained by the loud beeping of the machines and the babble of voices from the apartment wing to a sound that only I could hear clearly. Like a steady rhythm, a heartbeat to which I adjusted my thoughts so as not to lose my cool.

Bodomm.

I was not too late. I had exactly four and a half minutes left.

Bodomm.

There were no new problems. No new cases of illness or even death. Everyone was doing well. At least under the circumstances.

Bodomm.

We were not blown. No way.

Bodommbodommbodomm.

The slight tremor that firstly just went through my heart also made my whole body shake. I stopped immediately to brace myself against the wall, shivering and panting. My pale hands tried in vain to hold onto the wall, which was sharp-edged, but still far too smooth.

My eyes closed.

I am always here. Hold on to me, Violeta.

He had lied.

The meeting room was dark and, at first glance, didn't exactly give the impression that the district's leaders regularly met here. It was just a small room, hidden in an even smaller corner on one of the side hallways. No one would go there if it was not absolutely necessary.

Through the dusted windows in front of the room I could not see much. Everything was covered in shadows.

But I had learned many years ago that the darkness was only a facade. Elias Coin may have been warm-hearted and was treated as such by most of the residents, but he also had his preferences. And people who barged into his meeting room uninvited were definitely not among them. Sometimes he just wanted to be left alone in the dark. Besides, sometimes even he doesn't know what to do about their presented problems, I thought, while my hand closed around the metal door handle. And that's when he turns into a loner.

With quick movements that proved once again how well I actually knew my way around this room, I moved around the table towards the back room, avoiding furniture and stacked papers without the need for a light source.

"Elias?"

Although I had not lowered my voice, my words were transformed into a muffled whisper that could only be heard at close range by the dark walls and lack of space. Not for the first time, I felt the need to gather all my strength and scream out loud, just to escape the stifling silence for a brief moment. Just to be heard by someone.

After all, despite hushed voices and whispered words, misunderstandings almost never occurred. The everyday silence had made the entire district excellent eavesdroppers.

"I'm here, Kay."

In the back room of the meeting room, only a small floor lamp burned, bathing the small room in pale, yellowish light. All the furniture, including the chairs and the bench against the wall, was made of tarnished, dull brass, like almost anything in the district. Even before the first rebellion, the possibilities of replacing them had been very slim. And now, a full six years and three hundred and twenty-two days later, it would probably never happen.

Still, I would probably never get used to the warm metallic smell that permeated not only this room but all of them, and even the hallways of the district, giving our home such a heaviness that in no way felt natural. Just like anything in this world.

Elias Coin sat on one of the two metal chairs, one of his long legs pulled close to his body, his forehead furrowed in deep creases, with an expression on his face that was enough to make my heart stumble once again.

"What's wrong?", I asked immediately. And after a brief moment of sorting out my thoughts enough not to really yell right away, "They know, don't they? Someone betrayed us. Do we know who it was yet?"

Elias apparently took a few seconds to process my statement. The wrinkles on his forehead deepened and he eyed me from head to toe before casting a quick glance at the computer screen in front of him.

"Good evening, Kay."

I raised an eyebrow and took a deep breath.

"Good evening? That's your answer to the three questions I just asked you? Like three seconds ago?"

He eyed me as if he was just seeing me for the first time.

"Of course it isn't. But it's evening and we haven't seen each other all day. That's when people usually greet each other."

"Not when there's possibly a disaster ahead. You never ask to see me for no reason unless there's cause for more than excitement. And you never call to just greet me." My voice jumped a few octaves higher, and I caught my heart starting to beat faster and faster. "But well, I'll ask you again, since you were too busy with, I don't know what last time. Who betrayed us?" I asked emphatically, literally piercing Elias with my gaze.

"I actually had more important things to do than listen to you," he said, staring at his screen again. "And as for your question, I don't really know what you mean. Who would have betrayed us? And why would you even come up with that idea?"

At first, I didn't know whether I should be upset by his blatant manner, or rather focus on the fact that the reason he had called me here for could probably not be as bad as I had initially thought. I decided on the latter. After all, I was already used to his behavior after years of working together. The provocative calmness was part of his character.

"Well,", I straightened myself, clenching my left hand, "what is it then?" My voice sounded way smaller than before. Unsure and somehow... frightened.

For the first time since I had entered the room, Elias looked directly at me. He had an incredibly expressive face framed by slightly graying dark hair. His crystal blue eyes, now scrutinizing me with characteristic concern, reminded me painfully of a clear winter sky.

And of something else, something even more important.

"It's getting worse, isn't it?"

I knew few people whose expressions could change in a matter of seconds. Elias was one of them. Earlier he had seemed unconcerned, not unfriendly, but not as if he cared much about me. Like every day since it happened. But now he painfully reminded me again of the young man with whom I had spent my entire life. And that thought brought back other memories that I had preferred to forget.

"Every day. And more and more."

It's like I'm connected to this world. With each day that it breaks, I break too.

"I can't stop thinking about it and worrying. I can't stop thinking about what we can do better." I hesitated for a brief moment, clenching my hand tighter. "I can't stop thinking about him and missing him."

Missing them both.

He does not answer me. Usually, it was the same for me. We both lived in silent agreement. Not a word about him. Not a word about her. Not a word about us. Never again.

And even though he didn't say a word, I could tell by his hunched posture and the way he knotted his fingers together that the same struggle was going on inside him as it was inside me. And just thinking about it made the whole thing even harder to bear.

Sometimes I just wished it could all be the same again. Even without our friends, even without peace, without our missions. Even without him.

I just wanted to talk to Elias again, discuss my feelings with a person I cared about. I just wanted my best friend back. Unconditionally.

Luckily, Elias clears his throat at that moment, and I return from the past to the present.
"We're not blown. Everything's the same as before." I could see exactly how relieved he was about that. So was I.
"Actually," he cleared his throat again and looked me straight in the eye, "there is even some good news." A little smile.

He turns the screen so that I can take a close look for the first time. It shows several blurry images, all with small numbers on them. 10. 12. 4. 8.

"Districts," I breathed immediately, and Elias nodded.

Narrowing my eyes, I examined each of the images more closely, my heart racing. I recognized blurred but distinct human silhouettes and various structures in the background. The silhouettes were moving randomly, and I could make out bright spots of light that vaguely looked like fire and the shiny white outlines of peacekeepers. I recalled the footage we had viewed over the past few months. Also from various districts, pictures from cameras we had been able to hack after weeks of work. We had seen about the same things on them. Although...

My mind was going around in circles as I compared the two images. And then...

My heart beat faster.

"They're fighting back," I whispered, my voice trembling slightly, and I clutched the hem of my jacket with both hands. These were no ordinary clashes or street fights. These were riots.

"It has been for a few days. Especially in districts seven to eight, there have been some incidents lately, mostly in the slums. All covert, of course. I suspect most of the population doesn't have a clue." Elias pointed to one of the pictures. "Only here, in District Eight, do people seem to have picked up on some of the uprising."

I examined the picture more closely. Despite the poor quality of the picture, I too could clearly make out the many human outlines. There had to be more than a hundred people. Not that much in comparison to the large population, but more than I had ever seen in such an uprising.

A warm feeling spread through me. Fiery flames licked at the cold restlessness inside me.
"You know what this means, don't you?" I jerkily turned my head, looked at Elias, and struggled to get a grip on my emotions. "We can finally get down to business, do something." Take revenge.

For nights I had imagined this moment, let my thoughts travel into the future, and wondered deep inside if it would ever be so. And suddenly that moment had come, finally, and yet the only reaction Elias showed was a thoughtful look first at the screen, then at me.

"What do you expect us to do?" he asked, his voice completely calm and relaxed again. "March into the Capitol and make a speech about how the districts are fighting back and how we're all going to gang up on them? That's nonsense, Kay."

Under my initial despair, with which I had entered the room, and which still clung to my mind, a red-hot anger mingled. I just couldn't take the silence anymore. "And what do you think is right? To continue to sit here under this pile of stones and wait for this war to end on its own?" The hot burning drove everything else out of my body until I seemed to be nothing but flames. "They killed them. They just slaughtered hundreds of innocent people. And every year more die, some from famine, others from exhaustion." It felt like my head was about to burst. "Oh, and in case you forgot, every year 23 children also die in these sick games. There are already 138 in total, and there's no way I'm going to let there be just one more."

Only now did I realize how much I was shaking. The room around me was only a blur, and with each passing second my field of vision grew darker. I hated how comfortable I nowadays felt with it. Where did all the light go? Did they take it with them when they left me?

"Kay, look at me." Elias' voice was still warm and reassuring, and so calm, despite my violent reaction. His hands were warm as well, as he gently pushed me down onto the second chair, never stopping to look me in the eye. I clung to the all too familiar shade of blue, holding on to it easily, like a drowning woman to a life preserver. In time, my vision cleared, and I was able to breathe normally again without shaking even more with each breath. Elijah's hand was still on my shoulder. I wished we could just hug once again. Just one last time.

"I want you to listen to me carefully now, Kay." There was an expression in his winter eyes that I hadn't often seen on him, but even more so on his brother. A painful twinge ran through me. Still, I nodded and struggled to stay focused.

"You must remember the time before the revolution. The time when we still went on missions instead of dealing with paperwork." The corners of his mouth twitched, and I too, felt the need to at least smile a bit. "Back then, we had big plans. We talked about revolts and revolutions as if they were just more exams in our education that we would pass without a problem."

The memories of that were painful, too. Just like everything else.

"Back then we, the whole rebellion made way too many mistakes. Acted rashly, didn't trust each other, and threw ourselves headlong into chaos." He paused for a moment to take a deep breath and look deeply into my eyes. "We absolutely cannot make those mistakes again."

I suddenly realized that we had been clear about this from the beginning. As soon as I saw the footage. What do we do next, had been my first thought, not how do we destroy the Capitol in two days?

I hesitated for a moment. "And what else are we going to do?"

A smile stole onto Elias' face. This time it was a real one, shining much brighter than before.

"I have always imagined the revolution like a fire. The flames give warmth and at the same time burn down everything that gets in their way." His gaze drifted and lingered on the flickering lamp. "But how does a fire start in the first place? I remember that was one of the questions I used to ask my father all the time when I was a little boy. His answer was the same every time."

"By a spark," I whispered. Elias nodded.

We were both silent for a moment. I, too, looked at the flickering lamp, thinking of the glowing heat of a fire. The flames in burning hair, moved by wind. The little flame we got tattooed on the inside of our wrists. The promise we made. Family.

"What do we do", I asked, knowing the answer already.

"We're waiting."

"For what?"

Elias turned his gaze back to me, the light of the lamp reflected in his eyes.

"For the spark to catch fire."