Hello again, nice to see you.
Welcome to Freedom is Just a Dream, the third installment of my "Just" series.
Death is Just a Game is the story of the fifty second games, where twenty four children went in, and only one emerged as the winner.
It is followed by Fear is Just a Word which is the story of the fifty third games.
And now we have this one, the story of the fifty fourth games.
Are you ready?
Chapter 1: To Hide In Plain Sight
It was a perfect day. The sun was out, shinning down on the Districts, making the water in District 4 warm, helping the plants in Eleven grow. Tanning the skin of the Panem residents.
People were going about their day, shopping for food and other things that they needed. Adults were working in the fields, or fishing in the ocean. Children were at school filling their heads with nonsense that they would never use in the future.
And three teenagers were currently walking through town minding their own business and trying to blend in.
"Wait," Sofie said, pulling back on Colt's hand. They stopped in their tracks and turned to see what had Sofie all tied up in a knot. She was pointing at the television that was displayed in the window of the electronics store.
The trio was currently in one of the Districts. They had no final destination in mind, all they knew was that they had to stay on the move. They had made sure to steer clear of Six and Eleven though.
Their cover story, for anyone who asked, was that they were just Capitol children touring around the Districts and visiting their various family members.
The three of them gazed through the window at the television. A photo of someone that they all knew was currently being flashed on screen.
"What are they saying?" Sofie asked.
"Beats me," Delaney replied, "I don't know how to read lips." She ducked as Colt tried to clip the back of her head for being a smart ass.
"Let's go in," Sofie said hopefully. The other two stared at her in horror.
"Ro…I mean, Sofie, we're trying to keep a low profile here," Colt replied gently, pulling her away from the store.
Sofie stood her ground though, "Not if you keep blowing it by calling me by the wrong name," she shot back with a frustrated sigh.
"She's right," Delaney agreed with her, "plus, we're bringing more attention to ourselves by just standing here out in the open."
Colt glared at his last remaining sister. She smiled back at him sweetly.
"Fine," he muttered, knowing that he had lost the battle. The three of them trudged into the store, a bell above the door dinged, announcing their arrival and causing Colt and Sofie to jump. The two of them were always on edge. Delaney didn't blame them though. She'd be jumpy too if her life hadn't been saved by Tilly. Of course, if it hadn't been for Tilly, then she'd be dead right now, but that was besides the point.
They walked nonchalantly over to the screen. Flamiken's photo was still being shown.
"…on the lookout for Flamiken Myzer, she is thought to be armed and extremely dangerous. If you see her, please do not attempt to make contact, instead, notify the nearest Peacekeeper."
"Flamiken? Dangerous?" Delaney scoffed.
"Shh," Sofie shushed her. Delaney zipped her lips, and tossed an imaginary key.
The image shifted to a photo of Tilly. Her spiky pink hair and purple eyes stood out in the Districts. Luckily Delaney had had the common sense to change her hair back to it's normal dull brown color, and she had kept her plain grayish eyes.
"If anyone has seen this girl, please call the emergency hotline immediately. She is believed to be missing, and may be traveling against her will with Colten Henley. Colten Henley, last years tribute has had a psychotic breakdown, and we believe Tillagard Vanegaurd to be in grave danger. Her family is offering a hefty reward for her safe return.
"They'll never find her," Delaney whispered, "she's dead."
"I thought they knew that already?" Sofie whispered. "And I thought you lost the key, why are you talking?"
Delaney gave Sofie a look. Sofie shrugged. Colt interrupted them. Seriously, it was like being with his sister's all over again. Now he knew how Nat felt whenever she had to step in to regulate fights.
"The President does, but I doubt he's spreading that around," Colt said as the three of them looked at each other.
"I think it's time to find a new identity and come up with new names," Delaney sighed.
"And now for the good news," the announcer on the television boomed, the three of them turned their eyes back to the screen.
Louka Kinsli was being shown, a beautiful girl with long blonde hair and big blue eyes was staring at him lovingly.
"At least they were reunited," Delaney whispered,
"Their wedding is set for next week, it will be a nice, quiet ceremony back in their District, but they will be coming to the Capitol for their Reception Celebration," the announcer said.
Louka looked good, he had a broad smile on his face, an arm around the love of his life, and she was glowing with happiness. They might just get their happy ending.
"Lucky him," Delaney said bitterly. "He's not running from the law like we are."
"Let's go," Colt said, grabbing his sister and Sofie and dragging them out of the store behind them.
"Do you think Flamiken's okay?" Delaney asked as they walked through the town, the smell of baking bread lofted up their nostrils.
"I think so, she's a tough cookie," Colt replied.
"Mmm, cookies," Sofie said, her mouth watering just thinking about the round delicacies. But then that made her think of her time in the arena with her alliance. There was a pain in her stomach as she thought about them. Meleana, Myrrah and Tilly. The four of them had grown to be friends. She missed them every day. Myrrah, so close to winning, Meleana, clumsy but smart and Tilly, she would have done anything for Colt, anything to keep him happy, even if it meant that she had to die so his sister could live.
"Fine," Colt relented, opening the door to the bakery and letting the girls in. They giggled as they ran to the cases where the goodies were displayed.
Cake after cake was set in the see through cases. Some with chocolate ganache covering them, others were frosted with whipped cream. They were decorated with flowers and balloons. Some had fresh fruit on them while others had chocolate garnishes.
Fruit tarts with kiwi slices, éclairs stuffed to the brim with pastry cream.
Their mouths were watering. They each picked one item. Colten got a huge blueberry muffin, Sofie got a slice of dark chocolate cake with a raspberry mousse filling and Delaney decided on a bag of assorted cookies.
The three of them left the shop with their purchases.
"Where to next?" Delaney asked between chews.
"We need to find a plastic surgeon," Colt said, "everyone is going to be on the lookout for us."
"Flamiken told me the names of everyone on her side, I think Linzer Dough lives in this district, she'll help us," Delaney said, licking her fingers to get all the crumbs. "You got chocolate on your shirt," she said in an offhanded way to Sofie.
"It's for when I get hungry later," Sofie replied, "it's my snack."
Delaney giggled. "Oh, so that's why you're always spilling food on yourself."
"Ha ha," Sofie said dryly.
"Here we go, Dough's Belly Poke," Delaney said as she opened the door and let the others in.
"Weird name," Colt commented.
"Can I help you," a small woman with thinning hair and a sagging brow said as she peered at them.
"We're Flamiken's friends," Delaney said.
The woman glared, "don't spread her name around," she clucked, coming around the corner and grabbing the three of them. "Come here," she pulled them into the back room."
She sat them down on chairs and started doing measurements.
"We just don't want to be recognized," Delaney said, "nothing too extreme, we want to blend in."
"Mmmm," Linzer said as she pulled skin and dyed hair. She snipped and plucked and hours later the three of them looked in the mirror and gasped.
"Perfect," Delaney said as she touched her new face. Only a few things had been changed, but it was enough that she didn't recognize herself anymore.
Colt didn't look like himself anymore, and Sofie hadn't looked like herself for a long time.
"Thanks," they said, handing over a bag of money, Linzer declined it though.
"As a favor to a friend, just don't scar up those pretty faces."
They left as new people. Now it was time to come up with new names. Time to start fresh, all over again.
They had the perfect opportunity to be whoever they wanted to be. For the first time in awhile, they were free.
It was exhilarating. So many options.
"We can go home," Delaney said, "we can go back to Six, I can see all my friends again."
Colt glared at her, "we're not going to risk it Delaney."
"I know," she said sadly. "Even if we did go home, they wouldn't know who we were, no matter where we go, we'll be strangers."
"Not to each other," Delaney said softly, grabbing Sofie's hand and squeezed reassuringly. "As long as we're together, it will be okay."
"Time to move on," Colt said, they had been in this District long enough, he didn't want to raise any suspicion. They walked through town until they reached the train station. The next train was about to leave, it was going to a District that they hadn't been to yet. Perfect, they bought tickets and hopped aboard.
They found an empty car and settled in for the journey to a new District.
They turned on the television and watched the latest news.
Recaps of the Fifty-fourth games were still being shown.
"Turn it off," Sofie said, "I don't want to see this."
Colt pressed the off button.
"So, what shall our new names be?" Delaney asked, changing the subject.
"We could always do our names backwards," Sofie said, "Eifos, Yenaled, Netloc."
The other two glared at her. She put up her hands and relented.
"Let's make it easy, I'll be Laney, Sofie can be Sonya and Colt will be Dalton."
They agreed and tried out their new names. It was going to be difficult to remember them, but it was something that they had to do.
Silence entered the car, the three of them were tired and exhausted. Colt closed his eyes and leaned against the seat, Sofie scrambled into his lap and let her head fall on his shoulder. Delaney rolled her eyes as she stretched out on the seat across from them. That was one negative thing about having Sofie with them, she stole all of Colt's attention. And Colten didn't have a huge attention span to begin with.
Delaney closed her eyes and counted white fluffy sheep to put her to sleep.
A sudden ringing noise jarred her out of her sleep. She blinked and looked sleepily at the other two. Sofie was rubbing her eyes and Colt was yawning.
"What's that?" Sofie said with a deep voice, she coughed, trying to get it back to normal.
"No idea," Colt replied, closing his eyes to go back to sleep.
"Oh," Delaney said suddenly, she bent over the seat and rummaged through the bag that she had carelessly dumped on the floor earlier. Her hand emerged with her fingers clutching a strange black device. She opened it in half, "hello," she said into it.
"Uh, hi," Colten replied back, confused.
"Not talking to you," Delaney mouthed at him, she rolled her eyes and went back to the strange device. "Where are you?" She paused as she waited for a response.
"You've got to be kidding, I'm right here," Colt said, exasperated.
Delaney ignored him. "Okay, we'll meet you there," she paused before saying, "be careful," another pause, then "yes, I will." That was followed by yet another moment of silence, "okay, bye."
She shut the device then turned to her brother.
"It's rude to interrupt someone when they're talking to someone," she scolded him.
"Sorry," he muttered, "who were you talking to."
"Flamiken," she said, "she gave me this communication device before we left. Only she can call us on it."
"How's she doing?" Sofie wondered.
"She's on the run, she's going to meet us in District 7, she thinks it's safe there, way out in the middle of nowhere."
"Sweet, we haven't been to 7 yet," Sofie said as she thought about the tributes that they knew who had hailed from 7. The brothers Hunter and Thorn Trappe and the sisters, Autumn and Myrrah Faith. Of course, all four of them were dead, but they still had families there. They had past, had left a mark.
Just like Delaney and Sofie, they were thought to be dead, people were mourning for them back in their home District. And to stay safe, no one would could find out.
To hide in plain sight, you need a new face.
And Trivia is starting back up, yay! If you have some good ideas for trivia questions, then pm me, you'll get sponsor points if I use your question.
Trivia Question: What song did Thorn sing on the train?
Answer to Previous Trivia: None
Capitol Bet: How many chapters do you think this story will have?
Here is the tribute list again:
District 1: Amethyst Diabla and Ross Edwards
District 2: Diana Rockefeller and Angelo Braxus
District 3: Jezebel Renn and Rex Long
District 4: Liviana Faustus and Artis Donavin
District 5: Amira Starks and Pascal Hart
District 6: Paisley Broz and Reften Chilton
District 7: Sabine Pierce and Nolan Schmeltzer
District 8: Janette Swartzchild and Melton Lockram
District 9: Nyx Gemel and Seth Rafter
District 10: Annabel Hueshenburg and Proctic Hemling
District 11: Mallow Hemlock and Augbrine Meet
District 12: Kristina Adams and Jaimie Archers
Updates for this story are going to be a little bit slower, I know, you loved the daily or every other day updates, but what can you do?
Reviews tickle me silly!
~*Misty*~