A Diamond in the rough
After she survived the games Diamond Gray thought she'd be free to go home and live her life but the Capitol had other plans for her. Plunged into a world of vice and decadence Diamond finds herself having to survive a completely different game.
Early July the year of the 39th games:
As I run through the swamp the smell of the damp and the rot follows me, my feet force themselves through the thick mud which with every step slows me down.
"Let me be" I shout "It's over now"
"It'll never be over Diamond" the boy screams "I'll haunt you for the rest of your days"
I stumble and turn around expecting to see the ghost of the boy I killed, what I see is much worse. It's the alligator mutts, hundreds of them, all advancing on me. From nowhere a sword appears, it's dripping in blood but I grab it anyway. Feel the blood streaming out of it and onto my arms I swing the sword with precision and slice the head off one.
"Why did you do that Diamond" the Mutts speak as one, with his voice. I look at the beheaded mutt, it has his eyes. The eyes stare at me looking into my mind, "why did you do it Diamond" it asks again.
"you're not real" I yell at the mutts of my nightmares and I behead another two, they keep coming though and as I slash and chop the swamp fills with blood and the blood begins to drown me dragging my under.
"Why did you do it Diamond" the mutts ask me as I wake up screaming.
I take a deep breath and survey my surroundings, I'm back in the old apartment in the training centre, tomorrow, I look at the clock on the wall, no later today I will be taken for the short train journey home.
Throwing off my sweat soaked sheet I walk to the window and watch as the sun rises over the Capitol, out on the streets a team of Avoxes have been tidying up the mess of the previous nights parties since the early hours. I catch the last few of them now, throwing bags of trash into large trucks and gripping onto the sides as they are driven away from the sight of the citizens. Not that any of them will be up until later, probably at around 1pm to watch my arrival home over brunch.
Behind me I hear footsteps and swing my body around, my eyes dart around the room looking for a weapon.
No wait, I'm not in the arena or fighting the Omri mutts of my nightmare. I'm safe. Yes Safe.
"Didn't mean to startle you Diamond, thought everyone would still be in bed" Its Rock one of the district two mentors, what is he still doing here didn't he go home with the bodies of Ryker and the girl whose name I can't remember.
But I don't ask him that I just shrug "couldn't sleep"
"Who was it?" he asks me
"Omri" I reply and he nods, I guess all victors must dream of the death they caused.
"Give it a few months" he tells me, "once the capitol decide they like you, you should be able to ask for something to for a more peaceful sleep"
"Like drugs?"
"Something like that yeah" he nods "good luck Diamond" he says as he leaves my apartment making me wonder again why he was coming from Silks room at sunrise.
"Oh" I sigh, getting it, of course.
The room is silent again so I find a hole in the wall and order some food, a plate of steaming eggs and fish appear before me in moments, followed soon after by a fresh bread roll filled with raisins and a mug of coffee, I eat it as I watch the empty city streets from my window. The cleaning Avoxes have all gone now but a few people are moving around, some head to the tribute centre probably here to help arrange my trip home whilst others just meet for early morning gossip and coffee at the shop across the street adorned with a mermaid wearing a victor's crown.
Later come the school children, their laughs and shouts can be heard clearly even though I think they're a few streets away.
"No I want to be Omri this time" one shouts and my heart drops "you can be Spud"
"Spud sucked, you always get to be Omri"
They're playing at the games, they're acting it out me and my fellow tributes as we killed each other turned into a playground game. I shouldn't be shocked we know the capitol well in one, they tell us about it at school, but at the time the thought never crossed my mind that I'd ever be in this position.
"Well it's not my fault Penelope is poorly today, we'll have to find another Diamond"
My mouth fills with bile and I find myself rushing to the bathroom where I promptly throw up my food. With a sigh I look at myself in the mirror, dark bags surround my eyes and a piece of puke rests on my chin, I splash it off with the cold water and debate if I should try and go back to sleep. I don't want to see that boy again though or any of the others, so I climb in the shower instead where I just stand there letting the water wash away the remains of the sick and clean me.
I turn off the shower and let myself drip dry looking over my body in the large mirror in front of me. Again I can't stop staring at my body, they fixed me and 'improved' me and now they're shipping me home, I decide to talk to Silk once we get home, try and figure out what no one's telling me.
A press of a button and my hair is dried and combed, not that my hair usually needs that much work it's so short, I never understood the girls who go into the games with their hair down their back, sure you'll look pretty in the parade but when another tribute is pulling you back with it or you sleep to close to your fire then it just becomes a death sentence. I suppose I could grow it out now but I've gotten used to it, no point changing what you like.
"Diamond are you awake dear?" the voice is Silks from outside my door.
"Yes, come in if you want" I reply wrapping a robe around my dry body and leaving the bathroom for what will probably be the last time.
Silk is already in my room and sitting on my bed, I walk over to the dresser and begin to pull out underwear and some form of smart looking clothing to wear today, or will my stylist be back?
"Tigris is bringing you a dress for today" Silk tells me reading my mind again, she's good at that but I guess it's just because she was in my place once.
I wriggle into the panties under the robe and then turn throw it off giving Silk a full view of my breasts as I clip on a new bra, I make a mental note to see if I can steal some before I leave, none of my old ones will fit now.
I throw the robe back on and sit on the bed beside Silk, "I can ask you anything right?" I ask
She nods "Sure that's my job"
"But what about.." I'm not sure if it's the right word to use but I try it anyway "as a friend?"
She studies me for a moment, I guess the sarcastic cruel Diamond from the arena isn't the type to want friends in her eyes. As she pauses I take her in too, properly just sat here in my room still in her nightgown with a makeup free face that makes her look much younger than usual. I do some quick maths she won the games at eighteen four years ago, the year after Rock that would make her twenty two now still five years older than me no matter how old I feel after the two weeks in the swamp. Maybe I'm being stupid.
"Yeah I can be your friend Diamond, if that's what you want"
I nod and she smiles "come on Hermes will be up now, we can have some brunch before we pack"
I guess my questions will have to wait for later then; food comes first before we lose it until next year, or the victory tour I suppose.
After I nibble at my plate of food for a short while as Hermes and Silk quietly discuss the plans for the next few hours I excuse myself. Arriving back in my room I find a case sitting open on my bed places there by an Avox I suppose. But what to pack? Nothing here is mine.
I find my reaping outfit in a draw and pack that, it's a smart black blouse with a white lace collar and white skirt that works equally well for funerals. I make a decision to never wear it again and throw it back in the draw. Remembering my earlier thought I throw the bras in the case and leave it on the bed as I wander over to the window.
"Is that all you're taking" the voice of Daphne my escort takes me by shock mostly because I didn't even think she'd be here today. The capitol trust the Mentors of some districts to care for their tributes and victors more than others, maybe she's here as backup in case I revert back to crazy Diamond again.
"It's all I need from here" I answer her "I have clothes at home"
"But you need the matching panties for these" she tells me, sounding almost in shock that I hadn't already thought of that. She pulls them out of the draw and adds them too my case, some don't look more than a few pieces of string, striking me as very impractical and obviously something the capitol people would love.
"What else do we have here" Daphne ignores the drab reaping clothes I brought with me and begins to extract some dresses from the large wardrobe I don't think I'd even thought to open.
"oh yes this one would be perfect, with these matching shoes of course, then you'll need this one of course and that sparkly one, oh and that one is gorgeous"
I let her talk to herself and the clothes as I carefully pack the ones she passes me, arguing feels like an effort its barely midday and already I'm exhausted, I wish I wanted to sleep then maybe I could nap on the train.
I didn't even get the opportunity to sleep on the train as Daphne prepped me on the expectations of a district one victor, tonight would be for my family she tells me then tomorrow morning I would move into my new house in Victor's Village where they'd have the press conference. She begins to go over the questions and my appropriate answers. It's all too much for me to remember but Silk is beside me, she'll remind me I'm sure.
Before I know it the train has pulled up at the station.
I take the small steps down from the train with Silk still by my side and look back over my home district, cheers come up from the crowd of district one much larger and happier than the ones I heard in the capitol as I left barely three hours ago. Looking over into the crowd I see my father pushing his way to the front and run to meet him.
"I'm sorry I told our secret" I whisper into his ear as I wrap my arms around his neck, he is a short man who wouldn't hurt a fly, my gangly height and cruel streak must have come from my mother.
I see her now stood further back in the crowd her face hard and uncaring she glares towards me as does her husband Clos' father. I knew not to expect a happy reunion but now I know she won't even pretend for the cameras as least I know where she stands.
Dad finally releases his grip around my waist and takes a good look at me, "what have they done to you my girl?" he sighs
"Daad!" I groan knowing he is referring to my new boobs "way to embarrass me in front of the whole county much" the crowd chuckle confirming that I'm still being watched.
"Come on honey lets go home" dad says with a smile and hand in hand we walk through the crowd, the cameras following us and people around us shouting praise and asking me questions, neighbours friends all shouting over each other.
"There will be a press conference tomorrow" I hadn't realise Silk was still following us and dad doesn't seem to mind as he's invited her in for a cup of coffee.
I feel strange for a moment, Silk doesn't belong here, she belongs in the Capitol here in our dark shack on the edges of the mining sector she looks like a lost princess.
Dad is making the most of her however, fussing to make the coffee perfect and thanking her for returning me and asking endless questions.
I guess that things won't get back to normal anytime soon then.
AN: I realised when re-reading LD&AM that I have both Silk and Rock down as winning the games five years previously, obviously this is wrong so for the sake of this story Rock won five years ago (34th games) and Silk four (35th games) just they both won at eighteen so Rock is now 23 and Silk 22.
