Chapter 2
I can't believe she's doing this, how could she volunteer?
"Lovely! A volunteer! What's your name, darling?" Athena Avatere grins viciously. She's so happy to see how frail Bethany is that she doesn't even bother to bring the protocol into this. She enjoys this job too much for my liking.
"Bethany Repens." Bethany looks up at Avatere and I can see her glaring at her, I grin and admire the spirit that Beth has at times.
"Do you think you have it to win the Hunger Games?" Athena raises her dyed purple eyebrows. She already knows the answer but she'll do anything to humiliate this 'unworthy' tribute.
"I-I don't know." Bethany looks at the ground. Most people would think she's doing it not to give anything away, but I know that she has accepted her fate to die in the arena. She takes a step backwards away from Athena's microphone and looks out to the audience again. Bethany is pretty attractive, you wouldn't call her beautiful, but she has this look about her that makes people look twice.
There's no way she would survive for long in the games. I have to go in, I'll make her last longer. There's no hope that I'll come out of this alive, my life doesn't mean anything. But her life does, I'm one of the few who knows she has to live. I'm only going in to help her, I've been a coward all my life I might as well take the bravery card, maybe help her win. I owe her that, I took her life before, now it's her turn to take mine.
I open my mouth and look up to Bethany, she meets my eyes and I know by the way she looks at me that she knows what I'm going to do. Her eyes widen in shock and she shakes her head subtly. I stare right back, I raise my voice and send myself to my death.
"I volunteer!" My voice doesn't sounds like mine, it sounds empty. I step out of my place and take steady steps to the stage. I stand on the other side of Athena and look out to the crowd. My mates are shaking their heads and I can even see a couple of girls starting to sob. People start murmuring again, looking to each other to question what I'm thinking to volunteer myself. Everyone knows that Bethany and that little girl live together, but they don't have much of an idea about me.
Athena shoves the microphone in my face and I get a strong whiff of her perfume, I feel dizzy from the smell. "Another volunteer! My, my, this is going to be an interesting year!" I can tell she likes me by the way she looks me over, she smiles in a way that bears her teeth and again she forgets the volunteering protocol, the one where if she has to draw a name and then ask for a volunteer. "What's your name?"
"Roger Fernwood." I say shortly and look to the audience, not wanting to speak to Avatere for any longer. I feel her eyes on me and I can't help but feel a little humiliated even though people eye me all the time.
I take a small step closer to Bethany and away from Avatere. If I didn't feel sick already I just felt sicker. "Quite handsome, hm?" She says this to herself but the microphone picks it up and everyone is shocked to silence. I don't know what to say so I just nod. Athena starts to laugh and pats me on the back. She opens her mouth again to speak but I hear an annoyed voice cut her off.
"Oh, get on with it Avatere. We don't have all day." Both Bethany and I look in the direction of the small collection of Victors we have for District 7. Johanna Mason has risen from her chair and has her hands on her hips. Athena looks at Johanna and looks frightened. I wouldn't blame her, Johanna can kill with an axe, which is also proven that she has killed with an axe. "That's right, get on with it!" Johanna sits back down and crosses her arms moodily.
Our mayor nods and ascends the stage, she starts the Treaty of Treason which tells us why we have the Hunger Games and why we must pay. I stand closer to Bethany, she notices and I speak through the corner of my mouth.
"What were you thinking?" I ask.
"I wasn't thinking, I just knew that Mai couldn't go in because I promised her!" Bethany fires back, not liking my condescending tone.
"A promise? You're going to die because of a promise?" I shake my head. "She would have died anyway, the promise wouldn't have to be kept!" I reason.
"Well of course you don't understand the weight that promises can have on someone." Bethany says icily, she looks me in the eye then looks away. I can tell she still hates me for leaving her, we made a pact when we were young that we would never leave each other. It was quick, under the sheets after lights went out in hushed whispers. Is a pact a promise? I guess it runs on the same lines.
By the time the Anthem of Panem has ended we both have a huge distance between us, we had both edged away from each other slowly. I would have to make up with her, I can't believe she would risk her life like this, she's the only one who can stop the Hunger Games. Stop the Capitol and all our suffering. She didn't choose that path but it was chosen for her as soon as she was found in that tree.
The Peacekeeper put our hands behind our backs and escort us to the Justice Building, they must think that because we volunteered we're going to run for it. We enter the starch white building, supported by wood of our district. We're separated and the peacekeeper escorting me puts me into a room panelled with dark wood, I can't tell what type of wood it is and I can tell the wood was probably treated by the Capitol. The room has a smell coming from the wood that helps calm me down. In this room family and close friends come to say goodbye.
First come the couple that took me in, my adoptive mother hugs me tight and buries her head in my shoulder. My father comes and put his arms around us, I feel my heart ache, these people won't be parents anymore if my plan works. "Thank you." I whisper in my mother's ear. She nods and lets me go. My father places his hand on my shoulder.
"Do you have a token?' My mother asks. I shake my head, she takes my hand and presses something into it, I close my fingers and bring my hand to my side, I don't want to look at my token yet, it'll be too much. "You're special, Roger, you know that?" No, I'm not special, Bethany is. My mother turns away and my father talks to me.
"Try your best son," He says in a gravelly voice. "Don't let them get to you." I nod and he squeezes my shoulder. He leans forward while my mother covers her face with a handkerchief. "I know why you volunteered, I hope you know what you're doing." I nod my head, even though he really doesn't know why I volunteered. They're both escorted by Peacekeepers.
I sit down on a plush couch and wait for the person I know will be coming. Sapphire enters, her bright blue eyes swimming with tears. Sapphire's my hunting mate. We both go hunting out in the unauthorised parts of the woods surrounding our district. She steps forward and we hug. I stroke her dirty blonde hair. "It'll be okay." I say to her. She shakes her head.
"Why?" She steps backward, we still touch though.
"I can't tell you that Saph." She and I don't have anything romantic going on, but I know that she would always be happy to get together with me. "Look Sapphire, look after my parents, please? Watch the viewings with them and be supportive." Sapphire nods her head. "Okay, I think you should go." I say softly. I don't want to make saying good bye harder than it already has been.
"Okay, one last thing." Sapphire tilts my chin down and gives me a soft kiss on the lips. It's nice and has a sense of familiarity. "Bye Roger, good luck." She gives a small wave and is escorted out by the Peacekeepers. My friends come in and we say awkward 'good byes' and 'good lucks'. They don't know why I volunteered but they're hopeful that I'll come through, they know about my hunting with a bow and arrow and they advise me to get one. My friends have to leave quickly and the peacekeeper have a hard time getting all of them out without making a ruckus.
Before I know it Bethany and I are in a car, the first time I've ever been in one, going to the train station. The ride is pretty long because our station is on the outskirts of District 7. I see Bethany sniffling, she's holding something tightly in her hand and I make out a silk scarf of some sorts, deep green to match our trees in Spring. I remember my token and open my hand, it's a medallion made out of metal attached to a leather string to be worn around my neck. It's remarkably detailed and I can tell it must be old to have this sort of design, the silver has lost its shine in some places and there are irregular places where it glints in the sun. The animal is a Thylacine. A remarkable animal that used to be extinct. The Capitol managed to clone a specimen to be put into our forests so that we wouldn't wonder. But they were more interested in smaller animals than humans, so the Capitol stop breeding them. They're still out in the wild of 7 though.
I remember the time Sapphire and I saw one in the wild, there were black stripes on its back, with a stiff, long tail. We were terrified and crouched in the bushes, it yawned and its jaw opened bigger than any animal I'd ever seen, that's when I knew that's what interested the Capitol so much. The thylacine stood out and looked deadly. Sapphire had moved, causing the bush to rustle and the Thylacine bolted, after that we looked at each other and laughed. The Thylacine wasn't a predator, it wasn't prey. It was a survivor.
"Can I look at it?" Bethany gestured to my token. I nod and she took it gently in her hand. She held it by the cord. The thylacine was howling, tail out, stance proud. Its jaw was opened to its full amount and it looked almost unnatural. I felt something cool on my hand and realised that Bethany had given me her token to look at. I played with it and it calmed me down, the slippery fabric sliding between my hands, the scarf reminded me of home. We swapped our tokens back, I slipped the medallion on and under my shirt while Bethany wrapped it around one of her arms.
We arrive at the train station and it's filled with reporters, cameras are flashing and I can hear excited voices. We see a frazzled Johanna Mason standing at the door way of the train, she's shouting obscene words at the camera and I can't help but grin. Big mistake, the cameras flash even more. I head towards the train and Bethany follows me close behind, then suddenly I can't feel her behind me. I look behind and she's lost in all the lights. I grab her hand and impatiently tug her onto the train. I push the Peacekeepers who are trying to make us stand in the doorway so the media can get photos. They don't budge until I turn myself around and flash a quick smile to the cameras. I feel lightheaded from all the lights flashing and I can still see white bursts of light in my head. Bethany somehow smiles for some pictures and steps onto the train too. We both lean against a wall, exhausted from the attention, Beth holds my hand with one hand while she hold the same arm with her other hand. My whole arm has gone numb from all the pressure she's put on it.
"Sorry." She mutters, when she lets go, her cheeks are pink from all the adrenaline.
"My, My, My." I hear a capitol accent voice and I slowly turn to the voice expecting Avatere to be there. It turns out it was Johanna imitating her, she bursts out laughing when she sees my face. Johanna's eyes wonder to my arm which still has pink finger marks from Bethany's panic. "Lovers, now are we?" Bethany and I look at each other in disgust and she cackles a bit. "Oh, these games just get better and better." She smirks and leaves us in shocked silence.