Chapter 3

I wake up with a splitting headache. I'm in a an empty gray room, devoid of windows and furniture. Where am I? What am I doing here? I try to think. I remember killing my contact, and the reaping, and, and, Jennifer!

Suddenly it all comes back to me. The train, Jennifer's idea, the attempted escape. I try to stand up, but my hands and feet are handcuffed.

My stomach rumbles. I realize that I'm extremely hungry. Just then, the door opens. A Peacekeeper walks in. "What happened?" I ask him. My throat burns. He ignores my question. After setting a tray of food down, he leaves.

I pick up the tray with my cuffed hands. Bread, water, and jerky. This may be a meager meal to the people in Capitol, perfectly suited to a criminal, but to someone from the Seam, this is one of the best meals I've ever had. I remember when I was eleven, my brothers name had been picked, but it turned out it was a misunderstanding. We feasted, happy that my brother survived, and in memory to the boy named Bryce Altin.

After finishing my meal, I sit there, thinking. I decide that I must have been hit in the head. That would explain my headache. But was I still in the train, or already in Capitol? It didn't feel like the floor was moving. Then again, since I was sitting against the wall, I wouldn't have been able to feel it anyway.

An hour passes. I pull the coin out of my pocket, and study it. It's worthless, of course, just a medallion. The engraving was interesting, at least. It was an engraving of a Blue Jay. My Mother's favorite bird.

Just then, the door opens, and two Peacekeepers walk in. They haul me to my feet, and drag me out the door. We aren't in the train anymore, that's for sure. They drag me down a bland hallway, then turn left. Down another hallway. Right. Left. Right, right, left, right. Then they stop at a door.

The Peacekeepers knock, and after hearing a muffled, "Enter." they open the door and drag me in. They seat me in a chair. There is a table in front of me, and seated on the other side, is a Peacekeeper. "Take the handcuffs off. They aren't necessary." He says to the other Peacekeepers. They take off my cuffs, then leave.

Me and the man stare at each other. If he thinks he can stare me off, he's wrong. We stare at each other for five minutes before he finally breaks contact with my intense green eyes. "Stop!" He snaps at me. "My name is Commander Vincent. Capitol has decided that they are going to let you go. Since nobody was seriously injured, and the fact that the Board of Security found it amusing, you will be allowed to continue with your preparations for the Hunger Games, as if it never happened."

Vincent motioned to a security camera in the corner of the room, and instantly the door opened and a Peacekeeper walked in. "Follow me. Please." The "Please" was obviously an afterthought. He takes the cuffs off my feet and I follow him. We don't go back the way I thought as I expected, but he takes me straight to a door at the end of the hallway.

It leads to an alley with a car waiting. He opens the door and motions for me to get in. He gets in after me and closes the door. The car pulls out of the alley and turns right. We pass the front doors of the building I had been in. A crowd of camera crews and news reporters flocked around the entrance, waiting for me to leave, not expecting me to have left out the backdoor.

The car takes me to the Remake Center, where I'm told I'll meet the stylist who will dress me up for all the events needed to gather sponsors. All the other Tributes went through three hours of readying before they even met their stylist. I found out I had been unconscious for the whole train ride, and two hours of being in Capitol, so I only had one hour of readying.

They scrubbed me down, removing all the dirt and filth. It was weird, and a little embarrassing, because I was completely naked, and my stylist's three assistants were all female. They were dressed weird, with the strange skin and hair coloring, as well as the random tattoos that were popular in the Capitol.

After the hour was up, my stylist finally arrives. Her name is Killian Raymon. She seems very prissy. I contemplate killing her. She is wearing blue pants, a pink designer jacket, and has green her hair done up in a bundle on top of her head. She looks me over with pursed lips. She reaches over and picks up a robe. She gives it to me and I put it on.

"Listen darling, I'm not sure what to do with you." Killian says to me. "Come with me." She takes me to two chairs arranged so that they are facing each other. She sits in one and motions for me to sit in the other. When I sits down, she snaps her fingers and one of her assistants run off. She comes back with a cup of hot brown liquid.

After seeing my bewilderment at the cup, she says, "It's hot chocolate. Haven't you ever had any?" I shake my head no. "Huh. Well darling, drink it up! It's good for you." I didn't want to ask if it was good FOR me, or if it was good TASTING.

"Well. What should I do with you? You need a costume that will POP for the people when you ride your chariot out." She cocks her head to the side. "Hmmm, I'm thinking, FLAMES! Yes!" She has the most obnoxious voice you could imagine.

I wince a little. Ever since the seventy-fourth Hunger Games, when the famous stylist Cinna used flames with Katniss and Peeta, every District 12 stylist did the same thing for every Hunger Games, for nineteen years. It's getting so predictable, that every time it happens, our Tributes get less and less sponsors.

"Don't you think we could do something other than fire?" I ask Killian. She laughs out loud. "Hah! I know what's best for you darling, NOT you. Flames it is!" She sends me to her assistants to get makeup on while she works on my costume.

They dye my mohawk an unnatural orange color. They also tattoo flame designs around my eyes. Then they give my whole face a yellow sheen. I have to admit, it looks cool. The whole thing took an hour. By the time I was done, Killian had gotten my costume put together.

It looked cool, but predictable. It was a skintight orange suit, with flame designs all over it, and orange and yellow streamers hanging from it. I'm glad it wasn't actually going to be lit on fire. On the Eighty-sixth Hunger Games, they did that, and the two District 12 Tributes died in their chariots, burned to death.

I meet Jennifer. She's dressed pretty much just like me. When she sees me she gives me a big hug. "I thought they killed you!" She's about half a head shorter than me. I pat her brown hair.

They take us to the lower levels of the Remake Center. Then they guide us to our chariot. It's coal black, no surprise there. We were already late, so the whole thing had to be rushed. Districts 1-3 were already gone. Gram Marshal, Sophie Rite, and Julie Allens all run up to us as we're lining up.

Gram looks at me and says, "Nice stunt. Now every other Tribute knows what you're willing to do to evade death." He winks at me. Sophie gives Jennifer a few tips that I didn't hear. Julie just gives us a thumbs up and says in the obnoxious Capitol accent, the only real thing it seems she can say, "May the odds be EVER in your favor!" Then she smiles and it's our turn to leave. The four black horses pulling our chariot take us out into the crowd lined street.

The noise was so loud. I almost fell out of the chariot. Jennifer grabbed my hand and we both hung onto the chariot so we DIDN'T fall. I try to block out the crowd and cameras for the twenty minute ride to City Circle. We didn't get admiration for our flame costumes, like Killian thought, instead we got boo's.

When we finally got to City Circle, and the Training Center, it had felt like twenty hours, not twenty minutes. When we stop, me and Jennifer quickly jump out. The crowd cheers, and we hear wolf whistles, when I realize I'm still holding her hand. Quickly letting go, we run into the building. Somehow Julie, Gram, and Sophie got here before us, and they lead us to the elevator.

The elevator is a great big shiny thing, much faster and smoother than the old, smelly, clunky old thing in the Justice Building, back in District 12. Julie presses the button for the twelfth floor, (for District 12) and it skyrockets. As we go up, I notice I can still see the crowd through the diamond floor of the elevator.

We get to the floor, and Julie gives us our tour. It's very much like the train, just the layout is different. After watching ourselves ride down to City Circle, I mentally slap myself. My appearance is so, so, DUMB! I looked retarded! And the fact that I looked like I was about to pee myself didn't help.

After that, I take a shower, this one lasting about an hour, and then I get in bed. I fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow.

Sorry if it seems a little sloppy. I finished it at 10:00 at night, so I'm pretty tired. Also the fact that there was no action kinda put me to sleep. Definitely NOT my favorite chapter to write. R&R.