Chapter 4
Katniss POV
I spent the remainder of my night in the practice room stabbing dummies and stretching. I know I should be sleeping, but seriously who the hell cares anymore? I'm not dying.
My legs feel surprisingly good even though I spent practically all night on them. My back though is another issue. It feels stiff. Maybe Peeta can pop it before we leave.
I place the knife back on its holder and head for the elevator. Maybe Peeta's the only person awake back on our floor so I don't really have to answer to anyone. I know he'll have some questions but I don't really care. Peeta's friendly enough for me to just tell him.
The elevator makes its accent silently back to our "penthouse" as Effie likes to call it. I can't help but wonder if she knows that this is all a façade as well. The elevator chime brings me back from thought as the metal doors slide open.
The hall is empty. No lights are on. Not a single sign of life lingers outside of our individual bedrooms. I tiptoe across the hall because my boots are still on and I don't feel like removing them.
I'm nearly to my room when I realize there is a light coming from under Peeta's door. Just barely visible, but surly there, the yellow lights seeps through the crevice and into the shag carpet. Maybe he's in a talkative mood. I raise my hand and quietly as possible knock on his door. Nothing happens at first but then I hear some shuffling followed by soft footsteps to the door. It slides open, making it appear to be magic, revealing a surprisingly well rested looking Peeta. The light from his room angelically frames hic face. Each curve of his cheek is exposed beautifully in the morning light.
"What is it?" asks Peeta now sounding somewhat tired.
"I just wanted to see if you're up?" I say as I play with my thumbs.
"Well I'm awake." He says with a smile. "It's four AM you know…"
"Yeah, I know. Effie should be waking soon."
"Why are you dressed already? Wait. Didn't we wear those clothes yesterday?" asks Peeta with a strange expression on his face. His eyes squint at me.
"Yeah. I uh… well… I didn't go to bed. I spent the night down in the training arena." I say with a smile as my right hand grabs my left elbow behind my back. Peeta immediately smiles back.
"Why don't you come in so you don't have to stand out in the dark hall anymore?" asked Peeta as he stepped out of the doorway showing me his room.
I walked past Peeta into his room. It looked identical to mine, just a little bit messier. The bed was unmade, probably because he was laying on it, and there were random articles of clothing strewn across the room.
"Sorry" begins Peeta. "Maybe I should have cleaned up first."
"No. You're fine." I said softly as I sat on his bed. It didn't feel lumpy like mine had hours earlier.
"So what did you do in the training room?" asks Peeta as he takes a seat at the desk chair.
"I just shot a lot at some targets, and destroyed all the dummies that were left behind." My fingers twisted a strand of hair. I need to get it braided before we start filming.
"You destroyed all of the dummies?" Peeta spat out as he tried to refrain from laughing. "How did that work out for you?" A smile crept up on my face as I let my twisted strand of hair fall back into place.
"It felt great to let out my frustration. I pictured the faces of other tributes onto the targets when I killed them. I think I killed Glimmer ten times." Peeta's face lit up. I could tell my expression was mirroring his. "I didn't kill you though. Just so you know."
"Well that's good. I don't think I would enjoy being dead anyway." I couldn't help but laugh. Peeta always puts a pleasing spin on any situation.
"Listen… Peeta. I'm- I'm sorry for my outburst yesterday." The words just flowed from my mouth, but I let them come anyway. "I was just under distress, and Cato was annoying me. I really am sorry." I look up into his blue eyes.
"Hey now, it's fine Katniss. I understand. I shouldn't have said that to you. I'm sorry too." Says Peeta. His blue orbs never taking my grey ones from their sight.
"So we're both sorry?" I say with a grin.
"Yeah." Peeta returns my same goofy smile.
For the next hour Peeta and I lay on his bed staring at the ceiling discussing what things had been bothering us. Surprisingly Peeta was very annoyed with the boy from district 3. He explained how the kid was a know it all, and now that he knew he was no longer going to die he came completely out of his shell and would not stop talking. I didn't mention Cato to Peeta, or the fact that I was still very troubled by the stunt he pulled with Caesar. I figured it would be best to avoid that right now.
After an hour of deep conversation a loud knock came through the door.
"Peeta, it's time from breakfast!" chimed Effie. "Today is a big big big day!"
Peeta stood and opened the door. Effie smiled when she realized he was already completely dressed, but then noticed me sitting on the bed and frowned.
"It's not very decent of you two to behave in such disgraceful ways. Young ladies should stay in their bed chambers and young men shall stay in theirs." She said with a crooked smile. "Come now children. Breakfast."
We ate a feast of pancakes and butter for breakfast. There wasn't much of either back in district twelve. I have never tasted pancakes before, but I have seen them in pictures before. Peeta was very familiar with the bread like food, and he even showed me how to eat it "properly".
After we finished our meal, Peeta and I were ushered away to another private meeting. Peeta and I of course walked in together, but were soon broken apart by the directors' strict seating arrangement.
The room is very large, oval shaped actually, and dimly lit. There are no windows, just artificial ones. I can tell now because I have seen so many. If you focus you can see the light coming through is not as pure and clean as sunlight. It resembles a television screen.
The table we are instructed to sit at is long enough to accommodate all of the characters. Seneca Crane is sitting at the head while we sit along the sides. I'm sitting two seats down from Seneca next to the boy from district 4. Cato and Clove sit directly across from us. Now that I'm thinking about it, I'm sitting next to all of the careers.
"Welcome to the morning briefing. We will be holding one of these important hearings every morning now until the games are over." Says Seneca with an ominous smile on his lips. "As you may have already noticed I have you sitting with certain groups of characters in specific sections." As soon as Seneca Crane said this I looked down and noticed the chunk of table where I was sitting was blue. All of the career tributes sat in the blue section as well. How did I not notice that before? My eyes scanned the table for Peeta. He was in the middle of the table in the section marked yellow. Only Peeta, the boy from 3, and Foxface sat in this section. Maybe now that we aren't going to die I might actually have use for learning her real name so I can stop referring to her as "Foxface". But that can happen later.
"We did this to help us prepare. It's faster this way." He said as he stood from his chair to get a better look of the table. "Those of you in the green section will run immediately into the wilderness as soon as the game has started to. If you do not the careers have been instructed to kill you." The words sink in around the table. "Those of you in the yellow section will run into the woods, but linger near the cornucopia, and finally those of you in the blue section will rush towards the cornucopia, plunder it, and kill everyone who is not a career tribute." I feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I silently raise my hand. Seneca stops speaking and stares at me. "Yes miss Everdeen?"
My throat feels dry. "but- but I'm not a career tribute, sir." My voice sounds scared and squeaky.
"Ah yes. Do not worry. We have something special planned, miss Everdeen." My nerves begin to calm. "You and Clove will be briefed again before the game starts and we will explain the situation." My bones lock in place once the words have escaped his lips. Do they not want me as a character anymore? Are they just going to let Clove kill me?
My eyes move across the table to Clove's smug face. Ugh I hate her.
"What are fire girl and Clove doing?" asks Cato. Great. Now he's jealous because he wants to kill me too.
"They're just going to add more suspense for the audience. Nothing to be concerned about, Cato." Says Seneca Crane as he stacks a pile of papers neatly in front of him.
"Concerned? No way! I just want to be the one that kills her!" great "It won't be fare if Clove gets to do it!"
"Patience Cato." Says Seneca very level headily.
"You'll be lucky if you survive long enough to catch her." Seethed Peeta from down the table.
"What did you say, lover boy?" snapped Cato as his head craned towards Peeta.
"I think you heard me." said Peeta as he shook his head in disdain.
"Quiet." Called Seneca as he read through a sheet of paper. A hush fell over the room immediately. "You'll be dismissed as soon as we have the paper work done." Called Seneca as he sorted through more papers.
"So fire girl, you got a name?" the voice surprises me. I quickly look up to see Cato and Clove deep in conversation. Who said that?
"I'm over here." My head shot to the right. The boy from district 4 sat there with a big smile on his lips. "I'm Joulan."
"I'm Katniss Everdeen." I say blankly, still a little shocked he was talking to me.
"Well Katniss Everdeen let me be the first to say good luck today." He said without the smile every leaving his face. It exposed his perfectly white straight teeth. I feel my cheeks blush but I hold in the smile. My teeth are no where close to perfect like his are.
"Th- thanks, Joulan." My voice sounds nervous. "Um… why are you talking to me?"
"Can I not talk to the pretty girl?" has says while faking a pout. I'm almost relieved that I don't have to stare at his teeth anymore. My cheeks are blushing again. Wait did he just call me THE pretty girl?
"Well Glimmer is right over there." I say with a nod in the general direction of the blonde gladiator.
"I sat the pretty girl." Says Joulan blankly.
"Oh…" Dammit cheeks quit blushing.
"Katniss Everdeen, you're blushing." He says with another toothy grin.
"I am not." I say as I rub my eyes. There's nothing in them. I just need to hide my face for a few seconds to compose myself. Out of the corner of my eye I catch a glimpse of Cato and Clove watching.
"You really are!" says Joulan with a laugh.
"You really are!" calls out Clove obviously mimicking him.
"Watch it Joulan. Lover boy will kick your ass if you mess with her." Cato sounds angry.
"You sure Peeta's the only one who's getting angry?" says Joulan with a wink towards Cato. Cato's face turns bright red. Clove just rolls her eyes.
"Alright everyone you can go now. Just go back to your floor and meet with your teams." Said Seneca. I silently thanked the universe for bringing him in to end the awkwardness.
"Just watch yourself 4." Said Cato as he stood from the table.
Everyone quietly collected themselves and left the room. It was going to be a long day. I could already tell.
Peeta and I met Effie and Haymitch at the top of the elevator where they were waiting with our outfits.
"You need to get changed before we enter the arena." Said Cinna stepping out from the back bedroom.
"Of course." Says Peeta as he merrily takes his clothes and heads to his room. I do the same.
I can hear Effie in the hallway complaining about how ugly the outfits are as I get dressed. What does she expect? It's a dark blue blouse with brown cargo pants. The black leather boots fit my feet perfectly. I won't have a problem running in these.
After I'm dressed I meet the others back in the hallway. Peeta is once again dressed just like me, but its expected this time. I feel kind of safer knowing I won't stand out. Katniss, you're no dying. I keep forgetting that for some reason.
"Hurry children! We have to stay on schedule." Squeals Effie as she presses the elevator button. It arrives almost instantly. Peeta and I step inside first followed by Cinna. I hear the door close behind me while I'm looking out the crystal window. The room feels strange. I turn around to see that Effie and Haymitch will not be accompanying us to the roof. Thank you for the goodbyes. I once again realize that I'm not actually going to be dying. Haymitch has to know, but what about Effie?
"Just remember what Haymitch told you to do in the arena." Says Cinna as the doors slide open revealing the waiting hovercraft. Cinna obviously doesn't know we're not dying.
"Sure thing." Peeta says with a smile. Cinna gladly returns it. Peeta always seems to know what to say.
I grab hold of the ladder that leads into the hovercraft ready to climb up, but an electric current passes through my hand and into my body, freezing me in place. The ladder silently raises me into the hovercraft.
"Hold still Katniss. This is your tracker." Says a woman behind me. I feel the sharp stab into my forearm. There is clear pressure as something slides under my skin. Why the hell do they still need a tracker in me?
Soon after I am released from the ladder's electric grip I see Peeta raised into the craft as well. He too receives a tracker. I now see it is a large needle on a tube attached to the wall.
"I guess we just wait now." Says Peeta as he rubs his forearm. I see a blinking fluorescent light right under his skin.
"Yeah. I guess so." I say without removing my eyes from the blinking light. This is probably what a moth feels like. Peeta must notice my stare because he puts his hand over the blinking light.
The ride seems to go by so fast. After watching the capitol through the porthole windows for about ten minutes, the windows go black. The arena must be near. I can feel the craft lowering towards the earth. My palms begin to sweat. The windows become transparent once again. I can tell we're underground now, on the way to the loading bays.
The hovercraft comes to an abrupt stop. The doors slide open revealing a long dimly lit hallway. The blue lights on the ceiling make the room appear distant and depressing. Two peace keeps arrive and take Peeta away. Two more appear and take me off in the other direction.
"KATNISS! GOOD LUCK!" I hear Peeta yell over my shoulder. I try not to look back at him, but I just can't. My head whips back around to see him staring at me as he's shoved away.
I'm taken to the end of the hallway where a single door awaits me. The number 12 painted in white on its face. It slides open with a slight snapping noise. My loading bay was plain cement on every side. A single circular platform sits in the corner. It glows blue in the dim light.
"There you are." Says a friendly voice. I turn to see Cinna sitting on a bench beside the door. He looks even more tired than he did twenty minutes ago. His gold eyeliner glistens in the blue lights.
"Cinna…I don't know if I can do this." I manage to say.
"Just do what Haymitch said. Survive." I realize he still means not getting killed when I actually meant leaving Prim and my mother to an uncertain life, but I know he's not allowed in on this secret so I just play along.
"Okay." I say as tears slide down my cheek.
"You'll be fine. Besides, you're the girl on fire." Says Cinna with his beautiful smile of hope. I can't be more thankful for his presence. He's like an older version of Peeta who has outgrown his crush finally.
Cinna and I sit and wait in silence. He holds my hand to comfort me, but it doesn't help much. I can't help but think of Prim back home. Poor Prim. She has to watch her sister 'die' on live television. I hope for her sake mom has not left. She can't just disappear into her own mind right now. Prim needs her.
"Load your platforms." Says a robotic male voice over the intercom. Cinna glances up and our eyes meet.
"You can do this Katniss." He says. His face never changes from its serious pose. I just nod in agreement.
My feet feel shaky as I stand up. The circular pad is only ten feet away, but it seems like forever as I begin to walk. My steps feel off balance.
"Wait!" snaps Cinna as he jumps from his seat. I'm soon enveloped in his strong arms. "Win."
"I will." I say as tears slide down my cheeks. They burn against my red hot skin.
"Here. I have your totem." Cinna says as he pulls the mockingjay pin from his shirt pocket. "Wear it proudly." He places is it in my hand and closes my fingers over the gold jewelry.
I silently step back onto the launch pad. Cinna is smiling at me as a cylindrical glass tube slides down from the ceiling separating us. I quickly pin my mockingjay to the jacket breast in fear that I'll lose it. I don't know whether or not the characters' mines will be activated but I don't want to take a chance dropping my totem on one. I look up to see that Cinna is gone, replaced by a black wall. The pad must have started to rise as I was pinning my totem on.
The tube seems to go on and on. My eyes begin to adjust to the dark space. My breathing gets shallow from the confined space. I'm about to throw up when a blinding light hits me. My eyes were so used to the dark I could not see. I could feel the hot sun on my face. Shit we're in a desert.
"Forty five….forty four…" The robotic voice is counting down to the start of the games.
My throat goes dry. I can't breath. I still can't see.
"Thirty nine….thirty eight…"
I realize that my eyes are still closed, but everything is still so bright in the dark. I cautiously open them to let the painful light pour in.
"Thirty one… thirty…"
I can now see the cornucopia about 100 yards away. It's painful to look at it, but I must.
"Twenty eight… twenty seven…"
I notice a bow among all of the weapons, but I can't go for it. I want to live. I don't want to be murdered by the careers.
"Katniss. Katniss." A voice rings out in my head. I look around to see all of the other tributes as they inspect the crop of weapons.
"Katniss, I'm a director. My name is Jem." Says the voice again.
"Where are you?" I call.
"Your earpiece." Says Jem.
"Twenty… nineteen."
I notice Cato maybe twenty yards to my right. The sun seems to frame his face. His hair appears golden in the light.
"Katniss listen to me. We need you to run for that orange backpack." My eyes break away from Cato and scan the field. What backpack?
"What backpack?" I ask.
"Twenty two yards thirty degrees to your left." Says Jem. My eyes naturally move to the area she said it was in. I spotted the bright orange backpack on the ground. Why would I want that? You could spot the orange for miles. I suddenly realized we were in the forest. Yeah you could spot that for miles.
"Twelve… eleven…"
"I don't want to die." I say into the air.
"You have to trust me Katniss." Says Jem. "Go for the backpack." I quickly think back to the meeting in which Seneca Crane told the careers to kill all but their own.
"Eight… seven…"
"Go for the backpack, Katniss." Says Jem but this time more roughly.
"Five… four…" My knees are trembling now. I don't know what to do. If I run for the backpack it means certain death, if I run for the woods the game makers will surely kill me too. My feet instinctively aim for the trees.
"Three… two…"
"The backpack!" screams Jem. She must have noticed that I'm poised to run away from the cornucopia.
"One…Begin!"
My eyes close as the feet that I used to have control over take command of my body. Everything goes silent as I run through the darkness.
