Sorry I haven't posted a chapter in a while! My sister was turning 16 and I had to plan her party for her, but now that that's over (thank god) I can continue! Sorry about the wait!
Chapter 4
Breaking Hearts, Breaking Bottles
For a moment, I contemplated running. I was about to turn and bolt when a thick hand wrapped itself around my arm and shoved me towards the stage. Dammit I thought. It was my dad's hand, the head peacekeeper. There was no escaping his meaty hands, so I was practically forced onto the stage. Herb's capitol smile only made me want to bolt more.
On the other hand, there was Cato. He stood, poised as ever. He was calm, that is, his body language was calm. I could see the panic in his icy eyes. When I got onto the stage, I was forced to shake Cato's hand. He gave my hand a not-so-reassuring squeeze and smiled his signature smirk. I tried to return the look, but found my face still stuck in its stage of horror.
I tried to speak to Cato before being ushered into the justice building, to no avail. There, I was shut into a small room, only furnished with a couch. My first visitor was Sam Cavalry. She looked wrecked. Her face was streaked with tears and her hair was mangled. She stepped in halfway.
"Clove, I'm soo sorry! I knew about you and Cato all along so I was going to volunteer for you when-" She finally came all the way into the room, with Felix behind her.
"Felix?" I asked, baffled.
"I knew about you two all along and when you two were late for practice, I knew something was up. I wasn't about to let it go unpunished."
I was speechless for a moment until I found the words to say. "Are you admitting that you rigged the reaping?" Felix just smiled.
"Have fun in the games. I'll make sure you and Cato are the last ones, so I can enjoy you two tearing each other apart." Felix shoved Sam forward and exited out of the room.
"Clove, I'm so sorry but he made me! I was getting ready to volunteer and Felix punched me in the gut and I couldn't speak! It wasn't supposed to be like this Clove! I was supposed to go in the games!" Sam crumpled to her knees as she cried. What am I supposed to do? I wondered. I had never been one to comfort others. And normally when I tried, I would say something and get a whole lecture about how insensitive I was. I knelt down beside Sam and rubbed circles on her back, like I had seen in movies.
"It's okay Sam. You couldn't help this" I whispered. And then I wondered, was it going to be okay. Would I be able to win the games and keep Cato? It was an impossible hope, but I tucked the thought into the back of my mind. Who knew, maybe I would need that little impossible spark of hope.
"Clove, I'm sorry we never had the time to become friends" Sam sobbed.
"It's okay Sam, I'll come back. We'll both come back." But I knew it wasn't going to be true. Felix was right, only one of us would come out, and chances are it wasn't going to be me.
"Times up" my father said in his peacekeeper voice. Sam practically crawled out of the room, choking on her own sobs. "Well hello there, worthless trash" my father spats at me.
"Well since I'm half you and I'm worthless trash, what does that make you?" I snapped back at him. He laughed, catching me off guard.
"Good one" I was taken aback by his kindness (not exactly kindness… more like his lack of abusiveness). "Well who knew my daughter would go into the hunger games?" He looked me up and down. When the door clicked shut, he lunged at me and held me by my neck up against the wall. "Don't you even think about coming back, I'm not going to take care of your sorry ass anymore. You go out there and die a noble death, but do not come back to this district."
I heard the door open behind him and he dropped me to the ground. In walked another peacekeeper. "Come on Trey, her hours up, she's got to get on the train" my dad's friend said. My dad spat on me one last time before walking out of the room.
I pulled myself together for my walk of shame through the field of cameras. All I could think about was Sam. Could we have been friends if things had worked out differently? Did she already see me as a friend? Why would she volunteer for me? How did she know about Cato and me? Why would she try and save my life? Questions pounded in my head and the flashing lights didn't help. I practically ran to the safety of the train.
A peacekeeper slammed the door shut behind me and I was overtaken by the feeling of claustrophobia. That is, up until I saw Cato. He didn't see me at first, but he sat lounged across a chair, his feet hanging off the arm of it. He played with the fabric of his shirt subconsciously, all with a frowning expression on his face.
"There you are!" Herb said, snapping Cato out of his trance. When he looked up at me, his eyes were pooling in tears and a lump accumulated in my throat. I felt eyes boring into my skull, but they weren't Cato's. I found the culprit. Enobaria. My mentor, who stood up to look me over. She studied me from every single angle. "Too small" She scoffed.
"She's all you've got Enobaria, you don't get a replacement every time you don't like your tribute"
"You're just saying that because you have Cato, he's the perfect tribute"
"You think I want him? He's my nephew for crying out loud. I see enough of him already!" Brutus jabbed a thumb in Cato's direction.
"Why don't you come here and sit!" Herb chirped, changing the subject. She patted the cushion next to her on the couch. I opted for the floor instead which made Enobaria laugh.
"We all know District 2 is going to be the leaders of the career pack this year, but the Capitol is tired of the same old tributes. They want a more interesting story." Brutus began.
"You're point is?" Cato rushed his uncle's train of thought.
"My point is, we need to do something different than the same old ruthless killers. We need some tear jerker story behind one of you or maybe a story about abusive parents or maybe-" Brutus looked between Cato and I. He noticed Cato's longing glances that kept getting shot my way. Brutus raised an eyebrow. "-a love story."
Herb, unknowing of what Brutus had just implied, clapped her hands approvingly. "Oh! I like that one!"
"A love story indeed" Enobaria flashed a toothy smile. Cato's eyes widened when he noticed what had just happened.
"No, no, no! We're the strong careers from 2, we don't fall in love. If we show that we're weak, we loose-" Cato shouted.
"Do you really think it would get us sponsors?" I asked.
"Think back to the 70th Hunger Games. Remember Lacey Douglas and Clayton Stiller? Now that was a love story. Now, they were from 4, so they weren't supposed to be as ruthless as you are. But imagine you and Cato the star-crossed lovers of the 74th Hunger Games. Everyone's a sucker for a love story"
"Especially a believable one." Brutus elbowed Cato. "Doesn't seem like that'll be too hard for you, son" I felt my face go hot.
"Awww, she's blushing!" Herb squealed. I rolled my eyes.
"So then, the star-crossed lovers from district 2 it is!" Enobaria stepped out to call the Capitol, quickly followed by Brutus.
"Are you guys like, together?" Herb whispered.
"Get out of here!" I raised my voice, which made her jump out of her seat and run to her compartment. Cato slid onto the floor and sat next to me, eyes glazed over as he concentrated on a spot on the carpet.
"Cato?" I asked.
"Clove, what are we going to do?" I climbed into his lap and he rested his lips on my head.
"We're going to enjoy the time we have together. We'll work from there." I said, lifting my face and brushing my lips on his. I felt one of his tears hit my face and roll down my cheek, bringing my own hot tears out of my eyes.
I had only cried two other times in my life, when I was born, and when I watched the 63rd Hunger Games, when I was 4.
"Daddy?" I croaked. My dad looked up from the couch to see me standing there, holding my blanket.
"Hey Clover, how are you feeling?" he asked. I walked over and he felt my forehead. "You're still hot and you look a bit flushed. Here" he handed me a cup of water.
"What are you watching?" I questioned, looking up at the TV.
"Your mom" I finally recognized my mother's weathered face. The face of the 63rd Hunger Games.
(I guess I should explain some. See, my parents had me when they were 14. Yes, I know, extremely young, but not uncommon for District 2. My mom, even though she had a kid and husband at 18, still volunteered for the Hunger Games. Hence, my father and I watching the Games that night.)
"Can I watch?" My father nodded and I crawled up into his lap.
I watched as my mother sat around a campfire with her fellow careers. "I think I'll go take a bath" she said. The other careers didn't seem to care when my mom stood up to leave, as they were joking around about their latest kill. My mom walked down to the lake and undressed, leaving on her undergarments, very well aware that she was still on live television.
She waded out into the lake and submerged. I admired how serene and peaceful she looked when she swam. She was even smiling, something you didn't see out of many careers if they weren't killing. And that's when it happened. It was too dark to know what was happening at first, but there was a splash, and a hollow thud. I saw the big boy from 11 hit my mom in the head with a log. My mom couldn't scream in time, she was already unconscious.
"Mommy!" I screamed, but knew I couldn't save her. No one could save her. As if to cause me more psychological damage, the boy from 11 pushed her under the water, drowning her. The sound of the canon echoed in my head. I felt my dad's body grow rigid and he practically threw me off his lap. He bit his lip, drawing blood as angry tears escaped his eyes.
"Daddy?" I said, but he didn't hear me. All he could hear was his wife's canon ringing in the house. He picked up a bottle and threw it against the wall I was sitting by. The glass rained onto me and specks of glass were stuck in my skin everywhere. I felt the hot tears flow from my eyes as my dad continued throwing a tantrum, with nothing but a little 4 year old to take out his anger on.
Hope you liked it. Needed to give a reason why her dad is so abusive. Did you like it? Anything I could of done better? Please review! (Oh, and what did you think about Herb's comic relief?)
