Chapter Four
I woke up almost as soon as I'd fallen asleep. It was early. I looked at the clock on the wall. It was four in the morning. I tried to close my eyes again, trying to drift off for just a little longer to avoid what the day would bring. After ten minutes realizing my efforts were futile I got up. I walked over to the wardrobe out of curiosity to see if they were stocked with clothes, they were. I pulled out a random outfit and slipped into it.
I quietly shut the door and crept down the halls. I was going to the living room. I reached out for the wall feeling my way down the hall. Finally I'd found it. I stumbled over to sit on the couch and I hugged my knees to my chest.
"Couldn't sleep?" a voice asked. It made me jump.
"Um, no… I guess I couldn't." I say. My eyes furiously looking around the room for the owner to the voice, he sounded close.
"I couldn't either… I was worrying about…some things… And don't worry… It's just me, Kaleb." He said.
I let out a breath I didn't realize I had been holding. "How long have you been out here?" I asked.
"All night." He says. The room was silent. "I'm really sorry, Rose…" he said. I turned my head towards his voice.
"Sorry? What for?" I ask.
"I'm sorry that you're in here. I'm sorry that you have to be part of this." There was the silence again. "I—I… I just…"
I looked towards him concern in my eyes. "What is it? Is everything okay?" I asked.
He hesitated. "I… I'm going to protect you out there, Rose." He said. It sounded like he wanted to say more, but he didn't. What he did say was enough to get a reaction out of me though.
"NO!" I yelled; unable to stop myself. He clicked the lamp beside him on. He was staring at me. I didn't understand the meaning of the look on his features though.
"Why? You deserve to live more than any of us. You're too good for all of this, Rose. And I…"
"You what, Kaleb…?" I asked.
He looked uncomfortable. "Nothing, I was just going to say that I have no reason to live. My family is all dead, but you have Gabriella… That's all." He said a little too quickly.
"Kaleb?" I say. I can tell something is wrong.
He looked at me again. He eyes staying on mine. "Will you talk to me…? I can tell things are really bothering you. I'm here and I'm your friend. Please tell me." I say.
I can see the sadness in his eyes. "It's you, Rose. You can't die. I won't let you die. I'm going to protect you."
I shake my head. "No, Kaleb, you can't do that for me. I'd never be able to live with myself if I saw you die, if I saw any of my friends die." I say.
He started laughing. "That's why I need to protect you, Rose. You think you can save everyone. You can't they'll kill you as soon as look at you. All the rest of these people…they are not like you. They don't want to save anyone else but themselves. There is nothing you can do to prevent it, Rose; I'm going to protect you. It's my duty to your parents. They would have wanted me to." He said.
I wanted to fight him, tell him he can't, but he left. He just turned and left the room and went down the hall to his own room.
I sat there the remainder of the morning. My knees hugged to my chest. I was worried. About Ryn, about Kaleb. Only one person could live through this, we all knew that…
As I sat the room slowly started to fill. Nessie and Elvin came first; Kaleb and I's stylists. I stayed in my sitting position. I didn't care that Nessie was here. I couldn't face Nessie right now. Tomorrow I would be thrown in an arena with her daughter to fight to the death.
Next to come in were Peeta, Katniss, and Haymitch. Haymitch eyed me like I was a monster. I couldn't understand why, but then the rerun of the first day ran through my mind. He had to sedate me after I attacked Katniss. I made a note to apologize to him, but not right now. I just stayed in my sitting position my knees pulled up to my chest. A few of them tried to make conversation with me, but I just sat there, silent.
Kaleb was the last to arrive. He never even glanced my way. Nessie ushered him over onto the couch next to me. He sat as far away from me as the couch would allow. Did I make him mad? I wondered.
Haymitch cleared his throat. "Okay, Katniss, I am going to go to my Tributes. I am convinced she won't kill you now." So that's what it was. He thought I was going to hurt her. Katniss nodded at him and he left the room.
Katniss stood in front of us, Peeta held her hand from the couch beside her. "Peeta and I will be your mentors for the Games. You may already know, but in case you don't you guys only get one day to train which is today. Tomorrow you guys will go into the arena." She looked at Kaleb and I. "It is our job to get one of you out alive. If we could we would try to get you both out, but that is not a possibility. Anyway, the question is whether or not you want training. You have the option to give all your training time to your partner instead." She looked at us again.
"Give her my training time." Kaleb says.
I turn to face him so quickly it makes me lightheaded. "NO! You need your training time." I say.
He finally turns to look at me. His face is covered in a glare. A glare meant for me. I felt my stomach drop. Did he hate me for this morning? "I can take care of myself." He said still glaring, but his eyes are on the floor now.
I pull my knees tighter against me hoping it will make the sudden wave of nausea go away.
"Okay, so you are giving Rosemary your training time, or not?" Katniss asked.
Kaleb silently nodded. I pleaded with my eyes for anyone to stop him from doing this. No one did.
"Okay, it's settled then. Rosemary come with Peeta and I we have training to do." She said. Letting go of Peeta's hand and heading towards the door as Peeta followed I reluctantly left my sitting position and followed suit.
The walk to the Training Center took less time than I thought it would. There were twenty-two others in the room when I walked in. Kaleb was right no one else gave their partner their training time. That didn't mean he was completely right though.
Katniss turned to me. "Do you see anyone in this room that might be Career material?" she asked
I looked at her with a puzzled expression. "Career? What is that?" I say.
She sighed. "I guess you wouldn't know. It's someone who was born around weapons and would know how to survive and wouldn't have a problem killing others."
My eyes widen at her description. "I don't know…"
Katniss turned to Peeta. "The boy probably knows go ask him and then come back here and tell me please." She said.
Peeta nodded.
After he left she took me over to the weapons. "I'm going to teach you how to use a bow, create snares, and tie knots. For the rest of the training time Peeta will teach you camouflage, what plants are edible and are not, and lastly how to find water sources that you can actually drink."
I nod. "Thank you Katniss." I say.
She says nothing and picks up a bow and quiver of arrows. "Try these first." She says. I nod. I pick up the bow and place the arrow in it pulling back the string readying myself. "Okay, aim for the target and take a deep breath." I do. "Now shoot." She says. I let go of the string and the arrow flies past the target and goes into the wall. I look at Katniss and her mouth is hanging open. "You didn't even hit the target…" she said.
"I've never used these before…" I say shamefully.
Katniss sighs. "That's why we are here."
She made me keep trying. I only improved slightly after an hour and that's when Peeta came back.
"What took so long, Peeta?" Katniss asked.
Peeta glanced at me when he spoke. "Kaleb had some things he wanted to…get off his mind…" He glanced over at me again quickly. I didn't know what that meant. "Anyway, I talked to him about the Careers thing and he told me about three of them that might be considered Careers. There is that really muscular guy his name is Xavier I think he's representing District 8. Also there is a girl named Diamond, representing—not surprisingly I might add—District 1. The last is a guy named Maverick he is also District 1. He is the tall guy with the bluish looking hair. I also think that Kaleb could be seen as a Career. The guy has a lot of talents apparently. I found that out when I asked why he gave up his training time. Believe me. The guy is more than capable of taking care of himself." Peeta finished.
"Did Kaleb know their skills, and what are his?" Katniss asked.
"Well the Xavier guy is good with knives. He lived with an old man who used to be a blacksmith. He can throw very well. The girl, Diamond, she is good at creating deadly things out of surroundings. She used to even help with the Gamemaking. Maverick is like you and I combined Katniss. He's a hunter, deadly. He can camouflage himself almost as well as I can and his weapon of choice is the bow. He can hit his target 9 ½ times out of 10. I would say the three more than qualify as Careers. As for Kaleb he's about all of them combined. He can shoot, he can hide, and he can throw. He is like the Careers dream. I think he is willing to ally with others too. Maybe there will be a Capitol Careers team this year." I shuddered at the idea.
We ran through all the things Katniss said we would. Finally it was time to end. We had to wait outside the Training Center. We had to earn training scores. Kaleb came down for this part. He sat in his place next to me and never said a word. Something Peeta had said earlier rings through my mind. What had he meant when he looked at me and said that Kaleb wanted to get some things of his mind?
I didn't get to ponder on the idea long. "Rosemary Emerson." My name was called over the speaker signaling that it was my turn to show them what I could do. I started to panic. What could I do? Suddenly everything Katniss had taught me earlier leaves my mind. I don't know what I am going to do.
I slowly walk into the room. The Gamemakers are waiting. I walk over to the bow and arrows. When I'd shot during training I'd only had a 10% accuracy this was a bad idea. I pulled back the string and closed my eyes. I thought of Gabriella. When I opened my eyes again I let out the air in my lungs and the string of the bow at the same time. The arrow seemed to go in slow motion, but finally it hit the target, right on target; in the heart. I looked at the Gamemakers and Plurarch Heavensbee smiled. "Is that all?" he asked smiling. I nodded, my body shaking. "Okay, you're dismissed then." He said. I nodded and ran out of the room, past the waiting Tributes and up to my room.
I stayed there until after all of the training was done and Nessie came to get me to watch the scores. I reluctantly left my room and went out to the living room. The program was just starting. Peeta and Kaleb had been right about the District 1 pair. They both scored 9s. I continued watching. I didn't pay attention until mine. I received a 4. After me was Kaleb, he received the highest score yet, a 10. Our stylist congratulated us. I didn't say anything. I just sat with my knees hugged to my chest. Finally the boy for 8 came up, Maverick, he receive a 10 too. I looked at Kaleb, he'd been right about all of them. Ryn was Maverick's District partner. She received a 6. We watched the rest of the scores in silence. After they were finished I got up and went to my room before anyone could say anything. I'd scored lowest. I was scared. Tomorrow was the day. I'd be in the arena.
