I'm safe apart
Nothing can touch me
Why do I feel this parties over?
No pain inside
You're like perfection.
Why do I feel this good, sober?
Katherine Farrow
President of Panem
"Well I've good news for you." says the doctor as he walks into the living room where Alma and Jada sit with me waiting for news on Clyde.
I knew he wasn't going to be able to go to a hospital. Especially after what just happened with the events that just unfolded a mere hour ago. If I'm being honest with you, however, it seems like an eternity. Since the start of this wild ride, Clyde has been my constant. Even before the Bureau or the Agency. Clyde was my person. My rock, my saving grace. He was the one good thing up until Alma that I was able to call mine.
"Is he okay?!" ask Alma with an urgency in her voice that I've never heard from her before. It was aggressive and harsh. Almost like the little girl that I raised for so long isn't a little girl anymore, but a woman. Do I want Alma growing up around this type of stuff? Do I want her to have to always be in the limelight or in danger?
"He's fine." says the doctor plainly. "He passed out from the pain, but overall I expect him to make a full recovery. Expect some mild soreness in his shoulder, and don't let him do much around the house."
"Trust me, that won't be a problem," I say taking a sigh of relief.
The doctor leaves the room and Jada wishes us a nice sleep as she heads back to her wing of the mansion. Amazingly Adela slept through this whole thing, or she just didn't make any noise.
"Mom, what are we going to do?" ask Alma as she frowns looking at me. "They said they wouldn't stop. I don't want to not be able to trust people."
"Sweetheart," I begin, "No matter what you can't trust people. I'm going to give you advice that I learned from my mother a long time ago, even the most trustworthy of anyone can hurt you."
She stares at me with an intense look and I can tell she wants to say something, but she isn't sure where to begin. I know she's going to ask about her grandparents, but to be honest, I wouldn't know where to begin. I haven't talked to my father since the reapings of my games, and my mother since the night the murders happened.
As if reading my mind Alma gives me a soft smile and then reaches out her hand to touch mine. "I just want to meet them," she says. "I know that everything is messy, and it probably is really stupid of me, but there is a part of me that I don't know. I've met dad's parents so many times. I just want to meet yours."
"I'll think about it," I say as she gives me a hug and walks up to her room.
I sit down in an arm chair in the living room and put my face in my hands. I let my hair fall in front of my face when someone clears their throats and says, "Ms. President?". I'm still not used to hearing those words when associated with me. I look up at the man in a dark black suit and a tag that shows me he was cleared to come into the house.
"My name is Robert Antony," he says sticking out his hand. I place my hand in his and give him a weird look. This would probably be a lot less weird if it wasn't four in the morning. "I bet you're confused, but when the break-in happened I was notified immediately."
"And why was that?" I ask confused
"I'm Commander of the Agency to the President of Panem. Or the CAPOP for short. Our purpose is one thing, and that's to make sure you're alive at the end of each day. We scout out potential threats to your reign, and also have guards at your beck and call."
"I'm sorry, but aren't you a little too, uh, Pro-Snow for me to trust you?" I ask blatantly.
"I'm afraid a few of our agents turned away from the mission mam, but I can assure that the two agents I have with me today are two of our best, and they will do everything in their power to help you."
I stare at him with a crinkled brow as he tells me this. "No offense, but I don't need help. I'm doing fine on my own." I say as I begin to walk out of the room. As I'm exiting he grabs my arm and I turn around surprised at the gall of this man.
"Forgive me, mam. Can I ask you a question?"
"If you take your hand off me."
He chuckles and then holds his hands in the air in an act of surrender and then points to the room around us. "Mam, are we the only two people in this room?" he asks me.
What kind of a question is that? Of course, we are the only two in this room. "Yes," I say. "We are."
"No, you're not."
I jump when I hear another female voice, and scream when two girls appear out of basically nothing. One of them was covered in brown textured paint and was lying on the table. The only reason I even noticed she was there was because she smiled when she spoke. She sits up and takes off her bald cap and long blonde hair falls to her mid-back. She smiles and walks over to me sticking out her hand.
"Sailor Atkinson, but you need to call me MaryGrace in public."
The other girl was sitting on the red couch in the corner of the room crisscrossed. She opened her eyes and all I see is bright green surrounded by red. She takes off her bald cap to reveal blonde hair that falls to her shoulders, and smiles brightly as she walks over to me and extends her hand. "Nice to finally meet you, Madame Pres," she says. "My name is Gretchen Creek. I'm the senior agent in your agency, and I look forward to protecting you and your family."
My songs know what you did in the dark
So light them up, up, up
Light them up, up, up
Light them up, up, up
On fire
Gretchen Creek
Senior Agent
"I'm confused!" says Katherine as she stares at both me and Sailor shocked. "How long have you guys been there?!"
"About the same time that the doctor arrived." Sailor replies. "Don't worry Madame President, we don't have access to your house without complete permission. We were called here because of the break in, and we've been assigned to you."
Katherine crosses to the couch on the other side of the room and begins to expect it. She's looking for holes or openings that I was able to hide in, but it isn't there. It's just my paint. When she decides that there is no way that we were able to climb into something she sits down and crosses her legs on the couch. She definitely wasn't groomed like a President. The woman is so vulnerable. She's not poised like your typical elegance while altogether making some of her own.
"How do I know you won't be turning on me like some of the other agents in this department?" she asks accusingly. "We're clearly out of our element here. I'm good for punching things, and for sneaking around mostly. I'm completely out of my element here and I don't have time to worry about all the people that I'm letting in my home day to day."
Sailor and I cross over to her and sit on the coffee table that's in front of her couch. Sailor does a light smile and puts her hand on Katherine's shoulder and reassures her.
"The agents that you saw were Snow loyalist. They were branched in our department because they were originally recruited by us. When Snow left power, and Amber stepped into place, we as the Agency switched our allegiance. The Snow loyalist have it twisted." I
"We don't serve a particular person. We serve the President in general. We only have loyalty to the man or woman that is sitting in the mansion." I say. "I know that trusting isn't something that you're known for, but Katherine, I give you my word. You have my complete loyalty."
She nods her head in agreement to what I and Sailor just said and then bites her upper lip. "So where do we go from here?" she asks me.
"I'm glad you asked," says Sailor smiling. "So basically, we want to make sure you're covered in every aspect. We believe that you personally have tremendous fighting skills, but we need you to be our top priority in the field. You'll work with me. My goal is essentially to be your body guard throughout the day. Mr. Antony will work with Clyde and basically, we can all pray they won't do something manish and stupid."
She chuckles at that and smiles as I continue to tell her the plan.
"Lastly, my dear friend Sailor who doesn't look a day over seventeen will attend school with Alma. She'll be able to travel with her and make sure that none of her classmates are the psycho killers. We already had a schedule made for Sailor-"
"I'm not pleased with the fact your daughter is in advanced classes by the way," says Sailor interjecting.
"And they will be together the whole day. We think it's best that we don't tell Alma about Sailor though as much as just letting her kind of be there and work her way in. I feel as if your daughter wouldn't respond well to a chaperone."
"Fair enough," Katherine says as she gets up from the couch. "Now, if you don't mind, I have a meeting with the city council tomorrow and I plan on being at least semi-awake for it. I'll be turning in for the night."
"Good night, Madame," says Sailor. "We'll be here."
She leaves for the living room door and then turns around to look at us one more time.
"By the way, if I find you guys do anything to me or my family, I won't hesitate to make any of you guys suffer three times as worse."
"Wouldn't have it any other way," I say with a grin.
She might not be groomed like a President. But she already has the mind set to make her reign worth it.
Our history repeats itself
Day by day the same
Never changing
Never changing
A Snow Loyalist
Head of the City Council
This idiot woman has no idea the amount of trouble she's causing for all of us to come down here on a Saturday morning. What could be so important that we have to drop what we're doing and come help her? I knew she was incapable but she's clearly beyond help at this point.
"I'm sure you're all wondering why I called you here," says Katherine as she stands up at the front of the table. She is in a bright red romper and her hair is pulled back into a tight bun. She looks elegant as she stands there. Confident in her ideas for what she thinks will make this country better. Sadly, for her, that's the only nice thing I can say.
"I think that it is time for a change in this country," she says
The room goes quiet as she begins to circle around the table and talk to us.
"For the past 31 years, Panem has been ruled under a state of fear. As President, I don't want that to be my legacy I leave behind. For years the districts have been divided, and honestly, it really doesn't do anything other than forcing us into ignorance about our own people. Our own culture." she pauses as she looks at us with a serious face. "I think that it's time for Panem to come together. I think it's time to allow the Districts to come back together and form a great nation that I know this country can be. I think that it is time to end the Hunger Games."
It is so silent in our room that you can hear a pen drop. Who does this girl think she is. It's not even two days in office and all of asudden the main principals that our country was founded on is suddenly trying to be disbanded. I start to chuckle, I don't mean to be disrespectful, but it's simply silly. She looks surprised at my response as I stand up and look at her.
"My dear, let me explain something to you that you're clearly lacking understanding in," I say standing up. "You have great ideas, my dear. Great ideas for another country I'm sorry to say. Let's look at this, shall we? We, the founding families of Panem, control the money of this great country. Without our money, you don't have a country. We like the Hunger Games. We like the Districts. My dear, we like things the way they are. Change is not something that will happen."
"I am the President!" she says attempting to put her foot down.
"But without people to rule you're nothing but a grown woman throwing a silly tantrum. The games stay as is as well as the districts. Case closed."
I grab my briefcase from the floor and begin my walk out the door.
"You can't just do this," she says. "I have authority-"
"You have what we give you. You'd be smart to take what you can, Ms. Farrow."
I walk out of the room and allow the doors to slam behind me.
Well, this update is a bit late. I was on vacation with Jenna (betttyy) and we didn't really have a lot of writing time. Some announcements…
The next time you see a post from me THE TRIBUTE LIST WILL BE OUT
The reapings will begin on chapter 6 like I did with Over the Edge
I started a new story called Stories from the Fallen. It's a series of one-shots about my fallen tributes in other SYOTs!
Reviews are great. They make me happy. I love the support you guys are giving me for this story!
I just wanted a fifth.
Merry Christmas, everyone!
Keep it classy,
Caleb