I am so sorry I haven't posted a new chapter in FOREVER. I had a musical to do and I was on vacation. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter. Review please? Thanks. ;D
Kitty's slit Digger's throat. All I can do is cry. She comes after me and I start running. I take the pencil that has suddenly appeared in my hand and throw it at her. It hits her, but she grows into a giant. There is no way I can run now. She begins an innocent giggle. I sure hope this is a dream…
"Morning, Rosie. Get ready for training. We'll meet you in the bathroom."
I meet the triplets in the bathroom. They put the same thing on me as usual. I head down to the table for breakfast. I have no idea what this is, but whatever. It gets really awkward since no one talks. Digger decides to break the silence.
"I'm going to miss you, Donovan and Greyson. Since this is the day before we enter the arena, I wanted to say goodbye. You could've been of more assistance though, Greyson. Thanks anyway."
No one says anything after that. We go to the training center one last time. I decide to train at as many stations as I can, losing track of which ones I go to. I meet with Kitty at archery.
"Are you seriously letting me join you? This seems completely unreal…"
"Of course we are. We need someone to help with the bloodbath and food. That doesn't mean we'll let you survive to the end though." She gives me a sarcastic smile.
Spira calls us for lunch. I sit down with the careers.
"One thing we're all wondering, Rose, how are you so strong?"
"I used to help my dad carry the wheat sacks. They're not very heavy, but I have to carry them for a long time, so they build muscle."
"Is it really that easy?"
"Easy? No. Simple? Yes. I can see that necklace you're wearing, Kitty. Is that your token?"
"Yeah, it is. My mom gave it to me when I was little. She died giving birth to my sister." Kitty holds on to the necklace and closes are eyes. I feel bad for her.
"I'm so sorry, Kitty."
"Don't be, she was lousy anyway. The one you should be sorry for is Mason, he's an orphan. His aunt adopted him, but still. Oh my gosh, where in the whole of Panem did you get that ring?"
"I found it while working one day. I gave it to my best friend, but she gave it back to me as a token." They all smile at me. They're actual humans with actual emotions. How am I supposed to kill them?
"Can I see it for a minute?"
"Sure…" I give Kitty the ring. She examines it for a while and widens or eyes. She gazes over at me and gives a sincere smile.
"This was made in district one. I recognize the insignia on the inside of the ring. This was manufactured where my mom used to work. She used to work with sapphires, so it's a possibility that she worked on this ring. I wonder why someone would drop such a ring…" A tear falls from Kitty's face. I think that she's being reminded of her mom.
"We all miss home, Kitty, our friends, family, pets, everything. One of us is going to come out alive and it will likely be you. It could be any one of us, but most likely you." My stomach drops. I'm still planning on killing her no matter how much sympathy I have for her. Am I becoming a monster? No, I won't let the game get to me. I'm only killing the careers to give everyone else a fair chance.
"I hope not. There's nothing for me to go home to. The rest of you have something or someone. I have nothing." All I want to do is hold her and tell her everything will be alright. I want to tell her someone will be hoping she goes home alive. I'd always thought the careers were vicious monsters who cared nothing about anyone. I thought they had amazing lives and lived in luxury, but it seems that they deal with the same problems the rest of us do. Well, except for the starving to death thing.
For the rest of lunch we just talk about our home lives some more. I finally learn everyone's names. The girl from two is Mallory, the boy from four is Hook, and the girl from four is Annette. Mallory, Hook, and Annette are pretty quiet.
"Hey, what are all of your angles?"
"We've decided that mine is going to be intelligent, Crok's is going to be mysterious, Mason's is going to be tough, Mallory's is going to be scary, Hook's is going to be clever, and Annette's is going to be funny. You, Rose?"
"I think mine is going to be ruthless." All of them begin to ponder if it's a good angle.
"Hopefully you can pull it off." Oh, it won't just be pulled off in the interview, sweetheart.
After lunch we go back to training. I go to the one I hadn't noticed before: bug identification. The instructor tells me about all the dangerous and poisonous ones and tells me how to use them as weapons. There's one that catches my attention. I can't remember its name, but it's a mutation from the capital. If you place it in someone's ear, they'll go deaf temporarily. That information will definitely come in handy at night.
Soon, Spira throws us out. That was my last training session. I can feel my heart beating in my throat. What if I missed something I would have needed? No, it's fine.
I go back to the bathroom to meet with my prep team and stylist. Star shows me a drawing of a girl in a long and flowing turquoise dress. It has a train and it's very thin. She has one braid and the braid is full of flowers. She's wearing some bright-white butterfly wings. Her face is caked with makeup, but she looks elegant. She has dimple piercings. I hate dimple piercings. "That's what you're going to look like for the interview. You're supposed to look like a fairy. Don't worry, the dimple piercings aren't real and the wings will have red splotches on them. Now let's get you ready!"
It takes forever for them to get me into my outfit, but when they finish, I look absolutely amazing. She made my eyes look bigger and used blue eye shadow. My lips are a glossy blue. The blush is a bluish color. All of the flowers in my hair are blue. The dimple piercings are shaped like skulls. They're probably the only things on my face that aren't blue. The dress has a slit where my legs are exposed. It makes me feel uncomfortable, but Star tells me that it looks spectacular.
Tape takes a needle and injects something into my shoulder blades. It doesn't hurt, but I have no idea what he's doing. I'm looking in the mirror and slowly some white wings begin to sprout. It's somewhat painful, but the back of the dress has the back exposed. It keeps the wings from getting stuck I guess. They finally grow into the size of the door of a house.
"Um, Star? Are these permanent? They're sorta heavy."
"They're not permanent, silly. However, if you want them to be permanent after the games I'd be glad to design some new ones like these for you to have. Try moving the wings, darling." I can move these wings with ease. This is so weird.
Box pulls out some bags labeled "Blood". "Don't worry, baby. It's not human blood." Now I'm worried.
The blood is carefully painted onto my wings into intricate designs. They flow, but they trail off into soft swirls. Well, this is obviously not real blood because it would have dried up by now.
"Now it's time for your shoes. You'll be wearing open toe platform heels. They'll be white and red like your wings. Hammer, get the shoes please." He puts them on me. How the hell am I supposed to walk in these? I look like Donovan right now…
"Oh dear, the interviews are about to start. I'll get Greyson. Head down to the elevator with Digger. Greyson will meet you there. I'll make sure he moves his lazy ass."
I'm starting to get the hang of walking in these. It's still impossibly difficult though. Digger is in a similar costume as I, except there are no flowers in his hair, he's not wearing a dress, and he doesn't have dimple piercings. He looks fierce with that makeup and those heels. He is absolutely fierce.
"I'm so rocking this bitch!"
"You so are! It looks like they gave you wings too. And they dyed your hair blue…"
"They did that upon my request. Now come on, Rosie. Let's do this." He smiles at me. I have to get over him soon. He better win if I don't. He's too fabulous not to.
Greyson takes us to where we'll be having our interviews. Most of the other tributes look average. Most of the girls are in a simple dress and the boys in a simple suit. The twins have matching costumes. They look pretty amazing. Even though they're wearing just a shirt and flowy pants, they look great. Maybe it's the simplicity of their costumes that makes them look great. Or maybe it's how fantastic their makeup looks. Or maybe it's their hair. Oh whatever, they just look great. Kitty and Crok are the last to come in. Kitty is dressed up to look like a cat. Crok is dressed up to look like a, well, a crocodile. Kitty looks great, but Crok looks so stupid.
One at a time, the tributes disappear. The careers played their angles well. The twins both have the same angle. They're reserved. They get the loudest applause so far once they're done. Within no time the only ones of us left are the girl from ten, Digger and I, and twelve.
"Break a leg out there, ten."
"Thanks." She leaves, but she's obviously nervous.
"The capital is already in love with you two from the parade, and now you look even better. You, the careers, and the twins are their favorites. Please help us like you promised, Rose."
"I will."
"Well, I guess it's my turn." Digger walks out with a confidence I've never seen in any other person. When he walks out, the audience goes insane. He's definitely beat the twins.
"Why, hello there Digger English."
"Hello there Mr. Flickerman." Digger said that so seductively. Everyone laughs.
"How has the capital treated you lately?"
"It's nice here. So much luxury and, ahem, cute guys." He winks at someone in the audience. The crowd is falling in love with him.
"Haha. So is there anyone special back home?"
"Of course there is. I miss him so much. I'm going to try to win this for him." The audience sighs.
"Would you like to tell us his name?"
"His name is Nathan. Odd name for a kid from eleven, I know." I honestly have no idea why everyone is laughing, but I guess it was funny.
"Well that is very sweet. Our time is almost up. Tell us, how do you plan on winning this?"
"No matter how fierce I am, I'm great at hiding. I'll hide it out for as long as I can and hope for the best."
"Well, our time is up. Come on out, Rose Thornberry." When I walk out, I get even more applause from the audience. I remember my angle, so I make sure they can see the blood on my wings. I flutter them and sit down.
"Oh my goodness, Rose, that is by far one of the best outfits I have ever seen. You could definitely blend in with us capital folk."
"As long as I didn't kill all of you first." I say it with a smile on my face. Everyone laughs, but I'm hoping my angle is obvious.
"Oh please tell me you're joking." Caesar said that with a bit of a serious tone, but I can tell it's a rhetorical question.
"Of course I am."
"Do you have anyone special back home? You are definitely the prettiest girl in your district. You're prettier than most of the girls here in the capital."
"I try." I flip my braid. Everyone starts to laugh really hard. "But no, all the boys are afraid of me. I'm like a spider; I'd bite their heads off and fee them to our children." Again, there's more laughter. I don't see how this is funny, but this is going great.
"You'll find someone if and when you make it back. Who else agrees?" The audience screams at the top of their lungs. I'm trying so hard not to blush. "So tell us, Rosie, how do you plan on winning?"
"The careers have allowed me to join them. I'm going to kill as many people as I can before I die." Everyone is clapping and cheering. I really hope I only kill the careers.
"Would you like to show us your wings move again?" I flutter my wings as hard as I can. My heart skips a beat because I float for a second. I swear, I'm going to go deaf if they don't shut up. I go to sit with the other tributes.
Twelve's interviews don't go very well. They're extremely nervous and they don't answer every question. They're definitely going to need some help if they want to survive.
"You two stole all of the sponsors from the other tributes. I'm so proud of you. The odds are in both of your favors. I'm not just saying that. Now remember, find water, find shelter, and kill the careers. Once they're dead, you'll be in charge of the cornucopia, Rose. As long as you've made some allies other than the careers, you'll be safe there. Stay clear of mutations. Last of all, get plenty of rest out there. That's the mistake so many tributes make. They're exhausted and then they're killed. I'm sorry I haven't been of as much help as I'm supposed to be. You'll do great out there whether you win or not." It's okay, Greyson. We'll be fine.
"I'm so proud of you two. You didn't just steal sponsors, you stole the capital. Everyone loves you. They love the twins almost as much. If you've made an alliance with them, you're sure to have a huge advantage out there. And Digger, you acted almost as fierce as me!"