Here's chapter 4!
I want to say thanks to the few followers I have now :)
Not much to say…hope you enjoy!
Chapter 4: Suspended Over Seas
The next morning, Ayn was shaken from her nightmare of a thousand fluorescent hands tearing her skin away. Her downy comforter was ripped away.
"Time to wake up, sweetness," a monotone voice said.
"Yes, Mr. Harrison," she mumbled. She obediently rose from her bed.
The trains started up again, guiding them through the city. While Gorgeous stood at the window to wave at the Capitol citizens, Ayn hid in the corner of the car. She was thankful that, for now at least, a metal wall obscured her from the massive crowd. Their train stopped in front of the Tribute Building. Ayn could only take a few seconds to marvel at the towering structure before she was ushered inside.
Hastily, Ayn grabbed the thin white robe and wrapped it around herself. She had just undergone an extensive procedure to perfecther body. From her silken her hair to her perfectly polished toe nails, she had been washed, scrubbed, and plucked. All around, she felt like she had just been dissected. On the other hand, her stylist team were acting like children at a candy store.
"You look so beautiful!" Hamlin exclaimed.
"Like a goddess!" Odalys quickly followed up.
Maeko let out an excited shriek of agreement. Compliments were strange and Ayn wasn't sure how to reply. They seemed too shallow minded to be sarcastic. In this outrageous world of neon hairdos and bejeweled skin, maybe she fitted right in. She couldn't say it comforted her.
She managed a reply to the Trio, "Thank you."
"Well, of course!" Odalys said. "Your clothes weren't expensive at all. How did you afford the surgical procedure?"
"Oh, no, no. It's all natural."
He tilted his head. "Your skin is so white. Not to mention your pink eyes. It can't be natural."
She smiled slightly. Maybe not natural. "It's a, um, genetic abnormality."
He seemed like he was going to reply when the Trio simultaneously exclaimed "Oo!"
"I think your stylist is here!" Hamlin said excitedly.
They rushed to the door to welcome my stylist. A young woman with electric blue hair spun into a spiraling bun walked in. Her skin had a particular glimmer, as if silver glitter was surgically applied to her skin. Ayn looked at her outfit. A floor-length, white gown with sleeves that dropped to the floor and a high oriental collar. It was fairly modest.
"Oh! How precious!" High-pitched Capitol inflection tilted her words. "You're even lovelier in real life. Come?"
Ayn followed her into another room where there were large armchairs overloaded with cushions. They sat across from each other and her stylist examined her like she was a rare gem. "Gorgeous is a rather lovely specimen but I'm confident we will outshine him."
Ayn wet her mouth. "Wh-what does my outfit look like?"
She hoped she had one.
"Oh! It's lovely! But I won't ruin it. It's going to be a surprise! Oh, alright, I'll give you one hint. I'm going back to the 70's of the Games. Do you remember? Fire was all the rage."
Oh no. District Seven was the lumber district. What was she going to be dressed as? A log on fire?
"Oh! I'm so sorry," she said. "My name is Karila. Your name is Ayn. We'll obliterate that gorgeous boy. Get it? Pun?"
Ayn smiled wearily. "Yeah, I got it."
Moments later, Ayn was one among the twenty four tributes awaiting for the chariot ride. Well, twenty three. She didn't know where Gorgeous was. Ayn could hear the low roar of the crowd outside the room. Her heart hammered inside her chest.
She turned her attention to her outfit in order to tune out the thousands of people below her feet. She was clothed, at least. The dress had a bodice of ebony wooden texture that faded into a powdery fall of white ash. The slight touch of red indicated burning wood. Karila had fallen into a lengthy explanation of the story behind the dress but Ayn barely remembered any of it. It was something with the phoenix rising from the ashes. She wasn't sure on Karila's promise that they'd "obliterate" Gorgeous. The outfit, though elegant, was hardly flashy at all and faded in comparison with the other tributes' chariot costumes. District One's tributes, for example, were literally dressed in a million tiny diamonds. Part of Karila's explanation also included something about how Capitol fashion was annoyingly ostentatious.
Turns out she had done well in distracting herself. District One's chariot was riding out into the air. The roar of the citizens exploded beneath her feet and Ayn felt dizzy. Her vision was already bad but were things supposed to be spinning?
A sudden hand on her shoulder snapped her out of her daze. She looked to the owner of the hand and nearly stumbled in surprise. "What the hell are you wearing, Gorgeous?"
His outfit was a spiraling vortex of silver blades. Clear harnesses strapped around his body held the blades to his body. The manner in which the blades were placed provided absolutely no modesty.
He pulled her forward and she registered the camera crew following them.
"My stylist made a wonderful chariot costume for me," he said with a charming smile.
"You said your outer space pajamas were ridiculous. You've got to be kidding me."
"You look beautiful too, Ayn," he said pleasantly.
This is what he acted like. She didn't know who was on the train with her last night, but this was the Gorgeous she knew. Clueless, insufferably charming, and fake plastic smiles.
She ignored his help onto the chariot. He laughed as they stepped on. "Don't stand too close, Ayn, I might just cut the pretty tree down."
And there were the jokes.
District Five's chariot moved out.
Ayn heart leapt out of her chest and she seized the closet thing – Gorgeous' arm. There was no floor beneath them. Only a rippling wave of millions and millions of heads. A sea of flailing limbs. Screams rose from the deafening roar of the sea. The huge screens were currently dominated with images of the tributes of District Five.
Ayn heard herself say the words. "I can't do this."
"You'll do fine, Ayn."
"I have to leave."
She was shaking like a willow tree in the wake of a hurricane. Her legs were completely numb.
District Six left.
Her legs would give out any moment. Fluorescent hands flashed in the air and grabbed for her. She had to leave. How could she leave? If she scaled the chariot tracks and…
Gorgeous glanced at the screens projecting the faces of the District Six tributes. "Ayn, listen."
"No, I have to move quickly. If I – "
"Ayn!" He grabbed and shook her shoulders.
"W-what – " Her eyes were large with bewilderment.
"Jesus, Ayn, listen to me." His voice was low and he spoke hastily. "You have a ridiculous amount of makeup caked on your face. I can barely recognize you. The people behind us, they won't recognize you. You are not Ayn to them. You are just another tribute. Besides, you are next to me. I am a practically naked mass of godforsaken swords. All the cameras? They'll be on me. Not you. All the cameras will be on me. You can't leave, Ayn. The Games have already started. You want to live? Well, start now. Survive."
Survive.
Their chariot moved out.
"Some advice? Stare at the horses. They're lovely creatures."
She let go of Gorgeous' arm. Then, she stared at the swaying heads of the equestrian animals. She learned to ignore all the people at school. She would shut them out now. With practiced concentration, the screams lessened to a dull hum far far away. Their horses were a deep redwood brown and their manes were braided with dried grapevines. She imagined them nickering to each other. What would they say to each other? What did horses say?
She smiled. Wondering what horses were saying…she must be delirious. Still she imagined the conversation. She named the one on the left Earl and the right one Alby.
Earl: What is this they put in our hair?
Alby: They seem to be dead leaves.
Earl: Dead leaves? What purpose do they serve?
Alby: They smell funny. Perhaps it is incense to keep away bugs.
Before Earl could reply that that was ridiculous, there were no bugs in the Capitol, Ayn felt a hand on her shoulder. "We're done, Ayn."
Thanks for making it to the end :P
Come back next Friday for a new chapter.