All the way up to the apartment, Iona rambles about how sensational I was in the arena and how I'll just love the outfits she's made for me. Upstairs my preps surround me and the sudden company freaks me out. I was alone for a few weeks at least and this is a bit overwhelming. However I just go with it and they practically carry me to the dining table.
The servers are giddy with delight as they put more food on my plate. They throw a hundred questions at me but I ignore them in favor of eating. Between mouthfuls I say, "Don't you want me to finish so you have more time?"
"Very true," says one of the male preps. "Oh there's so much to do!"
With my meal done, they take me in for another prep session. The embarrassment of being naked in front of two men is still alive and well, but I just deal with it. They usher me to the shower that is all set for me. At first I let the warm water fall over me and I lean up against the wall and let it sink in further. I'm going home.
I reach to wash my back and find something interesting. My scars are gone. A few years back I missed my harvest quota by one basket and so the taskmaster gave me five lashes with a whip, but the marks are all gone now. Even before my shower I felt as if I was scrubbed clean but now that I get a real look at myself I see that every flaw on my body is gone.
"Hurry up now," says Iona cheerfully.
"Right," I say as I finish up.
The Preps engulf me again and in no time Iona returns with an interesting looking purple dress. There's a lot of poof to it and I feel like a bell after she puts it on me. My hair is all done up and when I look in the mirror I look like I'm seventeen at least.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, your Victor of the Twenty-third Hunger Games!"
As I walk on stage Marlin Oleander, the host of the Hunger Games, shakes my hand. No tribute meets him unless they've won. The crowd chants my name and I give a wave to them which makes them go even crazier.
"Well, Seeder, I must say you're the biggest surprise from the Hunger Games yet! To win the games at such a young ageā¦"
He pauses and I know he's waiting for me to say something.
"I didn't expect it either."
I flinch at their laughter. The last time I heard someone laughing they were trying to kill me.
"Well, I bet you're just dying to see what happened from our point of view."
"Guess again. I won't be dying any time soon. I'm out of the reaping for life now."
More laughter and this time I don't jump.
"Right you are, young lady. So let's get this show on the road!"
He leads me to the seat that for the next few hours I'll have to sit and see what happened. Occasionally the victor is shown on a tiny screen at the bottom so I try to look interested rather than terrified about seeing how the others died.
They start out with everything before the arena. This time I pay close attention to the boys and girls picked. The arena must've been really boring if they spend this much time on the Reapings. When they get to District Five I see that Boron Welkin, that's his name, having an argument with the boy next to him before taking the stage. Once there he looks out into the crowd of kids until his escort asks for volunteers. His gaze switches to someone else and shakes his head. Was someone about to volunteer for him?
Why? Why does he matter to me? There were twenty-three other tributes besides me that were in that arena and yet something about him catches my attention. It's his promise that interests me. Did he keep his word? Did Randle from Seven?
The bloodbath is just awful. The air is warm on the stage, but I'm freezing. They don't show that I stood on my plate unable to move or that Indigo practically dragged me away from the Cornucopia. Instead I'm shown on my plate before the gong and then the next time I'm shown is sometime after the bloodbath.
Looking at the supplies in the Cornucopia distracts me from the gruesome scene. From what I can tell there wasn't a single bit of food there. Everything must've come from sponsors as insurance that we'd all play.
Everyone is spread out. The boy from Six dies from eating a bad plant. It looked a lot like one from training except for the leaves. I'm glad Indigo and I didn't find that one because I might've messed up. Later the boy from Ten is taken out by the pack.
When they show Indigo I realize how confused I am about him. On the train he was sorry we met under the circumstances. I thought I would have a friend up until the arena, but for almost all the training he ignored me.
I watch as he prepares his first trap while I went to finish off the berry bush. How did I not see that coming? As we leave the camp the camera does a dramatic zoom in to the berries left behind as ominous music plays. When it zooms out again, the boy and girl from District One arrive on the scene first.
There's a short back and forth between them on if they're safe and then they see the branch that we plucked clean. After that there's no argument and they pop one berry after another in their mouth. They're dead before the rest of the pack catch up.
The others do all right for themselves but it's obvious the food and water supply is low. Only a few tributes receive gifts from sponsors, always food. Most of the betting is on the Pack, but splitting food between four people is a strain on their relationship.
Day four arrives and I run away from Indigo. For awhile he sits there, preparing for a fight. When I don't return he gets up.
"Seeder," he calls out. I don't answer. By now I'm tumbling down the hill.
"Seeder."
His calls get more frantic as he looks everywhere for me.
"Indigo you idiot, you scared her off. Seeder. Seeder I'm sorry!"
Storming back to the camp the Pack can be seen up one of the small hills above our fire pit. Without flinching, Indigo gets up and disappears into the bushes. The Pack follows and the audience starts going nuts for the upcoming fight.
The boy from Four seems to be in charge as he silently issues orders to the others as they surround him. He's able to cut the ones that attack him, but the girl from Four takes her staff and smacks him behind the legs. They, the Pack and the audience, whoop as Indigo crashes to the ground. The boy from Two takes his knife and plunges it in his chest. They leave him, barely alive, and the moment his cannon goes off a basket of food arrives for them.
