The Remake Centre. Where they rip hair from practically every part of your body. That's how it seems at first, because it's the most painful thing in the world. Legs, arms, underarms, eyebrows. It kills. But now, my prep team are doing more relaxing things. Caius is my hair stylist. He is probably the only person able to unravel the braid my mother practically glued together.
"This is such a beautiful piece of work. It's a shame to destroy it, really," he says as he removes the pins. He has yellow eyes, and shoulder length straight yellow hair to match. "I'm sure Horatio has come up with something equally beautiful for the parade. I can't wait."
"You are such a beautiful canvas to work with, Annie," says Lucretia.
I smirk slightly. I guess they like the word 'beautiful'.
Lucretia is my make up artist. But for now, I don't need make up and she is helping Caius with the hair. Her skin has been dyed orange, not tan, but bright tangerine. It highlights her, I think, natural blue eyes. Caius removes my grandmother's necklace, to which I protest.
"Don't worry!" he says. "I'll give it to Horatio and he'll give it to your mentor."
I fidget slightly under their touch. The metal plate I'm laying on completely naked is incredibly uncomfortable. It's slightly damp from when they bathed me. The water was supposed to loosen my braid and also clean me. I smelt too much like dead fish, apparently. I scowled at that comment. The sea, yes, I could understand that, but actual dead fish? Now I smell like lemon and orange and my skin is silky smooth.
"Your nails are so long!" Septima cries. She does the nails. "I will enjoy doing these."
She is probably the most normal looking out of the three. She has natural blond hair and brown eyes. The one thing that reminds me she is from the Capitol is bright red swirling tattoos coming from her ears, down the sides of her neck and arms and to the tips of each finger, and long, almost spider leg-like, red eyelashes. She cuts my nails down slightly and files them, making them all flawlessly round and smooth. She coats them in a clear polish. Septima then starts rubbing cream into my naked body, repeating the process three times.
Caius starts to wash my hair, combing out the knots and tangles. I wince slightly, his tugging stinging my scalp, but every time he sees me doing it, he just says: "I'm sorry darling! I won't do it again!" He massages my scalp which sends me into a dream like state. My hair is dried through and I am left there, lying on the cold metal slab. Time ticks by slowly.
"Horatio will see you in a minute," says Septima, as she lays a dainty sheet over my body.
They all leave me. I sit up slightly, clutching the sheet tightly so I'm covered as much as possible. I look around the room. It's quite sterile, a bit like a hospital. I had to go to the District's hospital once. I went fishing with my father once. I was bringing the line in and one of the hooks ripped up my arm, leaving a deep gash. I bled out quite badly; bandages wouldn't stop it. So he took me to the hospital. It cost us quite a lot, as my father didn't want me to be left with a scar, but it wasn't as if we couldn't afford it. The room I was in was pure white and it smelt of chemicals. And that is exactly what this room feels like.
"Where is she?" says a light but masculine voice.
In the doorway is a tall thin man. He has green short spiked up hair and red eyes. Apart from the odd hair and eyes, he is extremely normal looking. His clothes are quite simple, unlike the prep teams: just a black shirt and pair of navy blue trousers with a blazer to match. He has rolled the sleeves up to his elbows.
"Stand up," he says. "Without the sheet."
I stand up, dropping the sheet on the floor. Now I have nothing to hide behind. He can see me in all my glory; see my imperfections and all the lumps and bumps. He slowly walks around me, inspecting every inch of my body.
"Perfect, absolutely perfect," he says. I blush softly. He stands in front of me, hand out. I shake it. "I'm Horatio, your stylist."
"Annie, Annie Cresta."
"A pleasure, Miss Cresta," he says, before bowing down and kissing my hand. I blush again. "I have many things planned for you. Finnick has already told me what angle to present you. Wasn't it cute but deadly?"
"Yeah, that's right."
"Well, being deadly in the parade isn't going to work. You want to be cute then. And I have a brilliant idea which Finnick has approved. It's inspired by your Reaping hair," he says as he sits on the steel bed. I sit next to him, enthralled by his blood red eyes as I wrap the sheet around my naked body.
"My Reaping hair?"
"Yes, it was simply stunning! Caius couldn't work out how to do it at all. He said it pained him to undo it," Horatio replies.
"Yeah, he said. My mother did it. She was trained to be a rope weaver when she was younger," I say.
"Ah, no wonder! Rope is practically hair. When you go home, do tell her we sung her praises. I'm sure Caius would love to see some of her other work."
"I will do," I say. He didn't say 'if' I go home. He has faith in me. Or maybe he's supposed to say it.
"Now, the parade," he says. I listen intently. "We have some things planned for you. We want District 4 to stand out this year. And we loved your hair at the Reaping, so we're bringing that into it too. We'll add loads of extensions to make it thicker and more like waves from the sea. And there is some clever Capitol things we can do to actually make it like the sea, but you have to trust me, okay?" I nod. "Good. You're outfit. We want to make you like a mermaid, but nothing cheap. It will all be sparkles and dazzle. Lots of skin on show, of course, but you'll be fine. You just have to trust me, yes?" I nod again. "And your eyes. Wow, they are beautiful. He was right." Does he mean Finnick? "There is something extra special which we're doing for the parade and the interviews concerning your eyes. We have contact lenses which will enhance your natural eyes and add to the mermaid theme. It will be fantastic! How does that sound?"
I stare at him speechless. It's all so much!
"Yes, it sounds brilliant," I smile. "What about Jasper, my District partner?"
"Oh, Crispus and his team are doing something equally brilliant for him. You will be like Gods of the sea," Horatio says.
"Good, I just don't want all the spot light on me. We came here together."
"Of course. I understand. He is a dear little thing. So sweet yet heart breaking," he replies, his gaze lowering slightly. "We had better get started. Not long now!"
