Today I felt a switch in my veins,
Today I felt a switch in my veins,
Use to be a shadow, now,
the shadows scream my name.
And in the daylight, I could swear,
We're the same.
One Republic-Ordinary Human
After around an hour of taking several photos and accepting roses from the Capitol we finally made it to the remake centre.
"Now, you must do everything your stylist says. No questions. No exceptions." Odette finally speaks up before nodding at the peacekeepers. I begin to ask Why before I am practically shoved into a room, separate from Cahen. The door slams behind me and I frown before my gaze lands on a man and a woman who seemed to have been waiting for me, their outfits implying they are from the Capitol. Their heads turn towards me and the woman's brown eyes light up, before she walks over to me and pulls me in for a kiss on the cheek.
"Hello love!" The woman exclaims, tapping her fingers on her chin, "My name is Eunice and I'm going to be doing your nails and make-up!" I nod as the man steps forward, a calm, collected look on his face,
"And my name is Kallisto and I shall be styling your hair," He nods, smoothing down my hair before ordering me to strip off. I scoff,
"I'm not taking my clothes off when I just met you..." I mutter before Odette's words replay in my mind,
'Do everything your stylists say. No questions. No exceptions.'
My stylists exchange glances that seem to say Just wait before I sigh, pulling my clothes off begrudgingly. I wait awkwardly as they study my figure, circling me like eagles would do to their prey. I bite my lip as they raise their eyebrows at my bruise-covered arms, legs, torso and knuckles,
"What are you a fighter or something?" Kallisto asks teasingly, with a hint of seriousness. I shrug,
"Something like that," I simply reply as they nod, handing me a thin robe-which I immediately throw on in relief-before laying me down on a cold, metal table.
Back in District 12, I was a street fighter of some sort. Me and Rye had accidentally come across a sort of training centre out in the woods, with a worn-out, ring-like stage in the middle of it.
'"Hey Shay! Come check this out!" Rye calls out to me from somewhere on the ground.
"Hold up!" I yell back, climbing higher up the tree to get a better view. The wind whips through my hair and I push it out of my face as I stare across the sea of light shades. Orange, yellow and red blossom over the treetops, providing an escape from the reality of my life. Rye calls my name once again and I sigh, before climbing onto a lower branch and slipping back to the ground. I search for the familiar grin of my best friend but only find the rough surface of tree trunks and the occasional brown leaf floating to the ground.
"Rye?!" I shout, waiting for a response. When I get none I walk over to where his backpack lies, alone and unattended. A wolf howls in the distance and a wave of fear comes over me. 'No. Stop jumping to conclusions... He's fine...' I think to myself as I continue to search through the unmoving forest. My heart rate picks up speed and before I know it I am pulling at strands of my hair hysterically,
"Rye?!" I call out, "Please hope nothing happened to you..." I mutter before he bursts through the trees in front of me, a wild and satisfied grin on his face.
I run up to him and punch his arm,
"I thought you died, you idiot" I groan, making him laugh as he massages his arm,
"Please, nothing could kill me," He says in between fits of laughs, "I appreciate your concern though," I poke my tongue at him,
"Don't get too cocky. I could be preparing to kill you out here..." I shrug, wiping the blood-from the squirrel I killed-on my knife on my trousers. He grins,
"I'd love to see you try..." He replies, wrapping his arm around my shoulders. I nod,
"Yeah. It would be the perfect murder mystery..." I say, inspecting my knife before pressing it to his neck threateningly, "No witnesses, no body, no evidence," He rolls his eyes,
"Wow. I can't believe my best friend is a future murderer," He pulls the knife from his neck and shakes his head in disappointment.
"No. I'm your future murderer," I shrug, making him laugh as he turns to walk back to where he came from. I stand still, a little confused as to where he was going before his voice calls out,
"You coming?"
I glance left and right-checking if there were any Peacekeepers or Hovercrafts-before running off after him. After a couple of minutes we stop in front of a large-obviously abandoned-training centre, covered in vines, algae and even splatters of dried blood. I exchange a glance with Rye and I grin,
"Race ya inside!" I sprint towards the entrance as Rye groans behind me,
"Not fair! I've been running for ages now and plus, You got a headstart!" He shouts as I stop in front of the door and rest on the frame.
"First place goes to Shayrene Blackburn!," I cheer, making him roll his eyes as he walks over to me. "Too fast for you!" I wink at him before opening the door and stepping inside.
The sun rays seeping in through the cracks in the roof was the only light I found when I stepped in.
"Rye! There's kinda no light in here!" I yell, running my fingers over the wall trying to find a light switch.
"There is! Just wait on a second," He replies, running up behind me and flicking a switch. The lights flicker on and focus in on a boxing-like ring that stands in the middle,
"Really? Straight away you found it?" I groan, making him laugh as he hops into the ring.
"Whatcha think?" He asks, gesturing to the ring.
He offers his hand for me to take as I begin to walk towards the ring.
"Come on, Shay I don't have all day," He teases. I poke my tongue at him before taking his hand and stepping into the ring with him. He holds onto my hand for a second longer before dropping it and allowing me to move around the ring.
"This. Is so sick!" I cheer, dancing around the ring.
"Wanna see something even cooler?" He asks, hopping out of the ring and picking something up. He holds up what looks to be two worn-out pairs of boxing gloves, slipping one on each of his hands and chucking two to me. "Wanna try it?" He asks, jumping back into the ring as I slip the gloves on. I grin,
"Oh, it is on."
Finally! An update! Sorry for the wait I've just been pretty busy with schoolwork and stuff... But here it is! A new chapter! Enjoy!
