Zelix may have a payback plan, but he's not the only one.
Chapter Seven- Lanie POV
When I saw Teah's expression after I landed in district thirteen, my knees started to wobble. In the craft, I had been rehearsing my excuses, and had reviewed them all. Even Matthew had helped me come up with good excuses. But individually compared to her face as I got out of the craft, I realised that they were all pathetic.
So I told her the truth.
"I'm sorry, Teah. I couldn't stay away."
But she didn't say anything to that, and that scared me more, like being in an eye of a hurricane. I knew that things were going to get a lot worse.
But not this worse.
Everyone around the table was agitated. The meeting room wasn't hushed like it usually was before a meeting. Whispers were traded around the table, and even though I couldn't hear the exact words, I could sense the emotion that the talker felt.
Obadiah Ring paced back and forth. His wife, Haylette, was sitting down against the wall near the door. Her eyes watched her husband carefully.
Haylette's presence gave me a warning. She never usually came to meetings. Violet came occasionally, but more often didn't. Probably because she needed the extra time to apply all the make-up that the packages were sent with fortnightly.
Teah had deserted her chair, and was leaning against the wall, looking like she was trying to read some letters on the floor that were upside-down and backwards.
I was the one who broke the shell.
"What's going on?" I asked.
Everyone's eyes turned to me, and I felt like sinking into my chair.
"We received a message from Rica, given to her by President Tobias himself." Obadiah didn't look at me as he talked.
"Tobias is part of the Society?"
"President Tobias. He had a meeting this morning with the council and Gamemakers. Rica relayed his message."
"Where?" I looked around the room. "Is Rica here?"
Violet rolled her eyes like I was stupid. "No, idiot. By phone. You probably don't know what that is, because y-"
"Can it, Violet," Christian snapped over her.
"Shut up," she said back.
"Quiet, you two," Obadiah said to his children. They went silent at once. He turned his head toward me, but didn't stop the pacing, and it was annoying me to keep watching him go back and forth. "Rica had his message, and said that it was urgent to tell you all. Especially you, Lanie."
I leant forward sub-consciously in my chair.
"Zelix had some special plans for this year's Hunger Games. Apparently, there is a shortage of Forbidden Children."
"So they're taking more?" I couldn't stand the thought of innocent kids going inside the arena and experiencing the things that I had.
"Don't jump to conclusions, Lanie," Teah murmured from her place by the wall.
"Then what?" I asked, slightly aggravated. "Just tell me!"
"There's also a shortage of mentors, many having backed out from the outer districts." Obadiah plus several others glanced at Teah. "So they're having the previous Victors mentor this year's tributes."
I thought about what this would mean for Peyton, Zavier, Noah and Nyal. Zavier, who wasn't even sane enough to speak without yelling. Noah who wasn't even old enough. Peyton, whose wounds with the Capitol were still raw. Nyal, who I'd seen crying.
"They're going to teach kids how to survive in the arena? That's horrible- it's repulsive. Listen, I saw Nyal today," Teah shot me a look, so I added for her benefit, "he didn't see me, but I saw him. He's barely coping." My words were just a whisper. "They can't do this."
"Let me finish, please, Lanie," Obadiah said somewhat impatiently. "Because of the shortage of tributes, they're also going to send in the mentors."
Inside my head, the gears worked hard for me to understand this. Two gear rotations later, I felt myself go limp in my chair.
"Nyal's going back in?" It sounded like someone was choking me.
"Yes. And everyone who is mentoring the tributes."
"That- impossible- can't- no-"
"They had a vote, and majority said yes. It was Tobias against the others, and even though he's the President, he can't beat that many votes. He tried, but because he failed, he told Rica to pass on the message."
"He should've tried harder," I said, my voice leaving me like a gust.
"He tried hard. But this is Zelix we're talking about."
Zelix brought back gushing waters of pulsing fury. I found my voice again, and this time I had to work to keep it quiet. "Do they know?"
"They'll know during the Tours."
I had to hold back a sob in front of them. I bit my lip hard, and I could imagine what I looked like. I looked like someone who couldn't hold herself together. Unable to cope, just like the others.
Somehow, the tributes who died have gotten the better end of the deal out of this.
"Excuse me," I said, my words as broken as I was.
I hurried out of the room, my hand over my mouth to stifle my scream. In the elevator, I couldn't contain it. My lungs wheezed as they struggled to keep up with my chest-racking sobs. I slowly slid down the walls of the elevator, not bothering to press a button. The doors were shut, and this privacy was what I needed.
I curled up into a ball, my tears falling on my lap and my cries muffled by my knees. My head against the wall. My hands gripping the silver key on my neck.
I'd already sacrificed myself just so he'd make it out. But he was still suffering. I'd kept myself away from him so danger wouldn't come. But it was coming anyway. He'd already won, but clearly, the Capitol was not finished with Nyal.
My Nyal.
What was this? A plan for revenge? What was there to avenge? The three Victor spots that weren't supposed to exist? The only people who had the right to avenge were the families who'd lost their sons and daughters in this godforsaken games! The Capitol had no right… no right to make people pay. If anything, it was them… them who deserved the payback.
Run dry, I mopped up the tears on my cheeks with my sleeves. The training room… it was now the perfect sanctuary, not just for my vulnerability, but for my contained anger that was building up to revenge.
My revenge.
On the Capitol.
They were going to pay.
No matter what happened to me.
They were not going to hurt my Nyal. Again.
Matthew found me slaughtering all the dummies in the training room. He sat patiently on one of the mats as I made fluff out of their fillings.
"Are you okay- no, I shouldn't ask that."
I laughed humourlessly. "No, you shouldn't."
He leant forward and picked up a piece of dummy fluff. Experimentally, he blew it off his hand. "I think I was the only one who watched the entire Games last year. Do you know why I did it? Why I watched all those kids die? It wasn't because I enjoyed it. It was because of you. Held prisoner in the Cornucopia surrounded by those burly idiots… you still radiated all the hope in the world."
My swing slowed down half-way through when he told me this, so I only ended up decapitating a dummy half into its neck.
"I pretty much spent all my time beside you when you were in the coma, acting like some kind of star-struck little kid looking up to his hero. I have to admit, I prefer the way you look now than before. You look like Katniss Everdeen. Act like her too. But do you know what's missing?"
I pulled back the sword and continued hacking until the head was fully off.
"You need a Gale Hawthorne." He smiled. "Katniss couldn't be a Mockingjay without a Gale."
"What does that mean?"
"I know you're going to do something. But you need a friend. Like I said, a Gale. I want to be that friend, Lanie."
I didn't know if what this meant to him was the same as what it meant to me. "You want to help? You can't do that."
"What are you going to do about it?"
I drove my sword into a dummy's grotesque scarred face. "Do what I can."
"I want to help," he insisted.
I paused mid-swing and turned slowly toward him, sword still raised. "No. I can't bring you into this, Matthew."
"But I want to do something. I hate this place just as much as you do," he said, standing up. "I hate the Capitol as much as you do, and I want to do something about it just as much as you do."
He took two steps toward me, his face set into an expression that I knew no words of mine could defy. "I also want to get Claire back home."
"You want her out of here too."
"I don't want her involved in this. This society is dangerous. If we get found out, I don't want her part of it. As soon as I can, I'm sending her back to district two."
"Where your parents are."
"It's safer. Closer to the Capitol. They won't suspect her. But me, what can I do? I can't go back and stay with Claire. And I'm sick of being here every single day doing the same things. I want to help you."
"You don't want Claire involved. I don't want you involved either."
"I already am. For Claire, it's not too late."
Slowly, my sword lowered to the ground. Matthew took this as a sign of defeat. A small half-smile showed up on his face.
"So what we going to do?"
"I am getting out of here. You are going to help me."
"Help you what?"
"Convince Obadiah."
He snorted. "That'll be hard."
"It'll be plenty hard," someone said.
Teah stood at the entrance, arms crossed. "I agree about doing something, Lanie, but I don't know if Obadiah will. Especially without a plan."
"That's why-"
"We need to think about this. We've got people on our side everywhere, Lanie. But they only cooperate under Obadiah's command. What are you planning."
"A bust. We could get them out of there."
Doubt coloured Teah's face. "And how will we explain their disappearance?"
"Train accident."
"And kill everyone else on board? It'll be a massacre."
"Aren't the Hunger Games already massacring everything?"
"So we don't need more bloodshed. Lanie, think. Remember what I told you yesterday? We have our Peacekeepers on the train."
I paused. Then I fixed her with a look. "Can you get me on the train as well?"
She smiled slightly. "Yes. As a helper. Women as Peacekeepers are bound to cause suspicion."
"Good. That way, they'll always be in my sight. Every step of the way. Up until the Capitol-"
"Where they'll give the announcement about the mentors. What do we do then?"
"Well… the mentors are going to get into the arena. So there has to be someone on the inside who could protect them."
"And who will that be?"
I turned to her suddenly, electrified.
"No, Lanie. I'll find someone else to do it."
"It has to be me. Listen, the moment the Capitol realises that it's me, they'll realise all their failures."
"But you're in the arena, where they can kill you with a press of a button."
"Yes, but-"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa… wait a minute," Matthew said, throwing his arms up to break the conversation path. I'd almost forgotten that he was there.
"What?" Teah and I asked, impatient.
"You're not going into the arena again, are you?"
Teah and I exchanged a glance.
Matthew scoffed. "Lanie, you're so stupid. You can escape that, and you're going in again?"
I opened my mouth to argue, but Teah cut in. "Lanie, he's right. We could have plant our Gamemakers in there. They'd make sure everything is safe. Remember Plutarch Heavensbee in Katniss' Quarter Quell?"
I shook my head, but his last name was familiar.
"Heavensbee…" Matthew murmured thoughtfully. "Related to Oliver?"
"Yes. Oliver's great-great-grandfather or something. I lose track of the greats. But yes, he was a Gamemaker against the Capitol, and he helped Katniss Everdeen, Finnick Odair and Beetee out of the Quell when Katniss ruined the forcefield."
"Odair sounds familiar."
"Ruby's relative."
I shot her a questioning look.
"Most kids around here are related to the tributes in the Hunger Games of Katniss' time. Mostly because they knew about thirteen, and passed it on to their children, and used thirteen as a place to flee to when the Hunger Games started again."
"Wait, let's get back on track," I said, placing a hand on my temple to make sense of my thoughts. "Is there any way of making sure that they're safe in the arena?"
"Well, they won't be totally safe, but as safe as arenas come in. As for the train, Obadiah can call around for any volunteers. Most people here have served as help for the Capitol."
"No. The train is my job."
"At least have someone help you."
Before I could speak, Matthew called out. "Claire. She could help. She could also leave at district two, so I can get her out of here."
"But wouldn't that raise questions? Two kids come out of nowhere, offer their help as Capitol maids?"
"Three kids, actually," Matthew said. "I'll come along."
"No. Three new people are suspicious. Two isn't as much. One would be better, but because of the circumstances… We can't afford to have any risk on this. You would know all about that, would you, Teah?"
She smiled, obviously remembering all the sneaking around before the Hunger Games happened. Forbidden classes in the middle of the night. When we were all alive. "Yes, I would."
TEEHEE
"Is this your plan?" Obadiah asked, his hands together and his chin balanced on the tips of his fingers.
Teah had been our spoke-person for the entire consultation. I didn't want to ruin anything with my 'big-mouth'. Matthew and Claire sat beside me. Matthew had done a great job explaining to her. It seemed like I was the only one who couldn't seem to talk.
"Yes," Teah said. Her tone was perfect. Determination with the right hint of assurance. Assurance that nothing would go wrong. Assurance that I wouldn't go haywire on the mission.
"How much of our resources will need to be used for this task?"
"Not much. Just food for two days. A small bag of money. There'll be food on the train, and people on the way can help."
"Of course. We have the Masons in seven, the Odairs in four, Rica in three and the Hawthornes in two. That'll be where you'll get dropped off?" he asked Claire.
She nodded. "Mum and Dad'll help, certainly."
"Good. I have no problems for this trip, except for her preparation."
There it was again. Talking as if I wasn't even here.
"She's steady. When her actions are fuelled by the protection of others, she's perfectly capable. Did you see her performance in the arena?"
"Unforgettable." Obadiah stood up. "I call around for our connections. They should say yes, and at the end of the day, I'll tell you. There should be no problems. You'll start tomorrow. Now excuse me, I'll call President Tobias about our plans."
We smiled as we left his office.
Phase one of vengeance plan: successful.
Who's ready for phase two?
Thanks for the reviews guys, keep them coming. I actually do read them.
:)
