Private Sessions

Passion Hart (24) D1M

I couldn't believe this had happened.

Last night, the Head Gamemaker had come to see me. Or rather, to use me. He knew I wouldn't refuse. I couldn't refuse. Especially if he mentioned Esmeralda... He told me he'd take her if I didn't give in.

What choice did I have?

After all, my cousin was innocent. They hadn't laid a finger on her, despite her victory and stunningly good looks. But I, I wasn't like her. I had been violated so many times... I couldn't let her be treated the same way. I gave Arthur what he wanted.

But now my body was aching as I waited for them to call me for my Private Sessions. It would begin in ten minutes, and all of us were gathered here, sitting silently. Ceria tried to give me an encouraging smile and I returned it. I could tell her what had happened with me, but it had happened with her so many times that I was afraid I'd trigger her.

"What will you do?" Lakely asked, "The swords or...?"

"No," I replied, "Swords are too common, don't you think? I'll go with something else."

"What?" She pressed on, looking at me curiously with an excitement that made me want to laugh.

"Nothing special, Lake," I replied honestly, "I'll use a trident."

"Trident?! I've never seen a guy from One choose a trident as his weapon!"

"I know," I replied, "But we do have them at the training academies. I like tridents better than most weapons."

"Cool!"

"What will you do?" Ceria asked Lake, her eyes lidded as she examined her nails, "Hopefully it isn't sedatives. Or... poison."

Lakely laughed at that and then winked at Ceria.

"Surely not," she replies, "I'll use throwing knives."

"Nice."

I glanced at Lakely, noticing her. She didn't look very comfortable with the question but had laughed it off. I was sure she was going to use poison this time.

Well, I wouldn't eat the food she'd cook. Or rather, I wouldn't let her cook. After all, I knew a few things about cooking.

But then, maybe it wouldn't be too bad if I died. At least I wouldn't be violated again and again.

Lakely "Lake" Holt (19) D4F

Ceria was too smart. And Passion as well. He didn't say anything earlier but I could see his gears turning. In fact, I was certain that he was thinking about cooking our food, hoping it wouldn't be poisoned.

Neither of them had to worry. I wasn't going to dismiss them, not early anyways. And as far as Ceria was concerned, I could poison just about any kind of food. It wasn't a big deal for me.

But now, it was my turn to show off my skills- again, to the Gamemakers. I hoped they would give me good scores. Of course they would, I'd compel them to.

"Ms Holt, what will you like to show us today?" Head Gamemaker Arthur asked with a smile.

"I'll just show you, sir."

I walked towards the poisons station. Eyeing all the ingredients, I quickly made up my mind about what I would make. So I started brewing the concoction, until it was a clear yellow color.

"Here it is!"

"Poison? Are you sure it'll work? Shall I test it on an Avox?"

"Sir," I cut him off, "This isn't poison."

"What do you mean?"

"The ingredients are poisonous, yes, but after mixing them together properly, instead of making another strong venom, this turns into an antidote. And as you saw, it can be prepared within minutes."

After that, I demonstrated my knife throwing skills. They'd set up a moving pendulum as a target for me, but I knew what I was doing. The knife hit the bob straight on.

"That was impressive, Lakely."

"Thank you sir," I replied warmly.

"So... do you use poisons only for making antidotes?"

"Not at all," I answered, "I just wanted to show that the most deadly weapon could be used as a medicine too."

"Well done. Thank you, Ms Holt."

"Thank you, sir," I said and walked out of the room.

Aiken Harper (20) D7F

"You use axes pretty well, Ms Harper."

I nodded at the compliment, not willing to waste my energy on thanking him and all. What was there to thank them for anyway? For sending me through hell again?

But I held my tongue as I walkes towards the station with tomahawks. Not a very popular weapon with District Seven, but it helped me last time, and I still remembered how to use them.

Arranging five dummies in a circle, I started throwing the weapon at them, taking off their heads and smashing their skulls. It made me feel sick that I could be doing this to actual, real people- again. It wasn't fun. It wasn't something to be proud of. But it was something to be done.

When all the dummies had been destroyed, I strolled towards the edible plants section. Not wanting to explain anything to the petty Gamemakers, I decided to take a computerised test.

It was too easy.

In fact, I marked a couple of wrong answers just because I felt like doing so. I knew I'd still get above ninety in the test. I didn't need more than that. And then I submitted the answers.

Ninety two percent. Bingo.

A trainer hurried over to me and recorded the score. He nodded at me approvingly but I just turned away from him. I didn't want his appreciation.

"Thank you," I said, just as the time reached the limit. Bowing slightly, I walked away, not waiting for their comments. I didn't want to hear those dogs' voices. After doing this to us they always expected us to fawn over their pathetic words. No thanks. I was better on my own.

Jake "Jackdaw" Dasby (32) D9M

"I think we should take down the real threats first," Tua said, "We can worry about the weaklings later."

"Sure," I replied, "However, this time around everyone is a victor. Nobody's exactly weak. They can be underdogs and win."

"Dear Jake," she said, her voice dripping with honey, "There are many chance victors here too. Do you think they stand a chance?"

Now, it was seriously annoying me the way she talked. It was as if I was a toddler. And she always added 'dear', 'sweetie', etc. which annoyed me even more if it was pissible. However, I had to keep her around for my own safety. I had to let her believe that I wouldn't kill her. After all, there were supposed to be two victors. She'd buy it.

I wasn't going to inform her that I volunteered only because I wanted blood.

"The Careers?" She asked.

"How about the alliance between Leia and Geoffrey? We can take them out."

"They are strong," she nodded, "Fine. That'll be okay too."

"Exactly, because the Careers will be busy killing the weaker ones."

"True."

Tua looked down at her feet, her hair hiding her face. She seemed to be thinking and something told me it wasn't good for me. What if she had the same intentions as me? No... I couldn't allow that.

"Did you really volunteer to help that man out?"

"Yes," I replied confidently. Lying was, after all, my forte. "He couldn't have won. But I can and I will."

Tua smiled at me abruptly and then stood up, bringing her hand forward.

"Hopefully the scores will be good. Good luck."

"Good luck to you too."

As we shook hands, I couldn't help but notice how firm her grip was and how confident she looked. I smiled.

First the men and then it'd be fun to kill her. After all, that's what I came here for...

Leia Foster (22) D11F

I was glad I had an ally.

My fellow tributes were all too preoccupied on training and strategizing to notice anything at all. The only other alliance was between Tua and Jackdaw, and since they were both psychotic, it wasn't really a surprise. The Careers weren't a great team at all, not with two girls who would be trying to kill each other at the first chance they'd get. After all, only one girl was leaving this place alive.

That's why my alliance with Geoffrey was beneficial to both of us. We weren't competing against each other. In fact, we were actually trying to help each other out since we both could win this thing. And it helped that I knew him from before pretty well and I knew he was dependable. After all, that was the most important aspect in a team; whether the members were dependable or not.

The scores of the Private Sessions were going to be announced soon, and I couldn't help but feel nervous. If I scored poorly, the Capitol would be 'disappointed' and wouldn't sponsor me. If I scored too high, they'd be happy, but I'd make for an early bloodbath. So I hoped it would be a decent score but I didn't know for sure. Staring at the TV screen, I clenched my fists in anticipation. They'll be out soon...

And then it began. I wasn't surprised when a 10 flashed against Passion's photograph. These brutal Careers! Did they still train day and night?! What for though?

The next was Ceria with a score of 9. I frowned. That was very impressive but again, I wasn't surprised.

What surprised me was Rajan's 7. It was a good score for someone from Three, even if he was a victor, and I wondered what he had done. Of course, it wasn't too high. In fact it was the score I needed. Neither too high nor too low, but respectable enough.

I leaned back in my chair as a 9 appeared next to Lakely's name. No surprises, in fact I was expecting a 10 from her since she had won very recently.

I wondered what Geoffrey must be thinking of these scores. He must be planning something, which was good, because the competition was seriously getting tough...

Geoffrey Guilford (37) D8M

The tributes this far had gotten pretty solid scores, and that was something to worry about.

I was pretty confident in my own performance back in front of the Gamemakers. After all, it's rare to see a guy from Eight weild a trident efficiently but since a trident had assured me victory last time, I stuck to it. I wasn't bad either, and had managed to beat the trainer, but then the Gamemakers many-a-times didn't like giving high scores to those of us who were not Careers.

Charlie's name appeared next, and a 6 flashed next to it. It was pretty predictable to be true, but I was glad that at least somebody had scored less than a 7. However, next was Rodney's score and that simply blew me away. He got a 2... a 2.

I couldn't hide my shock at that. How could a victor get a 2?! What did he do to get that score? But then Rodney might not have been able to perform well. He was a but too fat and I'd seen during training that he had trouble doing basic things. And he was always eating. He got scared easily. The more I thought about it, the less surprising it became.

Next was Aiken, and I was again surprised to see a 7. I wondered what she did to get that score, for it was pretty high. So far, there were two people with a 7 and both these could be strong contenders.

I knew my score was next, and although I had faced it before, I felt a coldness in my stomach as I waited nervously. There was nothing I could do to change it but I hoped that it was decent.

However, I was completely unprepared for the 9 that popped up next to my name. 9!? This was brilliant! It was a score good enough to attract all the sponsors out there. Heck, it'd help our alliance a lot!

I exhaled in relief, the tension built up inside me had now vanished. 9 was a good score. Now it seemed we had a chance.

Next was Jake and it wasn't surprising when he got a 7. I believed that he might have been scored based on his brutality. But then, if it had been that way he would have gotten a 10.

Next was Oxen and I narrowed my eyes. He was huge and strong and could use his maces well. But nothing had prepared me for his outstanding 9 as well. Another guy with the same score as me! Another Outer District guy at that. Well, everyone knew he was a big threat.

Next was Leia with a 6. I couldn't help but feel a little down at that. Of course, it was good, but I hoped for at least a 7. That would have made us pretty popular as an alliance in the Capitol. Ah, no worries. She'd still get sponsors.

The last tribute was Tua, and I was again surprised that the psychotic girl got an 8. That was a very high score for someone as crazy as she was.

I closed my eyes. Right now, almost everyone seemed like a threat. Most of them had 7 and above which made it hard to finish them off. They were strong contenders and Leia and I had to especially keep an eye out for the loners and I needed to keep a low profile now. My 9 was a good thing but it could turn out to be a problem if I didn't handle the situation well.

But now, it was time to take some rest and relax my mind. We were so close... no, I shouldn't think about it.

Turning off the TV, I went towards my bedroom, hoping to get some rest.

Hi guys! I'm sorry for such a late update. It wasn't intentional but life was hectic for both of us. Anyway, what did you think of this chapter? And thank you all so much for asking about me! It was so sweet of you all I'm better now! :D

Also we'll be in the arena next chapter so yay! However, if I kill your tribute, know that it's nothing against you.

Thanks for for reading and have a nice day!