I think you guys will like this chapter... it's full of surprises :)
"Phox Naysmith, District 12" A voice on the television read out. "Score- 5."
Phox nodded. "That's manageable."
"Wren Fairbane, District 12. Score- 12." My jaw fell. Everybody turned to face me.
"What did you do?" Katniss cried out.
I suddenly turned very angry. "That lying, lowlife, cheating, decieving-"
"What did Django do?" Mollie cut off my stream of insults before I got to the worst ones.
"He realised within, like, five minutes I was pretending to be completely useless, and he told me to stop pretending or else and he said he would give me a bad mark if I did everything as well as I could." I explained, waving my hands round a lot. I couldn't sit down anymore- whenever I was distressed my legs started bouncing up and down so much I had to start moving. If I didn't I would start biting my nails, or worse, I would start crying.
"Fine, so he lied." Mollie started to say. "This is... manageable- sort of. I mean, we'll figure it out an- Will you cut that out?!" Mollie yanked my arm to pull me back down onto the sofa.
"Sorry." I muttered, not sorry at all.
"You guys- shut up, Caesar's on the television again." Phox turned the volume on the television up.
"Well, I can say for sure none of us were expecting those results!" Caesar breathed, putting a hand to his chest as if he were breathless. "I hate to skip over all the other tributes, but I don't understand what happened with Wren Fairbane! Katniss and Peeta told us they didn't have much skill- could they really have magically transformed her into a brilliant fighter overnight, or were they lying?"
The audience whispered amongst themselves, and a few words stood out- "Wren", "Phox", "Lying", "Winner?", and "Weird".
"Thankfully, Head Gamemaker Django Valentine is here for us, and he is ready for an interview." Caesar was saying, as Django came onto the stage. My heart skipped a beat when I saw his cold, ruthless expression.
"Thank you Caesar. I have an important announcement." Django began before Caesar even had a chance to speak. Django looked directly into the camera.
"The arena is ready ahead of schedule, and I want the Games to start as soon as possible- tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?" Caesar exclaimed incredulously.
"I will give the mentors until midnight tonight to give me approval for their tributes to go into the Games tomorrow, and if they care at all about their tributes, they will say yes. If all the mentors don't give me their approval, the Games will start on schedule, in two weeks. But there is a catch- by then, the arena will be harder to live in, and your tributes will die painfully." Django finished. Caesarlooked flustered.
"Tomorrow?! Bu- But they haven't had enough time to train!" He reasoned.
"You've seen the marks yourself, Caesar," Django said almost pityingly, as if Caesar weren't smart enough to see something that was obvious. "All of the tributes got a mark 5 or above- we've sent tributes into the field with less marks before, but this time at least they'll be better prepared. The way I see it, the sooner we start the Games, the sooner they'll be over."
Katniss turned the television off. "We have to do it." She said quietly. I knew she was right. I didn't say anything, but Katniss looked uncertain at my hesitation.
"You're right. It's better we go into the arena now with minimal training rather than later with more training and a twice as deadly arena." I assured her
"But the other mentors aren't going to be as convinced." Peeta said. "And I haven't had enough time to get as many sponsors as I would like."
"Fine. I'll go convince the other mentors, you need to multi-task. Get sponsors and convince any mentors you find on the way." Katniss ordered.
"I'll go to the District refuge areas and call in some favours, talk to friends, get some sponsors." Mollie offered.
"We need to finish the clothes for the arena." Makenna and Elijah said at the same time, standing up in synchronisation.
"And we'll just..." Phox started, not sure what we were going to do.
"Stay calm. Eat, train. Do whatever you can." Peeta told us. Then everybody rushed out the door, leaving me and Phox alone.
"It's happening too fast, isn't it?" Phox murmered.
"It was fast before, it's faster now." I replied. "It still hasn't really hit me. But tomorrow, we could be dead."
"Just run away from the Cornucopia. Peeta and Mollie will get us loads of sponsors, just grab what you can if it won't risk your life, but get the hell out of there, OK?" Phox told me.
"Sure." I said uncertainly, not really certain why Phox was telling me what to do. "So... I don't think I'll be able to sleep tonight." I changed the subject.
"Me neither." Phox shook his head and ran a hand through his hair. "I think I'm going to go get in some extra training, you?"
"No, I'm going to stay here. Enjoy the last shower and proper meal I'll ever have." My hands were starting to tremble. I willed Phox to leave faster- I didn't want to cry in front of him.
"Are you sure?" Phox lingered at the door.
"Yeah. But you go, have...fun?" I said uncertainly. To my surprise, Phox laughed and then went to train. I was left on my own in the suite, which now seemed too quiet and empty. Before, if I was alone in a suite this big I would invite over my friends and party until 3am, complaining there wasn't enough space in the apartment. Now it seemed far too big.
"Come on, it's your last day in the Capitol, you're going to enjoy it." I whispered fiercely. I went to the kitchen- which was adjoined to the dining/living room- and to the long rectangular island in the middle.
There was a touch screen panel on the table, and I scanned through the instant menu list. I picked to have an eighth of everything that looked good- Katniss's favourite, lamb with dried plums, honeyglazed pork with roasted potatoes and gravy, turkey with cranberry sauce, duck with hoi sin sauce and little pancakes, salmon with lemon and then pink frothy soup with mint leaves floating in it. Then for dessert I had waffles with nutty chocolate sauce, triple chocolate decadence cake, rainbow ice, and my childhood favourite- frozen fruit lollipops. There was a different fruit flavour with each layer.
When I finished all these I was full, and wondering what to do next. Hot shower. My shower was wide, with water nozzles every placed every ten centimetres around the shower cabinet. The waterproof touchscreen panel opened up when I stepped into the shower, and I hit every possible option. Perfumed water hit me, and formed little bubbles on my skin that popped and exfoliated my skin, then coloured water sprayed me methodically, each colour with its different scent. Yellow was lemon, green was flowery field, blue was ocean breeze, black was something called 'midnight sky', which just smelled like black orchid perfume- a scent made by Cinna.
I stopped the perfumed water when it got to a white coloured spray- opal magnolia scented. I lathered my hair with flowery shampoo, but stopped when I realised- what was I doing? I was going to die soon and I was taking a shower? The cabinet made me feel claustrophobic, and the water now felt too hot. I quickly washed the suds out of my hair and wrapped a towel around me, then went back into my room.
I needed to cool down, I was starting to feel dizzy. I took the most revealing clothes I could find- tank top that showed my bare arms and stomach, and shorts. Then I ran up to the roof. I breathed in relief when the blast of cold air hit me. I was starting to feel better- more free, less panicky, less claustrophobic.
"Are you... feeling allright?" A concerned voice asked me.
"Don't you have anywhere better to be, Roman?" I asked tiredly. I took a guess that it was Roman, and I was right. Or did I really know that he was going to be here?
"Nope. Mallory hates heights and she has nothing better to do rather than chase me." Roman sat down on the edge of the building, and tapped the stones, inviting me to sit next to him.
"If I were her I would be dyeing my hair. Bright pink isn't exactly the best camoflauge colour." I said sarcastically. To my surprise, Roman laughed, and for some reason I joined in.
"Are you feeling OK, though?" Roman asked me. I went over and sat down on the edge of the building, swinging my bare legs in the breeze.
"Yeah, I mean... well, no." I admitted. "Why would I be OK? In a few days, or a few weeks, I'm going to be dead, dying, or being chased by people with knives who are hell-bent on killing me." I broke down into tears. Roman looked uncomfortable, like he didn't know what to do. He awkwardly put his arm around me and I didn't shrug it off, though I wanted to.
"How long have you been holding in your tears?" He asked. I looked up at him, confused. "My parents were shrinks, they rubbed off on me." He shrugged.
"I can't talk to you about this." I sniffed, using the back of my hand to rub away the tears. "I'm sorry, I just- I can't. Not when-"
"I know." Roman interrupted softly. He looked at me. "You need to have fun. Just one last time before we die."
I looked at him nervously. "What do you mean?" Roman wiggled his eyebrows, grabbed my hand and then jumped off the edge of the building, pulling me with him. My screams followed me down until the District 11 floor, where we then hit the force shield and bounced back up to the roof. The electric shock from the shield ran over my body, but it wasn't painful, it just felt like an adrenaline rush. Orange sparks ran over my bare skin.
Beside me Roman was laughing, and it was infectious. "Where did you learn to do that?" I gasped.
"I was throwing rocks over the edge of the building, and they bounced back, so I wanted to try it." Roman explained. "Come on, time's a-ticking." And with that he picked me up in his arms and threw me over the edge of the building, then dived after me. The noise we made caught Mallory's attention- I saw a shock of pink hair and a horrified face in the District 11 Suite window, just for a moment before the shield threw me back up. I landed on my back, and it knocked the breath out of me but I didn't mind.
"I should go find a new hiding place." Roman said, almost reluctantly. I nodded and ducked my head.
"Sure. And, uh, thank you. But could you do me a favour and go back to being a jerk to me?" I asked. "It would just be easier."
"Suit yourself." Roman nodded. He turned abruptly on his heel and jogged down the stairs.
"HEY! HELLO? IS ANYONE UP THERE?" A voice called from below. I looked over the side of the building, where Mallory was looking up. She was shouting so hard the veins on her neck were standing out. "HEY IS ROMAN UP THERE?"
I rolled my eyes. "NO." I yelled back.
"WELL THEN WHERE IS HE?" She sounded almost irritated, as if she had the right to know where he was and no-one else did. I quickly went through my mind for stuff I could say to annoy Mallory. I used to like her, but now she was just irritating.
"HE'S OFF BUYING AN ENGAGEMENT RING FOR YOU." I had to bite my lip to stop myself from laughing. That would annoy both of them. I could hear Mallory squeaking in excitement, but before she could say anything else, I went away from the edge and back down to the suite. Nobody, not even Phox was back. I couldn't believe she was so stupid she believed me.
I didn't know what to do now. It was only 10 at night. The score revealing and Django's interview started at 6 and took about a half hour. Eating and taking a shower took 3 and a half hours and apparantly I was on the roof for half an hour. It felt like minutes. Time flies when you're having fun. Which meant... I was actually having fun.. with Roman.
I was going to have to do a better job at sticking to my rules... I wandered around the whole suite alone for an hour. Mollie's room had the viewscreen set to a peaceful lake with a sunset dipping over the horizon. She must have missed District 4. I looked at her most viewed scenes list- the beach, the ocean, the lake with the sunset, fishermen with spears and tridents. I set it back to the lake as if nothing had been disturbed.
Just before I left, I saw a 3-part photo- the first was of Mollie with a fisherman with tanned skin and dark red hair- her husband? The second of a boy I recognised as Finnick Odair with his arm around Mollie. The third was of a dark haired girl with a baby. I felt something nagging at me in the back of my mind. Mollie... could her full name be Mollie Odair? It sounded all too possible that Mollie was Finnick Odair's mother. No wonder she wanted to be involved in the Games- she wanted to see revenge for what happened to her son.
I left Mollie's room and went next door to Makenna's. It was full of scraps of material, and another pictured frame of a younger version of Makenna with Portia and Cinna. She was their prodigée. Her furniture was decorated with homemade throws, sequined pillows, everything to show she was a stylist.
Elijah's room was much more simple, plain, with a few sketchbooks lying around. He had a whole book dedicated to me and my clothes, and one to Phox. Next I looked in Katniss and Peeta's room. Theirs was like Elijah's, with not a lot of personal posessions. It was obvious they were only staying in that room temporarily. The only personal posessions they had were photographs of them and their baby girl. Prudence Rose.
I didn't look at Phox's room- I was afraid of what was going to be in there. Pictures of dead relatives he loved and lost. People that I vaguely used to know as well. I finished looking around, and walked back to the living room like a zombie. I didn't even mean to fall asleep, but the next thing I knew Katniss was shaking my shoulder to wake me up.
"Wren. Wren! Come on, it's nearly five in the morning. It's time to go." Katniss's face went in and out of focus as my eyes got used to the sudden brightness.
"What? No, it's too soon!" My heart pounded. Falling asleep was a mistake- I didn't have time to process what was going on. Katniss shot me a sympathetic look, then wrapped a blanket around me and took me to the roof, where a Hovercraft was waiting.
"All the other Districts have gone already!" She had to shout over the loud whine of the hovercraft's engine. "I managed to convince all the mentors to agree to Django's terms."
I nodded numbly. The hovercraft ride took an hour, in which time Katniss kept giving me random facts of advice on how to stay me and Katniss were transported to one room, Phox and Peeta to another. There were clothes waiting for me on a hook in the room, and an ominous looking tube that would take me up the the arena.
A few minutes later, Elijah and Makenna arrived to help me with the smaller details of my clothes. Makenna's eyes were full of tears.
"Good luck, Wren. I've loved working with you." Makenna hugged me.
"Be safe." Elijah told me simply, kissing the top of my head. Makenna and Elijah had to go help Phox, so they left. The last I saw of them was Makenna's flaming hair and Elijah's sad smile as he turned to see me one last time.
Katniss sat me down and braided my hair the way she always does hers. "Do you have a token?" She asked me.
"No." I said hoarsely. I was seconds away from the Games.
"Well it's a good job I had one made for you." Katniss finished my hair and turned me around to pin something on me. It was a dark silver bird with outstretched wings. "Halfway between a Mockingjay and a Wren." She told me.
"Thank you." I wrapped my arms around myself.
"60 seconds." A mechanical woman's voice told me.
"When I agreed to be a mentor for the Games I came here already loathing you and Phox." Katniss told me quickly. "But that's changed. I realised I hate President Snow and his followers. Not you. You are kind. You are good. And I wish you good luck." And to my surprise she hugged me.
"Thank you." I repeated. "And for what it's worth, I'm sorry- for everything, everything that happened to you. No person should have to go through that."
"30 seconds." The voice informed us. Katniss pulled me gently towards the tube, and hugged me again. Once I was inside, the platform sensed my weight and the doors closed. Just as the platform started to rise, Katniss put three fingers to her lips and then stretched her hand in my direction.
I could hear my heart pounding inside my head. No, no, no, no, this can't be happening to me. I'm sorry, I'm sorry for what my people did to you, but please just stop it. But it was happening, and it wasn't stopping.
I was out in the open now. Phox was one platform over to my right, Roman on my left. The glittering gold Cornucopia lay twenty metres away from me. On the ground near me was a belt with a few knives in, a key, a bottle of water purifying pills and a food humidifier.
I couldn't stop to pick up many things. I looked around at our surrounding and my mouth fell open in shock.
"10...9...8...7..." A voice counted down. "...5...4...3...2...1. Let the Hunger Games begin."
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