The train ride to the Capitol was longer than I expected. I took several naps and we still weren't there. Since the 90th Hunger Games, the trains have been improved so they run ten times faster. That's why the ride between districts was so fast. It wasn't until the train came to a complete stop that I knew something was wrong.
The train stopped with so much force, it knocked me to the ground. And, I wasn't in our private compartment. Annabelle, Shimmer, and Eleora lost their balance. "What in the world was that?" Duce asked, clutching a chair.
"It was the train." Annabelle answers, regaining her balance. Quaid helped me up back into my chair.
"Are we out of fuel?" Quaid asks.
"I'm not sure. I'll ask the conductor." Annabelle takes Eleora with her to the conductor car.
"They could have stopped slower. They almost knocked the purple out of my hair." Kiani complained.
"Can you worry about something other than your fake hair?" Shimmer snaps. Kiani turns her head to the District 1 mentor.
"Yes, I can. This roadblock will ruin our schedule!"
"Damn it!" Shimmer clutches a knife and chucks it at my escort. Kiani dodges it and the knife sticks to the wall behind her. If she didn't move, the knife would have gone through her head.
Shimmer's cheeks grow red, and she runs out of the train. Not before grabbing a handful of knives. Kiani screeches at Shimmer to bring them back, but Shimmer keeps running into wilderness. Something that I have noticed since this Tour began: between every district is wilderness.
Everyone in the train is silent. I want to run after Shimmer, but what do I say? Quaid has more knowledge about Shimmer than I do. I only know her Games and why she is a bit heartless. I don't know anything personal. Quaid stands up and chases after his mentor. I move to go with him, but he tells me no.
"I think she wants to talk to me." He explains before he runs out.
I sit back down, waiting for anything to happen. A door opens and Annabelle and Eleora come back from the conductor car. Annabelle bats at her bangs before speaking.
"The conductor said that the fuel needs to be refilled, and we blew something that will take five or six hours to fix." Kiani's moans fill the train.
"No! That will ruin our schedule!" She slumped in her chair, something I have never seen before.
"The conductor already contacted President Rector, explaining our situation." Eleora announces. "He said we can take all the time we need, and he will just push back the schedule."
Annabelle takes a look around. "Where are Shimmer and Quaid?" Duce points outside.
"Shimmer got a little pissed and ran out. Quaid is going to calm her down."
"Is that why the knife is in the wall?" Eleora asks. Everyone nods in response.
Great. I have five or six hours to do nothing. I go back into my compartment car, grab some clothes and change. Simple jeans, a gray tee shirt with the faded Panem seal on it, and boots. It feels so good to be in jeans again. After a few weeks of wearing dresses, I feel like my old self.
I turn on the T.V and watch the Capitol news. It's what I expected; they are already talking about the delay in the Victory Tour. I love the nickname they gave us, Panem's Cutest Couple. From our delay to the next Hunger Games, they talk about how special they will be. Even though it is not a Quarter Quell, they plan to make it feel like one. The arena will be deadly, the twists and turns will make you dizzy, and the weapons will be the best of the best. And, all 14 districts will compete. How fantastic.
Their news then switches to our Capitol appearance and how special it will be. They are inviting back past victors, but they didn't say who is coming. They keep saying that they will have to pace themselves about taking about this event, because even they are so giddy. Capitol people can get giddy about the stupidest things.
Quaid has been gone for a long time. I have been watching Capitol news for over an hour and he still hasn't come back. I stand up and walk to the compartment car where Annabelle was. They are all still there, eating up some food while the time passes. Shimmer isn't there, and I assume she's outside. I sneak a few knives in my hand and walk out onto the dirt.
Birds sang their song and wildlife walked about. I grabbed one knife and threw it at a nearby tree. It struck dead center. I pulled it out and continued to walk. I saw a head covered in blond hair and I knew it was Shimmer. Beside her, a muscular man was rubbing her back, telling her it was okay. I walked closer, trying not to be heard.
"I just don't know what happened back there." She says between sobs. "I think they all hate me now."
"No, no, no." Quaid's comforting voice said. "They don't hate you. They are surprised at your…outburst. Not you personally." A knife whizzed in the air and hit a tree. It hit the trunk, and Shimmer sighed.
"Even my aim is off. I never miss." She's telling the truth. In her Games, she was feared because how skilled she was at knives. "When we reach the Capitol, I'll be nothing but old news."
"Excuse me?" he asked.
"The only reason why I am even on this Tour is because of you and that Ten girl." She says, her voice growing with rage. "If I could choose, I'd be at my home in Victor's Village. Probably wishing Jeremiah was back. Why couldn't you just kill her?"
"I couldn't kill someone I love." Quaid says moving back from his mentor. "It wasn't your fault Jeremiah died. It was…"
"It was my fault!" she screeches. "If I didn't stop keeping watch…" She starts to scream and clutches her knife. Her knuckles turned white and she looked at Quaid. The knife is raised above her head, ready to strike.
I come out from behind the tree and step in front of my lover. I wasn't fast enough. The knife came undone from her fingers and embedded itself into my right shoulder. I stumbled back onto Quaid's body and almost hit the forest floor. Shimmer's eyes widened as she saw what she caused. Tears were released and they consumed her face. Her hand covered her mouth as she ran back to the train.
My head was in Quaid's lap. His fingers were stroking my hair, and his eyes looked into mine. Pain was radiating from both of our eyes. "Jada. Why did you do that?" His voice rang in my ears.
"She could have hurt you. Probably even killed you." I say, not looking away from him. His lips quivered into a small smile as he leaned in and kissed my forehead. I hear shouts and screams and I hear Eleora's voice. Shimmer got help. I turn my head to the right and see Eleora, Shimmer, and Annabelle running in my direction. In Annabelle's hand was a white box with a red cross on it.
When they reached my side, Annabelle quickly injected me with sleeping medicine. The commotion was quickly replaced with darkness and silence.
60, 59, 58, 57, 56, 55…The Cornucopia counts down. Before I have time to react, the clock stops. It just stops. It still reads 54. I look around and I am the only tribute on my starting plate. The clock hasn't completed its countdown, thus the mines were still activated. I didn't dare to test it. I didn't want to lose my body.
From the inside of the Cornucopia, I see a figure moving. When they emerge, I see deep raven hair in a tangled mess and gray eyes. She was wearing a plain white dress that matched her skin tone. I recognized that girl. It was Faith.
"Faith!" I yell. "Don't step on the…" Faith places her foot on the ground where the mines were. She wasn't flying sky high or lying on the ground in a million pieces. She was walking slowly towards me. Another figure emerged from the Cornucopia. Her skin was gray, her eyes were beady black, and a knife print was on her palm. It was Jae.
Jae also wore a white dress. One by one, all of the dead tributes come out from the horn of plenty. Their skin ranges from white to dark gray, their eyes were black, gray, or white, and they were clothed in white. Even Flitter, her sunny blond hair was now a dim shade of yellow and her perfect green eyes were now reduced to a dim gray shade, was there.
They all started walking towards me. I counted as many as I could. I got twenty. I counted again. Twenty again. Where is Quaid? Is he dead? I heard my name being moaned from behind me. When I turned, a bloody liquid was being spilled everywhere. The ground changed from a lush forest to a blood lake. A small object floated its way towards my plate. When it came in close range, I recognized it.
It was my sponsor knife with the purple tinted handle.
The blood lake spread from behind me and drowned everything in its path. Everything except for the already dead tributes in front of me. They kept walking towards me, with hatred in their faces. Faith led the group, keeping them in perfect step with her. When her left foot moved, so did theirs. The blood lake already swallowed up the Cornucopia weapons and set them adrift.
Faith stopped in front of me and muttered my name. She also muttered her cause of death. Jae followed her example. Then Neal did the same. Then Lucifer, Flitter, Camilla, Rahi, Collin, Stiles, Louis, and everyone else. When they all finished, Faith jumped up and lunged towards me. Her hands pinned my shoulders and we fell into the bloody water.
Water filled my lungs as Faith pushed me down further. I tried yelling at her, but the water overtook my sounds. Faith opened her mouth and someone else's voice said, "Jada! Jada, time to wake up now."
She said it again. When I figured out who the voice was, I opened my eyes. A blinding white light filled my vision and saw Quaid's mouth move. "Jada, wake up."
I was in Quaid's arms when I came to. I sneak a glance to my right shoulder. It is all patched up with gauze and it has spots of blood all over it. The train was slowly moving, and I look out of the window. We just past the Capitol walls and we are at our final destination.
"How long was I out?" I ask, looking into his green eyes.
"For about thirteen or fourteen hours." He replies, and looks to my shoulder. "Shimmer says that she is sorry about the accident. She said she lost her temper and wanted the knife to hit anything but me or you. But, guess where we are headed first?"
"The interview?" I ask again.
"No. The Remake Center. We lost our 'Capitol charm' for being away for six months. We have to be plucked like chickens again. And, they will have medicine for your cut." He kisses my cheek as we look outside.
The train moved slower and slower as we approached the station. I get to my feet and grab a shirt that covers my wound. All I find is a gray shirt with District 10's faded seal on it. The sleeves reached my elbows, just enough to cover the wound. Quaid grabs my shirt and helps me out of the blood stained shirt. My top half is exposed, but only for a few seconds as he helps me into the District 10 shirt.
Trying to match me, he puts on a District 1 shirt. We interlock our fingers and make our way to the compartment car where we exit from. When we exit the train, I am greeted by camera flashes and journalists asking me questions. Eleora and Cleo lead us into the Remake Center, so we can look 'Capitol appropriate'.
I never thought I would be in the Remake Center, let alone be in there twice.
A/N: Sorry for not posting yesterday. I am really busy with band camp and I don't get home until three. And by that time, I am completely exhausted. I hope you liked this chapter! I want to say that I still have spots left for my tribute story. 11 spots to be exact. Thank you all who sent a tribute and sent multiple ones. I am so grateful for that. I especially want to thank PeetasGirl8, mar9215, and ActressAssassin2010 for sending 4 tributes! Thank you so much for submitting!