I wake up screaming. It was the nightmare that did it; the fact I was being pursued by Malinda and Carter through the streets of One. They both had weapons, Malinda a spear and Carter the mace he was telling Steel and I about yesterday. I was running for what seemed like hours until Malinda's spear left her hand and lodged it between my shoulder blades, knocking me to the floor. Instead of dying like I should have done, I was lifted by Malinda in order for Carter to smash my face in.
I am still shaking when it comes to breakfast, and despite Emerald's gentle coaxing and my rumbling stomach, I eat nothing. I am glad of my lack of food when we reach the Centre, as the slightly musty air threatens to ensure my dinner from last night makes a return.
We are quickly dismissed and the rest of the day is wasted on me. I should just stay in my room, and been anywhere else but here. I just follow Steel round all do simple exercises. The only thing I succeed in doing is starting a small fire. My voice is gone at lunch too as we are joined by Malinda. Apparently she's pretty good (must be to hit a moving target between the shoulder blades), and when Steel apologised, he asked her to join us.
The rest of the afternoon is just as pointless; I don't even manage to make a spark.
When training finishes, I'm first out, holding back tears and vomit simultaneously. Straight to my room I run, emptying my stomach into the toilet and collapsing on my bed in a dreamless slumber.
I don't even wake up for dinner.
The final morning of training. My last chance to impress them. The Gamemakers score us on a scale of one to twelve, a number used to represent how long we are expected to survive in the Games and a way of predicting a winner. If I can just get a nine or a ten... If I can just get that number...
I roll out of bed and onto the floor, wrapped in the sheets placed over me in the night. Untangling myself takes a while, but I manage it and go immediately to find food. Every meal I can get is important, I hate myself for missing dinner yesterday. Breakfast is the same as before; toast, hot chocolate, orange juice and melon. In front of me is a cupcake stand full of pink cakes.
"Aldo," I say politely to the man next to me. He looks up from his plate, his eyes wide. "Why are there cakes in front of me?" I ask, "What happened to not filling me up before training?"
"Well, Steel was saying yesterday at dinner that he was hungry during training before lunch and that you looked it too. So you can have your dessert from the second night!" Aldo grins as though he's done the nicest thing imaginable.
"Brilliant! Cake for breakfast!" Emerald appears at that moment, her blonde hair scraped back into a ponytail.
"Cake indeed! Now, come on Silk. What was the screaming about yesterday morning?" Aldo asks.
"Just a nightmare..." I mutter, putting a piece of melon in my mouth.
"Didn't seem like just a nightmare," Aldo frowns at me.
"Well, I was being chased by Malinda, the girl from Eight, and Carter the boy from Two, and... and... and then Malinda threw her spear at me and then Carter smashed my face in," I say quickly.
"That doesn't sound like just a nightmare. Have these two been bothering you in training?" Emerald asks, "Because if they have..."
I interrupt her, "No, its fine. I would've told Aqua about it earlier if they had been."
"Are you sure?" Emerald too, frowns at me.
"Yes. Where are Steel and Vinyl?" I ask, changing the subject.
"They've gone down for a little bit of one-to-one training," she says calmly. I can tell she's annoyed about it but won't make it apparent in front of me and Aldo.
We eat breakfast in silence and when it reaches ten to ten, I walk alone to the lift and make the ride solo. No Steel to calm my nerves, no Steel to guard me from the glares of the other Tributes, and no Steel to protect me from Malinda and Carter. But at least I have Coralie.
When everyone else has arrived (Steel included), we are dismissed. We only have the morning. The afternoon is taken up by private sessions. It's vital for me especially; I missed all of yesterday because of a nightmare.
"Silk, you stay with Carter. Malinda and Coralie will stay with me," Steel explains. He doesn't notice that I've cringed considerably, and continues, "I want a full examination of each and every Tribute we consider to be a threat. Got it? Full examination. But Silk, specifically concentrate on training."
I nod, and Carter and I gravitate over to the Gauntlet. There's already a queue, perfect for examining those which have the ability to complete it. The boy from Seven's trying again, with the same result as day one. But the girl from Three succeeds in getting to the end, and avoiding the swinging clubs of the assistants.
"Her," I whisper to Carter, pointing to the girl from Three.
"Her?" he asks, his nose turning up in disgust, "Didn't you hear what Steel said? I'm not working with her either. She doesn't seem to be much of a threat either, but it's better than nothing."
The rest of the morning is spent well; I complete the Gauntlet twice, manage to almost hit the human silhouette in archery, and even pass the edible plants test! Lunch is a tense time though as we discuss tactics for our private sessions and also our findings.
"Capella," Carter starts, "The blonde one from Three? Yeah, she completed the Gauntlet and passed the edible plants test both the first time round. She failed on making a fire though."
"The brother-sister combo from Twelve. Don't even bother. Bloodbath," Steel smirks, and we all simultaneously look over to see them sat on their own. Malinda twists her dinner knife in her fingers absentmindedly. She makes a quick change in grip and brings it downwards, missing the table by an inch. She wants to kill me, I know it.
I'm sat alone. Steel's already gone in for his private session and Malinda, Carter and Coralie are sat together in a tightly knit group. They're completely ignoring me. The girl from Three's sat alone too so I slide along the long bench so I'm next to her.
"Capella?" I ask, her green eyes coming out of their dream-like trance.
"Yes... Why are you talking to me?" she asks, visibly distressed, "Did he put you up to this?" By 'he' she obviously means Steel, and I shake my head. "Well, I don't need your sympathy, One. I don't need it. I don't need it. I don't need to," she tells me, as if trying to convince herself, whilst frowning at the same time.
"My name isn't One. That's my district. And you'll notice I called you Capella, not just Three," I snap back, "My name's actually Silk."
She laughs, "What sort of a name is Silk?"
"What sort of name is Capella? What is a Capella? At least my name is a something, a very pretty something might I add!" I reply.
"Silk Magee," the automated voice calls my name from the speaker in the corner of the room.
I stand and the Peacekeepers guarding the door push them open, allow me to pass through them and pull them shut again. On a raised platform sit twenty or so Gamemakers. I'm lucky enough to be in the first district to perform; they're all still paying attention to the 'performing' Tributes.
My immediate impulse is to go to the throwing knives and just throw them straight at the dummies. But that won't do anything to help them remember me, I'd just be another Tribute. So instead I make the short walk to the knife throwing section and pick up a pair of small knives. The rope course beckons, but if I don't set up the dummies in the right place, this whole thing will be a complete waste of time, making me remembered for all of the wrong reasons. When the dummies are in the right place I climb swiftly up the rope course, both knife handles clasped between my teeth. I reach the top and leaning down, swinging by my legs, toss the first knife at the furthest away dummy, then the second knife at the closest. They both strike the dummy in the centre of the forehead, meaning if they were people they'd definitely be dead. Show them a range Silk... Show them a range, I tell myself.
"It's only fifteen metres or so Silk. Fifteen metres, it's all okay..." I whisper and I drop to the floor. I land crouched on the floor and do a simple forward roll, coming up on my feet.
There is a round of applause and Cerise Drale clears her throat, making them fall silent immediately. "You may go now Silk," she nods, her thin lips unsmiling. She's the only one who looks bored out of all of them.
"But I'm not done!" I say rudely.
"Silk. You may go now," she frowns at me, "Please go before the Peacekeepers drag you out."
I frown at her and stomp out. I know what they're all thinking; immature little twelve year old Silk, doesn't even know when she needs to go.
But they're wrong. It's all part of the act, appear to be far too arrogant for my age and be sweet and innocent for the interview with Caesar. And so far, it's all going perfectly…
