Hey! Short chapter this week, it's sort of like a bridge so the next one should be kinda lengthy. Also, I'm noticing a pattern here so I'm going to point it out. Although I try to post a chapter a week, it usually turns out to be one every other week. Thank you so much megan..xamin and jessicahenderson1999 for reviewing!
I wake up and my whole body is cold. The blanket is completely off of me. No wonder I'm freezing. I give the quilt a tug but it doesn't budge, so I pull harder. Still nothing. I look over to find out why it isn't moving and see that Kier is still sleeping on top of the blanket. Well was. From all my tugging his eyes flutter open and with a soft, sleepy "Hey" he gets up and slowly walks back to his bed.
I fall into a light sleep and when I wake up again sunlight has spread over my face. I stay in bed and my thoughts begin to wander, thinking about what is going to happen to us. Everything is ok here but how long will that last? And even if things stay ok, we can't wait around here forever. We have to find a way to escape. What if Hortensia decides hostages aren't useful? That we'd be more useful dead. What would happen then? We sent young people so we didn't lose the pre-rebellion generation but what if we lose the new generation too? It's all so confusing that it's making my head hurt. I throw my pillow over my face and try to fall back asleep but it doesn't help. I'm up. For the next hour I stare at the clock watching the minute hand slowly move.
KNOCK KNOCK. Without anyone answering, a guard walks in. This one is smaller than the ones from before but he still gives off a threatening vive with his dark black hair and scowl.
"Everyone up!" he shouts. With his deep, demanding voice it's no wonder that all of us jump out of bed. "Hortensia has given you all clothes to change into. I will be back in fifteen minutes to take you to breakfast." With that, he drops the bundle in his arms onto the floor and exits, the door slamming behind him.
I walk over to the clothes. They're nothing special but clean clothes are always nice. I throw each person what based on size should be their clothes and they start getting changed. In the middle of the room. With people who up until three days ago were total strangers. Not to mention the fact that there are both guys and girls here. Why aren't they changing in the bathroom? What happened to privacy?
I don't care what their values are, my mother always told me you don't change in front of other people and even if she didn't, it makes me uncomfortable so I walk over to the bathroom. I am about to pull open the door handle when someone grabs my shoulder. Finnick.
"Willow, don't change in there. You change out here."
What's his problem? "It's my body, Finnick, and I don't feel comfortable displaying it in front of other people."
"Do you want to look like you're a little kid? I know you didn't have a very social childhood but teenagers get changed together. Not usually guys and girls together but under these circumstances we don't have many options. It would take too long for everyone to use the bathroom."
"Finnick, I'm using the bathroom to get changed."
He shrugs and walks away so I go into the bathroom.
The clothes are baggy in weird places and tight in others but they fit well enough. I step out and the guard is back with everyone waiting next to him. I slip next to Finnick and whisper to him "See, no big deal that I changed in the bathroom". He rolls his eyes.
"Quite," says the guard, even though no one is talking, "and follow me."
We are back in the hallways. I think they were designed to make it impossible to find your way around, being all white and ever going. We get to wherever he's taking us and the guard opens the white door into a dining room. We all take seats around the huge mahogany table that probably costs a fortune and then the guard tells us to serve ourselves from the buffet.
Oh.
He couldn't tell us before we sat down? Whatever. We all get up and move over to the side table covered in silver tureens of food. There are eggs, biscuits, bacon, sausage, pastries, some sort of stew, fresh fruit, all types of juices, hot drinks, and much more. I didn't realize how starving I am until I see all the mouthwatering food so I fill my plate with a little of everything. The food is wonderful especially compared to the cold soup I've been getting.
I am eating so fast that I don't stop to talk at all. Then I realize no one is talking. And we all aren't stuffing our faces. Why is everyone so silent? Finnick sees my confused expression and easily reads it. He glances to his left and I see the guard who brought us here and another one standing against the wall staring at us. We are under surveillance.
The meal finishes in the same silence it started in. I don't like how quite it is. Except for the clink of forks the only sound is the slight white noise buzzing in my head. At least it isn't buzzing with questions.
We walk back to our room in a mute line and only when the guard slams the door does Kier say "Ok Willow, I think you've got some talking to do". I don't know what he's talking about but as this is the first time he acknowledged me since early this morning when he left my bed I'm not too willing to listen. He gives me a look that is half a stare and half an eye roll and it clicks. Even if I'm not happy with Kier, his statement is correct.
"You guys want to know what Hortensia did with me before she came back for you?" I say.
"You think it's a good idea to say stuff like that while there are probably cameras in here?" Flux barks at me.
"Hortensia probably knew I'd tell you if she put us together so I don't think it'll be an issue."
"Fine."
"Okay, so the first thing Hortensia did was take me to an old style office. She told me how my mother and her grandfather had a good relationship, which I don't believe, and one of their main agreements were to always tell the truth because it saves a lot of trouble. She asked me if I'd oblige to that agreement and I said yes because I thought maybe she'd tell me something about her plan. Turns out I was right. She told me that she feels there is way too much peace in Panem. The people are not afraid of anything and according to Hortensia it is not scientifically normal for people to have no fears or troubles. So she wants to do us all a favor and return fear to our fearless nation. Oh, and she would like to avenge the murder of her grandfather who was wrongly murdered by my mom. Then I was taken to an isolated room and locked there until I asked for us to be together."
"Oh wow," says Finnick. "So, now we know why we're here."
"And who's the reason it's us and not others." I add in a low tone.
"No, Willow, it has nothing to do with any of us. We picked who comes and who stays."
"So what? Hortensia wanted me to stay because our capture would cause tension and to get back at my mother!"
"Calm down, Willow! We would have been here no matter what. And are you sure your mother even killed Snow?" Kier asks.
"No, I don't know and that's the biggest problem!" I snap at him.
"Well I sort of know," says Flux. "As the story goes Katniss was supposed to kill Snow but then shot Coin, District 13's president, instead. Afterwards, chaos erupted and Snow was found dead. I'm not sure exactly who killed him or how he died and I don't think anyone does. But obviously Hortensia thinks otherwise."
So this was it. My mother did not kill President Snow but she did kill this other president. It still bothers me. I knew she's killed people. She survived the Hunger Games! You can't do that without killing people. I guess this hits me hard because it was a president. High up people are supposed to be respected, not killed by their citizens. I know both presidents were terrible but it just doesn't fit in my mind. Maybe Hortensia's idea about too much peace has some truth. I'm sure my parents would never have trusted government officials but now, why shouldn't I?
"Ok," Finnick says in an authoritative tone. "So we know why we're here but unless we're just going to sit and wait to be rescued we need to figure out how we can escape."
"We could find for an escape route," I suggest. "Maybe on our few trips out we can look for under guarded hallways or something."
"Maybe," he says, clearly turning my idea down. "Any other ideas?"
"How about we just sneak out before the guard closes the door?" proposes Valoria.
"That might work but let's keep our options open." I guess I'm not the only one who doesn't have a satisfactory idea. "Let's keep brainstorming."
"Well, if we find a rope we could repel out of this window," says Flux.
"If we find a rope."
"How about we just kill Hortensia with a butter knife from the dining room?" jokes Kier.
Finnick lets out at loud, long groan and falls into the rocking chair. I give him a hug as everyone sort of sits down around us. We know each and every one of these plans, or any plans we could come up with, are unlikely to ever work.
Even though no one is willing to voice it, I'm sure we are all worrying that Hortensia will succeed. That we will be the prisoners that start a battle, if not a war. That Panem will lose the peace it took so long to obtain.
We sit thinking in silence as the sun finishes going up and then comes back down, blacking out our window. One by one we all go into bed. Time keeps ticking.
Thanks for reading! As you probably noticed this was not at the home front but next chapter definitely will be. I am still looking for suggestions on who's POV it should be in so let me know in the reviews. Have a great weekend!
