Chapter Fourteen. As I said, things are getting busier with pre holiday homework, so posts will be further apart. Again, thanks for the reviews. I have an idea of how long I want the story to be, not exactly, but I know approximately. if it seems like I'm dragging it out, I'm just trying to cram everything in! I've been listening to Imagine Dragons Who we are for most of the time I have been writing. I think it fits in with Phoenix's personality and actions.
Chapter Fourteen - The devil is in the details
As promised, I get to sleep in a little. Still, my natural instincts kick in when the sun begins to shine between a gap in the curtains, showing a line of dust particles in a slow dance, weaving in and out in a ray of bright light that stretches through the glass, and shines across my face. The sun was my natural alarm clock in four, so instead of pulling the quilt further over my face, I prop myself up, and stand up, stretching every inch of my body out. A yawn escapes my mouth, but I don't feel tired at all.
As I did every so often when I woke up in my district, I wonder into the bathroom, and look at myself in the mirror. I csn hardly remeber how I used to look. Now that I have been in the capitol for only a few days, my skin is clearer thanks to all of the stuff the stylists put on my face, not that I particularly want to have the face of a model, it just draws more unwanted attention. My hair is without tangles, which is an unusual sight for me. My face still has little smudges of makeup on it that I couldn't remove from the parade. I seem to leave a fine trail of glitter everywhere I go, the rest of it seems to cling to my face. No matter how hard I try to scrub it off, there is always another piece that catches someones eye later.
I splash my face with a handfull of cold water, trying to keep my mind off of what happened yesterday.I guess the Capitol have really got to me with all their propaganda on the games. That wasn't me. I'm not a heartless murderer. I will kill anyone who tries to kill my family, but anybody who keeps their respective distance, I probably couldn't kill.
I guess I felt threatened, seeing everyone else practicing their skills and not being able to see myself in comparison, as the arena could be any environment really. If it is water based, I will have an edge, but if it's not, how will I find food? How will I escape from potential murderers? If I couldn't just run silently into the reeds, or dissappear into the depths? How would I do in a desert, where one of my greatest allies was nowhere to be seen?
I sigh, and get back into my training gear, tying my hair back into two plaits so that it takes less time to dry off after the evaluation. I walk through to the living area, and look around. Raven is nowhere to be seen, which I am a bit concerned about. Of course, she's just in bed, enjoying her extra sleep, but I'm so used to constantly having her in my sight, and I need her by my side, now more than ever.
I walk around for a while, listening to the sound of my own footsteps on the smooth, cold floor. I know there is a balcony that looks out over the sprawling city, so I decide to go and check it out.
I easily pick the lock to the double doors leading out to the small glass balcony. The morning sun rises over the skyscrapers, turning the low clouds of mist and pollution shades of orange and yellow as the sky begins to turn blue, and the stars and satallites disappear back into the clouds. I start to hear the noise of traffic and the low buzz of people talking as they navigate the grid like system of the city.
I never realised how high up I was until now. This must be at least five times higher than jumping point, although there is no way anyone would be able to jump from here. Force fields prevent that.
I hear people beginning to stir inside, and look back, seeing Jonothan raiding the kitchen with Ryan. I hold back a giggle, and half shake my head as I look down on the capitol, like I am in control, and the people the size of ants are under my command.
I jump a little as I hear the doors open behind me.
"How'd you get out here princess?" asks the familliar voice of Jonothan from behind me.
"Princess?" I snort, "I'll take that as an insult. How I would hate to be a princess. Either you are an idiot, or you know exactly how to get on my nerves. And I picked the lock."
"I may be an idiot, but I do know how to wind you up." he laughs, walking up beside me and smiling slightly.
I move over a little, feeling a little uncomfortable. I don't really know Jonothan that well. He doesn't seem to notice, and carries on a casual conversation.
"Evaluations this morning, Intrerviews tonight! What a day." he sniggers.
"Oh, I can't wait!" I say, rolling my eyes and tilting my head to make my sarcasm clear because anyone who has been in the capitol for more than a month seems to forget how it works.
"You know, everyone's betting on you." he says in a serious tone.
"For me to die? How lovely. I'm sure they'll cash in when someone like Grace wins." I lower my voice to a stage whisper.
"No, for you to win. I wish you could see youself the way the Capitol sees you." he smiles.
"I don't want to be seen that way. I want to be seen as the normal girl from district four." I whisper, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear as I look down to the city, as it begins to awaken, and the routine starts again.
"You can't change how people see you." he whispers back, tilting my head upwards to meet his eyes. "You need to use the way they see you. Manipulate them. Any way you want to. The audience are putty in your hands. Remeber that." he smiles. I nod slightly, and the corners of my mouth turn up in a slight smile as he walks off to go and eat with Ryan.
After a while, I walk inside, and begin to eat a little, but not too much. I know from experience that you can get cramp from eating too much before swimming.
Raven and Grace join us late at the table, and are talking amongst themselves, probably about me.
I try to brush it off and pretend I don't care, but inside, my heart is aching that my little sister, whom I have cherished and cared for for so long, has just turned her back on me. I have to get her trust back.
Treasure arrives after a long time in hair and makeup. This time, her outfit is mainly blue, and partly inspired by my dress and district, as she later explains to me.
She goes on and on about how the interviews tonight will go perfectly, and how we will gain more and more fans.
To be honest, I find it hard to believe that I have just one and single fan, nevermind the figures Treasure has been telling me. And I wouldn't call them fans. All of my releationships are built upon mutual respect, so I should respect them for supporting me as much as they respect me.
She also tells us about the predicted training scores, but I warn her not to tell me what my predicted score is. I don't really want to know my real score, nevermind the hype surrounding it. The capitol have to make eveything into a big deal. Only the stupid things matter here. I wonder what the people of the
Capitol would say if they had to live like us for a day. But, I wonder about a lot of things that are totally unrealistic. I guess thats just how my mind works.
After finishing breakfast, Donna gives me a little prep talk on the training.
"Listen to me. None of them matter, just be you. The badass version of you, which doesn't come out unless provoked." she laughs, but in a serious sort of way. "You have a dark side to you Phee, and you know it. You have to let it come out in the games if you want to win." she grabs my shoulders, trying to get through to me.
"That isn't me though Donna. That isnt how I act. Normally, I'm... Me. Phoenix Victoria, district four citizen, sometimes does illegal stuff. I don't want to kill people, Donna." I whisper.
"Don't you want to survive?" she asks, her hands clenching around my shoulders even tighter.
"I do, but I know how loss feels. I'm not emotionless, I have emotions that have been building up for years and years." I whisper. Her hands drop.
"Do that in the interview, the capitol will love it." she shrugs at me. "Just let it all out. Show em you're human after you get that training score." she smiles, walking out of the door.
I take a deep breath and unclench my fists as the door closes automatically behind her.
The door opens as yet another person comes to speak to me. It's Ryan, and I'm grateful.
"Its time to go." he says simply. I sigh quietly, and walk out of the door, hearing it closing softly behind me.
"You know what you're doing?" I ask nervously, my palms starting to sweat.
"I have a little plan." he smiles smugly.
There is silence as we walk into the elevator and the doors close in front of us. This could be my last day alive. The games are just around the corner.
We go into the designated waiting area, our chairs lablelled with our second names and district numbers. I wave to Hunter a little as I sit down, and she waves tentatively back, before she looks blank again, trying to decide what she is going to do. The little girl from three, I think her name was Callis, is practing her martial arts skills. I don't know how she plans to fight knifes, daggers and spears with her own bare hands. The names start to be called, and as each person goes in, I remeber them being called up from the reaping.
As the last person goes from three, I sit patiently in my chair, fidgeting with my hair, my nails, anything I can get my hands on really. I start tapping my fingers on the armrest of the chair, and Ryan reaches over, holding my hand. I reach out for Raven's hand, but she ignores me.
I look down like nothing ever happened, but there is an ever present ache in my heart.
"Victoria Phoenix, District Four." says the same expressionless female voice. I stand up on shaking legs, and Ryan pats my shoulder, and pulls me in for a hug.
"Do great. I know you will. Just let that dark side out." he smiles a little, and I nod, before walking through the metal double doors into the dazzling light.
I focus, focus on all my rage against the other tributes, imagine them charging towards me, Raven cowering behind me. I stand strong.
"Phoenix Victoria, District Four." I say, in a strong, commanding tone. I'm letting my dark side out, hopefully for one of the last times.
I watch as the cameras focus on me, and take a deep breath.
"Starting now, you have fifteen minutes to show us what you've got." says a human voice, not a robot one for once.
"Oh, I'll show you what I've got." I mumble, and smile a little.
I run over to the camoflauge station, painting myself quickly and calmly, showing nothing of the cracks I know are forming in my sanity.
I finish off painting, and leave the paints there, before showing off the skills I have learned in what they call parkore on the way to the pool.
I jump over all theobstacles in my way, adding a few flips and twists in, just to show off. I stumble a little, but their expressions stay the same. I grab some weapons on the way, before kicking the pool door open, and running around the side. I get the whole pool to myself this time, so I set it exactly to my usual contitons, until it perfectly matches my camoflauge. I drag some dummies with set breath hold times to the edges of the pool, and on the smaller diving biard, before climbing up to the big one.
I get to the top, and take a deep breath, trying to focus on what I am doing. No distractions. I put the knives and spears in my belt, safely stucked away where I can reach them, and look up to the metal beams on the ceiling. I focus on jumping up, then swinging myself around. I slip a little, but manage to stay on. I know the game makers don't want me doing this, im supposed to jump from the board, not the roof. If I fell to the floor and died, they would have a very angry nation to deal with. I shimmy along until I am right where I want to be, and take the nerve wracking step. I tense all of my muscles, and let go, clasping my hands together, and closing my eyes until I know I am at the right angle. I slowly open them, and inhale as the world starts to move slowly. I let go, pushing off, and keeping a straight angle as I fly through the air. When I know I am near the small diving board, I flip around, using my hands to grab the dummy that I set up there, and hitting the water. I hold onto the dummy until the little light on it's chest goes red, meaning I have drowned it. Then, the simulations and targets of people swimming start to appear, and I take out my weapons, each one of them hitting their mark. Its easier to hit them in the water. I then swim to the side, dragging in a few more dummies and drowning them too, before staying at the bottom of the pool, perfectly still, showing off my camoglauge. Still one knife left, I image the dummy I set up out of the water is Pike. I swim up slowly, and throw the speak. There is an ear splitting crack as fiberglass shatters. Nailed it.
I swim upwards, getting out of the pool. The gamemakers are making notes feverishly.
"You may go now." says one.
"A thank you would be nice." I murmur.
I walk our of the iron clad doors, and sigh. I can be me again. I feel the anger fizzling out.
"Did you do good?" asks Ryan.
"I can't tell." I murmur, exhausted and light headed. "Good luck, they're a tough crowd." I manage to laugh.
"I would never have guessed." he laughs as his name is called.
I walk over to the elevator, and get in, pressing the button that takes me to the styists floor. They will want to start work straight away of course, and they will be emotional. This may be the last time they will ever get to dress me up in a pretty frock.
The elevator doors open, and I find the room labled Phee. My stylists worked together to make it for me. Ot seems rather childish really, like something I would have done at school when I was little. But it is toching that they made it just for me.
I knock, then walk in to find Stella sorting out cases of makeup, and Felicity hiding my costume in the wardrobe, while Marvel is sketching his latest design.
"Ah, you're here! How did it go?!" squeals Felicity, running towards me.
"Good, I think at least. Im absolutely exhausted though." I sigh, sitting down once again in the smooth leather chair, examining myeslf in the mirror.
The sweat is practically dripping off of me, as is the water. I stink of chlorine, but I have become accustomed to the scent.
"They are telling you your trainig scores live, another little change. How exciting!" squeals Stella.
"Lets get you sorted out!" smiles Marvel. I have to get out of mybtraining suit, and wrap myeslf up in a silken robe, which feels wonderful against my smooth skin. I know this feeling well. When I used to go swimming in the sea, late at night, then go back to bed, my skin would feel wonderful, even if my bedsheets were rough.
And so, my stylists begin. They sort out my hair first, saying if they left it to dry it would be in horrible condition. I vagely nod, as If agreeing with them.
They tie it up for once, not putting any extentions in. It ends up in a small top knot, and I realise they are not going for a sweetheart look. They never did with me, but my new look is going to suit my dark side.
I close my eyes as they begin to work on my makeup, and try not to think too much as I block out the babbling of the TV, radio and my stylists.
I know they are talking about my chances in the games, and I don't want to hear what they are saying. In my opinion, death is almost inevitable to me over the next few weeks. People say to me that I have a chance, but honestly, I will probably die getting Ryan or Raven out of some stupid situation. I honestly don't know how I could live without them. I feel a slight tickling on my face as a big brush is swept all over.
"What's my costume like?" I ask quietly, a completley diffrent person than I was a few minutes ago.
"Perfect, more suited to your personality in training. Fierce. Beautiful. Deadly." says Marvel dramatically, making slow hand gestures, his wide eyes showing amazement and wonder.
They are done with my makeup, and again, they make me close my eyes while I step into my costume. I am expecting it to be a dress, but no, it is a catsuit, completley covering all of my body, with no low cut neckline or anything. My styists seem to have picked up on my vibes. I'm not a girly girl.
They tell me to open my eyes, and I see myself in the mirror. A tight, body hugging catsuit, which is light blue in colour, but sparkles all shades of lilac and blue when the light is on it. The collar sticks up from my neck, fanning out with jagged edges. My hair is in a top knot, and my makeup is light blue and purple, but somehow, smokey and dramatic at the same time
My shoes appear to be high heeled ankle boots made out of the same stuff as my costume.
"Ice. Its ice." I whisper, looking even closer.
"Yes. When water freezes over." smiles Stella, admiring her work.
"Hopefully the audience will get it. If they don't, you'll have to mention it." smiles Felicity. Marvel just smiles. A man of few words.
I am still staring at myself in amazement.
"Thank you. You've done an outstanding job." I whisper, every single sparkle, every single detail, every little pattern catching my eye, even in the dim light.
"Will the others be wearing something similar?" I ask quietly, turning away from the mirror and facing my emotional stylists.
"No. You get to do what you want for the interviews." smiles Stella, even though tears are falling down her face.
"Hey, its alright. If I don't come back, just know, you made my district, and myself very, very proud. You represented the true feel of my home through fabric, which is a true artist's talent." I smile. I tower over Stella. She hugs me, and thanks me for everything, followed by Felicity, then Marvel, who just says,
"Don't worry about a thing. It's a mad world out there, and you've survived it so far. Keep on doing what you do." he sighs.
"I'll do my best." I smile.
The announcement comes over the speakers that the interviews will begin soon and they need us backstage immedietly.
I smile, geuninley, and walk down the corridor, alone, into the elevator which takes me to the ground floor, then through to the interview hall, where everyone is lined up backstage in order. I nod curtly to Raven, who is in a simple white dress, floor length. Her stylist didn't really know what to do with her, thats my opinion. They should learn that she suits vibrant colours, not plain ones. She ignores me again. I go to stand in front of Ryan, who is in a plain black suit, which really does bring out his green eyes.
"You look... Diffrent. " he smiles.
"Good diffrent or bad diffrent." I ask curiously.
"Didn't your stylists show you a mirror? Good!" he laughs.
"Thats a little weird coming from my brother" I laugh, shouting over the speakers as they begin to play the capitol anthem, shaking the stage.
"You asked me for my opinion. " he laughs, shrugging.
Everyone else is silent, staring, their eyes asking the question, why are you so happy? The answer? I'm not. As I said, I'm just a good actress.
The lights turn on, all diffrent shades of blue, and the crowd begins to scream and yell. I feel like an animal in a cage, at one of the Capitol's zoos, where exotic animals are kept so that the peole of the capitol can go and see them, perplexed looks on their faces.
I can't believe they're telling us our scores live, what if it's a really bad score?
Im overthinking things again. I have to stop doing that.
I watch as District One go up, District Two, Three, and the roar of the crowd is immense as Callais leaves the stage, smirking as her long red dress trails behind her, as if to say, beat that. Her tarining score was seven, which is pretty good considering that it is very unlikely that the gamemakers will score above a ten. Nobody has got above eight so far.
I sigh, and my senses start to go into hyperdrive, going through lists of questions that could be asked, what I should answer with...
"This girl needs no introduction." shouts Cesar Flickerman II. The crowd begins to roar louder than they ever have before, and I resist the temptation to cover my ears.
"Phoenix Victoria, District Four!" he yells.
I take a deep breath, and stick the fake smile on my face, and begin to wave before I even step out onto the stage.
The audience actually begins to scream, people are jumping up and down, reaching out as If they could touch me.
I can see myself sparkling, the blue and lilac reflecting onto my face. I wave and continue to smile, striking all the poses Grace practiced on the morning of the reaping.
I start to walk over to sit beside Cesar, my fears fast melting away, these people have the intelligence of a crayon, when I turn and tears begin to roll down my face, and I struggle to stay upright, as I run towards a familliar face.
Who is is? The first cliffhanger in this story! I didn't necessarily want this chapter to be this long, but it was kind of an easy one to write. I'll try not to make you wait too long for the next one, I hate cliffhangers myself, but I had to do it. I'm evil like that. Anyways, I can't wait to continue this story. Every once in a while, I read back on this story and think, how did I do that, I'm only just thirteen! Haha. Next chapter coming soon.
BethanyDee.