Chapter 20: Jed
"What's that?" I ask Stella who's staring intently at something in her hands. She walks over and holds it up for me to see. It's a small, dusty old disk, the kind that has something recorded on it so people can view it long after it has been broadcast.
"A load of them must have been in one of the boxes Cole knocked over. I've heard the Capital like to buy recorded copies of the Games so they can watch them over and over again." She says her mind somewhere else. I look more closely at the disk, the words "the 44th Hunger Games" is written in swirly hand writing across the case. Dad's Games!
Stella starts to walk towards the TV, taking the disk out of its case.
"Stella! What are you doing!" I almost yell, even though I know exactly what she's doing. She looks up; surprised.
"Don't you realise what this means? The question that's been hanging over all our heads can finally be answered: what happened to Nina in the Games and what did Cole do?" She sees my unease.
"Come on. Haven't you ever wondered what your Dad dreams about when he has a nightmare, why he never talks about the Games?" I have. There have been some days when I've nearly asked him, but whenever I'm about to he seems to sense what's about to come out of my mouth and changes the subject.
"Some things are best left alone, best forgotten." I answer, quoting my mother for the second time tonight.
"For years I've refused to believe that my father's grudge is unjustified; there must be a good reason for it. But after meeting Cole I find it hard to believe he could be capable of doing something that terrible. I don't know who to believe any more." She sounds desperate to learn the truth and I can see there's absolutely no way of talking her out this. The light bounces off the disk in her hand reflecting rainbows onto the wall. It as if it's talking to me, telling me to watch it.
"Alright. Put it on."
The tape starts with the reapings, flashing through district after district as the children are called to their deaths. The thought that all but one of them is dead send shivers down my spine. When we get to District 7 we see a small red headed girl take to the stage in the very same dress Stella wore, her identical dark blue eyes looking sadly out into the crowd as a boy who must be her brother cries out in anguish. Then Dad's name rings across the square as he is pulled to the stage, looking around in disbelief. I gasp, it's almost like looking in the mirror, the only thing that sets us apart is his hazel eyes which look lost as they wonder around the square, trying to process the nightmare that has begun.
The tape then moves on to the opening ceremonies. Dad and Nina try their best to smile and look confident, but I imagine that must have been difficult to do when you have what looks like an entire tree perched on your head.
Then the tributes faces flash up on the screen as their training scores are revealed, just as ours will be in less than 24 hours. As usual the Careers score the highest, the boy from District two getting an eleven. But Dad gets a 10 which is virtually unheard of for a non- Career tribute; I cannot help but feel proud of him. Nina's score is quite unexpected as well: a seven, I see Stella smiling out of the corner of my eye.
Next are the interviews. Nina is sweet and charming, the audience love her. But when asked about how she'd fair against the bigger tributes her face hardens as she says:
"I may be small but I have some tricks up my sleeve. I'm not always as sweet as I seem."
When Dad steps up Caesar Flickerman says:
"Now we're all dying to know who the girl that shouted "I love you" at the station was." Dad smiles.
"That was my girlfriend, Erin."
"Do you love her?"
"Yes, I do." He says without hesitation. He looks right into the camera." I love you, Erin." The boy from District 2 pretends to be sick behind him. But the audience give a chorus of "ahhs".
"Another thing you've got us all wondering, Cole, is: is it true you're best friends with Nina's brother." At this Dad's face takes on a much more serious expression.
"It's true; we've been friends since our first day at school. He and Nina are practically family. That's why I promised him I'd protect her."
"Wow! And how far would you go to protect her?" Again he looks into the camera, there's a pause. But the words that come out of his mouth still sound like he absolutely means it:
"I'd die protecting her!" So my father went into the arena prepared to die, prepared to sacrifice everything for another. I wonder what Mum though of this.
We're perched on the edge of our seats as the interviews end, the screen goes black and then we see the arena Dad fought in and Nina died in for the very first time.
Chapter 21: Stella
The screen brightens and the camera swoops around a dead forest of naked trees, covered in snow. Behind it are mountains and in the centre is the Cornucopia. The tributes breathe clouds as they wait for the cannon. When the bang echoes in the air all hell breaks loose!
Everyone rushes to the golden horn, including Nina and Cole. Nina grabs a backpack but is tackled to the ground by the boy from District 4. He holds a sword in his hand a grins menacingly as she struggles. He doesn't see the club in Cole's hand until it connects with his head. Cole pulls her up and takes the sword from the now unconscious Career. They run off hand in hand into the woods.
As they show the faces of those who were killed that day, he lets out a sigh of relief.
"Good. May's still alive."
"Who's May?" Nina asks.
"You know, the girl from District 10. We hung out with in training."
"Oh, yeah." She nods. "I'm glad she's OK. Think we'll run into her?"
"Maybe. But first you get some sleep; I'll take the first watch."
The next morning Cole goes to fill up there water bottles at a nearby stream. Suddenly his name is screamed through the trees. He drops the bottle and runs to them. He arrives at their camp to the sight of Nina up a tree, her feet inches from the snapping jaws of a huge bear! Cole shouts at it, the bear replies with a roar and runs at him teeth bore. But Cole has his sword with him and hits its shoulder. This only makes the beast angrier and it comes at him harder. He manages to dodge it and lands a couple more blows. The second time he's not as lucky as its claws catch his arm. He reels back. The bear sees it chase and lunges at him, pinning him to the ground. It looks like it's all over. But just when its teeth are about to make contact with his throat Nina lands on top of it and stabs it in the back of the neck with a knife. She gets off its lifeless body and helps Cole push it off him.
"I think that makes it 1-1 now." She grins.
The next couple of days are quite uneventful for the pair as they trek through the frosty forest. They really are like brother and sister, teasing each over and recounting stories of before the Games. My father had always portrayed my aunt as being a vulnerable, sweet little girl, but I can see that she is nothing like that. She strong and fierce, I'm proud to say I'm her niece. Meanwhile the Careers are on the hunt; they've already killed three people and are keen to make Cole the fourth after what he did to the boy from District 4.
One night Cole and Nina are awoken by the sound of running feet. A girl with long black hair and pale skin runs right past the tree they're in, too concerned with the two careers chasing her to notice them.
"It's May! Stay here." Cole whisper as he quickly climbs down, sword in hand. He dashes after them before Nina can protest. The Careers, the boy from District 4 and the girl from 1 have got May up against a tree and are arguing about who gets to kill her.
"Neither of you do." Cole's voice interrupts as he catches up with them. They turn around in surprise, but it's soon replaced with anger when they realise who it is.
"Glad you could join us, District 7. My trident wants a word with you". The boy from District 4 snarls before throwing it at him. He ducks and it hits a tree behind him. The boy pays for his arrogance for not bringing another weapon with a stab to the chest from a furious Cole. I hear Jed gasp next to me as the cannon goes off. A look of utter disbelief on his face as he realises what his father has done. He must have known Cole had killed, every victor has but seeing it happen can be very different from just knowing it happened.
The girl from District 1 gets her knives out, but is interrupted by the sound of a string being drawn back.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Growls May, an arrow ready in her bow, trained on the girl's head. Seeing that she's now the one outnumbered she retreats.
"Good thing you showed up, Cole, otherwise that cannon would have been for me. Does this mean we're allies now?" She says. He doesn't answer; just standing over the boy's body, watching the blood pool around him, standing out against the white snow.
"I...killed...him." he whispers numbly. She walks over and hugs his shock frozen form.
"I know, I can't even imagine what you're going through. But it was either one them or me. I'm glad you chose me." She says soothingly.
Of course after this May joins them. They're the perfect team, working together like old friends . They even manager to bring down an entire deer, something that will keep their food supply full for days.
One night Nina wakes them up, saying she could hear monsters. They all look up suddenly and then look at each other look, terrified, but we can't hear a thing. Suddenly Cole yells "RUN!" and they all race across the snow. Cole stops, ready to fight whatever is out there, but he just slashes at thin air and May shoots at nothing. They must have eaten something to make them hallucinate, whatever they are seeing must be horrible. They're too busy fighting the invisible monsters to see the Careers creeping up on them. The boy from District 2 grabs May from behind and slits her throat! But they seem to see something too and run away screaming before they can do any more damage. The attack has been enough to snap the three out of it and they dash to May's side. She tries to speak but Cole gently shushes her and her cradles her in his arms silently. Neither let themselves shed a single tear until the cannon goes off.
"I can't stand being in this forest a second longer." He tells Nina when he finally lets the hovercraft take her. "Tomorrow we go to the mountains."
They walk for the whole of the next day, eventually they reach a big cliff. Cole points out a big sheet of ice stretching from the cliff to the other side where the mountains are, like a giant bridge.
"I'm not sure about that, Cole, it doesn't look safe." Nina says uncertainly.
"Nothing in this arena is safe." He almost snaps, as they reach they ice bridge.
"But it's a trap; the Game Makers want us to cross it."
"Of course they want us to cross it, how else will we get to the other side!" He retorts as he stamps his foot on the ice. "It seems stable enough."
"But..."
"Nina, we can stay in the woods any longer. The Careers are there and all sorts of other dangerous things. I can't leave in that much danger. Please just trust me." He almost begs. She signs.
"OK. But only because I promised Ethan we'd stick together."
They make their way across the ice, treading carefully as if they're walking on thin paper that could rip at any second. Suddenly there's a loud crack behind them, followed by another, then another. All of a sudden the whole bridge starts to break down behind them! They run the rest of the way, the ice falling into the abyss just two feet away. Nina trips! But Cole manages to get a hold of her hand just as the ice falls beneath her. There they are, Cole leaning over the edge, perched on the last bit of ice, a foot from the other side, with Nina dangling helplessly. The ice he's perched on begins to crack. We can see her saying something to him but the sound of the ice is too loud to hear them. Cole yells something back and shakes his head; Nina shouts another thing looking desperate.
Her other hand swings up and touches Cole's. It's at that moment that he lets her go! Letting her plummet to her death!
We sit in absolute shock, barley able to process what we've seen. We hear a gasp behind us and turn around to find the man himself staring at the screen. He hastily grabs the remote and kills the tape. It's OK, I've seen everything I need to see. My shock is replaced with pure rage as I get up.
"Stella, I know what it looks like but it's not what you think." He says, sounding panic stricken now that his secret's out. He holds his hands up as if it will protect him from what I say.
"OH I SEE EXACTLY HOW IT IS, COWARD!" I scream, seeing the so called man he really is for the first time. "YOU LET MY AUNT DIE TO SAVE YOUR OWN SKIN! YOUR ALLY, YOUR BEST FRIEND'S SISTER THE GIRL YOU SAID YOU'D DIE PROTECTING AND YOU AS GOOD AS KILLED HER!" He collapses into a chair, looking crushed, not even attempting to deny it. But as I walk away he managers to murmur one thing.
"I had no choice."