"Was that your friend from home?" He asked, and I looked at him confused for a second before I realized what he meant.
Friends from 13.
"Yeah, they're doing fine. I was just telling them about the trip." I explained, going over and hopping on the bed, bouncing up and down on the squishy bed. Talking to everyone had filled me with a bunch of energy.
"I figured." He said, sounding a little bit bitter.
"Aw, c'mon lighten' up." I smiled at him, jumping off the bed and grabbing his hands. I spun around, smiling, forcing him to spin.
"I'm traveling to districts to see people that I killed. I'm literally being congradulated by the very people who despise me." And just like that he killed my great mood.
"And I'm surrounding myself with people who would kill me without a second thought once they learn my identity. We are so screwed." I mused.
"So then why are you telling me to lighten up?" He asked.
"Because, I might die tomorrow, and I at least want to live before I die." I told him.
"Fine. I'll dance with you." He gave up.
"Music!" I exclaimed, and in a couple minutes, something slow and sad was playing in the cabin.
"No, upbeat and fun, something you can dance too." I told the sterio system. And of course, soon the music was happy and upbeat. I began sending my hands and feet in a frenzy, doing some of the most uncoordinated, floppy, weird dance moves ever.
"You're a beautiful dancer." Copper laughed.
"It's called having fun, if you wanted to see some good dance moves, then you should have said something." I told him.
"Or I should've gotten a mirror." He smiled.
"You ready to be completely blown away?" I asked him grinning mischievously.
"I already was." Copper snorted. I rolled my eyes.
"It's my turn." Copper grinned, and sure enough his arms wrapped around me, and led me through a complicated dance sequence, but I've danced plenty of times with Naunet, for fun at Parties, this was no different.
His feet moved fast, but I seamlessly caught up, making it appear like I'd danced this a million times, even though it barely resembled the dances we did at home
"You're pretty good." He laughed, and dipped me.
"I know." I snorted, but we continued dancing.
"I think it's time to go to bed." I yawned a little bit later.
"G'night then." Copper said, and I nodded, grabbing pajamas and changing in the bathroom.
I walked out, and instead of going into my bed, I walked over to Copper and slipped under his covers. Wordlessly his arms wrapped around me, and I buried my face in his chest.
The next morning, Aelia came to wake us up, and she was absolutely smitten with our sleeping situation, gushing about how cute it was, our whole entire walk to the stylists. I had forgotten to wake up early and pack my bag, so I would have to pack it after the feast.
I was dressed in the blue and white dress. The doily looking lace covered my chest and the blue flowy bottoms looked pretty. I had white shoes with an inch or two heel. My hair was allowed to stay down, and no one put any make-up on me.
I walked out, under Cato's arm, and was absolutely amazed at what I saw. People all stood, packed in, shoulder to shoulder. It was incredibly loud, and the people looked a little skinny and sickly. They rallied, angry, yelling at Cato.
They called him the capitol's pawn, and they told him to leave. They yelled at him, screamed at him. The peackeepers went crazy trying to harness all of the angry citizens, unleashing guns, and bats.
The crowd was barely containable though, as they were like a wave, pouring over the peacekeeprs, but then shots were fired.
Copper pulled me behind him, but it was useless because who ever fired the shot, wasn't aiming for me, but rather for Copper, thankfully, he moved just in time, the bullet whistling to close to his head, and hitting a train station sign behind us.
I gasped, but instead of running like a capitolite should, I walked quickly to the stage, trying to ignore the constant fire of guns, and cries of agony. I pulled Copper behind me, and the camera's turned on, following us the way to the stage.
"Do your speeche and then we'll leave." Aelia whispered to Copper, but I didn't want to leave.
"Ovidia, maybe you should get back to the train." Cashmere sneered. I nodded, walking in the direction of the train, but not to the train.
I walked out into the crowd, which had mostly cleared. There were a few people shot, who were still alive. The Peacekeepers were watching me with hawk eyes as I walked to a young man, maybe in his early twenties, with a shot in his left leg. I walked up to a citizen who was standing, staring at all of the blood, stunned.
"I was wondering if you had a hospital, or a person who will help these people?" I asked her, and she shook herself out of her stupor.
"Yeah, follow me." She said, and we walked to a small house, a five minute stroll from the scene by the train station. I talked to the few people in the hospital, and I got a good amount of people to take wheel barrows with me, and walk back to the train station.
You could fit two full grown men on the wheel barrow. I checked each person's pulse, before putting them in the wheel barrow. Some of them were barely hanging on, but others were concious, and groaned and sweared under their breath while we lifted them off the ground and into the wheel barrow.
The Peacekeepers seemed angry that we were picking up, and helping the dying people, but it was obvious that my fancy dress, shoes, and arrival spoke of my influence, so they had to watch unhappily as we lugged the bloody people to the hospital.
"Who are you?" A girl asked, as she walked next to me on the way back, to pick up more people.
"Charlie, you?" I asked.
"Barley." She nodded.
When we arrived back, I heard the distinctive sound of crackling flames, and smell of burning flesh. And then the echo of anguished cries. There in the center of the square was a bonfire sort of looking thing, and the deadbodies, and some fire wood have been gathered in the center of the square, and lit on fire. There were people who were still hanging on in that square, people who were still awake, and screaming in pain.
I shuddered, I took a step back, Barley look horrified, and then she ran. I couldn't breathe as I looked into the fire, people were alive in those flames, real people... I fished for the mobile phone, that was strapped against my torso, a request from Finnick. I fumbled when I looked for the video app, and I got it just in time, to video tape, a young man, with a bullet hole in his torso, screaming as a peacekeeper threw him into the flames.
The peacekeeper turned to me,and I closed the photo app, I gripped my phone tightly and ran back to the train.
On the way there, I bumped into Copper.
"Ovidia! Holy shit where have you been!" Copper exclaimed, grabbing my hand and dragging me back to the train station.
"I was um... helping." I said, as he tugged me into the train.
"Go! Go!" Copper said, and the train lurched forward, and an incredible speed.
"Wait! No, there are people out there, and they're getting killed! For no good reason!" I exclaimed, how could we just leave!
"We know there's nothing we can do, those people out there they defied that capitol, this is what happens to people who do that." Cashmere said, almost as if she found amusement in my frazzled tone.
"But there is! We can help them too! At least make sure that they don't die!" I screamed.
"I don't know what kind of morals your hippy parents rose you up on, but this is how real life works. You thank god that that's not you, you keep your head down and keep moving. There's no helping, no nothing, and you should get that into your head before you crash and burn." Gloss snorted.
"We are the only ones left." I told him. "Do you want to know how many humans there are left? Maybe a million. Maybe two million. There's nothing to keep us all from dying off, if we keep killing each other, and just moving on, there'll be nothing left. No one left to pray to god that's not them, or to keep their head down. So I think it's you who needs to wake up." I spat at him.
"So what do you want me to do? Defy the capitol and become another body on the ground? Become another person thrown into the flames of war, the only evidence of a hard won life ashes to. be swept under the rug when the capitol wins? I am more then that." He told me.
"But are you really? Or are you just a coward hiding behind paper thin reasoning. The rebellion will lose because of people like you. People who stand by, watching the real people fight." I told him, trying to keep my voice as quiet as possible, to prevent the capitol from hearing.
"Ovidia, this isn't the time." Copper said, taking a grip of my arm, and pulling me back into him. Like he could protect me from the capitol.
"Oh look! Everyone's here! Perfect timing! The President wants to chat with all of you, privately." Aelia squealed, like it was an honor, but in reality, I felt like puking. While Copper and I considerably paled, Cashmere and Gloss stood up straighter. Aelia, grasped her hands together.
"Cashmere, you're up first" Aelia announced, like she was announcing who won an award, not who was going to be creeped out by Snow first. Cashmere gracefully nodded at Aelia, before following her down the hallway.
I sat down at the table, along with the prep team, Gloss and Copper. We ate in silence, well the Prep team didn't by Gloss, Copper and I did. The things Snow might say to me whirled through my head, what I should say to him..
"Gloss." Aelia smiled, and Cashmere sat down. She looked at Copper and I closely and expectantly, before turning to her meal.
"What did he talk to you about?" I asked in a small voice.
"It's a secret." Cashmere said, grinning, and pretending to zip up her lips. I focused on eating the food in front of me. I forced the mashed potatoes down my mouth. I took a long gulp of the orange juice, and then I took a bite of the apple.
I forced myself to focus only on what I was eating, I refused to let my mind stray to what might happen, and instead focus on what I was doing right now. I looked at my bloody dress, and wrinkled my nose.
"I'm going to run to my room to change." I told them, and I guess the Prep team looked incredibly relieved. I walked quickly to my room, and is stripped out of the dress, the blood sticking to my skin. I pulled on another dainty purple dress I found in the dresser. I washed my hair and blow dried it. I made sure that I had no blood on me anywhere.
I made it back just in time to see Copper go in, his head down. He fiddled with his thumbs, and hummed. He walked quickly with his head down, after Aelia.
"So, what's it like traveling around, seeing all of the tributes go off to the games?" I asked Gloss and Cashmere.
"Fun. It's great Fun to see them come and go." She laughed, and Gloss smiled creepily at me.
"Do you ever wish you'd lost?" I asked them, thinking about what Finnick told me once, most victors consider getting out of the games loosing. It's like a trick, you're led to believe you won, but in reality you've just lost.
"No, winning is an honor!" Gloss smiled, and I kept my face trained on the floor. I drank my orange juice, while my heart raced, and I counted the time on the clock.
"Ovidia." Aelia said, smiling, and my head shot inhumanly fast, Copper met my eyes and smiled strongly. I felt my heart calm down a bit. I walked with my capitol posture to the room, I ostentaciously opened the door, following every movement with over the top graceful gestures and swoops.
I perched myself on the couch, crossing my legs delicately.
"President Snow, it's an honor to meet you." I chirped.
"I must say the same Ovidia." He said, and I couldn't help but see how fake he was, and I wondered if he saw how fake I was.
"I wanted to discuss the events of today with you. I realize they might have left you a little shaken up." He said, and I nodded enthusiastically.
"Well, I wanted to let you that the Peacekeepers were not following Capitol protocol, they were acting of their own accord, and they are now all facing charges." He reassured me, and I smiled, faking over dramatic relief.
"Thank god. That was horrible." I said fanning myself. "But I should have known the Capitol would've never done such a terrible thing. I'm sorry for ever doubting you President Snow." I told him flamboyantly.
"It is quite alright. I do hope you enjoy the rest of the tour." He told me.
"I do hope you enjoy the rest of your term." I told him, before exiting the room in a flourish of skirts and hair.
I walked out of the room, much more relieved. He was just trying to reconcile for the attack today, he hadn't caught on me. I walked back to the dinning room.
Copper and I walked back to our room, and I took a deep breath. Copper came over and towered over me. I hugged him, burying my face in his chest, inhaling his shirt. I pulled away and kissed his lips.
The next morning I remembered to pack my bag, and I slipped back into bed with Copper before Aelia came in to wake us up. This time she cooed less about how cute we were and rushed us to the stylists.
One of them started complaining about how there was still blood in my hair, and I tried to tune it out. They seemed to talk about it like it wasn't the blood from people who had been shot in front of their own eyes, or people who were no longer alive, or barely holding on.
The Capitolites were truly desensitized to death of people from the districts. Did they not see that they were people too? That they had lives, and families, and hopes, and dreams? Or did they only see them like we saw fish, something to keep us fed and happy.
I came out looking pretty bad ass, and a lot less cute and girly then I had before. I had a read leather dress and black heels. My hair was back in a braided and curly ponytail, and I wore dark make-up. I was proud with my look, and copper matched with his red leather tie. We walked, neither of our arms linking out of the train station.
I was surprised to see blood, that looked like someone had tried to wash it, but couldn't, was on in the square. The people stood over it, but they kept looking at their feet. I looked to the smoke stacks that towered high in the sky, emitting black smoke, and the factories underneath. One of the factories was reduced to rubble, and another one had been set on fire, scorch marks all along the south side of it.
The quiet people in the crowd had evidence of a lost battle on their faces. Many of them were injured and had cuts and bruises on their faces. One man even had a welt from a weapon on his cheek. They all looked distraught, and tired.
I waved, and retreated to my seat by the mayor, who was a thin and wirey looking man on the end of the stage. I looked at the tributes families who were standing on a platform looking out into the crowd.
Behind the families, on a large screen, they recapped the tributes death, and I watched Flex, die. Posiedon had sent a spear at Flex, or maybe it was me, as I was running right behind him, but it hit Flex.
I watched myself stare at him panicked for a second before grabbing a bag and running. I watched it loop over and over again, the animistic look of fear grace my features each time. The panic, and then me running. I felt my stomach turn, and I was about to start crying.
But I held it in, and forced a stoic expression on my face, and when we left the stage to eat, I regrouped with Copper. I sat with him at the feast, and we talked a little to everyone. I laughed with the mayor, and laughed too, even though his strained expression never left.
I could only imagine what it was like trying to hold a feast while your district was starving, let alone right after your district rebelled and the capitol was on top of you demanding what was going on. This poor man seemed incredibly stressed, and needed a break.
But I still enjoyed the meal, and once we were done I slipped into the cart, and I changed out of my dress and heels and into some more appropriate shoes, jeans, and a sweatshirt. I took the first aid kit from under the sink, put it into the bag.
I got slipped out of the train, and looked around. The was thick with smoke and the cobblestone streets had blood in between the stones.
I found the hospital after a couple minutes. There were hundreds of people packed in the dense abandoned factory. People were laid out on tables, or piles of blankets. Most of them looked sickly, weak, and bloody. A few of them were attempting to talk, or reassure their families, and then there were children crying by their parents.
It was heart breaking how many dying people there were, and how many affected people there were, standing by their parents, watching them die. No child should have to see their parents lifeless body. And worst of all, the conditions were completely unsanitary, there was no way for them to take care of peoples waste products, and already a few people who were only here for their family members were puking.
I stood there, unsure of what to do, I didn't have nearly enough supplies to make a difference, but the best I could do is give all I have, and then console. Maybe help clean up. I walked up to a young girl who was cleaning up around the child area, and calming the crying kids.
"I have donations." I told her, and she rose her eyebrows.
"You should go talk to Weft, she's the lady over there. I'm Lacey by the way." She said. I nodded, and I walked over to Weft.
She was a big lady with curly brownish gray hair that was in a mess. She was weaving between beds, and I she moved with so much speed and agility I had to run to catch up to her.
"I have donations!" I cried running up to Weft.
"You do?" She asked disbelievingly. I handed her the sack.
"I know it's not a lot, but it's all I can give you-" She cut me off.
"It's enough." Weft told me. I smiled, and nodded thankfully.
"I want to help volunteer too." I told her.
"You can work with Lacey over with the children." Weft told me.
"Thank you." I breathed, walking over to Lacey.
At first all I did was clean the floor, and wash the blankets. It was boring, but at least I was doing something. I'm sure it'd be much more boring if I was forced to stay in the train the whole time.
"So what's your name?" Lacy asked, as she helped me sweep up the floor underneath an eight year old with half of their face burnt off.
"Charlie." I told her wondering if the capitol had microphone's here, ready to hear me tell random strangers I had the same name of the girl who slipped out of the hunger games. Not that they would know.
"So you're not from here are you?" She asked.
"No. I'm not, I'm actually traveling on the victory tour, pretending to be Copper's girlfriend." I told her.
"That was one hot dress you had on this morning." She told me.
"Thanks." I said, as I took a worn washcloth and wiped the floor off.
"It's weird how you can go from all rich girl looking, to scrubbing the floor, an hour later." She laughed, lifting a baby up so I could grab the blankets out from under it.
"Yeah, I think I might have like a multiple personality disorder." I told her, and she snorted.
"It would seem like it, you were all uppity on the stage. And now you're all jokey and humble." She sighed.
"I'm not exactly humble." I told her.
"Says the girl who's scrubbing poop off the floor when she could be relaxing in a multi-million dollar train wearing the latest fashions and making out with the most desired boy in all of Panem." Lacey laughed.
A toddler began crying, and I turned and stared at it.
"Shh, be quiet." I said awkwardly, staring at the little boy.
"Oh god, you're really bad with children." Lacy laughed walking over the toddler. She picked him up and cooed to him, and he eventually shut up. She placed him back and we finished cleaning the floor.
The sun was setting, and I realized I should probably head back to the train if I didn't want them to leave without me.
"I have to go." I told Lacey.
"Have fun on your trip." She smiled ate.
"Stay safe." I told her smiling. She waved goodbye, and I waved back to her, leaving the hospital.
The trip back to the train was freezing, and my hands were numb by the time I reached the train. I was also shivering so bad, I could barely walk.
"Hey Ovidia." Copper greeted casually.
"Hey Copper." I said, bringing some fancier clothes with my to the shower.
The shower was incredibly nice and warm, I basked in the steam that defrosted my icy skin. I washed my hair, and I washed my body. I even shaved my legs. I stepped out and put lotion on. I brushed my hair and smiled, I felt a lot cleaner and freer now that I was clean and free from the weight of the dirt and grub. I walked back out
I walked up to Copper and hugged him, he hugged me back, and I felt content. I was safe, I wasn't suspected by Snow, and no one was plotting to kill me right now.