✧ﾟ･: *✧ﾟ･:*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧
Sacrifice || Twelve
Apparently, neither Johanna nor I had a great sense of time. My tongue was covered with the bitter yet compelling taste of things I shouldn't have been drinking. The minutes slipped by until the crack of dawn. With the first rays of light peeking over the horizon, I tugged on Johanna's arm.
'Is that the sun?' I asked, confused. Johanna squinted.
'Yeh,' she hiccupped, laughing a little. I frowned. Wasn't there something we needed to do before sunrise? I swayed, trying to figure out what it was. My head rolled ono my chest and I felt like curling up right then and there, but then it clicked. Although my mind was foggy, I remembered that it was important that Johanna and I were inside the Training Centre before light.
'We need to go,' I mumbled in the most urgent voice I could muster. I grabbed onto to Johanna's arm and tried to pull her away from the festivity, but she resisted.
'I don't want to,' she said. 'Let's just keep partying. No one will ever find us. Why can't we?' Johanna had a point. Why couldn't we? Why did we have to return anyway? I couldn't think of any explanation. But an instinct in my core demanded that I leave all the revelry behind. I knew there was a reason we needed to be back, and we were already late.
'No,' I moaned, tugging her again. 'We need to go.' We both reluctantly made our way to the Training Centre, swinging and tripping all the way there. It was easy enough to find since it was the largest building in the vicinity. At the front doors, Johanna started banging on them, but I remembered that we had cards that would let us in. I tapped mine on the scanner repeatedly until the doors opened. Laughing raucously for no reason, we entered.
'You should go to your room,' I told her after a while. She pouted.
'Fine.' Johana stumbled to her room. I watched her as she left. I loved being with her. She unlocked a part of me that I never knew existed. A happy, worry-less one that I desperately needed. Once she was out of sight, I turned and made my way to my own room. As I did, I saw a bottle sitting on the buffet table, not unlike the ones that I had drained back at the party. I snatched it on my way.
My shoulders were still moving to the beat of the music from outside. I was almost in the corridor of my room when someone pulled me back. I flailed about, trying to escape the stranger's grip. I considered smashing the bottle on their head, but it was too good for it to go that way. Instead, I lashed out, hoping to land a kick that would hurt.
'Coral, Coral,' someone hushed. I instinctively relaxed. I recognised that voice, but I couldn't quite place it. Once the stranger was sure that I was calm, they turned me around. Finnick's sea green eyes searched mine.
'Where were you?' he whispered-shouted frantically. I gave him a slow and stupid smile to let him know I was fine. Honestly, he was so worried when he was around me. I was offended that he charmed the socks off everyone but didn't even bother with me. 'You should've been back hours ago! Your prep team will be here any moment to take your fit for your costume.' I rolled my eyes.
'… wait, were you drinking?' He finally seems to notice the bottle in my hands. He eyes it distastefully. I immediately hide it behind me.
'Maybe,' I say simply. He sighed. So very offended.
'Ok, do you want to play a game?' he asked. I was about to nod eagerly, but the look on his face made me pause.
'What kind of game?' I asked sceptically.
'You know the blind spots in the corridor?' he asks. I looked around and nod, eyes darting to the spots which the camera didn't catch. 'Run to your room as quickly as you can, and I'll come a little later. We can't get caught though. You wanna play?' he offered. I hadn't played a simple game in so long, that I blurted out my answer without thinking twice.
'Let's plaaay!' he nods and gestures towards my room, inviting me to go first. My shoes were already gone, lost sometime during the party. I gripped the bottle to my chest and sprinted towards my room, keeping to the sides and pressed against the wall. I fell inside, lying on the floor for a moment. It was stuffy. Why was I wearing absurd, suffocating clothes? I threw them off, left only in my undergarments.
'Better,' I muttered, struggling to get up. The heat was really getting to me. I felt as if my skin was on fire. Wobbling to the bathroom, I washed my face with whatever product was beside the sink. As I scrubbed my face, a rush of relief flowed through me. I realised it was because of the thick layer of cosmetics that covered my face. When it was finally off, I could breathe again.
A click in the room alerted me that Finnick had made it in.
'We both win!' I exclaim, throwing my hands up and dropping onto my bed. I grabbed the bottle. 'Let's celebrate. Wait, there's no cups. Guess only one of us can have this.' I looked to him, fluttering my lashes and pouting, hoping he would say I could have it. He just took me in for a moment and turned away, ruffling through my drawers. I huffed. How rude, I wanted an answer!
'You should put on a shirt,' he said, throwing one at me. I rolled my eyes and shoved it over my head. I still wanted an answer.
'Can I have the drink all for myself?' I asked sweetly. Finnick looked over his shoulder, before he walked up to me. He snatched the bottle.
'Hey! I wanted that.' Finnick stubbornly shook his head and turned to walk out of the room.
'No more for you,' he said as he opened my door.
'Please!' I cried. 'Please, just a teensy-weensy bit?'
'If anyone asks, say you're sick and you want to be alone.' With one last look at me, he shook his head, flattened himself against the outside wall and slipped out, supposedly to his own room. I fell back against the bed, still whining.
'Please,' I mumbled, but I couldn't get my heavy limbs to move. 'Just a little bit.' But I never got that bit, at least not in my waking hours. As I slept, I fantasised of debauching myself into insanity. I didn't have to care when my head wasn't working right. I didn't need to fix things or figure how to win the Hunger Games. I finally understood why Haymitch preferred the company of drinks to the company of humans.
Thank you for your support, reader!
Se you next chapter.
Lea Valdez