Chapter 11:
Haider Blake, District Nine, Age 15
Victor of the 86th Hunger Games
"Let's give it up one more time for Haider Blake!"
Haider grins widely at the crowd and gives them a friendly wave, making them cheer louder for him as he walks off the stage, the last they'll glimpse of him in person here in the Capitol for six months. But as soon as he's backstage and out of sight, he drops his arm and the smile turns to a frown, feeling the weight of the crown sitting on his head, heavy with the guilt of what he's done – and keeps doing. He didn't want to kill the three tributes, yet he did… And now he's the one that has to keep living with the guilt.
He didn't have a choice.
Haider knew that the Hunger Games had been turned back into entertainment for the Capitol, but a fucking disco themed arena? That's just a bit excessive. Yet after the success of Rosalie last year with her clear support of the entertainment aspect, what choice did Haider have but to replicate her strategy? Gone are the days of being respectful of the tributes dying and now are the days where you support President Basilius Cosima's Games or you die. Haider was just the smart one that recognized this and took advantage of it.
He can only imagine how disgusted in him his family and friends are right now… After all, he didn't try too hard to hide his disapproval at home in Nine when they knew there wasn't any watching eyes. But he did exactly what he disapproved of. He proudly proclaimed his support of the Capitol before the Games. He embraced the dumbass roller skates they put all of the tributes in for the arena. Hell, he even won by killing the last tribute with a disco ball.
Was living worth backtracking on his morals? Is this constant guilt worth it? Maybe if he does some good from this new title and wealth it can be worth it.
"Quite an act you put on there."
"A-act?" Haider questions nervously as he looks over at the President of Panem approaching him and he does his best to keep smiling. He nervously wipes his sweating hands on his pants as President Basilius stops in front of him, fixing him with a stare that feels like he sees right through Haider. "Fo-forgive me, President, and I mean no disrespect, but I don't know what act you are talking about, sir."
"Don't lie to me," President Basilius folds his arms behind his back as he stares Haider down, making a sweat start to form nervously on the victor's forehead. "And drop the smile. We both know you have been lying through your teeth the entire time you've been in the Capitol and the Games."
Haider obediently nods his head and drops his smile, keeping his face neutral as he nervously meets the President's gaze. "Yes, sir."
"Come, take a walk with me," President Basilius tells him as he looks around backstage, staring down all the people there. "It's too busy here."
"Of course, sir," Haider answers, fear nearly keeping him in place but he forces himself to follow President Basilius who walks ahead, not wasting time glancing back to see if Haider is following him. Of course he is, he's not an idiot.
But maybe he is because his lying act got him into this situation in the first place.
The President leads him to the side, away from other people before he turns back to Haider. "As I said, that was quite the act you put on. I could use an actor like you, show the country what their future looks like, drive up support for my presidency," President Basilius tells him and Haider can feel a chill go down his spine at the cold calculating look in his eyes. "What do you say?"
Haider carefully thinks over his answer, knowing that this really isn't up for debate. His family really isn't going to want anything to do with him after he has to do this for the President. And now…not only are the days of respecting the tributes gone, but the days of respecting the victors are also gone… "Yes, sir, I can do that… Will that be all I need to do?"
President Basilius gives him a wicked smile and Haider takes an involuntary step back from him, which he notices and only makes him smile more. "We'll see how well you do. If your acting continues to impress people…then perhaps we'll have you do more."
Haider nods his head at this, his throat tightening in fear of what those additional things could mean and preventing him from answering. He must keep his act going…just enough to not be punished for failing at filming the propaganda, but not enough to get forced into much worse things.
"Excellent," President Basilius pats his shoulder harshly, gripping onto it tightly. He waits for Haider to react to it, but Haider just forces himself to smile and hide his pain and fear. "Someone will be in contact with you with a schedule of when you will be in the Capitol filming with Rosalie. Don't disappoint me, Haider."
Haider nods his head and the President lets go of him, leaving him to stand there in fear as he watches his retreating figure. What have you gotten yourself into, Haider?
No, I did not forget about this story XD Just got put on the backburner for a while as I worked on Senseless and Legacy. But now that I'm nearly at the point where I've written ahead in those stories to the point where I have to wait for subs or sponsoring, I'm back to do some work on this story!
So we switch things up a bit here with Haider! We're in quite the different era of the Hunger Games, focused all on entertainment and using the victors for the President's agenda. So I felt it was important to show that here and I might try to do this a bit more often where we see things before or after the Games. But what a legend, winning by killing someone with a disco ball.
I'll be back soon with the next chapter! Also stay tuned for a new for fun story I'll be posting next Wednesday... *eyes emoji*
And if you don't already know, the SYOT Alliance forum is hosting Aprilooza, a fun daily event for the month of April where we have daily events to build up community involvement! It's not too late to come join in on the fun and the link for the forum is on my profile :)
Alrighty, see you in two weeks!
