Iris Stargazer
Tatiana's hand grips mine tightly as she leads me down the halls of the Capitol building. The head building of everything, there is so much to explore. I still can't believe that I'm friends with the president of Panem. Tatiana is hardly older than I am and is much more beautiful than I will ever be.
Her golden hair is wrapped in a messy, yet somehow perfect, bun, and her green eyes were sparkling, surrounded by a slight amount of makeup. Her skin practically glowed, she was perfectly fit and in shape, and her outfits were always perfect for the occasion. Today, she wore a dark green pantsuit with white daisies on it.
I follow her through the halls in my blue and white striped sundress, listening to her commentary on each room.
"That," Tatiana points to a mahogany door, "Is Cronus' office. Shall we take a peek?" Mischievousness sparkles in her eyes and the corners of her mouth lift in a teasing smile.
I nod. "Whatever you want Tatiana." I smile at her.
"Don't act like that." She protests, waving me away. "You're the first real friend I've had in a while, so treat me like one."
I laugh and nod. "Sounds good to me." Everyone hates Cronus, including me. It wouldn't hurt to peek in at his office.
Tatiana opens the door slightly and slips in. I follow her, thinking of how disapproving Izzy would be if she saw me right now.
Cronus' office is the epitome of all offices. It's clean, sleek, and cold. The floor is a sheet of metal, devoid of rugs and the desks and shelves are metal as well. A black leather swivel chair faces an immaculate desk that has nothing on it. Even the windows are clean with no panes, just clear sheets of glass that face the city below.
"Wow," I breathe. Looking down at the city, I realize again where I am.
"Breathtaking, no?" Tatiana sighs and puts her hands on her hips. "So hard and cold though. Just like his soul."
We both giggle until we hear footsteps. We slip out quickly before the visitor comes. A young man exits the elevator and strides towards us. He quickly sweeps off his hat to Tatiana, revealing a head of red hair. He puts his cap back on and hands a note to Tatiana.
"Cronus us requesting your presence in the conference room." He says in a business-like manner. His face turns to me for a second. He has eyes the color of the sky and freckles across his nose.
"I will be right with him," Tatiana says with an air of authority.
The man nods and quickly walks away. Tatiana sighs.
"I'll be right back. You can keep exploring." She hands me her all-access card.
I gasp. "I can't use this!"
Tatiana laughs. "Of course you can! Here," She scribbles words on the back of my hand that read 'Tatiana approved,'
She squeezes my hand and strides down the hall. I turn around and face the empty hallway. Suddenly, exploring doesn't seem like quite as much fun. I walk down the hall anyways. The doors all look the same until I reach a heavy, metal door. It's so drastically different than any other in the hallway that curiosity spikes. I use Tatiana's card with a shaking hand. The door lock clicks and the door opens on its own accord. A cold metal staircase winds upward. I step into the stairwell and take the first two steps. The stairwell is completely silent. The cold metal reflects my distorted reflection back at me. The silence is deafening, until the door slams behind me and truly deafens me with the clang that it makes. I stifle a scream and drop to the ground, my hands instinctively covering my ears. My heart is in my throat and my hands shake uncontrollably. I stand up slowly and climb the staircase. It's no use going back now.
The door at the top is just like the one at the bottom, cold, hard, metal. I open that door and step into a circular room with a dome-shaped ceiling. Computers and screens line every inch of the walls and the projection in the middle of the room plays information repeatedly.
I'm still slightly terrified, but I turn to the first computer. Playing on the screen is a video of District 12. I gasp as I see the dirty, run-down district. Coal covers everything, the people are underfed with skinny limbs and sagging cheeks. Coal miners covered from head to toe in black march home after a day in the mines. Horror floods my chest. Is this what the districts actually look like. Next to the video of the district is a smaller screen showing a slight dark-haired girl going about her life. Shots of her in school, getting thrown out of her father's house and moving in with an adopted family. Beneath that is a video of a boy this time. Clips of him working, at school, and helping support his family after the death of his father play. I'm shocked. What is this? I look up higher and see a profile on both teenagers. They look normal and all right, but as I read the profile, I get a weird feeling in the pit of my stomach. Why is it listing strengths and weaknesses? What about the crimes they committed against the Capital?
The last note hit me like a train. It was a date. The date of the reaping. Listed under 'reaping date'. I stumble backward, the realization cutting in. They chose these kids. The Capital picked them out.
I whirled around and checked the other computers. The same horrors greeted me. The Capital picked these kids out because they were different, special, and sometimes criminals. I sit on the floor, overwhelmed. These were just kids. With families, friends, and loved ones. The Capital picked them for a reason. Tatiana, my friend, picked them out with her own hand. My head and my heart are pounding like drums inside of me.
I hear the door open behind me and I whip around. It's the red-haired guard from before. His eyes are fixed on me. He turns to close the door and hits a button on one of the computers.
"It's terrible, isn't it?" He asks sadly. His voice is deep and somewhat scratchy.
I stare hard at him. "Aren't you on their side?"
He shakes his head slowly. "Not after I saw this."
"What is this?" I ask.
The guard sighs. "I've been in the guard only a few months. I wanted the luxury and the glamour of this life. Now I regret it. I want to leave. But I can't. They would kill me because they know. They know everything."
"Everything?" I ask incredulously.
He nods solemnly. "They seem to. We should go. Tatiana wants you."
I stand up and walk to the door. "You never answered me. What is this room?
The guard closes the door behind us with a bang. "That," He says, "Is the Reaping Room."