Iris Stargazer Pt. 3

I am sitting alone in our apartment. Izzy is who knows where and Papa has been busy all day. I can't get the Reaping Room out of my head.I've tried exploring more with Tatiana, but even then, I know what she's hiding. She had a say in who was reaped. How could she?

I had my head in my hands, rocking back and forth. I was sitting against the bed in sweatpants and a hoodie. My hair was in a messy bun and I hadn't bothered with makeup. I said that I was sick, and I was. I was sick of the lies, the secrets. There was so much more that the Capital was hiding, and they were hiding it right under my nose. I wanted to scream. I had to get out.

An idea came to my head. The guard. The one that had been hanging around lately. I couldn't get him or his red hair out of my mind either. I had to talk to him about this. I needed answers.

I stood up and slid quietly from the apartment room. The carpet was soft under my bare feet. I forgot my shoes. I shrugged and kept going. It was always so quiet here. Too quiet. I silently slid up the stairwells and down hallways until I reached the Reaping Room door. Even just the sight of it filled me with dread. I looked around for a hiding spot and found, to my pleasure, a small closet near the end of the hall.

I stood inside the cleaning closet and peered through the cracks between the hinges. The whole tiny space smelled like chemicals and mold. I forced myself to breathe through my mouth, but then I was tempted to cough. I opted to hold my breath for a while and then step out for fresh air when I needed it. After nearly a half-hour, no sign of anyone.

Finally, the door at the bottom of the hallway opened and a guard came out. I looked hopefully at him, but it wasn't my guard. I shook my head sharply. He wasn't my guard. He was a guard. A guard who had answers.

I stepped out of the closet, startling the young man. He held up his gun and pointed it at my head. "Who are you?" He demanded.

"I'm Iris Stargazer. I'm looking for a guard. He has red hair. Do you know him?"

The young man was shaking from fright but lowered his gun. "Why do you need him?"

"Um," I hadn't made it that far. "He's my, uh, bodyguard. Yeah, for me and my family. Uh, I need him up here immediately."

The man turned around and fled from my presence. I smiled after his retreating form. I didn't know I was that scary. I chuckled softly and returned to my hiding place. In a few minutes, the red-haired guard entered the hallway. I stepped out of the closet.

He jumped, his pale skin turning even paler. "You, you scared me." He stammered.

I smiled. "That's the second time today."

He smiled back. He seemed nice. He had a nice smile. Answers, I focused my thoughts. "I need your help."

"Ok," the guard looks skeptical and intrigued. "With what?"

"The Reaping Room," I said quietly.

The guard looked at me for a second with narrowed eyes.

"I need answers," I pleaded. "I need a closer look. And possibly an explanation."

The guard looked around quickly before turning to the cold metal door. "I'll do my best, Miss Stargazer."

He flung open the door quickly and I jumped inside. He followed and closed the door quietly. Once again, I was surrounded by the cold, silent metal of the hallway.

"I'm Justin, by the way." He said as he turned around.

"You can call me Iris," I responded and hurried up the stairs.

The door opened up and I was greeted with the same sight as last time. I forced down the anger and fear that associated itself with this room and took a deep breath.

Justin came to stand beside me. "What is it you want to know?"

"Why were they picked?" I asked and marched over to one of the monitors. The picture was of a girl. She was young, a little younger than I was, with blonde hair and green eyes.

"Sam Rossi." Justin read. "Reaped for leaving the District boundary."

I looked closer at some footage playing of a girl, lost in the woods, crying and calling for help. "I thought that District 7 didn't have a fence so that they could harvest more trees. How did she know where the border was?"

Justin shrugged. "She wouldn't know. That's what's so tragic. The Capital doesn't see a girl who's lost, they see a rebellious little monster that needs to be punished."

I could feel my breath tighten with panic. Is that how the Capital would see me if they knew what I was doing. What we were doing?

Justin, as I sensed my discomfort, put a reassuring hand on my shoulder. He was so much taller than me and stronger than me, but his hand was comforting and gentle. "There are no security tapes in here. Too secretive."

I nodded and walked to another monitor. It was a young boy named Butch. His crime sounded crazy. 'Illegal use of weapons, thievery, rebellion.'

The picture, as if on cue, showed a loaf of bread, probably the one that had been stolen. It looked harmless to me, but an x-ray view showed a bomb hidden inside. Security footage showed the boy leaving it on the platform of the justice building, right where the reaping took place. Then, the footage showed him being captured and thrown in prison.

I was horrified and went to the least conspicuous one of all. A 12-year-old from District 10. She was all smiles and sweetness. I read her reason for getting reaped and my heart nearly stopped. "'Parent illegally attacked peacekeepers during a public beating.' That's it? He was defending an innocent man from getting beaten and they took his daughter away? To die?"

The realization was harsh and painful. So it wasn't always the kids' fault. The parents were reason enough to take away their children.

My breath was coming out way too quickly. I sat down suddenly, shaking all over. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't move. I felt lightheaded and sick to my stomach. I felt as if the Capital were hovering above me, daring me to show what I knew so that they could kill me too. It was like blackness, coming to swallow me up. I didn't hear Justin's words or feel him next to me. I was going to pass out.

The next thing I remember was waking up to Justin's worried face. I was lying on the floor of a room that I didn't recognize. It was small and very plain. A single window let in some light and I saw it glinting off of armor that was hanging on the far wall.

Justin was rubbing my back, neck, and shoulders, trying to get me to relax. IT was working.

"Deep breaths." He commanded.

I took a few extremely deep breaths. In. Out. In. Out. After a minute or two, I was able to sit up.

"Where am I?" I whispered. I still felt sick and lightheaded. My hair was falling out and into my eyes.

Justin shushed me and let me sit in quiet. I felt the horror and revelation of the Reaping Room try to come back, but I forced it out of my head. I knew enough. This was wrong. This had to stop. I couldn't watch the games knowing that the Capital had picked who was to die. I opened my eyes, feeling much better.

I now saw that I was sitting on a cot on the floor. "Is this your room?" I asked Justin.

His face flushed. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know where else to go. I'm also sorry for touching you."

I raised an eyebrow. "Touching me?"

"You know," He avoided my eyes. "Rubbing you. Trying to make you relax. Carrying you. That stuff. It wasn't my place. I should have called the doctors."

His face was nearly as red as his hair.

"Don't worry about it," I reassured him. "I don't mind. It helped though, and I wouldn't have wanted to see the doctor anyway. Too many needles." I shivered and Justin smiled slightly.

"Are you sure? That it's ok, I mean."

I nodded. "Completely. I trust you, Justin. Well, more than anyone else not related to me here."

That made him laugh, and his skin was returning to normal color again. Suddenly, I sighed. "What do we do now?"

Justin sighed and stood up, helping me up as well. "To be honest, I don't know."

Justin walked my back to my apartment and left me safely inside. I couldn't believe what I'd seen. I had no idea what to do, and no idea how to deal with it on my own. At least Justin knew. I sat on my bed and imagined him carrying me from the Room to his own room (that much I figured out). I imagined his touching me and a shiver went down my spine. Why was I thinking this way? I couldn't have a crush on a Capital guard. I hated the Capital. But when I saw his blushing face, his crooked smile, and his red hair in my mind's eye, I felt butterflies in the pit of my stomach. I forced them away. Just friends. Acquaintances. I wouldn't see him anymore. I had answers from the Room and I didn't need him anymore. I sighed and laid down.

I was in deep trouble, in more ways than one.