Leah Rockwell, 41 years old
Five months after the 41st Hunger Games
Tonight is easily one of the best nights of my life.
The food is fantastic, the drinks are flowing, the people here are so lovely, even Hermes is behaving himself for once… Yes, this is an amazing night. This is how it should be every night!
With all the fun and laughter, it's so hard to believe that this was an actual arena in the Games. Hell, it was hard to believe that this ever could be an arena in the first place.
It's such a beautiful place, what with the forest and the cute little cabins and, of course, the lake. The stars are so clear out here at night. They reflect off the surface of the lake. And the fire pit is massive. People are over there, laughing and dancing and roasting marshmallows.
I'm not an outdoorsy person in the slightest, but I could totally stay here for the rest of my life.
The atmosphere is the greatest part. Just people having fun together, like the kids who once went to this camp would have done when this place was still in use. The tour guide is preparing for a late-night tour of the kill spots. Logan, who had been brought in to provide entertainment, is doing just that, juggling oranges and wowing those around him. Down by the lake, another guide is overseeing a reenactment of a battle on the pier.
It's all fun and games here.
I'm excited for what tomorrow will bring. The guides have kept the itinerary secret, saying that it's a surprise. And no matter how much the richer guests have bribed them with, they won't breathe so much as a word. "Wait for tomorrow," they told us.
It's just a shame that Brady isn't joining us; Logan told me that Brady wasn't feeling well. It's a damn shame indeed. He's pretty good-looking.
But oh well. There's still plenty of fun to be had here, even if there aren't any pretty boys to look at. After all, I can have plenty of fun with my own man. In fact, I'll go do that right now. Where did he get to?
I go back into the mess hall so I can find someone to refill my champagne glass. It's noisy and crowded in here, but I'm soon attended to by an avox, then I go and find Hermes. He's standing by the window talking to some loser I don't recognise.
I lay a hand on his arm. "Hello, honey," I say sweetly, "want to go somewhere more private?"
He smiles shakily at me. "I'm talking to someone. Maybe later, Leah." The man he's talking to looks away awkwardly.
I grip Hermes's arm as tightly as I can. He yelps loud enough to catch the attention of those nearest to us. I growl at him and he shuts up immediately.
"Come on, I want to go have a little fun."
This time he listens.
But as soon as we step outside, Logan pops up. Brilliant. Just what we needed right now.
"Sup Hermes, my dude!" He throws an arm around Hermes's shoulders. "Wanna go roast marshmallows with me?"
I give him one of my famous withering looks. "Actually, Hermes and I were going to have a little private time." I keep Hermes's sleeve firmly in my grasp.
Logan raises an eyebrow. I catch the look on Hermes's face and feel so embarrassed that I might throw up. His face looks sick, worried; silently pleading with Logan to save him. It's just gross. He doesn't need saving from anything. He's being silly.
Logan moves quickly, though. With one swift movement, he's already leading Hermes away from me. He turns around briefly to say, "They're serving macarons in the mess hall. I know how much you love macarons and I don't want you to miss out!"
I'm about to shout after them, when I hear a cry of, "Who wants macarons?" from inside. Well, okay then. He was telling the truth.
But that doesn't mean I forgive him for taking Hermes away from me.
Soon after I finish stuffing my face with macarons, a bell rings out, signalling curfew. Seriously? Curfew at our age. They're really taking those whole 'realistic campsite' thing to the extreme!
And that also means that we have to sleep on these really uncomfortable inflatable mattresses. Well, I have to, at least. The others get to sleep on stretchers. Unfortunately, there weren't enough stretchers to go around so now Hermes and I are stuck with the mattress.
We meet up at our tent. Oh yeah, did I mention that there weren't enough cabins to go around so some of us have to sleep in tents? Because that's what's happened. This night has really taken a turn for the worse all of a sudden. The camp seems much less beautiful now that all of this has happened.
As I lay on the mattress, I can hear others snoring from within their cabins. Come on! Is this what camping is like? If so, then I'm never doing it ever again after tonight.
Emphasis on after tonight, because tonight is feeling like it's going on forever. Hermes is already out cold and I'm left alone with my thoughts. I'm so bored that there's nothing to do but count everyone's total snores. Yes, for real.
My count reaches three-hundred-and-twenty-two before I feel my eyelids start to droop.
It's warm. I don't feel uncomfortable at all now. I guess my body just adjusted to the new bed. That's something, I guess.
It feels kind of like I'm bobbing around. Maybe that's just all in my head. Sometimes, when I sleep in unfamiliar beds, my head feels like that. It's annoying, but whatever.
I roll over and the blankets pull off of my leg. It's suddenly cold now. Weird.
Then a breeze blows, scattering my blankets. What the-
I open my eyes. At first I don't recognise my surroundings. It's green and blue and kind of blurry. And very bright. I sit up straight and rub my eyes.
When I reopen them, I scream.
I'm still in bed, alright. But the bed is floating in the middle of the fucking lake!
How in the ever loving fuck did this happen?! What the fuck is going on?!
On the lakeshore are two figures. I realise that it's Logan and Hermes. Logan is bent over double, laughing like a maniac. Hermes is watching, with what looks to be a smile on his face. Those fucking bastards!
They did this! I know they did! Who else could it have been? The mattress didn't just grow legs and decide to go for a swim! Those fuckers. They think this is so funny? Wait til I get over there! I'll kick their sorry asses into next week.
"You fucking cocksuckers, you!" I throw the blankets off and stand up. "When I get over there-!"
Standing up was a bad idea, it turns out. The mattress wobbles underneath me, practically giving way beneath me and I fall into the lake. Fuck! I just fucking snorted lake water up my nose! Fuck my life!
When I resurface, Logan is laughing so hard that I'm surprised his vocal chords aren't completely worn through by now. He slaps his knee then falls to the ground, still laughing.
Hermes continues to smile, but that smile drops off his face the second he makes eye contact with me. That gleeful expression of his is quickly replaced with dread.
As it should be.
He's going to regret doing this to me, mark my fucking words!
I based this chapter on a Vine. I'm sure you can guess which one it was lol.