"You've got some explaining to do, Plutarch" growled Haymitch, as the former Headgamemaker led him, Katniss, Peeta and a curious Johanna to the situation.
"It's not something that can be explained" muttered Plutarch. The corridors got deeper and deeper as the group descended.
"In one of these rooms they kept my prep staff" murmured Katniss, gloomily.
They arrived in front of a white door. Plutarch took a deep breath.
"Don't put the blame on us" he said, looking at the winners, then pushed the door: the room was off-white, with a few dingy pieces of furniture and a high-backed armchair in front of a screen broadcasting the reruns of the Reaping with apathetic comments in the background.
"I am ecstatic to see you again" said a deep voice from behind the chair. Katniss took a slow step forward, her face shocked. A tall man stood up and very slowly turned towards the winners.
"Hi Katniss" said Cinna.
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The clock ticked annoyingly from the top of the wall on which it hung. Lyssa looked at it sidelong, while Jendy drummed her fingers on the bench where she was sitting. After the Reaping they had taken the tributes to the Presidential Mansion and divided them into rooms. Lyssa and Jendy had luckily ended up together since they lived in the same house. The minute hand went up and a half. The door opened and Effie rushed into the room hugging tightly the two girls who had run to her. Her swollen eyes indicated that she had been crying.
"Listen to me" she said looking into the eyes of the two - We have been told that you will have four days to prepare for the Games. Focus on basic survival skills and just if necessary weapons. The first thing you have to do in the Arena is to look for water; please don't jump into the bloodbath of the Cornucopia, avoid fights and...-
"Aunt" Lyssa interrupted her "Are they going to force you to watch us?
A tear rolled down Effie's cheek.
"No matter what happens to me" she said "Please promise me that you won't turn your back on each other"
Jendy nodded vigorously and shook Lyssa's hand.
"Remember" made the woman suddenly serious "These Games have been dictated by hatred and revenge, but you never give the satisfaction to those who created them to make you change; in the Arena you must be Lyssa Trinket and Jendy Kellaghen, understood?/
The two little girls nodded. Effie pulled two necklaces with crude gold and silver charms out of her coat.
- These were worn by my first tributes- she said on the verge of tears- Keep them around your neck and people will know you were wrong. Be strong.
She hugged them again. Jendy melted into a silent cry. Someone knocked violently on the door.
"Be strong" Effie repeated and stood up, just as two soldiers entered the room.
"We love you" said Lyssa. The woman nodded and went out with one of the soldiers. The second one stared at the girls with indifference./
"Follow me" he ordered and went out as well. Jendy and Lyssa could do nothing but obey.
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No one would come to see her, Clarisse was certain; and even if word got out about Liandra, her older sister, they wouldn't give her a chance to see her. Instead, there was a knock at the door. The little girl snapped to her feet. A tall, dark-skinned, smartly dressed woman stood in the doorway, looking at her earnestly.
"Clarisse" she said, taking a step forward.
"President Paylor" Clarisse replied, bowing her head.
They studied each other in silence for several minutes.
"Do you know why I'm here? Paylor asked.
"No" admitted Clarisse.
"I am here because of your participation in the 76th Hunger Games" said the woman, sitting down in a small chair.
"Have you come to tell me that you'll only send me to the Arena and make the whole of Panem watch me die a slow and inhuman death?
"Would you be willing to sacrifice yourself for your fellow citizens?" asked Paylor in turn, with the same sarcasm.
"Of course" Clarisse answered without hesitation, leaving the president astonished.
"Unfortunately, I didn't come to make you do heroin" she said "but to have you.
It was the other one's turn to be surprised.
"You won't get out of these games alive, Clarisse Snow" Paylor said darkly. The little girl's frown turned into a defiant smirk.
"That remains to be seen" she said. The president stood up, covering Snow's niece with her shadow.
"What are you fighting for? The memory of your grandfather?" she growled.
"No" said Clarisse "I fight and will fight to show you and your Districts that you were wrong, that this act of vengeance of yours has only destroyed any possible salvation for Panem.
These words shocked Paylor, who was stunned.
"So, President" continued the young girl "if you came here with the intention of demoralizing me and seeing me fall apart, you've made a hole in the water because I have no intention of giving in to those who took away my family and home, treating me like a beast when my only sin was to be born a Capitol./
She paused.
"If I die I will do it with the dignity you have taken away from my fellow citizens and humanity. I wish neither peace nor serenity to vindictive people like you and your Winners and judge me crazy or incoherent but I have no reason to do so now or ever!
She said this and turned his back to Paylor. She stepped back and left the room, shocked.
Clarisse lifted her chin and looked at the open window.
I have already won
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Magdalene's jacket smelled like roses; Helios noticed this when his mother held him close. Artemis held his hand, weeping. Tiberius was also crying, silently, clutching his son's shoulder.
"You have a chance" Magdalene kept repeating, more to herself than to Helios "You've seen so many Hunger Games, you have a chance".
They stayed like that, until the soldiers in grey uniforms came to take away the boy's family.
"We love you" Tiberius said as they took him away. Artemis gave him "hi" with a trembling hand.
"Helios" said Magdalene "Please..." she was outside the door "Don't hate me!
Helios turned those words over in his head.
Don't hate me. Don't hate me. Don't hate me
Don't hate.