Disclaimer: I only own my OC and all other Hunger Games stuff belongs to Suzanne Collins. I'm NOT making money off it.
Chapter Nine: A Kind Gesture
The courtyard was just far enough away to be considered not a part of the complex, but just close enough to still be seen. I wondered why it was to choose such a place in the open, but I figured that not many people questioned the Gamemakers. Sighing, I went over to collapse on the oversized furniture, staring out the window and wondering just what it was all of those men were discussing.
Disgusting really that they made a living on planning the deaths of twenty-four children every year.
Nevertheless, the more I sat and waited, the more I wished to know just what it was that they were speaking of. From a realistic point of view, I knew I would have to do some major searching in order to find just where I could sneak through to get there. From an earlier examination of the doors, I had figured that they had timers on them (the hinge is lined with tiny red lights, lasers, if you will) and would surely set off an alarm should I attempt to go out that way.
Knowing the Capitol, they certainly would not make it a breeze for anyone to be able to leave their complex at any given hour of the day, but I could safely assume that both Enobaria and Brutus must have had some way to leave the apartment suite, should they desire. In addition to that, they presumably had a key that would shut off the lasers to the door to allow them to pass through, but when I weighed the options: sneak around to find an alternative exit or sneak into a certified killer's room to find a key…the decision seemed rather obvious.
Tentatively as before, I stood up and moved over toward the main door, hearing the slight buzz of the detectors, seemingly waiting for the door to open so that they might explode with the high pitched alarm. I carefully moved away from this door and proceeded to feel along the wall for any knobs or handles. After touching nearly every angle of the wall and bookshelf next to the door, I furthered my search to the opposite wall.
I searched all over, actually. Everywhere from the main entry to the living room to the hallway that contained all of our bedrooms. The elevator had been locked for the evening, fair enough and just when I was about to go wrestle with sleep once more I decided that the dining room table would be my last place to visit. I hadn't expected there to be anything there, in all honesty. I found that should any sort of way out be near the kitchen, then it would be impractical for the individual wishing to leave the room. Also, I deduced that if a person truly wished to leave the room, they would wish to do so as quietly as they could.
Low and behold, as I was crawling around underneath the table, I looked up to see the centerpiece-the lovely centerpiece with flowers and fruits and such-glowing a dull green color with a black button attached to it. A smile came to my lips as I crawled out from under the table before carefully sliding the centerpiece away. This tiny piece of equipment would have been something very easy to overlook had one been sitting at the table, as all of us had. It was rather clever; placing something so valuable in a place so obvious, yet so strategically hidden. I couldn't help but feel my heart begin to race as I cupped my hands, holding the button in the middle as it flashed dully in my face.
Part of me was saying that I should go back to sleep while the rest of me desired to know what was going on with those Gamemakers so badly. And for that brief second, I hardly cared what the consequences were, but simply pressed the button. To my relief, no noise was made nor were any sounds that could awake even the lightest of sleepers. Upon my hitting the button, I watched as the fireplace on the wall began to glow like embers in the fire before the frame itself jutted upward, transforming into some sort of doorway. I smirked, looking down at the button, finding it to be rather handy.
I kept it in my hand as I stepped toward the doorway, wondering if I really was making the right decision in doing this or if it was truly foolish. My brain was telling me that I needed to turn around, but something was tugging at me and urging me forward. Perhaps, it was stupidity or perhaps it was simply sleep deprivation, but either way before I could protest, my bare feet were trotting into the dark hallway behind the fireplace.
By dark, I truly mean that there was absolutely no way that anything could have been seen except for the moonlight creeping in from the room behind me. Several seconds passed before I looked to my right to see a tiny monitor with a countdown on it: 29:20. I had roughly half an hour to do my exploring before I needed to get back to this door. How clever of them to install a timer. I also noticed that a small, pen-like object was sitting atop of the monitor. Slowly, I grabbed it and clicked the back, a small, steady beam of light appeared, just enough for me to see my way.
I don't think my heart ever truly stopped beating hard, but the adrenaline rush was rather…fun and exciting. Eventually, as I was pushing through the dark air, I came upon a glass door which looked out into the back hallway of the somewhere in the complex, presumably on the first floor. I noticed the hallway's lights to be dimmed down low, the only thing illuminating this hallway were blue lights on the ground, lining the entire length of the hallway from what I could deduct.
Immediately, I heard a door open and felt the color draining from my face. I immediately clicked the pen, erasing the beam of light as I stepped back into the darkness of protection deeper in the hallway. Just deep enough to where the shadows acted as disguise. Watching closely and waiting for these voices to come closer, I saw a group of men come stumbling down the hallway, clearly intoxicated already.
Muffled voices prevented me from hearing any of their conversation, but I noticed several younger gentlemen tagging along the back, chatting socially, but not as loudly as the others were. Though I knew they couldn't hear me, I nearly held my breath the whole time as they passed, praying that no one would decide to come through the glass door. It seemed to take ages for the group to pass by and I only managed to get a good glimpse at one of them, who couldn't have been much older than myself. For some reason, the sight of this disturbed me more than most things I had seen in the Capitol. Typically, when I saw Gamemakers, it would be on TV being interviewed by the infamous Caesar Flickerman, but they never seemed to be younger than their middle ages.
He probably always wanted to be a Gamemaker and this year was finally his chance. This was his year to put all the tricks together and kill teenagers in a more creative way. His parents must be so proud….which in reality they probably were. I didn't even know this young man and I already, I found that I couldn't respect him for much more than the fact that he didn't appear to be completely drunk.
As soon as they passed by, I allowed myself to take a deep breath in before approaching the door again, examining the hallway before placing my hand on the door handle, swallowing hard. The Gamemakers had already exited through the far end of the hallway and I pulled open my own handle, realizing that I probably didn't have much time left to see what I wanted to see.
If I was going to do anything, then it was now or never.
Quickly, I pulled open the door, keeping it propped open with my hand as I made mental note of where it was as soon as I came back. Looking around the hallway more closely, I noticed a line of glass doors, presumably one for every district's mentors. Once again, I mentally commended the designer before cautiously shutting the door once before tugging at it once again to be sure it would, in deed open. After assuring that it would, I moved quickly down the hallway toward the same door that the Gamemakers had exited out of.
I remembered that the trek through the passageway had been rather lengthy, but it gave me no indication as to where in the complex I was. Traveling to the end of the hallway, I came to another glass door, where they had left. Immediately, I realized that this was the courtyard just a ways away from my own room, where I had watched their little party take place. At the opposite end of the hallway, where they had traveled from appeared to be another room, perhaps where additional beverages were being served.
Looking forward, I saw out into the elaborate courtyard. Around this magnificent fountain in the middle, stood many tables, all of different bright colors with many Gamemakers, relishing in their gathering. I noticed most of them to be distracted and a rather large hedge of shrubbery between where I stood and the party. Swiftly, I pulled the door open and immediately ducked down behind the thickness of the bushes, placing the button I had brought from the room on the neatly polished ground as I crouched down, strategically looking through the branches for the men speaking at the table closest to me.
"Ah, what a day! What a day!" One of the older men reveled, taking another swig of his bright yellow drink. "The tribute parade."
"Ah, there aren't many days like it," Another one joined in, leaning back in his chair.
"Any favorites so far?" A different one posed, placing his hand on his chin.
A slight chatter went through the lot of them, as they threw about many names and other side comments. Finally, one of them said loud and clear," I think dear Brutus' legacy will be lived through his son."
The mention of Flux nearly made me sick right there. They all seemed to agree and talk about just how wonderful they expected him to be and how hardly anyone seemed to compare to this completely amazing tribute. Finally, some of the other gentlemen put in their opinion, changing the subject from Flux.
An elderly fellow shook his head reverently," My guess is that it'll be the Fours. They're strong, they're fit, and not to mention they're attractive. The sponsors like that, they like it a lot."
The others laughed, probably at the sound of it coming from this old man's lips and partially because of the amount of alcohol in their bloodstreams. I noticed one of the men sitting at the table was one of the younger ones, in fact, it was the one whom I had seen before. The sight of him made me a little more angry, but nevertheless, I listened to what he had to add.
"You don't think anything of the girl from Two?" He asked casually, leaning forward to grab some sort of food from the middle of the table.
This seemed to silence the table of them as them seemed to be contemplating the idea. Strange for me to referenced as a number and not by a name, but it would have been expecting more than a lot for them to actually know our names. After the silence had ceased, one of the Gamemakers burst into laughter.
"She may as well be from the outer districts, boy," The man laughed as some others joined in on the chuckling. "Someone's got to die first, right? Good guess for a beginner though, kid."
I took a deep breath in, seeing that several of the gentlemen were not laughing some of them not just "beginners", the young man who mentioned it being one of them. The ones who were laughing stopped awkwardly, seeing that not all of them were joining in on the grand time.
"You…you all think she's got a chance?" The man asked, still chuckling slightly.
One man loosened his coat jacket," I'll wait until I see her in action. The only knowledge we have is what we've heard from their districts, respectively."
"The districts have a history of being accurate," Another young man added.
"Zenobia didn't have the worst to say of the girl," The young man who originally had mentioned me said, trying to look on the bright side.
I wondered how it was that they had been able to speak to Zenobia…actually I shouldn't have been very surprised by this outward proclamation.
"But she had better to say of the boy," The elderly gentleman who had laughed said seriously, finishing his beverage in one sip. "I stand by what I said before."
"And I beg to differ," The original young man who mentioned me said, biting in to some sort of strange food that I couldn't seem to identify.
A round of laughter went through the table as one of the more experienced men pat him on his shoulder, much like a father would his son. As they laughed and joked about the "inexperience" in the crowd, one of them said to the boy," You'll learn one day how to pick them from the day you lay eyes on them."
From the day you lay eyes on them?
I found this as my cue to sneak back to the room, knowing that my time was limited. Crawling quickly and stealthily, when I knew they were all too deep in conversation,
I slid through the door and as I reached the other side, I released a deep breath. That most certainly wasn't the most uplifting conversation I had ever eavesdropped on. From the sounds of it, Flux was their projected winner, which made me wonder: was there even any hope for the rest of us? Didn't the Gamemakers choose the winner anyways?
I tried to push the thought from my head and rush back to the door that I knew was ours. All I needed to do was make the time limit and I knew that I would be alright. I could make it back and no one would have to know that I heard a thing. The hallway seemed to stretch longer than before and by the time I reached the door, I felt as though I had been traveling forever.
Instantly, I shoved my hand to the door and pulled hard.
The door stayed put.
I pretended like I had just imagined the first time and tried once more, waiting until I began to worry.
Time and time again, I pulled throwing all of my weight against the door to get it to open and it wasn't until a handful of times later that I realized the severity of the situation.
I was locked outside of my room with a bunch of Gamemakers just down the hallway.
This was not good.
This was absolutely terrible.
And immediately, my head was filled with regrets. Why had I been so stupid? Why had I even left the room in the first place? Why didn't I just go to bed and fight sleep and not try to outsmart them? I should have known that I couldn't get anywhere. And then, I realized that I was dead before the Games even started. They would kill me, easy.
Nevertheless, I tried time and time again, desperately.
It was then that I heard a voice from behind me," It's useless. Your time ran out about five minutes ago."
Almost immediately, I shot my head around to see where the voice came from.
The young Gamemaker. The only one who seemed to have a faith in me.
For a moment, I was glad to see him there instead of the elderly gentleman who had mocked me. Then, I scolded myself for ever looking at him in a positive light, he was a Gamemaker and just because he may have had been rooting for me didn't necessarily mean that he was willing to show me grace now. He was a part of the Capitol just like anyone else and if anyone could get me in trouble, then he most certainly could.
I said nothing, but simply looked at him, observing him closer than I had before. He really couldn't have been much older than me; I could confirm that with a closer look at his face. His hair was black and slick, almost looking as though it were plastered to his head. His face clean-shaven for the most part, but I noticed something else about him that stood out more than his outrageous clothing: his bright blue eyes. Then, in his hand I noticed something that nearly made me swear aloud.
The button from the room, sitting in the palm of his hand.
For the first time, I tried to speak," How did you-"
"You forgot it," He said simply, looking down at the contraption in his hands. "Though, I must say, your performance up until this point…has been impeccable."
I narrowed my eyes at him," You knew I was there?"
He smirked at this," I noticed something in the shrubbery, but I didn't know it was you until I turned the corner."
I bit my lip at this, finding it sick that he found this to be some sort of joke. It was a lot more than that for me; I had just screwed up big time.
"And how did you know my time ran out?" I asked, figuring that if he were going to get rid of me then I may as well know the details.
He raised a brow before looking down at the button in his hand, turning it over, revealing a small clock to me," A personal timer, meant for the mentors to keep track of how much time they had left. Currently, you are seven minutes late."
It bothered me so much how lightly he was taking this!
Again, it was a clever idea…
A silence hung in the air for several minutes, as we stood looking at one another. It didn't take long for me to be sick of the tension and to finally ask," So, you found me. I'm caught. I'd prefer we get the punishment over with quickly."
He appeared to be greatly humored by this as he stepped closer to me, I took a step back. He laughed aloud before muttering to me," I'm not going to punish you, Two."
I looked at him as though there were something wrong with him. He came closer and I stepped back, realizing that he was examining the edge of the door, as if looking for something. All of attention was immediately upon the door. After patting along the wall panel several times, he finally found what he was looking for and a key pad popped out from behind the wall panel.
"Why not?" I asked him harshly. "I broke the rules. The Capitol doesn't-"
He cut me off smoothly, just as he pinned in a code and he put his hand on the door, pulling it open for me," Why don't you consider it my gift to you?"
"You're a Gamemaker. You're not supposed to-" I tried again, still confused by the whole situation and wondering why it was happening.
He leaned closer to me before sternly whispering," Listen, I know what I am and am not supposed to do and I know this is not one of them, but why don't you just accept the gift and…thank me later."
I furrowed my brow at him as he handed the button back to me," Why are you doing this?"
He looked over his shoulder nervously, as if he knew his comrades would be expecting him back soon," I'd say it be a waste if they got rid of you for something trivial as this for one and for two….let's just say…I like an underdog."
I scrutinized his face, still not entirely trusting him, but he was standing there, holding the door to my escape open for me. Not wanting to argue it much more, I tentatively stepped inside to the dark passageway once again, but not before looking back at him.
"Thank you…" I trailed off, realizing I hadn't a clue what to call him.
He smiled before saying," Seneca. Seneca Crane."
"Thank you, Seneca Crane," I said genuinely before nodding cordially to him and starting to take a step into the darkness.
"You're welcome, Savera Stone," He answered good-naturedly. "Oh, and by the way…"
I stopped briefly, but not turning around to make eye contact with him, simply listening," May the odds be ever in your favor."
And as I turned away, thanking him for his gesture once more, I couldn't help but feel more baffled than I ever had been before by any of the Capitol's notions.
A/N: So, what do you guys think? Let me know! Was the young Seneca Crane believable or not?
