"Scared of the Dark"

A/N: We got a POV from Lana here as we go through the scores! I'm on winter break now for the next two months, so I'm hoping to speed through and finish the story within that time. Also I didn't edit this because I'm lazy so sorry if there's some grammar errors lmao.

~I'm not scared of the dark

I'm not running, running, running

No, I'm not afraid of the fall~

Lana Birkhead, 12, District Two

The District Two floor was bustling. Talon invited the rest of the alliance over after the private sessions to watch the nightly recap and the scores, and the room was loud for the first time since the girl had gotten to the Capitol. She had tried going down to the training center afterwards, but they barred her from entry. Closed for the rest of their time in the Capitol, the Peacekeepers had told her. She wasn't sure what to do with herself anymore, and so she wandered the District Two floor aimlessly.

Maya, Nikola, and Talon were seated on the sofa, chatting about something or another. She kept an ear on the conversation, just out of habit, but she could tell it wasn't anything important. It was just jokes and predictions, ways to pass the time before the scores were revealed. And they were loud.

The escorts and fill-in mentors were there too, everyone except for Audra, who according to Nikola had abandoned him in favor of his district partner. They were all discussing sponsorships, alliance technicalities, all intercut with bits and pieces of gossip and rumors. All except for the stand-in mentor for District Two, Dashiel Domacles. He was off to the side, flipping through a notebook and jotting down notes as he averted his eyes from anyone who looked his way.

The television flicked to life and the noise only got louder as the nightly recap started up, Coira Thompson and Fabius Flickerman starting off with their introductions. The popularity rankings were first, and Talon was still on top as before. She didn't pay attention to the rest of it. It didn't mean anything to her. She didn't fully understand it all, and that didn't matter. She knew what she had to do, and it was simple. At least, it would be once they were in the arena.

They began scrolling through predicted placements, and there was some sort of celebration related to it, but she turned her interest completely away as she focused on the stand-in mentor who was off by himself. He jolted at the explosion of celebration, and his hands shook as his eyes darted timidly around the room. He looked scared. She wasn't sure why.

He didn't notice her as she walked up beside him, looking up at the man with peculiar interest. His breath was ragged as he backed himself further against the wall, away from the rest of the room.

It was like looking into a reflection, and she couldn't look away from the man. She remembered being curled up in a ball in the corner of a dark room, bruises on her face, cuts on her arms, and holding a hand to her heart. And breathing in, and out. In. And out. Until eventually all the fear slipped away, and she would be ready to be calm again.

She reached out a hand, half out of instinct, and the man flinched in fear as he noticed her for the first time. She placed a hand on his heart, and said quietly, "breathe."

He looked down at her nervously, but then did as she said, taking in a shaky breath as he glanced around the room with timid eyes. She stepped away and motioned for him to put his hand at his heart. He did so, and opened his mouth as if to say something, but she had already turned away from him.

The noise had died down ever so slightly, but still she felt tremors in her hands that she fought to control. She thought about heading down the elevator to try and slip into the training center again, but was called over by Talon before she got the opportunity.

"They're showing the scores, might be worth checking out," he called out to her.

She nodded her head and walked over to the couch, intending to stand beside the group. Talon scooted over to make room, though, and motioned for her to take a seat at the end of the sofa. She sat down reluctantly, sure to keep as much distance between her and the rest of the group as she hugged the end of the couch.

"What do you guys think you got?" Maya asked excitedly. "I'm thinking a solid seven for me. And Nikola, well, can you get a negative number for your score?"

Nikola laughed dryly, flashing a smile that the girl immediately decided was as fake as everything else that came from the man. Maya seemed to not come to the same conclusion, and laughed along with him, while Talon just kept up a nonchalant smirk.

"If we can get sevens across the board and double digits for me, we should be considered the strongest alliance in the Games." He shrugged. "Wouldn't hurt to have sponsors and betters thinking of us as the top dogs."

She peered at Talon curiously. He had explained the scoring system to her during their weight in the lunchroom while District One was having their sessions. According to him, seven was either an outlier who was decently strong, or an incredibly weak Career. And now he was saying that she would get a seven?

"They usually drop people's scores lower than they belong if they're younger," Talon said, not even glancing at the girl as he seemed to read her thoughts. He looked over at her and gave her a reassuring smile. "Whatever score you get, you can add two to it and that's what you probably really earned."

She smiled at that, just a brief flash of one before she turned to the television and focused her attention on the voice of the commentators. She had all the alliances mapped out in her head, all the threats and tributes to watch out for. This was just more data, one more piece of the puzzle to help her piece together how she would win. Failure was never an option.

"First up, let's start things off with a bang with our second most popular tribute, the fearsome Troy Magnison of District One! Troy Magnison, with a score of. . . 11!"

She looked over to Talon, attempting to read his face for any sign of a reaction. He stayed completely unfazed though, seeming not surprised in the slightest at his main rival getting a score higher than the one he predicted himself to get. Maya was more vocal with her displeasure, letting out a loud groan.

"Great, now District One is going to steal all the hype, no matter what his district partner scores."

"Not necessarily," Talon said calmly. We all looked at him curiously, but he offered nothing more.

His district partner only scored an eight, but still the excitement was all on District One and their combined score of nineteen. She didn't worry about either of them, though. Troy Magnison was slow and dumb, and Vivian Ostera weak and hesitant.

"And now the man who has claimed the number one spot on the popularity rankings, Talon Olympus of District Two! Talon Olympus, with a score of. . . 11!"

A cheer of celebration rang through the room from tributes, escorts, and mentors alike, and Maya gave him an excited high-five as she pumped her fist in the air.

"Let's go, Two! Way to show up those D1 chumps."

Everyone was so busy celebrating, it seemed nobody else but her and Talon were even paying attention as Coira Thompson called out the next score.

"-and Lana Birkhead of District Two, with a score of. . . of 10? Lana Birkhead, with a score of 10!"

The room quieted for a moment as everyone's eyes fell on her. Then, Talon let out a cheer, and everyone else fell in after. A few escorts came up and gave her pats on the back, and one of them ruffled their hand through her hair and Talon had to hold her arm so she didn't break their fingers.

Maya and Nikola started chatting about how the alliance was going to be considered the most powerful by a long shot, while escorts and mentors talked about Hunger Games history and broken records. Ty Bale got a five and Julie Novum received a six, and Lana looked over at Talon, wanting to smile but keeping herself from doing so.

"I add two to my score still, right?" She asked.

Talon laughed at that, shaking his head. "You got jokes now, huh?" He nodded, giving her an approving look. "Good job, kid."

A smile quirked at her lips, and she bit it back, looking down to her lap and fiddling with her hands as she kept her ear on the television, not wanting to miss anything. Not that there was much to miss, both from District Four got eights, and Nikola got the seven he had predicted, which caused another round of cheers to echo through the apartment.

"You too," she finally said, turning back to him. "Good job."

He looked at her oddly, tilting his head. "I knew you were gonna hit double digits," he said casually, shrugging his shoulders. He turned back to the television. "I wasn't talking about your score."

Now it was her turn to tilt her head in confusion, but before she could begin to search for an explanation, the next score was announced.

"River of District Five, with a score of. . . 9!"

The apartment was quiet, aside from Talon letting out a low whistle as he turned to Nikola. "Maybe we chose the wrong tribute from Five," he said, and even though it sounded like a joke she knew that it wasn't one. The big careers from District One and Four never scared her. They were dumb, and slow, and they fought like they were hitting a dummy and not a person. But when she watched the girl from Five using a bow, a nervous bit of fear ran down her spine. She imagined herself on the other end of that arrow, and didn't notice as she subconsciously slid closer to Talon on the couch.

The two from District Six put up the lowest scores by far, both of them earning a two, which didn't surprise her at all. They never spent any time at stations, they would just run around and laugh and joke with the boy from Twelve.

District Seven did decently, enough to make the alliance they were a part of a bit more strong anyways. Vesa Carlisle matched Nikola with a seven, while Juniper Lourdes earned a five. Udon Chang and Inesa Hugo of District Eight continued the decent showing for their alliance with a six and another five.

"Oh yeah, I should mention," Nikola chirped up as Udon's score flashed across the screen. "That Udon kid came up to me earlier this morning, was asking me a lot of questions about the alliance. Seemed like he was feeling us out, might be interested in switching."

"From what I've seen of him, I'm sure he's already thinking of how he'll ask me," Talon hummed. "What do you all think? We let him in, or is five a crowd?"

"I think he's a jackass." Maya shrugged. "But fighting their alliance four on seven doesn't sound fun. I'd like my odds of not dying a lot more in a five on six. Plus, one of us probably dies in the bloodbath anyways," she said almost too pleasantly.

"All valid points," Talon said, seeming pleased. "What do you think?" He asked, turning towards her.

She shrugged, keeping her eyes on the television. It didn't matter to her either way. She didn't trust any of them, but it didn't make a difference if they were sleeping in the tent next to her or if they were somewhere else in the arena. The man had told her that. Keep your enemies close, he said. That, and sleep with one eye open. She had plenty of practice at that.

"You just better outscore your district partner, Nine," Nikola said half-jokingly. "Last thing we need is for them to steals the spotlight as the strongest alliance cause Mr. Immortal shows you up."

Maya snorted. "Yeah, trust me when I say I sincerely doubt that'll be a problem."

"Arnold "Arkus" Smitt of District Nine, with a score of. . . 1."

Maya burst into laughter, and Nikola chuckled in disbelief. "That's gotta hurt the ego."

"I wouldn't worry about that," she muttered.

Maya followed up with a six, one lower than she expected but still more than enough to completely outshine her district partner. All together, their alliance had a combined score of thirty-four, while the other alliance had a combined score of forty, only six higher even with an extra three members.

Talon vocalized the same thought, and briefly congratulated everyone on their impressive work. "Now, we just need to take it home at the interviews and we'll already be halfway to victory. We can meet up tomorrow to work together on what to do there and at the party."

While everyone agreed and worked out the exact details of that, the rest of the scores flashed across the screen, with not many surprises. Jamie Curie got a three, and Persephone Saskia got a four. Marquise Clifton surprised most of the room when he got a nine, but her and Talon both expected as much. She had watched the man fight and heard him talk to Talon. After River and Talon, he was the last person that she was worried about. He seemed kind, but she didn't trust it.

Ciera Ocussia received a six, and District Twelve lived up to expectations with Denver Lyon earning a four and Sparrow Kalani a three. They showed the scores one more time, and then the television flicked off, and everyone began to filter out of the apartment. Nikola gave a dry joke and promised he'd be back tomorrow an hour before they left for interviews. Maya left with a few high-fives as she predicted what kind of meltdown her district partner would be in the midst of back on their floor. Finally the escorts and mentors all filed out with them, until it was just Talon, her, and Dashiel, who was still standing in the corner of the room, hand on his heart as his breathing slowly began to steady.

Lana placed a hand on her own heart, mimicking the movement as she closed her eyes and held in a deep breath. She felt her hands continuing to shake and dug her nails into her palms, digging deeper until they were finally still, and she felt calm. When she opened her eyes, Talon was looking at her, something halfway between concern and confusion.

"Two more days," he said simply, voice betraying no hint of emotion.

"Two more days," she echoed.

A/N: And there we have the scores! Scores have been updated on the tribute page of my blog, and the fourth nightly recap is also up. I hope y'all enjoyed getting to see Lana again, next chapter we'll be with Ty and Ciera as we go through the interviews!

Trivia(1 point): Whose score was most surprising to you?