Disclaimer: I own nothing related to The Hunger Games!
This chapter is a little shorter, but I've already written more! I'm just trying to break it up into plausible chapters and keep ahead of myself a bit. Enjoy!
Chapter Two
"Adeline Meer!"
Suddenly blood is rushing in my ears and I'm reminded of the moment just yesterday when the gaping mouth of the shark was bearing down on me. A cry from far off breaks through the silence, and it is my mother's outburst that brings me back to life. As I try to school my features while I walk up to the dais and take Rufus' offered hand, there is a broken sort of unenthused clap from the spectators and the kids below me. When it is time to call for District Four's boy Tribute, I don't recognize the name for which I am grateful. But when the twelve year old Kellen Hershel separates himself from the crowd I let out a groan. His curly blonde locks are tucked behind his ears and his bright blue eyes are swelling with tears. But it's his pinchable cheeks and visibly scraped knees that almost send me over the edge because he resembles Marcus on the day we watched him walk up to this same dais. I'm biting my lip so hard I taste blood, because to cry would appear weak.
Rufus calls for us to shake hands and then we are escorted to separate rooms in the Justice Building. I almost don't recognize the Peacekeeper beside me; almost don't register the hand on the small of my back until he is closing the door between us, gold-flecked eyes creased in pain. The door shuts and I'm left alone.
It happened so fast outside that my mind is only just starting to catch up with me. I slowly look around and realize that I have been in this room before, the day Marcus was shipped off to the Capitol. My breathing becomes shallow and the floor swings up to meet me as my legs give out. It's the sound of people approaching the room that makes me stand and sit myself down do that I won't feint in front of my parents. And then there they are, my mother is sitting beside me on the sofa and my father is kneeling in front of me. They are both pale beneath their sun tanned skin. My family has been through a lot over the years, and it is our life experiences that trigger each of our reactions once we are in this room together. My mother is smouldering in silent anger, squeezing my hand as much to reassure me as to hold me in the spot where her only other child was once taken away from her. My father is silent as well. He kisses my bare knee and then pulls my face toward him to kiss my forehead as well. We stay in this interlocked silent panic until I pull away from them and give a shaky smile. Standing, I hook a strand of sun bleached hair behind my ear and bubble with reassuring laughter.
"Think of the private beach we'll get when I come home!"
The door opens and our time is up. We hug once more and kiss each others cheeks. By the time I am alone again, I can no longer hold back tears.
I collapse back onto the sofa and shake with the effort of crying. I don't even notice when the door opens again and Aster is kneeling where my father had been just moments before. I just look into those eyes and realize that he is crying too. Suddenly our lips gently press together and his hands grasp my shoulders and stroke my hair. We hold onto each other desperately, and all I can think of is that brief moment under the sea's waves. Every touch, every glance; had there really been so many? I had subconsciously kept track all these weeks. And the confusion that accompanied them…It is still sitting in my chest but I know there has to be more to it.
Rufus can be heard down the hall and we reluctantly detach ourselves.
"I have to take you to the train," he tells me.
I just nod. What else am I supposed to do? The next time I come home it will be in a box, so this kiss and his sentiments will soon be nothing but a fond memory that might keep me sane until I step out into the arena.
"Do you trust me?"
Why does it matter? But he's looking at me so earnestly.
"Yes." It's strange but the second I say it I know I'm being honest.
He just nods and pulls me to my feet. In a second we are standing with Rufus, Kellen, and the Peacekeeper that had been guarding the boy's door. Together we walk out the back entrance and we Tributes and our escort are loaded into a car. I've never been in one, and the bumping makes me nauseous in a way that powering along in a boat never has. From the windows I can see Aster and his partner flanking us on motorized bikes. Beside me, Kellen looks impossibly young. He isn't crying anymore but is clearly in shock. Rufus won't shut up, and is actually asking us if either of us knows Finnick Odair personally. Kellen gives a curt shake of his head and I ignore the question outright. My mind is on Aster and our kiss.
When we pull up to the station I'm not prepared for the cameras and the shouting. Aster is at my door and is pulling me out, and suddenly a gun goes off and the crowd is going nuts. I've dropped to the ground but he is pulling me up and pushing me toward the train. Trust me, he had said and so I cling to his hand wondering why we aren't loading into the silver train car. Instead we have broken into a run and he turns suddenly and lifts me up under my arms. He's pushed me through the gap of two of the train cars and it suddenly clicks that he is trying to help me escape the Games. I don't have time to even process this though because the white uniformed arm of another Peacekeeper reaches through the gap and pulls Aster back into the crowd. I turn in time to see him face his attacker as the butt of the other man's gun lands heavily against Aster's face. I scream his name and now I'm being pulled back too and shoved into a large man's arms. As I am loaded onto the train behind Kellen and Rufus, I turn and see three more Peacekeepers swarming and beating down viciously with the ends of their weapons as well.
I scream until the doors close and the speed of the massive locomotive takes us from the station.
Aaand press that little REVIEW button my lovelies! I realize that escape attempt was a little rushed but I was having such a hard time getting it down that I finally just gave up and came to accept it would be disappointing hahaha!