A/N: Here is the promised chapter, sorry it has been so long since I updated, please don't hate me.
Enjoy! Btw I have not proof read this chapter so sorry is there are any mistakes.
Chapter 4: Train Tracks
"...46, 47, 48, 49, 50. Ready or not here I come!" I hear Jakiry finish counting. We are playing hide and seek, my suggestion. Jakiry insisted on playing party games after the feast. I don't want to play. I just want to hide.
I want to stay here forever. Curled up in this cupboard, alone but safe. Safe from what I am to face, safe from the Hunger Games. Aiza 2 is allowed to be scared right? There is nothing in the rule book that says Aiza 2 has to be brave, there isn't even a rule book. I am still making the decisions, so what help is being a different Aiza? Oh, Everest I need you, I need you with me now. I'm scared.
I can see what Jakiry is trying to do. Get us to play games... he thinks it will help us to relax, stop us being so scarred. It is not working; if we can't win these party games how are we supposed to win the Hunger Games? Jakiry is actually a really nice guy, the thought is there - he is just too caught up in his capitol ways to understand.
But that peace keeper, what was he about?
What if the other tributes are like him? What if they're nice? Will I or Aiza 2 be able to kill them?
Again, in theory my plan works but in practice? I don't know. It's only twenty three, I only have to kill twenty three. That's twenty three too many but they will be the last to die. No more needless deaths after that.
Twenty three red marks on the canvas of my bigger picture.
My bigger picture is a democracy not a dictatorship. A world in which no one is left starving. A place where children can live in safety without the Hunger Games looming over them.
I go over my plan once more in my head. Five simple steps.
Become a victor of the Hunger Games.
Go home and act like a normal victor so as not to gain suspicion.
Take a holiday to the capitol like many victors do.
Go and visit President Snow.
Hypnotise...
"Found you!" Jakiry shouts as he swings open the cupboard door. I sigh and stiffly clamber out of my hiding spot. Joy, now I have to be seen... now I actually have to act alive.
I don't feel alive inside, I feel dead. In my mind I am at a dead end because I don't want to have to make decisions. And without making decisions I can't move forward.
People aren't just going to die straight away.
I can't walk into the arena, click my fingers and expect them to just drop like flies.
In my plan, in my head, that is what I did. However real life is so different to my plan it seems. Clicking my fingers won't work.
Using my eyes however will work. It is just timing. If I kill someone in front of all the other tributes they will know my secret. Then they will not look me in the eye... I would be defenceless. I would be dead meat, literally.
I ask Jakiry if I may be excused. He says yes and dip into my cabin. I lie down on the bed, not bothering to change my clothes and let the rumbling of the train lull me to sleep.
I am woken by someone blowing in my ear. I lash out with my hand and find my target. Whoever it is, is now on the floor by the sounds of it. I sit up and peer over the edge of the bed, which by the way is huge, at my victim. It's Zizal. Staring at him lying there, on the ground, I make a decision.
I grab the collar of his shirt and yank him to his feet. With my other hand I grab his jaw and turn his head towards mine. I can feel his breath, ragged on my face as I lock my eyes with his.
"At the beginning of the Hunger Games step off your podium before the gong sounds, ok?"
Zizal nods, I drop my head and release my grip. I couldn't kill the other tribute from my district on live TV; snap decisions seem to be working so far.
"God you're weird," Zizal frowns at me... I freeze, he can't remember being hypnotised, can he? "There's no need to choke somebody just because they wake you up!"
Phew, I think I'm safe, "Sorry, you just scared me."
Zizal nods, "Jakiry says it is time to get up. The replay of the reapings are about to start."
I get up and start pulling random clothes out of the wardrobe, "Great, time to size up our competition."
"Nah," I turn to face Zizal who has an accusing look on his face, "I'm just going to be keeping my eye on you!" With that he exits the room.
"Yeah, good luck with that." I mutter before pulling on a pair of skinny jeans and a polo top.
I reach the train's lounge just as district 1's reaping is starting. I sit down silently next to Jakiry and slip my hand into Jakiry's to try and keep calm. It is not working, his hand just isn't the same as Everest's.
As usual all the tributes for district's 1 and 2 are careers. None of them look too hard to beat, as in they all seem pretty thick, apart from maybe the girl from 2. Cee Fox I think her name was, she's one to watch. She has so many cuts on her body that she looks like a walking voodoo doll.
The tributes from 3, 4 and 5 are nothing interesting. Hopefully they will be prey of the bloodbath not me. The tributes from district 6 are complete opposites; the girl is only twelve, small and timid, with golden curls and soft brown eyes. Whereas the boy is eighteen and a right thug; he must be bigger than any of the careers, actually it wouldn't surprise me if he teamed up with the careers.
After district 6's reaping it's my turn. They start with screen shots of district 7, rolling hills and gentle rivers. I can feel Jakiry practically burst with pride when he is shown on screen, how can somebody be so proud of reading what is practically a death list? Zizal's name is called and he goes up to the stage, somehow on screen he looks braver than he did in real life. I watch as Jakiry flounces over to the girls bowl, time seems to slow as he reaches in his hand and picks out a slip of paper. I can't help but wonder, whose name is actually written there? Whose fate did I tempt? Whose world did I glue back together before they even knew it was broken?
As Jakiry says my name a new wave of pain shoots through me. A spider spins a fresh web of fear over my heart. I am going to compete in the Hunger Games; I am jumping off the cliff onto jagged rocks with only a slight chance that I will land in deep waters. It just doesn't seem real, not yet at least; however when I am running for my life I'm fairly sure it will.
The girl on the TV screen does not seem like me. I watch her freeze on the spot, her hand glued to the handsome boy next to her. As I let go of Everest's hand it is very clear how tightly he tries to hold on. Then I faint. In the scheme of things it is a very dramatic faint, just like one you would see in a play. I start to sway and then my legs give way and I fall in slow motion to the floor. Except I don't hit it. The kind peace keeper actually caught me bringing on a series of gasps from the audience.
I turn to my left and see everybody staring at me. I just shrug my shoulders and turn back to the screen.
The peace keeper is gently shaking me, trying to get me to wake up. I do. For the replay of the reaping the sound has obviously been amplified as you can clearly hear our convocation. When I start laughing I look so girly and really young. I feel so stupid watching myself act this way. One thing I am proud of is how chilling I sound when I say: "Well, you know that it's said there is a thin line between love and hate? Well I guess there is also a thin line between fear and humour." Hopefully I come off as confusing with all the mood swings I threw in during the reaping rather than just having a seriously messed up personality.
We sit through the next four reapings in silence. My only concern is the boy from nine who is very fast, when his name is called he runs up to the stage like a cheater. Also the girl from ten who has lost an eye; fingers crossed hypnotism still works with one eye because it doesn't look like she is going down without a fight.
Excitement levels go from nought to a hundred as district 12's reaping starts. There is just this buzz about Katniss and Peeta Mellark. The boy tribute for district 12 is fifteen and quite muscular. He is very pale and quite eerie, he already looks dead. The girl is thirteen and very bubbly, a people person from the looks of the crowd she was standing in the middle of.
The reapings finish just as we are pulling into the capitol station. Zizal and I sit in silence by the carriage door waiting for a short prep from our mentors who have yet to speak to us.
"Hey you two I'm Key and this is Thistle." Our male mentor introduces himself and Thistle.
"How are you holding up?" It is Thistle that speaks this time, her name doesn't suit her. She sounds sympathetic and kind not prickly and harsh.
"Ok, I guess." I mumble and Zizal coughs, "given the circumstances." I add quickly.
"Well your prep teams will be waiting so you better get going." I swear Key never puts any emotion into anything he says.
"Just do what they say and keep screams to a minimum."
With that Zizal and I are dismissed. We are herded to our dressing room by peace keepers like cattle by a farmer.
My prep team look like they have stepped out of a circus, honestly they look like clowns.
They are evil clowns.
No joke I think they are trying to torture me. I heard that waxing hurt but OUCH!
After hours of creams, bubbles and files they announce that I am decent. I grab my robe as quickly as I can and cover myself up. I do not enjoy being naked in public, and yes three people does count as public. I stand in the middle of the room because at the moment my legs feel too fragile to sit on.
The handle of the door twists and district 12's stylist walks in.
"What..." I start but he holds up his hand to stop me. He walks round me in a circle before clapping he hands together and jumping up and down on the spot.
He stops and mutters seemingly to himself, "Bro, you're going down this year."
"Excuse me?"
He looks up appearing to be astonished that I speak, "Oh, um, yes... hi I'm Pinna and I shall be you're stylist this year."
"I thought you're name was Cinna?"
"Oh, right, no that's my brother." He points to himself, "Twin."
I nod, that explains a lot, hopefully he will be as inventive as his brother, "First year?"
"Yeah, don't worry though you will look phenomenal!"
"I'm not worrying."
Pinna smiles and pulls me into a hug. One I welcome with gratitude.
A/N: Oh yeah, Cinna has a twin! I love Cinna so why not double him? I shall now be away for three weeks! So no updates for ages, SORRY! The story will return so please don't abandon it. I have noticed that more people are reading this than the number of reviews I am receiving. Oh well, I write anyway but it is nice to get some reviews. Thanks for reading, have a great summer (guess what, it's raining outside typical England).
Oh btw check out my friend's story it is called 'Breeze In The Wind'. (There you go Catherine I promised I would advertise your story)
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