Chapter 2: Taking Shape
My mind goes blank at the very mention of that name. I start to sweat and shake slightly. No, I think repeatedly, this cannot be happening. My whole body starts to break down as I see him moving forward in the crowd, with that little flap of fabric hanging out from the back- like a little duckling. Before I know it I am moving forward in the crowd, yelling words I can't even make out.
"I volunteer!" I cry, someone is behind me, pulling at my shirt- it makes little does little effect to me," I volunteer as tribute!" The words come out of my mouth before I can distinguish what I have just said and committed myself to.
The people around me separate, so that I stand alone in front of the stage, I have pushed Feli behind me. I will not let them take him. I hear his screams that reach out towards me.
"Oh," Effie is startled by my outrageous leap, but I can tell she can't wait for all of the attention on our district, 'We usually wait until the tribute has been properly selected, but oh well. Make your way up here..."
"Lovino Vargas" I say. I take a quick look around me and spot Gilbert holding back Feli. Our eyes meet and I shake my head at him. He wants to volunteer for the second tribute and I will not allow that, one of us must live and protect the others.
I make my way up onto the stage and Effie greats me and brings' me to the side of her so that I face everyone, I cannot bare to look at them and when I do finally look out my vision is blurry. "We have our first tribute now so let's pick a second!" she calls out reaching back into the glass ball.
I am still full of thoughts and so out of it when she chooses the person who I will have to compete with in the games. "And our second tribute is... Antonio Fernandez Carriedo"
No. Not him. That very name rings bells in my head, and alarm bells at that. My eyes focus on the boy who makes his way to the stage and it is certain, I know this person. He is a year older than me, making him seventeen. His parents own the bakery, I see him when I barter with his father. But there is something else about him which makes him so formidable, but before I get a chance to consider this Effie is raising our hands in the air and we are being dragged backwards behind the platform. The reaping ends just like that.
We are moved into separate rooms and I can no longer see Antonio. I quickly scan the room- it is better looking than anything I have ever seen before. Everything seems to be covered in red velvet and my mind can't even contemplate how much just decorating it could have cost.
My feet force me to sit down on the red sofa that is at the back of the room and I soon recognise what happens here. It is the place you say your last goodbye which is something I can't face right now but I have to. I must force myself not to cry, the cameras are watching me now, and I must make an impression.
My first visitor is Gilbert and I force myself to stand up just as he wraps his arms around me. It's silent for a while before he says," You'll have to come back you know,"
I don't think he understands," there are twenty four of us Gilbert, only one comes back" I remind him.
"Then you'll just have to be that one," he says. I know he's right; I have to make it back for Feli, for Gilbert, for the whole of District twelve.
Suddenly I am reminded of our conversation of last weekend.
"We could make it you know," he told me, suggesting towards the wilderness.
"I don't think we could even make it more than five miles," was my response. How could we ever take off with us, my brother and Gilbert's family? It would be impossible for us to care for everyone without having the essentials, how we would know what we would find. Death?
But now looking back I wish we had gone, then I never would have had to step forward today, there would be no-one to stand forward. Neither I nor Feli would have had to die. But this is happening now and it is something I have to do.
"Look after Feli and yourself," I reply, gripping his shirt," make sure you all get fed and Feli does his school work and..." but I can't think of anything else to say. He finally releases his grip on me, even though I dig my nails into his back and I'm left to watch him leave.
Next comes in Feli, he's already crying his eyes out and all I can do is comfort him. Behind him is Bella, who must have accompanied him in. She was the one who must have been pulling at my shirt.
"It'll be alright," I say into Feli's hair as I hold him. I try hard to hide my tears, I know realise I must make it back. For a long time we just stay like this in silence before a man comes in and says five minutes before I must leave.
He gets of me which allows for Bella to come forward. She takes my hand and places something into it. I take a look at it to see a small golden pin. There is a ring making up the base then a bird of sort flying in the centre, I recognise it as a mockingjay.
The mockingjays' were offspring's of the jabberjays and the mockingbirds. The jabberjays were mutations created by the capitol to retrieve information, and report it back to aid in the war, like the mockingbirds which could recognise a song and repeat it back. All of the jabberjays were killed, as they were used by the rebels in retaliation to send false messages, but not before these birds could mate with the mockingbirds, creating a whole new breed.
"Please have it," she says, "it will remind you of home," It will, in the forest there are millions of the things, me and my mother would sing to them, but only when my mother sing did they all drop silent in appreciation before repeating back.
"Thank you," I say, we were never extremely close but her token is one that shall not be forgotten. I pin it onto my shirt before saying a final goodbye and hugging one more time before being removed from this room and moved quickly onto a train.
The train moves extremely fast, I've never experienced anything like this and I feel almost sick as I stare out of the window watching district twelve disappear from my sight.
Effie shows us to our compartments inside the train, mine is at the very back. It's a larger room than the one me and my brother even shared at home. Again everything is draped in red and I can't believe my eyes. "Dinner is at six so be ready," she says to me before leaving off down the carriage to probably apply another layer of white blush.
After exploring the room I find out many things which simply amaze me. In the bathroom I take a shower using the many gadgets available to me. The water is boiling hot which calms me immediately, I enjoy the burning sensation that I get down my back. There are at least twenty buttons which do all different things, like one which squirts water in different directions and another which sprays some sort of gel on your hair. Either way I spend at least half an hour in there.
In the middle of the room is a giant bed, something from a fairytale and when I got lie on the mattress I swear I get dragged down into it because it's so soft and light.
Next I try to sample the food services. With a push of the button any food that you want appears on a little tray. Even though dinner shall be served in an hour I eat more than I have probably in my lifetime. I start with some chips- which are fried potatoes, something I have never experienced. Then I move on to some chicken which is covered in a sauce that tastes like orange and something else sweet. If Gilbert could try this he would just as amazed as I am.
Bitterly I think they must be fattening us up before slaughter and decide to stop eating. I put on a clean pair of clothes from the closet, a pair of black jeans and white shirt does me nicely. I remember the pin that Bella gave me and take it off my worn out district clothes and pin it on my new shirt.
After a moment of lying on the bed and thinking things through I feel a lot calmer. Considering my experience in the wild as a child I'm suddenly a lot better than the others. Some people won't even have experience with a knife when it comes to the training which puts me at an upper hand. I can't help that districts 1, 2 and 4 will already be on me though. These are considered as the 'careers', due to their before training. It's supposedly against the rules to do this but somehow it gets through the net.
Three chirpy knocks on the door alert me for dinner and I make my way to the door. As suspected she has been coating herself in white powder. Taking my hand she drags me off down the corridor and into a new room with a large table in the centre. Antonio and Abel are already sitting there chatting lightly.
It takes me a while to decide which seat to sit in, I don't want to be too close to Effie in case she kills me or something, I don't want to choke on whatever is being puffed out of that pipe and I don't think I can face the other. In the end I sit next to Antonio, so I am not physically looking at him but instead at Effie's face. That may have been a mistake.
We are then served by people dressed in red jumpsuits of sorts that cover the whole of their bodies. For a started we have some soup which takes like fruits of all sorts, I desperately want to drink it but I can only imagine Effie's face as I pick up the bowl and tilt it towards my mouth, instead I am forced to take spoonfuls of it at a time.
Next we have a main of some game which I don't recognise but tastes lovely which some wild vegetables, before moving on to the dessert which is a white substance dribbled with pink sauce. I recognise the flavour of vanilla mixed in with something else, fresh which satisfies me greatly.
"I'm glad you two eat so well using knives and forks, the year before we had a pair who picked everything up with their hands!" Effie mentions. This sickens me, the poor people probably hadn't seen so much food in their lives so I make careful detail to eat the bread and cheese that comes next with my hands, even snapping of pieces with my bare fingers which makes her scowl.
We then move onto the sofas to watch the recap of the reapings'. I decide to sit next to Abel, which was a better decision as he doesn't talk a lot. As usual through districts 1, 2, and 4 have men who are all about five times larger than me, and the females that are chosen look ready to kill anybody. The rest are all pretty normal, the usual selection of the thinner and weaker to the larger and stronger. When it comes to district eleven a small girl, who must be able thirteen is chosen. She looks about the same size as Feli, with his same clear eyes, yet no-one steps forward to save her.
I am disgraced by this. That not even a single soul thought her life was worth saving over their own- I immediately dislike them all.
And finally we come to our district, I watch myself put myself forward which makes me cringe at how reckless I appear, but then again the people in the capitol lap that stuff up. After Effie holds up our hands the screening is cut off and the emblem of the capitol appears before the screen goes blank.
Effie lets out a little squeal of approval, muttering things like 'this could be my year' and 'finally I can get out of this district', which made me angry, an emotion that came to me easily. It annoyed me how she had no care for our safety, just her own success.
We were then allowed to go and do what we wished until we got to the Capitol. I decided to head back to my room, but on the way I spot a little handle which must meaning there is something though it and I can't help but reach forward and open it. A gush of wind hits me in the face as I stare out watching the track being passed over by the train and disappearing.
I stepped onto the small platform and lean against the railing watching the landscapes being sucked away as soon as I able to take them in. It's fairly dark right now which means I won't most likely be seen.
In comparison to the hot water of the shower, the cooling breeze is perfect, I like the shock of it hitting me, and the feeling it has of pulling my hair back. The clunking sound of the train blocks out the sound of someone opening the door and standing beside me.
I turn my head to see the person who has joined me. "Hello," he greets me. His green eyes stand out in the darkness like little gems. He looks a little more like me than I thought; tanned skin isn't a great occurrence in the district and neither are such bright eyes. Mine are a much more of a hazel colour but a little close to his. The brown locks of his hair were tossed in different directions but it looked organised. The difference between me and him was you could tell he was fed well with money, not work.
"Hey," I respond. He looks much older than the last time I properly saw him.
It was a harsh winter after our parents had died. The animals had all returned to hibernate and it was impossible to get a good shot so I resorted to searching the back of the shops. I didn't want to but a little bit of food was all we needed. I had looked at the backs and was unsuccessful.
In the boxes outside of the bakery though I found luck, a piece of bread that looked like it could feed us. Before I could reach it though a lady shouted at me, forcing me to leave. I didn't register what she said but her words were harsh and painful. Behind her I saw a boy with green eyes, about the same age as me; he stared from behind his mother's body.
With reluctance I slumped by the side of a tree, I needed to bring back something, I couldn't face Feli empty handed, but that was looking more like what I had to do. I picked at the flowers that were sprouting around the tree and fiddled them in my hands, creating a small chain of them, which was really just buying time. I heard great shouting from inside the bakery which caught my attention; it was that women again- she seemed like such an awful person.
Unexpectedly the boy I had seen before approached me holding that piece of bread in his hand, he held it out to me and I took it. I thanked him and he smiled back at me before returning inside the house. The last image I saw of him was his mother pulling him inside, she probably hit him.
This small act of kindness made an impression on me, but I was never able to return the kind favour that he did for me. When I see him around school I also try and muster up the courage to speak with him but nothing comes out, and thus we have carried on as such.
Even looking at him now it makes me think I should being doing something to repay him, but I simply can't find any answers-especially since I may have to kill him in about a weeks' time. If I want to make it back alive I must think of him as an enemy, not my companion.
We stood there in silence before a knock was heard on the door, Effie, she was calling us inside, and the Capitol was approaching.
Ten minutes later we were leaving the train and stepping off onto the plat form where many cameras's and lights awaited us, but before they could take any pictures we were already getting into a black car which would take us to the training centre and in no time at all we were in our quarters for the next week or so.
We got into the small box which had many buttons on the side wall; I was told it was an elevator. Abel pushed button twelve and the box lurched slightly before I felt myself lifted upwards until the doors slid open revealing the district twelve area.
"Okay, schedules for tomorrow!" Effie smiled turning around to us, "The stylists will come in the morning preparing you for the entrance ceremony in the evening. So get your sleep"
I wished good night to everyone before going to my room, ever so similar to the one on the train but larger, and laid on the bed, falling into a restless sleep, imagining what the stylists would to do me tomorrow.
Sorry for the long update but I had lot's to do! I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and look forward to the next.