Twice Isn't Fair Chapter 3 [Completed]
I feel sympathetic pats on my shoulders and arms from the girls around me as I begin to walk up to the stage. Each step I take, my legs feel like jelly and I'm scared my legs are going to give in. Somehow, I manage to make it to the stage, and when Brisaida asks if there are any volunteers, the crowd remains silent, their sorry faces looking up at me. Of course they won't volunteer, being entered in The Hunger Games is pretty much a death sentence.
"Okay then, congratulations, Taryn Jamison!" I try my hardest not to glare at her, although my heart is still pounding and I'm trembling. I'm still trying to calm myself when she reads the name of the boy tribute.
"Ruben Nickleson"
A boy of about 16 emerges from the crowd, his face a mixture of shock and fear. He arrives at the stage, and again, there are no volunteers.
"Ladies and gentlemen, Tayrn Jamison and Ruben Nickleson, the tributes of District 5!" Brisaida trills. "Go on then, shake hands!" I reach my arm over and grasp his shaking, sweaty hand, looking into his terrified eyes. I give him a tiny nod that says 'I know how you feel.' then drop my hand. The Treaty of Treason is read and we are taken into the Justice Building and are given an hour to say our goodbyes.
I am put room with a thick carpet and a plush sofa. It is even more luxurious than everything in my house. If this is the Justice Building, what will the Capitol be like?
My thoughts are interrupted when my mother bursts through the door, tears steaming down her face, followed by my father. I bolt up from the sofa and run into their arms. I hug them tight as I cry, never wanting to let them go. My father then put his hands on to my shoulders and looks straight into my tearful eyes.
"You can do this, Taryn, look at all that preparation you have done. You are one of the best prepared tributes from 5 ever." He tells me. He isn't kidding either.
When Kirel died, something clicked inside me. I decided that I had to prepare, just in case I was ever put in the same situation as him. Over the past two years, my main hobbies have been visiting the tiny library in the town to learn everything I can about survival skills and previous Games, and getting myself to my physical peak. I went jogging every single day, which soon turned into running. I practised climbing the trees in the thin strip of woods around the villages. I payed close attention to the strategies used in the past two games, I can tie a variety of different knots, and have read up about all the edible and medicinal plants I can. The only things I need to do now are learn to fight and hunt, two things I couldn't practise on my own, as weapons of any sort are banned.
"You have to be strong when I'm in there, ok?" I tell them, trying to stop crying. I can't come across as weak to the other tributes.
"You need to remember, that whatever goes on in the arena, I am still the same person, and what ever I do is so I can come home to you." And then, just like last time, my father digs into his pocket and takes out a thick leather bracelet with swirling patterns etched into it and places it in my hand. Kirel's bracelet. I stroke the soft leather and all of my memories of him come flooding back. My first day of school, when he held my hand walking all the way there, when I lost my first tooth, and got scared at the big gap in my mouth, he told me that it wouldn't be there for long, my first day of middle school, when he hugged me and told me it wasn't as bad as the rumours said it was. Fresh tears come flooding into my eyes as I remember my last meeting with him, all too similar to this one with my parents.
"Thank you" I manage to say to my father as my mother ties it to my wrist. I hug them both tightly, never wanting to let them go. We stay like this, silently sobbing until the Peacekeepers come to tell them it's time to go. I wave of anxiety and fear floods across me as I let them go.
"I'm gonna try my hardest to come back home to you, I promise." I tell them. We say our final goodbyes as they are taken from the room, away from me, perhaps forever.
My next visitor runs into the room like a whirlwind and crashes into me, throwing her arms around my neck. Rowan. My best friend. She sees my tears from saying goodbye to my parents and tells me "You are gonna be way more intelligent than the rest of them, and you got to show them that, ok?" The great thing about Rowan is that she can think straight even in the worst of situations. She sees my worried face and assures me,
"You're gonna do great in there, I promise you."
"But what if I can't? What if I'm no match for the Careers?" She shakes her head.
"Just like them, you have prepared for this." l suddenly throw my arms around her.
"I'm gonna miss you so much!" We hug each other tight until it's time to say goodbye. She wishes me luck, giving me one final hug before she leaves. I get a few more visits, some classmates and neighbours, coming to say goodbye and good luck and then, finally my last hour in my home district is over.
I meet up again with Brisaida and Ruben when we leave for the train station, which isn't too long a journey from the Justice Building. There are reporters and cameras there, but I just ignore them as I board the train. It is unbelievably more luxurious than the room in the Justice Building. There is a carriage for dining, one for general lounging and I even get a whole one just for sleeping in. We are then introduced to our mentors, Freya and Vaughn. Freya won her games fifteen years ago without killing anyone. She was clever, teaming up with the Careers at the start, leaving them in the night when numbers were getting low before they had a chance to kill her, then lying low and eventually letting a pack of mutts kill off her last competitor. She is one of the very few victors that has not turned to things like alcohol or drugs to drown out the horrors of the Games, maybe because in her Games, she never had to experience anything utterly horrific. The same can't be said for Vaughn, he is utterly crazy, twitching and jumping and even the slightest sound, the memory of his Games forever etched into his eyes. I almost feel sorry for Ruben having him has a mentor, but remember that I have to only think of how I can survive, nobody else.
Our dinner that evening is one of the biggest, most delicious meals I have ever eaten. First we start off with a delicious vegetable soup with fluffy white bread, then we have roast duck with gravy, potatoes, and delicious buttered vegetables. After that we are given dessert, a delicious, sweet cake covered in a rich, hot, gooey sauce. I try to eat everything I am given, even though the portions are much larger than I am used to, because I need to put on the vital extra pounds to give me staying power in the arena. But halfway through the delicious cake, my stomach decides that it's all too much and I only just make it to the bathroom to throw the meal right back up.
Only then I realise how exhausted I am, and go straight to my room, which is huge, with a gigantic bed I could fit my whole family in and a closet full if brand new clothes. I choose a pair of sky blue, soft, silky pyjamas and change into them, leaving my bracelet on. I have decided that I am not going to take it off, it's staying right on my wrist the whole way through this thing. I tuck myself under the covers, and before I know it, I'm asleep.
I am woken, in my opinion, way to early the next morning by Brisaida telling me that I need to be up now, as we are arriving in the Capitol very soon. Oh great. Where everybody looks like a rainbow threw up on them and expects you to be kind and simpering to them when they're betting on when you will die. I go to my closet and pick out a dark green jumper that compliments my hair and some cream coloured trousers that show off the shape of my legs nicely. I go into the dining carriage for breakfast where a huge spread is laid out. There is bread, cereal, rolls, eggs, bacon, fruit, you name it. As I help myself to some fruit and cereal, a glass of orange juice is placed in front of me. A luxury in District 5, we only get a small glass of it for our special dinner after the reaping each year. Only this time, there would have been two people missing, not just one. Freya sits beside me and asks me if I have thought of any strategies for the arena. I tell her no, but I do tell her about my preparation, and she seems impressed. She tells me that I should focus on combat and hunting during training, as I have had no practise at that.
After breakfast we watch a recap of the reapings, and as usual the careers are all volunteers, the boys all huge and the girls sly and lethal looking. The only other district that makes an impression on me is 12, where both of their unlucky tributes are small and skinny, and can't be older than 13. Poor kids, they have no chance. After that, I just stay in my room, and try not to panic too much as we get nearer to the Capitol. A million questions are buzzing through my mind. What if they don't like me? What if I mess up my interview? What if I get a bad score? What if all of my preparation was useless? I take deep breaths as tell myself to calm down as I realise my heart is racing. I have to be strong.
I hear Brisaida calling for me telling me that we are approaching the Capitol. I am curious to know what it looks like, so I emerge from my room into the carriage with sofas and a TV in it, like a lounge where everybody except me has spent most of their time on the train in. I go to look out the window and I see lush green meadows bordered by mountains. Freya comes over and stands next to me.
"When you get to the Capitol, they're gonna make you all pretty, then put you in an outrageous costume that you probably won't like," she warns me "but if you smile and wave, with your looks, the Capitol will suck it all up and you will be bound to get sponsors." She gives me a reassuring smile and I nod, remembering the ridiculous costumes the tributes are put in each year. I decide I like Freya, she is so calm and helpful, the exact sort of person I need to get me out of here alive.
As we approach a tunnel in a mountain, Brisaida trills,
"Well here it comes, the Capitol!" as we are plunged into darkness. Brisaida can barely contain her excitement at our getting to see the Capitol for the first time. As the light bursts back into the train, I get to finally see what she has been so excited about. The Capitol is very grand to say the least, with huge buildings everywhere, and people in bright costumes covering the streets. I see their excited faces as they spot our train. I decide to play up to them like Freya told me to, and put on beaming smile and wave to them, making them ecstatic. We are taken off the train to even more crowds and cameras. Once again, I smile at wave at their gullible faces until we are taken into a building they call the Remake Centre.
"This is where they will make you beautiful!" Brisaida tells us, leaving us in the hands of our prep teams.