YOU CAN KILL ME, TERRACE LILY AND ALL MY OTHER LOVING FANS WHO DON'T BOTHER TO REVIEW. JUST GIVE ME A MINUTE!
TO THE POINT! Every three chapters, I'm going to change POVs between Elise and Elijah. ELIJAH'S TURN! :D
Disclaimer: Refer to chapters one or two, or maybe three. :)
PS, I'm kind of speeding things up a teeny bit. We want to get to the action in the arena, right? *Best Killing Buddies Finger Thingy* I have a LOT planned.
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT AFTER THIS CHAPTER!
Ah, who cares. Might as well admit it now. I already know I'm going to die. My sister is a daughter of Ares. She apparently is murderous with a spear. I'm utterly doomed. I know. All these crazy things are running through my head through the reapings, the visitings my parents gave me, and being dragged on a train to go off and die.
On a totally different tangent, I'm really surprised on how luxurious everything is on this stupid train. I know that it's the Capitol we're talking about, but we're eventually going to die, so why even bother? By the time we get on the train, it is probably around 8 P.M. I know, I'm being such a nerd. Going to bed at 8. As soon as I get on the train. Hey, I've had a big day, and also, I can't bear to see Elise right now. She already looks angry enough.
I'm weird like this: I sleep more when I'm anxious, so I am right off asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. Of course my sleep is filled with weird dreams mixed in with a tad bit of nightmares, but I didn't really care and I forget them right after Mr. Reaping Man wakes me up, which just so happens to be 5 in the morning.
"Get up. We'll be at the Capitol soon!" he says excitingly. I groan, and I shove my covers over my head for a minute, but then I eventually shove them off myself and get up.
Great. I think. I am still on a train. To my death. On the positive side, I find out that breakfast is pretty freaking awesome. Along with all this gourmet stuff, we get coffee, something that me nor Elise had ever tasted before. I take the mug of coffee, and I bring it up to my lips, expecting something bitter, because that's how my dad says it tastes, but instead it is sweet. Chocolatey.
"Mmmm. What is this stuff? It's so awesome!" I say. Elise shoots me a glare. She isn't too happy about having to die and possibly killing me. What a surprise. She never sees anything positive.
"Oh, come on, Elijah, right?" Mr. Reaper says. "That's hot chocolate! You've never had it before?" he says as if it's something they have every day in the Capitol.
"We have better stuff to do with the small amounts of money we do get," Elise says, and glares at him. I can tell she's not in a good mood.
"Might as well enjoy it while we can," I mumble. She rolls her eyes, and we eat the rest of the meal in silence.
About 10 minutes after breakfast, we're arriving at the Capitol. District 2 is right next to the Capitol, so it only took about a 9 hour train ride there. The man who did the reapings introduces himself. "I'm Louis Czerniejewski, I don't think I ever introduced myself!" He says.
"Che-nen-ski. . ."I try and pronounce. "How do you spell that?" I ask him.
"C-z-e-r-n-i-e-j-e-w-s-k-i," he replies with a smile.
"C-z-r-e-y-n-j-w-s-k-i," Elise tries to repeat.
"Close." He smiles.
"I'm going to be your mentor during the games," he says. "I will be controlling all the sponsors that come in, and I'll also give you advice and help you go through training."
"Okay," my sister says slowly. Silence.
"You can just call me Louis," he says.
More silence. He continues. "You guys are going to a remake center to meet stylists. You want to be presentable for the opening ceremony, right?
"Right. . ." I say. Stylist? Even for us guys? Weird. . . .
"A word of advice, no matter what they do to you, just go with it," he says. "They're going to do some crazy stuff to you!" he does some sort of crazy laugh.
"Why the heck are they going to need a stylist for us guys?" I tell him.
"I actually don't know," Louis shrugs.
"They want to make sure we're pretty," I say to myself. I have no idea what is about to come, and I am not prepared to be dressed up like a doll.
The remake center is huge. Actually, it's about 12 stories high, and I later find out that each district's tributes get one floor.
The first thing I hear is a scream. I jerk my head around and I see two boys and a girl. "Hon, your eyebrows!" the woman shrieks.
"Wait, what?" I ask.
"Your eyebrows! This is a national emergency!" she says, looking like she's about to faint.
"Chill out. We should probably introduce ourselves," says one of the men. "I am Emile, and this is Gavin," he points to the other man.
"Yes, and I am Oceana!" says the woman. "We're your prep team! We're going to make you look pretty for the games! But for now, just the opening ceremonies!"
What do you know? a couple of hours later, I find myself in a Peacekeeper outfit. I have just undergone the whole styling process with a lot of real awkward moments for me, and I have come out looking like a totally different person.
My stylist said that we wanted the people to know that we're from District 2, so she decided that we were going to be dressed up in Peacekeeper uniforms. They styled the suits up a bit to make them not look as ugly. But the fabric seemed to shine in the dark and the outfit kind of shimmered and was a light silver color. Instead of pants, my sister wore a pleated white skirt that was a bit glittery and knee-high white combat boots.
So, I think. Jazzed up Peacekeeper outfits. We're going to own this. Totally.
I knew that the girly side of my sister would like it, but I didn't like it. I felt like a pig being pampered for slaughter. There was a gut feeling in my stomach, but I really tried to be happy because my sister was in a bad mood.
Louis then leads us over to a chariot in the long row of the 12 chariots that are going to take the tributes through the opening ceremony. We are second in line. I guess that they put us in order of district.
"You look nervous," I tell Elise as we step into the chariot.
She glares at me. "I guess I feel angry that all of this is happening." I nod. "I mean, we're both basically going to die. Might as well admit that now."
"Remember! Show honor and pride to your district!" I say to her, just like our old teacher did. She laughs, and before I even notice, our chariot starts moving, and we are plunged into a street full of screaming cheering people on the sidelines. I try and smile and wave to everybody, but it's all fake. I'm starting to hate these people as well, which is not like me. They're making my sister and I die. I don't hate people generally, but hopefully you can understand my feelings.
After about 20 minutes, we arrive at the City Circle, and President Justice gives us the welcoming speech. "Welcome. And happy Hunger Games. May the odds be ever in your favor." May the odds be ever in your favor. Yes. We get it. New trademark punchline of The Hunger Games. Cut it out already. I zone out the rest of his speech, and then we are taken to the training center.
When we arrive at the Training Center, I find out that we're going to be on the second floor, so Elise, Louis, and I take the elevator up one floor.
"Gosh, these Capitol people are so lazy. We're going up ONE floor, and they can't put in stairs?"
Elise smiles, and I know that I'm kind of lifting her spirits up. Louis frowns. Oops. Forgot he was here!
Dinner that night is pretty uneventful. There was lamb stew with dried plums over wild rice. Louis tells us that the next day we will have training sessions. "You'll be able to practice and learn something that you don't know. Most importantly, you can learn some survival skills."
Elise and I nod.
"Is there something that each of you can do especially well?" Louis asks.
I immediately blurt out, "Elise can mutilate with a spear!"
Louis looks confused for a moment, then he says, "How? I thought the Peacekeepers used guns and whips." He does his crazy laughing to himself. Elise is brick-red.
"I-I-I. . . " she stammers. Crud! I think to myself. I almost blew her cover!
There's an awkward silence until I say "I'm pretty okay with a hunting knife!" I guess everybody forgot about my slip-up, and we continue with dinner without mentioning it. After dinner, I am exhausted from the huge day. I go into my room and plop down on my bed and immediately fell asleep. Guess it's the nerves.
PEACE OUT, MY SLAVES. I FREAKING LOVE YOU GUYS!
Yes, in case you didn't notice and just randomly decided to re-read my story, these chapters are. . . being revised? YES! :D 16 might take another few days. Need to tweak stuff up in the chapters I have here, and finish writing that, and then revise it and not make it crappy, get the thumbs up from Leumer and Anastasia Laurels, and such. Then you get it. Now, keep reading. AND! Review:D
REVIEW AND I SHALL BE HAPPY. :D