Cecil pursed his lips as a knock came from the front door. He rose from the table to answer it, raising his eyebrows at the rather large box in the Peacekeepers hands. "Another one?" he asked, shaking his head. "Rini!"
She appeared at his side after a moment, and he saw a flicker of embarrassment cross her face before she grinned widely. "More gifts from Seneca?" she asked the Peacekeeper, who nodded. "Thank you very much, I'll take that…" She took the box up the stairs and Cecil let the man out before going upstairs.
"What is it this time?" he murmured, leaning in her doorway. Boxes upon boxes were stacked against one wall, all marked from the Capitol, and all nearly bursting from the contents inside.
"It looks like…dresses," she replied, opening the top of the box and peering inside. The fabric was very soft, and it turned a different color when she looked at it from another angle. "At least I'll look as good as him when I go to the Capitol, right?" she laughed and looked over her shoulder at Cecil.
The lines in his forehead looked deeper as he studied the young woman. For the past month, Rini had been home so little that he had a better chance of finding her on the television than actually sitting next to her at the kitchen table. She felt like a stranger to him, which was almost worse than when she had been screaming from the nightmares. At least then she was still herself, not this…puppet. The stress that the Capitol and her alleged boyfriend were putting on the seventeen-year-old were getting the best of her, and every day he could see the façade she took on tearing at the seams. She had gone through things he had never imagined, and he could never understand how she was feeling.
"How is Rini, Cecil?"
The older man looked up from the machine he was operating and blinked at the man who questioned him. "Huh? Oh, Rini…she's okay," he murmured, pulling a lever. He didn't bother watching the cans slide down the conveyor belt, having been working at the cannery for so long that he could do it in his sleep.
"How do you feel about her dating that Crane fellow? Kind of strange, don't you think?"
"What do you want, Frank?" Cecil sighed, surprising himself at his snippiness. "Sorry, I…haven't been sleeping well as of late."
Frank cocked an eyebrow and he wiped his hands on his pants. "Pretty strange," he continued, sorting the finished cans into boxes. "She looks real happy on that big screen, but she can't seem to give any kind of smile like that when she's home." His eyes stayed on Cecil before going to the other 5 men that were at their workstation. "Something's fishy here, old man, and it ain't the fish."
"The Capitol is always fishy, you boys know that," Cecil murmured, able to feel everyone's eyes on him. He slowly looked up and met their gaze before giving a great sigh. "I don't know exactly what's going on. Only what Rini has told me, and what I gathered from her recent changes." He paused for a moment, looking up at the metal walkways on which the usual team of Peacekeepers stood.
"Well, get on with it, we don't have all day," Quinn muttered and the others murmured in agreement.
"President Snow likes to use our victors. He's turned Renata into a slave, and there isn't anything I can do to stop it." Cecil's voice was quavering as he struggled to keep it steady. "She's only seventeen, for God's sake. They can get away with the slaughter that they call the Hunger Games, but this? How can we let them take our children and force them into the beds of those pigs for their own gain?!"
The factory was silent after Cecil's voice thundered, and everyone's eyes were on him.
"Why would he do such a thing? To control their so-called power? To be sure that there isn't an uprising? Hell, that doesn't sound like such a bad idea to me! Who's to say they won't stop at victors? Soon he'll be stealing our wives away, our younger children! That's all we are to them, more slaves! Disposable slaves. But they need us. They need us so they can keep comfortable in their pretty Capitol, where everything is rosy and nice. Where would they be without us? Casting their nets themselves? God forbid!"
The workers reply nearly shook the walls, and the Peacekeepers fidgeted nervously with their weapons.
"Why should we continue to work towards something that benefits only our oppressors?" Cecil offered, surprised at how powerful his words seemed to be. "I say we refuse! I refuse to let the President hurt my family; my district, any longer!" He took a can from the conveyor belt and lobbed it at one of the windows overhead, shattering it into a million pieces. "I refuse to be a lap dog any longer!"
"Wow," Finnick murmured as he surveyed the impressive mountain of gifts in Rini's room. "Good thing you have more rooms to choose from. It looks like you won't be able to walk in here soon."
Renata smiled and shrugged, scribbling away in her journal. "I guess that's his way of paying me," she offered quietly, watching him poke through some of the boxes. Her cheeks flushed when he pulled out a naughty-looking piece of lingerie and her eyes dropped back down to the paper. "I have no use for it."
He gave a snort. "I could name off a few uses for you." He looked back at her and softened, smiling apologetically. "What are you writing?"
"Nothing interesting," she smiled back and closed the cover before setting it aside. She had been writing about how Finnick had been acting jealous over the past weeks when in reality…they were almost strangers. She didn't mind the affection they shared, which had virtually disappeared as of late, but it bothered her a little that there wasn't something more there.
"Do you get gifts like this?" Renata asked, breaking the silence. She had never seen anything that looked like a gift when she visited his house. "How do they pay you?" She expected some sort of rise out of him at her questioning; anger, sadness, so when he smiled at her, she nearly toppled off the bed.
"Secrets," Finnick said simply, running a hand through his hair. "Everyone has secrets they are dying to tell."
Renata pursed her lips and looked at him in confusion. "Why secrets? Why don't you get money, or-"
"Naughty lingerie?" he interjected, cocking an eyebrow. "Secrets, love, are much more valuable." He scooted over to the foot of the bed and looked up into her wide-set blue eyes and turned serious. "Did you know that there are whispers of another rebellion in the other districts?"
Her eyes widened and she shook her head. A rebellion? She had never thought that there would be another uprising, not after what had become of District Thirteen. "How do you-"
"Everyone has secrets, Renata," he murmured, reaching up and twirling one of her corkscrew curls around his finger. "It doesn't take long for the whispers to carry on to other places…then the whispers get louder, and who knows what'll happen? Something big is coming, Renata, and it's coming soon. I can feel it."
"You'll fight?" she asked, surprising him.
"Of course I will. I'll fight and I'll die if it means that Panem is restored to peace. Real peace, not that garbage that Snow spurts about on the films…" He searched her face for some sign of agreement and he let his hand drop to his lap. "Will you not fight?"
She pursed her lips together and she looked at her hands for a moment, able to feel his piercing gaze. "I…I don't know," she finally answered, wincing when Finnick gave an exasperated hiss.
"You don't know? How can you not know? You don't mean to say that you like this way of living, do you?" It was a semi-loaded question. He didn't know what he'd do if she said that she liked that bearded bastard.
"That's not it," she said quietly, shaking her head. "I want to fight."
He swallowed and willed the throbbing vein in his temple to go away. "What is it, Rini?"
"I'm not strong enough," Renata whispered, shrugging. "I'm not of any use to a rebellion, if one happens soon. I'll get in the way is all."
"You survived the arena."
"Barely. And I had help. And a big dose of luck."
Finnick shook his head, "Renata…"
She met his gaze and opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off by a scream. She jumped out of bed and found her way to Aria's room, a shiver going down her spine at how eerie the screams sounded. "Aria? What's the matter?" She went to the bed and put her hand on the little girl's shoulder, frowning when she opened her eyes. "What's the matter, sweets?"
She whimpered and sat up quickly, wrapping her arms around Renata's neck. "I had a nightmare," she finally said between sniffles, nuzzling her face into the older girl's neck. She clutched Renata tighter and swallowed back more tears. "I got picked…"
There was no need for further explanation; Rini immediately understood. She pulled the little girl closer and rubbed her back soothingly. "It was only a dream," she said softly, feeling Aria's tears on her skin. "You're okay, see? You're right here with me, and nothing bad can happen to you." She heard the floor creak behind her and she looked back to see both Leona and Finnick standing there.
"Is everything okay?" Leona asked quietly. She sighed when Vic started to wail from his bed and she went off to take care of him.
"It happened to you," Aria whimpered, holding the redhead tighter as if she would get away.
"But I came back, remember?" Renata gave a quiet laugh, petting her soft hair. "You don't have to worry about that for a long time, Aria. You and your brothers, and your mom and dad…even me. We're all safe."
The little girl slowly released Renata's neck and wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand. "Promise?"
She swallowed, hesitating to make such a promise. She didn't know what could happen in the blink of an eye. If what Finnick had said about rebellion being on the rise, then she knew things would get terribly dangerous for everyone. "I promise that we'll all do our best to keep you safe. And if things get scary, then remember that there are people who love you and will protect you from anything bad."
Aria swallowed and she looked up at Rini with those same eyes that Cecil had, tears still present in them. "Okay," she whispered and nodded. "Don't go away again, Rini…please?"
She pursed her lips and looked back at the doorway to Finnick, whose expression was vacant. "I can't promise you that, baby," she whispered, stroking her cheek lovingly. "Hold on a second, okay? I'm going to bring you something…" She got up and brushed past the man in the doorway, going back to her room. She paused when she crossed the threshold, feeling odd. The window to her room was open, and it just felt like someone had been in there. Nothing looked like it had been touched, or moved, but the hairs on the back of her neck would not lie down. Dismissing the feeling when Aria whimpered from down the hall, she opened her beside drawer and pulled out her token from the Games. "Here," Renata smiled when she came back, sitting on the mattress and putting the rope around the little one's neck.
Aria held the vial in her fingers and she examined it, turning it so the sand swirled around the water before settling back at the bottom. "For me?" she asked in a soft voice, looking up at the redhead.
Renata nodded and she smiled, brushing a stray strand of hair from Aria's face and tucking it behind her ear. "Your dad gave me that before I had to leave, and it made me feel safe to have it. If it makes you feel safe, then I want you to hold on to it for me, okay?" Her heart fluttered when the young girl smiled and clutched the vial in her small hands. "Now close your eyes, and don't think about any of that scary stuff…Think about…" She thought for a moment before smiling. "Think about your mama's fresh baked bread…about picnics on the beach."
"Can you sing to me?" Aria asked, opening her eyes and sniffling. "Mama sings to me."
Renata swallowed and she stared back at the little girl, her heart aching for her. She was so scared, and she had every right to be. It was so hard to try and put on a brave face for her, for everyone. "Let the waves hold you close, let the moon guide your way…" She sang very softly, surprised that it was Finnick's lullaby that had come to her. She ran her fingers through Aria's hair, smiling when she closed her eyes and sighed in contentment. "Let the stars shine above and never fade…And when you come home, crawl into my arms…I'll keep you safe from each and every harm…" She sang and comforted the girl until her breaths turned slow and heavy, and she pressed a kiss to her temple before going to the door.
Finnick silently followed Renata back towards her room, watching her with curious sea-green eyes.
"What?" she asked, feeling his eyes on her.
He shook his head, stopping when she did so and crossed her arms. "You sounded like her," he finally mumbled, shrugging. "It was nice."
Renata blinked, realizing after a moment that he had meant she had sounded like his mother. She furrowed her brow, hearing a noise from inside her room. "I think a bird flew inside," she murmured, going in to investigate. There was no sign of anything in her room: no bird, no person, nothing.
"What's the matter?" Finnick asked, seeing her body turn rigid all of a sudden.
"I think someone has been in here," she whispered, swallowing back the awful feeling growing in her stomach. Her eyes fell upon an envelope resting on the windowpane, and it was being held down by a crystal vase, the single white rose inside giving off a strong odor. Her hand shook as she picked up the envelope and opened it, taking out the contents. "What-"
Cecil's picture stared up at her from the center of center of the paper, the words 'In Memoriam' scrawled across the top in some fancy print.
A sudden explosion from the center of town shook the house's entire foundation, and within seconds the sky was alit with the flames of the cannery.
Hi guys, I'm alive. Oooh...too soon? Guess what school is practically over for winter break so ya'll know what that means? Reviews ahoy for a speedy update ;)
-Kelsey :3