Chapter Two- Saying Goodbye

Being brought into a room, I was forced to sit down on a red chair, its texture velvet-like as I ran my hands on it. It was odd how the room brought me some sort of comfort, even though I had just volunteered to die; it was me, or Caleb.

Suddenly I heard the door open, seeing my mother, father, and little Caleb. All their eyes were red, all except my father who had a stern look on his face. My mother and Caleb ran towards me, just about tackling me in a hug. I had to put one foot behind me to balance myself out, hoping that we wouldn't tip over.

I felt her hands grip tightly on me as she cried. "My boy.." She wept, then looking up at me with her green eyes, her hand reaching up to hold one of my cheeks in comfort. "My sweet, sweet boy," she whispered, another tear sliding down her cheek. I couldn't help but let a few tears fall as well, feeling them slid down my cheek for my mother to wipe away with her thumb silently.

Caleb clung to me as he cried hard, making me frown as I knelt down to his level, him not being all that short, I only had to bend down to his height. "Don't worry," I soothed. "Remember, I'm a big boy, I can handle this," I tried to comfort, but it clearly wasn't working as he cried more and more, making me pull him into another hug, letting him cry. I knew this was tough for him, so I stayed quiet the more he cried, until, he was out of tears. Caleb was just sobbing now.

Once I felt that he had calmed down, I straightened back up as I looked at my father. He looked back at me, his jaw clenched tightly as he walked towards me, putting his hands on my shoulders. I could see his eyes were clouded in sorrow. Sure, he was harsh with me, and abusive, but I didn't speak as he hung his head, putting a hand on his eyes as he let few tears fall before he looked back up at him, taking in a shaky breath.

"Take care of them, dad," I said as I then did something I didn't think I would ever do. I hugged him. He hugged me back to my surprise, him squeezing tightly.

"I know I've been rough with you son, I'm sorry," he whispered in my ear, making sure my mother and Caleb couldn't hear him. "I was only rough because of this reason, and I now know my mistake, I hope you can forgive me," he admitted bitterly, looking at me with his blue eyes.

Nodding slowly, I mustered a smile. "Thank you dad, and I forgive you," I told him, making his face seem to crack with guilt as he then stepped away from me, allowing my mother to grasp me once more before the Peacekeepers came in, escorting my family out.

Caleb grunted as he shoved past the Peacekeeper, hugging me again. I feared that he'd get in trouble, so I gently pushed him back, a pained look on his face told me that he didn't like that action. "Promise me," Caleb said in a shaky voice that seemed on edge to crack and him to break down again. "Promise me you'll come home."

I stayed silent. There was no way for me to keep such a promise, I knew I should've just said yes to make him feel better, but it would've been a lie, a promise I couldn't keep. Caleb's face twisted in fear and sorrow. "Say it, say you'll promise," he murmured, now allowing a Peacekeeper grab him by his arm and slowly drag him out of the room. "Cole! Promise me!" I shook my head and looked away from my little brother, hearing the doors close.

It then hit me that that was the last time I would ever see them. I had to sit back down in the velvet red chair as I put my head in my hands.

The sound of the door opening again caught my attention as I looked up, sighing as I saw Elm at the doorway. My only friend in the whole District, it was nice to see him before anything would happen. Elm walked towards me as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Cole, listen.." Elm couldn't seem to find the right words. "Cole I'm sorry," he finally uttered as he looked down at me, seeing me in my state. "This shouldn't of happened, not to you," he growled, a now sense of anger washing over my friend. I got to my feet as I walked towards him, putting my hand on his shoulder.

"Elm, it's ok, really it is. I'll be fine, I've accepted it," I told him. I thought he'd nod or something of the sort, but a look of dismay was written on his face like a book as he shrugged my hand off his shoulder in disgust.

"I can't believe you, this isn't the Cole I know," he growled, making me take a step back. "The Cole I know wouldn't give up so easily, you could win this, not just for you, nor me, not our District, but for your family," Elm tried to comfort, but it really wasn't working.

A Peacekeeper came in and grabbed Elm by his arm, guiding him out of the room as the door closed.

As I sat there, my mind went blank. I was staring at the wooden doors, wondering what was going to happen next. Apparently the Peacekeepers did. They came into the room, making me get to my feet as I was taken outside and onto a bus.

In the bus was four people. One was Rose, who looked frightening beyond belief. The other Sev, who was smiling brightly at me as if I just won the biggest prize ever. And the last two were our last victor's in the past years. A man named Cyrus Cestral, he was our victor of the 63 Annual Hunger Games, and Ember Quinn, our victor of the 61 Annual Hunger Games.

Cyrus was a tall man with large arms and a stern face. He had a buzzcut with brown hair and hazel eyes, a sharp chin and jawline as well. He had won the games at age seventeen (my age), him now being twenty.

Then there was Ember Quinn, a small woman with faded red hair with black streaks, her hair into a tight pony tail, along with her crystal blue eyes. It was no wonder why she was one of the Capital's favorites. She didn't seem all intimidating, but I had seen how she won her Hunger Games, and it was deadly and gruesome. She had won the games at twelve, now only being eighteen.

When I walked in, I could feel everyone's eyes on me. I didn't know what to say, I didn't know what to do. I felt a bit awkward as they stared at me, no one saying a single word; that was until-

"Welcome to hell."

The voice belonged to Ember, who now had her arms crossed over her chest as she was smirking. I could tell that she wasn't such a sweetheart up close and personal. She was actually known to be the first tribute in District 7 to ever be in the pack of career's. Ember had wooed her way into the group, making the male from District 1 go head over heel's for her, that was until she cut his head clean off of his body.

Cyrus chuckled as he looked down at her. It was no secret that the two were crushing over each other, thought they were both too childish to admit it.

Rose looked up at them, being a small height of 5'0, all of us towered over her, especially Cyrus and I. "How can you laugh at this?" She asked bitterly, her tone taking me by surprise. "We're being sent into a death arena and you have the courage to laugh?" Rose asked our mentors, who were staring at her, their eyes narrowed.

"We get it, but we have the right to laugh," Cyrus told her coldly. "We did our part, being sent in there; and guess what? We lived, so I don't know why you're bellyaching over such-" before he could finish his sentence, Rose reached up and smacked him across the face.

There were gasps from Sev and Ember as they saw what Rose had done. The slap of course had no effect on Cyrus as he looked at her, glaring as if he was going to attack her.

Without saying another word, Rose turned and left, the doors opening as she approached them as she walked towards her room.

"Charmer," Cyrus muttered as he rubbed his cheek, now looking at me. He was surprisingly eye level with me, us being about the same height of 6'1. He then smiled at me, putting his hand back to his side as he leaned a bit towards Ember. "Ya know he reminds me of myself," he told her, making Ember nod a little as she looked at me up and down, silently agreeing with him.

I knew that I shouldn't be rude to my mentors, but I wanted to go and talk with Rose. "I'll be right back," I told them in a soft tone as I headed towards her room, seeing that it was right next to mine.

Opening the door, I poked my head in, seeing Rose on her bed, her legs tucked around her arms as she was crying. I felt a knot in my stomach as I knocked on the side of the door frame, instantly getting her attention as she wiped her eyes with her wrist. "W-What?" She asked me, the rude tone still hinting in her voice, though another tone could be heard as well; fear.

Not knowing what to say, I walked towards her, sitting down at the foot of her bed as I looked at her. Rose looked so broken, so fragile, as if I'd touch her she'd break. "I-I'm not scared o-of you," she told me, even though I knew that wasn't true. It was known in the games that teens from their own District would sometimes kill each other, I wasn't surprised that she was scared of me.

"I know," I told her in a soft tone, trying to comfort her as I looked into her green eyes. Rose seemed taken back at my words as she looked at me, though her gaze drifted back to her lap as I saw a tear slide down her cheek.

"Cole, right?"

"I'm sorry what-"

"Your name is Cole, right?" Rose asked me, looking up finally. Her cheeks were red and were a bit wet from the tears that were streaking down. I nodded silently at her. She wiped her eyes as she let out a sniffle. "I don't want to die Cole," she whispered.

That stuck in my mind, those six words. Rose's eyes began to water again, causing her to sniffle as she looked away from my green eyes. Without another word, I moved towards her, now sitting next to her as I put my hand under her chin, making her look up at me.

Reaching up, Rose grabbed something that was around her neck. It was a golden locket, little diamonds outlining the shape of the heart-shaped locket. Rose gripped it softly, not breaking eye contact with me, seeming as if the locket gave her some hope or courage for herself.

"You're not going to die Rose," I told her, making her eyes widen as she let her grip loosen on her necklace.

Shaking her head, Rose moved a little ways from me, her back now touching the bed frame, signaling that she couldn't back up anymore. "You don't know that," she whispered. "I have a family Cole, my mother is pregnant, I don't want to die before I hold my baby brother," Rose sniffled, wiping her eyes again.

Flashbacks of me holding Caleb when he was small flushed back, remembering how little he was, the way his whole hand only wrapped around my thumb. It was the feeling of innocents, a feeling of happiness and pure bliss, one that Rose shouldn't miss out on.

"I have an older sister, she's too old for the games now," Rose started explaining. "She's the one who gave me this," she murmured, pressing her fingertips on the locket. "She told me it brought good luck," Rose told me, a small smile now showing on her lips. "What's your district token?" she asked me, catching me a bit off guard.

Scratching the back of my head, I reached into my pocket and felt a ring. I took it out and looked at it, smiling once I saw it was my golden ring that I had always carried. 'I guess this could be my token,' I thought as I then handed it to Rose, letting her inspect it carefully.

Taking it, Rose began to look at it with a smile. "It's beautiful," she said as she began looking at the carvings on it. I loved carving and whittling, it was a hobby from chopping down so many tree's, you'd sometimes have a little wood left over to whittle something, maybe a spear, some doodles, animals, or even patterns if the knife wasn't dull.

The ring itself was made of my favorite wood (red wood) and had patterns on it that I had carved myself. The patterns were exquisite, my father letting me use his best knife for the ring. "Thank you," I said as I then gently took the ring from her, slipping it back into my pocket. "I made it myself."

Rose raised her eyebrows as if questioning if that was true or not, regardless she gave a shrug, looking out the window. Slowly the sun was setting, making it dim in the room. Rose reached up and put her brown hair into a pony tail, letting out a yawn. "Thank you for talking with me Cole, but I'm really tired. If you can, do you think you could tell Cyrus and Ember I'm sorry for snapping at them?" She asked me hopefully.

I nodded to her as I got to my feet. "Thank you, goodnight, Cole," she murmured as she laid down, resting her head on her pillow.

"No problem Rose. Goodnight," I said as I walked out of her room, the door closing behind me as I made my way towards the dinning area, trying to see if Cyrus and Ember were still there. To my disappointment, they weren't.

Rubbing the back of my neck, I then strode into my room, looking around. It was surprisingly a tad larger than Rose's, the bed being a king size and the room wide, being almost bigger than my home back in District 7.

Laying down on my bed, I felt the softness and comfort it brought, but an unsettling feeling still lingered with me, knowing this was only temporary and that soon enough the Hunger Games would start.

Closing my eyes to try and get those thoughts out of my mind, I turned my head on the cool side of the pillow, my breath calming and soon enough, I was asleep.