A/N: I don't even know where to begin... I was very surprised from that I got so many reviews for the first chapter, and I just uploaded it a day ago! You all are awesome, thanks for the reviews, really! It means a really lot to me.
If you like stories what are in the Hunger Games universe, take a look at my other story called 'The Hiding Games' if you have the time or willing to. If you have any questions you could PM me; I'll answer.
A really big thank you for all of the reviewers again. I hope you will enjoy the new chapter.
Chapter Two - Fairy Tales
"The competition's main theme was nature itself. It would like to get teens to like it more, and get them into places what are really far away from our country. We won a two-weeks trip into a Transylvanian forest."
After class Mr. Abernathy asks the three of us to stay a little bit longer with him in the class because he wants to talk. I don't like when someone tells me 'we need to talk', it just scares the shit out of me. The only thing I can do is just hoping he won't get my grades lower, because my scholarship will just slip out of my hands. I can't let that happen if I would ever like to go to the Univeristy of Capitorum what would be very, very expensive without that particular scholarship. My life could depend on the grades I'm getting.
"Peeta!" Mr. Abernathy turns to me. "You, Katniss and Delly are my best students. Your grades are outstanding. I will contact your parents to let you. Don't worry…" He looks at me. "The state will pay for everything. That's the best benefit of winning it." Every teacher is aware of our financial status. They say it's not something people should be ashamed of, but I still blush when they want to make an exception with me just because of this.
"That's good to hear, but I'm not interested in it." I shrug. I'm not a nature type of person. If I want to be honest I'd say nature hates me. Everytime I'm out with Katniss and Delly, the only one who gets a bug in his eye, or get stung by a bee is always me. And being in a forest for a longer period of time than half an hour is very dangerous for me. Or maybe I'm just paranoid, but I have a really bad feeling about it.
"How much time are you going to spend there?" I ask curiously.
"Two, maybe three weeks. It's in school time so you guys could get a bit of free time" He knows how to get us on whatever he wants. He could convince anyone with his cunning skills, but I don't give myself in. I would need a miracle for that. There's a question hiding in the back of my mind: What will happen to mom without me?
This is the main reason I don't want to go. I could easily get used to nature if I would like to, but not to the thought what doesn't let me in peace. I can't let her lead the bakery alone, she needs a man - well, sixteen year old boy - to the house who could help her anytime. It would be really hard for her, even if our bakery is just a little family buisness.
"Peeta, this is awesome! We want to go." Delly and Katniss both turns to Mr. Abernathy with anticipation in their eyes. "Could we go? Please, please, please?" Delly wasn't this excited since we bought her a big, fluffy white bear for her birthday.
"I was talking about this before, sweetheart. That's the thing why I kept the three of you after class. I want my best students to have a place for sure before they get filled up." He explains. "But you would have to get Peeta to come with us, because this is something what nobody could resist."
Nobody could resist... It sounds kind of ridiculous, because I don't want to go into an unknown place, thousands of miles from here in the middle of nowhere. I don't even speak the language! And then there's this strange feeling again what makes me believe that something horrible could happen with us there. Oh, and I don't have to forget about my mother who's exhausted with me helping in, what would happen with her without me? I can't go.
"I won't go."
"Dammit Peeta! You have to come! Even if you're annoying sometimes, I couldn't be away from you for three weeks!" Katniss looks deep into my eyes. I don't know if she wanted to compliment me, or just hurt me a bit. Maybe both, maybe neither of these.
Mr. Abernathy sighs when he get's that I won't give myself in. "Listen, I will keep a seat for you for three days. You will have Friday, Saturday and Sunday to decide what you'll do. Is this fair enough?" He claps his hands together, looking at me curiously.
"Yes." I nod. "That would be really good."
"Okay, then three days Peeta. I hope you will choose the right decision." That's where the problem beings, I don't know what would be the right decision in my situation. I hate forests but I love Delly and Katniss, and three weeks without them would be pretty devastating. I have to admit there's a little spark in me what's quiet whispering is telling me go. But there's a huge amount of water what wants to extinguish the little fire what that spark created.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Katniss asks when we exit the room. "I thought one of your dreams was exploring a whole new place. Now you could do it! This trip would be very expensive without the Capitol paying for it. Now you have a chance for doing what you want, for free... and when you got there, you rejected it. This sounds like bullshit to me!"
"It's not as simple as you think it is, Kat. I can't let my mother alone with granny. I have to stay with them." I answer.
"No, you don't. We will find out something so it would be good for everybody. We still have today evening, and three days after it. So don't worry, we'll set up a plan."
We walk into the cafeteria, getting food for ourselves then we sit down in front of a table. The Careers are sitting two tables farther than us.
Honesty, archery, and making me feel better. These are the three things I love in Katniss most, of course there are a couple more good traits of her, but these are my favorites. "It's just three weeks, Peet. What could possibly happen in three weeks?" Maybe she's right. She's always right... Well, except the times she's not.
"She's right, as always Peeta. It would be a lot easier for us to know that you're with us. We have to stay together, aren't we?" Delly smiles at me, continuing her lunch. Then I feel something. Something strange on the back of my head. I reach out to study my neck but there's nothing on it, so I turn to see what is it, maybe one of the seniors are making fun out of me again, or it... No, it can't be.
I face myself with the most beautiful eyes on earth. Cato is staring at me again.
What does he want from me? Well.. it seems like I'm going to find out really soon because he's heading right to our table with her girlfriend, Clove. They're approaching us hand in hand, flirting with each other. For a moment I feel a stinging pain in my heart, what I doesn't have the right to. We were not together, and we will never be. Why can't I get my head on something else instead?
"You know about the trip, aren't you?" His voice is so sexy and manly. I would love to hear him mouning... Wait, what? No! I shake my head.
"Y-yeah. W-why?" You're great, Peeta. If you're continuing like this, maybe you're going to say something clever and meaningful.
"Just askin'. Are you coming as well?" Clove asks, smiling at me gently. I don't know, but it seemed like I saw her face turn into evil for a moment. Or could be because of the jealousy.
"No, I don't think so. But I could tell this for sure at monday." I smile back, then I remember the question I wanted to put on a moment ago. "Why do you care?" The girl shrugs. Cato begins to talk again. "We were curious. Have a great lunch."
"Thanks." I answer before they went back to their table.
"Well, that was... weird." Katniss says when she's sure that Cato and Clove are far enough.
I ask the first question what comes in my mind "Why did they ask that?"
"I have no idea." Katniss shrugs when I take a glance at Delly. "Don't look at me, I don't know either! But maybe.. possibly.. they just saw how cool are we, and they want to befriend with us." We laugh at her joke. The subject ended here, and I didn't think about it either.
On the way back home they're telling me the pro's and con's of going into Transylvania.
"Here a con: There are werewolves, vampires, and maybe even the monster of Doctor Frankenstein!" Delly says.
"You really believe in that stuff, Dell? They're just legends, some of them built on real life events. But most of them are judt fairytales. None of these supernatural creatures are real." I say. "There are no scientific proof for their existence, what means..." Delly cuts me off.
"Yea, but there are no scientific proof that they're NOT existing!" Fair enough.
"Yes, then I'm a unicorn baby who has a lot of fairy dust in his ass, and when I puke, it smells like flowers and looks like rainbows." Katniss laughs on my comment.
"So you want to tell me that Dracula is not from Transylvania?" Delly asks, looking in my eyes.
"This is partially true. The legend of Dracula could lead back into hundreds of years."
"Story time again." Katniss rolls her eyes.
"Shut the fuck up, I'm trying to listen at Peeta!" Delly answers, then she looks at me. "Continue, please."
I take a deep breath. "There was a transilvanian ruler, called Vlad Tepes. He was the cruelest man in the whole region. He had a 'hobby' what was torturing people. He impaled the head of everyone who stood in his way, so people began to call him Dracul."
"What does Dracul mean?" Delly asks looking at me confused.
"Dracul is the romanian equivalent of 'The Devil'. There are stories that he also liked to drink the blood of his victims, what doesn't mean he's a vampire, just a fucking psychopath. This is the main story of the most well known 'vampire' on the Earth. After a long time his legend began to grow, some people added, some got away things from it, leaving others in the belief that he is a vampire."
"Where did they found his body?" Delly asks.
"They didn't, but this is not meaning that he's still alive, running or flying or doing whatever he does, and drinking blood of virgins!"
"I know, it doesn't mean that. But there's a huge possibility for it." Delly answers.
Please review, it would mean a lot! I know these chapters are not very long, but I do hope they'd get bigger with time, Thanks for taking your time to read it.