-Katlyn: Day 9 of the Hunger Games-
Everything was…um…still? No, that's not the word I'm looking for. Quiet? Silent? Calm? No, none of those either. Everything was…dead. There we go.
Everything was dead.
I lounged in my hiding place, counting the leaves for the fifteenth time today. Above me, the pretend sun crested at its peak. Under me, a sea of red roses. Roses…they reminded me of something. Something that seemed, at least to me, to have happened a long time ago. I find that to be a more interesting story. Better than the present. As I sat in the tree, the present seemed so dull.
What was now a rotting pile of silence had once been filled with so much life– not that all that life had been a good thing. I guess there was murder, cannon blasts, and blood lining the rocks we walked on, but it was alive at least. Now, it's really, truly dead.
Over the last few days, while I perched safely in my little tree-hiding-place-thing here, there was so much screaming, shouting, yelling, and general hysteria in the land below. With nothing to do but eat, drink, count leaves, and occasionally nap, there's nothing better to do than listen and judge them. I didn't mean to be judging them, necessarily, but I couldn't stop it. And anyways, it's really the smartest thing to do in here. I learned some things doing it. After a few screams and piercing laughs, Mia alerted the rest of us she had caught someone. Savannah didn't last very long. That means I should be afraid of Mia I guess.
If I wasn't a part of this mad theatre production the Capitol was putting on, I would almost say it was entertaining. I have to give the Capitol some credit in their evil – at least they weren't stupid. Well, for the most part. If I had been raised to think merciless massacres like the Hunger Games were fun, and if I lacked 90% of my intelligence than maybe I would think that the Capitol wasn't all that bad.
But if I was an idiot, I would let anyone tell me what to do anyways, so maybe the quality of the entertainment isn't a factor.
I was about to continue when a glare of the sun hit my eye.
The leaf I had so precisely cowered under to protect my eye from the sun's rays had finally outlived its usefulness; the sun jabbed under its shield and hit my eyes. I plucked off the leaf, left it to be taken by the wind and replaced it with my hand to cover my vision from the piercing gaze of the sun's eye.
Stupid leaf. I hereby banish thee to the red ground of the under-realms.
Did I get off topic somewhere? Oh yeah, life and death.
Murder is all well and good, but it was only one type of life down there. There used to be animals, a variety of plants, and babbling brooks. I assume the animals were either fried to a crisp in the fires or drowned in the rains, so no more of them. No no. Any plant that wasn't a tree stretching to the mercy of the heavens was pretty much dead, outcompeted for resources by the much more resourceful flowers. Did I just make a do some wordplay there? I think I did. Yet, even the trees seemed like buildings that had been neglected in maintenance, wanting to die before the angry hobos nest in them like bees. And as for the flowing water, the babbling brooks had been silenced quite thoroughly, with only the tiny amount of rain holding off the abyss.
Let's see. What's the score?
Humans: 0
Plants: 0
Animals: 0
Nature: 0
The Capitol: 4.
But, I'm taking away 5 points from the Capitol because they're jerks.
Looks like everyone loses, though the Capitol loses the most.
Jerks…yeah, so I've been stuck in this tree, alone…all by myself…listening…for what feels like a long time. I say stuck because those things are still down there, and I have no inclination to repeat that trip I experienced. I was initially kinda scared for everyone, that something that powerful was everywhere, but they seem to be doing fine. Now, the roses just taunt me.
Oh yeah! Roses! I knew what I was about to say something. The roses reminded me of something. Geez, that memory seems like forever ago, but 'twas barely a fortnight.
I've always wanted to use the word fortnight.
Anyways…that memory; party tanks and a girl.
- 5 Days until the Hunger Games-
"Tank tops?" Katlyn yelled, barging into the District Three dormitory. "Lookie here," she waggled her finger towards Evan, "I'm not saying that these Games are to be respected in the least, but seriously? Party Tanks? Who the hell do Matt and Zach think they are?" Katlyn flopped down on the couch and crossed her arms. "Meow. Evan, get me some water, plllleeeeeeEEEEEeeeeease." dragging out the 'please' into at least three syllables.
Evan pushed up his eye glasses and took drinking glasses from the fridge. Setting out three, he turned to Chau. "Do you want something?"
"Your face."
Shaking his head, Evan opened the fridge. "You're getting root beer then." Evan scooped out ice into the three glasses and poured the desired contents into each.
"Evaaaaan! Waaaaaater!" Katlyn piped up from the couch.
He took the glass from the counter and handed the drink to Katlyn who immediately smiled. He sighed. "Here you go."
Katlyn made a kitten face and rubbed up against Evan's shoulder. "Thank you very much." What was initially a small sip turned into downing her entire glass as she remembered she was angry about something. She slammed the glass onto the counter.
"Katlyn, watch the phone." Evan eyed the tendrils of water sneaking towards the device.
In response, Katlyn mopped up the mess with her sleeve. "Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Anyways…the nerve of those guys!"
Watching silently during all the dialogue, Chau decided to step in. "Hey, you got your pretty red dress. Evan and I got our fancy technology-line clothing. They have their tank tops. It doesn't really matter to you, so whatever."
Katlyn stared at both Chau and Evan incredulously. "Look here little shwams. Maybe, it doesn't matter to me, but it matters...to fashion!"
Chau rolled his eyes. "A little bit over-dramatic don't you think?"
"Maybe, it's possible that you already judged those two." Evan continued.
Katlyn pouted. "That's not true."
Both of the boys stared at her.
"Okay, maybe it's a little true."
"Yeah."
Katlyn shook her head. "I have reason to though!" Evan rolled his eyes this time. "Seriously. Okay, do you know Matt's advisor, McAvoy?"
"Yes, and?"
Katlyn sipped the rest of her water. "I've seen him lurking around. Very creeper-esque if I say so myself. He's always going off away from everyone else, and I see him staring off into the distance like he's planning something, or more accurately I think Matt's planning something with his help."
"Katlyn, I'm going to be honest that sounds more than a little paranoid."
"Come on, just look at Matt. He's tall, has blonde hair, blue eyes, walks around with a cool air of don't-give-a-damn-itude. He has that look in his eyes like he is laughing out loud on the inside about a joke at your expense. There is nothing to make him more villain-like unless you want to see horns and twiddling fingers." Katlyn twiddled her fingers as an example.
"Katlyn- " As Chau was about to finish his sentence Aaron sheepishly crept through the door, trying not to interrupt. "Oh hey, Aaron. Did you want something to drink?"
Aaron smiled and waved. "Oh, no thank you. I ate a ton of food at dinner. I feel like I won't be able to eat anything for the rest of the week. This Capitol food is great." He began to walk to his room. "I'm actually going to head to bed if you don't mind."
With a sympathetic grin on his face, Chau waved goodnight. "Bye! Congratz again on getting that twelve from the judges!"
Katlyn scowled and thought to herself. "How did that guy get a twelve? They only gave me an eleven." But she shook her head and kept her comment to herself.
After another smile, wave, and a thank you, Aaron quietly shut his door.
Taking advantage of the small gap in conversation, Evan took his leave. "Alrighty, I think it's time for bed for us too."
Chau turned to him. "Us?"
Evan looked down. "Chau, it's dark in there."
Chau sighed. "You're an idiot." Evan smiled, and Chau looked back to Katlyn. "But yeah, we'll be going to our beds. You can do whatever you like; these rooms are almost entirely soundproof, so you won't be bothering us."
Katlyn gave a half-heart, "Night," as the two entered their respective rooms. As the living room filled with silence, Katlyn debated the effort versus reward of getting up, walking the elevator, pressing the button, riding the elevator all the way, getting out of the elevator, and walking her own bed, versus sleeping on their couch. She chose the latter.
Picking up the only phone on the flat, she dialed twelve and waited through the ringing until she heard a familiar voice.
"Katlyn?"
"Hey Shelby. Is Cohara there?"
"Uh…yeah. He just got back from something. He didn't say what, but yeah, I'll put him on."
Katlyn waited a moment, twirling the cord on the phone.
"This is Da – I mean Cohara."
"Hello. Hey, I'll be sleeping on the couch in District three. I met the boys yesterday. Make up a story that I don't feel like being bothered in my room or something. I'll be back sometime tomorrow."
"Cool."
"Okay. Bye." She hung up the phone, and immediately plopped down on the couch.
Within seconds, Katlyn fell asleep, leaving the room completely dark and void of conscious life. Only small LED lights on the appliances permeated the aura of darkness. A peace fell upon the room that it hadn't seen in a long while, and would never see again.
The door to District Three creaked open. The tiniest of footsteps pitter pattered on the soft carpet. The scent of delicious food diffused across the room, but in this scent was a hint of something wrong. Something artificial and chemical.
As the first scent of bacon and waffles reached Katlyn's nose, her eyes flicked open, but she ignored her instincts to pop up and go towards the food. Slowly, as to not disturb the figure slithering across the room, she rose up, closed her eyes, and took in the situation. The smell of bleach and poisonous chemicals lingered seconds longer than the scent of the well cook meal.
"What the hell?" Escaped her lips, but it the figure seemed too occupied with her work to notice Katlyn's faintest of whispers. The figure drifted in the direction of Chau and Evan's doors. As Katlyn rose to stop this malevolent shadow, the figure halted and turned towards Aaron's door instead.
Katlyn slowed down, and after a brief moment of consideration, sat back in the couch, crossed her legs, and decided to wait and see what was going to happen.
She crossed and uncrossed her legs, occasionally tapping her fingers against the leather of the couch, and for what seemed like an eternity, she waited in the darkness. She flinched every time she thought she heard mumbling from the room, but the thick walls made it difficult to tell if the noise was coming from the room or if it was even voices at all. After what could have been five minutes or the entire night, the door reopened; the smell of food and toxins gone from the form.
A grin spreading across her face, Katlyn drifted her fingers to the switch on the lamp, and waited for the form to step directly in front of her. As the steps aligned with the center of the couch, Katlyn flicked the switch, letting the light blind this person.
The form let out a soft "ah" in surprise and tried to shield her eyes.
Even with the lamp pointed away from her, Katlyn adjusted her eyes slowly. "I would be quiet if I were you. It would be quite terrible if I were to yell and catch somebody's attention wouldn't it?"
No response. Katlyn blinked a few times to make sure she was seeing the correct image. In front of her, was the form of a little girl; couldn't have been older than 12 or 13. Katlyn shook the pity off.
"That's what I thought. So, would you mind telling me what you were doing in that kid's room over there?"
Complete silence.
"Okay, when I say be quiet that doesn't mean don't talk at all. Don't you know how this works? Now, I'll ask again and speak up this time, sweety. What are you doing here?"
The girl kept a hand in between her and the light, but didn't respond. Coming into focus was a small servant girl, and evidently from her lack of speech, an Avox.
"What?" Katlyn tried to form coherent words. "Uh…I thought you'd be Matt or some tribute. Not just some girl."
The girl slowly removed her hand blocking her face and aimed her gaze into Katlyn eyes. Such a determined and hardened look from such a fragile girl caught Katlyn off guard, but she regained her composure. "Well, what are you doing here, then?"
Finally recovering, she put her hand to mouth, miming eating, and pointed towards Aaron.
"Mmmhmm. And, how did he tell you he wanted something?"
Katlyn noticed the smallest of nervous trembles in the girl's hands, as the girl extended her pinkie and thumb, feigning a phone call.
"Yup. Of course, dear." Katlyn shook her head. "Now, stop lying to me and tell me the truth."
The trembling increasing by the seconds, the girl desperately tried to make Katlyn believe this was the truth.
"He told me was completely full when he left for bed, so I'm guessing he wouldn't really want anything this late." The girl shrunk down under the light. "But even if he did, I happened to be sleeping by this phone," she pointed, "the only one in the suite."
The girl began to inch toward the door.
Katlyn laughed. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. Believe me, wherever you could run, I could follow." The girl backed into the corner instead, fear growing on her face. Katlyn composed herself and chose her next words carefully. "So, little one, if I go into that room, will I find Aaron alive?"
The girl simply stared at her with her bright blue eyes, tears ready to form.
"Well?"
She shook her head.
Katlyn rose from the couch, and walked up to the girl. The girl flinched at first, only relenting when she felt Katlyn's hand on her shoulder, leading her to the couch. As the small girl sat down, Katlyn brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes. "What's your name?"
After opening her mouth for a brief second, the girl stopped, took her finger and wrote the letters of her name into the air.
"R-O-S-E." Katlyn whispered the letters in her motherly voice as the girl conducted her finger. "That's a very pretty name."
A feigned smile appeared on Roses lips, but she couldn't hold it there for long.
"So, Rose," Katlyn found the girl's hands and cupped them, "oh why would you do something like this?"
Rose merely stared down at her sweaty and trembling hands.
"Did someone force you to do this?"
A small smile appeared on her lips as she remembered the boy who gave her something to hope for, but she forced it back down.
"That smile tells me that it wasn't quite by force, was it? In fact, I've seen that smile before; someone has a little crush." Rose shook her head, but Katlyn ignored it. "Some cute boy? Someone who can dress himself? Someone who thinks he's quite funny, has a certain charm to his smile? I wonder who it could be?" Rose remained as stoic as possible. "There are so many interesting tributes here. There's Rhett, Zach, Jacob….Matt?" The façade broke as Rose lit up and shook her head.
"Oh dear. Did you really fall for that guy? Silly, stupid girl. And the minute that you did, he told you to kill someone for him. What a good start." Katlyn chuckled.
Tears tripping down her face, Rose wanted to scream, to yell at this girl, but nothing would come out of her mouth.
"Well, I could go to the authorities right now, and as much as I'd love the thought of them getting angry that we killed each other a little too early for their liking, I'm not going tattle on you right now." Rose wiped the tears from her face and stared at Katlyn. "Nope. Because…well, between you and me, I didn't really care for that Aaron kid much anyway, and having the only person with a point higher from the judges than me out of the games is quite helpful. Good choice." Rose felt like vomiting at the praise she was receiving. "So," Katlyn shooed Rose off the couch, "hurry up and leave. You don't want to get caught."
The small girl stumbled off the couch and teetered toward the door.
Katlyn brought her finger to her lips and whispered. "Shhhh!"
Rose gave a weak smile and walked out the door, heading back to Matt to tell him what had happened.
The second the lock on the door clicked, Katlyn picked up the phone, smiling, twirling the cord around her finger.
"Yes. Security? I have something to report."
-Katlyn: Day 9 of the Hunger Games-
So. Yup. That is my little story there. There were some more details, but that was about it.
It was so exciting. And now, there is just me and this tree. Not that I'm lonely or anything.
I laughed and finally spoke out loud. "Who are you kidding, Katlyn? You've been talking to yourself for the last half hour. You can't really say you're doing fine." I sighed. "What do I do now, though?"
I felt like there was someone else thinking the same thing.
-Matt: Day 9 of the Hunger Games-
And, it's come down to this has it?
Black ash clinging to my clothes, I still sat in the dead ring around the Cornucopia, hoping, yet dreading, that something would actually happen.
Marcus gone. Shelby gone. Rachel gone. Zach…gone. I was all by myself. I would usually be able to find the humor in it, if I wasn't part of the tragedy. Is it a tragedy though? I was winning, wasn't I?
I chuckled to myself.
Yup. Completely and totally winning here. Two dead friends, no supplies besides a sword, psychedelic flowers surrounding me, this is the image of a winner here. I'm eager to go home, and live with this the rest of my life. I can use all that money I'll get to buy happiness, friends, and my innocence back. The Capitol is great, isn't it?
That was sarcasm by the way.
I wondered if it was honorable or pitiable that I could still make jokes after all this. Well, besides for some black ash, and dirt, how much else did I really have left? I had my sword, and all the bloodstains that went with that. I also had my memories, but I didn't really want those anymore. That was about it really. Well, and these goddam roses.
Rose.
Geez. I'm like the King Midas of misery. Everything I touch breaks down or dies.
After wiping my fingers on the few unsoiled patches on my shirt, I reached into and pulled out a rough, crinkled, worn paper; though, barely two weeks old.
I wanna see you get out of there alive, promise?
Sighing, I let wind take the slip of paper out of my hands.
"Yeah."
Instead of sending the slip into the distance, the wind flicked it back into my face, along with the briefest scent of the roses around me. The smell tickled my nose.
As I considered what I was about to do, I laughed to myself "Well, there's really nothing else to do, is there? I might as well, eh?"
Lifeless, I walked to the edges of the circle, the sweet smell intensifying with each step. A small dizziness came over me, but I powered through it, plucked a rose from the ground, and inhaled.
It smelled beautiful, but it quickly lost its mystical quality the longer I held it there. I braced myself for it to hit me, for me to lose my mind, for my mind to forget.
Something. Anything. Nothing?
I cursed. "Oh come on. Seriously? The one time I want something bad to happen to me. If there is such a thing as karma, sooner or later, I better get something to make all this up to me. Infinite knowledge? Meaning of life? Chocolate covered lesbians? I don't know, we'll have to work something out.
"I'm not any of those things, but I hope I'm enough."
I flipped around. In front of my eyes was an impossibility, a paradox, a ghost.
"R-Rose? Is that you?"
She smiled and waved. As she opened her lips, actual sounds projected from her mouth. "Pretty much, yeah."
I tried to form a coherent sentences, something elegant that I could use to express my myriad of emotions. All that came out was: "guh".
"I've told it to you once, and I'll tell you again: thanks for giving me a voice."
"So, you're here?"
Rose exaggerated all of her lip movements, happy to let each syllable pop off her tongue like gymnast on a springboard. "Yes. I am, Matt."
Pulling on my hair, I looked up at the sky. I asked for this didn't I? "No, you're not here."
"I seem pretty 'here' to me."
"No, you're not here. They," I pointed to the heavens, "are toying with me like they always have. You're not here. You're made-up; a figment of my imagination, and a piece of their fiction."
As I bent down my head, she was in front of me. Her blue eyes stabbing my own."Does that mean I'm not real to you though?"
"You're a hallucination. That pretty much defines 'not real'."
She shrugged. "Just because I'm a work of imaginations doesn't mean I'm not real to the people who care about me."
I thought about what she said. Sitting there, staring at Rose, the girl I pretty much killed, I tried to think about what she said. I can't really say if it was the crazy roses or this crazy Rose, but I had to agree.
She smiled and hugged me. I wasn't sure if I was imagining the feeling, though. "You agree then?"
I sighed. "I guess I do."
"Okay. Now that you do, I have something to remind you of." In her hand, appeared the slip of paper with her handwriting. "You promised me that you would make it out of here."
I refused it. "I promised you that I would see you again. That is something that isn't going to happen. You're dead."
She looked up to me and smiled. "Oh, I am very much alive. I'm alive somewhere in a prison cell deep within the Capitol. And believe me, I'm watching, and waiting for you to get out this alive."
I shook my head. "You're lying to me. It's more Capitol tricks to keep this interesting."
Rose shrugged, and began to fade away. "It could be...but would you really take that chance?"
I chuckled and gave her a look. "This is just mean, you know that?"
She giggled and waved goodbye as she completely vanished. "See you soon."
In two different places, both Katlyn and Matt had the same thought.
I'm tired of this. I'm tired of talking to myself. I'm tired of doing nothing. I'm tired of being alone. I think...I think it's time I ended this.