Chapter 1
The teacher droned on about history in his monotone voice as I stared out the window, not listening to a single word he said. I had heard this story a million times before. And besides, it was such a beautiful day outside. The sky was a vibrant turquoise blue with the sun shining it's brilliant warmth in the center. It almost made the metallic walls of the Capitol sparkle like gems. My ears twitched anxiously at the thought of just running through the streets, wind running through my hair and fur. Nowhere as good as it must be to race through a forest but I'll take what I can get.
"Class dismissed!" The shrill ringing of the bell calling an end to class brought me back to reality. I stretched, my ears flattening against my head as my tail straightened out stiffly. My desk partner and best friend, Elona or Loni for short, watched.
"Dreaming of sweet freedom again, Hope?" I groaned as my muscles relaxed.
"Am I that transparent?" We both laughed as we gathered out books, already knowing the answer. I never pay attention in any classroom with a window. It was near impossible.
"It's you, Hope. If there's a window, your eyes make a beeline for it. And yet you have no problems with schoolwork!" Loni's golden hair made waves as she shook her head. "I want your genes, Hope! A good-looking brainic for a father, it's like the complete package!" I gave her a look of disgusted disbelief.
"I know you did not just call my father good looking. That is sick!"
"Well, I can't help it if your dad's a complete dreamboat!" Loni continued to ramble on as we left the classroom and I was once more faced with my reality.
Many other children were filing into the hall, some normal, some like me sporting various animal features. School was on the first floor of our tower so occasional doors gave enticing passage to the outside world. Unfortunately, peacekeepers guarded every door, trapping Humutts with animal features inside. It has been this way since the Incident. My tail twitched in a mixture of annoyance at my imprisonment and terror at the memory. No Humutt was allowed outside our hidden training center, period. We were trapped here, "protected."
"Loni, is something happening today?" All of the peacekeepers seemed to be on edge. That never bode well for what we would find in the tech lab. Loni bit her lip nervously.
"Grandfather's coming tomorrow." I sighed, frowning. Grandfather meant President Snow and President Snow meant Father being extra neurotic. Loni, being my best friend, easily read my distaste at the thought. "Hope, please try to play nice… He is my grandfather…"
"Which is the only reason he gets any semblance of respect from me." My friend smiled a little, knowing very well that was the best she was going to get. I do not like President Snow in any way, shape, or form. He was the reason we were kept in this blasted tower. "We should probably find Dad before one of the noobs end up fired."
"Not to mention, he's so cute when he's angry. I rolled my eyes at her. Loni's always been a bit boy crazy. And with her perfect blue-eyed blonde combo, men flocked to her. Of course, she didn't sport a tail or animal ears like I did.
See, all of us Humutts have some form of animal DNA in us. But we don't all have obvious animal features. Loni was one of those lucky ones. The only possible giveaways on her were the elongated canines and slight hiss to her S's. I, on the other hand, have a pair of white tiger ears on the top of my head and a matching tail. That meant I pretty much had permanent residency in this building. Whoopie.
A twitch of the ear and the extremely faint sound of yelling heralded the presence of my loving if somewhat OCD father and head of the Humutts program, Seneca Crane. "Sounds like Father's really on a roll today." Loni gave me a confused look before she remembered my advanced hearing.
"How bad?"
"Three girls scared, one guy intimidated, and one Crane very, very tense."
"No offense, but your dad is almost always tense." I had to roll my eyes at that fact.
"Ok. A tense-r Crane."
"'Tense-r' is not a word."
"Shut up."
"Of all the days for you IDIOTS to let one of the computers break down!" Loni and I came to an abrupt halt at that. Boy, was my dad ticked.
"Well," Loni started. "Now we know what's making him so mad." I nodded, leading the way into the tech lab. From what we just heard, I honestly wasn't completely sure what to expect.
Luckily, the lab was still in one piece. Father wasn't a particularly violent man but if he was frustrated enough, motherboards have been known to fly. Today, however, he seemed to be trying to fix the problem rather than toss it. A pair of tan-clad legs was sticking out of the computer's underneath, indicating he was attempting to correct whatever was wrong with the computer. "Father?" A clang and pained grunt of annoyance answered. "You ok?"
"No! I am not ok!" On that note, the missing half reappeared, be smudged in all manner of liquid computer innards. Yet his intricately carved beard remained clean and perfect. I swear that thing is indestructible. "The main computer refuses to work. And I've tried everything to fix it!"
"Let me give it a shot?" My father released a rather ungentlemanly huff and kicked the computer.
"If you think you can." I sat at the computer, prepared to perform programming surgery on this computer as Crane continued to ramble. "We can't have the main computer breaking down now. It has all our data on it and President Snow is going to be here-"
"Tomorrow," Loni interrupted. "Grandfather isn't coming until tomorrow, Mr. C. No need to get your knickers in a twist yet."
"Besides it's just a little program glitch. Nothing to panic about." I quickly took care of the offending glitch, hopefully restoring some peace of mind to me father. Judging by his continued frantic pacing however, I'd say it didn't nothing for his nerves. "Father, you can relax. It's not a crime."
"You make it sound so simple, Hope." Loni rolled her blue eyes.
"S-seriously, C. If you keep panicking like this, you'll be stuck in bed during Grandfather's visit. An obnoxiously flirtatious smile made its way onto her face. "Granted… That would mean you need a nurse. And…" I had to roll my eyes as my best friend cozily wrapped herself around my father. I know she's just playing but it was still kinda gross. "I know a particularly enthusiastic volunteer…" Father chuckled.
"As tempting as that sounds, Elona, I'm pretty sure your grandfather would not be pleased to find us in a possibly compromising position." He kissed her hand.
"Oh gag!" I pretended to cough and gag, eliciting a giggle from Loni. "The mental images! I'm traumatized."
"Drama queen," Loni muttered playfully, sitting on me.
"Mutt."
"That's Ms. Mutt to you." Father rolled his eyes.
"Girls, can I have my chair back? I have work to do."
"No," we answered in unison. He shook his head at us. Being cooped up in this building, we had to entertain ourselves somehow and Father was a perfect target.
"Out of my chair, you two. I'm pretty sure you two need to be somewhere else." I rolled my eyes at him.
"Are you saying you don't want to spend time with your daughter?"
"Of course I do, Hope. But we're both busy. I believe you two are supposed to be in training right now. In fact…"
"Cripes! We're late!" I grabbed Loni's wrist, practically dragging her out of the computer lab. We really didn't need to be late for training. School was one thing to be tardy for, training was a whole nother kettle of fish. I had to sprint at top speed to even hope for being on time. Not an easy task with Loni wearing four-inch heels.
Even in my mad dash though, I did not fail to her my smart alec father chuckle, "Works every time."