I fell out of bed from a surprisingly horrible dream. The details were fuzzy and I could barely feel my hands.
Good-morning.
The snake-like voice hissed. I clutched my head and stumbled into the bathroom. Turning the water on to ice cold, I worked on resistance. Everything was a workout now. It was the only way to ignore the voice.
I scarfed down a breakfast of scrambled eggs, potatoes, and bacon. After cutting my hand on a broken wine glass, I headed to the Mentor Viewing Room. Enobaria and Harsk were already there, pretending to try to find an antidote for Tarquin.
He seemed to be easily cutting through the forest, but there was a green tinge to his face and he had a sheen of sweat on his forehead. He spit and blood dotted the ground. A twig snapped and Luxe jumped from a tree.
"You." Tarquin glared and Luxe smirked.
"Me." They charged each other and began fighting. Although Tarquin was taller and bigger, he was poisoned. They were equally matched and continued to cross blades. Tarquin managed to cut Luxe across the leg and stab his arm. Luxe retaliated by twisting Tarquin's arm behind his back, eliciting a cry of pain. Luxe rammed his sword through Tarquin's chest and twisted, the metal exiting his other side.
Tarquin screamed in agony and I felt like I was about to throw up. I smashed a vase and felt the blood tricked down my clenched hands. Enobaria and Harsk looked up. They quickly stood and I groaned.
Tsk. You are a failure. Sad, but I think we need to up our game.
"Cato. Go back to the Twelfth Floor and get some sleep."
"I can't sleep." I growled and Enobaria dialled a number on her phone.
"Hello? Yeah. I'm sending Cato. No... Just a nap with Juna." I rolled my eyes, rubbing my bloody knuckles on my shirt.
"You're sending me, a full grown Victor, to have a nap with my sister?" I growled and Enobaria nodded while Harsk snickered.
"Yes. Now get out of my sight." She commanded, turning back to the TV. Murmuring curses, I went down the elevator and into a waiting car.
"Did Enobaria tell you where we were going?" I asked and the driver nodded.
"Her brother-in-law's house if I'm not mistaken."
"Then step on it."
Nap time. Nap time. Oh, do you know how many people would die if you just snapped the driver's neck right now? Of course, you would die too, so there's a con. Sad how you think I'll just go away when your feelings are in turmoil. The dreams are one to prove it.
I looked around and saw a small puzzle laying on the seat next to me. I picked it up. It was a cube with a different color on each side. Each side was three squares by three squares. I pressed a button on it and watched the colors scramble.
You have to match each side's color.
I hesitantly slid one line of blocks and felt a surge of impatience run through me.
"You can keep it. It's not like I'll ever figure ot how to crack it anyways." The driver stated and I nodded my thanks.
Twisting the lines this way and that, I managed to scramble the puzzle even more.
"We're here." The man said and I nodded. Exiting the car, I looked at the newest building made in the Capitol. The Alliance. It was home to some of the wealthiest, most well known Capitolites. The weird ones and my family.
I received smiles as I rode the elevator up and onto our floor. There was a hall with waterfalls instead of walls that lead to the foyer. My shoes clicked against the marble floor and the pitter of little feet approached me.
"Cato!" Juna screamed and ran into my arms. I hugged her and twirled her around.
"Juna!" I laughed for the first time in weeks. We walked to the living room where Father was reading the newspaper.
"Hello, Cato. Come to look around or sleep?" He smiled, removing his glasses. I shrugged.
"I guess I'll do both."
Nice house.
"Juna, show your brother around." Father returned to his newspaper and Juna bounced happily. She lead me to a large room with a crystal chandelier and a glass board hovering in mid air.
"This is the dining room! Daddy says the table has maggots in it that makes it float!" She exclaimed and I frowned.
"You mean magnets?"
"Uh huh!" Pulling my hand through the hall, Juna lead me to a large room with a bed, table, and sofa. "Daddy says this is your room." I nodded. She lead me to another rom that looked like mine but was pink. "And this is mine!"
The walls were white and the furniture quite modern. There was a white lace curtain thing over her bed and a dollhouse in the corner. Of course, her closet was insurmountably huge, but Juna never wanted to wear Capitolite clothes and our entire family thanked her for that. She liked lace and frilly things to an extent.
We walked around the spacious dwellings of my father while chatting aimlessly. It was after an hour, my phone rang. The caller ID showed Haymitch.
"Hello?"
"Get your lazy ass over here now! Warren's about to kill the girl from 9! Oh and I sent him some medicine and water because all of the water is poisoned!" He yelled and I cringed. Juna looked up.
"Can I go with you?" She asked and I shrugged.
"Ask Father." Running away, Juna's shoes made small pittering sounds.
"Daddy?" She called out.
"Yes, Juna?" Father's reply floated through the hall. I entered the living room.
"Can I go with Cato to the Tribute Building?" She asked and Father looked at me.
"Will you be with Enobaria?" He asked and I nodded.
Not really, but yes at the same time.
"Be home for dinner. You too, Cato." Father returned to his newspaper. Juna squealed and kissed his cheek.
"Let's go, Cato!" She smiled and an Avox handed her a light sweater. "Thank you!" The Avox nodded in reply.
The black car was waiting for us and I watched Juna talk about what she and 'Winny' had been learning together. Apparently, Lucilla was going to stay over one night on Saturday and watch a movie with Juna.
We entered the Tribute Building and shot up in an elevator to the 2nd floor.
"Aunt Enobaria!" Juna called and Harsk appeared.
"Hey! What brings you here?" He laughed and Juna ran into his arms.
"Hi Harsk! Where's Au-"
"Who on earth- Juna! What are you doing here?" Enobaria appeared from around the corner. She hugged Juna and I waved good-bye to them. "Where are you going?"
"I have to go get sponsors since Haymitch isn't!" I called and re-entered the elevator. The doors slid shut just as Enobaria took Juna's hand and led her into the living room.
"Monster boy! Hey! Warren won! He beat her!" Haymitch yelled with glee as soon as he saw me. I nodded.
"How did he kill her?"
"Stabbed the girl in the neck." Haymitch turned to the TV and pointed. I saw Warren looking dazed next to the bloody corpse of a girl. He stepped back and began to run away from her.
He didn't even check the corpse for supplies.
A cold shiver ran up my back and I continued to watch. Warren sprinted into the flower fields and grabbed his pack. He continued to run until he had to stop for breath.
"Are you okay?" The girl from 7 asked. Warren's head snapped up.
"Who are you?" He asked, stepping back. She smiled, brandishing an axe.
"Johanna Mason, at your service." And threw the axe straight into his skull. I gaped at the TV while Haymitch choked. The canon fired and I smashed my fist into the glass stand next to me.
Keep going. Keep destroying things. It's what you do. It's what monsters do. And you're a monster, aren't you?
And for once, I agreed. I threw wine glasses, decanters, a chair, and a bottle of vodka. Growling, I punched a peacekeeper, killed an Avox, and threw a vodka bottle at another, knocking him out.
"Calm the fuck down!" Haymitch yelled and I glared at him. The ground around us was a mess. Flowers, vodka, wood chunks, glass shards, crystal shards, and blood. Lots of blood. Red wine and blood stained the marble floors and white leather couches. "What the hell happened?! You were calm and then you just go fucking crazy!" Haymitch yelled and I sat in one of the clean chairs.
A group of frightened looking Avoxes hastened to clear the debris and the two bodies away. Haymitch shook his head and I pulled the puzzle out. Flipping around, I cursed and shoved it back into my pocket.
"I would offer you a drink but it looks like there isn't anything left to drink." Haymitch snorted and stretched. "Well, another pair dead. I'm going to sleep. Wake me up when someone wins!" He called while walking down the hallway.
Returning to the 2nd Floor, I ran into Brutus.
"I saw your tribute kid die. That girl from 7 is going to be very interesting." Brutus grinned and I nodded my assent.
"So was Enobaria supposed to let our tributes die this year?" I asked and Brutus softly laughed.
"I don't know. Did you know Tarquin was from a wealthy family, yet he always signed up for tesserae? Either he wanted to be in the Games very badly, or his parents did." I nodded and walked into the living room. Juna was laying on the sofa with her head and Enobaria's lap and she was prattling about how "food would taste better if it was dyed pink".
Ah the innocence of childhood.
"Heard you had a mental breakdown." Enobaria said to no one in particular. She must have heard me come in.
"Yeah." I sat next to Juna's feet. She sat up and smiled, twirling her brown and gold hair. She smiled at me and fell back onto Enobaria's legs.
"And I think hot pink would be good for fruits. Light pink for vegetables, and- what's that girl doing with her axe?" I looked up and saw Johanna Mason swinging her axe in a manic way. The axe slipped into another girl's skull and the cannon fired.
Only three left in the arena and it's back to District 12 for us. I wonder how long Snow plans on keeping us there?
Only Luxe and Vanity remained. Johanna sat in front of the Cornucopia, waiting. There was a clang and Luxe rushed forward to meet her. Johanna stood and ran forward screaming. She dodged a knife and met his sword with her axe. Baring her teeth, she spit in his face.
Reeling back, Luxe closed his eyes for three seconds and that was more than enough for Johanna to bury her axe in his chest.
Boom. Vanity will finish her.
"Aunt Enobaria? I think she's going to win." Juna sat up and looked at the screen. Enobara did not bother answering and continued to glare at the TV.
Vanity screamed and rushed to meet Johanna in battle. The two were almost evenly matched, but Vanity was stronger. They disarmed each other and began to wrestle. Johanna spit in Vanity's face, but she spit back. They clawed at each other and kicked. Punches were thrown and both had their noses broken. Blood spurted from Johanna's nose and she cracked it back into place. Pinning Johanna to the ground, Vanity picked up her spear and raised it. Johanna jammed her knee into Vanity's stomach and took the spear, jamming it into Vanity's throat. She twisted it until the tip came out of her hairline in the back of Vanity's neck. Johanna shoved the metal shaft further into the wound and let Vanity fall.
What. The. Flying. Fuck?!
How on earth had the weak, underfed, snivelling wreck win?! Enobaria and Harsk chuckled and Juna grinned.
"Told you." She smiled and hopped off the sofa. Turning to an Avox, she asked for a glass of juice. I laughed as Johanna gripped the ladder and rose up to the hovercraft.
I looked at my watch.
"Juna, Father wants us home for dinner. We have to go." I called and she returned holding a pink cup and nodded.
"I'm hungry!" We said our good-bye's and got into the chauffeured car. Paparazzi flocked to the sides of the car, asking for a reaction. The 20 minute drive to Father's house turned into a 50 minute trek.
We finally parked in the overcrowded parking lot. With Juna on my shoulders, I signed two posters, three foreheads, and one breast to finally get into the elevators. I hit Father's floor and finally exhaled.
"That was chaotic." I huffed, pulling Juna from my shoulders. She straightened her skirt and nodded.
"You're famous, Cato."
Unfortunately.
"Unfortunately."
Father greeted us in the foyer and tutted.
"I would have expected you to be here sooner. Dinner is ready." He smiled and we followed him into the dining room.
The table with maggots.
Yes. I smirked and sat down. We each loaded our plates and began to eat.
"President Snow says you are to return to 12, Cato. I believe it is in your best interest to do so. The Games were interesting this year." Father stated and I puffed my cheeks out.
"Sad. I had hoped to return to 2. Or even live in the Capitol." Juna pursed her lips and sighed.
"Why can't I go with you?" She asked and Father barked a laugh.
"Could you give up frilly dresses and Enobaria for two weeks?" He asked and she shook her head.
"You can visit me instead!" She anounced. I smiled and nodded. There were chickens and ducks arranged on top of edible flowers and chopped mushrooms. Light, fluffy bread was in a woven basket and there was an assortment of sauces ready.
I dipped my chicken into a thick, creamy, blue sauce and ate it, indulging in the tart taste of blueberries.
~'~'~'~
"I'll might miss you." I hugged Enobaria. She looked at me funny.
"You won't miss me. I'm sending you training gear and a workout plan. Trust me, you won't miss me. If you want to miss anyone, miss Juna." I pulled Juna into my arms and felt her hands grab my shirt.
"Don't leave me."
"I'll be back in a year, and you can visit me if you want to!" I laughed and she sighed. I wiped two tears from her dark eyelashes and stood up. Shaking Father's hand, I boarded the train and we were on our way back to District 12.
The 72nd Hunger Games had officially ended, and the 73rd Hunger Games had just begun.
Happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be ever in your favor.