~Bats Screeching in the distance~ 6:45
"Oh, MY, GOD! I'm so hungry!" As soon as I walk downstairs, I hear the whining of hungry teenagers
"Shut up, we all are" Johanna snaps at Peeta who just said that last remark.
"Where's that Haymitch dude?" Cato whines as he bangs his fists on the dark willow coffee table. Right now the tributes are all gathered in the lounge.
Besides our bedrooms, it's basically the only place in the castle where we can venture around in. The castle is divided up in wings. When you walk into the castle, a big hall that Miss Coin says that she holds balls and parties in, off on either side there are two doors. To the right side is a big door that reveals a large study. There is a door inside that room and it leads off to a large hallway. There are many doors off of the hallway, and a few hidden staircases that you wouldn't normally find unless you were looking for them.
At the end of the hall the is another corridor going to the left, another shorter hallway off to the right and both end with more corridors leading from them as well. If you take the shorter hallway and make a right turn at the end of it and continue going all the way down, ignoring all the other hallways leading from it. At the end of the hallway there is a hidden staircase. Once you go up it, there's a big living room with a few doors leading from it. It has a very mysterious feel to it.
One of the doors leads to a narrow corridor, that feels musty and dust coats every flat surface. Off of it are many doors of different sizes, textures and colors. There's a small landing with a large, heavy wooden door separating it from a wider hallway. Down the wider hallway is where our rooms are located. Well all the other tributes', mine is in the other one. If you continue going down the hallway the is a spiral staircase and when you go down it there is the lounge. It has a large flat screen TV with a lot of expensive looking furniture. It's a large spacious room, and holds lots of tables and Halloween decorations. Off of it, is a grand dining room(there is the grand one, it's about 10 times better and is located somewhere else in the castle) and on the opposite side are two wide doors. One leads to a kitchen and the other to a game room.
If you were to take the other door on the left side of the grand hall. It would lead to a large eerie room with large dark windows, framed by large blood-red drapes, with a black stone, spiral staircase. It leads up to the 5+ stories overhead. Haymitch only showed us that room for a few seconds and then rudely ushered us out. Obviously someone doesn't want us to see something...
"Really? You think you're so dope that you even called the alcoholic 'dude'?" I snort as I sit down on the couch between Finnick and Cato
"Finally, succumbing to the sweet delicacy that is Cato Mannis" Cato says as he wraps his arm around my shoulders and scoots over a bit too close.
"Yeah, no" I say as I quickly rebound over to the other side of the couch. Big mistake. I fall right on Finnick and am flailed across his body. My torso is laying over his legs.
"Oh!? I guess this beauty prefers sexy over cute" Finnick says as he leans down for a kiss. I quickly raise up my hand and slap him right across the face.
"Oww"
"Serve's you right" I say as I shove him away and sit right back up in between the two. Finnick rubs the left side of his face, where a red hand mark lays visible on his toned face. Cato's sitting on the opposite side of the plush leather watching a show on the giant television before us, all the while silently keeping an eye on the oh-so-comical scene beside him.
"Guess you made the wrong choice" Cato teases as he reaches for the remote
"Tell me about it" I say as I stand up and walk towards Cash, who's talking to Clove.
"Having some problems over there?" Clove teases
"I'm not in the mood, Clover. I almost got kissed by Spray Tan Odair" I say disgusted as I brush my hair out of my face. Cash beams widely and Clove laughs a bit too loudly, causing a few strange looks from the other teenagers.
"I can't believe you didn't accept the kiss!" Foxy says as she walks up beside us
"Oh? Now you're one of their groupies? What happened to you?" Cash guffaws as she playfully slaps her arm
"Nah, I'm simply suggesting that it wouldn't be such a bad idea to get your first kiss from one of those hotties!" Foxy says as she eyes Marvel from across the room.
"Oooh! Does someone have a little crush?" Clove says as Marvel blushes, noticing Foxy's stare
"Shut up! No, I'm just saying that they aren't, unattractive" Foxy admits
"Okay whatever, back to the real question here. You haven't had your first kiss?!" Cash exclaims in a hushed tone
"Yeah, it's not that big of a deal. Besides, you know I haven't had a boyfriend so obviously I would not have kissed anyone before" I say trying to get away from this awkward conversation.
I look around and observe the other tributes. Johanna is now sitting between Finnick and Cato, flirting outrageously with them. Something about it just rubs me the wrong way. Madge is exchanging a few words with Rue, who's sitting at the island in the food lacking kitchen. Peeta, Thresh and Marvel are standing near the staircase, talking obnoxiously loud. Peeta keeps taking quick glances at me, blushing every time our eyes meet. Thresh occasionally winks in my direction and flexes his extremely muscular arms. Marvel and Foxy share romantic looks and gestures completely ignoring the rest of the world. I have to say that I don't approve of the relationship, I think he's too old for her and it would end in tears for someone. I'm pretty sure he's older than me, but honestly, what do I care? It's their life and if Foxy wants to get heartbroken by one of the popular boys by him cheating on her, then so be it. I just wish that the ones close to me didn't have to get hurt. That's why I'm so protective.
GrooOOWgrlll
My stomach makes the sound of a whale dying as loud as a vehicle. Rue and Madge glare at us and turn their crayon raped faces away from me in disgust. Johanna sneers from the couch and says something to Cato which makes him laugh and give me mocking look. Finnick's stomach joins in and the room turns into a choir of stomach belching. Peeta gives me a sympathetic smile as well as Thresh and Marvel drops his lovey-dovey gaze and turns and chuckles at me.
"I guess the hunger has finally hit everyone" He winks at me and I know he's trying to make me feel less embarrassed. I guess not al of those popular jocks are bad... Maybe Foxy won't get her heart broken after all.
"Yeah it's finally hit the poverty children" Johanna remarks and gives me a sassy look as she plays with Cato's shirt collar
"Do you hear your self talk?" Thresh snaps as everyone suppresses their laughter
"Yes. It's of my greatest joys in life" (A/N Anyone know where I got that line from?) She snaps before she kisses Cato under the jaw. I feel myself clenching my fists and I don't understand why. I shouldn't be developing these feelings for him, not for anyone.
"Does anyone know where that Annie girl is? She's supposed to be waiting on us, right?" That Rue girl says exasperated. I realize that it's the first time I've ever heard her talk. Maybe even the first time I've even noticed her. She's got long, dark, slender legs that are defined by her short pale beige shorts. She looks taller than me, maybe 5 6". She's super skinny, she may be even anorexic, and her long, curly dark hair hangs loosely around her torsot, pinned back with a few bobby pins. She has a perfect nose, manicured eyebrows and small brown eyes that are accentuated by full eyelashes, layered in mascara. She is wearing a thick layer of sparkly green eyeliner and smoky eye shadow. Her lips are coated in bright purple lipstick. Lots of men would say she is beautiful, I would say, what is she hiding underneath?
Her friend Madge is dressed up about the same as her, but with more crap piled on her face. Both of their shirts show fake cleavage, and their heels are taller than the length of my hand. I have seen them around school, they're always flirting with what they think are hot boys. They are in the popular crowd and look down on all of us 'slugs'.
"I haven't seen her since Coin introduced us" Thresh says in his booming voice. As he speaks I look over at Cash and she is staring at him, eyes wide open, mouth clamped tight and head abnormally stretched forward. I wonder what is wrong with her, please tell me she is not falling for him.
"Maybe we should go look for them" I suggest, my stomach twisting in agonizing pain. I NEED FOOD!
"That's a good idea! We should divide up into search parties" Madge says. Okay, so she is a bit dingy.
"Yes..."I say very slowly like I'm talking to a five year old. Luckily, I have a lot of experience with that.
"How about we get into pairs, then we can cover more ground quicker" Clove says as she hops up and down like a little child.
"Okay, but I think we should pair up with the opposite gender" Cato snarls
"And why would that be?" Johanna asks seductively, clinging to Cato like a lost puppy
"Because everyone knows that girls are deluded and incompetent when it comes to looking for things" He says as he basically pushes Johanna away from him
"I'm fine with that.." That Peeta kid drifts off into his own little world while eyeing me. What is wrong with that kid? He's very special...I hope I don't get paired with him
"Okay! So I'll go with Finnick. Foxface and Thresh. Johanna and Peeta. Rue and Marvel. Cash and Gale. And finally Katniss will go with Cato!" Clove announces, taking charge. Uuugh! Why do I have to be paired with him? Of all people? All I can say is, he better no be expecting the same treatment that Johanna was giving him from me.
1. Okay! So I know it's been a while *sigh* but I've worked really hard on this chapter, for a few days. I know it doesn't have any scary or creepy stuff in it, but more humor(?). I was going to add the part where they search for one of the servants and explore the castle, but I realized it would be too long. I don't know about you, but when chapters are too long, I tend to skip over paragraphs and I don't want that happening to this story!
2. Also, I have began this new program if you will. What it is: Instead of posting a chapter, immediately after finishing writing it. I would wait a few days to post it. During those few days I would begin on the net chapter! So this way updates would be more often! I am not known for updating on a regular basis, but this way I may be closer to updating more regularly. I just find that, once you start on a new chapter, you can't stop writing. But then you finish it and think, 'I guess I can just shut my brain off for this story now and work on the other ones, duh'. I will let you know that I am juggling 3 other stories now and rewriting another! The next chapter will be long and exciting so I won't enforce this program to this story just yet, but I will soon.
3. Also(again), this chapter was a complete and utter filler! The next chapter is when things will begin to get a lot creepier! When they go looking for Annie, each of the pairings will come across something... dare I say strange? This was not one of my better chapters, it was boring, dull and a waste of time to read. But most of all it was poorly written. I apologize for that, and I hope you have a good day!
4. Also(third times the charm!), please check out my other stories! It would mean so much! My friend Lawrence551105 has posted a story recently. It's about Rue when she gets transformed into a mutt(that's right, she did!) and something goes wrong and she isn't fully brainwashed... Please check it out, it would mean so much to her! I helped write it if that matters... Also, don't PM her. She never checks her emails unless I'm there instructing her to, so if you want to PM her, just PM me and I'll pass the message along as soon as possible and reply back for her ! Please review