Mailey's POV #14
I wake up to the sound of clanging. I open my eyes and sit up. My eyes dart all around the small steal room and see nothing. The only thing that is in the room is the white bed I'm laying on. I look down at my clothes and see that I'm still in the arena clothes, my boots and everything. My clothes no longer hold the blood stains from Deanie's wound and I touch it to make sure it is really gone. I look away and kick my feet off the bed slowly and grab my neck as I bend it from side to side. Beside the bed are the black boots. I put them on quickly and slowly creep to the door. The door slides open quickly and I jump at the sight of a woman in a white lab coat. She gives me a bright smile.
"Its good to see you up Mailey." She stands in front of me and blocks my way to leave. "Congratulations on winning." She reaches her hand out so that I may shake it. I look down at her hand as if it could have teeth and reluctantly shake it back. "Well we usually leave five days for the victor to regenerate, but" She looks me up and down with a smile. "since the games only lasted two days and you didn't inflict too much damage on your body. We will be starting the celebrations early this evening." She gives me another smile but I don't talk. She looks at my neck. "Although you do have a scar on your neck from The boy from 11 holding a knife there." I look up at her quizzically. Of coarse she knows how that happened. Everyone will. "Makeup can fix that though." She gives me a pat on the shoulder and walks down the hall.
I wait at the door for a moment then walk out. I stand still and hold my hands strong at my side then look down both halls. I quickly make a decision and run down the left hall. My feet make loud thumps against the steal floor as I race down to where ever I may end up. I stand in front of what looks to be a door, but I stand far enough back that it won't open. A sigh escapes my throat and I take a step closer. The door slides open and I am welcomed by Sundy, Marcus, and my stylist. I find comfort in seeing them again, but I don't find comfort in their eyes. They all wish me dead I bet, I killed Bear my best friend. I killed a fellow tribute. I stand there quietly for a moment with my head hung low, but then am given a hug from Sundy. She wears heals that make her the same height as me so she gives me a peck on the cheek.
"Its great to see you home." She says through tears. After a long moment Marcus comes up beside me in his signature black sweater and gives both me and Sundy a hug. I wonder if they know what just happened with President Snow and I. It probably had happened a couple days ago because I have probably been knocked out for days. I want to tell them about what happened, but I don't bother mentioning anything to them because I am probably being watched and probably will be continued watched for the rest of my life.
I look over Sundy's shoulder and see my stylist standing awkwardly at the very back of the room quietly. I break away from their hugs and walk over to him.
"I still haven't learned your name." I reach my hand out for him to shake it. He looks down at my hand with a smile and grabs it.
"Waltif Pal." I smile up at him. He tugs my hand hard towards him and embraces me into a hug.
"Nice to meet you Waltif." I mumble through his grey shirt. I feel a hand on my shoulder and Waltif realeases me. Marcus stands over me.
"We should be heading back to the training building." Marcus says as I cringe. I don't want to be reminded of the last safe moments of the dead tributes. I look up at them and nod.
We all walk quietly through the building with our feet echoing behind us. No one is roaming the building not even the mentors. They must all be in their designated floors.
"So we are going up stairs for you to get something to eat, then we will get you dressed up there then you will have the show with Cesar and all the Capitol." I nod at Waltif and continue to walk with my head down. We get in the elevator and Sundy quickly hits the number 2 button. Waltif continues to talk. "Once on the stage they will introduce the prep team. Then they will present me then it will be Marcus and Sundy." The elevator opens up and he continues his sentence in the lobby of the apartment. "Then Cesar will introduce you and you will sit down in the chair beside him and watch the highlights of this years games." Everyone walks behind Waltif. I nod at him sadly and look around me.
I invision Bear sitting on the chair in the dinning room and look away quickly. Marcus places his hand on my shoulder and I look up at him.
"Its something you will not get use to." A tear falls down my face and I turn on my heal away from Marcus. He is the only one that will understand me. "You're a mentor now." I turn around and look up at him and walk over to the table. Sundy pulls out a chair for me and I sit down and a plate is placed in front of me. I don't want to eat their food. I want to get this over with. I want to be done with this.
After an hour of eating and talking with people, which was not much talk Waltif decides that I should get changed. He grabs my arm and loops it in his and stands me up. We walk down the hall to my room, just the two of us in silence. I don't strike up a conversation with him, I really don't even know what we will talk about. I don't want to talk to anyone actually because the only thing on my mind is the games and that's the last thing I want to think about. He releases his arm from mine and opens the door for me and I walk in slowly.
"I'll be right back." He tells me quickly as I stand in the center of the room. I find myself watching the bed not wanting to look away. "I need to grab your dress for tonight." After a long moment of no response Waltif closes the door and his footsteps disappear down the hall. I close my eyes and sigh. Once I open my eyes I see Bear on the edge of the bed staring at me with his casual grin. I look down at him and he looks up at me in silence. A tear yet again rolls down my cheek and I walk over to the bed. I find my seat right beside Bear. I know it isn't him, but I find comfort in seeing his smile. Seeing his blue eyes. Seeing him. I look at Bear's profile and see his wide grin. The grin that always made me smile. It was always plastered on his face. I look away quickly and watch my clean black boots in the dim light sparkle.
"You can't give up Mailey." I hear his voice close to my ear and look up. Bear is gone. There is nothing but thin air where I just saw him. The tears burst through my eyes like a ragging river. I ball my hands into fists and dig them into my eyes as I let the stream of tears flow down my face.
"What have I done?" I mumble. I lift my head off my fists and stand up. My feet walk quietly towards the bathroom. I watch my feet hit the ground softly with each step when a white square falls to the floor beside me. I stop in my tracks and pick up the paper. This was the one from Deanie's pocket. I forgot that I even took this from Deanie. I look down at the white paper and see a bloodied finger print that stands out from the white background. My hands begin to shake and I take a big gulp and try to hold my hands steadily. The paper seems to be folded in two and I pull the two pieces apart like a greeting door. Looking at me is two children. Well not children the one seems twelve while the other seems fourteen. Although there is more kids in the picture, their bodies seem to be cut off. Like someone had ripped it from a bigger piece of paper. A picture. It must be a school photo. In certain Districts all grades took a photo together and you got to stand beside whoever you wanted.
Why would Deanie have this in her pocket? I look closer at the two kids and see two familiar faces. One more familiar than the other. Smiling up at me with the brightest smile is Finnick with his almost white hair and bright blue eyes. He looks fourteen in this picture so that must mean that this was taken just before he went into the games. I cringe. His right arm is draped across a tall young girl with light brown hair and green eyes. She doesn't smile as bright as Finnick, but she does have a little grin. Deanie. A tear falls from my eye as I look at the two smiling. Even at the worst possible times, there can be happiness. I shake my head, not while President Snow is in charged. I look down at the corner of the picture and see a red heart. They really did love each other. Not in a husband and wife love, but as a brother and sister love. I can't even imagine how Finnick is feeling right now. My thought is broken short by the door swinging open.
"Lets get dressed quickly the show starts in a couple of hours." I quickly fold the picture and shove it in my pocket before Waltif can see it and wip the tear from my cheeks. "We don't have to do it now, we ca-" I shake my head roughly and walk over to him. Waltif has a golden outfit draped over his arm and I place my hand on the fabric and lightly brush it. The fabric feels feathery under my hand and it makes me feel warm.
"Lets put this on." I say with a weak smile. I walk over to the bathroom and take a shower. Once I get out of the shower I look at myself in the mirror. My eyes follow my wet, long curly black hair to my brown eyes. They continue past my cheeks and to my neck where a white scar the size of my pinky nail holds its place on the left side of my neck. I shake my head and as I walk out of the bathroom with a white robe on I jump over my pile of clothes. That's the last time I will be seeing those clothes. Waltif stands up and stretches the dress out to me. I drop the robe from my shoulders and grab the dress from him. As I struggle to get it over my head, Waltif helps me and I feel my head pop out of the top. Waltif takes a blow dryer in his hand from a portable makeup stand and begins to dry my hair.
"Perfect." He looks at me with a huge smile on his face. "You look beautiful." He gives his finger a twirl and I unwillingly spin around for him. "You are as beautiful on the outside as you are in." I look up at him confused. Didn't he watch the games? I killed people. People are dead just so one person can survive. I tried to prevent killing, I tried to save Deanie but Snow got in the way. "Go look in the mirror darling." I walk to the bathroom quickly and look into the sink mirror. "No silly." He gives me a bright smile and comes into the bathroom with me. He closes the door and a full length mirror appears in front of me.
"I never even knew that was there." I say to him as I look at my reflection. My dress is a loose fitting dress that comes down just above my ankles. It has short sleeves that come down mid bicep. Its gold in colour and looks furry in certain areas while in other areas its shiney. Waltif lets out a loud shriek and runs into the bedroom. I ignore him and look up at my face. I wear no makeup and my black hair is worn plainly down. The dress and my black hair really match each other and it makes my cheeks pop out more than usual, but it is nice to see no change in my appearance. I am who I am. They haven't changed me.
Waltif runs in with a pair of black flats. "Almost forgot." He gives me a little smile and then kneels down with my ankle in his hand and slips the shoe on my foot. Seeing Waltif do this reminds me of a fairytale my mother use to tell me when I was little about a girl losing her slipper after dancing with a Prince and the Prince searches everywhere to find her. As Waltif places my foot into the other shoe the realization hits me like a ton of bricks. I'm going to see my parents in a couple days. I'm going to be home. A tear falls down my cheek and as Waltif stands up I wrap my arms around him in a hug. I didn't lose everyone. My parents are the only ones left.
A sob escapes my throat and the tears yet again fall from my face. Waltif's hand brushes my hair and he tries to calm me. "Good thing I didn't put makeup on you, Mailey." His joke makes me laugh and I pull away from the hug. I smile at him and rub the back of my hand on my cheek to brush away the tears.
"Lets go." He leaves the room first and I follow him out. I walk to the bedroom door where Waltif is holding the door open for me when I run back to the bathroom quickly. I drop on my knees and grab my pants from the pile of clothes. I rifle through the pockets quickly and pull out the piece of paper. I breath in deeply and hold it in my hand as I leave the bathroom.
"What was that?" Waltif asks me as we walk down the hall. I look forward. I close my hand tightly around the paper, making sure it doesn't get crumpled.
"Nothing." As we enter the dinning room I see both Sundy and Marcus standing quietly to the side with a smile.
"You look wonderful." Sundy tells me then walks over to the elevator with Marcus. Behind them is two other people dressed ridiculously like the rest of the Capitol citizens.
"Who are they?" I whisper to Waltif. He looks at me with a smile.
"That's the prep team." He walks over to the elevator and I follow him. "You never met them because I like to do my own work." The elevator dings open and we all pile in quickly and quietly. The elevator brings us all the way to the lobby where we will be escorted to under the stage for the Capitol and us to review the highlights of this years Hunger Games.
Since Waltif and I were the last ones inside the elevator we were the first ones out. I take a couple steps out of the elevator with my head turned listening to Waltif talking to everyone else who is walking out behind us. I hard object smashes into my chest and I think I have walked into a wall. How embarrassing, I think. I open my eyes and see Finnick looking down at me with red puffy eyes.
"Sorry." He mumbles and walks towards the elevator. Everyone walks past me as I stand a few feet from Finnick and watch as he enters the elevator. He holds his finger by the number without pressing them and I stare at him. His left hand is covered with a white bandage and he wears disheveled clothing. I hope he realizes that its mandatory to go to tonight's viewing. By the way he looks now though, it seems he doesn't care if President Snow sends peacekeepers to kill him. The door closes in front of him and my thoughts come back to me.
"Mailey." I turn around and see Sundy angrily tapping her toes to the ground with her fist on her hips. I roll my eyes and walk over to her and Waltif. Everyone else must of went on without them. All of our feet patter against the ground as we make our way closer to a door. I look down at my side and open up my hand to reveal the picture. I look into Finnick's young eyes. Then I picture Finnick's eyes when they looked into mine. The games change people. Even if someone does when the games. Sometimes they don't ever come back to who they once were.