A/N: Hey everyone! I'm quite happy with the timing of this chapter but I would've updated sooner if my internet didn't take ten minutes to load because of our crappy connection :( Anyway, I will stop rambling and let you read the next chapter! (I'm sorry it's not the best by far)
My heart sinks to the floor as I pick up the small envelope, hesitating to open it. I try to imagine it's just a birthday card but even that doesn't motivate me to open the envelope.
No, snap out of it. I rip open the top in the most unladylike fashion and pull out the small piece of gold-gilded card inside.
You are required to attend a meeting with the President Corilanus Snow. Please be at the Mansion at exactly Four PM today and an attendant will direct you to where you need to go next. Attendance is mandatory.
I gasp audibly and the piece of card flutters delicately to the floor. He knows, he knows, he knows.
I sit down on the sofa and put my head in my hands, trying to think of a rational explanation and failing miserably. It could just be about the Quell or about me leaving me job.
The thought gives me a little comfort until I realise that I am probably wrong, I know exactly why he wants to see me and I curse myself inwardly for letting it continue all this time. We should've stopped it at an accidental kiss at a party, we were stupid to let it go this far. All the more reason to stop now, I suppose.
Right, four o clock. I glance at the clock and see that I have twenty-five minutes before my impending castigation.
It will only take me about fifteen but I feel like walking slowly for a change so I set off early.
The crowd has got worse around the large screens and some people are even setting out deck chairs and picnic cloths. I was given the opportunity to watch the announcement with all of the other Escorts and stylists but declined needing my pyjamas and a glass of red wine rather than a room full of cheering people. Personally, I don't really see all of the fuss. It is just another Hunger Games, another twenty-four families lives ruined. Another two children's deaths on my hands.
"Please take a seat; he will see you in a minute."
Anyone looking in from a distance would think I was here for a job interview rather than an inevitable third degree.
A woman with blue hair done in a complicated up-do sits tapping on her computer keyboard for what seems like an eternity before a peacekeeper enters from a dark wooden door and asks me to come with him.
He leads me down a lengthy, ornate looking corridor, the sound of my high heels reverberating across the marble and the walls at a deafening level. He stops in front of a heavy looking door like the one before and motions for me to enter.
I stop for a moment to regain my composure and brush my now sweaty palms on my skirt before I push open the door and walk into a room that smells just as my apartment did.
I stand awkwardly at the end of the room for a moment as he doesn't seem to notice my presence so I clear my throat and he turns around, still at his place by the window.
"Ah, Ms Trinket, I'm so happy that you could make it today. Please, take a seat."
I do so and he does likewise behind the pine desk. He looks different than how he does when he makes public broadcasts, older and more worn. His voice still holds its tenacity and determination that, considering his age, one has to admire.
"You'll have to forgive me for I was simply looking out on the city; after all it is very beautiful. Don't you agree?"
I nod and wring my hands together nervously at the innocence of the questions. Surely I cannot be here to discuss the architecture of the Capitol.
"Quite the jewel in the crown of Panem." He resumes his place by the window and I wonder if it is beyond this man's capability to stay still. "It is such a shame that its shine must be tarnished by all of the outer lying Districts."
He sighs and takes the rose out of his lapel, studying its delicate petals. "Full of underdogs, full of men, women and children all desperately crying for change. Full of men like Haymitch Abernathy." On his name, he looks up from the rose and crosses the room so he is back behind the desk.
"Now then, I would much prefer it if I could cut to the chase. But firstly, could you agree to do something for me?"
I nod numbly, "Yes sir."
"Could you promise to tell me the truth?" again I nod and he smiles tightly. "Good. Now, I like many of your colleagues last night were concerned for your whereabouts. Where were you?"
"I was in Twelve, it was late and I had had too much to drink so Haymitch said I could stay and I did." I reply flatly my eyes set on some glass sky rise outside the window. I'm not sure why I gave him an answer, he doesn't deserve one.
He chuckles dryly. "Well I suppose it is true what people say, spend enough time with somebody and they begin to rub off on you." He pauses for a moment as if waiting for a response. "I have a question for you, Ms Trinket. Why have him when you can have anyone you want? Why have the crude, brash, drunk man from District Twelve, why break the law for something so senseless?"
Again, he expects an answer but I don't give him one. I don't know, why am I doing this? I have run the question through my mind on numerous occasions but never once have I found the answer.
"Did you think it could be kept a secret? Hidden away, behind closed doors? You have broken the law and I only hope you know the severity of your crime." He now speaks with a conviction that makes me start with every word.
"You wonder why I haven't stepped in by now. It is because I wanted to see if you could deal with this lechery yourselves, but I see that you are both incapable of doing so. Now, I am not one renowned to have a cruel heart,"
I almost laugh out loud at this but manage to contain my amusement.
"So, I am willing to give you a chance to redeem yourself but I have some rules you will have to follow in order to do so. Firstly, you cut all contact with him. You do not speak to him, you do not pay unauthorised visits to Twelve to see him, you may only confer on business terms and know that every phone call and conversation will be closely monitored so for the sake of yourself, do not try anything."
My breath catches in my throat as he explains his first incongruous rule. I am not allowed to speak or see Haymitch except on closely observed business. I won't even be able to tell him about this meeting or anything else anymore for that matter.
"Secondly, prove your loyalty to the Capitol and to me. Stay on as Escort after the Quell-"
"How long for?" I ask urgently. I can't do this job anymore, I refuse but how can I? What will he do if I say no? Throw me in jail or even kill me? Well, maybe killing me would be a little extreme but then again, he does send twenty-four children to death on an annual basis.
"However long it takes for you to renounce your crime." He takes a silver pocket watch from his waistcoat and takes a look at the time and returns to an eerily reposed demeanour. "Well, I think we shall leave it there for today. I have a television announcement to prepare for."
He doesn't have to prompt me to get up and leave. I am on my feet and heading for the door in a blink of an eye.
"Oh, and Ms Trinket," he says and I turn around not quite meeting his gaze. "Happy Quarter Quell… I don't think the odds are going to be in your favour this year."
This statement sends a chill down my spine and I take this as a cue to make a swift exit, finding myself almost running down the seemingly expanding corridor. I don't have to be scared of him; I shouldn't be scared of him. I just have to follow his rules however unreasonable they may be.
My subconscious takes over and I find myself back on the streets and I can't think about anything but his parting words. I don't think the odds are going to be in your favour this year.
What does that mean? Is he going to put me in the arena? I would laugh at the thought if I wasn't so God-damn petrified.
I get to my apartment as quickly as I can despite the thickly lined streets and hop into my shower straight away, hoping to rid myself of the sickly, unnatural smell of 'roses'.
When I get out of the bathroom, I see that I only have five minutes before the start of the announcement and so pull on a pair of pyjamas and grab a long awaited glass of wine before slumping down on the sofa and turning on the television.
I catch the end of Cinna's interview with Caesar Flickerman regarding Katniss' wedding dresses and watch as the crowd reacts to each different gown. Some of the audience are more reserved and give excited glances to whomever they are sat next to and then you have the ones that do just about anything to make themselves heard.
"Let's get Katniss Everdeen to her wedding in style!" Hollers Caesar and the crowd roar again. "Now then ladies and gentlemen, don't forget to stay tuned for our special announcement! That's right, this year will be the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Hunger Games, and that means it's time for our third Quarter Quell!"
I can feel my heart rate quicken and I pull my legs up underneath me. The feed ends and is replaced by the seal of Panem momentarily before it cuts to an image of the President taking the stage. A young boy wearing a white suit stands behind him, holding a wooden box that contains all of the cards for the Quarter Quells. I don't really remember the reading for the second Quell but my mother had explained how the system worked to me and I have never forgotten.
The President rambles on about the Dark Days and the Quarter Quells but I'm not listening, my eyes are fixated on the small box. What will the card say? What will it mean for me?
I blink when the box is opened and bring my wine glass up to my lips, letting a steady stream pass my lips.
"And now we honour our third Quarter Quell." President Snow takes the small envelope out of the box marked clearly with a 75. He runs his finger under the flap and removes the card inside.
"On the seventy-fifth anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels that even the strongest among them cannot overcome the power of the Capitol, the male and female tributes will be reaped from their existing pool of victors."
I don't realise that my wine glass has shattered on the hard wooden floor and I bring both hands to my face. Tears obscure my vision but I still see it. The President gives a malicious smile and looks directly into the camera. I know that it is probably for Katniss but at the moment I feel as if it is for me.
I think of District Twelve. Katniss and Peeta's families must be absolutely distraught, they have only been back for a few months and already they are being ripped from their homes for a second time. Katniss' fate is inevitable – she will be going back into the arena but as for Peeta and Haymitch, that is all down to me now.
I can't do it and I won't, I won't choose between them. I care for both of them very dearly but no doubt if I do draw Haymitch's name, Peeta will volunteer in his place. What if I draw Peeta's name? Will Haymitch volunteer to sacrifice his own life for one whose life hasn't really begun?
Part of me feels as if I should phone Haymitch but he will probably be in no fit state to speak to me so I decide to leave it. Besides, I would only be breaking one of the Presidents cretinous rules.
It is only when I'm cleaning broken shards of glass off the floor that I realise that the odds most definitely are not in my favour.
A/N: There ya go! Again, sorry it was borderline late but I have explained above that it is down to internet connections (not at all to do with the fact that I CAN'T STOP LISTENING TO COLDPLAY! Oh my goodness) Okay, I don't think that I have anything else to say except please, please, please continue to review; they really do mean the world to me :) I'll see you all in chapter 19!
Love you all millions! ~ H x