Sheila Carwell, District 7 Victor
As Sheila slowly opened her eyes, a bright light shined above her. The white room she was placed in made her eyes hurt. She slowly looked around her. Needles punctured her forearm, monitors captured every detail about the inside of her body, and she was all alone. The pain from the hard rain seemed to be non-existent. Sheila looked down to her body, which was still stick thin from her time in the arena. Her arms looked like nothing but bones covered in a flesh like substance. As she waited for a doctor or some other human to walk in, she ran through the events of the previous weeks in her head.
Three weeks ago, she was reaped into the 176th Annual Hunger Games. Her and her, now deceased, district partner, Linden Ulmus, were escorted to the Capitol by their annoying escort, Berry Punch. She and Linden wore white, origami-like costumes to the Tribute Parade. During training, she had received a score of five. Nothing all that impressive, but she made herself noticed during the interviews. Her angle was just a humble girl from 7, nothing like the sexy girl from 1 or the sullen boy from 11. The interviews lead into the bloodbath, where Sheila just grabbed a small bag and ran from the murder. What happened next? The next thing that popped into her head was killing the girl from 8, the girl who didn't seem to have a name. She remembered herself running into the forest, looking at herself in disbelief as she realized what she had done to the nameless girl. Then, the sword. It fell from the sky of the sponsors and landed in her lap. The golden sword was no longer with her, probably being cleaned and polished for its trip to the District 7 Justice Building. Normally, if a victor gets a sponsored weapon, they will ship it to their home district and hand it on the walls of their Justice Building as a reminder of how the Capitol thought of them.
Her mind flickers to the bloody body of Predator, the Career Tribute from 4. She saw his pleading eyes as she thrust her sword into his heart. As his cannon rang in her ears, she remembered the promise she made to him. 'When you win and you are on your Victory Tour, I want you to tell Paige that I will be waiting for her.' How was she supposed to know what Paige looked like? Suddenly, her mind took her back to the final battle with the siblings from 2. The loud CRACK! that came from the girl's skull when she hit the ground still haunted Sheila. Tears sprung to her eyes. She remembered this part, and she was afraid of what was coming next. Her brother kissed her good-bye, then ran to Sheila in a fit of rage. The rock was in her hands, until she slammed it against his temple. The rest of the battle swiftly plays in her mind, reminding her what she has done to those siblings. She left their mother without children. How was she going to apologize in District 2?
A door swung open and a thin woman entered. Judging by her black hair and gray eyes, she was Sheila's mentor, Sinus. She was wearing fresh clothes from the Capitol, only modest greens and browns. Her hair was in a pony-tail which swished behind her back as she walked to her tribute...er...victor. Sinus walked toward Sheila, not bothering to look around for the doctor. A female Avox was standing head down and back to the wall on the other side of the room. Sinus signaled for the Avox to bring her victor some food. The Avox left for a moment, giving Sinus and Sheila some time alone.
"Congratulations on your victory, Carwell." Sinus said as she took a seat next to Sheila's bed. The look in Sinus' eyes was hard to read. District 7 hasn't had a win since Sinus' victory over eleven years ago, so maybe she was genuinely happy about the victory. But, what if there was something going on out in the districts? With the mercy kill Sheila performed on Predator, they could be having a mini revolution. Like they aren't producing as much fish as they need to or they are ignoring all the TVs in the district for updates on Sheila, which are mandatory to watch along with every event in the Games.
"Thank you, Sinus." Sheila responds when the Avox returns with a tray full of food. There was an eight ounce glass of orange juice in a beautiful glass, four strips of crispy bacon, a serving of scrambled eggs, two sausage links, and two pancakes with syrup drowning them. After two weeks of a diet of one wild animal every two days, Sheila's mouth began to salivate. The Avox places the tray on Sheila's lap, and walks away to stand in her position in the corner. Sinus looks to the Avox and looks back to her victor. The Avox can't speak, so why should she try to hide anything?
Before Sheila could touch any of the food, Sinus speaks up. "So, sweetheart. I have been in talks with the people who sponsored you, you know the people who sent you that sword." Sheila nodded as she looked to her mentor. "I have heard the words beautiful, pleasure, and sexy since your victory a few days ago. And I..."
"A few days?! I have been out that long?!" Sheila cuts Sinus off, shrieking in horror. She could have sworn she was only in this bed for a few hours. Not a few days. How was her family dealing with the face that was out for a few days? Sinus placed a hand on her shoulder, her fingers ice-cold.
"Yes, it is common for new victors to fall asleep for a few days. The 'official' reason is so they can catch up on sleep that they lost in the arena." She hands Sheila a slice of bacon, which she scarfs down in mere seconds. Memories come back to Sinus of her own victory. Palma tried to get her to eat slower, but Sinus wasn't paying attention. The Capitol food looked so good after her diet of herbs and dull berries. Sinus pulls herself to the present and looks to Sheila. "Anyway, I have been in talks with a few wealthy Capitol citizens, more often than not men. You are a beauty to them, Sheila. Have you heard the story of beautiful past victors from One, Two, and Four?"
Sheila didn't answer. Not only did she know the stories, she had learned about them when she was in her home district. The countless stories of the beautiful and handsome victors over the age of sixteen usually had a long string of 'lovers' who pay them large amounts of money for a night of bliss with the victor. When Dusk Shine did catch up interviews with past victors, they normally just say that they have been around. Before Sheila turned twelve, she was very afraid of the Games. Not because of the normal killing and your assumed death, but because of what would happen to her if she won them. Most of the beautiful victors turned into prostitutes. Sheila's heart began to hammer before Sinus could explain what she had heard from the Capitol men. It was obvious of what they said.
Sinus looked into Sheila's wide hazel eyes, sensing the fear that was taking place in her body. "I understand your fear. I had that same reaction when I won, honestly."
"I don't remember you having a string of lovers," Sheila says, trying to keep her mind working. Sinus never did have a scandal or anything well-known about her after her victory. Sheila should have known; she was about six when Sinus brought honor to 7. Sinus looked to her hands, which were folded in her lap. She looked to the new victor, realizing how old she must have been all those years ago. Maybe Sheila didn't understand the one year that the district turned against her.
She let out a deep breath and turned to Sheila. "Sweetheart, I did have a string of lovers. I became a prostitute under Rector's orders when I was eighteen. Being that old gave the Capitol leeway to do whatever the wanted to me without me filing for anything. There was the year after my win, the year I was paid to sleep with the president's alcoholic son and his three friends. The pay was high, but the night was a total disaster. They took turns having 'fun' with me, then they decided that I was trash. I was forced to drink a terrible Capitol drink and I found myself sleeping in the Dumpster. The news went straight to Seven. No one looked at me for a long time. It wasn't until that little girl, Faith, was reaped into the Games last year when everyone forgot about me. I haven't been happier to hear silence outside my door."
Sheila looks to her mentor for a long time, silent. Was this her future? Become a prostitute overnight and end up in a Dumpster? All she wanted to do was return home. The thought of being in the Capitol any longer made her sick. These people didn't care about anyone but themselves and their pleasure. They destroy families for entertainment. Her eyes began to turn red. Tears brimmed them, ready to spill and show her emotions. The food was still on Sheila's lap. Suddenly, she didn't feel so hungry.
Karrie Mylan, Sheila's Friend
The district had been so giddy for the past few days. They were planning on how to welcome Sheila back when she returned home. Karrie was in charge of everything personal, like Sheila's favorite color and flower to decorate the Carwell's new Victor Village home. The Victor's Village home was unlocked as soon as Sheila was crowned, so they started to decorate right away. Jacob, Michelle and Brim all moved it right as Sheila became a victor so they could move their personal items inside. Karrie has been collecting everything Sheila loves in the upper section of District 7, using the Carwell's newly earned money and riches. The trip to the upper class section of the district was a long one, but Sheila deserved the best for her homecoming. Karrie had her hands full of new decorations as she rounded the corner for the Victor's Village.
A smile is plastered on her face as she saw Jacob sitting outside. Jacob caught her eyes and ducked his head. When Sheila was reaped into the Games, Jacob ran to Karrie in a moment of weakness and cried on her shoulder as his only sister was being taken to the Capitol. Karrie has never seen Sheila's brother that emotional before. She tried her hardest to calm him down, but he continued to cry. He blubbered on about Rivet's death, and how he couldn't go back to the house after what happened earlier that day. Karrie let him stay the night, offering him anything he needed. He refused to take anything of hers, and left in the early hours of the morning. She hasn't seen him since Sheila was declared the victor, and she was trying to come up with something to say to him when she reached his house.
When she reached the porch steps, Jacob looked like he was pretending to be busy with trying to identify a flower in the flower bed. Karrie giggled to herself. "That's a rose, just so you know." She said, her words hitting Jacob like a potted plant. He jumped up and was face-to-face with his sister's best friend in the district. Her piercing blue eyes looked into his hazel ones, similar to Sheila's eyes. Jacob's lips twitched, trying to find the right words to say to Karrie, the girl who offered to help him in his time of need and he just pushed her away. She only had a smile on her face with no indication of what happened two weeks ago. It was as if Sheila was just visiting someone in the Capitol, won an honor, and they were being awarded a Victor Village home. Jacob's cheeks flushed as Karrie just smiled and opened the door. He quickly followed her into the house, trying to spit out something.
Karrie placed bags full of perfect decorations in green and white, Sheila's favorite color and the color of her Tribute Parade dress. Multiple vases to hold the flowers came out of the bags, made from the most expensive glass. The glass was slowly placed on the counters, Karrie carefully unwrapping them from their newspaper balls. On the front of the paper, a headline read 'SHEILA CARWELL TAKES THE VICTOR TITLE FROM CADEN MILLER!' A crumpled picture of Sheila and Caden's final fight was on the front. As Jacob looked, he thought that the girl on the paper was Sheila's secret twin, a girl so disoriented from his real sister. He turned away and looked to Karrie, who tied her frizzy brown hair back into a ponytail.
A pregnant pause came between the two. Jacob looked at her, examining her as she looked around the home to see where to place the glass vases. Karrie's slender fingers wrapped around the vase, taking it to another area of the home. The Capitol people who designed this house had already filled it with furniture and many beautiful faux flowers, but Karrie knew Sheila would love the real lillies and roses better than the silk ones. She places an empty vase on the coffee table and turns to see Jacob right behind her. He is filled up to his eyebrows with something to say. Suddenly, he burst. "Karrie, I am so sorry for what happened a few weeks ago. I just didn't know what to do and I didn't want to take advantage of you and I just..." Something made Jacob stop.
He opened his eyes and he saw Karrie, using her lips to shut up Jacob for a while. He returned the kiss back, unsure what to think about his sister's best friend kissing him. Karrie let go, smiling and looking up to Jacob. She looked into his familiar hazel eyes, the eyes she has seen for many years. He stood there, mouth hanging open much like a dog. She lifted his jaw to a close, laughing her signature laugh. "You'll catch flies, Jake." She left him there, gawking at what just happened, as she walked away to grab another glass vase.
A/N: Sorry that this chapter was a little late. That means the update on Eighth Quarter Quell is a little late too. :( Oh well. Yes, we get an update on Sheila and her brother and friend, seeing how they are holding up. A little surprise party is in order for Sheila! YAY! I still have the poll on my profile. Please take it if you haven't. I would love some good results. :P Stay tuned for another update. :)