Della lead us into the Justice building, and I yawned as they pushed us into separate rooms. The room was small, and petite, must have been an office of some sort. There was a large desk on one side of the room and 2 bright red couches on the other side. I plopped down on one of the couches, lounging casually. As I chewed on my lip I realized that I needed to win, for my family, who already lost my brother to these sick games. I wonder if I can do it, but my mother and Joshua burst into the room, interrupting my train of thought. My neck snapped up to meet my mother's gaze, wet streaks of tears stained her face, mimicking Joshua's. I sighed, standing up as my mother wrapped her arms around me, squeezing me with a vise-like grip. I felt little hands hold onto my calf as my mother held me tight, sobbing into my shoulder. "I...I never, thought th-that after V-Vincent that you...you..." She sobbed more, stuttering with every word. I sighed, stroking her hair. "It's fine, mom. I'll win, no problem." I said, casually. She released me and I felt the blood rush back to my arms. She gave me an expression that obviously wasn't confident in my plan to win. "Johanna..." She shook her head, wiping her eyes violently. "I love you." I nodded to her and Joshua grunted reaching up to me, I leaned down to pick him up, and he rested his face in the curve of my neck. Wet tears streaming down his face, surely Mother had told him I would be leaving. "Don't go..." He whispered, I bit my lip, closing my eyes. I put my hand on the back of his head,"I have to, but you'll see me on TV and I'll be back, I promise." I said, softly into his hair. He sniffed loudly, I could tell he didn't believe me, but he just nodded. I was glad I wouldn't have to argue with him. "Don't worry about m-"
"Time's up, Sweetheart!" A peacekeeper with a rough scratchy beard said, yanking my mother from the room. I felt another peacekeeper take Joshua out of my arms and his screams echoed through the building,"No! Johanna! Come back, No!" He struggled in the peacekeepers arms, and I couldn't watch, so I shifted my gaze to the window. The square was clearing slowly and I leaned my cheek against my hand, no one else would be coming to see me, that's for sure. I wasn't a big friend-maker.
I heard screams and yells that I soon recognized as the girl screaming for Dylan at the reaping. I rolled my eyes,"Girlfriends." I mutter under my breath, the peacekeeper with the beard pushed the girl out of the Justice Building. She stomped her foot and pounded her fists on the door,"No! No! He cannot go in there, not my baby!" Her messy blonde hair was going everywere, and I couldn't help but stifle a chuckle. She looked completely insane. Her knuckles beginning to bleed from the constant banging, her hair frazzled as much as my mothers, her wild eyes, her repeated screaming, the list went on, but I got tired of looking at her for too long. What caught my attention was two more girls, pushed out of the Justice Building. I laughed, Dylan's got his own fanclub. I rolled my eyes and lounged back in the chair, staring at the dark clouds moving in, covering up what little rays of sun we had left. The rain was coming in and everyone had filed out of the square, leaving only the Peacekeepers to take down the giant towers of lights and whatever else the Capitol had put up for the Reaping.
The door flew open and the bearded Peacekeeper grabbed my arm, wrenching me from my seat. "Up." I furrowed my eyebrows and brushed myself off, removing his hand from my wrist. "I can respond to words you know, I don't need physical restraint." I rolled my eyes and his eyes narrowed, I walked forward briskly, a cocky expression spreading onto my face. The Peacekeeper coughed as he walked in front of me when we reached the main room of the Justice Building. I looked at him with raised eyebrows, innocently. "Problem?" I asked, his jaw clenched and he stayed silent, going to the room across from the one I was in, probably to fetch Dylan.
The rhythmic beatings on the door pounded every second, 3 fists begging to enter the room. I tuned it out, and walked to a small side table that had gathered a considerable amount of dust. I swiped a finger along the table, my finger soon covered in a thick grey fluff. I made a disgusted face and looked at the Peacekeeper who stood in front of the door,"You guys should really clean this place more often, it's filthy." I said,wiping the dust on a nearby chair. The Peacekeepers eye's widened and I grinned, sitting on the chair. I slouched in a very un-ladylike fashion, not caring what they did to me, I was dead anyways.
The bearded Peacekeeper pushed Dylan into the room forcefully and I eyed him, squinting slightly. I look to the door, constant pounding seemed neverending. "Seems like you've got your own little posse, eh?" I said, nodding to the door and looking back at Dylan. He looked a little taken aback, and his eyes wavered over to the door. He shrugged and I rolled my eyes,"Whatever." I said, standing up and letting out a long sigh. "Well, we getting on this train, or what?" I crossed my arms, boredly. The Peacekeepers exchanged glances and then started to push us out the back entrance and away from Dylan's fanclub. I only hoped I wouldn't get tacked by them if they found out where we had gone.
I made sure this time that the Peacekeeper didn't touch me, it seemed like he knew already, so I didn't need telling him. I whistled as we walked, kicking the dirt road,clouds of dust flying upward towards the Peacekeepers. I snickered under my breath as one of them coughed slightly, and the bearded Peacekeepers threw me a glare. I smiled innocently, and kept kicking the dirt as soon as he turned around.
Dylan was dead silent, looking down and sorrow, I nudged his side with my elbow. "Cheer up, Boy Toy, we have games to win." He didn't respond, but only flickered his eyes from me to the ground. I narrowed my eyes, and sighed,"Well, you could at least be nice to me. Hmph." I rolled my eyes, kicking the dirt more in Dylan's direction now. He didn't seem to notice, which annoyed me a little, but I continued doing it.
"Will you stop it already?" Dylan said, intensely. I threw him a look.
"Calm down, I'm just having some fun, unlike some people here, I'm not moping around." I said, sourly. He glared at me and I saw stains of dried trails of tears. He had been crying? I brushed it off, I didn't feel bad for what I said, either, he was the one swallowed in sorrow.
"Well, unlike some people here, I actually care about my family." He said, raising an eyebrow at me. I jerked my head back, surprised.
"Ouch." I rolled my eyes and the Peacekeepers lead us to a metal contraption we had learned about in school. An automobile they had called it, or "car" for short. I don't know why they called it a car, since the original name is automobile. Hm, weird ass people.
The Peacekeeper motioned for us to get in and I slid into the seat, first, followed by Dylan. I patted the upholstery on the seat, and recognized it as leather. I had a jacket back home that was the same material.
I smoothed the wrinkles in my dress and the Peacekeeper slammed the door shut. A different peacekeeper was in the front seat of the "car" and I stared out the glass window, a cloud of dust rising as the automobile moved forward. I saw Dylan's posse run out from the front of the Justice Building, charging towards the car, screaming out his name. I chuckled and nudged Dylan,"Oh look, it's your girlfriends." I nodded out the window of his side and he lifted his head, and the two Peacekeepers that lead us to the automobile held them back, struggling out of their grips.
These girls were insane, sure Dylan was good-looking. His mess of loose blonde curls topped on his head, dark chocolate brown eyes, tan complexion, toned body, but his personality wasn't the best for what I've seen. We sped forward and soon the girls and peacekeepers were just a speck in the distance.
I reached back to my hair, and took out the pins and brushed out the braids. My mess of waves falling semi-neatly to my shoulders. I was bored in the long ride to the train, so I did annoying things to piss Dylan off(drumming my fingers on the window sill, humming, tapping on the seat, kicking the seat in front of me) but his emotion was mostly the same, which again, was obnoxious. He was a little too silent.
Everyone was back in their houses as we rode through the town, and no one was in the forest or fields since it the Reaping day. It was a ghost town.
It was about 10 minutes till we arrived at the train, which was waiting patiently for us to hop in. A peacekeeper stood in front of the entrance, guarding the door. As fumbled with the handle to open the door, Dylan laughed. I threw a nasty look at him and slapped his arm, leaving a red mark.
"Hey!" The peacekeeper who drove the "car" said. I rolled my eyes and got the door open, jumping out quickly. Dylan opened his door with no problem and I tried to ignore it as I barged onto the train, ignoring the Peacekeeper's protests.
The train was fairly large, but the size wasn't what I was gawking at as I came in. The glamour was extremely unnecessary. A speck of carpet on the floor was probably worth more than my whole house.
There were rows of seats on either side, with mahogany tables and a large chandelier in the middle, the glass diamonds clinking together. There was a whole wall of tables at the far end of the cart, containing an array of foods I had never even heard of. The smell was spectacular. I stepped closer to the food, grabbing one of the chocolate treats. I popped it in my mouth, and my tongue exploded with flavor. The luxury was like nothing I had before. I didn't bother savoring the flavor because as soon as I swallowed another was in my mouth. Dylan didn't bother sampling the food, but just sat down at one of the booths, staring out the window. I sighed, he was one boring person.
I grabbed a couple chocolate covered strawberry and plopped down in the booth across from him. "Want one?" I asked, nudging one of the strawberries towards him and it rolled towards him, stopping at his fingers. He glanced at it, as if it were some complicated math problem. I reached across the table holding it in front of his nose,"Come on, it smells to good to pass up." I said,biting in to another one. He let out a sigh of defeat and popped one in his mouth. I smiled, mission accomplished.
I heard a door behind me open and I glanced at it, a man, probably in his fifties strode into the room. I knew him as Blight, he had won the 35th Hunger Games, my mother had told me only two short years ago when Vincent took on the Arena. He looked at each of us, looking back and forth until his eyebrows raised at me. "Vincent's sister, I believe?" He said, his tone deep, but smooth. I nodded slowly, and he smiled slightly. "Good boy, he was." He said, pulling up a chair to the booth.
"I know." I said, a little harshly. I knew my own brother, I knew how good he was, I knew he didn't deserve to die when he had come so close. I knew. He sighed, taking in my tone.
"And you," He nodded to Dylan. ",Anything special about you I should know?" At first, Dylan didn't even look up, until a couple seconds of silence, he met Blight's gaze.
"Oh, erm." He said, blinking quickly, as if he had just woken up from a long nap. "I guess not." He shrugged and I rolled my eyes, leaning towards Blight.
I cupped a hand to one side of my face, stage whispering,"He's not really the talkative type."
"Ah." Blight said, nodding. I smiled, sarcastically and looked at Dylan, who glared harsh eyes at me. I shrugged,"I mean, some people are just more outspoken, and actually like to communicate with people." I said in mock-sympathy, looking at Blight. He let out a soft chuckle.
"Very true, although outspoken people can get themselves in a lot of trouble when trying to prove a point." He said, mimicking my mock-sympathy. I rolled my eyes, seeing his point.
"It's better than being a quiet little boy toy who mopes around because he has too many girls kneeling at his feet." I spat, looking directly at Dylan. His head snapped up and I saw the frustration flash in his eyes, his hands forming fists.
"At least I'm not a stuck up bitch who thinks she can do whatever she wants just because she has no emotions." He said, sarcastically. "Thank God that I'm not like THAT."
I glared harshly and reached across the table to hurt him in any way I could. Blight pushed me back in my seat.
"Save it for the arena, kids." He said, sighing. I glared daggers at Dylan and my jaw clenched, he didn't want to pick a fight with me. No one did. Blight broke the silence,"Well, seems like we might want to take a little time away from eachother." He looked from me to Dylan,"Lunch is in a few, I suggest you be on your best behavior."
I looked at him,"Why?" I said, sourly. Blight put a hand to his forehead, brushing what little gray hair he had on his head backwards.
"Because." He said, slowly. "Cameras will be everywhere from now on, and I don't believe people want him to have a black eye for his interviews." He gestured to Dylan and I gave him a sour smirk.
"Nah, I think purple and black really works on him." I said, smiling sweetly and sliding out of the booth. He slammed his fists on the table and a let out a small laugh. I walked towards the door, leaving to the next cart.
These games would be a breeze.