A/N: Well, hello! Uhm, so, what's up? LATE MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEARS BTW. So, let's just get on with this cause I don't know what to say. Besides sorry this is so late. Ugh you guys must hate me. Anyway….
***** I HEREBY DEDICATE THIS CHAPTER TO Emblem 3…omfg don't even get me started they're so gooooodddddd******
XOXO,
Carmen
Arie's P.O.V.
Winning the Hunger Games was a huge accomplishment. The moment those trumpets blared, I should have been way more relived than I was.
On the contrary, I felt dread.
Dread about having to go back home to my past.
You know, your past is like a game of tag. You can run and run while it chases you, but eventually you need to stop for a breather, and you're caught, just like that.
Yippee for me.
It almost makes me wish I'd let them live.
I sigh as my mind runs in circles, trying to find a way out of this mess that was called my life.
I guess I should start with the basics.
My name is Aralynn Fisher, though everyone calls me Arie. I'm from District Four. I have two brothers, one older (19), one younger (12). My dad hates me, though the feeling is mutual. He still lives in our old house with his partner, 'The Drinking Problem.' I disowned him after winning the Games.
I'm also a very skilled burglar.
I always have been. I can pretty much get myself out of any lock, get into any house, untie any knot, and pick any handcuff, you know…all that.
I've never been caught.
Even though I can pretty much buy anything I desire now, I still choose to steal. It gives me such a thrill, a sense of renewal that I never got. Something when in the Games, even killing people couldn't replace.
And they wonder why I'm so messed up, when really, it's not that hard to figure out.
My fingers absently trace patterns on my silken bedspread. You'd think I'd have the perfect life, but something's missing. Something that I don't feel like stealing can fill.
I think back to my time in the arena. After I'd won, they played my tape, and I watched the happy couple cuddle and kiss and I was jealous. And that's something every penny I have can't buy me. It just doesn't seem fair, when it actually is.
Tears pool in my eyes. It's a stupid reason, I know, but I can't help it.
I'm so, so, blindingly jealous of what they had even though it was so brief.
God, Arie. I remind myself of a three year old sometimes, I swear.
My life is too drab. And I know the solution exactly.
I'm going stealing tonight.
*****THREE HOURS LATER*****
I'm covered hair to toenail in black. I'm as black as midnight, as dark as the inky water that flows through the pond just down the street.
As black as death.
I'm satisfied with my look, and my heart pounds in anticipation of what I'm about to do.
I wait until the dusky reds and oranges fade from the sky, and I make my move.
I've planned out where I'm going to steal from. This is something that you can't take lightly.
I'm stealing from my dad's best friend. He's a victor as well, and that only adds to the thrill.
I crept onto my balcony and off my trellis and leapt to the ground as stealthily as I could. I landed on the cold ground with a thud. I knew where he lived, so I kept against walls, blending into shadows as I snuck along the walkways.
I had done some earlier scouting, and I found that the back window was usually popped open.
I slipped through it, as only someone with loads of practice can accomplish without making a sound. I slithered to the picture frame that was generic n every victor's home. It masked a safe.
I'd already figured out the code so opening it wasn't a huge deal. Why do people always pick their birthdays? After the safe opened, I piled my 'goodies' into my sack. All of a sudden, a light flickered on and I heard footsteps. I froze mid-action. Ohshoot. Oh shoot ohshoot ohshoot. I closed the safe quickly, and scurried to the window. I was about to sneak out when a throat cleared behind me.
Caught.
A/N: welp, that took WAY too long to write in my opinion. Hopefully that wasn't the worst chapter ever.
Sorry! Next one will probably come sooner.
XOXO,
Carmen