Faces Out of Time

Without speaking Adric dropped his eyes and placed his hand on the doorknob. He held it there for a pause, closing his eyes as if he were praying.

Pandora's heart was beating like a hummingbird's.

As he twisted the knob she could feel her palms getting sweaty, taste the anticipation on her tongue. Her breaths and steps trembled as she moved forward into the darkness.

She could barely see a thing.

Her eyes strained to see a foot in front of her. When Adric shut the door a single screen turned on.

She whirled around, her eyes searching for August, her mother, any member of her family she could see. But there was no one.

Aching heartbeats pumped blood through her body. Her cheeks flushed as she turned to Adric and gasped, "You said—"

"Shh, shh—" his eyes softly stared at her as he pressed a single finger to his lips, "No one knows we're here."

She silently shook her head, confused and dazed.

Her gaze moved around the room, observing details. The bright light from the screen was flickering with white and black pixels.

"You said my family was here," she lowered her voice, unsure of how to speak.

"I said I was taking you to see your family."

"So where are they?!"

Adric's eyes widened. Urgently he stepped forward and cupped his hand over her mouth. When she looked into his eyes she could see how anxious he was.

"We're in a very restricted part of the PSO, Pandora. We're in the electromagnetic testing center, there are no cameras here because of the high levels of electron activity. The high levels of energy would fry the insides of the surveillance cameras."

Her words were muffled under his hand, "Why are you telling me this?"

"I couldn't risk showing you what I'm about to any other place. No one will come here, no one will know. You understand?"

Her head was spinning. She didn't understand a thing. She struggled out of his grasp and pressed her back against the wall.

"Show me what?"

From the folds of his military uniform Adric slowly pulled out something small. Pandora narrowed her eyes to see it. A gold glimmer briefly blinded her before he placed it in the middle of his palm and extended his hand.

She looked from the microchip to Adric's face.

He held it in between them silently and then without speaking he moved to the screen. His hands searched for something in the dark. Slowly Pandora walked toward him. He was placing the microchip in a electronic port that was hooked to the screen. His back was hunched in concentration.

Just before he closed the port, he peered over his shoulder, "I'm sorry I couldn't get you the real thing."

"What?"

She heard the port close. Suddenly the black and white jigsaw on the screen went black.

The next thing she saw made her whole body shake. It was footage of District 7. The camera seemed to be placed in a secret location but there was no doubt that someone was handling it.

All questions disappeared from her mind. She practically ran right up the screen. Her hand pressed against it. The sting of tears singed her throat and nose so sudden that she couldn't breath.

There were silent images of the forests and the knolls. Buildings she had past every day since she could walk flashed across the screen.

It was beautiful. It was home.

She could almost smell the pine, feel the breeze kiss her face as she ran across the knolls.

Her breaths stopped as the screen cut out for a minute with blurred pixels. She furrowed her brow, widening her eyes for fear that the film would go completely black…but then the pixels started to lessen.

Her erratic breathing had just slowed when the footage shifted from scenery to something she had yearned to see more than she could put into words.

Her family.

They were outside of the house. Dash and August were showing off her little brother's last whittling project. Her mother smiled. Tears started to stream down Pandora's face as she noticed that her mother had more gray streaks in her hair than the last time she saw her. Near all of them, sitting on the porch winding yarn was her sister. Ophelia was much bigger now. Her curls fell on her shoulders.

A painful gasp echoed from Pandora as her fingers clawed into the screen. She was touching their face, as if somehow she could rip through the plastic and metal and find her way back in District 7.

She tried to deafen her cries but it was hard. Her face was covered in tears. Her lips parted in wonder.

There they were. For a year all she could do was dream about them, and now she was seeing them. Seeing how much they had aged, how happy they were.

When the screen finally went to black she shrieked and hit the wall, "No…no…"

Her eyes hastily looked back at Adric, "I want to see them again!"

"Shh!" He warned, shaking his head as he leaned towards her, "I can't. We don't have time. Guards are doing rounds, we only have a few more minutes."

Pandora covered her mouth to conceal her cries of both joy and grief, "How did you do this?"

"A few days ago I took a train to District 7. I disguised myself, they thought I was just a peacekeeper. I couldn't get more then a few minutes before I had to leave."

Her eyes twitched to the black screen, "Why did—" she was trying to catch her breath, "Why did you do this?"

"I did it for you—you deserve to see your family, even if you can't be with them."

He said it so truthfully and plainly that she took a step back and dropped her eyes.

"I thought you didn't break rules."

His dark eyes looked away for a moment, he shook his head only once, "Some rules are meant to be broken."

Before Pandora could stop herself she rushed to him. She didn't know what she was doing. So many emotions were churning inside her. She threw her arms around him, burying her face in his shoulder.

The hug shocked Adric. He raised his eyebrows and awkwardly froze.

"It's only a video," he whispered in surprise.

Her eyes filled with tears as the faces of her family members flashed through her memory. A cry shuddered through her body as she tightened her hug and gasped for air, "It's everything…thank you, Adric. Thank you so much."

His soldierly posture didn't waver but his eyes melted. He wanted to return the hug but instead he gently pushed her away and smirked.

"Thank you…" she repeated.

"We should go now."

She wiped the tears away from her face, still trembling.

Adric quickly moved to the port, his fingers pried the microchip out and dropped it on the ground.

His foot was in midair when Pandora grabbed his arm, "What are you doing?"

He corner-eyed her, "No evidence."

She wanted to stop him, to snatch that tiny chip and hold onto for dear life, but deep down she knew it would be stupid. It had to be destroyed. So slowly and solemnly she let him go and moved to the door. Her eyes snapped shut as she heard the loud crunch.

Adric careful put the broken microchip back into the pockets of his uniform. His eyes scanned the room slowly, making sure nothing looked disturbed.

The helium lights overhead blinded Pandora as they stepped out of the room and down the hall.

"We have to hurry," Adric suddenly whispered, grabbing her as he hastened towards the elevators, "We only have 2 minutes till the next guard gets here."

She quickened her step with a sniffle, "How do you know that?"

"I know the shifts."

"No—there's no clocks, how can you know the times exactly?"

He tightened his jaw and pressed for the elevator. Immediately it opened up, "I have a thing with numbers…"

Her lips parted, her head was blurry from everything that had just happened, "There are other cameras—we went through the main foyer, through other levels. They'll know we were here."

"Viktor will tell them you had an appointment."

She furrowed her brow, "Viktor?"

"I asked him, he agreed."

"And he won't tell?"

"No."

"How can you know that?"

Adric kept his eyes forward, "Because I trust him."

Although her eyes had dried, her cheeks were still flushed from crying. She walked alongside Adric quietly, feeling shame for the hug in the tech room. Her eyes looked to every face they past. She was sure that they knew their secret, that at any moment President Snow's guards would come down on them full force. Her eyes squinted. How would she be punished if Snow found out anyways? Surely he couldn't do much worse then he already had done. But then she thought of Finnick, Adric, and of Viktor. The idea of one Capitol elite punishing another was unfathomable to her, even though Viktor wasn't high up on the food chain his services were sought after, envied by other doctor's and scientist.

She shuddered to think of the punishments Snow could think up.

Outside the celebrations were still underway. The sun was setting, slowly the city lights were coming on.

Just before Adric opened the car door she stopped his hand.

"Adric…"

He turned his head from left to right, his eyes nervously glanced around the street, "You already said thank you, say it again and it'll start to get very strange."

Sincerity glistened in her eyes. She was trying to hold back the tears. He had no idea how much this meant to her.

"I'm sorry. I've treated you horribly."

"No—" he tried to smirk but it was obvious how uncomfortable he was, "It's understandable. I get it…I really do. "

"I never hated you."

He was still aware of the people passing by, of the waiting driver, but for a moment he relaxed. A saddened bliss swept over his face, pulling his lips up into a half smile.

"I was wrong that night at the Military Ball. I just need you to know that. I just thought you were—I judged you and I shouldn't have."

Calmly he placed his hand on hers, "I know, Pandora."

She let her eyes linger on his for a moment before she dropped her hand and stepped back. He opened the door for her. She expected him to shut it but instead he leaned in and raised his voice to the driver, "Take her home."

"Where are you going?"

He shrugged slowly, "Combat training. You should get home, Finnick will be waiting when he gets his Tributes settled in."

Her eyes searched his face one last time. "I'll see you around."

"It's a small place."

"Happy Hunger Games, Officer Pedersen!" The driver suddenly exclaimed to Adric, turning around to look at the young man.

Adric peered to the front of the car, "Yea…" he furrowed his brow in thought, "Happy Hunger Games to you too."

The car door shut. The engine roared to a start. A cool breeze danced around him as the tires sped down the street. He stared after it. He stared until the car was so far away it was only a blotch. A single memory was replaying in his head. The memory of Pandora Sullivan on a platform ready to leave the Capitol nearly two years ago. Everything about that recollection was so vivid…every sight, smell, and sound came back to him in a wild fury.

He brushed his blond hair back into its clean side part and wiggled his cap on. His eyes dropped as he popped his collar up against the cold and picked up his feet.

Through the glowing city lights the whistle of a train screeched, soaring around every Capitol street, building, and home. Crowds were rushing to the station, ready to welcome the Tributes of the 70th Hunger Games, but not Adric.

A soft drizzle fell from the clouds as he walked home.