A/N: Thank you to all the reviewers. For some reason, it won't let me PM you guys to thank you or answer questions. Oh well. Also, a huge thankyou to Huntress3419 for being my 100th reviewer!
The gong goes off, and Games have officially started. I barely have time to concentrate on what's going on. Gale's picks up two small orange backpacks, and and runs off for the forest. He manages to trip the girl from 6, who swiftly receives an axe in the chest from the boy from 1. Where's Alyssa? The camera zooms in on the actual cornucopia, and I see a handful of dead, bloody tributes. Thankfully, none of them are Alyssa. Or Dahlia. I don't think she ran off. Then, I see it. The girl from 2 is running towards Dahlia, wielding a sword. Dahlia throws a knife and hits her right above her eye. The boy from 5 is behind her, about to release an arrow into Dahlia's back, when he falls to the ground. Alyssa stabs him with a similar knife, and repeatedly stabs him until he falls limp to the ground. Holy crap. Alyssa and Dahlia nod at each other, before grabbing a large amount of supplies, and running off towards the stream. But they're stopped by the boy and girl from 1, the boy from 2, and the boy from 4.
The boy from 1 whispers something to the boy from 4. "No. She's from my district." The boy from 4 tells him.
The girl from 1 shrugs, nonchalantly. "Do you guys wanna form an alliance or whatever?" She asks. Cato's brother is staring at Alyssa like a meal.
"Alright. Shake on it." Alyssa says, tucking a loose strand of her hair behind her ear. They shake hands, and when Alyssa turns to Cato, he's still staring. She winks at him, and all six of them walk downstream.
Haymitch stares at me. I put my hands up defensively. "I knew she was good- but holy crap! I wasn't - I didn't. I don't know." Cashmere jaw is open, and she's staring at me, obviously as shocked as I am.
"Damn. 12's got one in the careers for the second time in a row. And this time, they're good." Cashmere's brother, Gloss muses. I frown at his jab at Peeta. He pushes his blond hair out of his eyes, and shakes my hand, smiling at me. "I'm Gloss, by the way. You must be Katniss Everdeen." He seems pretty cool. The tv cuts back to Caesar Flickerman and Claudius Templesmith. They go over the fallen tributes- The girl from 2, the boy from 5, the girl from 6, both tributes from 8, the girl from 9, both tributes from 10, and the boy from 11. 9 of the tributes killed in the first hour. A handful of the mentors make their ways to the phones, to give their condolences to the families of the fallen tributes. I lean back on one of the sofas.
I'm still processing everything that's happened in the last hour. Alyssa's showed her bloodlust, and Gale kissed me. I run my thumb over my lower lip, where Gale's were not too long ago. Finnick sits down next to me, and puts his arm around me. He looks concerned. "Are you alright? You seem... distracted."
"I'm just very overwhelmed." I say cryptically.
Finnick cocks his head to one side, and plays with a strand of my hair. "What's wrong? Do you have a secret worth my time?"
I look around. This is not the right setting to talk about this kind of thing. Did I cheat on him? I don't know if I did. I didn't initiate the kiss, and I don't know if I liked it. It wasn't bad, but the whole time, I kept thinking about Finnick's kisses, and how I enjoyed them more. I definitely didn't kiss Gale back. "It's nothing, really." I lie. "I'm kind of in shock. Alyssa killed three people in the first hour, and she was scared to kill a spider in the bathtub." I decide I need to talk to Haymitch. I excuse myself, and walk over to Haymitch. "Can we get some air?" I ask him. He nods. Haymitch hasn't gotten drunk yet. It's not even noon.
We step out onto the roof, and I do a quick sweep of the room for any bugs that could be listening in. I tell Haymitch everything. He was there when the kiss happened, so there wasn't a lot to fill him in on. Haymitch just nods occasionally, and listens quietly. "Well sweetheart," he sighs, "you obviously have a dilemma. I'm not the one you should go to for relationship advice. Talk to Cashmere about that. But just tell him. Get it over with, and give him a little space if he gets mad. Don't do it right now- tell him when the two of you are alone. He's under too much pressure right now." I thank Haymitch, and we sit back down.
I lay in Finnick's lap on one of the large, white couches. Not much happens during the day. The tributes go their separate ways. The boys from 6 and 9 run into each other, and the boy from 9 ends up getting beheaded. The boy from 9 barely has time to run away from the scene before the girl from 5 has shown up, having seen the hovercraft, and uses a few poison blow darts on him. That makes 11 down, 13 left.
They cut to Gale for a few minutes. He hunted a few squirrels, and cooked them over a fire. Now, he's up in a tree- at least thirty feet high- and going through the contents of his bags. In the smaller orange backpack there's a set of matches, some dried meat, a blanket, and a canteen for water. In the large one, there's a rope, some crackers, some type of plastic covering, and what appears to be a blanket. I notice what the tributes are wearing- grey pants, black shoes, and a flimsy grey tee-shirt. They probably will be fine in the grassland or by the stream, but the forest and mountain can get cold at night.
Around two thirty, I get a call from one of my appointments. I only have one, but it's until 7. At eight, all of the mentors are going out to dinner- so I have time to freshen up and make myself presentable after. The Capitol man meets me at a lounge at a quarter to four. He's wearing purple, and has a purple designs tattooed under some of his skin. I can tell he's very rich. I adjust my red dress- it's very similar to the one Alyssa wore for her interview, and its practically indecent. I answer all of the polite questions he asks me perfectly- with a seductive grin, a bite of my lip, and running a finger through my straightened hair.
I try to numb myself. I don't think or feel. I just do. After, he sits up in his ridiculously designed bed and opens up the beside table. He pulls out a cigarette, and lights it. Smoking is another Capitol thing I don't understand the purpose of. I instinctively pull the blanket on the bed up to my neck, covering my naked body. I raise my eyebrow at him. "Do you have a secret for me?" I ask him. He shrugs.
"Anything for you, darling." He stares at me. I feel nauseous. He stands up and opens a drawer, pulling out a diamond bracelet. I can tell it's from District 1, and not the Capitol. "Well, lets see. I bought this for my wife, and you can have it. Now that secret. Have you heard of Heather Anthony?" I nod. I've heard of her in school. She won the very first Hunger Games, and was from District 2. "She killed the President who approved the games. And she lived in this home." Home is a funny word. This is a mansion. I thank him for his odd secret, and look at the clock. It's seven and I'm done. I kiss him on the cheek - you never kiss them on the lips - and slip into the bathroom to shower. He had said I could.
I thought the training center showers were nice. The shower in the mansion makes those look like my old bathtub back home in 12 in comparison. I don't play with any of the buttons, or use any of the fancy lotions. I just scrub my body clean, and shampoo my hair. I do however, submit to temptation and try one of the hair treatments. I turn off the water and step out. I have forty minutes to get to the restaurant. The car should be here in ten. I quickly dry off my hair with one of blue monogrammed towels, and use the makeup in the bathroom. I highly doubt the wife will mind if I use her makeup, especially if her husband is giving me her diamond bracelet.
I make it outside to the driveway just as Reynaldo is pulling up. He smiles at me, and pushes a button which makes the door on the side of the car open up. In the car, he plays around with the stereo, until he finds a music channel he likes. A Capitol singer is singing a song about her love. I tune it out, leaning on the car window and watching the city go by. I quickly check one of the mirrors, and take in my appearance. I'm not self-centered, or all too fond my my appearance in general, but I do have to admit I look pretty nice. My eye makeup is blue and smokey. It brings out my blue-grey eyes, which is weird, since they're kind of a boring color. They used to be bright and sparkling, more blue than grey. After my father died, they dulled for quite a while, until things became more stable at home. And now they're practically colorless, empty. My smiles don't reach my eyes.
The mentors are all meeting for dinner at a popular restaurant. When I step out of the car, the press bombard me. I don't have time to process anything they're saying. The flash of lights from their cameras is blinding. I shrug it off, and walk in. They're all at a table in the back. All of the mentors are invited, but not all of them go. Cashmere and Gloss are sitting next to each other. I haven't quite figured out the dynamic between them. But they're inseparable, from what I've heard. The woman from 2 who looks to be in thirties or forties. She's talking politely to the mentor Blight. Chaff and Haymitch are probably drunk, but they're laughing about something. Johanna is rolling her eyes at the mentors from 5 and 6, who are explaining something to her from across the table. From one look at her, I can tell she's not listening to a word they're saying. She instantly looks relived when she sees me. Johanna waves me over, and pats on the seat next to her. There's another empty seat next to where she wants me to sit. I'm guessing she saved them. Haymitch, on her right, whispers something in her ear, and she shakes her head.
I sit down next to Johanna, and tuck my hair behind my ear. The table quiets down when they see me. The woman from from 2 is the first to speak up. "Katniss, right?" I nod, and give her a small smile. "We thought you were with Finnick."
Finnick. Where is he? Probably with one of his clients. I never asked him. I assume the seat on the other side of me is for him. A look of confusion crosses my face, but I quickly compose myself. "Thats me. Finnick? I don't know where he is. I haven't seen him since this afternoon. I was on the phone with the parents of my tributes for a while." I lie.
"It must suck for you and your family having your cousin in the Games." One of the mentors from 9 looks sympathetic.
I frown. "He had his name in 84 times. We saw it coming."
Just then, a red eyed Finnick walks in, surrounded by the press. To anyone else, he looks like his normal handsome self. But I've seen that face before, and I can tell that he's been crying. I don't know if I want to know. When Finnick sees me he smirks, and sits down next to me. "Hello gorgeous." He whispers in my ear. I blush and let out a small girlish giggle. I see Haymitch roll his eyes.
"Keep it in your pants Odair." Cashmere grins across the table. I can tell most of the mentors are pretty good friends. I feel a little out of place, since they all know each other, and have been friends for a while. The server comes around to take our drink orders. She's very pretty, and keeps glancing at Finnick. He doesn't notice it, but I still feel a pang of jealousy. I put my hand in his, and I see her frown a little. The older mentors get a flavored bubbly drink called soda
, or wine. Haymitch and Chaff get the strongest things they have, Cashmere and Johanna get some drink I've never heard of, a martini. Finnick gets the same drink as Gloss, but I forget what it's called. I have no idea what to drink. I usually just drink out of the bottle.
"What's good?" I ask her. She names some type of apple drink, and I ask for that. The woman from 9 from before gets the same thing as me.
"Appletini. Good choice." Johanna nods approvingly. I shrug, not really knowing what I just ordered. "But I would never get it. I can handle my liquor." It clearly was a jab at the fact that whenever I drink, I get pretty sick.
I make an offhand comment about her and Haymitch handling their liquor, and the majority of the table laughs. I feel relieved. As if I proved myself to them. Which is totally irrational, but still. The drinks come, and conversation flows easily. There's a large television on the wall by the bar, and a broadcast of the Games are on. The boy from 3, who lit a fire, was found by the Career pack. They playfully argue over who gets to kill him. Dahlia wins the quarrel, and decides on decapitating him, claiming she makes killing people 'short and sweet'. This isn't the girl I met in 4. I can see the look of confusion in Finnick's eyes.
"She's thirteen years old and has a killing style. Jeez." Haymitch shakes his head. "They start too young." I honestly thought Dahlia was older than that, fifteen or sixteen. Wow.
"Half of them are gone, and the first day isn't even over." Blight sighs. "Something's wrong with these games. It's almost like they enjoy killing."
The food arrives. There's a salad with pieces of fruit in it, a tomato stew, pasta in a creamy sauce, bunches of vegetables, some type of meat in a brown sauce, and a few other dishes that fill up the whole table. It's so delicious, I try to have a bite of everything, but when I taste the pasta, I fill up my plate. I'm so full I don't think I can move, but then our plates our removed and dessert shows up. There's chocolates, bite-sized cakes, pastries, cookies, and things that I've never seen before. They're all delicious, but I decide my favorite is the chocolate mousse. I thought that was the name of an animal found by where District 13 used to be, but apparently it's also a dessert. When it's time to leave, the server tells us the bill has been payed for already by the owners of the restaurant.
We head back to our apartments, in one enormous black limo. It's a tight fit, so Johanna jokes that I'll need to sit on Finnick's lap. I end up needing to, and I have a feeling she won't let me forget this. Not that I really mind sitting on his lap.
Finnick and I say goodnight to everyone. Cashmere kisses me on the cheek, and both Gloss and the women from 2 and 9 hug me. It's pretty unexpected, but I feel welcomed. Johanna and Haymitch are going back to her room to drink some more, and Finnick and I go back to mine. I strip out of my dress, getting into bed wearing just my underclothes. I'm too tired to put on real pajamas. Finnick does the same, throwing his clothes in a corner of the room, and just keeping his boxers on.
My room is dark and silent. I lay my head on Finnick's chest. The only sound is of our breathing. We don't need to say anything, rather there's nothing to say. We're both hurting. I sit up, and mess up his bronze hair a little. "Hey," I give Finnick a small sympathetic smile, "this is going to be okay. You know that, right?"
He shakes his head. "No, it won't be. Do you know what the worst part is? She thinks she has a chance. She's fighting, but she's going to lose. They're both gonna lose, Katniss. I really just want to-"
I cut Finnick off with a soft kiss. It's not the most effective thing, but there's honestly nothing to talk about. Talking won't solve anything. He puts his hand on the back of my neck, holding me nose-to-nose with him. Finnick doesn't say anything, but just stares into my eyes. "You're beautiful, you should know that." I shake my head a little, but don't comment.
I close the small gap between us, and kiss him a little rougher. After everything that has and is going to happen, I don't need gentle. He wraps his other arm around my waist, holding me practically on top of him. The two of us are only taking up half the bed. I nuzzle my face into his shoulder. I feel safer around him. My nightmares haven't been that bad the past few nights, but I have a feeling the next few nights will be terrible. And watching the Gamemakers or other tributes kill Gale and Dahlia won't be very pleasant. I won't be forgetting those anytime soon. Just the thought of having watch that makes me get closer to Finnick. As if his tanned, muscular arms can protect me from the living nightmare that is my life.
"You know," I tell him. "You're more comfortable than any of these fancy Capitol pillows."
Finnick laughs a little. "And we've spent plenty of time on those." He plays with a strand of my hair. I didn't put it up in a braid, like I usually do. Instead, I left it down.
"I'm worried about them." I whisper. They haven't shown any footage of Gale, which means nothing good or bad has happened to him. But not knowing is driving me crazy with anticipation. Just because I'm not watching doesn't mean the games aren't happening. Right now he's out there in the forrest, trying to survive. It's nothing new for him, but I wish I knew he was okay.
Finnick kisses my forehead. "Me too. I'm terrified. I don't know what's scarier: having to watch them die, or having to go home after they've died." He says exactly what I've been thinking. I want to shush him, tell him it's not true, but the reality of the situation is that Finnick is 100% right. There's no outcome of this where Gale or Dahlia live. And that terrifies me. I drift off into sleep. I have a nightmare about Cato's brother murdering Gale, Alyssa, Dahlia, and then me. I'm paralyzed with fear- I can't scream and I can't wake up. Finally Finnick shakes me out of it. "Are you okay?" He asks me, terror in his eyes. "You were shaking."
"Nightmare." I explain, "Thanks for waking me." I kiss Finnick's cheek. He sits up, and turns on the television to the channel with the Games. There's no live footage, but some pre-recorded recaps from earlier today. A small bar on the bottom of the screen lists the tributes that are still alive: Both tributes from 1, Cato's brother, the girl from 3, Dahlia and the boy from 4, the girl from 5, both from 7, the girl from 11, Gale and Alyssa. I exhale in relief. Finnick shuts off the power.
"See," he tells me, "they're all okay." Finnick glances at the clock on my nightstand. It's three thirty. "Try to go back to sleep." I kiss him goodnight, and try to fall back asleep. I manage to not have any nightmares myself, but I'm woken up to the sound of Finnick sobbing softly. I jolt upright in bed, and see he's not in bed. I tentatively open up the door to the bathroom. He's sitting on the floor of the bathroom with he's knees pulled up to his chest. Finnick's sobbing quietly. I don't think he sees me, but I sit down next to him, and put my arm around him.
"It's okay, it's okay." I tell him, not sure how to comfort him. I'm not even sure why he's upset. Clearly he has reason to be, he's broken inside like most of us. But seeing him break down feels weird. He's usually the one holding me. "What's wrong?"
Finnick looks up, and wipes his eyes. He sniffles and clears his throat before speaking. "I had a nightmare as well. But when I woke up, I realized it could be real." I look at him quizzically. Finnick continues, "Everyone died. Not just Dahlia and Gale, but Annie, Johanna, Haymitch, Prim, everyone we care about. Dead. We're still pieces in their Games, Katniss! Even though not all of the victors are morphlings or whores, we still never really won. And we never will win." The weight of what he's saying hits me, and I feel as if I've been punched in the gut. It's true, and I've known it all along. But hearing someone else say it makes it seem real.
I help Finnick stand up. "We can't afford to think like that." I tell him. "We can't win, but if we play by the rules, they can live. We have to try. For them." I sing to Finnick until he falls asleep. I don't tell him this, but I have a feeling everyone I care about will end up dead.
A/N: Sorry! This took forever to update. Hope you liked it! Remember, you can ask me any questions you have about the story, if you don't want to post it in a review. My PM hasn't been working too well, but I'm trying to answer everything.
Reviews = love.