Two chapters today. Make sure to read Act 20: Losing a Brother; Silver and Gold before this one!
Act 21
'Home'
I had somehow managed to win the Hunger Games. This scrawny girl from District Eight; I for one was defiantly surprised. I know a lot of people were. I had managed to secure three kills, four if you consider Douglas. That was much more than I was thought to ever get. And now I had won. I had overcome the odds stacked against me, like the 23 past victors before me. Now I could return home.
The trip back to my district was a quite one. Weft comforted me for a little bit, but soon withdrew to his own quarters to mourn in his own way. Woof was nowhere to be seen, though that was to be expected. He was considerably close to Dezji, being his mentor and everything. Even Gaius seemed to be mourning in his own special way, which meant stuffing his face with a bunch of sweets.
Once back in my district, I was dressed up nicely before being presented in front of my district as victor of the 24th Hunger Games. My arm was bandaged, but would retrieve special medical attention later. I expected the worst when it came to it because of how badly it had been aching as of late. Everyone cheered for me, happy that their district would retrieve the spoils that having a victor would bring. It pissed me off, they were so focused on having stuff they weren't upset by the deaths they had just witnessed yesterday. Not that I should be that angry, as I would have acted the same way in their shoes.
After waving a bit, I was allowed to meet up with my mom back at our apartment. This would be the last time I would ever step in that building as we were soon to be moved to the Victors' Village. On the steps of the building I saw Pill. No matter who I dealt with in the arena, that man still scared me.
"Looks like our little Calico actually had some guts," he said, chuckling when seeing me. "I didn't expect you to get so far. I betted on that District Two girl beating you into submission, but Baize here was betting on you."
Pill gestured to the burly man standing beside me. Baize was a rather unattractive man, though his looks were common in the city. Rather sad really. Still didn't make him any more attractive. Baize smirked at me, giving me a creepy stare. It took everything I had not to shiver under his gaze. I just sneered and ignored them as I passed them up the steps.
"Looks like being a victor has made her too good for us," said Pill.
I wanted to agree that, yes I was too good for them. I was had always been too good for them. But I wouldn't be able to hold off their attacks if they got mad. Fighting was illegal in the Districts, but that didn't stop people like Pill and his gang from doing it. He had even paid off a few Peacekeepers to look the other way so he could get away with it. Me being a victor wouldn't matter in that situation; I would still wind up hurt. Instead I just kept my mouth shut and walked into the building.
In the apartment was my mom. She was actually looking a bit better. You could tell she was still doing drugs, but she didn't look like she was doing as much. Her face was still sunken in, but that spark behind her eyes, that spark she had before the drugs, had come back. She rushed up to me and threw herself into a hug. She was stronger than you would expect, but that only made me happier. I replied with an even stronger hug. A noise from the kitchen threw me off guard. Out came Lilleth, holding a frying pan with some eggs.
"I was making lunch," she said.
It had turned out after I was hit with the arrow, Lilleth had come over to make sure my mom was okay. The little girl was almost in tears upon finding her doing drugs. Lilleth insisted on helping out my mom. And when Lilleth watched Dezji die, my mom had helped her emotionally. It appeared that my mom needed this to come back to life.
"You are going to live with us at the Village," I told Lilleth over eggs.
"But…" she went to object, but paused. "But A-Bees."
A-Bees; their aunt that had taken care of them. Lilleth had told me about this woman, how she cared for Dezji and her after their parents had gone.
"She can come along," I said.
The houses in the Victor's Village were already too big for two people, even for three. The more the merrier, right? Besides, I had promised Dezji I would take care of Lilleth and if it meant including their aunt, I was going to do just that.
It turned out my arm was far too infected to save. I ended up having my arm amputated at the shoulder. It was a scary thing at first, but I soon came to accept it. I wouldn't need to work now that I had won the Hunger Games, so I didn't have to worry about this hindering my work at the factory. Also a lot of people in District Eight had lost limbs and had turned out fine. I had helpful advice from them all around me. Anyways, I had my mom and Lilleth and A-Bees, or Aunt Bees as she was called to her face, with me.
Nope, not that long. I just wanted a flash at what Calico got once she was home. I updated twice today. Make sure to read Act 20 if you haven't. One chapter left and it is bound to be a big one.