A/N:
Before we start this chapter, I'm just going to warn you that towards the end, there is a very dark conversation between Simmer and Shimmer. (The story is told from Shimmer's viewpoint; a Capitolite citizen who is very excited for the Games). It's a mature conversation but I think it captures the entire essence of that Capitol's way of thinking towards the Games.
Gloss Vallen - District One Male Tribute
"Darling, he is going to be absolutely fabulous! Don't you think?" I ask my sister as we walk back from the Tribute Parade.
"Oh most definitely! He is so gorgeous! I wouldn't be surprised if some of the other tributes drop dead just because of his looks! I cannot wait to see him in the Games." Simmer says.
The next few days pass by quickly. We watch Caesar and Claudius talk about this year's games, their hopes for the Tributes and mostly about the Careers. Gloss and his district partner have gathered the most interest. She's tall with flowing blonde hair. Her eyes are the exact color of a sapphire, which is quite fitting as that's her name. Sapphira and Gloss make quite a team. All the best Capitol magazines report them as "very close" and one even says "they're almost like brother and sister".
"This is so exciting! Gloss will get the highest score don't you think Shimmer?" my sister asks as we turn on our television to watch the scores.
"He will. No one can beat him." I say.
Caesar begins his introduction and then begins to announce the scores.
"Gloss Vallen with a score of 10." he says.
"Yay! This is great! That's a fabulous score!" I cheer.
"How wonderful! He's off to a great start for the Games!" cheers Simmer.
"C'mon, let's head down to The Blue Moon! Let's go!" I tell Simmer.
We don't bother to watch the rest of the scores. We leave our penthouse and head down to the Blue Moon. It's an old blue building, one of the first ever to be built for the Capitol. It used to be a restaurant but it's slowly turned into the place where the mentors go during the Hunger Games to get sponsors. Daddy said that Simmer and I were finally old enough to place our own bets on our favorites this year. It was part of our 18th birthday present.
"I'm so excited!" says Simmer as we wait in line to go in.
"It is very exciting." I agree.
We get in and look for the District 1 table. I spot it and hurry over. Simmer follows. We speak to the mentor, Davith Lansbury. He won 6 or 7 years ago.
"Have you come to sponsor one of my tributes?" he asks politely.
"Yes. We'd both like to sponsor Gloss." I answer.
"Of course. Now how much would you like to put forward?" he asks.
"I'll put 8000 down. How about you Shimmer?" Simmer asks.
"I'll do 8000 as well. Will that be enough?" I ask Davith.
"Well it is quite generous. I'm sure it will help out Gloss a lot in the Games." he answers.
"Fabulous!" I say. "If he needs more, just call us and we will be happy to donate." I say as I slip him a card with my phone number on it.
"Of course. Thank you so much ladies." Davith says as he moves on to the next potential sponsor.
"That was a rush! I can't wait to do this again! Let's go sponsor some more tributes!" Simmer says excitedly.
"No. If we sponsor more, then that decreases Gloss' chances. We can't let that happen. He is going to be the Victor." I say and pull Simmer out the door.
"I guess you're right" she says in a huff.
The next day goes by quickly. Gloss' interview was incredible. I was in the 5th row so I could see him perfectly. He was absolutely gorgeous. His voice was so deep, every word he said was so moving. I knew he was going to win.
During the bloodbath, Gloss killed 4 tributes by himself. Each time he pulled out his dagger from the next dead body, I cheered a small cheer of victory. "He's one step closer to being the Victor." I thought.
His alliance is good, made up of him and Sapphira, the pair from 2 and the pair from 4. They're all talented with their own weapons and when they go hunting the first night, they make 2 more kills. They return to the Cornucopia only to find that all of their supplies have been taken. They can't see who did it. But I know. It's the large boy from 7, Mason is his name. He's hiding in the tree line with a few of their supplies but most of them he dumped in the lake while they were out hunting.
"He's brave. Brave for going up against such a valiant warrior like Gloss. But he'll pay soon. I know he will." I tell Simmer.
I turn back to the screen to see that Sapphira has noticed the boy at the tree line. She points and begins to yell obscenities to the others. Gloss grabs his dagger and an extra knife and chases towards him with his alliance following.
"GO! GO! GO!" yells Simmer.
Mason takes off. He's fast, very fast. I don't know how they'll catch him. He's zig zag-ing through the trees. Gloss and the alliance have split off. They're all going different directions trying to catch him. But Gloss is the one who continues to chase straight after Mason. Mason runs and trips over a log. But he regains himself in time. They keep running for a few hours with Gloss narrowly missing him a few times. Some of the other alliance members join Gloss at times, but each time Gloss yells "Try to corner him. But let me kill him" and shoos them away.
It's getting darker in the arena but Gloss doesn't seem phased. He keeps running at full speed, never stopping. I see Mason has stopped about 30 yards ahead of Gloss. He's faced with a giant rock wall that he knows he can't climb. He looks around panicked and tries to escape through the clearing to his left but as he runs, the girl from 4 corners him back. He runs to his right only to be met with the vicious face of the boy from 2 staring back at him.
"They've cornered him! But where's Gloss?" I wonder aloud.
At that moment, Gloss leaps through the trees ready to kill Mason. "Stand back." he orders his allies. They obey and Gloss walks up to the scared tribute from 7.
"You think you can get rid of my supplies and walk away unscathed?" he yells tauntingly.
"Well no I just… I just.." the boy begins to plead with Gloss.
"I don't care about what 'you just' or anything else you have to say. You tried to weaken me. But you failed." he says menacingly.
By this point, the boy is tackled up against the rock wall. Gloss towers over him and leans towards him and stabs the boy in the heart. The cannon sounds.
"It's done. Grab what he has and back to the Cornucopia." he says.
His alliance obeys. All except for the girl from 4. She speaks as loud as she dares and says "Maybe we shouldn't go back. The boy got rid of our stuff. What do we have left?"
"Are you defying me?" Gloss asks.
"No, she's just stating a simple fact." says the boy from 4, defending his partner.
"Yeah, Seaa was just stating what we're all thinking. There's nothing to go back to. Might as well continue to hunt in the woods. We can make a few more kills and then plan from there." says the girl from 2.
"I make the plans. I'm your leader." says Gloss.
"We never picked a leader. We're all working together." says the girl from 2.
"Not anymore, we're not." says Gloss and he stabs Seea to death with his knife.
The boy from 4 jumps onto Gloss as the cannon sounds.
"How dare you kill her! You had no right! She was your ally! You just killed her!" the boy yells as he tries to kill Gloss.
This provokes the rest of the alliance to fight as well. Sapphira begins to fight the girl from 2. As the fights begin to escalate no one notices that the boy from 2 runs away.
"What is he doing?" asks Simmer.
I don't answer. I'm too involved watching the screen. Gloss has thrown the boy off his back, breaking the boy's arm. He stands up and tries to attack Gloss with his knife but before he can Gloss stabs him in the other arm. The boy continues to try and stab Gloss but Gloss stabs back quicker and easier. Within seconds, the boy from 4 drops to the ground dead.
The girls are still fighting not caring that a cannon has sounded. Sapphira has climbed a tree and is sitting high up throwing knives down to the girl from 2 as she climbs. The girl has good reflexes and dodges each knife with ease and she climbs. Then Sapphira pulls out her last knife and throws it with all her strength. The girl isn't quick enough this time and the knife sinks deep into her shoulder causing her to fall down to the ground, where Gloss is waiting to finish her off. He does and Sapphira scurries down the tree.
"Hey where's Niro?" she asks.
"I don't know. But let's find him." Gloss says.
The pair chases off after Niro. All thoughts of returning to the Cornucopia seemed to have vanished from Gloss' mind. They search all night but don't find him. The next day, only two cannons sound, but not from the hands of Gloss and Sapphira. They weren't spectacular deaths at all. The pair from 11 died from lack of food and water. That night after the anthem plays, Gloss and Sapphira discuss their next move.
"There's only 8 left. You, me, Niro and the pair from 3 and the girl from 7 and the ones from 9." Sapphira says.
Sapphira falls over from the tree stump she was sitting on. When she hits the ground, there's an arrow in her back. Gloss looks up to see the girl from 7 stepping out from the trees with her bow in her hand.
"7 actually" she says.
The girl says nothing else because Gloss throws his knife at her and hits her in the heart. The cannon sounds for her death and Gloss runs over to Sapphira. She isn't dead yet, but her breathing is slowing down.
"Sapphira! Stay with me!" Gloss says as tears begin to fall from his eyes.
"Can't." she says quietly.
"You have to! You have to stay!" Gloss says.
"Gloss. You have to win." she says slowly and closes her eyes.
"I will. I'll win for you" he says as the cannon sounds.
"Shimmer, bring me more tissues! And mascara! Its running!" Simmer says.
I do and she begins to re-apply.
"That was one of the most touching scenes in the Games. I mean, I hate that she had to die, but Gloss was just….just...so…. so moving." she says.
"Mhmm. Now it's only down to 6 tributes. I'm sure he'll win." I say confidently.
"How? He has no food! Sapphira was eating their last ounce of food before she died!" Simmer wails.
"Simmer, we sponsored him, remember? I'm sure Davith will give him a good meal to get his strength up!" I say.
As if by magic, the beep of a sponsor's gift fills the room. We look at the screen and see that Davith has indeed provided a hearty meal for Gloss. Gloss hungrily attacks it and then falls asleep under some trees. He awakens to the sound of two cannons. The camera switches to the pair from 3 being eaten by a mutt some 50 yards from Gloss. The mutt seems to sense he's close to another body and begins to run in the direction of Gloss. All across the arena, the remaining tributes are running from the mutts. They're all going in the direction of the Cornucopia.
"This is it! This is the final showdown!" screams Simmer.
We lean in towards the screen to see Niro and Gloss reaching the Cornucopia at the same time. The pair from 9 reach it seconds after, though the girl falls prey to the mutts. The boy runs for his life, straight into the hands of Niro, who breaks his neck in seconds. The cannons sound for their deaths and that seems to signal the mutts back to the forest.
"Well well well. Looks like it's down to us." says Niro.
"Looks like it." says Gloss.
Their hands tighten around their weapons and they start to circle each other. Niro raises his spear and begins to charge towards Gloss.
One Week Later
I sit in the very same spot I did three weeks ago while watching the tribute interviews. Now though, there's only one tribute onstage, but he's not a tribute anymore, he's a Victor! I'm still screaming his name in complete awe. Simmer is doing the same next to me. We listen as Gloss cordially answers all of Caesar's questions and scream with delight when they show the playback of the Games.
One week later, my friend Telease tells me that since Gloss was so desireable, President Snow is making him available for purchase. That very evening, I go and make my first Victor purchase.
"I'll be the first person to have him" I tell Simmer.
"Oh you're so lucky!" she says.
"When do you get him?" she asks.
"When he comes for his Victory tour. The night of the Capitol party at the Presidential mansion. I don't know how I'll be able to wait that long though. It's going to be very hard." I reply.
"But i'm sure that he will be worth the wait." she assures me.
I smile in agreement.