Chapter Four: Actions and Consequences
Every year, about a month prior to the Games, it was the Head Gamemaker's obligation to visit each district. To meet with the mayors; announcing the reaping dates and doling out mentor and escort lists.
Verena never liked being the center of attention. She would rather lurk behind the curtains, away from the lights. Verena liked to think of herself as a puppet master; hidden, yet still controlling every movement made.
Yet here she was in District 1 behind a podium, thousands of eyes focused on her. Reaping dates? Escorts? Verena was the center of attention in an ordeal that could have been negotiated through letters.
But she understood why she was here. Every year this little "tour" signaled the start of the Hunger Games. From now until the reapings names would be collected and calculations would take place. Different children's names were put into the bowl based on different factors. The older someone is, the more times their name is in the bowl. If a child signs up for tessera, their name is in the bowl again. And again and again for each additional family member they want tessera for. All of it really is a very complex process.
Back in the Capitol the call the whole thing the Death Lottery.
"And this year's mentors will be Calix Valor, Victor of the 37th Hunger Games and Darium Hale, Victor of the 41st Hunger Games," Verena tried to exert some enthusiasm in her voice, although she was no Capitol escort.
She peered out into the crowd. District 1 looked unimpressed.
Verena resisted the urge to scream. Public speaking was never her strong suit. She wanted to be back in the Capitol right now, there to get full progress reports on the finishing touches that were taking place in her arena at this very moment. She was missing it.
Instead she endured the rest of the public display, and trudged back to the train only to pour herself a glass of wine. It had been a long day.
Verena had seldom left the Capitol in her lifetime. She had no interest in the districts. What did they have to offer her that the Capitol didn't? Absolutely nothing.
It was going to be a long week.
With each visit, the tensions in the districts grew higher. 1, 2, and 4 were easy enough, but the other districts didn't welcome her so warmly. But of course, she didn't expect them to cheer for the woman that was going to kill their children.
Verena's voice reverberated back at her with each word, bouncing off buildings in the distance as she announced District 10's mentors for this year's Games.
The only other sound she heard was a faint cow's moan in the distance. One could have sliced through the silence with the knife.
Verena spoke louder as she announced the date of this year's reaping, competing with pounding of the pouring rain.
The citizens of District 10 stood soaked in the morning storms, while Verena stood protected under District 10's Capitol building. It had a roof for just this purpose. There was no way any Capitol escort would stand out in the rain on a day like this. She almost smiled, thinking about some Capitol escort getting drenched by the downpour, all the makeup running down their faces, their silly wig falling apart.
Verena continued to speak as she heard voices rise in the crowd. She ignored them, continuing on with her speech. A few more paragraphs, and she would be on the train again, one step closer to home.
Verena kept speaking, even as the whispers turned into audible words, then to screams and shouts. She looked straight ahead, not deigning to look at whomever was causing the ruckus. She continued to ignore the cacophony, until she saw a gleam of something out of the corner of her eye, and felt something sharp slice across her cheek.
Verena shrieked, as she heard glass hit the floor shattering into tiny little fragments. She reached up to her face and pulled her hand away. It was dripping with blood.
All hell broke lose.
In the distance she heard gunshots fire, followed by more screaming, cries, and agony. The deafening sounds filled her ears.
She saw a blur people trying to climb up onto the stage, clawing, hissing, and biting. She saw a flash of white, peacekeepers wrenching them away, finally giving up and aiming their guns instead at the people scaling the stage.
Then she saw nothing, and as she started to drift in and out of consciousness she felt hands around her arms, dragging her inside and away from the madness.
"Be careful."
When Verena awoke the last words Snow had spoken to her before she left ringed in her ears.
She looked around. She was back was in the Capitol. This was a hospital room, devoid of color and reeking of antiseptic.
Verena pulled her sheets away and got up. Her feet felt frozen against the marble floor. She didn't remember much, it was all a haze. District 10. A flash. Glass. She was bleeding. There were gunshots. And crying.
A nurse rushed in a few seconds later, coaxing Verena to lay back down, saying she needed rest. She had lost a lot of blood.
She offered Verena a mirror, showing her the stitches that ran down her left cheek.
Verena no longer looked like a princess. All her features, her heart shaped face, emerald eyes, long black lashes, unaltered by the Capitol, all of them were contorted by the ugly mess that ran down one side of her face.
"Once we remove the stitches we can perform surgery. It will look as if nothing had ever happened," the nurse spoke, her tone reassuring.
Verena sat in silence for a minute. The nurse shifted uncomfortably.
"No," Verena said at last. "I want them to know what they did. I want them to know I don't care."
Verena clenched her teeth.
She would keep this scar. As a reminder, to the fact that this rebellion was very much real. As a reminder, of what needed to be accomplished.
They could try to kill her, but this would not end without consequences. They were going to pay. All of them.
Author's Note: Okay! So that chapter was interesting to write! Please, drop a comment, let me know how it was: good, bad? So, this is the last chapter before I get into the tribute's POVs. So, I need a District 1 male before things can at least begin to get started. They are other spots open, just hit my profile up :) I can't wait to begin finally! Until next time...