Chapter Eight

Effie felt her throat close. Her blood ran cold, and she had to stop the tears from flooding to her eyes.

She can't cry. Not here. Not surrounded by all these people who don't see this as the tragedy it is.

She turned to look at Haymitch, and surprisingly, he gave her a look of pure sympathy.

'Go,' his eyes seemed to say.

Effie walked as fast as she dared to a nearby bathroom. Once she was safely in the stall she let all her emotion out.

She cried at the injustice of the situation. How a family can lose two children in the span of a few years. How a young girl can be killed by someone she trusted. How someone dying that brutally isn't even considered that important, since it's only the start of the Games.

The one silver lining was that at least Iris didn't see who killed her. She would never know that Cinder betrayed her trust and murdered her the first chance he got.

By Capitol standards, and in her limited time in Panem, Effie knew that what Cinder did was a bad move. Sure, there can only be one victor, but you still want someone from your district to win. What Cinder did was make sure that there would be no winner from 12 if he didn't survive.

Effie didn't know how long she was in the bathroom for, and she didn't care. She knew she would probably be missed soon but couldn't bring herself to leave the stall and head back in to watch more kids die.

After a while she heard the door open and tried to hush her crying.

"Effie?" called out a male voice.

"Haymitch?" Effie sobbed, standing up and opening the stall door.

"Are you okay?"

Haymitch would have instantly been able to tell that she was not okay, but Effie still answered, "I'm fine."

"The first time is always the hardest," he said, handing her a hanky.

"Is it always like this?" she asked.

Haymitch seemed to pause for a second to consider. "Yes."

Effie sobbed again.

"You can't let yourself be seen like this, sweetheart. People from the Capitol aren't meant to care this much."

Effie wondered whether Haymitch knew something was up, but then let his words sink in properly and knew that he was right.

"Just give me a second and I'll be right out," she said, straightening up.

"Take the rest of the day. I can manage by myself for a bit. I'll just say you got sick," he offered.

"Thank you," Effie replied earnestly. "Are you sure you can manage on your own?"

"Yeah. I've been doing this for years now. Plus, I have one less tribute to worry about now."

Effie did not laugh.

"Sorry, bad joke."

Effie left, making sure no one saw her for her make-up was surely not presentable, and headed home.

She collapsed into bed, not daring to turn on the TV because she knew the only thing on would be the Hunger Games. She lay in bed, and after some more crying, she fell asleep.

She awoke from a nightmare the next morning, seeing Iris' death all over again.

She was determined to not let herself get as worked up today.

She cleaned off yesterday's make-up, took a shower, and started the ritual of getting herself Capitol-ready.

Within an hour, she was looking respectable, and the car was ready to take her to the Tribute Centre.

She walked in and found Haymitch.

"Feeling better today, sweetheart?" he asked, loud enough for any eavesdroppers to hear.

"Yes, much better," Effie replied, as graciously as she could manage. "What have I missed?"

"9 tributes dead in the first 24 hours. All the Careers are still alive, and Cinder. He's managed to make it into the forest. He has water but hasn't eaten and he lost his only weapon yesterday."

Haymitch didn't say how, but Effie knew already.

"Very well. What would you like me to do?" Effie asked.

"You stay here and watch the screens. I've got a meeting I set up with some sponsors yesterday."

Effie looked at him with a puzzled expression.

"They were... um, impressed by Cinder yesterday. I thought I could use it to our advantage."

Effie kept her mouth closed because she knew that what she wanted to say would not do her any good. She didn't say that she didn't want Cinder to win the Games. She didn't say that he didn't deserve any help after what he did to Iris, and she didn't say that part of her felt sorry for him because he was only doing what he needed to do to survive. Instead, she said, "Okay."

She set herself up at a desk in front of the huge monitor. The screen was split into multiple sections, showing different tributes, and flicking through short clips of the ones not doing anything interesting. The biggest section which took up most of the screen was reserved for the Careers, who were currently hunting. In a small section in the top-right corner was Cinder, who was picking berries. Clearly not interesting enough to keep showing, he was alternating with the girl from District 5 who was trying to climb a tree.

Effie sat there for a few hours, watching the Hunger Games, and taking mental notes of the atmosphere in the room. At one point, the whole screen was taken up by the Careers, who managed to find the young boy from District 9. Everyone in the room was standing up, facing the TV, with mixed expressions on their faces depending on who they were there for.

Everyone watched with bated breath as the boy from District One shot an arrow, which pierced the boy from Nine through the chest, and he flopped down to the ground, dead.

The male mentor from District 9 walked off, muttering something under his breath. After this, everything went back to how it was before. Everyone watching their own screens, having their own side conversations. Effie was enjoying her little solitude. Cinder hadn't even been shown on the main section of the screen yet, so she knew he was probably safe for now.

About an hour after the boy from Nine died, Haymitch came back from his meeting. He was a little unsteady on his feet, and smelt faintly of liquor, but still in a much better condition than he usually was after drinking.

"What have I missed?" he asked, sounding surprisingly sober.

"The Careers shot an arrow at the boy from District Nine," Effie replied coolly.

"How's Cinder doing?"

"He ate some berries that he found, and he's been napping in a bush for 45 minutes," Effie told him. "How did your meeting go?"

"Well. They offered to help sponsor Cinder."

"What are we going to send him?" Effie asked.

"Nothing yet. Save it for when he needs it," Haymitch told her.

Effie nodded her head in understanding.

"Do you need to take a break?" Haymitch asked. "I'll take over for a bit, you go get something to eat."

Effie took this opportunity to go get something from the cafeteria. They had delightful mini sandwiches and little balls of assorted fruits. Effie tucked in, washing it down with some iced tea, and waited another 15 minutes before deciding to head back in.

When she came back in, Cinder had finally earned his place on the big screen.

Haymitch was standing up, horror in his eyes.

Standing over the bush where Cinder was sleeping, was the entire Career pack. They each had their weapons poised, ready to strike if he woke up. Not that he did.

The boy from District Two had a mace and swung it back as far as he could before bringing it down onto Cinder.

The bush must have offered some concealment because the blow didn't kill him. The mace connected with his chest, caving it in and beginning to soak his clothes in blood. Cinder woke up, realised what was happening and let out a blood-curling scream, or what would have been a scream if his lungs weren't filling with blood. He didn't even have time to move before the boy with the bow let out the arrow he had drawn, finishing the job.

The cannon went off.

Haymitch looked dejected, turning to Effie, expecting the same reaction as the day before. Except, Effie's eyes weren't filling with tears. Her throat wasn't closing, and breath hadn't quickened. Effie instead felt a flood of emotion she wasn't expecting: relief.

What were these Games doing to her?