I leave him at his house and head back to my own. I want to spend a little more time with Dani before I have to leave.
"I'm home!" I call out when I step inside. I'm immediately warmed by the heating system in the house. Mom comes out to greet me but something's wrong.
"Sorry, I didn't wipe my shoes outside," I say.
She shakes her head, her face is hard. "Don't worry about that. You have a guest." She takes my game bag from me and carries it off to the kitchen. That's when I notice the strange men standing in the hallway.
A guest? Was Effie here early? I walk down the narrow hallway and turn to the right into the living room. Dad is sitting in one of the seats, holding a tray of cookies. Dani is next to him with a smile, but when she sees me enter, she glances at me, worried. The room smells faintly of a flower, roses, I decide. And something else. Blood.
Across from them, is a man in a white suit, with even whiter hair and snake-like eyes.
"President Snow," I greet him, trying to keep the shakiness out of my voice. "What a surprise. I didn't think I'd have the pleasure of seeing you until the Capitol stop."
"Well I wanted to see how you were settling. And of course I had to meet your sister. After all she's the reason you're a Victor, no? Will you please excuse us?" He asks Dad and Dani.
"It was nice to meet you Mr. President," Dani curtseys. Dad kisses my head, following her out of the room, but only after I gave him a nod that I was fine.
I hated that he was so close to my little sister and my parents. It was me that he was upset with. It was me who he despises for making the Capitol, and him, look like a fool. Because I outsmarted them.
All I was doing was trying to keep Sawyer and myself alive. But I highly doubt he cares about that.
"Well it's an honor-"
"Let's just agree not to lie to each other Ms Mellark. It will make the whole situation a lot simpler, don't you think?"
"Yes," I say, not moving from where I stand a few feet away. "I think that will save time."
He smiles, but there is nothing sincere about it. "My advisers were concerned you would be difficult. But you're not planning on being difficult are you?"
"No," I say.
He nods. "That's what I told them. I said, any girl who goes through such lengths to preserve her life isn't going to be interested in throwing it away so carelessly. And then there's her family to think of. Her mother, father, sister. And…friends." By the way he lingers on the word friend, I know he knows about Levi.
"He's my cousin," I blurt, trying to offer some kind of protection for him. He and Dani favor each other. It could be possible. He doesn't believe me though, I'm sure.
"Let's sit," he gestures for me to take the seat across from him. I sit, back straight, not taking my eyes off of him for a second.
"You see, Ms. Mellark, when I took over as President after my fathers tragic death twenty-five years ago, he left me with a legacy to uphold. It took him a very long time to pass, and he wasn't much older than I am now. But you see, in all his years watching over Panem, he's never had issues with tributes. At least, not one that he couldn't make go away so easily," he says. "But now, I have a problem. A problem that started the second you pulled those berries out in that arena."
That was the moment the Gamemakers made the decision to let us both live. But I don't think they approved it beforehand.
"If Head Gamemaker Seneca Crane had any brains, he would have blown you to bits right then and there. But he was feeling particularly sentimental that day. So here you are. Can you guess where he is?"
I nod, because I'm almost positive he's dead. There was no way President Snow would have allowed him to live when he's part of the reason why he's having problems now. The smell of roses and blood is stronger now, permeating the whole room. I see a single white rose in his lapel but I doubt one rose could emit this strong of a scent. Unless it's genetically enhanced. But the blood…well I have no idea where that is coming from.
"After that, there was nothing to do but let you play out your little scenario. And you were pretty good too, with the love-crazed schoolgirl bit. The people in the Capitol were quite convinced. Unfortunately, not everyone in the districts fell for your act."
My face must register at least a flicker of bewilderment because he addresses it.
"There was no way for you to know that, of course. You don't have access to the knowledge of outside districts. But many of them viewed your trickery as an act of defiance, not love. And if a little girl from District Twelve can defy the Capitol, then what's to prevent them from doing the same?" he says. "What is to prevent, say, and uprising?"
Hudson's words flicker in my mind. The full weight of what he says hits me. "There have been uprisings?" I ask, both chilled and elated by the possibility.
"Not yet. But they'll follow if the course of things do not change. Whatever problems anyone may have with the Capitol, things would be a lot worse without us. If it releases its grip on the districts for even a short time, the entire system would collapse."
It surprises me how he seems to show concern for the wellbeing of the citizens of Panem, when nothing could be further from the truth. I don't know how I dare to say these next words but I do. "It must be very fragile if a handful of berries can bring it down."
There's a long pause while he examines me. "It is fragile. But not in the way you suppose."
"I didn't mean to start any uprisings," I tell him. "I just wanted to save my sister and Sawyer."
"I believe you. But your stylist has gone above and beyond and turned you into Willow Mellark, the Girl on Fire. Unknowingly you've provided a spark, which left unattended, can grow an inferno that destroys Panem," he says.
"Why don't you just kill me now?" I blurt. "If I'm causing you so much trouble."
"Publicly?" he asks. "It would only add fuel to the fire."
"Arrange an accident then," I say.
"Nobody would buy it," he says. "Would you?"
"Then tell me what you want me to do and I'll do it," I say. "I'm sure people will believe it if it came from me and Sawyer."
"It's not that simple," he says, picking up one of Dad's cookies. "And speaking of him, how is the love of your life?"
"Good," I say.
"At what point did he realize the exact degree of your indifference?"
"I'm not indifferent," I say.
"But perhaps not as taken with the young man as you would have the country believe," he says.
"Who says I'm not?"
"I do," says the president. "And I wouldn't be here if I was the only person who had doubts. How is that…cousin of yours? Quite a handsome lad himself."
"I don't know…I don't…" I stutter, wanting to leave Levi out of the conversation.
"Speak, Ms. Mellark. Him I can easily kill off. And you aren't doing yourself any favors by sneaking off to the woods with him all the time," he says.
If he knows this, what else does he know? Has he been listening in on those conversations in the woods? Does he know about us breaking the law by hunting out there? But we certainly weren't sneaking off as lovers. He couldn't possibly think that. Unless…
"Please don't hurt Levi," I say. "He's just my friend. That's all between us."
"I'm only interested in how it affects your dynamic with Sawyer, thereby affecting the moods of the districts," he says.
"It will be the same on the tour. I'll be in love with him just as I was," I say.
"Just as you are," corrects President snow.
"Just as I am," I confirm.
"Only you'll have to do better if the uprisings are to be averted," he says. "This tour will be your only chance to turn things around."
"I know. I will. I'll convince all the districts that I wasn't trying to defy the Capitol. That I was just crazy in love," I say.
President Snow rises to his feet and dabs his lips with a napkin. "Aim higher in case you fall short."
"What do you mean? How can I aim higher?"
"Convince me," he says. He drops the napkin but I don't watch as he heads for the door, so I flinch when he whispers in my ear. "You know, Ms. Mellark, I'm not sure how you do things in District Twelve, but I don't think I've ever kissed my cousin like that." Then the door clicks shut behind him.
It's then I realized the smell of blood was coming from his breath. Does he drink it?