Scars Of Our Love | Cato Hadley X Male Reader | Vol. 1

8 ~ Guilt & Skills

My eyes shoot open, pitch black surrounds me. I rub my face, inhaling a huge puff of air as I yawn. The only visible thing in the room was the clock, which sat on top of the nightstand. Its numbers read "6:37" in bright blue. I sigh before throwing my legs off the bed and balancing myself on them. "Lights," I mumble. A bright flash blinded me for a second, my vision clearing as I adjusted.

Slowly, I walk to the bathroom. Only to wash my face and brush my teeth, no shower. Mostly because my skin still felt raw due to the deep cleaning and waxing Serenity's team did.

After walking out of the bathroom I found a matching pair of pants and a shirt in my closet. It was a simple outfit, tight pants, and a short sleeve. A single red line ran down the sides, and on each sleeve was a square patch with the number 7. On the floor, I notice a pair of leather boots as well, already altered to fit my feet exactly.

I begin to walk toward the door but stop as I notice myself in the mirror. For the first time since I left home, I had recognized myself. I wasn't in any fancy clothes or wearing some funny makeup style. It was me, and I was happy with that. I looked as if I was ready for work in the forests, minus the clothes and dirt that would normally stain the skin on my face.

No one gave me a wake-up time, only that we had to be down for training by ten. Johanna wanted us there even earlier, so more realistically nine to nine-thirty. I figured someone would be awake, but I was wrong. No one but the servers in red were there to greet me. Their silent motions for me to come closer gave me an uneasy feeling. I looked at where they pointed, it was a buffet. Pancakes, biscuits, eggs, muffins, soups, sausages, and multiple fruit platters lined the long table. All tempting my stomach with their irresistible smells.

I quickly make a plate of a bit of everything and take a seat at the glass dining table. My mind wandered about my family. Ana would probably be fussing over the way her hair was without me there to fix it, our dad making breakfast with whatever scraps he could find. It had only been a full day since I had seen them since I had been back home. That wasn't right. I kept trying to tell myself, but It was true. I felt like my whole life was different now. I don't feel like a day, it feels like years. With each passing minute, my longing for home grows even stronger.

I hope Sky is ok. He'd be at work as well, but I wonder if he watched me last night. I wonder if they all did. Seeing me on the big screen with our golden capes and crowns, would it help? Would it help give them hope, or would it just make my family fear more after seeing the bloodthirsty faces of some of my fellow tributes?

I look up as I hear a distant mumbling, Johanna entering the dining room while rubbing her eyes. She walks over to the buffet, pushing the servers aside. Her hands glide over the dishes, quickly grabbing a large muffin and shoving it in her mouth. "And good fuckin morning to you too princes," she blurts out before taking a seat across from me. "What?" I ask out of confusion, her mouth growing into a huge, fake-looking, grin. "I don't know where you're from, but back in 7, it's at least customary to say good morning. Isn't it," she says through the crumbs of food in her mouth.

My eyes rolled, looking over toward Jenna who walked in, surprisingly happy. "How was your morning," she says, quickly making a plate before sitting. I shrugged, aside from the few hours I got of sleep, nothing eventful had happened. "Alright," Johanna says, ignoring Jenna completely, "You're going down a little before 10. You won't be the last ones there, but you won't be the first. Which is good, you don't need to be getting the attention of other tributes." I nod, scooping a spoonful of pudding in my mouth.

"Now, I know you told me what you can do, but I want more detail. Jenna?" She turns to the girl, her mouth already full of food. "I told you I can handle an axe," she blurts. Johanna sighed while leaning her head against her arm.