Stay with me, always.

Chapter 28. Shakedown

It was officially Day Six in the Hunger Games, and people were getting restless. Father came home late last night, going straight to his bedroom and locking the door. Now, the walls in the President's Mansion might be thick, but the doors are not. So I elected to become a third party in my parent's hushed conversation by pressing my ear up against their bedroom door.

Childish, I know. But I had to know! I had to know what they were saying, it was no doubt they were talking about the riots that had taken place in the Capitol after Soarynn's death. Mother sounded frantic, "Well what are we going to do Crassus?" She hissed, I heard the clinking of glass that let me know that she was helping herself to another drink. A bar cart in the bedroom, how very classy, I thought as my Father finally replied, "We'll just have to wait this out, as long as the Districts aren't rebelling, we have nothing to worry about."

He wasn't entirely wrong, the war was between the Capitol and the Districts, but the citizens of the Capitol didn't do much fighting. That's what the Peacekeepers and hovercrafts were for. The sheer thought of the Capitol's citizens going up in arms against our family was comical. My Father had given the citizens of the Capitol everything they ever wanted and more, he gave them riches, opulence, over-the-top galas, and the Hunger Games. But, as I have recently learned, what can be given, can also be taken away.

"Well, let's hope it does, or we'll be run out of the Capitol!" Mother cried, which led me to think about where we could possibly go to guarantee our safety. Surely we had our safe houses scattered across all of Panem, but another uprising could last quite a long time. And I could only last so long with my family. "If Soarynn wins, they'll forget all of this ever happened, especially with the wedding," Father told her. So our wedding was a cover-up! Or at least, now it was. It was awfully convenient for them to marry us off and sell our 'happily ever after' story to all of Panem.

Mother sighed, "Yes, let's just hope she pulls through, she's so close," she said, with a sniffle. Part of me wondered if she'd be this distraught if it were me in the Games, I highly doubted it. "Yes, let's hope," Father said. I could hear him making his way toward the doors so I quickly padded around the corner and into my bedroom, gently closing the door. I hadn't been in here for a while, I think the last time I slept in my own bed was with Soarynn after I beat the shit out of Titus. Sejanus told me that he was in fact expelled which gave me a small amount of satisfaction.

It also made me feel entirely stupid, getting in a fight over a girl who was now in the Hunger Games? Maybe I won the physical fight, but Titus had won the real one.

Cleo and Beckett were not rushing to sell any sort of story to the viewers at home, while Soarynn and Jessup were cuddled up in the same sleeping bag, recovering from the fire, Cleo and Beckett slept on opposite ends of the Cornucopia. Day Five had been awful so I was hoping today would be better. It probably wouldn't. Cleo woke up first, sitting up and looking into the forest to see that the fire hadn't done any real damage to the arena. She then turned to see Beckett sleeping on his side, his back turned to her. She watched as he took in deep breaths, the smoke from the fire clearly not affecting either of them.

She then ever so slowly grabbed the spear lying next to her. Do it, I thought, it would make this whole thing much easier for all of us if Cleo killed Beckett. He wouldn't even see it coming, it would be an act of mercy considering his shoulder was injured. At least that's what I told myself. She stood up and quietly made her way over to him, she lifted up the spear, and just as she was about to bring it down onto him, he let out a yawn.

Cleo practically fell over trying to back up, and ended up falling on the ground while throwing the spear behind her. He groaned and rolled over to see her sitting, looking at him, "Good morning," he said with a yawn. She gave him a smile, "How's your shoulder?" She asked him, he sat up and rolled it around, "It's getting better," he told her. She nodded and stood up, walking outside to feel the rain, it was pouring, to the point where you couldn't see that far ahead of you. Anyone could sneak up on them. "We should stay put," Beckett said as he joined her, she looked up at him, "What? We need to kill them!" She gestured to the woods, he shook his head, "The woods aren't our terrain anymore, it's too risky." He walked back under the Cornucopia and Cleo followed him with a huff.