Coriolanus Snow || The Poem of Power and Love

5

Since I couldn't fight, Coriolanus wanted to teach me the basics. We stood together in a training hall, both with sticks in our hands.

"Okay, so we'll start with a simple parry." He showed me and I did the same. "Very good. Now come on, attack me," he encouraged me.

I swung my stick at him, which he could easily evade.

"Now watch me." He attacked me and I tried to defend myself as well as possible.

It didn't work well, he immediately hit me.

"Try again. And try harder this time." I had to roll my eyes. "I am trying!"

"No, you're not. If you want to win the Games, you have to get used to fighting. So, come on."

Again, I swung at him. And again, he evaded.

"Maybe I should just give up. I'll never win the games."

He came closer and stared me straight in the eye. "You will never say that again, understood? You must have faith. I won't let you die in there. I promise."

His expression was completely serious, but something inside me doubted his words.

I threw my stick aside and sat down on the floor. "You have to believe in yourself, Jule. I already do. But that's not enough." He held out his hand to me and a little smile appeared on my face.

"You're getting better and better," he said when we took a break after two hours of training. "Thanks to your good training," I answered.

He threw me a smile and handed me a bottle of water.

"Nevertheless, I would like you to consider fighting only in extreme emergencies. When the games start, you cover up immediately. And don't worry about the others, not even the boy in your district."

"His name is Zinc, and we could team up. I can trust him."

"You can't trust anyone. In the arena, everyone behaves differently."

I didn't want to discuss this any further, so I nodded quietly.

"When can I see Casca Highbottom? You promised, I can see him." He sighed and touched my shoulder with his right hand. The touch triggered something in me, I became calmer, but then everything collapsed. "I lied. He is dead. I'm sorry."

My breathing speeded up; everything was spinning. That couldn't be true, he had to be alive.

"Then it was all for nothing? I volunteered for nothing?"

"What do you mean?"

"He had to... I wanted to take revenge and that was the only chance. I... I didn't care that I would die afterwards, because I could have made a difference." I slowly turned to him.

"The whole Capitol lied, you lied. I think I have to take revenge in a different way." As if out of nowhere, I let a knife appear in my hand and approached him.

"Jule, wait. I am stronger than you. I don't want to hurt you, okay?"

I had already forgotten how to act; I only felt the anger and sorrow.

I attacked him, but he could defend himself and push me away.

"Jule, stop it!"

"No", I screamed, running towards him.

He ducked at the last moment and pressed me to the ground. His grip was so strong that I had to drop the knife.

"You lied", I sobbed. This wasn't fair. Why couldn't he have just told me the truth?

"Now, I will just die..."

"I've already told you; I will not let this happen! You will survive!"

A tear started running down my cheek. "I'm afraid."

"I know, Jule. But it will be alright." He carefully wiped the tear away. Only now did I realize that I was still lying on the floor, Coriolanus on top of me. We were so close.... It calmed me down but at the same time it made me kind of nervous.

"Sorry I attacked you, I was just so angry", I said, trying to break the silence.

"Don't worry about that. You've been under a lot of pressure lately." He stood up and pulled me with him.

By the time we got back to his house, it was already dark. He suggested I go to bed as the games were starting tomorrow. But I couldn't sleep, I just stared at the ceiling. What if I would die? What if I had to kill someone? To kill Zinc?

I stood up and walked around. Nothing helped. Then I decided to look for Coriolanus. When I found his door, I knocked quietly. "Yeah?", he answered.

I entered and saw him lying in bed, shirtless. My eyes widened and I forgot how to speak. "What do you want?"

"I... can't sleep. Can I stay here?"

"Sure, get in."

He moved to the side and I lay down next to him. "But not too long, they are watching." He pointed to a camera. I sighed annoyed. "I don't care. And maybe the audience will like it. Everybody loves a good love story." He laughed softly.

"A love story?"

"Yeah. I mean... a fake one but nobody knows right?"

"Right." He put his arm around me and pulled me tight. "Good night, Jule."

"Good night, Coryo."

As I woke up, I had almost forgotten where I was, but then I saw him. I was lying in Coriolanus' arms.

Suddenly the memory came back and I had to giggle.

"What's so funny?", he asked with a smile.

"I can't believe I slept in your arms." He grinned. "I hope your plan worked; that the Capitol liked this act."

I stared into his blue eyes. "I hope so, too." I knew it wasn't good, but I was overcome by the urgent need to be even closer to him.

I couldn't hold back and leaned towards him. When our lips touched, it felt so right.

I put my hand in his neck, which seemed to turn him on.

He flipped me onto my back and was now the one on top of me. He started kissing my neck, which gave me a feeling like never before. But I didn't know if it was real or if he was just playing it.

"We should take a look to your sponsor list", he whispered with a grin and turned on the TV. In his eyes, something changed. "Jule, almost 2000 sponsors. That's fantastic." This time, he was the one who started the kiss but then he pushed me away slightly. "You need to meet of Lucretius Flickerman again. After that, the games will start."

This time, I was wearing a red dress which was cut off at the knee. My hair was curled and I had bright red lipstick.

"Are you ready for the Games, Juliana?"

"Yes, I am." Lucretius grinned.

"That's great. And now we all want to know something..."

I played dumb and frowned.

"Oh, come on. We all saw what happened with you and Coriolanus Snow."

I smiled and blushed. "It's... nothing."

"Really? Are you sure?" He showed me a video clip of us from before.

I looked at the side and played embarassed.

"What can I say. He is a very handsome man. And I fell in love with him."

Lucretius started laughing and clapping. "That's what we all wanted to hear, right?" The audience started cheering and applauding.

"I just hope that I can see him again." The audience stopped cheering. "That's what we all hope," he added. "Well, Juliana, thank you and good luck."

I bowed and stormed out.

"Remember, run away! Avoid fighting!" I nodded quickly and hugged Coryo tightly.

"I will follow you every step on my computer. You are not alone." I smiled sadly and he gave me a kiss on the head. Then, I was led into the arena by a peacekeeper.