THE SIREN'S SONG 𓇼 F. ODAIR

29 ~ the 71st hunger games

Six months later, Carolina was put on a train again and shipped off to the Capitol to make an appearance for the 71st Hunger Games. She wasn't in charge of a tribute that year, so all of her time was spent in Cyrus's eyeline.

It was the night of the tribute parade. She was sitting right beside her boyfriend, who was chatting away with his two closest friends, already speculating on who would be that year's victor. Since it was Carolina's first time watching the parade from the stands, she focused all of her attention on the newest tributes.

Carolina watched the chariots closely. The tributes looked like how they did any other year. The boys and girls from the career districts were already flexing their strength and charisma. Carolina's eyes moved over the tributes from District 4. She didn't recognize either of them, but still felt connected to them.

She felt connected to every single one of the tributes being paraded around like dogs, but if she was going to be forced to come back every year for the rest of her life, she was going to have to start thinking differently.

Her gaze moved to the tributes of the outlying districts. As usual, most of them were small and meek with gaunt faces, but one of them stood out to her. Carolina leaned forward to get a better look at the girl from District 7.

"So far, the boy from District 2 seems the most promising," Septimus said.

"You're just saying that because District 2 males always make it far. I'm going for the District 4 girl." Theseus turned around to wink at Carolina. "They've had the most wins in the past 5 years."

"You're both wrong," Carolina shook her head.

"Is that so, Seymour?" Septimus asked. "And who do you think is going to be the big winner?"

Carolina pointed to the girl who had taken her interest. "District 7 girl."

Theseus started to laugh. "Her? She's a weakling. She's not going to make it past the bloodbath."

"Trust me, don't trust me, I don't really care," Carolina shrugged.

"Alright, I'm interested," Cyrus said. "What makes that girl so special?"

Carolina turned to her boyfriend and smiled. "She looks too weak for a seventeen-year-old from the sixth richest district."

"Maybe she's from the poorer part."

"Maybe," Carolina shrugged. "But she's crying more than the 12-year-olds down there. Which could be her true reaction, but it just seems so dramatic. My guess is that it's all an act. She has probably already been put in the workforce in Seven, and the second she gets her hands on an ax, she will be one of the most deadly tributes in the arena."

"I'm not sure," Cyrus shook his head in disbelief.

"Trust me," Carolina turned her gaze back to the District 7 girl, who was putting on a show of wiping her tears with her dress. "I know an act when I see one."

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞

"What are you doing in here?" Fletch asked when he walked into the mentor room.

As soon as he walked in, the man saw that Carolina was sitting at the back of the room on a lounge chair beside Haymitch. They both had drinks in their hands. Haymitch was already downing his drinks in one go. Carolina on the other hand was savoring every sip, trying to keep the promise she made to Fletch and Reef.

"I'm testing a theory," Carolina shrugged, keeping her gaze back to the screens.

The tributes were still running around the cornucopia, trying to grab as many supplies as she could. Carolina watched the District 7 girl, who she learned was named Johanna Mason, closely, noticing how she kept away from the cornucopia's center, only grabbing a bag from the outskirts and running out of the clearing.