Alyssa of Nine (Reimagining the Hunger Games)

Chapter Seven: A Parting of Ways

As soon as Jeremy and I have returned from the Tribute Parade, Henrietta, Noah, and Athena are all waiting for us. "You were both phenomenal!" Athena tells us. "Everyone is calling you Alyssa of Nine now, well, it was really Caesar who called you that first in front of the entire country. But now everyone, and I mean everyone knows who you are. And Jeremy, bravo to you as well!"

And from the outside, I can still hear hundreds of people cheering and chanting, "Alyssa! Alyssa! Alyssa!" Who would have guessed that this is how things would be turning out so far? But what do they know about me really, other than my name, or really, a name they gave to me? Alyssa Whitestone is who I really am. Not Alyssa of Nine or anything they mean by it. I am not just another piece in their Games, even though that is exactly what they've made me. I hate this place.

Noah, being the mentor, then says to us, "You both did well enough tonight. But this is only the beginning of these Games you have to play. Now tommorow, you will begin your training. During which time you will both be put to yet another test. What this means is that you will have to find some potential allies. I will explain more about this in your apartments. Shall we?"

And Jeremy and I both follow Noah and the others as we step into a glass elevator, the likes of which I have never used before. Back home, the only people who were allowed to use elevators were the people who worked in the factories, and I knew even without setting foot in one that they were rickety, slow, and old.

If we went on field trips to the granaries or factories (which was always mandatory back home since we are expected to begin learning the trades as early as possible, we always had to take the stairs, since Caretaker Grimes once said to me and Cassandra, "You're orphans, you don't have any families, jobs, money, or even decency to speak of. The stairways are good enough for you." We had to fend for ourselves while the people in the Capitol always had all of this.

I have to admit that it was kind of fascinating though. With one push of the button that said '9' on it, we shot quickly and smoothly upward until we reached the ninth floor. And once we were there, another Avox opened the door to our living quarters. The furniture is very Capitolised, and there is a so-called kitchen where you don't even have to cook. All you have to do is place an order by a hole in the wall for what you want and in a matter of a few seconds the food is served to you.

There are orange and yellow lights suspended from the ceiling in the dining and entertainment rooms, and similar blue and green lights in my bedroom. The bed is enormous and soft and luxurious, and the adjoining bathroom has a shower and a bathtub so large that I could swim in it. I imagine most anybody from District Four in particular would love it.

My wardrobe isn't so much a single closet as it is a walk-in changing room with clothes and shoes and matching accessories for the day on one side, and on the other side are my evening clothes. But none of those dresses are what I will be wearing on the night of our interviews. That, like my parade costume, will be determined by Athena.

There are also different sets of training uniforms, which is something I will have to wear for tommorow. I decide to unbraid my hair and I shower mainly to wash away all of the makeup and gold glimmer that Annetta and Demetra had brushed on me earlier, and I decide to wear a red hooded sweater and black pants since I'm not really going to be going anywhere else for tonight.

There would be zero chance of any escape, there are even forcefields that will bounce anyone back onto the balcony if they should get any ideas of trying to jump. Plus the cameras and guards. We'll be going into that arena no matter what shape we're in, no matter how scared we really are.

I have just put my hair up in a simple ponytail when I hear a knock at the door and Henrietta saying, "Dinner's on the table." And I sit down with the others at the dining table. For dinner tonight there is roasted pheasant, roasted baby potatoes, roast beef, steamed broccoli, asparagus, horseradish sauce, and spicy parsnips, as well as raw baby spinach salad with chopped nuts, wedges of small oranges, and a specially made (and rather pungent) vinaigrette.

There is red and white wine, cold spring water supposedly imported from the mountains of District Two, or hot chocolate to drink. And we each have dark chocolate covered strawberries and vanilla ice cream with golden honey and pistachios on top for dessert. I'm pretty sure by this point that ice cream is my favorite dessert now.

Once we sit back in our chairs, having eaten enough to be content, Noah begins to tell us exactly what we are to expect as we begin training and what we should be looking for in our allies. I say flatly to this, "There is no way that I'm going to have Adonis or Emerald as allies. And Taffeta and Roland I didn't see much of yet in person, but I'm sure they're just as bad as the other Careers. I'm already thinking about Marina and Jayden from District Four, and maybe the boy from District Seven if they're interested."

Jeremy snorts at this, "Only you would be considering them over the very best. The Careers wouldn't even mix with the likes of you, since it's not their game. But, I might just be able to find a place within their inner circles in the Games. That way, I'll have an advantage most of the other tributes won't."

"Now just hold on, Jeremy, don't be cocky. Even if the Careers accept you as an ally, and I am only saying if, brute force and mindless bloodlust alone are not enough to win these Games. You'll need to have an array of survival skills handy, and if you don't already, you'd better hope to God that you learn some quickly." Noah says grimly. "Otherwise it could very easily mean game over for you, and the only way you'll be going home in that instance is in a wood casket."

Jeremy just stares at Noah, at first looking embarassed, even incensed but then the cold, unreadable look returns to his features a moment later. Then he stands up from his seat and says, "I think I'm done here for tonight. I have a hunch that you clearly favour the orphan girl, or should I say, Alyssa of Nine, you and everyone else here. I have no idea why you do, but from here on in I request to be trained separately from her the entire time. I know exactly what I'm going to do, and I'm going to do it. It's every tribute for themselves in the end." Then he looks at me. "Nice job, you've even got our mentor wrapped around your fingers. Good luck. You'll be needing it."

And before I can formulate a response, Jeremy has shut himself up in his room.

***

"You're absolutely certain that you never actually cared about what happened to Jeremy Forbes at the time, somewhere deep Miss Whitestone?" Mr. Tasselgrove asks me.

"Maybe not so much then. What you have to understand is, that I had never felt more alone and vulnerable at the time, even though I had the reassurances from my stylist, make-up team, and Noah that I would find my ways to survive. Yet, I also knew enough to remind myself that survival was the only real option, the only goal for me in my first Hunger Games, and later, the second."

"We'll just focus on the events of the 73rd Hunger Games for now, if you please, Miss Whitestone." Mr. Tasselgrove says, as he continues to jot these things down. And decide to  continue on with everything that happened. "The next morning was the first day of training at the Tribute Center, and I had been one of the first tributes to show up..."