The Victor

12

I wake up in the morning to none other than Effie shaking me awake. This is such a surprise that I jerk back before relaxing."The Games start in an hour. You have to get to the Mentor's Booth. Chop, chop," Effie says, laying out an outfit at the foot of my bed."The Mentor's Booth?" I ask, throwing off the sheets."Haymitch will explain. Now hurry up! And don't forget, you'll want to look good for sponsors.""Of course," I mutter as she bustles out of the room. I quickly dress, run a brush through my hair, and dust mascara onto my lashes. By the time I make it to the elevator, Effie and Haymitch are both waiting there."I expect I'll see you when you get back," Effie said. The elevator door opens, and Haymitch and I step inside. We begin heading downward."What's the Mentor's Booth?" I ask."It's where all the mentors watch the Games, along with the sponsors. Above Caesar's stage."There's a car waiting for us outside, along with four others. I suppose they're for the other mentors who haven't made it downstairs yet.The trip is short and rigidly silent. I'm biting my tongue. Somewhere, Syca and Maisie are with their stylists, getting last minute prep before the Games begin.Haymitch helps me from the car. The stage is crowded as always, but we go through the crowds, held back by Peacekeepers, and climb a set of stairs to emerge into a giant viewing room. There are at least three-dozen televisions, all showing commercials right now. The room is lined with cushy chairs and filled with many more Capitolians than mentors. There are waiters carrying trays of alcohol and hors d'oeuvres.Then I see Finnick, casually talking to a couple women, garishly pink and blue. He unashamedly flirts with them and for a brief moment when he smiles, he almost has even me fooled into thinking he means it. But then he looks down, and I see the blank look in his sea-green eyes, and I know that's a lie.He catches my eye, and I smile. To my surprise, he turns away, even his fake smile fading.Did I do something wrong?I walk towards him, leaving Haymitch to greet a couple of his old friends, including Chaff."Hey," I say to Finnick. He smiles wanly back."Are you ready for the start of the Games?" I ask."Who can ever be ready?" He answers dully. I see Johanna watching him closely, and I notice the bags under his eyes."Finnick, what's wrong? Is this about last night?" I ask, putting a hand on his arm. He looks over at Johanna for a moment and sighs."Piper, I'm so sorry," he begins and Johanna hurries over."Finnick, don't. You're just going to make it worse," she snaps at him."What are you talking about?" I ask, but before he can respond the televisions all flicker to life. The Capitolians in the room begin clapping as Caesar Flickerman's face appears."Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the 72nd Hunger Games!" He says. "In just ten seconds, our tributes will appear in the arena. Who are you rooting for?"The screens change to reveal the arena. It's a desolate, bone-dry desert. The Cornucopia glows in the splitting sun. The tributes emerge onto their plates and the cameras catch close shots of their faces."Piper, listen to me," Finnick says, but the screen just showed Syca and Maisie, looking pale and terrified, and I can't tear my eyes away."Ladies and gentlemen, let the 72nd Hunger Games begin!" Caesar booms. Sixty seconds, then we'll know.The gong rings and the tributes run from their plates. Maisie is frozen in place. Syca steps a few feet towards the Cornucopia, then pauses, maybe remembering the one piece of advice I had to offer.The other tributes are already on the weapons. I wait for them to turn on each other, but instead…what are they doing? They're standing around, looking at each other.A few of the tributes look utterly confused. I can't see the tributes from District 11 anywhere; they must have run from the Cornucopia the moment the gong rang. Finnick's tributes, armed with weapons and two backpacks, look around at the others, then clasp hands and run from the Cornucopia across the shifting sands. Johanna's tributes are also missing. But everyone else is staring at Syca and Maisie."Pipes, look away," Finnick says, his voice suddenly urgent."What's going on?" I ask, staring at the TV. I look at Haymitch. His eyes are wide. The room is silent. Not even the Capitolians know what to expect. Where's the typical bloodbath?Then the tributes break into sprints, running straight for my tributes, who don't know what to do. I can do nothing, trapped in my glass box, who knows how far from them. I can only watch in horror as the other tributes come upon them, defenseless, struggling to find footing to run, and rip them apart.The cannon goes off, twice, nearly simultaneously. My mouth is open. Finnick's hands are on my arms."Piper, come on, let's go, come on," he says gently. I twist away from his fingers, my hair in disarray. The room has come back to life, the Capitolians marveling at the turn of events, the other mentors ignoring what's happened.Finnick looks at Johanna and they grab either side of me, steering me out of the room. I don't resist.They sit me down on something cool. I realize we're in a huge bathroom and I'm sitting on a toilet seat. Johanna locks the door and Finnick sits across from me."You knew about this, didn't you?" I ask. "President Snow…he did something. He got the mentors to turn against my tributes. To punish me.""I swear, I didn't find out until this morning," Finnick said. "President Snow never came to me. Johanna is the one who told me."I look at her, irrational anger taking over my tongue. "What did he offer? That your tributes would go home? Money?""He told us that he wouldn't hurt the people we care about if we agreed," Johanna said stiffly. "I told him to go to hell. He's already killed everyone I loved. And since I'm the only mentor from District 7, it was my decision to make. I won't give in to Snow. Never have, never will."I look at her and my anger subsides. I shake my head. "I'm sorry, it's just so…""Twisted." She nods. "I'm on your side."I nod, swallowing a lump in my throat. "Who else said no?""Finnick was never asked, so his tributes weren't in the loop. And the mentors from District 11 refused as well. Chaff wouldn't hurt Haymitch like that," Johanna said."Thank you," I force out.Finnick looks at me. "I'm so sorry, Piper. I didn't know President Snow would stoop this low." He reaches for my hand, holding it gently."Of course he did," Johanna spat. "He's a snake.""It's my fault," I say slowly. "He'd do anything to make me submit. Anything. Maybe…maybe I should just give in.""No!" Finnick says, and his grip tightens so much I wince. "Piper, you can't. Once you do…you're never the same. I won't let you.""Finnick's right. You can't let President Snow know that you want to give in to him," Johanna said."Think of everyone back home," Finnick said."What am I supposed to do?" I ask. "If I don't give in, President Snow will keep finding ways to torture me. He'll kill every pair of tributes I have, in one way or another.""No, he won't," Johanna says. "President Snow is sneaky. He'll find different ways. He can't just repeat the same thing over and over; people will start to wonder.""I'm not sure if that's reassuring," I say, but I stand up."Are you ready to go back out?" Finnick asks."I don't have a choice," I say. "Anyway, I want to look the people who murdered my tributes in the eye."I walk out behind them, my head held high. Chaff and Haymitch are exchanging hushed words in the corner. Everyone else looks normal, but a few of the mentors avoid my eyes when I try to meet them.I approach Chaff, and he and Haymitch break off their conversation."Thank you," I say to Chaff, and he nods before walking away. Finnick and Johanna are watching the screens again, giving Haymitch and I a moment."I'm sorry," I say."It's fine," Haymitch said. "Chaff told me what President Snow did. It's not anyone's fault. I wish I knew why."I stare at his face and that's when I realize he has no idea about any of it. That President Snow has threatened me and him, that I was very nearly an object for the Capitol to desire and lust after and bid on. I suppose Chaff spared him the obvious details.I can't tell Haymitch. Not now, not ever."Maybe he wanted to make the Games more exciting. Maybe it was retribution for me burning Magnus and Leif last year. I don't know," I say softly.Haymitch shakes his head. "Come on. Let's just try to get through this."I nod and walk away from him, back to Finnick."He doesn't know the truth," I say quietly. "That President Snow is trying to force me to be the Capitol's toy. And I want it to stay that way.""Sooner or later, he's going to find out," Finnick says."I know. But if he finds out, I'll lose him. And I can't do that," I say. I look at the screens. One camera is following one of Finnick's tributes. He must've split up from his counterpart, maybe hoping to avoid a painful separation."I'm going to help you win, Finnick," I say quietly. He looks at me in surprise. "Anything I can do, everything I can do, I will. I want to show Snow he can't beat me."Finnick slowly nods. "Okay." His eyes narrow as he looks at the screen, where his tribute is climbing up a dune of sand. "Let's win the Games."