There's a knock on the closet door. I turn around setting aside the dress I was looking at. "Come in." Talon enters bringing me another glass of water. "Thanks."
He sets it down. Do you know the plan yet?
Yes, I sign. We leave in two days. Someone will be here to help us get out at 10:30 that night. We'll have to go south out of the city. District 13 is in the north so we're going to have to bring warm clothes.
The only clothes I have are avox uniforms.
I bite my lip. You can take clothes out of Fergus' room.
He nods. They'll be a little small, but I'll make it work. I can't wait until I don't have wear these stupid outfits.
I smile. I'm glad you're excited.
Aren't you excited too? He points at the clothes hanging the room. You won't have to wear those dresses anymore.
I like these dresses; they might be my favorite thing about the Capitol. I stroke one of the silk ones. Anyway, I'm more nervous that something will go wrong.
He nods. I should go I've been in here for too long. Let me know if there's anything else. I nod and he leaves. I choose a white dress with floral print and leave my bedroom. Tullis sits at the table waiting for me to have lunch.
"You always pick the most darling clothes, dear!"
"Thank you." I smile and sit down. Avoxes bring out an array of different sandwiches and soups and I choose a couple to sample. They all taste delicious.
"So," Tullis says. "After lunch I'm going to call a few of the people who came to the party and ask them about sponsoring. It might take a while because a few of them are a bit chatty." I smile at this; everyone in the Capitol is chatty. "So you can just watch the games or something else, though there's not much else on right now. You can relax; maybe take a nap or something. There's lots to do around here, you can ask an avox for a book if you'd like or a game." She purses her lips.
"Thanks, Tullis. I'll think of something." I smile at her and she stops worrying about my inevitable boredom.
"Perfect." She continues eating and I do the same. Soon we finish and the avoxes clear away the meal. Tullis leaves the table and goes into her room. I hear her laughing a few moments later.
I go into my own room and turn on the TV in there. Tiberius Flickerman is speaking to the audience. "-interesting that the tributes haven't discovered this yet, but I think Librae is about to."
The screen shows the girl from 7 making her way through the swamp. A map in the corner of the screen shows she's moving away from the Cornucopia. The water is getting deeper as she goes and it's soon at her mid-thigh.
There's some movement in the water to her left and she pauses. The swamp is quiet and all seems to be still. She continues trudging through the water only to stop a second later. The water moves again and it doesn't stop moving. It looks as if a log is swimming towards her.
The camera zooms in on it and we can see it's a crocodile with vicious teeth sticking out of its mouth. It slinks through the water, almost unnoticeable. Librae's eyes widen and she begins backing up. The crocodile stays on target.
The girl begins to run through the water, but the crocodile is faster. It speeds up now and if it wasn't so appalling it would be fascinating. Librae soon turns to the nearest tree, but she's not a very good climber. She gets a couple feet up, but the animal can still reach her.
It closes its mighty jaws around her foot. She attaches herself to the tree, wrapping her arms all the way around it. Her only lifeline.
The crocodile pulls and she wails in anguish. It isn't long before the crocodile's strength beats hers. She's ripped from the tree and buried in the water.
I'm glad the camera doesn't show what's happening under the water. I turn off the TV before anything else can coax the urge to puke from me. Rubbing my temples, I stand and pace the room.
Crocodiles in the arena. I hope Sybille and Fergus don't encounter them. Unlike tributes, crocodile have no mercy. They can't be reasoned with. They can't be outrun. They only know that you are the enemy. You are in their territory and they have to protect it.
I sigh and sit on the bed, but just end up back on my feet again. How do Capitol citizens do this? At home working in the orchards was all we did, there was no free time. No time to watch TV or read a book.
I go back into the main room, but Tullis is still on the phone. There's no one here to talk to. I could go explore, I don't want to deal with Capitol citizens. I look around at the avoxes and wish I could talk to them. They probably have so much to say but that luxury has been stolen from them.
My eyes land on Talon. He stares forward, just like the others, not daring to notice me. I long to talk to him, like we used to before the games last year. Something's changed between us, and it's not just that he forgot what happened. We've become closed off, each of us not really trusting the other in the year we've been apart.
I look away and stare at a different avox for a while in case anyone is watching. Then I look at a few others and go back to my room. I lay back on the bed and sigh. Hopefully I can sort out what's actually going on with Talon as soon as we leave this place.
Hey guys! Sorry it has been so long. School started last week and it's been a little crazy. I'm not sure how often I'll be able to update now with all my homework, but I'll try to at least once a week. So anyway, how'd you like this chapter? What did you think of the crocodile? Do you think it will be a problem for other tributes? Let me know what you think in the comments and please vote if you liked this chapter! Thanks for reading!
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The Second Annual Hunger Games (Book 2)
Fanfiction*Caution this is the sequel to The First Annual Hunger Games so read that first :)* Aldera Clearwater has made it through the year after her games and the Second Annual Hunger Games is about to begin. She is forced back into the Capitol where she no...
