THE 68TH HUNGER GAMES - Book 1: Tribute

Chapter 25 - All Will Be Revealed

As the car pulls up to the studio, a swarm of paparazzi begin taking photos of me from behind the red rope. The luxury vehicle pulls up to a red carpet and an avox opens the door for me. I step out of the car to be greeted with a roar of cheering and applause from admirers and fans.

“Wave at them,” Falafel says from behind me.

I lift my hand up and wave gracefully at the audience around me. The crowd goes wild with every move I make.

“We love you Hyora!” I hear the crowd chant.

The chanting makes me feel sick to the stomach and I feel glad when I step into the air conditioned backstage of the studio. A heavily modified and overdone woman approaches me holding a clip board.

“Hyora Coco? Please step towards the left wing,” she says while pointing towards the luxurious looking lounge which I assume is right beside the entrance to the humongous stage of Caesar’s televised show.

I strut to the lounge with Falafel and we both sit down. Falafel sits in the most tight and poised position ever, while I sit extremely casually.

“So, remember, this is your last chance to make an impression!” Falafel chirps, “If you’re desirability continues on to next year, we might probably get more sponsors for next year’s tributes.”

I sigh as a continue staring at the floor.

“Hyora Coco! You’re on in 5,” says one of the backstage officials.

“Good luck Hyora,” Falafel says.

I can hear the crowd’s muffled cheering in the background which means that Caesar has probably entered the stage. I endure the next five minutes listening to Caesar babble on about my many achievements in the games. Eventually, I'm called onstage by Caesar himself, and I strut towards the red sofa set up just for me.

“Welcome back Hyora Coco! Victor of the 68th Hunger Games!” Caesar booms, causing the audience to go wild with applause and cheer.

“Thank you,” I smile.

“So, how was it like in the games? Must’ve been easy for you since you managed to stay pretty well fed and protected throughout the entire duration of the games,” Caesar says.

“Well,” I mumble looking out into the crowd, “I was determined.”

“Determined? And how?” Caesar questions.

“Well, I was trying my best to protect Ferdinand. We were friends and his life seemed more valuable than mine.”

I notice the silent moans and tears from the crowd members.

“Do you have any regrets?” Caesar says.

“Yes. I regret killing all those people.”

“One last question before we go into the recap of the games, do you wish any of the contestants would have died in a different way? Whether it be brutal or painless?”

“I wish I killed Cassara Shine earlier. It would have prevented Ferdinand from dying,” I say all of a sudden.

Caesar nods and turns around to a huge screen set up behind us. I notice the Capitol emblem appear and then the scene now shows the entire arena. The camera then zooms into the 24 tributes surrounding the cornucopia. I see me, looking extremely nervous, then there’s Ryone, Ferdinand, Cassara, Melliano, Aisling, Rhi, Hazel, Michelle... everyone. It seemed like a century ago that I was with them at the cornucopia. The scene then skips to my first kill of Michelle Motor. Only now do I notice the desperation in her eyes.

“Now that part was thrilling!” Caesar smiles.

The scene then skips to my encounter with Aisling, then to the floods. I notice that Ferdinand and I get split up quite far during that part of the games. I see me desperately looking for a place to hide and I notice myself go into the cave where Adriano is.

“Oh I love this part!” Caesar mumbles, staring at the screen; mesmerised.

The scene now shows Adriano and I killing District 3’s Ben and Johanna. That’s when I run away from the cave and meet up with Caitlin Coal. Unfortunately, the scene completely skips to the moment before Caitlin’s death, where she was hanging off the cliff with Melliano grabbing tightly onto her leg.

“She’s quite bold isn’t she?” Caesar mumbles.

Before I know it, the scene skips to the feast. I see me diving into the water and saving Ferdinand while Treesar Limm grabs the immunity card resulting in him being safe for twelve precious hours. Then the screen fills with the image of the deep crater which was where Ryone and Treesar died.

What makes this recap all the more painful is when they skip to the scene where Ferdinand and I are laying down on the nest, just getting to know each other just before the fire starts. I notice the fire in the distance, but there I am with Ferdinand, laying in peace. The scene then skips to when the fire has become extremely large. I notice Ferdinand and I bump right into Adriano before his death.

“Poor kid didn’t know what was coming,” Caesar says with a slight giggle.

I keep looking and I see the part where I injure Cassara. Aisling arrives; further mutilating Cassara’s already destroyed body. I then see Aisling tumbling down the rocky cliff, then me finally killing Cassara.

“Well that had to be one of the most interesting games in the past ten or so years!” Caesar says enthusiastically.

“Well, I guess,” I mumble, trying to hold back tears.

“How did it feel to finally kill Aisling and Cassara? I mean, they did seem like your targeted enemies,” Caesar questions.

“It felt amazing at first, knowing that I had gotten revenge for Ferdinand’s death, but afterwards, I felt horrible,” I mumble.

“So; Hyora, I hear the famous Klieo is going to offer you a record deal?” Caesar asks curiously.

“Yeah, hopefully,” I murmur; now losing all my fierceness.

“Well the people of the Capitol cannot wait for your debut as a pop star!” Caesar’s voice booms through the crowd, “Give a warm round of applause to Hyora Coco, victor of the 68th Hunger Games!”

The crowd goes wild.  I wave before heading backstage, feeling absolutely exhausted.