Broken (A Hunger Games Fanfic)

Chapter 6

Training begins today.

I pulled out the tan boots, a pair of jeans, a blue shirt, and the cardigan. In the dining room is Fable, eating his breakfast; potato soup and juice from a fruit I don't recognize.

"Hello, Fable," I greet him.

He doesn't answer as I get my food. I sit down across from him and we eat without saying another word. When I'm finished, I stand up and I'm about to exit the room when he speaks.

"So. . . Adrian has a thing for you?"

I looked at him, "What do you mean?"

"He likes to train you more than me, princess; you're his favorite" He growls.

"So? That's not my problem," I tell him, my voice rising.

He bolted up from the table, rattling the glass candelabra and plates.

"It may not be yours, but it's mine," He was beginning to get closer. "I've prepared my life for the the Games, to be one of the Careers, and I'm not going to let you get away with winning. I won't!"

He lunged at me, grabbing my neck and lifting me up against the wall. His meaty hands closed around my wind pipe, cutting off my air.

"I am going to win! I am!" He yelled in my face.

"Let me go!" I managed, infuriated.

"Fable, drop her," A male's voice sounded.

I turned my face as much as possible to see Adrian and Mina standing there, angry.

"Now," Adrian said again, his voice getting firmer.

Fable glared at me once more. Then his grip broke away as he stormed off. I collapsed on the ground, coughing and holding my throat. I felt Adrian's hand on my back.

"You can save that for the Games," Mina told Fable as he disappeared.

Adrian pulled me up by the arm.

"Are you alright?" He asked worried.

"Yea," I assured, still trying to catch my breath.

"We came to tell you to get ready for training," Adrian told me.

I could see a look on his face that I couldn't describe. It was like when a mother sees her child hurt.

"I'll see you later," He says.

He and Mina were about to leave when I stopped them.

"Mina, can I talk to you for a few minutes?"

Mina stopped and looked at me. She nodded and walked back to sit on the couch. I joined her.

"Yes, Annabelle?" She responded.

"Where did you go last night? After we got off the chariots?"

Mina's smile turned into a sad grimace.

"I was told that a letter had arrived for me," She said, "from District 11.

"I used to live there, you see. I knew a family there. They were nice and took care of my mother and I since we didn't have a home. The family was large; a mother and four children. Two of them were teens and the others were younger, a newborn and a three year old.

"Anyway, three days ago, something horrible happened. The letter didn't say what happened, but the family was killed by the Peacekeepers. It happened only a few days after you were taken away."

I got up the courage to ask, "Who were they?"

"The woman's name was Marcia Sanes, and her four children, Ciara, Ava, Marcus, and Wendell."