A Deadly Game of Chance: A Hunger Games Fan Fiction

Chapter 5: Welcome to The Capitol, The Place you will Die.

Seth was the only one in the dining room when I walked in, staring into his glass of orange juice. He looked up as I stood by the chair, fingering the wooden carvings in it. "Oh, hey," he muttered, barely glancing up at me. He had large circles under his eyes which were sullen and dreary and I could guess that he hadn't got much sleep. Just like me.

"Can I join you?" I asked nervously; he barely looked up as he nodded. I took my place and traced the knife mark I had made in the wood last night. "I bet Nicholia wasn't impressed with me stabbing the table," I joked and Seth let out a polite snicker. "No, she wasn't too impressed. But I think Chet was when you practically threw the knife at him." I smiled but he wasn't looking at me. Obviously, he was still remembering our little spat last night.

"Seth, about last night. I'm sorry. I kind of attacked you. It was unfair just because I was upset and angry and I don't know, scared. I'm just scared about what is going to happen. I think I'm scared to die." I really didn'tmean to say all that to Seth but it all just slipped out. I knew I shouldn't say stuff like that to him; he wasn't Tarrant. I couldn't just tell him stuff like that. Not anymore at least.

"Sophie, don't. You had a right to say that stuff. If I was you, I would have said much worse things. I would hate to be in your situation. But Sophie, you have to believe me that I didn't know. I promise." Seth looked me in the eyes. I nodded, trying to show him that I believed him.

"Sophia. I don't hate you." he whispered, brushing my fingers with his. I tried to smile at him but I was too busy staring into his eyes. They were emotionless.

"Morning all!" someone sang out. Seth pulled him hand away and looked up at Chet. I took my hand off the table and stared down, blushing. "Well, are we all in a good mood today?" he asked and I could feel his eyes on me. I nodded but I couldn't look at him directly. I felt the table rattle a little as he sat down and started to get some food.

Nicholia came in halfway through breakfast, muttering something about having a phone call. I barely ate anything - just some fruit - while Seth and Chet ate as much as they could. They all talked and Nicholia often drove the conversation back to Seth and his life, family, talents, experience, weapon choice, whatever. She didn't seem all too interested in me (who could blame her) and Chet didn't want to cross her. I was finally glad after everyone had finished and Chet realised how close to the Capitol we were.

"You two should look at your new home for a while," Chet said, gazing out of the window. Seth and I stood up and reached the window at the same time. The first thing I saw was all the water in the area. The whole place was surrounded by lakes and rivers and waterfalls and fountains. All the grass and fields and trees in the vicinity were so green and lush compared to some of the trees back home. As for the Capitol, it was magical. The buildings were state of the art, magnificent and huge. They towered over each other, painted in bold whites, silvers and gold’s with Panem's flag hanging everywhere. The Capitol was obviously excited for the 72nd Annual Hunger Games.

"Welcome to the Capitol, tributes." Chet said, forcing happiness into his voice. I continued to stare out of the window until we sped through the tunnel. "The place we are going to die."

  Two trains pulled up at the same time at the station, welcomed by a swarm of Capitol people. I recognised some of the items of clothing from the warehouses back home and I couldn’t help think how I helped make some of those. The men and women were dressed in bright colours; vermilion's and lilacs, and teals and creams shone out in the station. Dresses with square shoulders, hats topped with flowers and baubles, boas hanging from people’s necks. The Capitol people had a very odd sense of fashion. But it was the Capitol and you can’t go against the Capitol.

    “Come on. Time to introduce you to the World.” Chet sighed before smiling. Seth and I stared at each other for a moment before forcing smiles onto our faces. “Just be careful. Capitol folk want every piece of you,” Chet winked. My stomach did a back-flip. What did he mean?

    A few minutes later, I realise what he meant. As soon as we got off of the train, we were swarmed by the crowd of people, all snapping photos and asking questions. There weren’t any Peacekeepers around; obviously the Capitol had more freedom than I had realised.

  Chet pushed everyone away, trying to get us all through. People were grabbing me, tugging on my sleeves, asking questions, talking right in my face. I tried to run, but some people’s grasps were too tight. We were nearly at the end of the station, when a man with bright red hair clasped my hand and spun me around. “Come on darlin’, a night of fun before you die,” he hissed, leaning into my face. He smelt bitter and sour, and I wanted to recoil away from him. But I was shaking too much. He grabbed my shoulders and pushed me backwards so I was in his arms. I tried to scream but no sound came out. 

   “Get away from her!” someone yelled before the man was yanked away from me. Aimlessly, I fell onto the ground behind me with a loud crash. People moved away from me as I blinked fast, trying to hold in tears of embarrassment. I gazed up and saw Seth looking down at me, his face calming down. He had got that man off of me. Chet came back to us, glowered at Seth before helping me up. There was shock in Nicholia’s face eyes along with all the faces in the crowd. I took Chet’s hand and got up and stared at the floor so no-one could see me cry. Nobody spoke or touched us so we made our way out of the station alone.

  They took us straight to our temporary home. “Prep starts tomorrow, after the other tributes from Eleven and Twelve get here,” Nicholia informed us. “So, we can sight-see, shop, stay here. We can do anything really.” I honestly think she was being stupid – shopping is useless seeing as we are going to die in a few days, sight-seeing is pointless because we hate the Capitol and being left alone with our thoughts is probably not a great idea.

  “Could we call out parents? You know, phone Sophia’s dad and get him to get our parents.” Seth asked which caught Nicholia a little bit off guard. “Um, I’m not sure. I would probably need clarification-“

  “Nicki, let them call,” Chet interrupted, talking with some fruit in his mouth. “Make it their death wish.” She glowered at him but I was unsure whether it was about talking with his mouth full or his comment.

  “Fine, but you have to do something with me first.” Nicholia sighed, standing up and gazing out the window. “It’s a nice day, and we have twenty-four hours to spend before training and prep starts.” She spun around suddenly, a grin spreading on her face. “We are going out. Shopping, lunch, the whole ordeal – I need a new outfit before your interviews tomorrow night and it might be a good chance to show you off before the interviews.  How does that sound?”

Neither Seth nor I moved a muscle, but Chet seemed to be laughing with his mouthful. Nicholia ignored him and looking at us. “Nicholia, these kids have probably never been shopping in their life. And I don’t think you should taunt them when they have been sent to their deaths.” I stared at Seth, and felt embarrassed as our eyes met. Hurriedly, I stared at my shoes, and was slightly surprised to see that they were scuffed and fading. Another thing that Nicki probably hated about me; I was unkempt.

Nicholia shot Chet a dirty look; “Fine! What do you suppose they do, huh? Any bright ideas, big shot?” Chet rolled his eyes. “Give them their space. Look around the apartment. I’ll invite Avis and Carlton over, so they can meet them tonight or tomorrow. See what they are dealing with. I think Sophia and Carlton will get on like a house on fire.” Chet grinned at me as Nicholia huffed and stormed off. Chet watched her go, almost laughing. “Got a bit of a temper, that one.” He looked back at us. “You guys can have a look around your rooms and the apartment or we can go through old strategic videos if you are slightly bored. Nicki can suck all the life out of a party, can’t she?” Seth chuckled nervously but I did nothing. I just stared at Chet blankly.  “You alright, Sophia?” He asked. I nodded. “Yeah. I’m fine.” I said in a small voice. I could tell by his raised eyebrows that he didn’t believe me.