Becoming Adamant [#1]

Chapter 9 - The Warning

I walk into my room and there’s this dark and twisty sense to it. Something is definitely different when I walk in to my room. There’s something on my bed. Something that I know wasn’t there earlier today. It’s a letter. As I get closer, I can see my name written on it with curly letters. I inspect it before I dare to open it. As I open it, something falls out, but I don’t pick up as I’m intrigued by the letters on the paper. I sit down on the bed and start reading:

“Dear Ms. Mason, I believe there was a moment of eye-contact during the ceremony last night…a very particular kind of eye-contact. However, I am sure you meant nothing by it. Just as I’m sure you will do anything to protect your loved ones from getting hurt. Consider this a warning before you consider anything of the sorts. And Ms. Mason…may the odds be ever in your favor!
-President Snow”

I swallow hard as I put the letter down. Oh my God…he’s warning me off! My loved ones: my parents, my brother…Axel. He’s going to kill them if I don’t get back in line! That’s when I remember the little note that fell out of the envelope. Except it isn’t a note, it’s a picture. It’s me and Axel…from the Mayor’s Building, kissing! My breath starts to get cramped as I look at the picture and then imagine what Snow will do if I don’t get my act together. My breath is shaking and my hands are shivering badly…I thought this was the part that came after the Games…if one survived them of course! Already now, he’s telling me to get in line for the ones I love. One foot out of line, and that’s somebody dead! God, sometimes I just hate me and my stupid attitude!

Tears have made their way down my cheeks. I try to wipe them off, but they just keep on coming. A few seconds later, the door opens. It’s Blight…probably here to tell me he was sorry for yelling…or when he sees me, just say: ‘I told you so’. I’m not interested in that right now. Snow has a gun aimed at Axel and at my family. I’ve got plenty of shitty stuff on my mind already! I don’t need him to gloat! He sees the look in my eyes as he sits down next to me. Without him even asking for it, I hand him the letter. I keep the picture though. “I don’t want to hear the ‘I told you so’-line. I’ve got it bad enough as it is.” I let out as I walk over to the window while I let him read through it. As I hear him sigh deeply, I know he wants to say it.

However, he doesn’t. He just sits there for a while. I turn around from the window and walk back and then lean against the bathroom-door. Blight is still sitting my bed with the letter in his hand. “Do you understand now what I was saying yesterday?” He then asks me. He’s not smug or anything. He’s dead-serious…poor choice of words. “It’s no longer just about you, kiddo. It’s about you and them.” He adds rather quickly. A tear streams down my cheek again and then it hits the picture in my hand. I wipe it off gently. He bends down to my level. “You’re gonna have to get a hell of a lot tougher. Your feisty attitude might not be enough.” He then says. “You need to become someone you’re not in order to keep the ones you hold closest alive. In the Arena, you zone-out, become something the Capitol wants…something that you know the ones back home see past.” He then says as he backs off a little. “That’s how you fight this.” He says as he’s still holding the letter.

Then there’s just silence. He sits there in front of me while I just digest every word he’s just said to me. I stare blankly at the picture as I let the words sink in. It’s like Blight knows that’s what I really need. I don’t need any cuddling words, I just need the silence. A little moment I look up, Blight checks his watch. “Dinner is ready…” He says. I still can’t find any strength to get up from here, or even leave the room. It’s like Blight can tell just by looking at me. “Go shower…I’ll bring you some soup and…keep you companied.” He then says as he gets up on his feet. “Hey, Blight…” I say as he stops. “…thanks.” I manage to get out before he smiles and then cough his way out of the room.

When I’m done showering, I see Blight sitting there next to a food-tray on my bed. He’s looking at the picture of me and Axel, studying it it seems. I make my way to the bed quietly and then pick up the bowl and take a few sips as I study Blight. There’s no sign of smugness in his face. He just seems lost in it for some reason. I’m just staring at my soup, taking occasional sips before Blight says anything. “Is he your boyfriend or something?” He then asks me. I’m left stunned as he is now looking at me. Hm, yeah, Mason, what is Axel really to you now? Blight notices my hesitation. “I don’t really know. We’ve been friends for years, and just before I was sent on the train, he came to say goodbye and then he kissed me.” I then manage to say as I just look straight back down on my bowl, which is almost empty. God I was hungry!

Blight nods simply as he hands me the picture. He’s about to take a deep breath, but is then interrupted with coughing again. I hand him a napkin and I pat him on his back. “The hell is wrong with you anyways? You’re always coughing.” I let out as he stops for a moment. I give him a moment of catching his breath before I get an answer from him. “I’m sick, kid.” He answers first before he starts coughing again. “I’m sick, and I don’t know for how much longer I’m gonna last with this.” He then says as he stops again. Wait, he’s dying?! I sit back down on the bed and try to digest it. My mentor is actually dying. I catch him looking over at me. “Oh, come on, don’t you of all people get all sad on me.” I hear him let out as I then smile. That sounds like me right there.

The coughing dies down for a bit. “I have multiple coughing episodes a day…the more I cough, the closer I am to not existing anymore.” He then says. So this has been going for a while. I remember hearing word about him being sick, but I never imagined this. “I’ve known about it for a while. The doctors can’t do anything about it. It’s progressed too far for anything to be done.” He then says before he turns his head towards me. “That’s why I’m looking to you or Talon to win the Games. I can’t leave this District without a Victor…a mentor. I mean, sure I will no matter how I feel about it, but I’d be more in peace if one of you were still around.” His look is quite serious. I know it is. This is really important for him. And it’s important for the District.

“You need to be even more stone-cold in the time ahead because of this with Snow. The cooler you are the less are the chances of Snow touching your friend or your family.” Blight says as he starts coughing again. I sit back as I make out the puzzle. The biggest part is the warning from Snow. I’m nothing more than a tribute…that’s what I have to show Snow so that he doesn’t take my family or my Axel away. I have to keep my feisty-eyes on hold in order for them to be alive when the Games are over and I’m either dead or alive.

I look over at Blight, and then I suddenly feel an obligation to him. I have made things so much harder for him. Getting Snow on my neck doesn’t make it easier for Blight to pull Talon or me through the Games. He’s sick, he’s dying and he’s desperate. I have to do my best so that I can relieve him of the pressure I know that he feels. “I’ll do what it takes, Blight…for my family and Axel and for you.” I then say to him with a weak smile. He looks over at me and smiles gently. “You better…” He says. I let out a light shrug. Nice comeback, Blight! He stands up and walks towards the door. “Blight…” He turns around. “Thanks for…you know.” I then say. “No worries, kid. Get yourself some sleep. We’ll talk tomorrow morning.”

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If you find it slightly short, know that I compensate for that in later chapters! ;)