Deceived: The 500th Annual Hunger Games

Chapter 76 - First Night at the Capitol

HYDRA BERRY'S P.O.V

So here I am, I'm right back at it again.

Seeing Rhymer and Eunia again, after their past troubles with depression and the general way a victor feels after the arena, I can honestly say I feel enlightened, content.

It doesn't matter that we're entering the arena again - I don't think any of us want to go home.

Kristov is here, Cynder is here, Libo is already dead. As long as we're all together, we don't care.

This tiny feeling, rising in my chest, tells me to betray everyone, leave them all behind. But I don't listen to myself.

Not a hope in hell of me betraying Rhymer. No.

Kristov throws his jacket into one if the plush sofas I distinctly remember from last time. Green, super squishy and taintless, even after the spillages the eight of us made last time.

It isn't even like it was that long ago. Two months or so flies when you're not worrying about your safety.

"I can't believe I'm here," Kristov breathes in, narrowing his red at every luxurious item in sight. "Totally unfair, but we all knew it would come along. Twists are never faithful."

Not that I disagree, but something snaps inside my head. "Why you? Why not some reckless sibling of a deceased tribute with no life?"

This selfish act - well, it isn't an act to be honest - that I've acquired over the past two months never causes me to attack Kristov, but right now, anyone in sight is going to face my wrath.

All I want is to live in a nice house, with Kristov and Rhymer, and forget about everything that's happened. Ignore the countless times death and I have been face to face.

That, or die. And the latter of the options seems the most likely.

Because I can't fight without Rhymer, and Rhymer wants to die. Cynder is his life and she isn't going to make it, you'd be stupid not to know that.

"Look, what if we refuse to fight?" Kristov - the most violent person I know, alive, from District Eight - questions.

My head shakes. "I want to cause havoc, mess up everything. I want those people to feel the way I do." My voice doesn't sound truthful, not that it sounds fake. "Maybe if all these other people can feel the pain, then everything can stop."

Kristov goes pale as he stares at me. Everything I spew, the vile words I spit at him, cause tears to spill. We both know that I indirectly told him that I wanted him to be mentally messed up, ready to throw himself from the building we're in.

"Look, I don't really mean it, I just-"

"Save it," he spits back, not hiding how hurt he feels because of my petty words. "But I understand that you're not you anymore. You don't mean it 100%, but part of you wot deny the fact that you want me to see your pain first hand."

Grateful, I dive into him, gripping him as tightly as I can. My brother knows exactly how I feel deep down, under the shell of pure hatred I've created.

"Don't ever turn into me," I whisper into his ear; I mean it. "You are too special to become the monster I am."

"You aren't a monster," he lies, patting my back. "You're Hydra, a feisty, lucky girl who wants the best for people."

He isn't wrong - his intelligence baffles me. How did someone of the Berry family end up with brains worthy of District Three?

"C'mon, let's go get dinner. Bet you that I can drink a bowl of soup before you!" The competitive side of me appears, the spirit raising my mood.