The Hunger Games: Foxface

Chapter Seven

I bolt up to a sitting position, hold my breath, and listen. Footsteps. Shit. I quickly, but quietly, leap to my feet. I creep around and look through the books. One person, and based on the shoes, he’s a Capitol person.

“Hello? I know you are here, Miss Sillens.”

Well, if he knows I’m here, I guess I better come out.

I can’t believe it. It’s District 12’s stylist. I think Caesar Flickman said his name was Cinna. His gold eyeliner glimmers in the calming light.

“Hi, Autumn, I'm Cinna. So how do you feel about this place?” Cinna looks at me, curiously.

“It’s wonderful. But full of horrible things.” I reply, my voice strong, but not above a whisper.

“Do you want to take down the Capitol?” He asks like he has doubt in me.

“Hell yes. Why wouldn’t I?”

Cinna just nods, and walks closer now that he knows I won’t bolt. Cinna then talks to me about the Rebellion. How Katniss Everdeen has been chosen because of her father’s connections to the Rebellion before his passing. As Cinna talks, I decide that I will try to stay alive in order to keep Katniss alive and do whatever it takes to kill the Careers, even if it means sacrificing myself.

Cinna and I part ways, and I start to go down the staircase out of the botany department. On my way out of the library, I look back at the millions of genetically changed plants and who knows what else. I will so be back here. I take the second staircase down to the fifth floor and walk in.

“Where have you been?” Ew. Jane.

“Exploring. If they are going to kill me why can’t I wander around?”

“Well, tell me first so I’ll at least know to look for you dead on the concrete.”

Wow. She thinks I’ll jump off the roof and kill myself. Not a bad idea, but I’m sure they have something that prevents that. After all, Snow wants a “fair fight”. Anyway, I have plans to finish. I walk away from Jane before she can utter another word. As I’m walking to the room that has my name on it, Sean stops me. Even though I enjoy his company and all, I really need time to think about the library.

“So, where did you go? You were gone for, like, two hours.” Two hours? No way. Did Cinna talk to me for that long?

“Like I said, I was exploring. I needed to escape, so I went up the stairs to the roof. It’s really pretty up there.” I’m sure Sean could see through my partial bluff, but maybe he’ll go up there, find the library and join the Rebellion.

“The roof.” He says, suspiciously.

“Yeah. The roof.”

“Did you see any of the other tributes?” Poor Sean, always trying to get ahead of the game. So was I, but I don’t ask things straight up front.

“No, sorry. I don’t peak into other people’s windows. You know, you should really go up to the roof. I stopped feeling like a prisoner or a pawn there.”

“Um, okay. Maybe.” Sean turns and walks into his room. I turn and go into mine. 

Like always, its luxurious. From a walk in bathtub, to a king’s size bed, with a gigantic window showing the most stunning views of the city. There is nothing I want more than to be lying on my twin size bed and waking up by throwing myself onto the wood floor. Not on some fancy, rich, bunny-soft carpet. A remote control is on the bedside table, and I hit a button. The window changes into a screen. First a waterfall, then a forest, and city square, and multiple others. I finally get to a desert scene. My heart stops. That’s my desert. In the corner is something else. The cactus next to Phoebe with the flowers I put there this morning. Hard to believe that it was this morning, but hey, I guess it was. But another note: where is this camera? Why do they have Phoebe’s grave on a screen? Is it a live feed? Or just a fake picture? The birds are moving. Poor Phoebe. She dies in the Arena, but the Capitol always has a camera on her.

I turn around and walk to the multiple rooms with in mine. One is an office, with a desk, paper and pens. A sign above it says, “Congratulations, Tribute! Use this pen and paper to write a letter to a loved one! Warning: It will first be read by Capitol Officials to ensure that grammar and spelling are correct.”

By grammar and spelling, they probably are going to check to make sure I’m not a traitor by unlocking their secrets to the rest of the world. Maybe Cinna will deliver this to them. I start to write.