𝐄𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐋 | Hunger Games

ᴠ

       AELLA watched as her late mothers best friend and her self-proclaimed godmother cleaned her house at such a pace it made her dizzy. For years Aella had watched the woman clean, despite her telling Sal that she never had to. The older woman would always insist—she was almost obsessed with making sure it was clean. For a long time, however, Aella had a suspicion that cleaning her house was her excuse for checking in on her. She came around twice a week with her supplies and if a Peacekeeper ever saw her all it looked like was that Aella had hired Sal as a cleaner. That way, it was easier to see her without President Snow ever catching wind of the older woman and her two adult children.

Sal would never take any money from Aella either despite how throughly she cleaned her house. The floors and countertops would sparkle from the top of the house to the bottom, every room except the drawing room would be cleaned and polished to within an inch of its life. Sal knew not to venture inside the drawing room even if it had been unlocked all those years. Sometimes when she walked passed she would catch the still lingering scent of white roses and she would fetch a scented candle to the cabinet next to the door and light it and let it burn all day.

The putrid smell didn't only remind Aella of what had become of her family, it reminded Sal of what had become of her best friend, of what heinous actions President Snow had asked of the young girl when she had only just turned sixteen.

It disgusted her, absolutely appalled her to no end that their President was capable of something like that but when she stopped to think about it she was never surprised.

The murder of her best friend was hard but watching Aella shatter into a fragment of the woman she once was was harder. Sal missed the Aella that wasn't afraid to tell the world of her story. Now, she was too afraid to even whisper to her closest confidant what President Snow had asked her to do.

The two women sat in Aella's black furnished kitchen. They listened as the upbeat symphony of the Caesar Flickerman's talk show theme tune echoed through the room, the hologram on the dark mahogany kitchen table switched on.

Caesar, sporting bright purple hair and a sparkling purple suit, walked out on to the stage with his hands in the air as the crowd roared. Today would mark the end of Katniss and Peeta's Victory Tour before the party and the Presidential Palace that same evening but first they had to make a stop to interview with Caesar.

Aella remembered her Victory Tour like it was yesterday. She hated having to stand before eleven Districts and lie about how their sacrifice to the Games was essential. It was something she never would've understood before she was reaped but seven months following her Victory she knew it all. The Games had aged her mentally by years.

She hated having to stand before camera after camera as the Capitol gushed over her like she was some prized toy in the window of the store. It was all so fake, she just couldn't stand it.

Aella raised her coffee to her mouth and sipped on the hot beverage as Sal placed her mug down on the table. The two women sat in silence as they watched Caesar introduce Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark to the stage. Again, the crown made solely of Capitol residents roared, their cheers for the two were deafening as they received a standing ovation.

She hadn't seen the Capitol adore two Victors so much in a long while. She never had the chance to really perceive the Capitol's opinion of her but those who followed her journey knew how deeply the Capitol loved Aella Barnes.

Aella admired their acting skills. From what she had witnessed within the Justice Building before their Victory Tour they seemed like they hadn't a care in the world for one another. The second the cameras shone over them they flipped a switch and suddenly they acted like they were so deeply, so madly in love with one another. From what Haymitch Abernathy had told her they were not particularly fond of one another following the epic conclusion of their Games.