Hopeless

Chapter 9 - Going Home

My ninth fan. Amazing name. Four works posted. JustMexD

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A hovercraft appeared in the sky soon after the girl's body was taken away. I stepped onto the ladder and was frozen by the circuit. It pulled me up into the hovercraft, and released me when we were inside. I sat on the couch and curled into a ball, still seeing the girl's blood, sure it's there, coating my vision and my hands. I just wanted this to all be over with. I want the blood to go away. I want there to be no more killing, no more starvation. Just home. Comfortable, calm, wonderful home. Where there was Annie. My parents. And not exactly safety, but the closest thing I've ever known to it.

I thought about life now. I wouldn't have to go to school. I wouldn't need a job. I could wander around all day doing nothing. But there's nothing I would want less than that. I suppose I would bring the geese and goats along so I would have something to do. I'd probably sneak into the woods more often, as well. Except now the woods are tainted with memories from the arena. I shudder. There's no way I'm going back into the woods for a while.

Eventually, I get back to the Capitol. My prep team meets me. They're prancing around like kids on holidays. Kylara keeps shrieking about how wonderful it is that I won, Terin's curls bounce all over the place as she hops up and down squealing, and Signa has managed to calm down enough that he just grins and watches me.

Then Ty comes out. He smiles. I smile back. His hair, which was it's natural dark brown when I left, has been died dark purple with silver streaks. Probably it's meant to look like the night sky. Who knows with Capitol fashions?

They lead me inside to my room, where I'm allowed to sleep. I collapse onto my bed, exhausted. I quickly fall into an uneasy sleep.

The world is on fire. I run, but there's no where to escape to. Flames part in front of me, but if I stop they set me on fire, burning my skin. I cannot scream, for fear of wasting breath. All the dead tributes are in a hovercraft above me; they laugh at my situation, at my terror. I can't ask them for help, nor would they give it to me. This is their revenge for my living. They all despise me but Chalice, who watches me sadly. But she cannot help.

I run faster and faster, but running cannot put out the flames. Running only makes them stronger. I slowly burn to a crisp, my lunges filling with smoke and my body wracked with pain.

I sit straight up, gasping for air. It takes me a second to realize that I'm not on fire. A small relief, when I think about interview I will have to do.

I slide out of bed and look at the clothes set out for me. The clothes I wore in the arena. I frown, but the closet is empty, so I put them on. I leave the room and hear an annoying voice. Corina. I smile lightly and go out to meet her.

The second she sees me, she grabs me and pulls me into a tight hug.

"I knew you could win! I just knew it!" She bounces slightly, and is laughing.

"Trying to breathe, Corina," I manage to get out. She's nearly suffocating me. She loosens her grip a little but continues to hug me. I give her a light hug in return, and she lets me go. I can see that she's crying.

"I was worried you weren't coming back home..."

I laugh. "Who, me? 'Course I was coming back. Lets go get me ready for watching the clips." I grin and head into the elevator. She follows behind me, and we go down to the main floor. From there, I'm lead to the area that they prep me at. In a flurry of lipgloss, shimmery powders, and hair styling products, I'm ready to go.

The team leads me to a mirror, where I can look at myself. Thankfully, it's a tunic and leggings rather than a dress this time. The tunic is a coppery color, and the leggings are black. The shoes are black, with copper detailing. It matches well with the makeup, copper eyeshadow, a shimmery powder, and a cinnamon gloss. I look beautiful. Past beautiful. But I just feel like crying. I had to kill others to get here.