Jeopardy: The Fourth Quarter Quell

Shaking - Liam

Liam

The flask is cool, the fiery liquid blasting down my throat and obliterating all the shakes that were starting to accumulate there. One hit will be enough, this time. Or maybe two. Three for luck.

I can feel it already. My fingers looser. My head lighter. Why does the reaping bother me? It shouldn't. It's not likely to be me, not by a long shot. Speaking of shot...

I tip the flask to my mouth, only to find my hand empty. Why? It was there a second ago, cool clean metal, the most beautiful thing in my world now that Emmy is no longer in it. And now my hand is holding nothing but air. I try prodding it with the other one, but I only feel skin. How strange.

"Where did you go?"

There's a small sigh from right in front of me and I jump; there's a girl there. Right in front of me, close enough for me to reach out and poke her. I try it, just in case she's a ghost and that's why she moves so quietly, but she grabs my flailing finger and puts it back on my lap.

Something very fuzzy occurs to me.

"Did you take the flask?"

"You need to get ready." Her voice is smooth and melodious. If that's even a word. It sounds almost like music, anyway. Her face is kind of like that too. It all looks nice together. Warm and welcoming, the sort of face that isn't hard to look at. Not like Emmy, with her huge eyes and slightly crooked nose. This girl's face is too perfect, almost. One of her eyes is a slightly different colour to the other. Light brown rather than dark. I wonder if she knows.

"Hey," I start, "Why are your eyes all odd?"

For a moment she looks at me. Doesn't say anything, just looks. It makes me feel itchy, and a swig will solve that. I tip the flask that mysteriously disappeared to my mouth again.

Oh.

"When did you last shave?" the girl asks. I think I know her. Or I've seen her before, anyway. I shrug; how am I meant to know? My face still itches.

"Where do you even get this stuff from?" She holds up my flask, frowning slightly as if she's upset. I make a lunge for it and find myself next to my bed, staring up at some very bright lights with an ache in my side. The girl reaches down a slender arm, clasps mine and pulls me to my feet. She wobbles slightly.

"I suppose it doesn't matter, then."

She's a talkative one. More importantly, she's a talkative one with my flask. I mutter for her to give it me back. I feel nice and loose now but soon the shakes and the black fear will be back. She can't understand that. Or she does and she wants me to suffer.

"They sent me to find you and make sure that you're ready," she explains, pointing to the squiggles on my arm. I try to focus on them and they go blurry. They look better blurry. Like a pretty picture. Like the sort Emmy used to draw when she had the time.

The girl is saying my name a few times, almost singing it. "Liam? Liam, I'm talking to you."

"Go away." I don't want her here. The room was peaceful when it was just me and the flask and the quiet. Nobody trying to tell me what to do or asking me questions. Just me.

She points to the squiggles again. They should mean something but only if I look at them properly. Instead I stare at them like they're not there. "Three forty-five," she says, and it sounds like she's reading, "Assemble in Main Chamber for reaping ceremony."

"Shouldn't you be there, then?"

"So should you. Come on. They sent me to fetch you; you're holding everybody up and they're not happy -"