Love and Other Unreliable Things

Chapter One

     Sweat dripped of of Coriolanus' brow as the hot sun of September beat down on him as he hiked to the Hob with Sejanus. The only reason that he was doing  this was because he knew that Sejanus, who had always been a bit of a loose cannon, could not be trusted on his own. Well, that and the fact that peacekeepers were required to stay in pairs at all times. They had walked most of the way in silence when Sejanus spoke up.
   "Coryo, I'm sorry about Lucy. I know how much she meant to you and I just-"
     Coriolanus quickly cut him off. "I don't want to talk about this Sejanus, not here and not now."
     "Well I-"
      He couldn't stop the words that came out next. "Sejanus I told you shut up about it. If I wanted to talk about it to someone I would but clearly I don't want to so drop it." Coriolanus felt bad as the brunette fell silent once more beside of him. Sejanus had always been a nuisance to him in the capitol, but as a peecekeeper he was much more tolerable. He felt as if they were friends here instead of someone he ended up stuck with.
     "I'm sorry."
     " It's fine Coryo, I understand your upset."
     Silence fell once more as the pair neared the doors of District Twelve's very own black market. Sejanus slipped in to doors with Coryo close on his heals. It seemed the vendors at the Hob didn't mind the peacekeepers so much as the miners did, maybe because they had money to spare. However, recently the district as a whole had fallen into a state of mourning for the girl who sang on the weekends with the rest of the covey. They hadn't preformed in over a month even though they wern't able to spare the money. Everyone had to eat somehow and Coriolanus knew this better than most. Her murder had made the whole district fall silent.
    Sejanus' smile was contagious to the people in the Hob as Sejanus had become a favorite of the Peacekeepers around Twelve. Coriolanus stayed propped in the corner nearly the whole time. That was, until Sejanus began talking to a small group of miners who were looking around in a strange mannor.
    "Sejanus!" The plastered smile on his face was well trained from life in the capitol. "Not introducing me to your friends?"
     A nervous laugh bubbled from Sejanus lips, "Well, you seemed fine in the corner and I'd hate to have disturbed you."
     The miners did not look pleased and soon departed to multiple diffrent vendors. Coriolanus set a hand on Sejanus' shoulder. "I think we should go."
     Sejanus nodded, "As long as we don't walk in silence like we did on the way over here."
    The pair walked out of the hob and as soon as they were a few steps away Coriolanus was already interrogating him. "Who were thay?"
    "Just some miners I met a few weeks back. Why is it such a big deal?"
    "I just don't want you to be put in a situation like you have been in the past. Like the arena." Coriolanus thought back to the night that had been plaguing his dreams.
    "It's nothing like that Coryo I swear."
    "Alright then," he patted Sejanus' back in a friendly manor. "just don't get mixed up with the wrong people."
    Once the base was in sight the two were on the topic of what Cookie would be making for dinner that night and other such topics. The dinner ended up being some sort of casserole but the fleet of peacekeepers were so hungry that they didn't care all that much to ask. Coriolanus laughed with the rest of them though he had felt rather displaced since Mayfair, the mayor's daughter, had murdered Lucy Gray Baird who he had become very fond of. They had been in a relationship for only a month or so, but Coriolanus hadn't felt much of a spark since the end of the games. That didn't mean he didn't care about her of course, he couldn't clear his head of her and her songs. He couldn't stand the way her voice replayed in his head over and over again. Sejanus seemed to be his only distraction from his thoughts as he had this uncanny ability to make people happy. Coriolanus knew that Sejanus, despite his ability, was a rather depressed romantic, longing for the way things were in District Two where he was born. He knew how Sejanus missed his Ma and how he hated his father.
    He hated the way Lucy stuck in his head and he hated the way that Sejanus cleared it so easily despite their confusing and conflicting past. He thought about this as he laid in his bunk that night and as he drifted off to sleep.
   
    The snakes curled around his wrist, chaning him to the edge of the arena. A beautiful and haunting sound came from his left.
  
    Are you, Are you
   Coming to the Tree
  
   The snakes wrapped slithered up his legs and settled squeezing his neck. Bobbin, the tribute he had killed in the arena walked up to him with wooden bored in her hand strolled up to him, from his left side. Coriolanus gasped for breathe. Bobbin opened her mouth

   Where the dead man called out
   For his love to flee

   Terror made Coriolanus blood run cold as the voice of Lucy Gray poured from bobbins mouth, singing the last song she ever wrote. Thats when the first hit came. Then the second. Then the third.

   Coriolanus awoke with a strangled gasp. His mind filled with the violence he had experienced in the arena and Dr. Gaul's twisted morals. Her voice rang in his head and he thought about all of all the twisted creations in her lab. He shook his head slightly in a pittiful attempt to clear his thoughts. He eventually decided to take a walk around the base, even though it was against orders after cerfew. The dimmed corridoors and cool air surrounding him with nothing but silence calmed him. He hadn't put on shoes out of fear of being caught and given extra duty the next day. His footsteps near silent on the floor did come in handy when voices rang out from around the corner. He knew better than to stay vut something about what they were talking about peaked his intrest.
  Coriolanus could clearly hear Commander Hoff's voice. He was talking to someone who clearly an important figure in the District. The mayor maybe?
   "One of our own?" The commander said in his athoritarian voice.
   "I'm afraid so, Plinth I belive his name is?"
   Coriolanus blood ran cold. Sejanus. His sweet district friend? Was he in trouble? How much? However much his thoughts raced he still wasn't supprised by this.
   "Should we arrest him now or get him on first watch tommorow?"
   "Get him tommorow as not to make a scene. There will be enough of that at the hanging."