PLATINUM • THE HUNGER GAMES ²

| 05. THE UNFAMILIAR COACH

BOOK ONE
CHAPTER FIVE

( THE UNFAMILIAR COACH )

IT ALL HAPPENED IN A BLUR. Will grabbed my wrist, his fingers just slipping of the edge of my plaid shirt sleeves, took his coat in his grasp to wrap it around himself and also did the same for me. By the time I had picked up enough courage to talk to the bewildered face next to me we had already made it down the cobbled path out of my house, into the Victor's Village centre and began to shuffled out of the gate towards the rest of the District that surrounded my life. The wind blasted furiously into my face, battering my hair around the shape of my head and disappearing from my sight. The sun rested in a blurred haze behind a cover of dim grey clouds. It appeared as if it was the beginning of an extremely dreary day; especially for the spring climate. A mild mist lay quietly above the grass, as if it was watching the breeze swirl past to gently wave the rain speckled leaves. For early morning the District had risen early, probably post to the horrendous news that we all heard last night. But, today was a new day. Yet, I knew that nothing good would come out of it, except for unwanted stares and whispers circulating my head.

The sky got foggier as we journeyed further into the centre of the District due to the pollution and dusty smoke that was generated from the crowds of processing factories and resource wasting shops. It only smelt like raw, rotten meat, most likely left aside for the blood hounds to feast upon, or, even worse: to be collected by the poverty driven families that couldn't even afford to let their children collect tesserae. Always, the Capitol and other Districts underestimated the loss District Ten suffered daily. It was a rumour that spread wildly, known to everyone else as the District with the most food. Apart from the Career districts, it certainly was not true.

I scraped the little of wealth I had from the wilting business my father and I had. Without it, I most definitely wouldn't have been alive that very day I was reaped. Although, it couldn't defy or weaken the fact that I was only put in that reaping bowl two times.Turns out, I had become extremely unlucky.

Will kept quiet at my side as we waded through the crowds to enter main alley way that separated the two lines of shops opposing each other. His hand was placed gently on the small of my back, as if he was guiding me through an unknown maze that surrounded us, but it was only the twisting paths filled with people barging past to get to their business. The harsh echo of voices circled my ears. It sounded like the roar of the Capitol at the Tribute Parade, but, instead of screams of joy, it was scuttling feet and muffled exchanges of belongings.

"Will, where are we going?" I asked discretely to avoid unwanted attention coming my way from passers by, despite the numerous glances I was already getting from complete strangers. All I got in reply was a short hum before we entered a rather run down building by one of the back alleys. Will shot me a confirming expression as the door edged open into the entrance. The warm scent of ash filtered into my head. I knew where we were as a blast of light appeared in the corner.

Will left my side abruptly, pacing across to the door directly on our left which hung slightly weak at the hinges and patches of wood had been fixed over obvious breaks. The air was slightly damp but still infected by the brittle smoke that loomed from the industrial part of town. We continued into the building and the room slowly increased inside. By putting the pieces together, I knew vaguely where we were. I was next to a weapon again. There was a rack of freshly sharpened knives to my right, easily accessible with the stretch of an arm and, complementing its existence, a target faced eye to eye with me at firing distance.

"This wasn't my idea, Sil'." I hadn't realised that there was another person in the room before, though his voice was rough, hungover and harsh. "But, you need this. We all need this. So, please, don't leave me alone in trying to defend your life because you need to too." An object flew beside me, hitting the pound sack of sand no more than a metre away from me resting on a shelf by my head and the golden insides poured out like the rain falling of off the branches upon trees. I didn't flinch, my instincts had faltered after becoming a Victor. I knew that death was inevitable so flinching away from it would be pointless; more painful in fact.

I pivoted on my heels, losing sight of Will and gaining on another. Bradley, Corey and another well built man leant against the back wall in their different postures. Bradley and Corey's much more attentive than the other's, yet Bradley had a slight slouch to his: obviously accompanying his slurred voice. "This is Cedar Halcyon: Ex-Head Peacekeeper of District Ten and... Uh... Will's father."

I blink as I hear Will's name. He had never told me about his father, everyone else to be precise, but not his father. I took a moment to recall our conversations today. He knew we were coming here, even though I told him I wasn't ready. Even though that was a lie.

"When can we start?" I asked, my voice stern and demanding. The quicker and more efficiently I trained throughout the time before the Games, the faster my odds would rise.

"You've already benefited yourself by having knives as your weapon, Miss Quinn," Cedar lifted himself from the wall and paced over towards the rack of knives leaning to the side. "It's a close and long distance weapon so the chances of actually physically wounding a person is raised dramatically. Choosing a heavier or much stronger object to wield would increase your metabolism, which we don't want 'cause you'll lose energy quicker without eating."

He wrapped his right palm around one of the blades on the second shelf which gleamed in the distorted light on the ceiling obviously proving to be the sharpest of the bunch and lifted it in the air. Without a spare breath, it flew in the air, hitting Bullseye. "Now you try."

I gathered stares from both of my sides, Will waiting at my left and, joining alongside Cedar, Bradley and Corey exchanged tense glances whilst nodding their heads in my direction. The exact same knife was retrieved and ended up in my hand. The almost foreign feeling was placed against my fingers and the cold metallic sense shocked me. It had been almost two years since I had a deadly weapon enclosed in my palm and I had to make sure it was going to count.

Finally, I raised the blade to around ear level, positioned my feet sensibly and slowly felt my fingers releasing the wooden handle.

And, I let it fly.

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