:The Hunger Games: The Violent Hour: (9) Becoming Violet

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Chapter Nine

                Everyone was screaming. Not in horror, like I was inside, but in pure fascination of getting to see the object of the next weeks of entertainment.

                There are so many of them. I never thought… They said the Capitol citizens were gone. Over. Dead. Never-to-be-seen again.

                But then there could be thousands in front of me, clapping and whooping. Some have less than five fingers on each hand, some have more.

Some seem to have been so surgically altered that they no longer are identifiable as human. Some had orange-tinted skin, fiery red hair to match.

Maybe they were slapping my mother in the face for being the “Girl On Fire”.

I saw some that resembled animals. Dogs. Cats. Cows. And… a tiger? That woman seems to have whiskers. I know she has a tail, as I see it behind her, swooping to and fro in a motion that tells me she’s agitated. Or excited.  Maybe both. She had large green eyes, and from here I could tell that her pupils were not of normal size. They were slits. Her skin is painted in an alternating orange and black pattern, and her body, which seemed tensed to spring, gave her a more feline look. If that was even possible.

                I’m not even allowed a second outside. It seemed as if the doors opened before the train came to a complete stop. Then I was grabbed by a man in a white suit, and he wrapped his hand around my forearm. The cold night air immediately bit at my skin, chilling me to the bone. Short gusts of wind blew while I was ushered into a building. I attempt to look around for my mother, my father, my brother, anyone who will give me any sense of comfort. But no one is in sight. Just cameras. Flashing cameras. And people in white suits.

                They lead me to a door, and the buttons around me indicate that it is an elevator. My eyes went to the door as soon as it opened. No one was inside. The man pushed me inside and he explained that this is the only elevator I am authorized to use. It will be for me and me only. I asked him why and he told me it was because of an accident my parents had many years ago. I am tempted to press the matter further but bite my lip, holding it in.

                Allowing myself to look up, I saw the face of this man. He looked like a normal person. Normal in my terms – no alterations. His skin is normal and his eyes are a strange shade of grey, but normal nonetheless.

                “What’s your name?” I hear myself ask.

                He looks down at me with a shocked expression but quickly composes himself. “Darius.”

                “Well nice to meet you Darius,” I say, holding out my hand.

                Darius’s lips form a tight line and he begrudgingly shakes my hand. “Nice to meet you too, Ms. Mellark.”

                “Don’t call me that,” I scoff. “I am Iris Mellark.”

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