Book 2: The Victors

016

As her arm raises, knife in hand, the man drops his glass and shields his face quickly. "Wait!-" He pleads, almost shivering in fear. "Please, wait!"

Isla keeps her arm raised, but pauses. "How did you know?" She asks, referencing the man's clear knowledge of what she was about to do before she even had a chance to do it.

"I've watched both of your games, dear. I know very clearly the face you make before you kill someone." He responds, regaining his composure. He smooths over his dress shirt, and takes a shaky breath. "I know what you want to do, and before you take the Victor approach, let me propose a more Capitol approach to your plan." 

Isla squints, then nods, allowing the man to speak. "It's easy to kill me and go through with your plan, yes, but you aren't thinking of the aftermath of your actions. Which, considering your past experiences, the aftermath has never been something you've had to be concerned with." Titus continues, folding his hands in front of him. "After you kill me, however, you'll not only go into that room and not have a clue where to start in giving the rebels access to the system, but then what? You'll return to the tribute centre for a few mere minutes before you're taken away, deep downstairs like Johanna. Never to see the sun again."

"Johanna?" Isla asks, her stance faltering at the mention of the District Seven victor. "What do you know about Johanna?" It comes out more desperate than she'd like, but she can't care. All she can think about is that the girl may be alive.

"I heard she's alive, but I imagine she'd much rather be dead. I'm not aware of any details." Isla stares at him in disbelief, wanting to cry. She, too, wishes Johanna to be dead. The amount of torture she must be going through daily is unimaginable. She'd be better off dead.

"So what do you propose?" Isla asks, tightening her grip on the knife.

Titus clears his throat, nodding with his words. "I will help you help the rebels to breach our system. It'll be a much easier coverup, with no repercussions on your part."

Isla stares at him for a moment, "And what's the catch?"

"You make sure, when the time comes, you get out of there, too. And you look out for yourself." Isla is confused by his words, lowering her arm. 

"What do you mean?"

"Once they can get inside the system, they'll find a way to get in the city, I'm sure of it. I worked very closely with Beetee, he knows what he's doing. He just needs this push to get the upper hand. I'm sure Katniss will send for Peeta, positive, even. But I know that Snow knows that it's only a matter of time before this happens. He's a smart man, he has a plan for every single scenario you and I could ever imagine."

"When the rebels come, I promise you that he will be fully aware of their every move. It will all be calculated. So you need to look out for yourself, and make sure you get to District Thirteen. You weren't supposed to be here. This wasn't part of the plan, you being the inside eye wasn't anticipated."

"But Orion basically said-"

"I made him say all of that, to give you hope. Being left for dead isn't very hopeful." Titus pauses, giving her a solemn look. "They didn't know how many of you they would be able to grab before they left, it was all up to chance, but the others were aware of that. You weren't, and you ended up in the wrong aircraft. Due to absolutely no fault of your own." 

"Why didn't they tell me? I thought they kept it from me so I'd be able to do this?" Isla looks at the man in astonishment.

"You didn't like Katniss, it was too risky to get you involved. Finnick said that you would follow his lead, so he just had to make Katniss an ally before you could make her an enemy." Titus explains, shaking his head. "I told Plutarch it was a bad idea, at some point you would find out. They're lucky I stayed behind to continue operations here, or you would've sat in the tribute centre without a single spark of hope until who knows when."

Isla can hardly think, her brain so fogged by the unbelievable truth she's just heard. She was left behind. She was left in the dark. They risked her life without even bothering to involve her in the plan. Finnick, of all people, used her the most. He abused the trust she had for him, her willingness to die for him.

"I know this is hard, but if we want to help, we should do it tonight. I will open up the system long enough for Beetee to get in, it'll look like he just cracked the code that he created years ago. Then, they'll take it from there. We can't do much else other than wait." Titus gives her a sympathetic look, motioning to the door. Isla sets the knife down and leads the way to the large metal door at the end of the hallway.

Titus punches in the code, opening the door as the lock clicks. He turns the light on to expose the large control boards and several screens, blinking lights of all colours flashing at them. "I'm going to open the channel, and you will have a moment to reach out to them. Make sure they know it's you. They were hoping to hear from Johanna, and my voice isn't going to catch their attention. They need to hear someone they can trust."

He flicks a switch, and a streaming light along the screen goes dark. It seemed to provide a barrier around the Capitol, and Isla assumes it blocked transmissions from coming in. "Now." Titus nods at her.

"Beetee, it's Isla. You have to move fast, Snow's anticipating your next move. You need to get them out of here." Isla speaks into the mic on the board, and looks at Titus as she hears static coming from the other end.

"Just wait." He says, looking at the screens in anticipation. 

As if on cue, the mic's static increases. "Understood, I'm in." It's short but to the point, and Beetee's end goes silent. Titus flicks the switch back, but the light that comes back is slightly different. It's choppy, just slightly. The invisible barrier has been tinkered with.

"Now what?" Isla asks, looking at the man with wide eyes. 

"You go back to the training centre, and we wait. Now that he's in, they can make a plan, and you need to be there for when that plan is put into play." He ushers her out of the room and down the hall. 

"Why couldn't you have done this?" Isla asks now, stopping halfway to the front door.

"They needed it to come from someone they could trust. I'm just a random Capitol official."

"Plutarch knows you, though." Isla states, raising a brow.

"Yes, and so does Beetee. But I've had to play my part, and I'm not sure either would be delighted at the sound of my voice." The man says, continuing to lead her to the front door. "Now, I doubt we'll see one another again, so good luck." 

"Thank you." Isla responds before exiting the mansion and getting into the black car. She feels a heavy weight within her chest as she's driven back to the tribute centre. They had all gone against her trust, and here she had thought they had trusted her so much that they put her in charge of the most vital task. Being the insider in the Capitol. 

It was all a lie. All a lie fed to her by some man to keep her from becoming depressed due to being abandoned by people she considered to be her friends. Well, now that she knows, she's anything but depressed. She's angry. Isla feels disgust towards Finnick, and even Johanna, for leaving her in the dark during such a pertinent event. What if she had died from the crumbling arena? Or been picked up by the Capitol and euthanized? 

She shakes the thoughts from her head as she rides the elevator to the fourth floor. Clearly, they didn't care what happened to her the minute that arrow hit the forcefield. Finnick had sacrificed her for the cause, using her to his advantage. She had been so willing to sacrifice herself for him that she had been completely oblivious to what was really going on. Isla had been used. 

She showers and gets ready to go to sleep. Her stomach twists at the thought of what might happen in the coming days. If the rebels really did come to rescue her, would she go? Of course she would. But could she face Finnick? Johanna? The others? Isla thinks for a moment. She doesn't have much of a choice. If she remains here, Snow will use her until she can't move another inch. She has to leave, and she has no where else to go but to District Thirteen.

So, she'll stay here and wait until they come to get her. And when they do, she'll be sure to only trust herself.