A Knife in the Dark | ✓

Fifty Four

It was weeks before I saw anyone other than Riggs, Ace, and Sparks. We trained early in the morning, ate lunch late, trained late at night, and ate late. There was no time for socializing. Sparks didn't like how they had trained me in District Two--he said that it was too brutish and uncivilized, and that I needed to be a little more polished--and so he was taking everything I knew and reteaching it to me. I didn't like it, but I accepted it.

It must have been a month and a half before I ate lunch at a normal time. Ace and Riggs led me into the cafeteria after a particularly rough training session, and I was startled by the noise and the crowd. I stayed ducked behind them, skittish and sensitive to the noise after so long of quiet and isolation. I was comfortable with weapons. People were a different beast.

I had seen no one I recognized, but someone had apparently recognized me. I heard what I thought was my name being called over the noise, and I saw a man fumbling to stand and rush across the hall. It had been so long since Cato's death that I did not mistake this person for him.

He hugged me tightly before I could take in his face. Both Ace and Riggs seemed confused as surprised, as if they hadn't expected people here to know me.

The man pulled back, and I slowly took in his features. Coppery hair, eyes like the sea, and deeply tanned skin. I smiled slowly. "Finnick!" I hugged him again.

He laughed and spun me around. "It's been a while. How have you been holding up?"

"Well enough." I said. "And you?" I kept my voice low. Sparks had told me that some of the Victors were being kept as prisoners in the Capitol, and that Annie was one of them.

His expression didn't change, but the light in his eyes dimmed a little. "I've been better." He said. "It's torture, not knowing if she's okay."

"I know," I said. "But she'll be fine, okay? We'll rescue her and the others."

"I hope it's soon." He replied. "I'm not sure how much longer they'll last."

I must've looked confused, because he said, "Have you not been watching the Reports?"

I shook my head. "I've been on a kind of lockdown." I said. "I haven't done much."

"Well," he said, "I'll have to catch you up. Have you seen Saylee and Jake?" I shook my head. "Tiberius?" Another head shake. "Any of the Marcelluses?" I shook my head a third time. "No wonder they're freaking out."

"What?"

"Lucius was sent as a scout near District Two a little while back. He went to check on you, but he said you weren't there and that your parents were acting as though you'd never existed. Everyone thinks that you've been taken by the Capitol."

Riggs cleared his throat, reminding me that he and Ace were still there. I sighed. "Could you tell them that I'm fine? I have a feeling I won't be able to see them for a while." I shot Riggs a look.

"Sure." Finnick smiled. "I'll see you around now, won't I?"

"I hope so." I said.

He didn't seem happy about it, but after that, he returned to the table he'd been sitting at.

I narrowed my eyes at Riggs. "I haven't seen anyone I know in weeks. Couldn't you have gone off without me?"

"No." Riggs said. I noticed that Ace had gone to find a table, or perhaps to speak with someone else. "You're not supposed to socialize until your training is complete."

I scowled. "We're technically socializing now."

He shook his head. "That isn't the same thing." He said. "You aren't allowed to speak to anyone but myself and Ace, unless someone of a higher rank decided to speak with you."

"And why is that?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

"No."

"You're from District Two. District Two has the highest percentage of Capitol loyalists in the country. Think you can figure it out from there?"

"You're quarantining me." I sighed. "You think I'm a spy."

"We don't think anything. But we don't want you exposed to anything of importance until we're absolutely sure."

"Has everyone else from District Two had to go through this?"

"Not everyone, but some."

I folded my arms over my chest. "And from the other Career districts?"

Ace snorted. I jumped a little, because I hadn't realized that he had come back. "They're nowhere near as loyal to the Capitol."

I stared at them both for a moment. To me, it was ridiculous that they thought I was a spy (I wasn't going to admit that I thought their plan smart). I'd come of my own accord, hadn't I? I was friends with people that they trusted.

If I had been anyone else, I would have said something that would have revealed the heartbreaking tragedies of my past (or at least one of them). I would have expressed the pain over my lost best friend, or the love of my life being killed on national television, or the untimely deaths of my parents due to poor construction and poor housing (or a Capitol-orchestrated act of arson, though I had never mentioned this speculation to anyone before). But I was me, so I didn't say any of that. I wanted to say nothing, but I wanted to say something. Remaining silent would mean that he had a point (he did), but saying something stupid would have the same effect.

"Not everyone in District Two is loyal to the Capitol."

"And not everyone in the Capitol is loyal to the Capitol, but we wouldn't trust them, either." I looked at Riggs curiously.

"And why would someone be coming from the Capitol?" I asked. "Capitolites generally don't have the brain cells to rebel. They only like their odd clothing, weird food, and annual round of fresh blood."

"Not all of them."

He and Ace said nothing the rest of the day.