Culling

Part II • Chapter I

The others had washed quickly. Victor was already sitting on one side of the tub, and Luke and Gabriel were on the other. Victor flexed his fingers in a come-hither movement and I entered the water and went to sit next to him while Kota left to take his own shower.

"Hi." I grinned at Victor as I sat down.

"Hello Princess." Victor smiled back at me. "What were you and Kota talking about over there?"

"It's a secret." I said as I snuggled up under his proffered arm, blushing from the touch.

He grinned in response and I allowed him to distract me from my thoughts. The last thing I wanted to think about was being forced back into the President's audience.

☜♡☞

"Miss Sorenson," President Hendricks greeted in a bored tone, as he sat at a small round table set for three.

I was surprised to see that he wasn't alone. Head Gamemaker McCoy was sitting there as well, complete with a dour look on his face and his arms crossed. It appeared as though he just lost some kind of argument, or just hated being there in general.

I hadn't seen Mr McCoy since that day when ignored me in favor of talking to Kota and Nathan. I didn't miss him.

He wasn't ignoring me now.

I peaked out from behind Ms Johnson as she announced me and his eyes locked onto my own. His lips pursed angrily.

He was calculating me, and from the way his mouth began to dip down he wasn't pleased at whatever it was noticed. Mr McCoy tore his eyes from mine and glared down at the sugar bowl instead.

President Hendricks didn't look up throughout all of this. He didn't look up as he stirred his tea, but he did gesture towards the empty chair across from his.

Next to Mr McCoy.

"Please, have a seat."

I gulped and shuffled my way across the room, as Ms Johnson silently exited behind me. I stood by the chair, unsure.

Mr McCoy didn't look up at me again, but glared even harder at the sugar.

"Sit." The command was unmistakable, this was not a nicety. This was an order.

I caught my breath and took a seat, making sure to sit as far away from Mr McCoy as I could without seeming obvious. I had no idea why he seemed to dislike me so much, I had hardly spoken to him, but I wasn't going to try anything to make it worse.

The table was set up elegantly, with expensive looking linen, tiny finger foods and silver dishware arranged artfully over the space. I was afraid to touch anything.

"Tea? Cucumber sandwich? They are my favorite." President Hendricks seemed to be oblivious to the tension in the room, and had taken on a pleasant disposition.

My throat was about closed up from anxiety. However, I did manage to get out a weak, "No, thank you", in response to his query.

He ignored me and poured some tea in my cup anyway.

Why ask if you weren't going to listen?

"Here you go." He nudged the cup in my direction and gestured towards the plate of little sandwiches.

Left without a choice, I unfolded the cloth napkin in front of me and spread it over my lap before I added cream and sugar to my tea and put a sandwich on the small plate in front of me. The other two sat in silence and began sipping their own drinks.

Suddenly, Mr McCoy put his cup back down with a click and glared at President Hendricks. "This is stupid. What can one moronic little girl do for us?"