Author Games: Age of Rebellion

Task Three - The Hostage - Males

DISTRICT TWO - Peter Steele

I think I ate here one year when I was mentoring. I couldn't be certain; I had never paid much attention to the names of restaurants, and Cassie had picked this place out. One of the several restaurants in Glory Square, it seemed to match up fairly well with what little I remembered from it. Its menu boasted the best food in the Capitol, although I distinctly remember joking that this restaurant had to be supplying the food in the arena.

The restaurant, beyond the menu, was practically unrecognizable. Already having been torn apart by looters and whatever animals had managed to sneak in, the battle between our small squad and the Peacekeepers had finished it off. Bullets and broken glass took the place of flowers and a wait staff. Most of the chairs and tables had been flipped over, used as cover by both sides. It was impossible to tell whether some stains were red wine or blood. But, miraculously, the table Cassie and I sat at remained untouched.

It was only big enough for two people to sit at. I faced the main entrance to the restaurant, my back towards the patio outside. Two menus sat open on the table, one flipped open to the appetizers, the other to drinks. Even an empty wine glass sat across from me ; my own was filled with lukewarm water, the very best the rebels could provide. The only difference was that across from me a small, metallic lion sat in Cassie's stead.

"Veal," I could hear Cassie joking, even though her voice had faded out of this place seven years ago. "In case you don't feel like the Capitol's already killed enough human young, you can eat baby cows."

I could still hear her laugh in the background. Somewhere beyond the stillness, the absolute peace that warned of a storm to come, Cassie still laughed, refusing to let her sprit be broken by the Capitol. At least that was what I hoped for. If had been a full year since I had last seen her, and a lot about a person could change in one year.

The announcement Elpis and Alithia made still echoed in the back of my mind, even louder than Cassie's laughter. More than anything, Alithia's question haunted me. Deep down, I knew that there was nothing I could do to save Cassie anymore. I was a wanted rebel, and she was a highly prized Victor. One of the few who had managed to retain her sanity, she became a poster child for the Games. "They don't hurt everyone;" they would say, mocking the pain the rest of us went through. "look at Cassandra Cortina. She won her Games and she's fine."

No, Cassie would have wanted me to keep fighting. Filled with the pride and strength of the lion that sat across from me, she'd go through Hell and back before she let the Capitol win. I thought of her raven black hair, the hair she chopped off as soon as she won because Khave said he liked it. The spark of defiance in her hazel eyes still seemed to glint off the metallic figurine. My hands felt empty without hers, small but calloused and strong, holding mine whenever I needed her. The memory of the last time I saw her repeated through my mind endlessly.

***

Both of us were panting heavily, having sprinted to cover. The near-silent hovercraft buzzed in the distance. I knew that it could still detect us. They'd managed to pull bodies out of the bottom of lakes and from the depths of caves with these hovercrafts. Two scared Victors hiding beneath a sheet of rock were nothing for it.

Our reflections gleamed against a small puddle on the hard, smooth rock below. Both of us were incredibly disheveled; I smiled thinking of how out stylists would react to our appearances. Both of us were covered with grime, our hair matted, and our faces covered with small cuts. Her hair had grown out a little bit, just covering her ears. Mine had too, but, since it was already short, it hadn't reached an unmanageable length just yet. We had lost weight, our muscles now wiry on our bodies. We were alive though, and that was what mattered.