Left Hand Free - alt-j
"Watch his right hand slip towards his gun..."
[⌖]
"I volunteer!"
I feel my body start begging for air due to how loud I screamed. I leave my group and walk up to the stage, I pass Kamila as she mouths "thank you," to me. I give her a soft smile and I continue walking.
I walk up the tall steps to the microphone. "What's your name, dear?" Fallon asks me. "Rhiannon Rosewood," I say loud and confident. "Wonderful!" She exclaims, walking over to the boy's section to reap the male tribute.
"Now for the boys!" She smiles, she places her hand over the bowl. It hovers over all the name slips for a few seconds, before finally picking one. "Cosmo Villin!" She says. All eyes turn to an average-sized boy, about sixteen. "I volunteer as tribute!" Another voice shouts.
It was Raven, no surprise there. He walks up the stage, though the confidence he had in the training center has vanished. He looks like a scared little puppy. When Fallon asks for his name, he whispers it so quietly Fallon had to repeat it to everyone again.
"Shake hands!" Fallon squeals excitedly. I shake hands with him, before turning my head to look at the crowd. I see my mom's proud face and Romeo's sad one. A proud look on Finnick's face, and a bittersweet one on Annie's. We are then taken to our separate rooms so we can have visitors before being taken to the capitol.
[⌖]
My room was bland, it had dark walls and a tan carpet on the floor. It had one lounge chair. After looking out the singular window for what felt like forever. I have my first guest. It's Kamila Anderson, the girl I volunteered for.
"I know you were probably waiting for your family, but I just wanted to say thank you. I really didn't want to go, you saved my life. For that, I am forever grateful." She says politely. "I'm glad you came, if-" I pause for a moment. "When I get back, let's be friends," I say softly, smiling at her. It wasn't one of my fake smirks, it was a genuine smile. "I'd love that," she says.
"Time's up." A peacekeeper states, dragging Kamila out. "Good-" I start to say, but she was out the door before I got a chance. Thirty seconds go by and I see my entire family rush in. No one was left behind. Mom, Dad, Caspian, Calista, and Romeo.
Romeo reaches me first "I'm gonna miss you so much, Ri," he says, hugging me tightly. "I'm gonna miss you so much too," I say sadly. "We are so proud of you Rhiannon," My mom says with a hint of fake sadness in her voice. "No, you are so proud of me," I correct her. "This wasn't my idea, it was yours. You wanted me to get chosen to volunteer. Because all you ever wanted out of me was a victor!" I raise my tone at her. "They don't want me to go," I say pointing to my siblings and father, then I point at her. "You do,"
[⌖]
My family was escorted out of the room shortly after the quarrel between my mother and me, and I was left alone, once again. Staring out the window, watching gentle waves roll up on the shores. District Four really was quite beautiful. It's a shame this might be my last time looking at it.
Fallon waltzes in, "Are you ready to go, deary?" She asks me like it was a question. "Yep!" I say excitedly to her. She walks me out and I see Raven has already been taken out of his room. Annie and Finnick walk in shortly after. "Well, should we get going?" Finnick asks us, and we all walk out of the town square building together. A team is what we should've been called, but it really didn't feel like one.
After getting on the train, we all sit down on a large sofa so we can watch the other reapings. District One looked pretty normal, the average careers. District Two's boy looked incredibly skilled.
District Two's girl looked like she could've already won the games before, maybe in another life. "Clove Kentwell!" She announces to the microphone. Clove Kentwell, the name was so pretty, satisfying to say almost.
District Three was nothing special, average. The boy's name was Gavin and the girl's name was Novalie. They both weren't threats. The other reapings weren't out yet, since they broadcast them in order. "You can both go and get cleaned up, dinner will be in an hour or two," Annie says. I nod and head to my room.
My room was gorgeous. Silk, gold, and diamonds filled the compartment. I take out my hair and put it into a loose bubble braid ponytail. I change out of my dress and put on an olive green shirt and black sweatpants. It was already laid out for me. I put on some comfy black tennis shoes and go to wash my face.
I turn on the TV after crawling into my bed. It was talking about last year's victor. Agustus Danielson, from District Two. He played quite well, I will admit, but that didn't make the broadcast any less boring. After a few minutes, I switch off the TV and get up and walk out of my room.
Annie and Finnick were talking on the sofa, and Fallon was helping herself to some of the food. All three heads turn simultaneously to look at me. "Am I-" I get cut off before I get the chance to finish. "Not at all!" Annie exclaims. "Come sit," She beckons to a spot on the sofa. I sit down and the smiles on their faces instantly drop. "Let's talk."
[⌖]
"Uh...ok" I nervously laugh. "You are not in trouble, Rhiannon, but you need to know something. Raven is goner, we don't care about him. We care that you come back," Finnick states. "So that's why you chose him, I was questioning it for a little while," I chuckle lightly. "Mhm," Annie replies.
"We need you to listen to us, we want you to come back. You can come back, just follow our instructions," Finnick says. I nod. "That's enough for today, we don't want to stress you out. Be back for dinner in thirty minutes," Finnick finishes. "Alright, and, thank you. I guess, for, you know, trying to save me." "Of course," Annie says, both of them smiling at me as I walk back to my room.
I sit in silence for thirty minutes, listening to the pattering of rain on the train ceiling. It was the only quiet I had gotten today, but thirty minutes passed by all too quickly, and soon enough. It was time for dinner.
I walked out, at the exact same time as Raven, 18:30 on the dot. I looked at the table, seeing two plates full of preportioned food. "I guess these are ours?" Raven says as he looks at me. I nod in response, I wasn't trying to make friends, I was trying to win. I take the plate and eat quietly, Raven didn't talk either.
The plate of food was quite boring, even portions of fruit, vegetables, carbs, and protein. My plate had a 6 oz medium rare filet, steamed broccoli, apple slices, and mashed potatoes. It wasn't exactly what I was expecting to eat in the capital, but nonetheless, it was setting me up for success.
Dinner went by quickly before we all said our goodnights and headed for our rooms. I quickly took off my shoes and socks and climbed into bed. The alarm was pre-set to 04:30. I groaned when I saw it. I didn't bother taking out my hair, I'd just fix it in the morning.
With the rain still pattering, I quickly fell asleep. Let the nightmares begin.
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Status:
Edited
Word count:
1322 Words