I thought it was the tracker jacker venom, at first. I thought it was manipulating my vision, influencing what I saw, even though one sting isn't supposed to have much of an effect on you. But the awe on Tristan's face, that mirrored mine, convinced me I wasn't the only one who was seeing the sight before me.
The location of the arenas are always kept secret. No one is ever supposed to know where the tributes are shipped off to. So, when I climbed up the rope ladder and was met with the view of a land I had never seen before, I supposed I shouldn't have been surprised. The land was green, with slightly rolling hills dotted with quaint little homes with colourful red and blue roofs. Tristan had come up the ladder right behind me, and we both just stood and stared at the welcoming sight before us. Finally, I asked him: "Is this part of the arena?"
"No," He answered, happily shaking his head. "We'll never have to go back to the arena again. We escaped the arena!" I laughed, not believing it could be true. But it was! There wasn't a tracker jacker, mutation, or tribute in sight. "Come on, Tally and Grim told me we need to find cover, quickly. The Gamemakers will come looking for us soon, and we can't let them find us," Tristan was already making his way towards the small village. I skipped along happily beside him.
The euphoria washed the hunger right out of my tired body. I no longer had to fear for my life with every step. We weren't in the arena anymore, we would never be in it again if Tristan's plan worked.
We walked up to the nearest home, one with a cheery blue roof and two flower boxes under the main floor windows. I held my hand up to knock, and glanced at Tristan, who shrugged his shoulders and nodded, giving me the go-ahead. I knocked twice. The noise seemed to echo throughout the otherwise quiet town. Ever so slowly, the door opened and revealed a girl only a bit younger than me, with two black braids and freckles across her nose and cheeks. The moment her green eyes spotted us, she ran off squealing:
"Strangers! Mommy, Daddy! There are strangers at the door! I told you they'd come!"
I looked at Tristan, wondering if we should stay and see what would happen, or if we should run while we still could. It didn't feel right to just stand there and wait for the girl's parents to come and chastise us for scaring their daughter. He didn't return my gaze, however, so I assumed he wanted to stay. After what felt like years, a women who looked around 30 came down the long hallway that led to the door which was left ajar by the little girl who answered the door earlier.
The women shot us a half-hearted smile before she spoke shakily: "H-hello."
"Hi," I smiled brightly.
The lady tucked a piece of her black hair behind her ear. Her curly bob framed her face nicely, and she had freckles, just like the little girl, who I assume was her daughter. "I don't mean to be rude, but... who are you?'
"I am Tristan, and this is Celia. I'm sure you've seen us on TV," Tristan stepped in.
"No... I must have missed you," The lady shook her head, obviously confused. "Were you on the local news?"
"I wish," I sighed. "But no, it was actually the Hunger Games."
"I'm sorry, the what?" The lady closed her door a few inches. That's when I realized how horrible I must look. Tristan and I hadn't showered for days, our clothes were torn and bloody, and we were both stick thin and dehydrated. Oh, and Tristan still had an eye patch over his left eye. We were gonna have to come up with something good to get into this lady's home and hide from the Gamemakers and the Peacekeepers.
"Ugh," I moaned dramatically, and fell into Tristan's arms. I managed to wink at him quickly before shutting my eyes and feigning that I had blacked out.
"Celia!" Tristan pretended to panic.
"Oh!" The lady exclaimed, shocked.
"I'm so sorry," Tristan explain. "We've been walking for so long, and we haven't had much food or water..."
"No need to apologize," The lady insisted. "My name is Amy, and I insist that you come into my home to wash up and have something to eat and drink."
She didn't need to tell us twice. Tristan eagerly entered the lady's-Amy's- home. I wished that I could open my eyes and see what the inside of her house looked like, but I had to keep up the act if I wanted Amy to trust us. "Bring the girl up here," I heard Amy say, and felt Tristan climb upstairs with me in his arms. "She can rest in here, and have a shower in the bathroom when she wakes up. Meanwhile, you, sir can answer some of our questions."
"Yes, of course. Thank you so much for your generosity," Tristan laid me gently on the soft bed, leaning in close to whisper into my ear, "Get some rest."
I heard his footsteps lead out of the room and back downstairs. I felt awful about being able to rest while Tristan was probably being grilled for answers downstairs, and he was just as tired as I was. This wasn't part of the plan, but I knew, and Tristan obviously knew too, that there wasn't much we could do now. I curled up under the soft sheets and fell asleep.
.............................................................
When I woke up about an hour later, I was disoriented and unsure of my surroundings. It only took a few minutes before I remembered the events earlier this morning. I rolled out of the bed, and massaged my aching muscles, recoiling when I upset my injured shoulder. Thankfully, the makeshift bandage prevented any blood from staining the bedroom's white sheets. I opened the door and walked down the hallway before I remembered that Amy said I could have a shower when I woke up.
There was only one problem. I didn't know which room was the bathroom. 5 doors lined the hallway. I could eliminate one, because that was the room I just came from. I shrugged my shoulders and opened the door closest to me. The open door revealed the girl with the black hair and green eyes, who me and Tristan saw earlier. "Oh, I'm sorry," I mumbled. "I didn't mean to disturb you."
"No, you're not bothering me!" She insisted, and stood up from her perch on her bed. She tossed the book she had been reading to the side. "I'm Maia." I shook the hand she outstretched.
"I'm Celia," I grinned at her. Noticing her eyes wandering to my bloody jacket and shoulder, I hurriedly explained: "And I was just looking for the bathroom to uh, wash up."
"Oh, yeah, of course. Follow me!" Maia skipped down the hallway. She led me to the door at the end of the hallway.
"Thanks," I went to enter the bathroom, but Maia grabbed my arm and stopped me.
"Will you come talk to me before you go downstairs?" Maia whispered.
I nodded.
"Promise?"
"Promise."
Satisfied, she skipped back down the hallway to her room.
I grinned. I liked her already.
............................................................
After my shower, I kept my promise and made my way to Maia's room. I was feeling much better. During my shower, I washed away all the dried blood around the cut on my shoulder and saw that it was healing nicely.
I approached Maia's room and knocked on her door lightly. She opened the door with a wide smile and invited me in. Her room was small and simple, with white curtains covering the window and clean white bedding. A small bookcase completed her space.
"So," I began, taking a seat on her bed. "What is it you wanted to talk about?"
"I want to talk about...you! Where you came from, why you are here... everything!" Maia looked up at me, eyes sparkling.
"That's a long, long story," I sighed. "And I have a feeling I'll be telling your mom everything anyways. Why don't you come join us?"
Maia shook her head sadly. "My mom won't let me. She doesn't like me knowing about anything..." She paused dramatically: "Outside."
I laughed at her dramatics. "Outside what?"
She looked at me seriously. "Don't you know? This is the New World. We are the New People. And we don't welcome strangers."
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I bet you all weren't expecting this kind of a turn on the story! Mwahaha. I feel evil. Well, scratch that. Not evil. Just.... accomplished at *hopefully* putting an unexpected twist on the story. This fanfiction is becoming something bigger... more of my own ideas. I hope you like it!