#cotcos

[victoriariver-blog]

I have no idea anymore || Arena Day 2 || OS

Tired of roaming the maze I sat down to catch my breath. I wiped my forehead with my already soaked t-shirt in an attempt to wipe off some of the sweat. It was like being slowly boiled alive, and we had no protection against the blazing sun. Looking at my shirt I could not help but chuckle darkly.  Camp-fucking-half-blood. The Game Makers must have had a field day while making them.

I still wasn’t too sure of exactly what had happened. When I woke up we had been separated from the rest of the pack. That much was obvious. But where were they? I had risked yelling, so that they would definitely hear me, but there had been no answer. Had they been relocated during the night? Or more importantly, had we been relocated during the night? If so, I had absolutely no idea of where we were.  I shook my head in an attempt to clear it of the pessimistic thoughts. I just had to assume we were still southwest of the cornucopia and hope that I wasn’t too far off.

We had already tried to double back, but it seemed like the Game Makers were determined on keeping us separated. Every time we tried to go east, the passage led to a dead end. That only left us with the option of going westward. Now being separated from the Career Pack we had to figure out what to do. We could try to reunite, but at the same time I wasn’t too happy that they had left in the first place. You don’t know if they left voluntarily, the rational side in my head argued, but I stifled it. It was easier to let irritation fill my whole body from my toes to my head. It gave me some extra energy to fight my way through the endless corridors. The air was after all so moist that we might as well be swimming.

I had no idea whether I could trust any of them if we ran into them. They might jump the chance to kill us if they even saw us, but I could not help but hope otherwise. I still felt some sort of loyalty to our pack, but I had to remind myself that not everyone was as loyal as me. I slowly chewed on the vine that tasted like nothing at all. Gaby had almost caught up with me now. It would be cruel to walk on without letting her have a breather, so I decided to remain seated in the little shadow the wall provided. 

And there was the whole Ayla matter. Frustrated I let out a groan and supported my head in my hands. Every cell in my body screamed at me to find her, and the logical voice in my head was wondering exactly why that was. I had no answer. The only thing I could think of was that we needed to strengthen our alliance, and Ayla would be the only tribute that wouldn’t jump on us as fast as we showed our face. At least that was what I was hoping, I could pay with my life if I was wrong.

[victoriariver-blog]

Abducted || The Reaping || OS

 Just as I concluded after some time of inspection that the sword was unbalanced and too back heavy, the deafening sound of wood splintering and boots against the wooden floor came from down below.  Instinctively I stood up and crouched slightly in a defensive position, feeling my body adjust itself perfectly to take on whatever was coming. In the back of my head a small voice was complaining about the sword being awkward and dissatisfactory, but I shoved it back refocusing on the muffled thuds as several pairs of boots hit the rich cream carpet in the staircase. It sounded like it was four of them, but I could not be sure. What did they want? We were definitely not the wealthiest family in district 2 even though we were a long shot away from poor.  Whatever they were doing it was clear that they had no intention of going unnoticed the way they sprinted those stairs. Slowly I crept closer to the door and pushed myself up against the wall beside it, still with the sword in a double grip in front of me. I had forgotten that one of the floorboards creaked loudly when you walked over it, but the sound luckily drowned in all the noise the intruders made.  My pulse was racing, and the adrenaline that coursed through my body made everything seem like it was slow motion.  As they closed in on the door my muscles tensed, ready to swing at the first one that came through. After decapitating the first one, I would probably stand a chance at the remaining three.  They were right outside the door now, but they did not stop. Instead of coming barging through as I had assumed they would, they sprinted past it and down the corridor. Shit! My mom and dad! In the stress of the situation I had totally forgotten about them. The sound of a door being kicked down and a scream filled the house. I went completely still for a heartbeat before wrenching my door open and sprinting down the corridor myself. “Where is he?!Where is your son!” A rough voice was yelling inside the room, and I could hear my mother speak before she was muffled just like she had been punched in the gut. As I rounded the corner and into the room there were some things that stood out to me. I had been wrong there were five of them, and they were not regular criminals. They were peacekeepers, and one of them was currently strangling my mom.  What had we done to deserve this?! We supported the Capitol and had never said anything against them! That was when I noticed was that my father was absent. Where the hell was he?!

“Get away from my mother!” My voice came out strong with authority, and I was secretly pleased as I slowly made my way into the room, never letting my guard down. I focused on the peacekeeper that was holding her, and pointed my sword at him. I did definitely not expect them to laugh at me.  “Well boy, that depends entirely on whether you cooperate or not.” He smiled a mocking smile as the sounds of four guns being loaded was audible from behind me. I ignored the fact that I had four weapons pointing at my back and took a step closer. “I said; Let. Go. Of. My. Mother!” I pronounced the words slowly through gritted teeth, and felt the heat rush from my hands and into the sword as it lit ablaze with red flames.  The peacekeepers behind me shuffled uncomfortably, but the one that had my mother was not affected at all. It seemed like he was prepared for it. My mom was staring at me with wide eyes. She was frightened out of her wits. “If you come with us voluntarily I promise we will not harm your mother. But you have to drop your weapon, and if you touch any of my colleagues I promise that she will not live to see another day.” The man smiled wickedly, and at that moment I knew that I had never hated anyone the way I hated this man. Tasting the bitter feeling of defeat I let go of my sword. It clattered against the floor and the flames that had illuminated the room died out.  He pushed my mother onto the bed, kicked the sword away and took hold of my arm. “Where is dad?” Tears were flooding her eyes, and she had trouble speaking while sobbing. “He’s working the night shift.” I nodded. The peacekeepers obviously were impatient to get going and were starting to drag me towards the door.  “Go to him and tell him what’s happened! Don’t come back here!” I was not able to look back at her since we were already in the hallway, but I could hear her painful sobs. As they started to drag me down the stairs I tried to shake their arms off. “Don’t manhandle me, I can walk myself.” Even though they seemed doubtful the leader nodded and the arms let go. “Can I get some clothes before we leave?” I had realized that I was wearing nothing but my boxers, and it would definitely get cold. “They’ll supply you with clothes when you reach the Capitol.” The Capitol? I didn’t get to think it further over because I was stunned by the sight of a hovercraft in my front yard. What the hell?! As they pushed me into it and buckled me down into a seat the man whispered spitefully in my ear; “Have fun in the arena kid.”  

I didn’t know what to think, and I barely registered that there were two other kids, a boy and a girl, sitting in here as well. Soon enough the hovercraft stopped again and a girl that was completely drenched was placed in a seat. She smiled at me, and I smiled weakly back before zoning completely out again. Did I just get abducted to represent district 2 in the annual Hunger Games, or was this just a horrible nightmare?