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The four days that followed my return to the village had flown by at a crazy speed, it had to be said that I had spent them under the sheet. I couldn't help it, my eyelids seemed to weigh two tons as soon as I ventured out of the room. The lack of sleep in the arena was unforgiving, my body had deficiencies to make up for and honestly I had known more difficult than spending my days in the bottom of a bed.
Nevertheless, my long nights and endless naps did not reassure my parents who made it a point to come and wake me up every three hours to make sure that I was fine, that I was sleeping well and that I did not lack anything. I appreciated their good intentions and their loving nature, but I had to admit that this situation was starting to weigh on me. All I wanted to do when I returned home was to get back to some semblance of normalcy, but this abusive behavior was out of character for our old life.
Today I forced myself to leave the comforting quilt - which probably needed a good wash - and dared to venture into another room of this house. Our new home. "Kill twenty-three children, and you get a free villa for life." I was surprised that this slogan was not yet part of the games. If you compare our old fisherman's shack and this house, there was no comparison: this building was much less miserable than our old home. Nevertheless, I didn't feel comfortable there. The idea of being rewarded for having murdered other victims of the Games was repulsive to me, and yet I chose to sleep here anyway.
- The groundhog has finally left its hole!
No need to turn my head towards the kitchen to recognize that voice. If I listened carefully enough, I could even hear him eating something that our mother had made.
- Shouldn't you be working? I asked as I walked in the door.As I had correctly guessed, my brother was emptying a pot of formula. Judging by the sharpness of his jaw, this dish must have seemed exquisite. It almost made me want to grab some cutlery to taste it, especially since I could make out the label "rillette de maquereau". My stomach almost complained.
- As soon as you get up, you want to get rid of me?- Maybe? I joked as I continued my inspection.
If my family, or at least my brother, seemed to have packed their bags and gotten used to it, that was not yet the case for me. To tell the truth, I didn't know which room was where, what each room contained. As Newt had said, I hadn't tried to find anything but my hole.
♚➳ . ✯♛
My day had been spent exploring this house from top to bottom, I had combed every nook and cranny. The sun was setting and I couldn't hide my disappointment. I had convinced myself that Snow had planted his damn cameras all the way inside this house, and yet I had been unable to put my finger on any of them. Of course the possibility that no cameras were installed had crossed my mind, but I would have felt more comfortable flushing one out than simply "winning" this house.
