Twenty Four Shades of Blood [A Hunger Games Fanfic]

Fraying Seams - 11

The sun filters down through the thick leaf canopy and Vas is already wide awake.

She leans against one of the trees and watches the rest of her little alliance begin to wake for their fifth day in this stinking place. One hand twirls a lock of hair around and around one finger; still glossy rather than greasy, she notices proudly. She’s made a point of keeping her appearance up as best she can, even going so far as to get Bas to trim a few split ends with one of her knives the previous afternoon. She’s seen too many Games where the tributes have let themselves go to wrack and ruin, and she’s not about to let that be her. If she is going to die – and you’re not, she reminds herself – it’s going to be on her terms. And like a true District Two career, those terms involve appearance. After all, it’s never too late to win over a new sponsor. Besides, neatness is ingrained into her blood, stamped with her district into her mind. At least she’s not as bad as Bas.

He’s curled up in a small ball next to her, his arms tucked between his knees and his chest in his ‘relaxed’ sleeping position. She’s on guard so he’s comfortable, she knows that.

As though he knows she’s thinking about him, he stretches, languid and yawning slightly.  She sneaks a quick look at her twin before he can catch her. Something has changed about him, she thinks, and not for the better either. There’s a new cold glint to his eye that never used to be there, even when they used to teach the upstart younger trainees much needed lessons in the training centres of their district.  She shivers slightly, remembering his cold and pointed speech at their reaping.  The things he’d said in his interview hadn’t really been very comforting either.

She carefully wipes the emotion off her face as he turns to look at her, the mask sliding down effortlessly. He’ll wonder what she’s planning; they know each other too well to not know when the other is hiding something, but that’s fine by her. She gives him a bright smile as he rumples up his hair with one hand.

“Morning!  Sleep well?”

It’s a bit of a silly question. She knows that he’ll have only been dozing. Sleep isn’t worth the risk of someone in your alliance taking the opportunity to slip a knife between your ribs or into your back. Even if it is your twin sister. He smiles back, just as brightly.

“Sure did!  And I’m starving!”

He moves to his feet in one quick, fluid motion and stands bouncing slightly on the balls of his feet. On the far side of the clearing, Ruby is pushing herself to her feet, looking even more ferocious than usual. She hates mornings, and she hates morning people. And the twins look wide awake within seconds of opening their eyes. It creeps her out.

She stumps over to them, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes with the heel of one hand.  Vas permits herself a little smirk as Ruby approaches. She can’t really help it; there’s leaves sticking out of the mousy tangle of the other girl’s hair and her face is creased from where it’s been pressed into the jacket she’s used as a pillow.  Ruby treats her to an especially poisonous glare, the effect helped by her slightly bloodshot eyes.

The twins blink back at her, china doll faces arranged in their usual blank stares. Ruby fights back the temptation to reach out and give one of them a good slap, just to see the reaction. She’s not stupid, and it’d be two against one. She has no doubt that neither of the District Two tributes would hesitate to kill her at the first opportunity.

Which is fair enough, she admits grudgingly to herself, seeing as she’d do exactly the same to them if the opportunity presented itself. Just not yet. She squints up at the beams of light slanting down through the foliage, shading her eyes with one hand.

“Where’s Austin?” she grunts, not feeling like talking. It had been a bloody uncomfortable night and she was still waiting for something to arrive from a sponsor. She must have at least one, she’d done everything right. Well, there had been that first night, when they’d found that stupid little bitch and taught her a lesson. But that was what these stupid Games were about, weren’t they? Giving those painted sickos in their clean and shiny city a good show?