Rose

Too many suprises

"He's gonna kill me like he killed my mother."

The tears would not stop flowing as I struggled to breathe. My knees buckled and Finnicks embrace was all that stopped me from hitting the ground.

"Your not going to die Tia." He whispered as he ran his hands through my hair.

"I- I have no chance against the careers." I gripped his shirt tightly, like he would disappear if I let go.

"Yes you do. They're cocky. They expect to win and think far to highly of themselves. Just stick to surviving and they'll pick themselves off." His gentle voice soothed me but my lungs still failed to gain air.

"But I," My sentence was not finished as the sobs took over my body and I slid to the floor, brining Finnick with me. He sat with me, his hands brushing through my soft hair for what felt like hours, until the crying ceased and Tiaras voice echoed down the hall.

"Dinner time!" She piped.

I wiped my cheeks and pushed myself up off the ground. Finnick was close behind me as I walked out of my room.

As usual the spread on the table was extravagant, and I decided to taste what looked like some kind of stew first.

"So, tomorrow the training begins." Henry said, breaking the silence that held the room. "Start with survival skills. Don't show off or you'll be the first on everyone's kill list." He popped a small strawberry in his mouth.

"From now on we'll be giving you separate mentoring." Finnick was laid back in his chair, his ego smirk back on his face.

"What? Why?" Atlas spoke with a voice that tiered on anger.

"Well, you'll both be fighting each other to the death before the week ends." Finnick speaks whilst eating a handful of the largest blueberries I've ever seen in my life.

The way he speaks of the games so casually makes me begin to boil with rage, but I suppress it as I know he's right.

Atlas slumps back in his chair in defeat.

The rest of the dinner is silent besides the constant past hungers games highlights playing in the background.

Once the awkward dinner is finally over, we retreat back to ours rooms to rest. I have the longest sleep I've had in over a week, but it is riddled with nightmares. I see myself in the games, being beaten, strangled, stabbed and drowned.

The last ones the scariest. I've always found comfort within water, and I can swim quite well, but I'm pushed into a large, surprisingly deep pond and can't seem to find the surface. My head is spinning as I try to find the right way up, and once I finally do, and I'm about to see the face of the one who pushed me, I'm awoken.

This time it's not Tiara who wakes me. Rather it's Atlas. He gently pushes me awake.

"Are you ok?" Atlas asks, eyeing me up with concern.

I only then realise my face is stained with sweat and tears.

"Yeah, just a bad dream." Is all I say in return.

As I push the soft blankets off my body, I remember what I wore to bed and blush. In my tired state the night before I had simply stripped down to my underwear and a soft linen shirt.

Atlas eyes me up and down, and doesn't bother to look away.

Despite my embarrassment, I remind myself that one of us will be dead soon, so there shouldn't be any reason to feel such shame. I stride over to my dresser and find the outfit I was given for training, a simple tight black shirt with my district number on the back and black leggings. Atlas is wearing something similar.