The Second Annual Hunger Games (Book 2)

Sixteen

Talon turns around suddenly. Do you hear that?

I shake my head. "I only hear the birds," I say, looking up at the trees around us.

I think there's something ahead of us. He looks in the direction we're going.

I turn that way, too. "What do you think it is?"

He shrugs. I don't know. It could be a town. Let's go take a look, but be careful and quiet. I nod and follow him through the trees. After a minute I see the trees turn into nice even lines.

"An orchard? Are we in 11 already?" I ask.

We must be. Talon continues forward and soon we can see workers too. I stop abruptly as I recognize one of them.

"That's Vixen," I tell Talon. "This is my town."

Talon immediately steps in front of me. We can't go in.

"Why not?" I say trying to step around him.

His eyes widen. Aldera, everyone thinks you're missing. You can't just show up in your hometown. Plus, what if a peacekeeper saw you?

I sigh and look past him at Vixen. She wipes sweat from her brow as she climbs back into a tree. I wonder if they told her. Did they even tell my family? A whistle sounds through the orchard and the mockingjays mimic it.

Talon looks around as the sound echoes around us. "They're calling in the workers. Must be a mandatory viewing of the games." I look at the ground for a minute. "Talon, please, I need to watch it. I have to see if Sybille and Fergus are still alive."

He cringes, but nods. How are we going to do this?

I bite my lip. Where's Baron when we need him? Then I have an idea. "Follow me." I lead him along the edge of the forest toward the town. We soon reach six large identical houses all in a line. I motion for Talon to be quiet and we sneak along the back of the houses to the one that belongs to my family.

I turn back to Talon. "They should be working, so the house is probably empty." He nods and we continue to the house. I approach the window and find the room beyond empty. After a minute of watching I decide the coast is clear. We go to the back door and I find the key under a rock. "We really should keep this somewhere else," I say unlocking the door.

We enter the house and listen for a moment then I lead us into the family room where the TV is. I look for the remote but a voice stops me.

"Aldera?" I spin around. Scotch stands in the doorway. He drops the food in his hand and rushes over to me, crushing me in a hug. "Is it really you? Are you okay? What are you doing here?"

"Slow down, Scotch," I say, holding him at arms length.

"How can I slow down? They told us you were missing and that..." He looks at Talon for the first time, letting go of me. "And that someone kidnapped you. They showed us his picture." Scotch looks back at me. "Is he hurting you? Did he kidnap you?"

"No." I step between them. "Talon is my friend; he's helping me."

Scotch studies Talon and slowly relaxes. He turns back to me. "So you ran away from the Capitol just to come back here?"

"Not exactly. Let's sit down. Is anyone else here?"

We sit. "No they're all working. Today's my day off."

I nod. "You can't tell them I was here."

"Wait, what? You're not going to stay until they get back?"

"I can't we have to keep going."

"Where are you going?"

I look at Talon and he shakes his head. "I'm sorry it's best that you don't know."

He takes a deep breath. "What happened?" He doesn't need to ask more.

I swallow and lean back on the couch. "I couldn't stay in the Capitol any longer. I had terrible nightmares and everything reminded me of my games and couldn't handle the pain."

He doesn't speak for a moment. "I don't know if I believe that."

"What?"

"Aldera, you're the strongest of all of us. You can handle anything."

I shake my head. "I'm not strong. I just know how to put on a charade."

Talon taps my shoulder. I don't mean to interrupt, but we're missing them.

"He signs?" Scotch turns to Talon. Are you deaf? he asks, signing.

No, I can't speak. I'm an avox.

I grab the remote. "We came here to watch the games. I thought no one would be home." I turn on the TV and it's already on the games.

"Why do you want to watch the games?" Scotch asks.

I look at him hoping that question doesn't imply what I think it does. "They're still alive right?"

"Who?"

"Fergus and Sybille."

Understanding flashes over his features. "Oh yeah, they actually teamed up."

Relief relaxes my body. I turn to the TV where Tiberius Flickerman is recapping some events. "We now have 12 tributes left and it's looking like these games are going to last much longer than last year's. The tributes all seem hesitant to attack one another and the crocodile's haven't been able to do much damage."

"There's still crocodiles?" I ask. Scotch nods, not looking away from the screen.

The camera cuts away from Tiberius and to the arena. I immediately sit up straight. Fergus and Sybille run through the water, chased by both tributes from District 4. 

Hey guys! Sorry for the cliff hanger, but not really ;). So what did you think of this chapter? Was it a good idea for Aldera to go into the town? Do you think her brother will be able to stay quiet about it? What do you think is happening in the games? Why are Sybille and Fergus running? What do you think is going to happen? Let me know your predictions in the comments and if you liked this chapter please give it a vote! Thanks for reading!