Born to Die

On the train

The train ride to the Capitol was predicted to take two days. Although we were the second closest to the city, we had couldn’t go through District one, as the track had been set around district three and then joined the track for which all the other trains travelled down. We would be the last to arrive, but I wasn’t complaining – we would be the last to arrive and get all the attention, make a lasting impression, get more sponsors. But that would mean I would have to spend two days with Cato. I didn’t want to even make friends with him. Making friends with him could cause my downfall.

I glanced around my new room for the next two days. It was elegant with typical Capitol exuberance. It was bright neon pink with white décor all around. I walked over to a wall and a door slid open, welcoming me to the shower. I slid out of my dress and breathed a sigh of relief as the water pounded at my back. As the perfumes and oils were subtly sprayed around me, I thought back to earlier, when I said good bye to my parents. I hadn’t wanted to make a spectacle but of course that was totally ignored.

My mum had rushed in, slamming open the doors and collapsed onto me. “you stupid girl, why are you doing this? My baby, my poor poor baby!” She cried hysterically. As she heaved and sobbed on my shoulder two of the guards looked on, giving her looks of disgust. I pushed her off my shoulders and pulled her up. “Listen to me!” I hissed. “I am going to win these games. You know I will. But you sobbing will not help me one bit. You will become a burden to me if I am distracted will thoughts of you panicking every time I am in danger. And when I do win, I do not want to come back to some thin, weeping woman. I want people to see that my family is strong.” I whispered in her ear coldly.  “Now,” I muttered. “You will clean yourself up, hug me and wish me luck. I’ll see you when I get back.” I stared at her with blank eyes. She raised her eyebrows in confusion but nodded. Lifting herself up carefully she brushed imaginary dirt off her apron and kissed me softly on the cheek, whispering “Good luck my love,” Slowly, with a slightly broken face she walked out, garbling an undecipherable explanation of her breakdown to the guards. They rolled their eyes and escorted her out.

Slowly tears started to join the water from the shower. I wiped them away and swore quietly. I had already let emotion get through to me. I couldn’t let it happen again. Emotion was a sign of weakness and in the games any weakness would get you killed. I turned off the water and slipped on a red blouse and black leggings with my black training boots. They fitted snugly and I walked down the corridor into the dining cart where Cato and Pomeline, the Capitol woman and Cato waited for me along with a man and a woman. The man looked like a brick wall, with huge muscles all over him. He looked like he could kill you just with one look. The woman smiled at me and a set of sharpened golden teeth were shown from her mouth! This was Enobaria! She had also mentored Arbihet who was always talking about Enobaria’s golden win, how she tore out someone’s throat with her bare teeth.

She smiled at me and her teeth glinted. “My name’s Enobaria. I’m your mentor to help you win these games. Listen to every word I say and you’ll come out alive. Don’t and you’ll die. Capiche?” I nodded and sat at the end of the table. Cato clapped sarcastically. “Welcome Clove!” he said slowly, drawing out the v. “Now can we start? She’s kept me waiting for ever.” I narrowed my eyes at him and picked up the knife, cutting my meat violently. As the meal went on I began to talk to the two mentor and Pomeline, deliberately ignoring Cato, cutting him out from the conversation. I could see him getting more and more annoyed as the night went on and finally he brought his hand down, slamming it on the plate hard, breaking it.

“Cato!” Pomeline yelled shrilly. “That is Capitol china! It is not the scrummy cardboard that you may use at home!” Cato snarled.  “I don’t use cardboard. I’m not some cheap thing. I am from district two and I act like it to.  I’m not some cheap whiny buffoon who feels the need to exclude someone from the conversation because I can’t handle a joke!” My eyes widened and I grabbed the knife in my handle tightly, before leaping across the table. I pushed the knife towards his face until it was touching his cheek.

“Don’t you dare tell me I can’t handle a joke. Maybe you think that you can have it easy - kill a couple of children, gain a few sponsors, a celebrity for life! Oh look at me, little Cato, I’m so great and mighty! I’m going to win this games cause, well why the heck not? It’s just another thing I can add to my repertoire.”  I cried. “This may just be some game, some sick game for you but for me? For me this is something I have to prove. I have to prove to my parents that I am worth all the training. Prove to my district that I am not second best, prove to my brother that he won’t be some crazy creature all his life, that you can come out of these games sane! This is not just some game to me!” I gasped and started to breath heavily.

I lowered my knife carefully and a tear escaped my eye. I wiped it away, hoping no-one had seen. “I’m sorry you had to see that.” I muttered and walked out of the room, taking no notice of the voices calling for me to come back.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

A knock on my door awoke me from the nightmare I had been dreaming off. “What?” I mumbled, still fuming from earlier. How dare that fool push me around, call me a buffoon? Who did he think he was? My father? I stumbled out of bed and pressed the button, sliding the door open a fraction.

“Enobaria?” I whispered, my eyes still slightly bleary. “No.” A male voice whispered back. “Cato?” I hissed, still confused. “No. It’s me Brutus.” My eyebrows shot up in surprise and I pressed the button down again, letting the door open wide. He walked in, his greying hair messed up from  an obvious lack of sleep. He gestured to my bed and we walked over, sitting side by side. “look...” he began but I held my hand up, quieting him. “if you’re here to talk to me about today, I’m not going to apologise. I have nothing to apologise for.” He quietly chuckled and cracked his knuckles.

“You’ve got spirit girl, I’ll give you that.” I smiled slightly but let him carry on. “Look. I know you and Cato may have some..personal differences, but you really need to put them a side. For Christ’s sake! These are the games! The bloodiest most dangerous games in the entire history of the universe and you guys are arguing before you’re even in the arena! You really need to sort something out. As the tributes of district two, you’re going to need to lead the pack of careers. And if you can’t work together, some smartass from another district will use that against you. And you’ll end up dead!” He shouted, getting himself worked up. I nodded, seeing his point. “I’ll try, but I can’t make any promises,” I sighed. He ran his hands through his hair and smiled slightly. “I guess, that’s all I can ask for. You may not believe it but we can get you to win. We know what its like to be in the games. Trust us. Believe it or not you have a mega chance. Even more than Cato if you careful. His anger could be his downfall.” He muttered. “But don’t tell him I said that.” I smiled and he gave me an awkward hug thing and left my room. As I settled down, he smiled and the door slid shut behind him.