004 ─── like fire .

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lethal
004 ─── like fire .

" welcome to the panic room "

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" welcome to the panic room "

rowan's view

ℑ'm not shy. I had never been shy; not when I presented things in front of my class in school, not when Mason Jaymes had asked me out in the sixth grade... I didn't generally get shy, mostly because I didn't have the time for it. But walking into the warehouse where the chariots were preparing for the parade, I could feel my cheeks heating up, changing from a tanned olive to an abnormal shade of rose. My nails dig into my palms as I clenched my fists, the black press ons pushing my cuticles back.

All the fear I was feeling would have been a lot worse if Cinna had dressed me in something ridiculously ostentatious. I felt like a queen in what he had given me, but as soon as I walked into the room that held the people I was going to have to kill, all of my confidence disappeared into thin air.

The dress Cinna had created for me fit like a second skin, sewn of a black fabric that absorbed the darkness around me, and shimmered like starlight. It looked like it had been sewn from the night sky itself, made for me to wear it. It fell to the ground in billows of tumbling material, cut so it exposed my calves and glossy black heels from the front. The neckline of the dress ran a straight line across my collarbone, exposing my back for all to see while covering my arms down to the wrist. Including the sparkling black shadow he had coated on my eyelids, and the ornate updo he had pulled my hair into, Cinna made me look like a princess of darkness, like I belonged in the shadows.

The excitement and nerves in the air around me wasn't surprising. All the tributes I had seen onscreen were standing by various different chariots, wearing all kinds of ridiculous costumes that only made me even more thankful for Cinna. I held back a smile when I saw my gorgeous dress garnering attention from people nearby, forcing my lips, which had been painted a blood red, to stay passive.

I glided over to where Cinna told me chariot 12 would be parked, finally letting a smile stretch across my face as soon as I saw Peeta and Cinna standing by a pitch black chariot. I didn't need to say anything for them to turn around and look at me, as if they knew I was there.

"Row-Rowan, y-you look..." Peeta said, his warm amber-brown eyes widened. I smiled benevolently while noticing that he was wearing a bodysuit made of nearly the same material my dress was, the torso of it clinging to his broad, muscled shoulders.

"Thank you. You don't look so bad yourself," I said, knowing what he was trying to tell me, making him blush furiously, his tanned cheeks turning a warm shade of rouge. I let myself giggle, something I rarely did, at the sight of his endearing embarrassment.

Meanwhile, Cinna was watching the whole situation with a suggestive type of amusement flickering in his mocha brown eyes, prompting a playful glare from me. "You two ready?" Cinna asked with a cheeky smile, winking at me when he saw my threatening gaze.

lethal   。 𝔠𝔞𝔱𝔬 𝔥𝔞𝔡𝔩𝔢𝔶Where stories live. Discover now