There's Nothing More Important than Family, chapter 8

Of course, the nightmares come back. This time, I’m in the arena. The Careers, except for Jason, are circling around me, like a pack of wild dogs. They have me tied up and Satin is holding me up by the collar of my shirt.

“Poor little tribute girl, all alone.” Hisses Vella.

“So tiny, so fragile.” Cackles Mahogany.

“So young.” Satin whispers in my ear. I shiver.

“Hard to believe you’ve made it this far.” Dane is jeering, just like he was in the training centre.

Kelly steps forward, holding a foot-long machete. “What, a charming little girl like you doesn’t have a sponsor? No protector?” She smirks maliciously.

“NATHAN!” I scream. “GEORGIE! SOMEONE, PLEASE! HELP ME!” I feel myself breaking down into tears.

“Zania!” I hear Nathan cry. “Zania, hold on, I’m coming!” Nathan and Georgie come running towards me out of the woods. They are both holding swords.

“Boys, you know what to do.” Orders Kelly. Dane and Mahogany advance on my friends. Georgie is the first to fall. Mahogany impales her with his spear.

“Whoops?” says Mahogany, but his voice is unapologetic.

Nathan is filled with adrenaline. He manages to slash Dane with his sword, but Dane fights back, and stabs Nathan in the heart. I start to bawl hysterically.

“Poor little girl.” Sneers Kelly. “I’d better put you out of your misery.” Kelly slits my throat, and I wake up, tears streaming down my face. Nathan is holding me in his arms comfortingly. I see the sun is rising, so it must be morning. I throw my hand to my neck, but it’s perfectly fine; Kelly didn’t cut me after all.

“Shh, it’s okay.” He mutters softly. “You’re alright, you’re safe.”

“B-but Dane, and Kelly!” I whimper. “A-and Mahogany. A-and you, y-you were dead!”

“It was just a dream.” Nathan reassures me. “You were dreaming you were in the arena, weren’t you?”

“Y-yes.” My words are muffled by the steady dream of tears flowing down my cheeks.

“And the Careers had you, didn’t they?”

“H-how did you know?”

“Lucky guess.” He tells me. “You were screaming in your sleep. Calling my name, and Georgie’s.” I burrow my head into his warm chest, and he pats my head soothingly. “We should probably go get something to eat.” He says, after a minute or two. “Kerany will want to ‘beautify’ you before training.”

I take a couple deep breaths, and wipe the tears from my face. “Nathan, remember when I was six, and you used to carry me around everywhere?” I ask quietly.

“Yeah, I remember.”

“Can you carry me to the dining room?” I whisper childishly.

He laughs. “Fine. You’re so lazy!” he jokes. Nathan slings me over his back, and gives me a piggy-back ride to the table. Kerany is lounging there, and Sean is reading a book.

“Good, you’re awake.” Says Kerany when she sees us. “Zania, we need to get started right away. I already have your token in my room, let’s go.”

“Come on, let her eat!” snaps Nathan.

“This doesn’t concern you!” Yells Kerany angrily. I drop down from Nathan’s back, and stare at Kerany. Her face is flushed with anger, and I secretly think she must be bipolar or something.

Sean intervenes hastily, “Kerany, Nathan is right. Let her eat! And give her some space.”

“I’m just trying to help!” Kerany huffs and she disappears into her room.

I eat as slowly as I possibly can, then follow Kerany. My prep team decorates me the same way they did yesterday. It’s nearly time to leave when they’re finally done with me. I locate Nathan near the elevator, and I’m about to follow him down to the training centre, when Olivia says, “Zania, wait. Nathan, you go ahead. I just need to talk to Zania.” Nathan nods and leaves me standing by the elevator doors.

“Come with me, to the sitting room please.” Orders Olivia. I nervously sit beside her on the couch.

“Don’t worry, you’re not in trouble.” She tells me sweetly. “Nathan told me you’ve been having nightmares and I was just wondering if you wanted to talk.”

“No, I’m fine.” I tell her firmly, although on the inside I am screaming, wanting her to hear me. I’m embarrassed by the dreams, they make me seem weak. And since I’m one of the youngest tributes, I’m pretty weak already.

“Zania, there’s no shame in having these nightmares.” Olivia tells me. “Heck, I still have nightmares about when I was in the arena!”

“It’s okay.” I say, my voice trembling, and I repeat, “I’m fine!”

Olivia doesn’t sound very convinced when she answers me. “If you need anyone to talk to, I’m here. But now, you need to go to training.”

I nod, and scurry into the elevator. The other tributes are already at the stations, but my friends are waiting for me in the middle of the room.

Nathan hugs me when I reach them and says, “I thought you were going to get into trouble.”

“No.” I laugh.”It’s all good.”

We decide how to split up; Georgie and I head to the spear station, Mark and Nathan try out the swords and Addalie drags Breah back over to the obstacle course. I see the boy from 4, Jason, watching me closely. I give him a dirty look, and he flinches. ‘Serves him right,’ I think to myself. He actually volunteered to be here.

The trainers who were missing the day before are now here, so Payla has someone decent to fight. I try not to watch her, because the bloodlust in her eyes terrifies me.

I can hardly look at the Careers, either, after my dream. I subconsciously jump every time Vella shoots an arrow at a target and it meets its mark with a thump. Dane’s sword fighting with a trainer, who cusses loudly when Dane cuts him with his sword. I hear Dane and the other Careers snicker as Dane is told off by the trainer, who is cradling his bleeding arm.

“Idiot.” Says Georgie. “The gamemakers are going to make sure her perishes in the arena now.”

“That’s better for us.” I reason. “One Career down!”

“He’s not down yet.” Georgie argues logically. “This just makes it a little easier, I suppose.

I catch the boy from 4 watching me often, and it makes me uncomfortable. It’s like he’s sizing me up; getting ready to viciously murder me in the arena. But it’s not just Georgie and I he’s watching. I see his green eyes follow Breah at the obstacle course, watching Nathan slice a dummy in half and looking at Addalie while she fumbles with some knots. He completely ignores the Careers and the other tributes. I think he’s creepy. Nothing seems to slip his gaze.

I can’t focus while he’s staring at me, so I watch Georgie fight with the hand-to-hand combat instructor. She’s giving him quite the workout. He’s quick, but Georgie is quicker. In no time, she’s brought his feet out from under him, and he’s lying on the ground.

Hassan is up in the gamemakers booth. He’s supervising the training while talking with the Head Gamemaker; a plump woman with ruby red skin. When he realizes what time it is, he yells at us to go to the cafeteria. I sit with my friends, but I can still feel Jason’s eyes on the back of my head. Suddenly, he comes over to our gathering and slams his hands down on the table. “You’re an alliance.” He cries.

“Yeah, so what?” says Addalie.

“This is perfect, just perfect.” Jason mutters to himself.

“What do you want?” Nathan snaps.

“To join you, of course!”

“No.” Mark growls. “Anyways, aren’t you with the Careers?”

Jason evades Mark’s question. “Wait, now hear me out.” He tries to persuade us. “I didn’t volunteer at the Reaping to win. I volunteered to help someone else win. The Careers can’t win this year.”

“You make no sense.” Hisses Breah. “Why wouldn’t you want the Careers to win? You are a Career!”

“You don’t understand. Yes, I’ve been training as a Career, but that’s only because my dad forced me to. When I volunteered, I knew I wouldn’t win. My dad was a Career, but he never got a chance to volunteer. He’s been trying to live through me ever since I was twelve but I’ve always hated Careers.”

“Why?” Georgie asks, sounding somewhat interested.

“When I was eleven, a victor murdered my mother when he was drunk and she was selling liquor in the market. The Peacekeepers left him off the hook, just because he won the Hunger Games, because he was a Career. Since then, a Career has won the Games every year except one, when that girl from 9 won. Your mentor.” He says to me. “I promised myself that if I ever did get into the Hunger Games, I’d prove that other districts can win too. That underdogs can make it to the top.”

“But you’re a Career!” I debate. “If you win, that defeats the purpose!”

“I’m not going to win.” Jason answers. “One of you are. I’m just going to help you. I can be a valuable ally; I’ve been training my whole life!”

“So have I!” counters Georgie.

“Yes, but I have Career training. I know how the other Careers work and I know their tactics inside-out. You can trust me; I have no love for the others.”

Nathan stands up and jabs a finger at Jason’s chest. “We’ll let you tag along. But if you step one toe out of line, we will beat you so badly, they won’t even be able to recognize you when they retrieve your body from the arena.”

“Understandable.” Jason says lightly. “I can sit here with you, then?”

“Yeah, okay!” Addalie replies. I’ve noticed she’s very trusting. It’s not like I’m going to double-cross her, but this is a fatal flaw to have when going into the Hunger Games. But the fact that she trusts us at all makes me smile, and I haven’t smiled in a while.