Post by countlivin on Apr 23, 2019 4:47:08 GMT
Chapter 17: Less Travelled By
Penn Cassidy
District Nine was plain, yellow and flat. But from up here, where the Justice Building almost pierced the clouds, Penn looked out the window, and found something beautiful in it. The sun was shining, and the clouds were rolling along the horizon, fluffy and whiter than snow. They casted fantastic shadows over the grassland beyond the town, and from way up here, Penn could see the massive portrait they painted on the landscape.
But Penn was leaving District Nine today, and she was eager. The train was leaving for the Capitol in several hours, and Penn was determined to be aboard, and looking presentable. So she woke up at the break of day that morning and prepared.
She had washed all the dirt and grime from her face and body last night, but still she felt unclean, so she took both a shower and a bath. Hot, steaming water was not something she had known back home, and it felt excellent, soaking all her worries away. But... "I love you," Penn had said to Dray when she left for District Nine, and he'd responded with silence. Standing there under the rain, she reflected that not all her worries had been washed...
The green-haired man, Fivel, while he was certainly strange, Penn had found was truly a nice man. He had personally seen to it that she had the finest garments in the District, and although they were plain white and boring (which Fivel apologized relentlessly for), Penn was so happy to have them she leapt up and kissed him on the cheek.
"You're hurt," Fivel reflected, looking at where she'd taken her bandage off in the shower. The armadillo bite still hurt, but she could move her fingers normally again, and the wounds had thoroughly closed. It was safe enough she felt it could wait until she reached the Capitol to find a doctor.
She put on the white, lacy blouse and the gray skirt, making sure to strap on the empty scabbard from where she'd thrown away her knife. For the rest of the morning, she just sat on her bed and stared up at the ceiling, contemplating whether she should have thrown it away. It had been her father's... Daddy would surely be angry when he heard what she'd done with it, but at the moment, she didn't care. If she had kept the knife, she may very well have gotten caught up in adrenaline again, the same way she had that day in the creek...
There came a knock at the door, and without warning, in walked Willem, the other tribute. He was wearing white and grey just like her, but had undone the top three buttons on his button down so she could see just the hint of chestnut hair peeking from behind it. A part of her wanted to throw herself into his arms right there.
"Willem!" Penn exclaimed, sitting up on the bed that she hadn't bothered to make. "What are you doing here?"
His face was much less playful than before, and more rushed. He was watching at the window, through the eyeglass on the door. "Penn... What were you thinking?"
"What do you mean?" she asked.
He didn't answer her question. He didn't even look at her, but went to the windows and closed the linen drapes with a hasty swipe. "Are we alone?" he asked.
"Yes."
And then he stopped dead when he saw, in the corner, a rolling white ball with a black dot in the center: a camera, fixated on the two of them. With narrow eyes, he picked up a glass that had been set at the end of her bedside and chucked it full force at the camera. With an electrical shock and a crash, the camera came loose and tumbled to the floor.
"What the hell?" Penn asked, rushing over to the camera to make sure it was alright. "Why did you do that? What will they say? What will they—?"
"What will they do?" Willem turned to her. He stole the camera out of her hands and dropped it on the ground, stomped on it with his boot and pulverized it into zapping pieces of machinery. "It doesn't matter what they do. We're their tributes."
"They can't hurt you," added Penn, standing up and meeting the boy at eye level.
Willem was pacing about the room, in a panic. "I'm not talking about me, Penn. All I did was sell morphling on the town's edge. You... I don't know what they'll do to you."
"They won't do anything to me," Penn said. "They just said so. I'm their tribute."
Willem turned to her and stopped in his panic for a second to sigh. "You haven't been here long, huh? You don't know the mayor like I do... He was smiling, girl."
"Don't call me girl," Penn retorted. "Isn't it good that he was smiling?"
"No." He shook his head like this was the most obvious thing in the world.
Penn flushed bright red. "Stop talking in code and tell me what the problem is."
He took a step closer. "If I tell you, you have to promise you won't rat me out," he said. "This is important."
"Okay, I promise," Penn said, stepping towards him. She didn't shrink away from him.
"Mayor Boz is dangerous," Willem said. "Watch yourself around him. And trust me when I say I don't usually put my neck on the line like this. The Capitol elected that bastard for a reason. When that escort comes and opens the door for you, don't go with him. Run."
A part of Penn wanted to ask Willem endless questions about what he was prattling on about, and another part of her wanted to throw her arms around him. That was silly, though. She had a boyfriend, and he was a tribute. Off-limits. She steeled herself from her emotions. "Why would I run?" she asked him. "Is this some silly ploy for trying to escape the Games? If so, I don't want any part of it. I meant it when volunteered. I travelled four days through the muck to get here. I'm not screwing up that chance."
Willem sighed and shook his head, and instantly Penn sneered. That condescending glare... It was like he thought he was better than her. "Well, that's a topic for another day," Willem replied, and made to leave.
In one sentence, Penn's entire perception of the boy from Nine had shifted completely. He wasn't rugged, he was just a dirty farmhand. Dray was ten times the man he was. "Hey, you can't leave me here," Penn shouted at him. "Stop right there!"
Willem turned back. Then he pulled from his pocket a tiny golden object. He shook it in the air, and it glinted against the setting sun. A key... "I was trying to help you, Penn," he said. "I was going to leave you the key ring, but seeing as you don't really want to leave..."
He stepped out of the room and closed the door with a slam behind him. Penn threw herself against the door and jiggled the handle, but it was already locked. He locked me in! Penn thought with disgust. That absolute bastard! Willem gave her a smile from the other side of the window (was that supposed to be cute?) and set off down the hallway. "Stop!" Penn shouted, slamming her fists on the doorway, but he was already gone.
The nerve of him! He had invaded her privacy, filled her head with lies, and locked her in a dark room littered with the remains of the broken camera! Penn stormed around the room, rage coursing through her veins. Mayor Boz was dangerous, ha! That man was only taller than her because he wore a top hat! What could he do to her that she couldn't do back tenfold?
The people of District Nine had been kind to her. Mayor Boz had been remarkably reasonable when he'd heard that she'd hopped the fence. Hell, he'd admitted her as Nine's tribute! And Fivel was eccentric, for sure, but he was from the Capitol, so that had to be expected. He was harmless! What delusion was Willem under, thinking that they meant her any harm. She was their best chance at a victory!
No, Penn decided. Willem was just angry they had scooped him up out of his comfortable jail cell into the Hunger Games. After all, he was a criminal wasn't he? What reason did she have to trust him? Even if he did have gorgeous eyes?
An hour later, Penn still hadn't opened the blinds on her windows, seething in anger at her entrapment. She didn't try to fix the camera—it was so obviously broken. She may have been good at throwing knives, but she didn't know how to do much else. That was part of the reason the Hunger Games were so important to her... She wanted to prove that she still had worth... She needed to prove it, so bad—to her father, to Dray, to District One, to Panem.
A knock came at the door, a kind of light, rhythmic rapping, and without even getting up, Penn knew who it was. "Come in," she proclaimed, and the door clicked open. "And let me out of this godforsaken room..."
Fivel gracefully pushed the door open, pulling back a lock of thick, green hair. "My, you've certainly made a place for yourself in here. Why are the lights off?" He jumped with fright when he stepped on the remains of the camera and they gave him a light shock. "What have you done to the camera?" he asked angrily. "Have we not been good to you?"
"You've been great to me," replied Penn. "It wasn't me, it was my 'partner.' Willem did it."
"Well, I'll have to have a word with him," said Fivel. "If you'll come with me, Ms. Cassidy, it's time to leave." He presented an elbow, and Penn rose from the bed to link arms with him, wiping away a rogue tear.
They stepped into the hallway, all white and grey corridors, and proceeded to the elevators. Penn noticed as they passed, that the room where Willem had been staying was ajar, and empty. She caught a peek inside as they went past, and saw that the coverlet had been strewn about the room, and a broken candlestick laid on the bed. The drapes on the wall were black where Willem had tried to burn them... "What happened to Willem?" Penn asked. "Where is he?"
Fivel didn't meet her eyes, but sighed. "He... He is being dealt with." Then, he realized the ominous tones behind the statement, and smiled down at her. "I... We are sorry for your confinement, Ms. Cassidy, but it was a necessary maneuver."
"My confinement?" Penn asked.
"Yes, you were locked in your room," Fivel explained. "You understand, you are not our prisoner, we simply must ensure that your place in the Hunger Games is not put in jeopardy."
"I... I was locked? By you?"
"Yes."
So Willem hadn't locked her door... He had unlocked it... This made everything he had said—about leaving her the key, and about trying to help her—make much more sense. And if he truly had been trying to help her... Maybe he hadn't been lying after all...
"Penn?" Fivel asked. "Ms. Cassidy, you didn't answer my question."
"Huh?"
He scoffed. "How was it that Mr. Thomsen got into your room this morning?"
Penn's heart was pumping. She broke free of Fivel's grasp, and took off down the hallway to shouts of "Stop!" and "Come back here, Miss!"
The Justice Building was round, so the hallways never met their ends, but instead ran in a circle. The elevator was on the north side of the building, so she ran south. She had to dodge past a sad avox woman who was cleaning one of the rooms and leap over her cart, but she was much faster than the escort from the Capitol. She managed to get all the way to the other side of the building before she realized the only way down was through the elevator...
So Penn fled all the way around the circular hallway and ended up right at the elevator doors. Luckily, Fivel was nowhere to be seen. She pressed the call button over and over but nothing would happen. It wouldn't even light up. Then she noticed the keyhole. There was a key... That's when it truly set in for Penn, the anxiety, the claustrophobia. Why were there no exits on this floor except the elevator? And what kind of elevator had a key? She really was a prisoner. What had they done to her?! Willem had been right. She regretted every bad thing she thought about him. All she wanted now was to get down to the ground.
A moment later, a breathless Fivel arrived at the elevator door. She had come to the conclusion that the only way down was with his key. "Are you done?" Fivel panted, hands on his knees. "Are you ready to cooperate, Ms. Cassidy? I can assure you that this will only be harder if you struggle."
60% of readers chose to [A. Go quietly.]
"Okay," said Penn. She had lost. It was over.
"Ms. Cassidy, if you'll come with me." He stood up straight and presented his green-clad elbow again. This time, Penn took it with great reluctance. Even his velvety sleeve couldn't make it feel any less uncomfortable.
Once in the elevator, Fivel looked down at her with judging eyes. She was a pawn now. She had volunteered for the Hunger Games to earn her freedom. She had escaped from District One to earn her freedom. She thought that once she got here, she would be free... She laughed at the thought. She had just hopped from one prison to another.
"Ms. Cassidy, I—" started Mr. Fivel.
“Don't talk to me," she spat at him.
He huffed indignantly. "I am sorry, Ms. Cassidy, but that is not how this goes. You are not in control, and it's very important that you know that. You are a tribute, that is all."
“I'm not just a tribute," said Penn, throwing her black hair violently to one side. "I'm your damn victor, you ungrateful wretch! When we get down to the ground, you are going to let me go."
“You are in no position to give demands," Fivel sneered. "You were our guest before. Then you tried to run. Your hands may be free, but don't think for a moment that there aren't shackles there. Your life belongs to the Capitol now. You belong to District Nine."
Penn began to cry. Why was this happening to her? She had thought she was helping by volunteering. Tributes were supposed to be respected and revered! That was always how it was back in District One. The black clouds covered up her memories, but one thing she could remember was the Hall of Careers, brimming full of people, all chanting one name... And it wasn't hers...
“Stop crying," said Fivel, and he stood up straight. He pulled on his tie. "It's unbecoming for a young lady. You represent District Nine now, not your momma's boy, District One. Here, we work for our way." It almost made Penn laugh, coming from Fivel. The man was the very picture of privilege.
The rest of the elevator ride passed by in silence.
At the ground, Fivel released Penn's arm and shoved her into the common area. Where there had been officials and commoners milling about there was no one. In their stead were two chairs, one of them empty. The lights were dim, so she couldn't see his face, but she knew it was Willem from his figure. His head was slumped to one side, unconscious.
"What did you do to him?" Penn asked, slapping Fivel in the chest.
"Me?" He had a concerned expression on his face, and pursed his green lips. "Why I wouldn't hurt a fly. I positively detest the sight of blood." Then he looked at Penn, waiting expectantly, and said, "Take a seat, Ms. Cassidy."
Freedom. It was a word Penn thought she knew. Before that moment, she thought she understood what she wanted. She would tell herself she was destined for the Hunger Games. But, now, she stood in a dark room, with a man who was telling her to sit down. He wasn't threatening restraints, but she knew imprisonment when she saw it. She was bound by time... By fear...
No, Penn thought. She wouldn't be subjected to this. She charged Fivel as fast as she could. He didn't have any time to react before Penn was on top of him, pinning him to the ground with his wrists trapped down. She nailed his neck with her arm. "Tell me what's going on!" she shouted at him.
"Get off me!" Fivel squirmed from beneath her. "Get off!"
"Ms. Cassidy. Remove yourself from him." From behind her, the mayor stood, emerging from the shadows. He spoke with an edge to his voice.
Penn looked right up at him. "You are holding me hostage!" she cried. "I was a prisoner in my room, and I have a right to be angry!"
A crowd had amassed from the street, wide-eyed and concerned. Peacekeepers were bursting from the walls to join them, drawn to the sound of the commotion. Within a moment, she was staring down the barrels of a dozen gunswith death hiding behind their triggers. She had no choice. She released herself from the escort and fell back to the ground. He breathed and sputtered when she released her arm from his windpipe. Exhausted, she pulled herself into the chair beside Willem, thinking that was where she posed the least threat.
“And you are a criminal," Mayor Boz replied.
"I volunteered for you!" she pleaded.
“Yes, but you still broke the law. You are here in the base of the Justice Building. How dare you defile it with your crimes?"
"Hey! You wanna pick on someone your own size?" It was Willem's voice, but heavy and drowned-sounding. The mayor shined a light on him to reveal his cheeks were covered in blood and one of his eyes was swollen shut. "I told her to run! I was the one who made all this worse! If you want to punish someone, punish me."
"You are being punished too, son," The mayor replied. "Both of you will serve your time in the Games."
"What happened here, sir?" one of the Peacekeepers asked, his confusion showing through his black visor. "Who should we take in?"
“This matter will be dealt with internally," he told the Peacekeeper. "The girl, Emmy Brahnum, was an intruder from another District, along with her father, Ulysses. They are dangerous, and they must be scourged. Find them and bring them to me, but leave me several men to make sure our tributes remain safe."
“What?" Penn cried from the ground. "What are you saying?!"
“Aye, sir," said the Peacekeeper with a nod. "Alright, boys, you heard him, let's move out! Find them! No one leaves town!"
All the Peacekeepers in their white armor left the Justice Building as quickly as they had come, off in search of Emmy and her father. The mayor had a pained look on his face. What a hypocrite! He talks about Justice and then condemns that girl for a crime she didn't commit. Penn committed that crime! And as she thought that, understanding washed over her...
One by one, some of the dirty villagers started to seep through the blockade and into the dark room of the Justice Building, and Penn could hear from behind her the volatile sounds of a fight breaking out. "Keep them out of here," Boz commanded, and the Peacekeepers did their best to carry it out. "Get back, you animals!" cried one of them, beating a man over the head with his baton.
Fivel stood at the mayor's side, and looked down at where Penn sat in her chair. "Happy Hunger Games..." he said.
“You... you lied to them," Willem spoke softly through puffy lips. "Why?"
Mayor Boz turned away from them and slipped his hands into his pockets. "Stealing... is an offense punishable by life sentence," he told them. "However, leaving your District... That is a federal offense. It's punishable by the total eradication of one's family line. Penn Cassidy, I just saved the lives of whatever family you still have out there."
The man had done Penn a favor, so why did it feel so wrong? Somehow, it felt as though he had dug a knife deep in her chest and was refusing to pull it out. She found herself wondering how things had gone so downhill so quickly. One minute everything was going well, and the next...
"You sent those Peacekeepers after Emmy and her father..." Willem said. "They were innocent!"
“No, boy," he replied. "They may have been innocent of crossing Districts, but they were not innocent. You forget why Emmy was our tribute in the first place. It may not seem like it, but I am still looking out for everyone's best interest."
"You mean to kill them?" Fivel asked the mayor, an unbelieving expression on his face. "Ulysses and his daughter don't deserve to die. What are you going to do, just shoot them and let them rot in unmarked graves?"
"I don't know how you people behave in the Capitol, Mr. Fivel," Boz said, "but here, we honor justice. We honor tradition. Every crime has an equal punishment."
“In the Capitol, we have trials for the convicted! In the Capitol, we are at peace with each other! What you speak of is frontier justice! I will not allow it. They must be given trials."
“And what exactly qualifies you to make executive decisions about justice in District Nine?" Mayor Boz spat back.
Fivel huffed. "The same thing that gives the Capitol the power to govern the Districts..." He frowned at all of them, and was met with scorn. "So, if you would, Mr. Boz, please call your men back here and tell them the truth."
"This is why you elected me, Mr. Fivel. So stand aside and let me do this my way."
"No, this is—"
“Cedrick!" The mayor bellowed. "Leave us!"
Fivel was struck down for a moment, but then puffed himself up taller and attempted to stand up for himself. "I have served this District far too long to have to listen to this! You know I don't care to come to this yellow abomination of a District. And I won't lie to the Capitol for you! It would betray my honor as a man! I demand respect."
"Then you will get none," the mayor shot back.
The two men began to shout at one another violently, almost forgetting Penn's and Willem's presence in the room. They were locked into their argument and would not let up for anyone. Penn felt a tug on her shoulder and turned to see Willem's one deep blue eye (the other was swollen shut) looking back at her with concern. "We need to make a run for it," he whispered. "They won't notice. If we run, we could escape the District. You had a way in, what if—"
"What are you saying?" Penn pulled her arm away. "You're suggesting I give up and run away? I paid everything for this. There's no way I'm backing down now."
The boy took a moment to look bewildered in front of her. She really did not understand why it was so hard for people to understand her intentions. "Wait..." he said. "I forgot... You actually want to be in the Games!"
"I wasn't chosen in my District!" Penn whispered back. "That's why I ran. This year is my last chance to make it big... Get the respect of my District... And the Capitol."
“Do you even know what the Hunger Games are?" he asked, almost spitting bloody saliva at her. "You clearly don't if you think it's this easy. You bloody Careers..."
"I know what they are, asshole." She scowled at him. She felt tears start to well up in her eyes. It felt like everyone was against her. She just wanted it all to stop.
"Tell me then. What are they?"
“Twenty-four tributes go into the arena and fight to the death..." she answered, crossing her arms and scooting her chair away from him.
"No." Willem shook his bloody head. "The Hunger Games. Twenty-three families have to live the rest of their lives wondering if there was a way they could have stopped it. And the twenty-fourth tribute, though she may be alive, she has the blood of all the others on her hands. Sure, you may have the respect of the Capitol... less than ten thousand people who don't give a damn about anything other than their fancy-colored hair and exquisite dining... But you have the scorn of the Districts. You don't go back a hero! If you go back at all, you go back a traitor!"
“How the hell can you sit there and say all that?" The more she thought about it though, the more what he said started to make sense, so she shut it from her mind. "The Hunger Games are my last hope of having a purpose in life!"
“How can you say that?" he screamed, still not as loudly as Boz and Fivel. "What has happened in your life that you feel so highly about cold-blooded murder?"
"I lost my memory! Okay?!" Tears began to pour from Penn's eyes. "I can't remember anything past two weeks ago!"
“Five hundred fifty-two people can't remember anything at all now because they're dead, Penn!" he bellowed. "And you're about to join their ranks! How can you not understand that?!"
Penn fell back into her seat, tears leaking through her fingers. She couldn't handle this. She just wanted all of it to stop. She wanted to be back home again, in Daddy's arms, Dray by her side. And for the first time she felt regret—true regret. She didn't want to be in the Hunger Games... Why had she ever thought that? Willem was right... How could she have been so blind?
“Enough!" Mayor Boz called, pulling silence through the loud arguments. He let out a long sigh and looked in Penn's and Willem's direction, still bound by threat in their seats. "I suppose we should say hello to our new tributes."
“Hello..." Fivel muttered through his sparkly teeth. "And I will escort you to the train..."
"We're leaving now?" Willem asked, his one good eye going wide. "The train doesn't leave for another couple hours!"
“The train may not leave, but you will have to stay there in the comfort of your cabin," he continued. "We can't risk you trying to fight your way out again."
“I can't take this lying down!" Willem cried. "I demand to spend the next few hours with my family!"
Mayor Boz shook his head, brushing his whiskers with his fingers. "I wish I could believe that, Mr. Thomsen. You do not have a family."
“I have friends I can go to! I'm not alone!"
"I don't know if you remember this, but you are a prisoner." Boz shot him a stern look. "Prisoners belong in their cells."
Willem and Penn looked towards one another, and then to the Peacekeepers still guarding the doors. Penn knew that they were defeated. She knew she would be spending the next few hours entrapped in the cabin along with Willem. Mr. Fivel clapped his hands and stepped towards the two of them. "Well, if that's all done and settled, we will take our walk."
He stepped over to their chairs and grabbed each by the shoulder, spinning them around towards the door. As he started to step forward, Boz began to follow along with him. "Where is the train?" Penn asked, wiping a tear from her eye. She began to try to rebuild her previous frame of mind.
"Not too far." Fivel smiled. "The placement of the train is the same in every District. You should know that.
But Penn didn't know that, because she knew nothing.
When they approached the door, Penn took one last look back at the Justice Building. She didn't want to go anymore... She didn't want to go anymore... But Fivel's hand on her shoulder was concrete, unlike his usual liquid movement. He wouldn't let her go. And even if she tried to fight back, a dozen Peacekeepers would fill her full of lead the moment she laid a hand on him. Defeat flowed over Penn's consciousness like a stone in a flowing river.
When the doors slammed behind them, she gazed around District Nine. Something was different now that she hadn't noticed before. There were men and women in raggedy clothing lining both sides of the street. Every single one of them stared at Penn with the intense hatred that was held in the eyes of Ulysses. As she began to walk through the aisle that the citizens had built, she looked around at them. Some of them shouted foul words at her, and some simply shot her glares of rage. "What's going on?" Penn asked, swinging her head around to Boz behind them. She tried to break free of Fivel's grip on her shoulder, but it only tightened. Willem was doing the same, though he was admittedly weaker.
“Both of you will face justice," Boz glared directly into her eyes. "Willem, you are charged with peddling hard drugs, and Penn, I have exchanged your federal charge with Emmy's far less serious one. You should be thanking me. The ground we tread is thin, and anyone with too heavy a footstep will sink."
Penn looked back out toward the parted crowd. A particularly ugly lady in the front row sucked back her gut and spat on the ground near her feet. When Penn's eyes found their way down the aisle away from the Justice Building, there was a large wooden pole with leather wrist straps on top, standing straight up from the ground. "You can't do this!" Penn shouted. "We're tributes!"
"We're under the protection of the Capitol!" Willem added.
Boz looked up towards the sky and took his top hat from his head. He held it in front of him and said, "Penn Cassidy... Willem Thomsen... You have persuaded me to lie to my people. I will not lie to Justice."
End of Chapter 17
Penn Cassidy
District Nine was plain, yellow and flat. But from up here, where the Justice Building almost pierced the clouds, Penn looked out the window, and found something beautiful in it. The sun was shining, and the clouds were rolling along the horizon, fluffy and whiter than snow. They casted fantastic shadows over the grassland beyond the town, and from way up here, Penn could see the massive portrait they painted on the landscape.
But Penn was leaving District Nine today, and she was eager. The train was leaving for the Capitol in several hours, and Penn was determined to be aboard, and looking presentable. So she woke up at the break of day that morning and prepared.
She had washed all the dirt and grime from her face and body last night, but still she felt unclean, so she took both a shower and a bath. Hot, steaming water was not something she had known back home, and it felt excellent, soaking all her worries away. But... "I love you," Penn had said to Dray when she left for District Nine, and he'd responded with silence. Standing there under the rain, she reflected that not all her worries had been washed...
The green-haired man, Fivel, while he was certainly strange, Penn had found was truly a nice man. He had personally seen to it that she had the finest garments in the District, and although they were plain white and boring (which Fivel apologized relentlessly for), Penn was so happy to have them she leapt up and kissed him on the cheek.
"You're hurt," Fivel reflected, looking at where she'd taken her bandage off in the shower. The armadillo bite still hurt, but she could move her fingers normally again, and the wounds had thoroughly closed. It was safe enough she felt it could wait until she reached the Capitol to find a doctor.
She put on the white, lacy blouse and the gray skirt, making sure to strap on the empty scabbard from where she'd thrown away her knife. For the rest of the morning, she just sat on her bed and stared up at the ceiling, contemplating whether she should have thrown it away. It had been her father's... Daddy would surely be angry when he heard what she'd done with it, but at the moment, she didn't care. If she had kept the knife, she may very well have gotten caught up in adrenaline again, the same way she had that day in the creek...
There came a knock at the door, and without warning, in walked Willem, the other tribute. He was wearing white and grey just like her, but had undone the top three buttons on his button down so she could see just the hint of chestnut hair peeking from behind it. A part of her wanted to throw herself into his arms right there.
"Willem!" Penn exclaimed, sitting up on the bed that she hadn't bothered to make. "What are you doing here?"
His face was much less playful than before, and more rushed. He was watching at the window, through the eyeglass on the door. "Penn... What were you thinking?"
"What do you mean?" she asked.
He didn't answer her question. He didn't even look at her, but went to the windows and closed the linen drapes with a hasty swipe. "Are we alone?" he asked.
"Yes."
And then he stopped dead when he saw, in the corner, a rolling white ball with a black dot in the center: a camera, fixated on the two of them. With narrow eyes, he picked up a glass that had been set at the end of her bedside and chucked it full force at the camera. With an electrical shock and a crash, the camera came loose and tumbled to the floor.
"What the hell?" Penn asked, rushing over to the camera to make sure it was alright. "Why did you do that? What will they say? What will they—?"
"What will they do?" Willem turned to her. He stole the camera out of her hands and dropped it on the ground, stomped on it with his boot and pulverized it into zapping pieces of machinery. "It doesn't matter what they do. We're their tributes."
"They can't hurt you," added Penn, standing up and meeting the boy at eye level.
Willem was pacing about the room, in a panic. "I'm not talking about me, Penn. All I did was sell morphling on the town's edge. You... I don't know what they'll do to you."
"They won't do anything to me," Penn said. "They just said so. I'm their tribute."
Willem turned to her and stopped in his panic for a second to sigh. "You haven't been here long, huh? You don't know the mayor like I do... He was smiling, girl."
"Don't call me girl," Penn retorted. "Isn't it good that he was smiling?"
"No." He shook his head like this was the most obvious thing in the world.
Penn flushed bright red. "Stop talking in code and tell me what the problem is."
He took a step closer. "If I tell you, you have to promise you won't rat me out," he said. "This is important."
"Okay, I promise," Penn said, stepping towards him. She didn't shrink away from him.
"Mayor Boz is dangerous," Willem said. "Watch yourself around him. And trust me when I say I don't usually put my neck on the line like this. The Capitol elected that bastard for a reason. When that escort comes and opens the door for you, don't go with him. Run."
A part of Penn wanted to ask Willem endless questions about what he was prattling on about, and another part of her wanted to throw her arms around him. That was silly, though. She had a boyfriend, and he was a tribute. Off-limits. She steeled herself from her emotions. "Why would I run?" she asked him. "Is this some silly ploy for trying to escape the Games? If so, I don't want any part of it. I meant it when volunteered. I travelled four days through the muck to get here. I'm not screwing up that chance."
Willem sighed and shook his head, and instantly Penn sneered. That condescending glare... It was like he thought he was better than her. "Well, that's a topic for another day," Willem replied, and made to leave.
In one sentence, Penn's entire perception of the boy from Nine had shifted completely. He wasn't rugged, he was just a dirty farmhand. Dray was ten times the man he was. "Hey, you can't leave me here," Penn shouted at him. "Stop right there!"
Willem turned back. Then he pulled from his pocket a tiny golden object. He shook it in the air, and it glinted against the setting sun. A key... "I was trying to help you, Penn," he said. "I was going to leave you the key ring, but seeing as you don't really want to leave..."
He stepped out of the room and closed the door with a slam behind him. Penn threw herself against the door and jiggled the handle, but it was already locked. He locked me in! Penn thought with disgust. That absolute bastard! Willem gave her a smile from the other side of the window (was that supposed to be cute?) and set off down the hallway. "Stop!" Penn shouted, slamming her fists on the doorway, but he was already gone.
The nerve of him! He had invaded her privacy, filled her head with lies, and locked her in a dark room littered with the remains of the broken camera! Penn stormed around the room, rage coursing through her veins. Mayor Boz was dangerous, ha! That man was only taller than her because he wore a top hat! What could he do to her that she couldn't do back tenfold?
The people of District Nine had been kind to her. Mayor Boz had been remarkably reasonable when he'd heard that she'd hopped the fence. Hell, he'd admitted her as Nine's tribute! And Fivel was eccentric, for sure, but he was from the Capitol, so that had to be expected. He was harmless! What delusion was Willem under, thinking that they meant her any harm. She was their best chance at a victory!
No, Penn decided. Willem was just angry they had scooped him up out of his comfortable jail cell into the Hunger Games. After all, he was a criminal wasn't he? What reason did she have to trust him? Even if he did have gorgeous eyes?
An hour later, Penn still hadn't opened the blinds on her windows, seething in anger at her entrapment. She didn't try to fix the camera—it was so obviously broken. She may have been good at throwing knives, but she didn't know how to do much else. That was part of the reason the Hunger Games were so important to her... She wanted to prove that she still had worth... She needed to prove it, so bad—to her father, to Dray, to District One, to Panem.
A knock came at the door, a kind of light, rhythmic rapping, and without even getting up, Penn knew who it was. "Come in," she proclaimed, and the door clicked open. "And let me out of this godforsaken room..."
Fivel gracefully pushed the door open, pulling back a lock of thick, green hair. "My, you've certainly made a place for yourself in here. Why are the lights off?" He jumped with fright when he stepped on the remains of the camera and they gave him a light shock. "What have you done to the camera?" he asked angrily. "Have we not been good to you?"
"You've been great to me," replied Penn. "It wasn't me, it was my 'partner.' Willem did it."
"Well, I'll have to have a word with him," said Fivel. "If you'll come with me, Ms. Cassidy, it's time to leave." He presented an elbow, and Penn rose from the bed to link arms with him, wiping away a rogue tear.
They stepped into the hallway, all white and grey corridors, and proceeded to the elevators. Penn noticed as they passed, that the room where Willem had been staying was ajar, and empty. She caught a peek inside as they went past, and saw that the coverlet had been strewn about the room, and a broken candlestick laid on the bed. The drapes on the wall were black where Willem had tried to burn them... "What happened to Willem?" Penn asked. "Where is he?"
Fivel didn't meet her eyes, but sighed. "He... He is being dealt with." Then, he realized the ominous tones behind the statement, and smiled down at her. "I... We are sorry for your confinement, Ms. Cassidy, but it was a necessary maneuver."
"My confinement?" Penn asked.
"Yes, you were locked in your room," Fivel explained. "You understand, you are not our prisoner, we simply must ensure that your place in the Hunger Games is not put in jeopardy."
"I... I was locked? By you?"
"Yes."
So Willem hadn't locked her door... He had unlocked it... This made everything he had said—about leaving her the key, and about trying to help her—make much more sense. And if he truly had been trying to help her... Maybe he hadn't been lying after all...
"Penn?" Fivel asked. "Ms. Cassidy, you didn't answer my question."
"Huh?"
He scoffed. "How was it that Mr. Thomsen got into your room this morning?"
Penn's heart was pumping. She broke free of Fivel's grasp, and took off down the hallway to shouts of "Stop!" and "Come back here, Miss!"
The Justice Building was round, so the hallways never met their ends, but instead ran in a circle. The elevator was on the north side of the building, so she ran south. She had to dodge past a sad avox woman who was cleaning one of the rooms and leap over her cart, but she was much faster than the escort from the Capitol. She managed to get all the way to the other side of the building before she realized the only way down was through the elevator...
So Penn fled all the way around the circular hallway and ended up right at the elevator doors. Luckily, Fivel was nowhere to be seen. She pressed the call button over and over but nothing would happen. It wouldn't even light up. Then she noticed the keyhole. There was a key... That's when it truly set in for Penn, the anxiety, the claustrophobia. Why were there no exits on this floor except the elevator? And what kind of elevator had a key? She really was a prisoner. What had they done to her?! Willem had been right. She regretted every bad thing she thought about him. All she wanted now was to get down to the ground.
A moment later, a breathless Fivel arrived at the elevator door. She had come to the conclusion that the only way down was with his key. "Are you done?" Fivel panted, hands on his knees. "Are you ready to cooperate, Ms. Cassidy? I can assure you that this will only be harder if you struggle."
60% of readers chose to [A. Go quietly.]
"Okay," said Penn. She had lost. It was over.
"Ms. Cassidy, if you'll come with me." He stood up straight and presented his green-clad elbow again. This time, Penn took it with great reluctance. Even his velvety sleeve couldn't make it feel any less uncomfortable.
Once in the elevator, Fivel looked down at her with judging eyes. She was a pawn now. She had volunteered for the Hunger Games to earn her freedom. She had escaped from District One to earn her freedom. She thought that once she got here, she would be free... She laughed at the thought. She had just hopped from one prison to another.
"Ms. Cassidy, I—" started Mr. Fivel.
“Don't talk to me," she spat at him.
He huffed indignantly. "I am sorry, Ms. Cassidy, but that is not how this goes. You are not in control, and it's very important that you know that. You are a tribute, that is all."
“I'm not just a tribute," said Penn, throwing her black hair violently to one side. "I'm your damn victor, you ungrateful wretch! When we get down to the ground, you are going to let me go."
“You are in no position to give demands," Fivel sneered. "You were our guest before. Then you tried to run. Your hands may be free, but don't think for a moment that there aren't shackles there. Your life belongs to the Capitol now. You belong to District Nine."
Penn began to cry. Why was this happening to her? She had thought she was helping by volunteering. Tributes were supposed to be respected and revered! That was always how it was back in District One. The black clouds covered up her memories, but one thing she could remember was the Hall of Careers, brimming full of people, all chanting one name... And it wasn't hers...
“Stop crying," said Fivel, and he stood up straight. He pulled on his tie. "It's unbecoming for a young lady. You represent District Nine now, not your momma's boy, District One. Here, we work for our way." It almost made Penn laugh, coming from Fivel. The man was the very picture of privilege.
The rest of the elevator ride passed by in silence.
At the ground, Fivel released Penn's arm and shoved her into the common area. Where there had been officials and commoners milling about there was no one. In their stead were two chairs, one of them empty. The lights were dim, so she couldn't see his face, but she knew it was Willem from his figure. His head was slumped to one side, unconscious.
"What did you do to him?" Penn asked, slapping Fivel in the chest.
"Me?" He had a concerned expression on his face, and pursed his green lips. "Why I wouldn't hurt a fly. I positively detest the sight of blood." Then he looked at Penn, waiting expectantly, and said, "Take a seat, Ms. Cassidy."
Freedom. It was a word Penn thought she knew. Before that moment, she thought she understood what she wanted. She would tell herself she was destined for the Hunger Games. But, now, she stood in a dark room, with a man who was telling her to sit down. He wasn't threatening restraints, but she knew imprisonment when she saw it. She was bound by time... By fear...
No, Penn thought. She wouldn't be subjected to this. She charged Fivel as fast as she could. He didn't have any time to react before Penn was on top of him, pinning him to the ground with his wrists trapped down. She nailed his neck with her arm. "Tell me what's going on!" she shouted at him.
"Get off me!" Fivel squirmed from beneath her. "Get off!"
"Ms. Cassidy. Remove yourself from him." From behind her, the mayor stood, emerging from the shadows. He spoke with an edge to his voice.
Penn looked right up at him. "You are holding me hostage!" she cried. "I was a prisoner in my room, and I have a right to be angry!"
A crowd had amassed from the street, wide-eyed and concerned. Peacekeepers were bursting from the walls to join them, drawn to the sound of the commotion. Within a moment, she was staring down the barrels of a dozen gunswith death hiding behind their triggers. She had no choice. She released herself from the escort and fell back to the ground. He breathed and sputtered when she released her arm from his windpipe. Exhausted, she pulled herself into the chair beside Willem, thinking that was where she posed the least threat.
“And you are a criminal," Mayor Boz replied.
"I volunteered for you!" she pleaded.
“Yes, but you still broke the law. You are here in the base of the Justice Building. How dare you defile it with your crimes?"
"Hey! You wanna pick on someone your own size?" It was Willem's voice, but heavy and drowned-sounding. The mayor shined a light on him to reveal his cheeks were covered in blood and one of his eyes was swollen shut. "I told her to run! I was the one who made all this worse! If you want to punish someone, punish me."
"You are being punished too, son," The mayor replied. "Both of you will serve your time in the Games."
"What happened here, sir?" one of the Peacekeepers asked, his confusion showing through his black visor. "Who should we take in?"
“This matter will be dealt with internally," he told the Peacekeeper. "The girl, Emmy Brahnum, was an intruder from another District, along with her father, Ulysses. They are dangerous, and they must be scourged. Find them and bring them to me, but leave me several men to make sure our tributes remain safe."
“What?" Penn cried from the ground. "What are you saying?!"
“Aye, sir," said the Peacekeeper with a nod. "Alright, boys, you heard him, let's move out! Find them! No one leaves town!"
All the Peacekeepers in their white armor left the Justice Building as quickly as they had come, off in search of Emmy and her father. The mayor had a pained look on his face. What a hypocrite! He talks about Justice and then condemns that girl for a crime she didn't commit. Penn committed that crime! And as she thought that, understanding washed over her...
One by one, some of the dirty villagers started to seep through the blockade and into the dark room of the Justice Building, and Penn could hear from behind her the volatile sounds of a fight breaking out. "Keep them out of here," Boz commanded, and the Peacekeepers did their best to carry it out. "Get back, you animals!" cried one of them, beating a man over the head with his baton.
Fivel stood at the mayor's side, and looked down at where Penn sat in her chair. "Happy Hunger Games..." he said.
“You... you lied to them," Willem spoke softly through puffy lips. "Why?"
Mayor Boz turned away from them and slipped his hands into his pockets. "Stealing... is an offense punishable by life sentence," he told them. "However, leaving your District... That is a federal offense. It's punishable by the total eradication of one's family line. Penn Cassidy, I just saved the lives of whatever family you still have out there."
The man had done Penn a favor, so why did it feel so wrong? Somehow, it felt as though he had dug a knife deep in her chest and was refusing to pull it out. She found herself wondering how things had gone so downhill so quickly. One minute everything was going well, and the next...
"You sent those Peacekeepers after Emmy and her father..." Willem said. "They were innocent!"
“No, boy," he replied. "They may have been innocent of crossing Districts, but they were not innocent. You forget why Emmy was our tribute in the first place. It may not seem like it, but I am still looking out for everyone's best interest."
"You mean to kill them?" Fivel asked the mayor, an unbelieving expression on his face. "Ulysses and his daughter don't deserve to die. What are you going to do, just shoot them and let them rot in unmarked graves?"
"I don't know how you people behave in the Capitol, Mr. Fivel," Boz said, "but here, we honor justice. We honor tradition. Every crime has an equal punishment."
“In the Capitol, we have trials for the convicted! In the Capitol, we are at peace with each other! What you speak of is frontier justice! I will not allow it. They must be given trials."
“And what exactly qualifies you to make executive decisions about justice in District Nine?" Mayor Boz spat back.
Fivel huffed. "The same thing that gives the Capitol the power to govern the Districts..." He frowned at all of them, and was met with scorn. "So, if you would, Mr. Boz, please call your men back here and tell them the truth."
"This is why you elected me, Mr. Fivel. So stand aside and let me do this my way."
"No, this is—"
“Cedrick!" The mayor bellowed. "Leave us!"
Fivel was struck down for a moment, but then puffed himself up taller and attempted to stand up for himself. "I have served this District far too long to have to listen to this! You know I don't care to come to this yellow abomination of a District. And I won't lie to the Capitol for you! It would betray my honor as a man! I demand respect."
"Then you will get none," the mayor shot back.
The two men began to shout at one another violently, almost forgetting Penn's and Willem's presence in the room. They were locked into their argument and would not let up for anyone. Penn felt a tug on her shoulder and turned to see Willem's one deep blue eye (the other was swollen shut) looking back at her with concern. "We need to make a run for it," he whispered. "They won't notice. If we run, we could escape the District. You had a way in, what if—"
"What are you saying?" Penn pulled her arm away. "You're suggesting I give up and run away? I paid everything for this. There's no way I'm backing down now."
The boy took a moment to look bewildered in front of her. She really did not understand why it was so hard for people to understand her intentions. "Wait..." he said. "I forgot... You actually want to be in the Games!"
"I wasn't chosen in my District!" Penn whispered back. "That's why I ran. This year is my last chance to make it big... Get the respect of my District... And the Capitol."
“Do you even know what the Hunger Games are?" he asked, almost spitting bloody saliva at her. "You clearly don't if you think it's this easy. You bloody Careers..."
"I know what they are, asshole." She scowled at him. She felt tears start to well up in her eyes. It felt like everyone was against her. She just wanted it all to stop.
"Tell me then. What are they?"
“Twenty-four tributes go into the arena and fight to the death..." she answered, crossing her arms and scooting her chair away from him.
"No." Willem shook his bloody head. "The Hunger Games. Twenty-three families have to live the rest of their lives wondering if there was a way they could have stopped it. And the twenty-fourth tribute, though she may be alive, she has the blood of all the others on her hands. Sure, you may have the respect of the Capitol... less than ten thousand people who don't give a damn about anything other than their fancy-colored hair and exquisite dining... But you have the scorn of the Districts. You don't go back a hero! If you go back at all, you go back a traitor!"
“How the hell can you sit there and say all that?" The more she thought about it though, the more what he said started to make sense, so she shut it from her mind. "The Hunger Games are my last hope of having a purpose in life!"
“How can you say that?" he screamed, still not as loudly as Boz and Fivel. "What has happened in your life that you feel so highly about cold-blooded murder?"
"I lost my memory! Okay?!" Tears began to pour from Penn's eyes. "I can't remember anything past two weeks ago!"
“Five hundred fifty-two people can't remember anything at all now because they're dead, Penn!" he bellowed. "And you're about to join their ranks! How can you not understand that?!"
Penn fell back into her seat, tears leaking through her fingers. She couldn't handle this. She just wanted all of it to stop. She wanted to be back home again, in Daddy's arms, Dray by her side. And for the first time she felt regret—true regret. She didn't want to be in the Hunger Games... Why had she ever thought that? Willem was right... How could she have been so blind?
“Enough!" Mayor Boz called, pulling silence through the loud arguments. He let out a long sigh and looked in Penn's and Willem's direction, still bound by threat in their seats. "I suppose we should say hello to our new tributes."
“Hello..." Fivel muttered through his sparkly teeth. "And I will escort you to the train..."
"We're leaving now?" Willem asked, his one good eye going wide. "The train doesn't leave for another couple hours!"
“The train may not leave, but you will have to stay there in the comfort of your cabin," he continued. "We can't risk you trying to fight your way out again."
“I can't take this lying down!" Willem cried. "I demand to spend the next few hours with my family!"
Mayor Boz shook his head, brushing his whiskers with his fingers. "I wish I could believe that, Mr. Thomsen. You do not have a family."
“I have friends I can go to! I'm not alone!"
"I don't know if you remember this, but you are a prisoner." Boz shot him a stern look. "Prisoners belong in their cells."
Willem and Penn looked towards one another, and then to the Peacekeepers still guarding the doors. Penn knew that they were defeated. She knew she would be spending the next few hours entrapped in the cabin along with Willem. Mr. Fivel clapped his hands and stepped towards the two of them. "Well, if that's all done and settled, we will take our walk."
He stepped over to their chairs and grabbed each by the shoulder, spinning them around towards the door. As he started to step forward, Boz began to follow along with him. "Where is the train?" Penn asked, wiping a tear from her eye. She began to try to rebuild her previous frame of mind.
"Not too far." Fivel smiled. "The placement of the train is the same in every District. You should know that.
But Penn didn't know that, because she knew nothing.
When they approached the door, Penn took one last look back at the Justice Building. She didn't want to go anymore... She didn't want to go anymore... But Fivel's hand on her shoulder was concrete, unlike his usual liquid movement. He wouldn't let her go. And even if she tried to fight back, a dozen Peacekeepers would fill her full of lead the moment she laid a hand on him. Defeat flowed over Penn's consciousness like a stone in a flowing river.
When the doors slammed behind them, she gazed around District Nine. Something was different now that she hadn't noticed before. There were men and women in raggedy clothing lining both sides of the street. Every single one of them stared at Penn with the intense hatred that was held in the eyes of Ulysses. As she began to walk through the aisle that the citizens had built, she looked around at them. Some of them shouted foul words at her, and some simply shot her glares of rage. "What's going on?" Penn asked, swinging her head around to Boz behind them. She tried to break free of Fivel's grip on her shoulder, but it only tightened. Willem was doing the same, though he was admittedly weaker.
“Both of you will face justice," Boz glared directly into her eyes. "Willem, you are charged with peddling hard drugs, and Penn, I have exchanged your federal charge with Emmy's far less serious one. You should be thanking me. The ground we tread is thin, and anyone with too heavy a footstep will sink."
Penn looked back out toward the parted crowd. A particularly ugly lady in the front row sucked back her gut and spat on the ground near her feet. When Penn's eyes found their way down the aisle away from the Justice Building, there was a large wooden pole with leather wrist straps on top, standing straight up from the ground. "You can't do this!" Penn shouted. "We're tributes!"
"We're under the protection of the Capitol!" Willem added.
Boz looked up towards the sky and took his top hat from his head. He held it in front of him and said, "Penn Cassidy... Willem Thomsen... You have persuaded me to lie to my people. I will not lie to Justice."
End of Chapter 17