Beren was dragged by Capitol soldiers to a white room where she was alone.
She clearly remembered the disappointed look on her brother's face as she was dragged away, screaming for the guards to let her go. Atlas's eyes had locked with hers and flitted back onto the girl.
She vaguely remembered the girl's nose pouring blood, her hair went from a beautiful, curly, bright blond color to dark red and matted. She remembered the satisfying screeches the girl let out after Beren's punch, after punch, after punch.
She wondered how Rose was. Beren had been dragged away right as Rose was turning around. She wondered if Rose had even seen her beating the girl. Probably not, but if Rose did, what would she think of Beren? What would Atlas think of her?
Beren couldn't stand the thought of being hated by her brother, being hated by the Capitol, all the other tributes, and even Rose.
What made it even worse was that the girl seemed like she was the type to not let anything go. Even just a bad hair day probably would have caused something huge for her.
"You have a visitor, make it quick."
Her brother entered the room with a slight limp, probably from defending her against more soldiers. His hair was messy, his costume was torn, and he was missing a glove. Altas looked like he was a survivor from a natural disaster.
"Atlas I…I am sorry," Beren whimpered.
"I am not the one you should be apologizing to," Atlas reminded, "but are you okay? I saw your reaction when she started to laugh with her group. What did she even say to make you that mad?"
"She was insulting Rose saying things like "She's overreacting, like, it's not even that serious. She's just trying to get more attention," Beren spat.
"Why would you react like that? Three days ago you would have said the same exact thing. So why did you attack her? And don't give me an excuse. I want the real reason you decided to do something so stupid." Atlas demanded.
Beren had never seen her brother's emotions so strong. He looked enraged, but he also looked a little proud of her.
"I think it is because I realized how badly I treated Rose. I never wanted to hear anything like that ever again."
"And you beat the crap out of that girl?"
"Maybe…I'm so-" Beren was interrupted by the warm feeling of her brother's arms wrapped around her.
"I have never been more proud of you in my entire life little sis!" Atlas cheered.
"Wait so you're not mad?"
"No…just next time please think before throwing punches at someone."
Beren squeezed her brother tightly. "I can't think straight."
"I love you too little sis."
"Sir, you should be leaving now, no?" Snarled the guard posted outside. "Your sister has to meet with the president to determine her consequences for attacking another tribute."
"Bye little sis."
"Bye Atlas."
The soldier dragged Beren by the hair to another room, this one was a lot bigger than the previous one, and it actually had light so she could see, unlike the previous one that was dark with only a tiny candle in the center for light.
There was a huge desk in the room with an elegant chair. The man sitting on the chair was staring at her. He had deep brown eyes that sliced straight through her. His hair was nicely combed back to show his hideous receding hair line. He looked to be no less than 51, which was her father's age. She wanted to punch him straight in the nose for everything that he had done, but however lowly Beren thought of him, he would still be deciding her punishment for attacking another tribute.
"Beren Hawthorn. Please sit down." He said flatly.
"I know why I am here–and I am not sorry."
"Oh. And why is that?" He leaned back in his chair like he couldn't care less.
"She was making fun of Rosemary Everdeen, so she had to be taught a lesson about being cruel to one of my closest friends." Was Rose one of Beren's closest friends though? Was Beren just being too hopeful?
He sighed deeply; he was obviously growing tired of this conversation. "I thought the two of you hated each other for what she did to your mother. And she brought back the Games. No?"
"Let me make this clear, she did not do anything to my mother. Katniss was the one who ran when my mother jumped in to save her."
"You know, you have a lot of nerves coming in here and disrespecting me. I'm the president. I could kill you just because you are annoying if I wanted."
"Let's just get this over with this, shall we? I don't want to be here as much as you don't want to deal with me." Beren spat.
"Feisty! Alright, you have 3 options.
"#1 You will not get a weapon set up for you. This means you would have to kill one of the others for the weapon." This meant she was forced to kill for another thing to kill with.
"#2 You go in with your hand bound and can't unbound them till the night is over." She couldn't choose this one, she needed her hands too much.
Marvens paused and smiled, "Now, if you choose this one, I'll be happy. It'll make for good entertainment." He said the word "entertainment" like someone might say torture.
"#3 You must kill either Rose or Atlas."
Beren stood up and slammed her hand on the desk. "Why would I ever choose number three? Are you mad?"
Alderic Marvens stood up, towering over her. "Don't question me! Just answer the question, Beren Hawthorn."
"I choose #1. I will go in with no weapon until I find someone with one."
"Interesting choice. But remember, you must kill them in order to take the weapon. If they are killed by someone else, it does not count."
~
Beren slowly walked to her room. What was she going to do? She would have to go in the Arena without a weapon set out for her. She would have to kill someone without a weapon. How would she do that exactly?
She reached the end of the corridor, where Rose's room was. Surely this detour from her room was allowed, right? No, probably not, but at this point, Beren didn't care anymore.
She barged into the room expecting Rose to jump or scream but nothing, no reaction what so ever. Beren walked closer to Rose.
Rose was just blank, so deep in thought that she didn't even know that Beren was there.
"Rose? Hi, are you okay?" Beren stepped closer to Rose when she heard a shrill scream.
And bam! Beren had been knocked off her feet by a pillow that felt like a hundred miles hurling at her face.
Beren sat up and saw Rose had a wild look in her blue eyes. Then, they softened realizing that she was looking at Beren.
"Oh my goodness! I am so sorry Beren I didn't realize that it was you!" Rose stammered out.
"No it's fine," Beren said, walking back towards the door, "I really shouldn't have bugged you. I'll be going now-"
"Wait, don't go." Rose pleaded, "Please stay."
"Okay." Beren sat at the end of Rose's bed trying to get comfortable on the hard mattress. Rose stared at her hands.
"Rose, are you okay?" Beren asked.
"I'm fine. I heard the other tributes talking about you, but I could only make out something about how you were a crazy person. What was that all about?"
"Oh, umm, I may have beat the crap out of a girl because she was making fun of you when you made that weird announcer guy scream."
Rose smiled to herself. "Beren, from the moment we met, you have been very violent. You threw a book at my head and threatened to step on my toes. It's no surprise to me that you got into a fight."
Beren felt her cheeks flush. "I just went through a toes phase okay?!" Beren said, trying to hold back the laughter that was in her throat.
Rose burst out laughing watching her friend's failing attempt not to laugh. Tears were starting to pool up in her eyes and she was clutching her stomach.
Beren started laughing along, tearing up as well.
A pounding started at the door and all the laughter drained.
"Beren, get under the bed." Rose quietly instructed.
Beren dove under the bed and stayed as quiet as she could manage.
"Who is in here? We heard two voices and laughter."
"No one is in here." Rose replied calmly.
"Well then you wouldn't mind if we checked the room no?"
"Go right ahead." Rose said.
Beren could hear the nervousness she tried to hide in her voice. She didn't think that the guards could tell, but Beren knew.
Beren heard the guards walk around the room. Suddenly, she saw the feet of one of the guards.
"Ray, did you check under the bed?" Please don't, Beren thought. Please…please.
"Yes ma'am" she heard the mysterious Ray say.
Beren heard the door close and listened to see if she could hear anything.
"Beren, you can come out now." She heard Rose say quietly. Beren got up off the dirty floor and brushed the grime off her dress.
"What was that about?" Beren asked, "That Ray guy didn't check under the bed, so why did he lie?"
"I don't know but he was amazingly cute," Rose gushed. Beren stared at Rose. Rose was going insane! There was no way that she could fall for a Capitol guard that easily! And… and what about their relationship? Was Beren the only one who felt a connection? "Light brown hair, green eyes… He even came close to the bed and left a note. It's here, under the pillow." Beren had heard Rose murmur.
Beren saw Rose stick her hand under the pillow and watched as she silently read it to herself.
"What is it?" Beren asked. Rose just kept staring at it. "What is it?" Beren repeated.
"Uhgerump," Rose managed.
"What?" Beren asked. Beren ripped the note out of Rose's hand and quickly read it.
I'll come by later. 8 pm after dinner. -Ray
"You're going to let a random Capitol guard in your room? At night?" Beren blurted.
"He's a cute Capitol guard," Rose defended weakly, "And no one's gonna notice. He's a guard; he'll know his way around."
Beren sighed heavily. "Fine." Beren stood up and walked over to the door.
"Wait!" Beren heard Rose plead, "Please don't go. I wanted to tell you about something else!"
"No," Beren replied coldly. If Rose wanted to chase a random Capitol guard, fine. Beren won't be there when she breaks down in misery