Sequel: Fall Away ›
Status: Complete.
Trust Me
Chapter 05
Finnick pulled back and winced, gingerly rubbing his jaw. I recoiled, afraid he’d yell at me for hitting him, but to my surprise his eyes lit up with satisfaction. “See?! That should be your reaction.” He said. “I was expecting a slap, but a punch is better. Well, it’s better for you. Worse for me.”
I took a deep breath of relief. Of course the kiss had just been a mind game. “Sorry,” I said lamely. My lips still tingled, electric currents running through every nerve of my mouth as I replayed the kiss mentally. What had just happened?
“Don’t be. That was what I wanted you to do.” Finnick said, a grin on his face, though it was marred by the expression of pain he was trying to fight back. “Nice right hook, by the way. From now on, I’m going to continue to try and get in your head. So will they.” He jerked his head towards the training arena to gesture to all the tributes. “Don’t let your guard down for a second.”
I nodded. “I don’t know if I can punch someone like Adri, though.”
“You’re going to have to try and kill people like Adri in just a few days, love. You need to stop trying to be nice and adopt the right mindset. But punching him isn’t the only way to deter them. If you play along to the point of beating them at their own game, that works too. Just don’t do what you did in there. Don’t show any surprise or weakness.” Finnick glanced at his watch. “Everyone will be leaving for lunch in a few minutes. Eat well, you didn’t have anywhere near enough for breakfast. I’m going to get my jaw looked at.”
I promised him I’d eat a large lunch, but I already knew it was a lie. I was fiercely determined to practice with the weapons while everyone else was eating. I couldn’t wait until tonight to start practicing. I knew enough about knives, but I’d only used a bow and arrow a few times before. I could wound easily enough, but I wasn’t confident in my ability to kill with it. I went back into the arena and waited for a few moments until someone announced it was time for lunch. All the other tributes piled out, but I hung back.
As soon as I was convinced the place was empty I made my way over to the archery station. Ingrid had left all the arrows still in the heart of all the targets, almost as a warning or a way to boast her skills, so I collected them all, amazed at her constant accuracy. I walked back to the line and loaded up my bow with an arrow. I closed one eye and tried to steady my hand before letting the arrow fly. It looked promising and it did hit the dummy, but in the shoulder. It wasn’t even near any of the bulls-eyes marking where you’d have to hit in order to kill.
“Damn!” I hissed. If I hit the person’s dominant arm in the shoulder I knew I’d do enough damage to at least get away, but that was too big of an ‘if’. I grabbed another arrow and decided to aim for the lower bulls-eye that marked the stomach and other organs, and let it fly only for it to hit the dummy in the upper thigh. When I aimed for the head, it didn’t even hit the dummy, it just landed in the spare wood around the stencil. I grabbed another arrow and was just aiming for the bulls-eye that marked the heart when I felt a pair of arms wrap around me, the large hands settling on mine as they adjusted my hold on the bow.
“You keep underestimating the angle you’re shooting it at.” A sickeningly familiar voice said. “Remember that it soars high but arches down faster than you expect.” The arms stayed wrapped around me, displaying no intention of moving.
“Thanks,” I said coolly, trying not to pay much attention. I let the arrow fly, and sure enough it hit the target right in the center of the heart bulls-eye.
“Perfect,” The voice said. I turned to see a half smile on Adri’s face, and he looked down at me with a flirtatious look in his eyes.
“You don’t seem the mind-game type.” I said casually, taking another arrow and loading it up, remembering to take his advice and aim higher. It hit the bulls-eye that marked the stomach, but not in the center. It was an improvement, though.
“Don’t I?” He mused.
“None of you Careers do.” I said. I loaded up another arrow and let it fly, this time hitting the outer rings of the head bulls-eye. I was hyperaware of him watching me, and if it weren’t for Finnick’s earlier fit of rage, I probably would have run screaming from the room by now.
“You’re a Career yourself, in case you’ve forgotten.” Adri said, a hint of a smile in his voice.
“I’m only a Career by district. I don’t have the mindset or the skill of a Career.” I said, letting another arrow fly. It hit the stomach bulls-eye in the very middle, much to my delight.
“I beg to differ.” Adri chuckled. I dropped the bow and sheath of arrows and went over to the dummies to collect the arrows, even though there were still a few arrows left in the sheath. I just needed to put some space between myself and Adri. I was collecting the arrows from a few different dummies when an arrow went whizzing by my face, just inches away from my nose, landing in the center of the heart bulls-eye on the dummy right next to me. Adri had picked up the bow and an arrow while I wasn’t looking and had fired the arrow just for the sake of shaking me up. It worked. The shock of the arrow flying so close overwhelmed me, and I let out a loud scream. I collapsed to the floor, hugging my knees in to my chest and hiding my face in my knees, wrapping my arms over my head. The arrows I’d been collecting fell to the ground around me.
I realized what I’d done, and my stomach fell. So much for trying to resist the mind games. I glanced up at the arrow in the dummy, then at Adri, then back at the arrow and then back at Adri. “Are you insane?” I demanded.
Adri just laughed. “Happy Hunger Games,” Was all he said. He hung the bow and sheath of arrows back on the rack before he walked out of the training arena, leaving me on my own.
I balled my hands into fists and marched over to the knife section, leaving the arrows on the floor behind me. I grabbed knife after knife, flinging them at the dummies in a fit of rage, hitting each one square in the middle of all the bulls-eyes until there were no more knives left. Then I moved on to the spears, doing the same. By the time I’d emptied all the knives and spears from the shelves, the middle of every bulls-eye – heart, head, and abdomen -- was occupied with some weapon or another. Not even one knife or spear had landed outside the very center of a bulls-eye. I slid to the floor, panting from the exertion with a smile on my face. Letting out my anger had felt unbelievably good. I heard a few voices trailing down the hall, and I stood and ran over to the camouflage station, pretending to be absorbed with the paints.
All the tributes filed back into the room, with the Careers – including Adri – at the front of the line. The girl from 1 pointed to the dummies I’d taken my anger out on and murmured something I couldn’t catch.
“Who the hell did this?” Ingrid demanded, her face even paler than normal. She walked over and yanked a knife out of the heart of one of the dummies. Her eyes scanned over every single tribute before they landed on me, and my palms broke out in a sweat as I wondered if she suspected me. “Did you see who did this?” She asked me.
I shook my head no.
“Of course not. You’re really useless, aren’t you?” She muttered, jamming the knife back in the dummy angrily. I wanted to jump for joy, I was so relieved. If she’d known I did it, she probably would have gone for my throat right then and there. Then again, she probably didn’t even think I was capable of throwing a knife, let alone throwing it well.
Adri eyed the dummies up close, ensuring that all the knives were in the middle of the bulls-eyes, before looking at me with an approving grin on his face. He knew it was me. I waited for him to rat me out to Ingrid, but he never did. Instead he began plucking the knives out of the dummies and placed them back on the rack only to start working with them himself. He wasn’t bad with knives, but he kept getting thrown off by the different weights. He made the rare center of a bulls-eye, but for the most part he hit the bulls-eyes in the outer rings, never landing outside a bulls-eye. This was still amazing to the other tributes, who watched him with fear in their eyes.
I took a deep breath of relief. Of course the kiss had just been a mind game. “Sorry,” I said lamely. My lips still tingled, electric currents running through every nerve of my mouth as I replayed the kiss mentally. What had just happened?
“Don’t be. That was what I wanted you to do.” Finnick said, a grin on his face, though it was marred by the expression of pain he was trying to fight back. “Nice right hook, by the way. From now on, I’m going to continue to try and get in your head. So will they.” He jerked his head towards the training arena to gesture to all the tributes. “Don’t let your guard down for a second.”
I nodded. “I don’t know if I can punch someone like Adri, though.”
“You’re going to have to try and kill people like Adri in just a few days, love. You need to stop trying to be nice and adopt the right mindset. But punching him isn’t the only way to deter them. If you play along to the point of beating them at their own game, that works too. Just don’t do what you did in there. Don’t show any surprise or weakness.” Finnick glanced at his watch. “Everyone will be leaving for lunch in a few minutes. Eat well, you didn’t have anywhere near enough for breakfast. I’m going to get my jaw looked at.”
I promised him I’d eat a large lunch, but I already knew it was a lie. I was fiercely determined to practice with the weapons while everyone else was eating. I couldn’t wait until tonight to start practicing. I knew enough about knives, but I’d only used a bow and arrow a few times before. I could wound easily enough, but I wasn’t confident in my ability to kill with it. I went back into the arena and waited for a few moments until someone announced it was time for lunch. All the other tributes piled out, but I hung back.
As soon as I was convinced the place was empty I made my way over to the archery station. Ingrid had left all the arrows still in the heart of all the targets, almost as a warning or a way to boast her skills, so I collected them all, amazed at her constant accuracy. I walked back to the line and loaded up my bow with an arrow. I closed one eye and tried to steady my hand before letting the arrow fly. It looked promising and it did hit the dummy, but in the shoulder. It wasn’t even near any of the bulls-eyes marking where you’d have to hit in order to kill.
“Damn!” I hissed. If I hit the person’s dominant arm in the shoulder I knew I’d do enough damage to at least get away, but that was too big of an ‘if’. I grabbed another arrow and decided to aim for the lower bulls-eye that marked the stomach and other organs, and let it fly only for it to hit the dummy in the upper thigh. When I aimed for the head, it didn’t even hit the dummy, it just landed in the spare wood around the stencil. I grabbed another arrow and was just aiming for the bulls-eye that marked the heart when I felt a pair of arms wrap around me, the large hands settling on mine as they adjusted my hold on the bow.
“You keep underestimating the angle you’re shooting it at.” A sickeningly familiar voice said. “Remember that it soars high but arches down faster than you expect.” The arms stayed wrapped around me, displaying no intention of moving.
“Thanks,” I said coolly, trying not to pay much attention. I let the arrow fly, and sure enough it hit the target right in the center of the heart bulls-eye.
“Perfect,” The voice said. I turned to see a half smile on Adri’s face, and he looked down at me with a flirtatious look in his eyes.
“You don’t seem the mind-game type.” I said casually, taking another arrow and loading it up, remembering to take his advice and aim higher. It hit the bulls-eye that marked the stomach, but not in the center. It was an improvement, though.
“Don’t I?” He mused.
“None of you Careers do.” I said. I loaded up another arrow and let it fly, this time hitting the outer rings of the head bulls-eye. I was hyperaware of him watching me, and if it weren’t for Finnick’s earlier fit of rage, I probably would have run screaming from the room by now.
“You’re a Career yourself, in case you’ve forgotten.” Adri said, a hint of a smile in his voice.
“I’m only a Career by district. I don’t have the mindset or the skill of a Career.” I said, letting another arrow fly. It hit the stomach bulls-eye in the very middle, much to my delight.
“I beg to differ.” Adri chuckled. I dropped the bow and sheath of arrows and went over to the dummies to collect the arrows, even though there were still a few arrows left in the sheath. I just needed to put some space between myself and Adri. I was collecting the arrows from a few different dummies when an arrow went whizzing by my face, just inches away from my nose, landing in the center of the heart bulls-eye on the dummy right next to me. Adri had picked up the bow and an arrow while I wasn’t looking and had fired the arrow just for the sake of shaking me up. It worked. The shock of the arrow flying so close overwhelmed me, and I let out a loud scream. I collapsed to the floor, hugging my knees in to my chest and hiding my face in my knees, wrapping my arms over my head. The arrows I’d been collecting fell to the ground around me.
I realized what I’d done, and my stomach fell. So much for trying to resist the mind games. I glanced up at the arrow in the dummy, then at Adri, then back at the arrow and then back at Adri. “Are you insane?” I demanded.
Adri just laughed. “Happy Hunger Games,” Was all he said. He hung the bow and sheath of arrows back on the rack before he walked out of the training arena, leaving me on my own.
I balled my hands into fists and marched over to the knife section, leaving the arrows on the floor behind me. I grabbed knife after knife, flinging them at the dummies in a fit of rage, hitting each one square in the middle of all the bulls-eyes until there were no more knives left. Then I moved on to the spears, doing the same. By the time I’d emptied all the knives and spears from the shelves, the middle of every bulls-eye – heart, head, and abdomen -- was occupied with some weapon or another. Not even one knife or spear had landed outside the very center of a bulls-eye. I slid to the floor, panting from the exertion with a smile on my face. Letting out my anger had felt unbelievably good. I heard a few voices trailing down the hall, and I stood and ran over to the camouflage station, pretending to be absorbed with the paints.
All the tributes filed back into the room, with the Careers – including Adri – at the front of the line. The girl from 1 pointed to the dummies I’d taken my anger out on and murmured something I couldn’t catch.
“Who the hell did this?” Ingrid demanded, her face even paler than normal. She walked over and yanked a knife out of the heart of one of the dummies. Her eyes scanned over every single tribute before they landed on me, and my palms broke out in a sweat as I wondered if she suspected me. “Did you see who did this?” She asked me.
I shook my head no.
“Of course not. You’re really useless, aren’t you?” She muttered, jamming the knife back in the dummy angrily. I wanted to jump for joy, I was so relieved. If she’d known I did it, she probably would have gone for my throat right then and there. Then again, she probably didn’t even think I was capable of throwing a knife, let alone throwing it well.
Adri eyed the dummies up close, ensuring that all the knives were in the middle of the bulls-eyes, before looking at me with an approving grin on his face. He knew it was me. I waited for him to rat me out to Ingrid, but he never did. Instead he began plucking the knives out of the dummies and placed them back on the rack only to start working with them himself. He wasn’t bad with knives, but he kept getting thrown off by the different weights. He made the rare center of a bulls-eye, but for the most part he hit the bulls-eyes in the outer rings, never landing outside a bulls-eye. This was still amazing to the other tributes, who watched him with fear in their eyes.