Status: A Tribute
Blood and Roses
Page One
Katniss swallowed the lump of uncertainty in her throat as the man from the Capitol gestured for her to follow him down the hall towards the study. She had never seen the door to that room closed and the minute she saw the door closed, she no longer felt at home. The house had never really felt like home to her but when she saw a door closed to her in her own home it felt like she was back on the field, out in the open with Tributes all around her. The man gestured her in and she watched him closely as he opened the door and she stepped inside. She kept her eyes on him until the door closed behind her and then her attentions were earned by a white haired man reading a book along the wall. He held up a finger, absently telling her,
"Give me a moment." She stood stark still, fear tingling under her crawling skin and she was vaguely aware of the smell of roses and- and blood. He smelled of roses and blood. She studied him and it only took a moment for his presence to register in her mind.
President Snow.
A man she had only seen in paintings and on screens now stood in her home. In her mother's study. A man that belonged in the Capitol and no where less had traveled all the way to the slums of District 12. To see her.
The fear thickened in her veins as the severity of the situation fell on her shoulders. He knew. He knew of the game she played on everyone in the Capitol. He knew all about her time in the arena and the lie she spread to play his precious Capitol for fools. There would be no playing love sick with this man.
A creak sent Katniss in the air, jumping as every tensed muscle snapped at the sound breaking through the silence. She shot a look to the back corner behind the desk. A chair she hadn't noticed coming in had been propped against the joined corners of the wall to Snow's left; a peaked brimmed hat was covering the upper half of a woman's face. She wore a large dark green army jacket adorned with pins and ribbons and medals along the front end, the brass buttons catching the light as she leaned back further in her chair, arms lazily draped over the back of her chair. Tall polished black boots clung to long fit legs and an equally black under tank formed over a fit torso, silver dog tags hanging between her breasts against the flat of her stomach. She was definitely one of Snow's personal guards; the highest ranking and cruelest soldiers were reserved for Snow's personal guard.
The woman must have senses Katniss staring, or maybe she could somehow see from under that brimmed hat, because the right corner of her lips twitched upward. Katniss suddenly knew how a rabbit felt caught in a wolf's ambush. She was trapped in a small room with two of the most terrifying people in Panem: President Snow and one of his personal guards. She was in trouble from the start, why else would President Snow be in District 12? To what? Congratulate her on tricking him and the Gamemaker into making there two Victors where there should have been one? No, no he was definitely there for an entirely different reason.
Katniss stiffened as Snow closed the book, placing it back on the shelf and going to sit in the chair behind the desk. She took the time to stare at him- hard. Maybe he was like the snakes he reminded her of. If she didn't move, who was to say he wouldn't see her? All she had to do was keep her ground and stare him down as best as she could stand.
"I think we'll make the whole situation a lot simpler by agreeing not to lie to one another," he said relaxing into the chair and finally lifting cold, winter fed eyes to her, "What do you think?"
"Give me a moment." She stood stark still, fear tingling under her crawling skin and she was vaguely aware of the smell of roses and- and blood. He smelled of roses and blood. She studied him and it only took a moment for his presence to register in her mind.
President Snow.
A man she had only seen in paintings and on screens now stood in her home. In her mother's study. A man that belonged in the Capitol and no where less had traveled all the way to the slums of District 12. To see her.
The fear thickened in her veins as the severity of the situation fell on her shoulders. He knew. He knew of the game she played on everyone in the Capitol. He knew all about her time in the arena and the lie she spread to play his precious Capitol for fools. There would be no playing love sick with this man.
A creak sent Katniss in the air, jumping as every tensed muscle snapped at the sound breaking through the silence. She shot a look to the back corner behind the desk. A chair she hadn't noticed coming in had been propped against the joined corners of the wall to Snow's left; a peaked brimmed hat was covering the upper half of a woman's face. She wore a large dark green army jacket adorned with pins and ribbons and medals along the front end, the brass buttons catching the light as she leaned back further in her chair, arms lazily draped over the back of her chair. Tall polished black boots clung to long fit legs and an equally black under tank formed over a fit torso, silver dog tags hanging between her breasts against the flat of her stomach. She was definitely one of Snow's personal guards; the highest ranking and cruelest soldiers were reserved for Snow's personal guard.
The woman must have senses Katniss staring, or maybe she could somehow see from under that brimmed hat, because the right corner of her lips twitched upward. Katniss suddenly knew how a rabbit felt caught in a wolf's ambush. She was trapped in a small room with two of the most terrifying people in Panem: President Snow and one of his personal guards. She was in trouble from the start, why else would President Snow be in District 12? To what? Congratulate her on tricking him and the Gamemaker into making there two Victors where there should have been one? No, no he was definitely there for an entirely different reason.
Katniss stiffened as Snow closed the book, placing it back on the shelf and going to sit in the chair behind the desk. She took the time to stare at him- hard. Maybe he was like the snakes he reminded her of. If she didn't move, who was to say he wouldn't see her? All she had to do was keep her ground and stare him down as best as she could stand.
"I think we'll make the whole situation a lot simpler by agreeing not to lie to one another," he said relaxing into the chair and finally lifting cold, winter fed eyes to her, "What do you think?"