Two Monsters, Nowhere to Hide [Someith & Annora day 4]

I tear the wolf apart limb from limb, cutting away its hide with a knife. It’s slow work, but necessary, and by the time I’m done I’m covered in the beast’s blood and my own, where it still drips from the flesh just above my eyes.

”Hairy beast,” I spit, tossing the animal’s rotting hide into the sea. Let the fish and all the monsters of the ocean swallow it up, ‘cause I’m done looking at it. If not for the fact that its body yields useful meat, I would have just left the ugly thing to crumble right on the edges of the shore.

Trudging up the sandy incline of the beach, I’ve got my eye on the cottage sitting in the center of the island. The place is in a dismal state on the outside, but it looks sturdy enough, and I’d be a liar if I said it looks worse than where I live back home. In comparison, this place is a dream upgrade, and when I pass over the threshold I’m hit by a rush of warm air, held in by the cottage’s thick insulated walls.

This is not the Arena; this is practically home.

I decide then and there that this is the place I will stake my claim, and any tributes who try to bother me here will meet a sorry, sorry end. When I walk through its array of rooms I take note of a bathroom, a quaint little room with comfy chairs, a kitchen, and – the best part – a huge bed. It’s got plush covers and I swear it could fit five other people if I really squeezed them in ( ;) ), but right now it’s just me. I’ve gotta stop myself from jumping onto the bed first thing, because blood-stained sheets aren’t becoming and I still smell like the horrid beast that got in my way an hour ago.

The first thing I do is turn on the shower. It’s not like what it was in the Capitol – but then again, nothing is – but it’s so nice that I think I might cry right then and there. Happy tears, of course. I don’t want the cameras to see me in any state of distress.

I wonder if the cameras are hidden here, too?

Especially in the shower… I bet the Capitol would get a kick out of seeing me naked. When I win, they’ll put me on the covers of magazines and dress me up in silk robes, sultry and ever-confident.

With a sly smile curling up my lip, I slip out of my uniform slowly, teasing the cameras before I step into the shower. I want to be the Capitol’s sweetheart, adored and alive, and I can’t do that unless I show them what they want to see. I take my time in the shower, scrubbing off the dirt and the blood and running fingers through my hair like a comb, and God I hope this is the most interesting thing happening in the Arena right now, because the Capitol must be eating this up.

I hum a little tune, and halfway through I realize I’m creating the notes of the anthem.

When I get out of the shower, I don’t bother dressing, because this is my own home, and anyone who doesn’t like the nudity can drown in the sea for all I care. I stride into the sitting room with a smile on my face and drape myself over one of the couches, and it’s at precisely that moment that the door flings wide open.

I would move, but I don’t have my knives on me - if it’s a threat, I’m going to die anyway. So I sit there coolly, analyzing the figure’s silhouette in the light, practically ignoring their presence as I wipe away the dried blood beneath my fingernails.

”Found you,” Someith Krearns says, and he doesn’t look the least bit happy to see me. You would think, given his gender, that he might be a little more excited to see a naked woman lounging on the couch, but alas, Krearns is a dimwit.

”You look like you’ve had better days, Someith,” I say, nodding at his soaking wet clothes and the water dripping from his brow. ”And where are your manners? Refusing to knock on the door before entering a lady’s home.. So rude.”