a family visit {blitz}

C L E M E N T I N E

S H I M

The Capitol was certainly not the place I wanted to be right then. Actually, I never wanted to be in the Capitol. They were the ones that had taken away so many of my family members that I barely knew what to do anymore. Hayk was pretty much all I had left, and he was the only reason I ended up coming here. He'd convinced me, and I didn't want to make him go alone.

He had said things to me before that I wasn't too fond of, sure, but he wasn't cruel. No, I'd met cruel people before, and Hayk wasn't one of them. He was my brother, and I cared about him. Nothing would change that fact. Or, at least, I hoped nothing would. I didn't want to hate him. No matter what he'd said or done, I didn't want our relationship to be a bad one.

Hayk gave me a weak smile and thanked me for coming with him. He stated that being alone in the Capitol did not sound like a pleasing time, and I nodded in agreement. He was right. It certainly didn't. I don't think either of us wanted to be there, to be entirely honest. Even though we were invited, it didn't mean that we had the desire to go.

"You're my brother, Hayk," I told him. "I wouldn't make you go alone."

I wasn't normally a super kind or loving person, but for some reason, I felt the need to be nice to Hayk. It was like he deserved kindness, after all we'd both been through.

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C L E M E N T I N E

S H I M

While we were on the train, my heart was pounding. If anything, I was more than just nervous to go to the Capitol. It was a terrifying thought to me. I didn't want to leave home. I'd never been outside District Five, and any of our family members who have been didn't come back alive. At least I could be about ninety percent sure that Hayk and I would come back alive. We weren't here for the Games. No, not like the others.

I wasn't ready to meet the people in the Capitol. It just wasn't something I wanted to do. Though, I was here for Hayk. I wasn't here because I wanted to be. I was here for him. It didn't take long before Hayk wanted to know what I thought the Capitol would be like, either. My first thought was exactly what I expressed.

"Overwhelming. Crowded. Really posh."

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C L E M E N T I N E

S H I M

Hayk didn't directly respond to what I had to say to him, but he didn't seem to disagree with it, either. Instead, he picked up a bottle that had some sort of liquid in it that I assumed to be alcohol and poured some into a cup, taking a sip. I raised an eyebrow at him. If he was drinking alcohol, I had no idea how our parents would have reacted. Although, they weren't here. It was just us, and that meant that we could be a little different than we had to be back home.

"Mind if I try some?" I asked him, getting a cup for myself and motioning to the bottle he had. Perhaps I'd like it. I'd had a few sips of alcohol before, but never anything much. Regardless, I was pretty sure I'd know what it was if I tasted it. Now was the time to find out. Maybe it would be even better than the little bits I'd had here and there back in Five. These were things from the Capitol, after all.

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C L E M E N T I N E

S H I M

When I asked Hayk for some of the drink that he had, he gave me some without argument. I poured some into a glass and took a sip. The first thing I thought was that it was definitely alcoholic. That I could tell. I set the bottle down and was gradually sipping at what I had in the cup when Hayk asked if it was what he thought it was.

"If you're thinking alcohol, yeah. It doesn't taste that bad to me, either. Must be the Capitol luxuries," I told him. In that moment, I'd wished I had this stuff at home. Maybe I could sneak a bottle back with me. I doubted it, though. Mom and dad would never go for it. They would be so mad if they found out I'd stolen from the Capitol and that it was alcohol.

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