literature

'My Little Canary' Chapter 2

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Literature Text

Two years later
Wiress crouched in the vent, shivering in her thin jacket and trousers. There were just four of them left: her, the boy and girl from One and the boy from Four. They were hunting her.

The Games had started off well. The Arena was practically built for Wiress; it was a labyrinth of clean, crisp corridors and secret rooms with no outside space or light. It reminded Wiress of home. Home, and Beetee. She kept on expecting him to round the corner, tell her she had been wandering again and carry her back to safety. But he didn't.
She had been very lucky, she supposed. After the Bloodbath, Wiress had been the smallest tribute left alive and was the only one who could crawl to safety in the vents above the corridors. During training, she'd kept her head down and not drawn any attention to herself which had helped her out in the first few days as no one had bothered to kill her in the Bloodbath, or track her down afterwards. Being the youngest tribute also had its advantages, according to her mentor, Octavia, because the women of the Capitol tended to sponsor the sweet, younger looking tributes. Because of this, her outfits in the parade and the interviews had been as adorable as the stylists could make them. It had worked; every time Wiress crept out of the vents a silver parachute drifted out of the ceiling towards her. In it would contain anything she needed; foods and water, once even a tiny cake with silver icing on it. She'd stared at it in wonder before ramming it down her throat. But all of that was over now.
I've had a good run, Wiress thought to herself. I wasn't expected to get this far anyway. If I die now at least I know I've done my best. That's was Beetee had said to her before she left.
'Just do your best, Wire,' he'd said, with tears building up behind his eyelids. 'That's all you can do.' Had she done her best? She hadn't killed anyone, just stayed shivering in her vent, listening to the screams and cannon shots that swiftly followed. Was she a coward? Would Beetee be proud of her? What about her mother? Wiress nearly sobbed aloud thinking of her stiff, emotionless mother, sitting alone at home, and waiting for the news that she was dead. For her and Beetee, she'd make sure her death was quick.
Wiress slipped out of the vent and onto the cool, metal floor. And a silver parachute floated down to greet her.

Beetee was watching from the square. Since the Games had begun, he'd practically lived in there, running out at first light and being the last to leave at night. Once, when the Careers had been close to her hiding spot, he'd refused to leave until they'd gone. He'd promised her he'd watch every moment and he wasn't going to break that promise now.
Wiress fumbled with the parachute, finally opening it and pulled out a coil of silver wire. Murmurs erupted all around Beetee but he smiled as he watched her expression turn from shock, to confusion to, at last, understanding. She looked up, directly to where the camera was and smiled. It was the first smile anyone had seen in the Games that year.

There was an open vent about 50 metres away from where she was standing. Wiress carefully attached the sticky end on the wire to the wall then uncoiled it out to meet the other one where a faint buzzing let her know that there was an electricity source in it. Stretched out that far, you could hardly tell the wire was there.
Talking further down the web of corridors let Wiress know that they were coming for her. Soon, they'd be there. She took a deep breath as a sudden wave of nausea and doubt swept over her. Did she really want to do this? Yes. She had to.

'Hey!' All three pairs of eyes swivelled to locate the source of the high-pitched call, like a bird on the wind. 'How's your day going?' Wiress was sounding a lot braver than she felt, standing just 200 metres away from the people out to kill her.
'Not bad.' The boy from Four raised his sword and gave her a wicked smile. 'Of course, once we kill you it'll be a lot better.'
'Oh really? You'll have to kill each other then. What fun that sounds!'
The girl from One paled. She was the smallest of the three and probably thought that she'd go first then the boys would battle it out. Well, not today, Wiress felt a prick of determination pierce her heart. Today, they were all going down.
The boy from One brandished his sword. 'You'd better start running, little girl. We're coming for you.' Then he threw it.
Wiress was a good runner. She was small and streamlined, so had no problem keeping her distance from the Careers. The problem was the things she had to avoid. The spear missed her completely, but unluckily the others were better shots. Four couldn't throw the sword at her, but he had a knife that managed to graze her on the leg. She gasped at the pain, and then forced herself to keep run. The girl had arrows that she was fairly good with but Wiress could hear them whizz through the air and so was able to dodge them. If only you knew, she thought, taking a flying leap over the wire, soaring clear of the danger zone, if only you knew I'm leading you to the slaughter.
Wiress turned as the calls of the Careers came closer, drawing nearer and nearer.
Wait.
Did she really want this? Was she going to be a murderer?
They rounded the corner. Closing in on her. 'There she is!'
Five more steps. Four. Three. The boy from Four's foot was raised to the wire.
Wiress snapped. 'Stop!'

The blast pushed her backwards, sending her sprawling on the floor as the heat washed over her. The screams of the Careers seemed to last a lifetime, until they stopped with a sickening sucking noise. Wiress lay on her back, trying to remember how to breathe. The silence scared her, it was so unearthly. Slowly, like an injured deer, she staggered to her feet.
'Ladies and gentlemen, we present to you our Victor: Wiress-' But her surname was drowned out by the roar of thunder as the emergency sprinklers juddered to life. Wiress raised her head as the heavens opened and water plummeted down over her. Then she screamed. It was raining blood.

'Stop shoving, boy! We all want to see her!'
'Let him through! He's her best friend…'
Beetee hurried past the two old men and continued shoving his way through the crowds outside the train station. If Wiress had been there she'd have told him off for being so rude. He couldn't wait to be with her again. The train pulled into the station while he was still a while away. The silver doors slid open and there she was: pale, skinny and looking absolutely terrified. The cameras began to flash as people called out to Wiress, yelling her name, pushing their cameras in her face.
Wiress blinked rapidly and only walked forward when she was given a slight push from behind. The flashes and shouts had deadened her senses and now she was blind. Where was he? She was sure he'd be there for her.
'Wiress!' One voice rose up above the rest and she turned to it.
'Beetee!' She stumbled across the ramp towards his voice. Beetee managed to stagger to the front of the crowd just in time to catch her as she plummeted off the edge of the ramp. 'Oh, Beetee!' She buried her head in his shoulder and began to sob, horrible sobs that shook her body from head to toe.
'Shhh, it's okay,' Beetee shielded her from the flashes of the cameras as Octavia, the District 3 mentor hurried up and began shepherding them towards the Victor's Village. 'I've got you.'
I wasn't going to post anymore until I'd finished 'I'll never let you go' but thanks to :RandomGirl2222: here it is!
BeeteeXWiress! Wiress' Games.
© 2012 - 2024 GrandDuchessIsabelle
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Tangledfan77's avatar
I need a chapter 3 pleeeeeeeease!!!