PROLOGUE - PART 1
"Mrs. Lockhearst, we're sorry, but we just cannot find the source of the noise bothering you." I whisper to the woman frowning at me through the crack in her door, her hair up in curlers. "Well you need to search harder! I'm telling you, there has been a baby crying in that house for two days now and if you can't find -" she is interrupted by a shrill cry of a child, that nearly deafens me and my team of officers. "You see! You hear that! Go search that house!" Mrs.Lockhearst slams the door in our faces and we all rush over to the mansion, a dark and lonely mansion. My eye falls on a little garden gnome and I think of Vemos Silkhorn who loved garden gnomes, and how he always brought one with him everywhere, before he was executed for creating such boring games. Honestly, they were such a let down. His arena was this stretched out landscape that went on for miles and miles, with not a rock or tree to hide behind. All 23 tributes were dead in less than a day. You might think that the we would like this better, since we love the violence, but the games were not violent. Instead, 21 of the tributes died because there were spots on the field that were bombs. So they exploded, and then there were 3 tributes left who fought it out so quickly there was barely any blood. The winner, a gorgeous girl from District 2, was a lucky one indeed. She won the easiest games of all time, I'm telling you. Well, after Vamos was executed rumor flew around that his wife and daughter were hiding somewhere. No one knows the real story and to be honest I don't really care. My team and I were Zippers and we work for the capitol. A Zipper is, basically, someone who goes around and attends to people's complaints. It isn't the funnest of jobs but still gives you good pay - although the mission we're on right now is the worst we've gotten all year. Some grumpy old lady by the name of Chichi Lockhearst called us up a two days ago, a day after Vamos's execution, and complained on a baby crying her head off all day. We investigated but found nothing, and only now do I think that we're getting close to any answer. Who would've guessed that the babies cries were coming from the house next to Mrs.Lockhearst's! "Flux, you were on unlocking the door." I order, "and Raff, you get the sleeping powder ready. We're going in." After ten minutes of picking at the giant, brass lock, Flux manages to creak open the door. "I got it open Eustacica!" He calls to me, and everyone runs inside. The babies cries are even shriller now and my ears were actually hurting. "Should we split up?" Raff asks, and I nod. "Flux and Gauss, you go to the living room. Runyon and Alto, you guys go to the kitchen. Raff and I will search upstairs. Send out a distress signal if you need help." Everyone nods at me and we split up in separate directions. Raff leads the way and I follow, searching the empty house for a baby because the cries had stopped. As I peek into a small room, I heard Flux gasp. "Flux? What is it?" I looked over his shoulder and see that he is staring at a pool of blood. And in that pool of blood was Volumnia Silkhorn's beautiful head. "Vamos's wife." I whisper, and Flux nods."So this is wear they've been hiding." Lodged in Volumnia's head was a large knife, and her hand was lying next to it so it was obvious that she had killed herself. Half of her body was lying in the hall, but the other half was lying in a room whose bright pink walls were visible even in the black darkness. Flux and I tentatively step into the little room, examining the cherry blossom pattern on the walls. "Eustacica, look..." Flux said, and my head whips around to where his brown eyes are fixed. A crib, a lovely crib, with a tiny baby in it who could not be more than a year old. "Oh my." I gasp, and go towards the precious thing. Since it was dressed in a fluffy pink tutu, I assumed it was a girl. Her hair was a bright red and incredibly soft-looking, her eyes big and green. "It's her," Flux says. "Vamos's daughter. Eustacia, we should take her back to the capitol. She'll die if she stays here." I nod, still transfixed on the beautiful baby girl. I lift up her frail body and take her out of the room, Flux right on my heels. When I get downstairs near the door, everyone is already waiting for us. "Did you find anythi-" Raff started to say, but stopped when he saw the pink lump I was cradling to my chest. "Oh yes," Flux chuckles. "Fellas, we did not only find the source of the noise, but we found Vemos Silkhorn's daughter." Everyone let out a noise of disbelief. "And what about Vemos's wife? Where is she then?" Alto asked suspiciously.
"Upstairs, dead."
"Dead? You killed her?"
"No, you dunce. She killed herself."
"But why?"
"Well...I'm not sure.."
"Obviously because the Capitol killed her husband, "I say, joining the conversation. "But I think she should've thought of her poor daughter."
"Well now," Flux shrugs. "I guess we're going to have to take her to the capitol and see what they can do." We all nodded and headed out into the cool night air. I wonder, as we board our hovercraft, if this little baby will be alright. As the hovercraft takes off, the girls dress folds over a little to reveal a name tag. Written, in large bold print, are the words, "This dress belongs to Savera Silkhorn". Savera, I think. What a beautiful name.
"Mrs. Lockhearst, we're sorry, but we just cannot find the source of the noise bothering you." I whisper to the woman frowning at me through the crack in her door, her hair up in curlers. "Well you need to search harder! I'm telling you, there has been a baby crying in that house for two days now and if you can't find -" she is interrupted by a shrill cry of a child, that nearly deafens me and my team of officers. "You see! You hear that! Go search that house!" Mrs.Lockhearst slams the door in our faces and we all rush over to the mansion, a dark and lonely mansion. My eye falls on a little garden gnome and I think of Vemos Silkhorn who loved garden gnomes, and how he always brought one with him everywhere, before he was executed for creating such boring games. Honestly, they were such a let down. His arena was this stretched out landscape that went on for miles and miles, with not a rock or tree to hide behind. All 23 tributes were dead in less than a day. You might think that the we would like this better, since we love the violence, but the games were not violent. Instead, 21 of the tributes died because there were spots on the field that were bombs. So they exploded, and then there were 3 tributes left who fought it out so quickly there was barely any blood. The winner, a gorgeous girl from District 2, was a lucky one indeed. She won the easiest games of all time, I'm telling you. Well, after Vamos was executed rumor flew around that his wife and daughter were hiding somewhere. No one knows the real story and to be honest I don't really care. My team and I were Zippers and we work for the capitol. A Zipper is, basically, someone who goes around and attends to people's complaints. It isn't the funnest of jobs but still gives you good pay - although the mission we're on right now is the worst we've gotten all year. Some grumpy old lady by the name of Chichi Lockhearst called us up a two days ago, a day after Vamos's execution, and complained on a baby crying her head off all day. We investigated but found nothing, and only now do I think that we're getting close to any answer. Who would've guessed that the babies cries were coming from the house next to Mrs.Lockhearst's! "Flux, you were on unlocking the door." I order, "and Raff, you get the sleeping powder ready. We're going in." After ten minutes of picking at the giant, brass lock, Flux manages to creak open the door. "I got it open Eustacica!" He calls to me, and everyone runs inside. The babies cries are even shriller now and my ears were actually hurting. "Should we split up?" Raff asks, and I nod. "Flux and Gauss, you go to the living room. Runyon and Alto, you guys go to the kitchen. Raff and I will search upstairs. Send out a distress signal if you need help." Everyone nods at me and we split up in separate directions. Raff leads the way and I follow, searching the empty house for a baby because the cries had stopped. As I peek into a small room, I heard Flux gasp. "Flux? What is it?" I looked over his shoulder and see that he is staring at a pool of blood. And in that pool of blood was Volumnia Silkhorn's beautiful head. "Vamos's wife." I whisper, and Flux nods."So this is wear they've been hiding." Lodged in Volumnia's head was a large knife, and her hand was lying next to it so it was obvious that she had killed herself. Half of her body was lying in the hall, but the other half was lying in a room whose bright pink walls were visible even in the black darkness. Flux and I tentatively step into the little room, examining the cherry blossom pattern on the walls. "Eustacica, look..." Flux said, and my head whips around to where his brown eyes are fixed. A crib, a lovely crib, with a tiny baby in it who could not be more than a year old. "Oh my." I gasp, and go towards the precious thing. Since it was dressed in a fluffy pink tutu, I assumed it was a girl. Her hair was a bright red and incredibly soft-looking, her eyes big and green. "It's her," Flux says. "Vamos's daughter. Eustacia, we should take her back to the capitol. She'll die if she stays here." I nod, still transfixed on the beautiful baby girl. I lift up her frail body and take her out of the room, Flux right on my heels. When I get downstairs near the door, everyone is already waiting for us. "Did you find anythi-" Raff started to say, but stopped when he saw the pink lump I was cradling to my chest. "Oh yes," Flux chuckles. "Fellas, we did not only find the source of the noise, but we found Vemos Silkhorn's daughter." Everyone let out a noise of disbelief. "And what about Vemos's wife? Where is she then?" Alto asked suspiciously.
"Upstairs, dead."
"Dead? You killed her?"
"No, you dunce. She killed herself."
"But why?"
"Well...I'm not sure.."
"Obviously because the Capitol killed her husband, "I say, joining the conversation. "But I think she should've thought of her poor daughter."
"Well now," Flux shrugs. "I guess we're going to have to take her to the capitol and see what they can do." We all nodded and headed out into the cool night air. I wonder, as we board our hovercraft, if this little baby will be alright. As the hovercraft takes off, the girls dress folds over a little to reveal a name tag. Written, in large bold print, are the words, "This dress belongs to Savera Silkhorn". Savera, I think. What a beautiful name.
last edited over a year ago
