can't catch me now; ❛ ENIGMA ❜
↷ the hunger games
❝ I hope you know what you are doing, Red ❞

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Alina watched Cheryl Everdeen's Games before she went to bed the night before the interviews. Cato told her that she was worrying over nothing but she thought that he had the exact same doubts as her.

Cheryl was a good hunter which was how she managed to be the last one standing. She grabbed a bow and some arrows in the first few minutes and eliminated most of the Careers in the Bloodbath.

However, Cheryl had a sort of charm that her sister did not seem to possess or she would have had some allies already. Her own District partner did not seem like a big fan of her and Alina was convinced that he did not have a bad bone in his body. That was the only thing that Alina was not worried about. She had to win over the sponsors during the interview and that was that.

Alina watched Glimmer plaster on a big fake smile before she walked onto the stage. Her long legs were almost completely revealed beneath her shimmery pink dress. Her blonde hair was curled into perfection and she seemed to be ready to play the role of a dumb blonde simply for The Capitol's amusement.

Caesar Flickerman was eating her attitude up. He even made an attempt to feel her up in an "innocent" manner and Alina cringed at the action.

She shook her head and looked up at the ceiling, trying to compose herself. She jumped a little bit when she felt an arm on her lower back.

"Relax," Cato whispered, the sound of his voice reminding her that he was the one behind her in line. "You got this. They'll love you."

Alina sighed. "Thanks."

"Did I tell you that you look beautiful tonight? Because you do."

Alina felt her cheeks growing warm at the compliment. He did not mention it but she could have guessed because of his reaction when he saw her after dinner (or the lack of).

Marvel was next on stage. Alina would lie if she said that she was surprised to see him choosing to charm everyone with his humor. He was genuinely funny. But funny did not win The Hunger Games. It did, however, bring people sponsors.

"Now, from District Two, another volunteer. Please welcome Alina!"

Alina was supposed to look like she was happy to be there. Sure, she volunteered but she was not happy to be in a fight to the death with twenty-three other teenagers. She wanted to win. She wanted power. She wanted fame.

She was driven by ambition and ambition only.

Clearly, ambition made people do things that they would not usually do. If it were otherwise, Alina would not look like the happiest girl in the world while walking to sit in the white chair for her interview.

Her lips were covered in red lipstick and tugged into a grin.

"Alina King." Caesar mussed with curiosity dancing in his eyes. "A King. A legacy career. From a long family of victors. Tell me, what did your mother think about you volunteering?"

"Well, it's a family legacy." Alina shrugged. "I knew what I was signing up for when I started my training. I'm ready for anything."

Careers had much more grace during interviews. They were not bothered by the crowd and did a much better job at listening to their mentor's advice.

"That's what I like to hear!" Caesar laughed and the crowd immediately erupted into cheers, only causing Alina's smile to grow. "I heard you were good with knives. Is that true?"

Alina nodded and smirked. "Oh, I'm the best."

"Really?" He tilted his head.

"Really."

"Do you have any other special talents?" He chuckles and gives her a teasing look. "Other than whatever you did to get such a high score. By the way, how did you do that?"

"A real lady never reveals all of her secrets." Alina gave him a fake smile that looked scarily genuine. "I do have one talent, though. I can, uh," she hesitated, debating on the correct answer that was still truthful, "I can imitate a song after only hearing it a couple of times."

Kind of like a Mockingjay. Clove would often say.

Alina spent countless nights singing her sister to sleep when they were still little girls. Back before they both became ruthless killers who were forbidden to show emotion.

"Would you like to sing something for us?"

That was not a part of the plan. Alina thought and her breath hitched. She shook her head and let out a short laugh which was accompanied by a polite smile. "That would take too much time away from all the other tributes..."

"Just a few notes." Caesar encouraged her. "I insist."

Alina let out a shaky breath, knowing that she had no choice. She quickly picked the last song that she heard and sang.

"Bet you thought I'd never do it

Thought it'd go over my head

I bet you figured I'd pass with the winter

Be something easy to forget

Oh, you think I'm gone 'cause I left

But I'm in the trees, I'm in the breeze

My footsteps on the ground

You'll see my face in every place

But you can't catch me now

Through wading grass, the months will pass

You'll feel it all around

I'm here, I'm there, I'm everywhere

But you can't catch me now

No, you can't catch me now."

The citizens of The Capitol were completely mesmerized at that point. Their cheers were so loud that she could barely hear her own thoughts. She plastered on another fake smile and looked back at her interviewer. He stared at her with wide eyes and a wide smile, seeming just as stunned.

"Alina, I must say that was wonderful." Caesar praised her and turned to the crowd. "Alina King, with a voice of a mockingjay, everyone!"

She was trying to hide the fact that she was shaking as she walked off of the stage and toward her mentor and the rest of the tributes. She wanted to reach for Cato but he was already taking her place next to Caesar so she settled on walking toward Ikarus.

He greeted her with a small and proud smile. It was a rare sight but Alina chose not to comment on it and cherished it instead. He shook his head and said,, "You did a good job, Red. They love you."

"You think?" Alina asked, trying to appear more nonchalant than she actually was.

"Definitely." Ikarus nodded and pointed toward the big screen which was backstage. "Now, let's see what your little boyfriend planned."

Alina sighed at his words but did not waste her breath on correcting him. She followed him to the screen and watched the interview next to Glimmer, Marvel, and their mentor.

"You are here by choice?" Caesar asked Cato who immediately nodded.

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"I mean, I think these are the greatest Games ever invented." Cato started slowly. He placed the asshole and brainwashed facade over him in order to get himself sponsors and to get on The Capitol's good side. Alina knew that. Nobody liked the Games. Sure, they were a clever way for the government to control the Districts after District Thirteen's rebellion seventy-something years ago but nobody from the Districts liked what it represented. They only like the glory that it could give them. "And, uh, I just want to be here to play it. I have wanted to play it since I was a kid and I think that anybody who doesn't want to do it is an idiot."

Caesar laughed, surprised by his confidence. He tilted his head and asked, "You said you wanted to play it not win it, correct?"

Cato nodded. "Yes, I did."

"Why is that?"

"I love my District. It's an honor to represent it." Cato started casually. "I know that we already have a long list of Victors but I just care about adding another to the list. If anyone other than me won I would want it to be Alina."

The people in the crowd started whispering amongst each other. Caesar's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Really? You wouldn't mind if a King brought home the crown instead of you. How come?"

Cato paused, seeming to think about his response for a couple of moments. Then, he said, "Alina and I grew up together. We trained together, we fought together and we volunteered together. We are not our parents and we don't hate each other over things that happened before we were even born. We decided that the rivalry should end with us."

Alina stared at the screen with wide eyes. Their rivalry was supposed to be something to lure the sponsors. The sponsors used to always make a competition out of it to see who would help out the winning Tribute more but it did not make sense anymore. He ruined it.

"Oh, I would recognize that look anywhere, Cato." Caesar started with a teasing smile. "Tell me, what are your feelings toward Alina King?"

Cato froze, shocked that Caesar would go so far as to directly ask him about their relationship. Then again, he always tried to start as much drama as he could the night before the Games began.

"Alina is a gorgeous girl. She is smart and the person who will lead our Career pack through the arena." Cato said, his voice hesitant. "I don't see a good reason why not to like her."

Caesar chuckled. "How about the fact that only one of you can make it out of The Hunger Games alive?"

"I guess I should have thought about that before I volunteered."

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When Cato walked up to them backstage, he immediately walked up to Alina. He had an apologetic look on his face and just as he opened his mouth to say something, she cut him off.

"We will talk about this later," Alina whispered despite the fact that Glimmer and Marvel probably still heard her.

She sighed and shook her head. Leaning back against the couch, she turned her focus to the screen. Tributes walked to the stage one by one, all of them taking up less than five minutes. No one was that interesting.

Well, besides Katniss Everdeen. She was awkward and sheepish, definitely not cut out to be a Victor. But her dress did make up for it. It went up in flames when she spun around and Alina internally kicked herself for getting so jealous. Caesar gave her the nickname The Girl on Fire.

She would be remembered in the Capitol, there was no doubt about it. However, Alina wanted her to be remembered for the way she murdered her in the arena.

Then, it was Peeta's turn.

"He better not fuck this up." Cato crossed his legs and leaned back. "He isn't much of a use to us so he should at least be able to get us sponsors."

Alina simply huffed because she did not have a good argument. Peeta was still pretty much a stranger to her. She had no idea how he was going to behave during the interview.

She guessed that he was going to try to win over the sponsors with his boyish charm and kind nature. (Not that it was something that usually attracted all of the sharks surrounding them). It was a different charm compared to Marvel or Cato. they were confident in themselves and charismatic. Peeta was clearly a lot more closed off.

When he started rambling about the shampoo that his bathroom had in the apartments, Alina realized that she was right. Caesar seemed amused and the crowd was all laughing. That was a good start.

"Tell me, is there a special girl back home?"

"No." Peeta shook his head. "Not really."

Caesar leaned forward, watching the teenager like some sort of predator. He wanted as much drama as he could get just for the sake of raising views. If he failed to do that that year, Snow could easily replace him. To him, everybody was disposable. "I don't believe it for a second. Look at that face! Handsome man like you... Peeta, tell me."

"Well, there is this one girl," Peeta admitted lowly. He seemed almost hesitant to say anything at all. "But I don't think that I stand a chance."

The crowd made sad noises, pitying him and his sad one-sided love.

"I'll tell you what, Peeta." Caesar gave him a solemn look. "You go out there and you win this thing. And when you get home, she will have to go out with you. Right folks?"

The crowd cheered and clapped while he laughed. Peeta's face seemed to fall even further. He looked like a kicked puppy.

"Thanks, but, uh..." Peeta swallowed. "I don't think winning is going to help me at all."

"And why not?"

"Because I met her while preparing for the Games. Only one of us can make it out of that arena and I am sure that it's going to be a career like her instead of a boy from District Twelve." Peeta looked down, refusing to look up and face the pitiful eyes on him.

"Well...that's bad luck."

Alina's heart sank. A career like her. He must have been talking about her. She was sure that she got in his good graces and that he trusted her but she had no idea that he would develop feelings for her in less than two weeks. Let alone announce it to the entire country.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me." Cato scoffed angrily while Alina watched the screen with her mouth open in disbelief. He looked like he was about to have another one of his temper tantrums and Peeta walked just in time to add fuel to the fire.

Cato turned around, ready to march up to Peeta when Alina wrapped her arms around his upper arm and pulled him back.

"Don't cause a scene right now." She whispered harshly and in warning. "You have the whole Games for that, Cato."

His body relaxed at her words and he did not look like he was about to make any sudden moves. Still, he did not look any less angry. He walked in the direction of the exit and Alina's arm slipped off of his arm. She watched him walk away without turning back and let out a tired sigh. Alina looked away from him and toward Ikarus who was looking at her with an unreadable expression.

"I hope you know what you are doing, Red."

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a/n: The fact that Alina is a little bit like Snow in TBOSAS is totally unintentional (since I wrote her character before I read the book) but kind of symbolic. They have the same ambition, intelligence, and thirst for power but they eventually use it for different things. Mainly because Alina refuses to be controlled after all of the trauma she is about to go through.

Cheryl will appear in act two and her face claim will be Marie Avgeropoulos!