Silence [The Hunger Games]

Chapter Nine

 Eli must have been mad, because the next few hours of that day were excruciatingly painful. Both socially and physically. I was led to a prep room called the Remake Centre and was handed a robe. I put it on obediently and waited. Several minutes later, a purple head popped around the door. It was quite horrific. They looked like they were in need of medical attention. I was about to scream when I remembered the Capitol people often dyed their skin. The purple creature made what I think was a squeal of delight.

 “Feeeeeelixah!” it cried. I panicked. Did they speak another language that I was unaware of?

 “She is hereah!” it called, and I realised it must be the accent. Why did it…she speak like that? At the end of her sentences, it was like she felt the need to make a gasping noise. The woman waddled like a duck towards me, hands shaking in excitement. Another head, a male, came around the corner of the door, and I was relieved that he looked a little more human. His mustard coloured eyebrows curved all the way down his cheekbones to the corners of his lips, and I resisted the urge to laugh at him. He also had surgically planted horns sprouting from his bronze coloured hair, but I tried not to look too closely at them, as they sent shivers down my spine.

 Several minutes later, whilst the two stylists were fussing over me and discussing nails and hair, another woman walked in. I was surprised. She looked relatively normal, and unlike the other two, behaved in a sane manner. Her hair was short, but stuck out from her head at odd angles, so that it circled her face. Like a mane, I realised. I had seen photographs of a rare creature named a lion, which was used in the very first Hunger Games. She reminded me of one. Her features were slightly pointed too, and the only makeup she wore was black lipstick. I thought she was beautiful.

 “Hello,” she said. It also puzzled me that her accent was normal, and similar to those who live in District 10. “I’m Leonie. I suppose these two haven’t introduced themselves yet?”

 I shook my head shyly.

 “This is Felix,” she said, gesturing to the man “And Annabella. I’m sorry if they startled you. They get very excited around the time of the Games. We just have to do some basic things before you meet your stylist.”

 So that’s why I spent the next three hours having hair ripped from my body, being scrubbed until my skin was sore and experiencing social torture. Annabella and Felix jabbered non stop, and I had to restrain myself from punching them. However, I liked Leonie. Every now and then, I’d look at her, and she’d roll her eyes to make me smile. She genuinely seemed like someone I would be friends with back in District 10. Not that I had many friends.

 During the last hour or so of my makeover, Felix got himself worked up with excitement and began crying. I resisted the urge to laugh as Leonie ushered Annabella and Felix out the room to calm down. Then it was just the two of us. Leonie silently began to work on my nails, and I admired her light hand, and the way she made her work seem effortless.

 “I really am sorry about my co-workers. They can be very irritating at times,” she commented in her soft, quiet voice. It was quite soothing.

 “I expected you to be more like them. I’m glad you’re not. Are you actually from the Capitol, if you don’t mind me asking? You seem…”