Dancing to Death

It’s been 100 years since the uprising, 100 years of loss. The past year of my life has been spent in a boarding home training for today’s events. The past year of training could make or break me, it decides if I live or die.

My best friend Kail shuffles around the room, wringing her hands nervously. I watch her familiar features in the mirror. She looks gorgeous, we both do. Dressed in impractical clothing, dolls for the capitalists. Kail’s shoulder length blond hair is curled into perfection, her oceanic blue eyes outlined in dark brown liner and gold eye shadow. She’s clad in a floor length baby blue and gold dress with a plunging neckline, short puffy sleeves and ridiculously strappy gold heels.

Flooding with images, my mind is suddenly overwhelmed with what we could lose. Kail’s my best friend, we’ve known each other since we were toddlers. Tonight’s banquet is our last guarantee of safety before we are sent to the slaughter house. I shake my head in an attempt to clear my mind. Kail sighs softly. “You need to do something with you hair, Cassi.” She murmurs running her hand gently through my long dark hair.

Minutes later, Kail and I stand in front of the floor length mirror, hands clasped. The contrast is flawless. Kail’s blonde hair remains curly, loose and carefree while my hair is pulled back into an elegant up do. Her eyes bright, gorgeous blue, mine dark brown framed only by a thin layer of black liner and mascara. Her lips painted a pale pink, mine blood red. Her dress, majestic in shades of blue and gold, mine strapless, deep red and silky.

A knock on the door makes us both jump, hands untangling, I answer the door. A folded piece of thick paper lays on the floor. Picking it up, I turn around and close the door. 

“Kail, I think we’re being summoned.” I sigh leaning against the thick artificially colored wood of the door. I can hear Kail rummaging through her drawers before the clicking of her heels brings her into my view. She’s holding a small velvet box. She beams. “Okay, so before we go to the ball, I bought us a present.” Handing me the box her whole face glows. My heart aches for all of the things that are going to change. We’re hardly fifteen, and being thrown to our deaths.

I pop the top of the box before I can get more sentimental, tears are a sign of weakness. Weakness isn’t something I can afford at this point. On the red cushion rests two matching silver rings. 

“They’re perfect.” I whisper picking one up, it’s engraved with the sign for infinity on the inside and a heart on the outside. 

“That’s not even the best part, when you put it on, mine will beat in tune to your heart, and yours will beat in tune to mine.” Kail beams slipping the ring on her finger as I do the same.

“For in the arena, in case we get separated. We’ll know the other is living.” Kail smiles brightly as I pull her into a hug. She’s such a genius.

I turn my attention to the folded paper in my hand, it’s started buzzing. Kail follows my gaze, and shrugs. I open it. 

“Kail , and Cassidee You’ve been summoned to the ball of the 100th fires.”  brilliantly glowing purple butterfly flutters out of the paper, twirling in the air by the door. Automatically, I reach my hand back to find Kail’s. Our fingers intertwine, naturally and I open the door. The butterfly flutters down a hallway into an elevator and down yet another hall. Standing in front of a set of large oak doors, they creak open and our butterfly guide flutters out.

Standing at the tope of a marble staircase, I find myself breathless. The room is dim, the ceiling covered in glowing butterflies of every color I can imagine. Floating candles illuminate the room as well as hundreds of strands of softly glowing white lights. By the time Kail and I have walked down the staircase, my feet are aching. There are so many people in the room, familiar and not so familiar faces mixed in. I sigh and kick off my heels at the foot of the stair case, who cares, my dress is long enough. Besides, there’s not much worse punishment than where we’re headed anyway. Kail resists the urge to laugh and tugs me over to a table of our friends who are talking animatedly. I become uninterested quickly. Glancing around the room, my eyes lock with his.

Matthew, the boy I’ve known and been in love with since we were barely children. The boy that if given a choice, would be mine. The boy that told me he loved me last year, knowing this did nothing. Dating before you go into the arena is frowned upon, choices are a privilege given only to the survivors. His grey eyes bore into mine, his lopsided smile giving me chills. 

“Cass, are you even listening?!” Jessicah snaps waving a hand in front of my face. I jump drawing my eyes away from Matt. 

“Mmmh.” I mumble looking up surprised to see Matt gone.

A light hand brushes my bare shoulder, and I jump. 

“May I have this dance?” Matt smiles at me, his eyes bright. He’s wearing a tux, and a red bow tie. It shouldn’t be legal for someone to be this handsome. I laugh daintily taking his outstretched hand, trying to ignore the sparks that are sent throughout my body. 

“Of course.” I murmur as he pulls me onto the dance floor. Only now do I realize that there has to be at least 800 teenagers in this room. They all seem to melt away as Matt pulls me into his arms. I sigh happily slipping my arms around his neck. No one else’s arms have ever made me feel so safe.

“Cass, things are going to get rough starting tomorrow.” Matthew murmurs running his thumb over my cheekbone. I can feel a blush budding in my cheeks. I stare into his grey eyes, swirling like a storm.

“We’ll be fine. We’ll make it.” I promise. My heart’s beating so fast I feel as if it’s going to burst out of my chest. The gentle tick of Kail’s pulse drums through my finger, the only sensation I can clearly grasp. The song swirls on in the background, the room is a mass of color and sound. Matt shakes his head with a smile, running his hand down my spine to rest on my lower back.

“You look so beautiful.” He murmurs nuzzling against my neck. A shiver rolls down my spine. I know, that even if I die tomorrow, I’ll be completely happy tonight. I sigh and rest my forehead on his chest, marveling for the hundredth time at how tall he is. I can feel my shoulders start to relax, and my pulse start to slow as he rubs small circles on my lower back.

“This is crazy.” I sigh. Three simple words summing up so much. The fact that we’re swaying in a crowd of hundreds of teenagers, finally touching. His hands warm around my waist, creating a false sense of safety. How tomorrow we’ll be put in the arena, and our lives officially on the line. How much I want to get out, not for my life, but for our future. How wrong this all is. I can see in his storm cloud eyes, that everything I didn’t say is blaring loudly in his ears. He tugs me by the hand, and I feel fireworks again. Weaving through the crowd of people until we’re walking down an empty hallway. He stops three doors down and opens the artificially colored door. My eyes flit around before following him inside.

“Cassidee, s**t is going to hit the fan tomorrow. Dangerous things are going to happen, we could die. I’ve spent just about forever loving you. I want us both to get out of there safe. But I know that there’s no promise of that happening. No matter what, I want you to know three things: I love you, If I had the choice you’d be mine. Without you, I’m not leaving that arena. I’ll do everything in my power to keep you safe. To have you. I want you with something deeper than my heart, and this may sound crazy: but I need you trust me. I need you to believe in me, I need you to trust in us. We’ll get out of there. I promise you it.” Matthew murmurs, his eyes burning with something I can’t even describe. I can feel an onslaught of tears drumming behind my eyes, begging to escape. He trails his finger over my cheekbone before leaning in and kissing me.

It’s at that moment, that I know I need to fight. I know I need to survive, if not for Kail, if not for my family, for him. I can feel heat rushing into my body, and I feel as if I’ve been cold for my whole life before tonight. A warm tingling sensation envelopes my body, and once again I feel safe. He breaks the kiss much to quickly for my taste, and I know it’s my first, but something in my heart feels that it’ll be my last. His arms find their way around my waist, and I’m resting my head on his chest again. We begin swaying, and it is at this point that I realize he’s singing. I’ve never felt so beautiful, so whole before. 

Just close your eyes

The sun is going down

You’ll be alright, no one can hurt you now

Come morning light, you and I’ll be safe and sound

Author's Note

Tell me what you think?
Part one of the banquet scene...

Reviews

[Philip Smith]

Nice descriptions and I was able to put myself in the scene. Good work