#tumblr flagging my canadian spelling of rumour as incorrect lol

[maple-writes]

WHG 14: Behind the Scenes (Ginger)

whg tag list: @ratracechronicler @concealeddarkness13 (Thanks for Triel!!), @nightskywriter , @rhikasa , @the-moving-finger-writes , @aeslin-writes @knmartinshouldbewriting , @pen-of-roses @timefirewrites 

###

The college had been quiet, muted, since the reaping. Not many of the regular students would have known Asher yet, but at this point much of the faculty did and he would have started working along teaching staff the next coming semester. No one really seemed to want to say very much about it, but I could feel the way they looked at me, when we spoke of everyday business and they walked a line between ignoring the obvious and trying to express their sympathies. I’d overheard students talking too, about Cirrus. He’d only been working at the campus convenience store for a few months, but now that he was gone… It was hard not to notice the absence of the seemingly unfriendly and blunt cashier who would sometimes cover the cost of their cheap coffee when they looked like they were having a particularly rough time. Not to mention how now, whenever Millie took his place she didn’t smile anymore.

Charlotte’s office was open, the door ajar, but still I gave a couple knocks before poking my head in. She looked up from her desktop computer, surprise crossing her face as I slipped inside and closed the door.

“Ginger,” She greeted me as I pulled over a spare chair to sit in front of her desk. “I wasn’t expecting you, what’s going on?”

I crossed one leg over the over and leaned forward in my chair. Best to just get straight to the point. “I’m thinking of attempting to rescue Asher and Cirrus.”

Charlotte tensed, eyebrows furrowed and lips pressed tight. “What? Ginger I don’t think that’s possible. I know how hard this must be for you, but I don’t know about this.” She sighed, leaning back in her chair, exhausted. “Why don’t you take some time off? You can have my cabin for a week or two if you like.”

She looked like she could use it more, but I stored that away for later. “Hear me out. There’s rumour I’m not the only one who wants to snag tributes from the games. Remember the games a year or two ago, how there were rumours of something going on behind the scenes?”

I paused, but Charlotte seemed confused. Maybe she didn’t remember, or maybe those rumours weren’t as widespread as I thought.

“Well,” I continued. “Some people think there was a successful escape, and some tributes who are officially dead were among the escapees.” If it were true, it was genius really. How would the Capitol explain if they were to start searching to people who they’d told everyone died in the games? “So what I’m saying, is that it’s not an impossible feat.”

Charlotte paused, thinking. Then she shook her head. “That’s a lot to bet on rumour.”

I rested my cheek on a propped-up hand. “Oh absolutely. One hundred percent.” I smiled, wide enough the points of my fangs just barely showed under pink lipstick. “Which is why I’ve set up a meeting with someone who claims to be attempting to pull it off again. I’ll ask some questions, get a sense of legitimacy, and we’ll see how it goes.”

“I’m not so sure about this…”

“Oh, I’m not asking permission. I just wanted you to know what was going on and why I might be gone for a little while.” I shifted, crossing my legs the other way with a wave of my hand. “After all the work we’ve done with him, after all he’s been through, doesn’t it seem like injustice to let him go without a challenge?”

She sighed, closing her eyes and massaging at the side of head. I didn’t expect she would like the idea, and I’d almost decided against telling her anything at all, but she deserved to know.

Something clunked in the corner as her office printer whirred to life. Charlotte turned in her chair, watching as it spat out a single piece of paper. She plucked it from the tray, read it, then slid it across her desk to me.

Ginger’s right. Besides, I liked having him around.

Warmth brushed across my arm like a summer breeze, barely noticeable if I didn’t know what it meant as Cynthia settled in beside the wall. The founder’s late daughter had seemed to have taken a shine to him ever since his enrollment.

“Thanks you Cynthia.” I grinned at Charlotte. “Looks like even if you did have a say you’re outnumbered anyway.

“There’s no way I can change your mind, is there?” Charlotte gave a reluctant smile. “I wish you luck, you’re going to need it.”

##

This had to be the right place, a small, quiet bar mostly out of the way from too many eyes. At this time of day there didn’t seem to be too much traffic. I paused in the foyer, searching until I found a woman with a large hat and long coat seated at the bar. She looked to be well past a drink or two. She had to be my contact.

I shouldered my purse and made my way towards her. “Are you Triel, by any chance?”

She turned with a wide grin and a tip of her hat. “The one and only. Have a seat. Drink’s on me.”

How sweet. I smiled and took one of the stools beside her. “Thank you for the offer but I’ll just steal one of your empty glasses if that’s alright.” I set my purse down and dug out my pink leopard print bottle. “Not that I don’t trust you, it’s just been a long time since I’ve been able to handle this stuff.”

“What ever works for you.” Triel shrugged. “So, you wanted o discuss a proposition you had?”

I smiled. “Wonderful.” I slid her glass towards me and filled it about halfway with chilled blood. Maybe it would be best to keep things vague for now, just in case. “I hear there’s plans to do something interesting, so to speak, during the games this year, is this true?”

Triel tipped her hat down like a drawn curtain over her face. “I want to get as many tributes as I can out of the arena. I have an airship and a genius engineer who has made machines that keep us invisible to the eye and to the Capitol’s radars. You want in?”

“Wow, you really are prepared!” Thank goodness. If this had been a dead end, it would be over. I took a drink and nodded. “I’m in if you’ll take me. What do you still need?”

For a moment, Triel only watched, looking me up and down. “An alibi. A way to make a clean escape. Even if we avoid all of the Capitol’s eyes, they’ll know if was us pretty quickly. It’s too big of a heist to hide well. At least, unless we have something that proves we weren’t there. Do you know of anything that could help? If not, I won’t reject you from joining. We always need extra hands, especially with the amount of tributes we’ll be rescuing who will probably be injured. It’s a small hope that we’ll make a clean getaway.”

“An alibi eh?” I rested my cheek on my hand. An alibi… “How many heads are we talking about here?”

“Sixteen tributes. Ten people on my crew, not including whoever you’re bringing in with you like I said, a big heist.”

She wasn’t kidding. “I wonder…”I dug through my purse until I found my planner, flipping through to this month. Not a whole lot planned. I flipped back to last month, and my notes from the last faculty meeting. Charlotte had suggested we branch out and be more a part of the community at large. Other departments sometimes put on public lecture series, and she’d once suggested I think of doing something similar.

“What if I hold a seminar or something like that, one that for all intents and purposes you all attended for the entire duration? It could be entry level, maybe even open to non-students, I could label it as public outreach and education.” I closed the notebook and slipped it back into my purse with a smile. “I’m sure I can convince a few old students to attend and back up the claim you all didn’t just arrive for a photo at the end.” Whether or not they knew Asher, at least a few of them could probably be convinced if I could track them down. Luckily for me the students sent my way usually tended to be the, well, unorthodox type to say the least.

Triel smiled back. “That sounds fabulous. I can even lead two of my crew to be there and pretend like we passed notes back and forth the whole time. They’re great at forging writing.” She smirked and leaned back, downing the rest of her drink in one go. “Even though it will be unfortunate I can’t attend your lecture, since you’re so cute.” She held out a hand. “I think this proposition will work.”

I shook her hand with a grin. So she was clever and charming. This plot was in good hands. “Maybe I’ll record it then, just for you.”

She laughed, holding her empty glass in a toast. “A capital idea.” She smiled, as if to her own joke. “We can work out the details in a more private setting. I am happy for you to join this heist.”

Good, I was in. After a brief goodbye, I slipped out back into the quiet street. Should I tell Charlotte? No, the less she knew the better. If she knew what I was up to, and somehow word got to Striker who knew if she’d be able to keep him from trying to track me down. He had far more to lose than I did and I intended to keep him in the dark as long as I could. In fact… I found my phone and pulled up his contact info. I could memorize it by morning, and then delete his number, anything I could think of. I should probably get rid of Charlottes information too. It could always be replaced.