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This was the worst idea in the history of bad ideas and it would land her in more trouble than it was worth.
Effie Trinket glanced back over her shoulder at where her friends were waiting and strongly considered chickening out and walking back to them. Perhaps she could laugh it off, mock them for even playing puerile games in the first place… One look at Viola Summercket’s smug grin told her the other young woman was expecting her to do just that.
She should never have agreed to go have a drink with the other models after the fashion show. Effie was the star of the show, jealousy was only natural and, from Viola Summercket, anything could be expected from stupid dares to tripping fellow models on the catwalk. It had been her idea to play truth and dare and she had goaded Effie until she chose something other than truth.
And now there she was, with their tipsy friends clustered on the sidewalk, watching from a safe distance while she attempted to steal a car.
What sort of dare was that, even?
Celeste gave her encouraging thumbs up and Effie took a deep breath and sent back a casual smile as if she wasn’t at all worried about possible consequences of car theft.
It was late enough that the street was booming with party-goers and there were quite a few cars to choose from. The problem was Effie had no clue how to highjack a car and she didn’t want to commit that sort of crime anyway. She knew one thing for sure: she would not look good in the red woolen uniform of an Avox.
Speaking of Avoxes, she spotted one right in front of a club. He got out of the car and disappeared inside the building.
The car was big, black, and, best of all, the driver door had been left open.
She strode there as quickly as she could, her heart beating fiercely in her chest, telling herself she would keep walking if the Avox came back… A glance told her the driver was busy gesturing at the bouncer, trying to make himself understood…
Effie slid behind the wheel, closed the door and turned the engine on with trembling hands. The car started at once and she sped down the street, automatically glancing at the rearview mirror only to find a small screen in its place. It wasn’t a normal car, there was a tinted partition glass separating the front seats from the back – which was only to be expected with an Avox driver, he had probably been there to pick someone up and he was going to get in trouble over this. Well… He should have watched the car better. Criminals. What did you expect?
You can expect them to be used by someone high enough in the government, a little voice reminded her. With her luck, he had probably been there to pick up a Gamemaker or someone equally important…
And he was running after the car, waving his arms, alerting everyone in the vicinity…
Oh Effie was going to get into so much trouble…
“Fuck, fuck, fuck…” she muttered under her breath. She tried to calm herself down. She would drive a couple of streets further and drop the car, run away… Nobody the wiser.
But what if there are cameras? she thought suddenly.
She should have thought of that before. Hell, she should never have caved to Viola’s ridiculous taunts.
“Oh, this is bad… This is bad…” she mumbled, frantically glancing at the small screen to check the Avox wasn’t somehow chasing the car on foot. There was traffic, not enough that she couldn’t outdistance him but enough that she couldn’t make the speedy gateway she would have preferred.
She was so focused on the road that she almost missed the buzzing sound of the partition glass sliding down.
And she shrieked when she finally realized.
There’s someone in the car!
And not just any someone.
“Oh, fuck! Oh fuck, fuck, fuck!” she screamed when she spotted the well-known face. “Oh, fuck.”
Grey eyes studied her and then the man’s lips stretched into a smirk. “Got nothing against the idea, sweetheart…”
She flushed crimson. “Oh, fuck.”
Twelve’s victor was in the car.
She had stolen a car with Twelve’s victor in it.
Twelve’s only victor.
The only living Quell victor no less.
Oh, she was in trouble… She was in so, so much trouble…
The man moved until he was sitting next to her, his arm hooked over the partition glass.
“So…” he drawled out in his weird Twelve’s accent. “You sure ain’t my Avox.”
“Oh, fuck.” she said again, panicking now. She briefly closed her eyes, took a deep breath, glanced at the rearview screen again and sped up a little because… What the hell was she going to do?
“So you said.” he mocked. “Several times now.”
She had, hadn’t she? How rude.
“I am so sorry about all the cursing.” she finally answered, aiming to sound calm and confident like a car thief surely would be in that situation. “I thought I was alone. I would never swear in public, you understand. How unladylike.”
Haymitch Abernathy watched her for a moment and then snorted. “Sure. Okay. Not that I really care cause I didn’t really want to go to that party but… Any particular reason you’re kidnapping me?” She could feel the heat of his stare traveling from her cheek to her neck down to the cleavage her dress wasn’t exactly hiding. “If you’re after a ransom, I’m thinking you’re out of luck cause they’ll sooner pay you to keep me than give me back… If you want to take advantage of me, now…”
She huffed in outrage. “How improper!”
He laughed then. Deep chuckles that echoed in the driver compartment. He shifted so he was entirely facing her now, half of his leg propped on the bench seat. “Says the kidnapper to the kidnappee…”
“I did not kidnap you!” she protested, reaching for her face to rub her eyes, only remembering her make-up at the last moment. “I was just… borrowing the car.”
“Funny story.” he deadpanned. “I’m sure the Peacekeepers are gonna love it.”
“Peacekeepers?” she repeated. Her heart was beating so hard she was sure it would explode. “No, no, no… No need to involve Peacekeepers. I will just leave the car a little further and…”
“Too late.” He shrugged, pointing at the screen with his thumb. “They’re already hot in pursuit.”
She almost had a heart attack.
But there were no Peacekeepers cars rushing after them, no sirens…
“Black car behind us.” he added. “They’re incognito. They shadow victors everywhere, you know. Security protocol and shit…”
“Language.” she snapped, her voice closing in distress. Was he telling the truth? Were they Peacekeepers? She took a sharp turn right to test the theory and the black car turned too. “Oh fuck! Oh fuck!”
“Take it easy now.” he said almost cheerfully. “Don’t go crashing us in a lamppost.”
“I… I did not mean to!” she hissed. “You have to help me!”
“Yeah…” He snorted, propping his chin on his fist, still watching her with a mad twinkle in his grey eyes. He looked like he was having the time of his life. “See, that ain’t how it works when you kidnap people.”
“For the last time, I did not kidnap you!” she retorted. “I was just… It was a stupid dare! Steal a car, drop it a few streets away… This is all Viola’s devious plan to ruin me!” It was becoming so clear now… And she had been stupid to go along with it in the first place. Stupid and maybe a little drunk. “It is alright… It is alright… Father will never let me be turned into an Avox…”
“Would be a shame to lose that wicked tongue…” he agreed.
Before she could think it through, she shoved off the arm he was leaning on, making him lose his balance. “Stop making fun of me! This is not funny!”
“Now, that’s assault.” he mocked.
“Oh, for…” she huffed, managing to keep the cursing under wrap. She had been cursing enough for her whole lifetime. Her mother would be appalled – less than when she would know she had stolen a Games official car but still… “What do I do? What do I do?”
Haymitch Abernathy was still watching her with this infuriating smirk of his. “You could always buy me a drink.”
“I beg your pardon?” she exclaimed, staring at him in complete confusion.
Oh, but he was handsome. She had forgotten how handsome she used to find him. It was all roguish charm, rough around the edges, and that leather jacket that had no business being worn over that sort of suits…
“Maybe don’t forget to look at the road though.” he teased.
She looked back in front of her just in time to brake. She narrowly missed crashing into the car in front. There was rather a lot of justified honking.
She couldn’t see the black car anymore. “The Peacekeepers left.”
“Maybe they’re planning on cutting you off ahead.” he commented. “You’re better off parking now. There’s a good bar not too far.”
“A bar?” she repeated.
“For that drink you’re gonna buy me.” he insisted.
This conversation was surrealist. The whole night was surrealist. She had stolen a car, kidnapped a victor… She might as well put an end to it before she somehow found herself in a car chase. She found an empty parking spot and immediately faced a new problem. “How do you park this monstrosity?”
The car was bigger than she had first realized and she didn’t see how she was going to maneuver it into the parking spot.
“Just leave it in the street.” he dismissed, already reaching for the door. “They’ll find it. They always find it.”
She frowned and climbed down. Her legs were shaky from the adrenaline and she took a second to make sure she wouldn’t fall before walking around the car and to the relative safety of the sidewalk. There were more honking at them for abandoning the car in the middle of the road.
She also half expected a Peacekeeper tact team to scoop down on her and arrest her.
“How do you know?” she asked.
He flashed her another of those smirks. “Ain’t the first time I steal a car.” He tilted his head with a small face and amended. “Well… Chaff’s usually the one doing the stealing. I don’t know how to drive.”
She took that in stride, licked her lips and glanced at both sides of the streets. It was business as usual. People going in and out of bars and clubs, partying, loudly discussing the Games…
“There never were any Peacekeepers, were there?” she challenged.
He buried his hands in his pockets and shrugged, his grey eyes twinkling. “Who knows?”
She had half a mind to hit him again. “You scared me!”
“And you kidnapped me. We’re even, sweetheart.” he countered, his eyes traveling down her body, lingering on the legs her short dress wasn’t covering. “Still good for that drink?”
“You are infuriating!” she huffed and, before she could even contemplate forgiving him for the fright he had given her, she whirled around on her heels and strode away. Celeste had her purse. She didn’t have any money or even her keys… She needed to find her friends before she could even go home. It was the worst night she had had in a while.
She didn’t make it to the end of the street before she felt a large shape falling in step with her. She shot him a glare but if he was disturbed by her hostility, he didn’t show it.
“You’re something else, ain’t you?” he half-accused. “Come on, give me a name at least.”
“So you can tell Gamemakers and Peacekeepers I kidnapped you?” she scoffed. “No, thank you.”
He rolled his eyes but he still looked more amused than irritated. “How about I buy you the drink?” She glanced at him suspiciously but he put a hand on his heart in a very fake show of sincerity. “As an apology for getting kidnapped when you just meant to steal my car.”
She slowed down her brisk pace.
“Why do you want to have drinks with me at all?” she challenged.
He didn’t even hesitate. “Cause you’re the hottest woman I’ve seen in a while and I wanna sleep with you.”
She took the compliment at face value. She knew she must have been the hottest woman he had seen in a while because she had been elected Sexiest Woman of Panem by Capitol Gossip two years in a row. She was it right then. At least if nobody told the press she went around stealing cars. Truly, she should have known better than to fall for Viola’s scheming.
“You should know I am not one of your groupies.” she stated. “I am quite famous myself, I will have you know.”
“I know.” he acknowledged and, at her frown, he wriggled his eyebrows. “You do lingerie.”
Her lips twitched. This was getting interesting. Had he recognized her at once? Had he been playing with her this whole time? Was she a fantasy of his? Did he look at lingerie magazines and…
“Amongst other things.” she nuanced. She wasn’t some cheap porn girl either.
“You’re very hot.” he said again.
“That I am.” she agreed. “And you are very unkempt. Do you call this a beard or a dead porcupine?”
He chuckled again, looking more and more interested by the second. “You’re a firecracker, ain’t you?”
She preened a little at that. She had been called worse.
“Why did you pretend not to know my name then?” she asked.
He shook his head. “Don’t know your name. Just know your face.”
And the rest of her body clearly.
“Well, then.” She grinned at him. “You can tell them the girl from the lingerie magazine abducted you. I am sure they will believe you.”
“They’ll think I’m drunk.” he joked self-depreciably. “You’re out to ruin my reputation, sweetheart?”
“I am not certain there is enough left of one to ruin.” she teased. He did have a reputation for getting into drunken stunts with his friends and not being much of a model mentor…
He laughed again. This time when he reached for her arm, she stopped walking. He looked earnest enough when he searched her eyes. “Come on, let me buy you a drink. Please.”
She had the feeling he wasn’t the kind of man who said please a lot.
And she wanted to make him say it again, maybe in another situation with a lot of less clothes.
“Alright.” she relented. “One drink.”
“One drink and the rest of the night.” he immediately negotiated.
She lifted her eyebrows high. “It better be an expensive drink then.”
“You’re high maintenance.” he accused, offering her his arm.
“You have no idea.” she laughed. She let him stir her in the direction of a popular bar. The silence stretched for a minute before she finally caved. “My name is Effie Trinket.”
“Effie Trinket, criminal mastermind…” he teased. “It does have a ring to it.”
“Oh, stop!” she chided, whacking his arm. “I was not really stealing that car.”
“You did really kidnap me, though.” he pointed out.
“Is it kidnapping when the victim clearly enjoys the abduction?” she hummed.
He leaned down to whisper in her ear and his hot breath rolled down her neck making her shiver in anticipation. “I’m planning on enjoying it a lot more…”
She licked her lips and hid her satisfaction behind a smug grin.
She was looking forward to that.