In a very short amount of time it was just John and I, the only sound was the wind hitting the windows. This was a fancy capital train, so it made no noise and shot at speeds most of us couldn't imagine. What would've taken a week or so was now only a day and a half.
"Do you have any method on how to stay calm during all of this?" John asked. I chuckled a little bit, thinking about the drug shoe.
"Nothing legal." I pointed out. He looked a bit more nervous now.
"Do you think I have a chance?" he asked nervously.
"I don't know, what are your skills?" I asked. He took a moment to think about that, as if he had to actually search his brain, a bad sign usually.
"Well, I help my dad in the mines, so I guess I'm strong, and I'm okay with a knife, and I managed to kill a squirrel with a rock one time." John said. I laughed at the last one, making him crack a nervous smile.
"Well, unless the tribute is really, really small, I think we have some work to do." I decided. His smile faded.
"I'll be the first to die." He sighed.
"Don't you dare think like that!" I snapped almost immediately, surprising even myself. I wasn't the type to be all to give out stars for self-love, but I still didn't want John to think that he would die. "You could go in that training room, pick up a bow and find that you are gifted with it, or swords, or anything. In the arena there are no rules; weapons are not the last thing you can use to kill people." I pointed out.
"So if I got a really big rock and threw it from a tree that could work." John suggested.
"Critically speaking, even though that sounds almost impossible." I pointed out. "You don't even need to do that, get a grip and you can snap their neck."
"Well that's pretty violent." He laughed. I just sighed.
"It's the bloody hunger games; it will never not be violent." I pointed out. John frowned; it was obvious that he was horrified of what was going to happen to him.
"What about the climate? Do we know what that will be yet?" he asked.
"Unfortunately no, you find out when the tube takes you to the platform." I pointed out.
"Do we know who the other tributes are?" he asked.
"No, not until the parade do we get our first look. But remember in the training to evaluate them all, see what their strengths are, see their weaknesses, the stations they don't attend, use those against them." I insisted.
"That seems like a lot of work for one person." He pointed out.
"Well, I wouldn't go to Irene for help, because if worse comes to worse you'll have to use her weaknesses against her too." I pointed out. John sighed; I think he already considered that too. There was some silence, and I really wanted one of the other people to walk in, even Irene just to let me escape. I didn't know what to say, I knew I had to pretend like it was all fun and games after you get out of the arena, I couldn't make him feel like walking out is just the first step of the eternal torture.
"Where you scared?" he asked. I laughed, but I knew it wasn't a question.
"Scared is a serious understatement." I remembered. "But I assure you, the nerves kick into adrenalin, and that works for you in the long run. If you're not scared I'd be very worried."
"Like Irene." He muttered, looking around to see if anyone was listening.
"She seems so determined to win, but sponsors can't save your life." I pointed out.
"We don't know how good she is with weapons though." John said.
"Use your brain as a weapon, out think all of the competition, that's what I did, and I had no sponsors." I admitted.
"Now that I look at you, I think I remember you from a couple grades above me, in school I mean." John said, studying my face.
"School is so far behind both of us now." I laughed.
"Yes, I do, you were the one that sat underneath the apple tree!" he remembered. I smiled shyly.
"Well it's always good to be known as that." I admitted. I remembered the apple tree, I loved sitting under there, it was so peaceful, until, of course, the other kids fond me. One time I had spitballs in my hair for a week before they finally washed away. Kids were cruel, but they only beat up on others because they have nothing else but that satisfaction. Usually the bullies were the ones that were dirt poor, their only houses were a few wooden beams and sheets.
"It feels like an entire life time ago." I admitted.
"It kind of is." He agreed.
"Just get out of these games, and then we'll get all deep talks okay?" I recommended. John laughed weakly, but he didn't look confident that he'd ever win. I had my doubts too, of course I did, but I had to hope, I had to hope, I was his sponsor after all. The door opened, about time, and Mrs. Hudson walked in cheerfully, carrying a platter of tea.
"How's it going dears?" she asked. I just frowned at her as she set the tray on the coffee table, containing a tea pot, two tea cups, and a plate of biscuits.
"Fine, thank you Mrs. Hudson." John said with a smile.
"So polite, I hope it rubs off on you Sherlock." She said with a disapproving glance to me. I just gave her a sarcastic smile and crossed my arms, the signal for her to leave. She just frowned, but walked out quickly, her high heels clicking.
"She's from the capital?" John asked.
"One of the few sane ones yes." I agreed, reaching for the tea pot. I poured a cup, and then found myself pouring one for him too. I cringed at finding myself being polite. I was never polite, not even to the people I care about most, why was this even happening?
"She seems nice." He decided.
"She is nice, too nice to be an escort if you ask me." I agreed.
"I think we need good people to be escorts, people that make you feel at home even when you're just preparing for death." He decided.
"Don't think about it like that." I said, handing him a tea cup.
"Well, it's hard not to." He sighed. I shrugged. I knew how he felt, on this train last year I was almost certain I would die. Molly had these one on one talks with us too, but usually I just gave simple, one word answers and was done with it. I knew I was going to be a rubbish mentor, so did everyone else, my people skills were in the negatives. I just felt bad for Molly, who probably had to listen to Irene talk and talk and talk.
"What did you do in the ratings? What did you preform?" he asked.
"I think I just did something with numbers, very complicated math, I ended by throwing an axe at the paper though." I shrugged.
"And what did you get?"
"A four. As I said, even I wasn't expecting to win, math doesn't get you very far in the games, and the axe only chopped of the corner." I shrugged, taking a sip of tea and then adding sugar to it, it was quite tasteless without it.
"That kind of sucks." He said.
"Well I hope you do better than I do." I encouraged.
"So you want me to remember all the tributes and their weaknesses?" he asked.
"Yes, I think we decided that." I agreed.
"Can we put them in a book or something?" he asked.
"Should we make a hit list scrapbook?" I laughed. John didn't seem to find it funny, but he cracked a polite smile and looked kind of embarrassed.
"I guess so." he agreed. "That makes it easier to remember."
"I'll see what I can do." I decided.
"Unless that's against the rules or something, I don't know what we are and aren't allowed to do." John pointed out.
"No, we're allowed to know the tributes, I'm not sure anyone has ever gone to this great of lengths though." I said.
"Always good to be remembered for something then." He said with a smile. I just glared at him, I didn't want him to think that he was going to die, and I wouldn't listen if he started being negative.
"You'll go down in history." I assured. John just laughed with doubt, which made me want to slap him in the side of the head just to get his mind right. I knew I shouldn't care too much since I had thought that way when I was here, but I just didn't want him to. It was weird, I knew I shouldn't care for this boy, I knew I couldn't because there was a one in 24 chance that he would actually live.
"I don't know sir, I doubt I can do this." He muttered.
"Usually the underdogs come out on top." I pointed out. The door opened again, and this time it was Molly and Irene, who was talking about some stuff yet again. I ignored her, thankfully having the power to do so.
"How did your talk go?" Molly asked, sitting on the couch next to me. I nonchalantly scooted over, but I think she noticed.
"It was fine." I muttered.
"We decided..." John started.
"That we weren't going to talk about it to anyone else." I ended, interrupting him with a glare. "That is the purpose of one on one."
"Yes, sorry sir." He muttered. Molly raised an eyebrow at me, but I just ignored her once again. By now I think she's used to me not noticing she even existed, which was perfectly fine with me.
"How about you?" I muttered.
"We made some decisions." Irene said confidently. I wondered if Molly was involved in any of those decisions, but I doubted it. I also wondered if it was okay for Irene to die before she got to the games, crushed in a carriage accident maybe. I knew I wasn't the only one considering that. Mrs. Hudson joined us, sitting in the armchair and turning on the TV. There was nothing much on, except the news. They were talking about the upcoming games, but they couldn't say anything about the tributes themselves, so it was kind of dull. In the end Mrs. Hudson gave up, flicking it off with a sigh.
"Well I think it's getting late dears, you might want to head off to bed." she decided.
"I thought you'd never ask." I said with an annoyed huff, and with nothing more than a farewell wave of my hand I was out of there, finally back to the peaceful seclusion of my room. I locked the door again and sighed, knowing that once I lay my head down another battle starts. This train would only make the dreams worse, the memories too vivid and terrifying. I sighed, changing into my pajamas and throwing my robe over the bed post for the morning. The lights were voice activated, so I just said off and they flicked out. With one hand over the handle of the knife, I managed to drift off.

I was running through the jungle, I heard someone behind me, but I didn't know who it was, or what it was. I was armed only with a small knife, not very good in long distance, but if I could get a good blow to the head or heart it could be enough. I knew I couldn't outrun this person forever. I picked up speed, I was almost to the pond, if I could get them in the water I might be able to drown them. I felt an arrow rush past me, skinning the side of my shirt and pinching my skin. I kept running, weaving back and forth. The more arrows I could get them to waste the better. The pond was in view, I was so close, and then my leg got tangled in a vine, a trap or just a terrible coincidence, either way I went down. My body slammed into the moss and mud, and I scrambled to turn over right before a boy came flying out of nowhere. I rolled away as a knife was jabbed at my head, using my free leg to kick him in the stomach and away from me. While he was a little ways away I took that opportunity to cut the vine from my foot, getting to my feet and swinging my knife around threateningly. He merely laughed, taking out a large hunting knife from his bag as if I were no more than a deer. He charged, swinging at my head, but I sidestepped, shouldering him into a tree and before either of could react I jammed the knife into his temple, the weakest part of the skull.
"Sherlock! Sherlock wake up!" Molly's voice woke me with a start; somehow I was on the floor of my bedroom, lying in the remains of the bed post. I groaned, using the dresser as support to pull myself up. I looked around; realizing that sometime in my sleep I had attacked the post with the knife, thinking it was that district three boy. There was a small crowd at the door, Mrs. Hudson and John as far as possible, but Molly was the only one brave enough to actually approach me. I let out a shuttering breath, terrified of what I had just done, but even more terrified of what I might have done if she hadn't managed to wake me up. There was a strange pain in my side, where the 'arrow' had hit me, and I realized it was just a splinter of wood. The dream wasn't how it had played out in the arena, I had killed the boy, but he didn't have bow or a vine trap, somehow that had worked into the dream by me probably getting wrapped up in the sheets and falling out of the bed.
"Are you okay Sherlock?" she asked as I pulled the piece of wood out of my side. It was kind of embarrassing standing in front of all of them in my pajamas, which only consisted of a pair of fleece pants, but I knew they were more focused on my wood murdering than anything.
"I'm fine." I muttered, maybe physically, but definitely not mentally. I shoved the dream behind locked doors again, managing to forget it for the moment. If anyone looked terrified, it was John, who had gone completely white in the face. Mrs. Hudson had a protective arm around him, just in case I went murderous, but she looked just as nervous.
"I'm fine, really, don't worry." I assured, trying to look better than I actually felt. To prove my point I picked up a piece of the bedpost, seeing it had slashes all over it, and tried to fix it back onto the bed with an encouraging smile.
"Do you want some tea hon?" Mrs. Hudson asked.
"No, you people need sleep, I'll be fine." I assured.
"Do you need someone to stay and talk?" Molly asked. Ever the mediator.
"No, I'm serious people, I'm completely fine." I assured. They didn't seem all that convinced, but they nodded in the end, Mrs. Hudson and John were the first to leave. She was saying something softly, probably something about tea or sleep or something, but Molly stayed were she was.
"I have the dreams too, you're not alone with this." She pointed out.
"Ya, but you don't attack things do you?" I demanded.
"Well, no, but I know the trauma, and the only way to get it out is to talk, not to hold it all in. It's too much for one person." She insisted.
"Molly, just go to bed, I'm completely fine." I hissed, glaring at her. I didn't need to cuddle and let all of my hidden emotions go, I only wanted to get all of this over with so I could just go home and get all of this over with.
"Good night Sherlock." She decided, leaving the room and closing the door softly behind her. As soon as she left I climbed back into the bed, wiping the wood off and digging around underneath, almost frantically searching for the only thing that would help me sleep the rest of night. I found the shoe, sticking a needle into my forearm and sighing as the world seemed to slow down, relaxing everything. I was fine, there was nothing to be worried about, it was a peaceful world filled with sleep. I stuffed everything back under the bed and collapsed onto the pillows, this time I was able to sleep the rest of the night without dreams.