Why I Need You

by Albinodino

Ileah is your average tough girl. She can take it. But what if it'd not just her life at stake? What if she finds herself protecting someone else? What if she has to choose between the people she cares about? A desperate plan set into motion by a single girl. It all starts with a spark.

1. Chapter 1

I do not own The Hunger Games.

Ileah's (Eye-lee-a) POV

I stood stock still, arms pressed to my sides, an expression somewhere between forced calm and total shock glued to my face. I heard that awful, fake cheery voice again and again in my head, calling my name over and over.

Ileah Intest, Ileah Intest, Ileah Intest...

I could feel them staring, thousands of eyes cutting through me, coming unbearably close to breaking my nerve.

But I held on (surprisingly) as I began to walk robotically towards the stage. I was painfully aware of the Peacekeepers, closing in on every side of me, blocking my escape. Not that I could of held of more than one, not to mention the many armed sentry's just past my vision.

I stood stiffly next to the girl who's name I never bothered to remember, the one who called the names. I kept my eyes fixated on the dirt, lifting them only slightly and briefly to identify the boy tribute, Marcus (apparently). I had seen him around, but I'd never really talked to him.

He shot a sideways glance at me, dark hair falling in eyes. In another life, in another world, I might have thought he was cute.

But I was here, and this was now.

And I was about to compete in the Hunger Games.

Chances said I would die. But I promised myself, right then, that I wasn't going down without a fight. I would take at least one of them with me.

I consoled myself with the fact that I wasn't a huge disgrace. The careers, districts 1, 2 and occasionally 3, where just outside my league.

Honestly, 4 didn't have much to own up to.

I heard the casual cheers from the crowd, knowing there hearts just weren't in it. Frankly, mine never was.

What fun was there in watching someone you die?

I was lucky. I didn't have a family to miss. And none to miss me. It was better that way.

I would die and nothing would change, in anyone's lives. People hide from change. I was doing them a favor.

Right?

Whatever. No time for doubt now.

It was all over.

And the thing is, it's almost a relief sometimes, to not have to worry about the struggle for survival.

But survival was hard-wired into my bones.

Little did I know...