Hello. I've decided to write an original Hunger Games story. All the characters are OC, and of my own creation, however, the concept of the Hunger Games was completely Suzanne Collin's idea, and i cannot take credit.
Anyways, I hope you enjoy this, and please leave a review and let me know if I should continue or not! Thanks! :D
"Aradina Acklers."
My heart stops beating. My body goes numb. My face falls.
I have just been selected to be a tribute in the 36th Annual Hunger Games. An escort from The Capitol grabs my upper arm with unnecessary force and drags me to the stage where the prissy looking women who called my name stands with a smug smile.
She knows. She knows that I'm going to die. Everybody knows.
"Right, now onto the boys!" she says with enthusiasm. "Kingston Harley!" She loves this. She loves seeing the shock on our faces and the fear in out eyes.
I didn't know Kingston too well. He's only thirteen. He's too young to die.
I have only just now noticed that my face is wet, and tears were steadily streaming from my eyes.
"Congratulations to our newest tributes from District Seven! May the odds be ever in your favor!" The cold hearted women steps down from the stage, and the escorts grabs Kingston and me and drag up into the City Hall, where we will await our visitors.
I am Aradina Acklers, as you already know. I am sixteen years old, my hair is black and falls to my waist, I have icy blue eyes, and pale skin. I have three younger sisters named Gretta, Vanessa, and Hallie. They are all 12 years old, triplets. My parents work very hard for little pay, so we are quite poor. I do all the extra work around the house while my parents are working their lives away to try and pay for a better life for us.
None of this will matter in a few days, seeing as I'll be dead.
I hear the door burst open, and I am greeted by the sobs of three little girls.
"Ara, I don't want you to go!" pleads Hallie. "You should run away now, so you don't have to die!"
"Please, don't die!" Gretta sobs, "You can't die!"
"When you leave, who will make us dinner when mommy and daddy are working?" Vanessa bawls.
I see my parents' faces have tears streaming down them as well.
"I'll come back alive," I lied, "I promise, I'll live for you." My little sisters' faces look comforted, however my parents knew better. I hated to lie to my sisters, but all they needed now was comfort. I can't tell them the truth.
My sisters all pulled me into a bear hug, and my parents joined in soon after.
"I love you, Dina," I heard my dad whisper into my ear.
"You'll always be my baby," My mom whispered into my other ear.
They know I won't make it. They know I don't stand a chance.
"Aradina?" A tall, muscular blonde girl entered my compartment on the lavish tribute train. I nodded my head, to show her I was listening. I already knew who she was.
"My name is Caridee Washbourne, I'll be your mentor for the games this year," She extended her hand, and I shook it. Caridee was one of the three remaining District Seven winners. The other two were Walter Harris, a man who was about 80 years old, and Francis Gerber, a man who was 35. Caridee had won the Hunger Games just three years ago, when she was 17. The memories of watching her stab and kill people were still fresh in my mind.
"I know you don't want to be here," she said, kindly, "Heck, nobody wants to be here, but I'm going to train you, and you are going to be victor." I snorted. Yeah right, princess.
"Aradina, you have to believe in yourself," she said, looking me straight in the eyes. "Do you want to die? Because if you do, I'm not going to waste my time mentoring you."
"Of course I don't want to die." I snapped at her, "Who would want to die? I have just come to terms with the fact that I'm not strong or brave. I don't have what it takes to come out of this alive."
"You think I didn't feel the same way three years ago when my name was called?" Caridee asked, returning the same sass that I dished out. "I thought I was a goner, but I pulled through with hard work and determination. Now, Aradina, are you going to win the 36th Annual Hunger Games?"
"Sure," I said with sarcasm. Caridee just raised her eyebrows.
"We'll work on your attitude. Get some sleep, we'll be arriving at the Capitol at eight o'clock tomorrow morning." She turned around and sauntered out of the room.
It was three o'clock in the morning, and sleep had still not come for me. My thoughts would not settle. I realized that I would never see my family again. I would never see the few friends that I had back in District Seven again. Ever again.
When it dawned on me that I was not going to get any sleep, I decided to stroll about the halls of the train. I left my compartment and silently slipped out the door. I walked down the hall a ways, my mind wondering, until I suddenly heard whispers coming from the compartment I was passing on my right.
I cautiously slid open the door, worried that I'd see the career tributes making plans, but that's not what I saw. There were tributes sitting on the floor, but none of them were careers. I saw two girls, from districts 5 and 9, and two boys, from districts 3 and 8. They were sitting in a circle, just talking.
"Couldn't sleep?" The girl from nine asked, sliding over to make room for me in the circle. "Neither could we. I'm Legacy."
I sat in the space that she had cleared for me.
"Aradina," I said, smiling slightly at her.
"I'm Rachelle," says the other girl.
"Dennis," says the boy from three.
"I'm Clark," says the boy from eight. "And we were just discussing how we hope to die in the arena."
"I want mine to be quick and painless," I said, I had already thought about my preferred death. "No bloodshed, I don't want my little sisters to see me bleed out."
"I want to be one of the first to die, so I don't have to live through hell in the arena," Dennis proclaimed. "You see what they've done when it gets down to ten people. I don't want to be burned alive." He was talking about last year's Hunger Games, where the Gamemakers killed off three people in a wildfire.
"I don't want to die at all," Rachelle said wistfully, "But I'm definitely not strong enough to be victor. Have you seen the careers this year? They look tough."
"I actually haven't seen them," I said. I could only imagine how terrifying they looked. Careers were often muscular, tall, and had a thirst for blood.
"The boy from Two is about 6'4"," Dennis said, shuddering. "He looks like he could rip a kid like me in half."
"We should form an alliance," Clark said, looking serious. "I know it's probably not the smartest thing to do, but if we want to outlive the careers, we have to have some sort of team."
"I agree," I said at once. Clark looked over at me and gave me a smile.
"Okay, I'm in," Legacy agreed a second after I did.
"Me too," Rachelle added, smiling. "It feels nice to have friends, even though after this, we'll probably all be dead."
"I'll team up with you guys if I make it past the blood bath," Dennis said. He was referring to the first hour or so of the Games, when everybody was in the same place, fighting for weapons, supplies, and food.
"I want Zharra to be with us, too," Clark said, everyone around the circle nodded, but I was confused. Clark noticed. "Zharra is the little girl who was reaped with me. Her family lives right next door to mine. I have to keep her safe." I nodded.
"I think I'm going to try and get some sleep," Legacy said, standing up and pushing her dirty blond hair out of her eyes. "God knows I'll need it." Rachelle and Dennis followed soon after her, leaving just Clark and me.
"So, you said you had little sisters," Clark said after Dennis left, "How old are they?"
"They're all twelve, triplets," I said, becoming sad thinking about them. "They were so nervous about possibly getting reaped. They didn't even expect it to happen to me." Clark nodded sadly. "What about you, do you have any siblings?"
"Yeah," Clark said, looking at the floor. "Three little brothers and two little sisters between the ages of 14 and 6. I don't know what they and my parents will do without me."
"Yeah, I have the same worries," I said, "My mom and dad both work sixteen hour days, I was the one who always watched my sisters."
"Those Gamemakers really know how to turn people's worlds upside down," Clark, said, with a bitter grin on his face.
"That's for sure," I said, making a similar face.
"Maybe we should try and get some sleep," Clark said, looking at his wristwatch to see the time.
"You can go to bed, if you want," I said, "There's no way I'm going to fall asleep."
"We can both sleep here, if you want," Clark said. I could tell he wasn't trying to be romantic or anything, just a good guy.
"That might help," I said, laying down on the compartment floor, "Thanks. And good luck in the arena."
"You, too," Clark said, and soon, we were both asleep.
I also thought I'd include a list of all the competitors in this Games and their ages... so, here you go!
ONE
Starlight Summers - 18
Storm Reddit - 17
TWO
Paris Deer -17
Calor Mitt - 18
THREE
Justine Schmitt - 14
Dennis Vold - 15
FOUR
Cloud Freemont - 18
Bradford Dellers - 18
FIVE
Rachelle Tilbit - 17
Duke Bell - 15
SIX
Cassidy Dobbins - 13
Jackson Lee - 18
SEVEN
Aradina Acklers - 16
Kingston Harley - 13
EIGHT
Zharra Orr - 12
Clark Riddler - 17
NINE
Legacy Meyer - 16
Dean Welbert - 15
TEN
Allison Lures - 15
Kel Harrison - 14
ELEVEN
Stacey Michaels - 17
Gil Green - 17
TWELVE
Angelica Dee - 16
Xander Schultz - 12
