Scarlett's POV
I don't hunt. I absolutely hate it. So Jonah is the one who provides for us, and our two year old daughter. Our district is always starving, and people die off everyday, yet we were stupid enough to let her happen. We couldn't afford to feed one of us,never mind three. But even if she was going to be another mouth to feed, we knew it was our responsibility to take care of her. Jonah and I are 18, so this will be the last year we are entered in the hunger games. We both signed up for the tesserae, which is extremely dangerous, but we need the food. Yet not once has any of our names been called. And hopefully after this year we will never have to face this horrible day again.
I looked behind me as I heard Jonah come in with his latest game. I used to be a vegetarian, but with the lack of money, you don't have much choice in food. It was a rabbit, I could see the blood dripping from where he had stabbed it.
"It's smaller than usual, but it's better than nothing"
I nodded "it'll have to do.." I moved my eyes away from it. Blood disgusts me, and when I see it or smell it, I can get very sick. He took it into the kitchen and started to skin it.
This is what bothers me about these games. The blood, and how it is the innocent that must lose it all. I was pretty sure that was what bothered everyone else too. I couldn't imagine being given a knife and being told to kill 23 people. 23 people who have lives and family, and so much potential. But it is all wasted by the Capitol.
Our daughter was sleeping peacefully in her playpen. She had no idea if the events that took place this time every year. Putting on our best clothes, walking with our heads held high into the square, then watching as two people are chosen, and told they will die while all of Panaem watches them. My eyes already started to form tears, knowing this could be the fate for ether of us.
At the moment I was sewing up a hole on the only dress that I owned, a nice white one with short sleeves that ended at the knees. And a small rose positioned in the top left corner. But I put it down, since I wasn't paying attention and would eventually stab myself. I packed my sewing kit away and tucked it in a cupboard in our living room then called out to Jonah "I'm going to lie down. The blood's giving me a head ache..."
His voice was expressionless as he said "okay" to me. I walked into the bedroom to get some rest. I thought maybe if I could just dream something nice, it could all go away for a while. And when my head hit the pillow, my brain lit up with many different dreams...
Jonah's POV
It's been two years since we had our daughter. And yet our feelings have not come into play once in the last while. As our lives became more stressful, our love was replaced with survival. I hunt, she cooks, sews and cleans, and more importantly takes care of the kid.
If it weren't for that one night, the night after her brother was picked. At the time, we had been going out for less than a year. And in that time, we both knew we loved each other. When that happened, she was an absolute mess. She needed someone to come to, I was here, and suddenly we were in the bed together. Nothing works better than distraction. Sure it felt good in that moment, but we knew right after it was wrong. And now we were stuck, out little girl the only thing holding us together.
We've had so many fights. She would run out of the house, only to return a few hours later, weeping and saying how sorry she was. But she knew what I always argued was true. She was no longer the free spirited, fiery girl I wanted. Now she was up tight and always tired. And most importantly, she wasn't really lovable anymore.
As this thought popped back into my mind I sliced the knife down hard on the rabbit skin. I was messing it up horribly, but I was too distracted to even care. Food is food, and if she complained, then she could go out and get her own game from now on.
I started to think of the reaping. About what we had said we would do if one of us were picked. We could not volunteer. One would stay home with our little girl, the other could fight to their death. If both of us were picked, we would stay together until the very end, then wait to see who would die of starvation or dehydration first, because we both knew we couldn't hold a knife up to each other.
I hated thinking about these what if's but the Capitol get them stuck in your head, because you know there is a possibility that they may not actually be what ifs. And this made my blood boil even more. All the talk about death of loved ones, having to leave a daughter behind, even if you didn't want her yet. It was all for fun. But it was our life now. We fight for the entertainment of others.
I finished skinning the rabbit then set it down on the counter. At the same time our little girl started crying. I washed my hands thoroughly to make sure all the blood was gone then I went over and picked her up. Her name was Lacy. A beautiful blonde little girl, who had no idea about the world she was born into. Nor did any of us until we were older. We knew nothing of the districts, of the starvation, of the cruel society that surrounded us. But we had our own ways of dealing with it.
I stared at the face of my daughter. I couldn't imagine losing her. I loved her with all my heart, and if I were to be picked tomorrow, I knew that I would fight until the bitter end to return to her. You would think this is the type of stuff I would say about Scarlett. I do feel this way, but she doesn't feel the same back, so why waste my energy? If she died in the arena, I would be crushed. If I died in that arena, it would be a loss of a food source for her, not a loss of a loved one.
I paced around the hallway until she was asleep again, then I placed her back in the crib. I heard Scarlett's door open and turned around. "I'm not hungry tonight... Just put It in the fridge for tomorrow.." I nodded them she closed to door again.
What a waste of fresh game. She doesn't appreciate me at all, and it really gets under my skin. She hasn't a clue how much we risk when I go hunting, illegally no less, and how she has no right to complain the next day about how it tastes old and gross.
I decided to sleep on the couch tonight, so I could collect my thoughts better. I want to run away, but I can't. And I won't, for Lacy. All I know is if I am picked tomorrow, I will make sure I play my cards right, and maybe then she could finally love me...