CHAPTER 1


CLOVE

I don't believe in love. I have grown up in a family filled with hatred and remorse, love being the last thing being shared. My brother doesn't talk to me, staying out of the house for as long as possible, sometimes days at a time, so that he doesn't have to feel the wrath of our father for failing to compete in the Hunger Games. He had just turned 18, and did not win the volunteer spot during the Tribute Competition. This just put even more pressure on me to win it, even though I knew that this year would be my year. The other years I had dropped out of the competition, not being ready to compete in the Games. This year, I am 16 years old, and I'm going to win.

I've grown up pushing all of my energy into training. It's the only release that I can find for my anger; the feeling of the metal hilt of the knife leaving my hand as it flies into the dummy opposing me. As soon as I turned 12, I have trained as hard as I possibly could, because if I didn't, I would fall apart. I needed to get away from my home because of my father, that god-awful man, hitting me when I don't push myself hard enough. Until one day when everything changed when I bumped into a certain blue eyed, muscular boy at the training centre.


CATO

I play it off that I'm tough, that I don't feel anything. I try to show people no love or emotion, as if I were heartless. This is a necessity because otherwise I would quickly be seen as a target for the other opponents, and eventually when I won the volunteer position during the Tribute Competition, an easy tribute to take down during the Games. So I have to constantly cover up the love that I feel in my heart. The only person that I love in my life is my baby sister. I still can't forgive my parents for giving another life, when she is just going to be forced to fight to the death. I would do anything to protect her, including giving my own life. I push myself hard in training, because I know that I need to win the volunteer position to be able to compete in the Hunger Games. I need to become the male tribute of District 2, and then come back stronger than ever, able to protect her.

The only person who I have ever felt anything close to what I feel for my sister was a small, dark haired girl that I immediately found an interest in when I saw her throwing knives with insane accuracy in the training centre.

That day, I was running to the training centre to throw some spears. I was 14, but I knew that I was already one of the best athletes in the place. I was usually the only one there at this time in the morning, but today there was one other. As I walked in, I heard the swish of a knife as I saw a metal glint in the air. The knife zoomed past me to my right as it punctured the dummy in the heart.

I looked to the thrower keenly, interested to see who had such precision and accuracy. I was shocked to see a small girl with long dark hair and icy blue eyes looking back at me. She was clearly younger than me, but she was breathtakingly beautiful. I approached her smirking, "Nice throw, was it luck or do you actually know how to wield a weapon unlike most the people in this place?" She looked at me with surprise and I think I saw a light blush creep into her cheeks before the look vanished and was replaced by one of contempt. "Yeah, well it's good to know that someone knows how to appreciate skill when they see it." She said arrogantly. She looked mad at herself for some reason, as if she were fighting an inner battle. I decided to ignore it, and play with her. "I mean, it was good but we both know that I could pin you down any day." She laughed and smirked. "Yeah right. Give me a knife and you would be dead in a second." "Want to figure out?" I questioned what I thought to be flirtatiously.

For the next 10 minutes we fought each other, wrestling and pinning each other down, both wanting badly to be the winner. Finally, I ended up on top of her, she pinned underneath me. "So, what's your name, knives?" I asked with a hint of pride in my voice over beating her. "Clove." She replied sounding somewhat out of breath and defeated. "Well, Clove, I'm Cato." I breathed. "It's good to have finally found a good opponent in this place." I added. As I said that, her face lit up for a quick second, before returning to its neutral position. I could tell that she was happier to have found someone to train with than she was letting on.