Author Note: Before I begin this story, I would like to say a few things. First of all, I'm writing this at 11 o'clock at night, and I have been up since 6:15 this morning. I apologize in advance for any and all mistakes and I promise that this will be edited to the best of my sleep-deprived ability. I will most likely go back over it again after I get some sleep before posting anyway. I would also like to thank my friends for helping me create a lot of my OC's in this story, as there will be quite a few of them. This is also my first long fic that I will be writing. I started to write another one called Life Sucks, but I lost the notebook that had half of the story in it! So I decided that instead of re-writing that, I would start this one, as it has been in the works inside my head ever since I finished the trilogy. I also would like to ask anyone reading this to please give me your opinion because it's invaluable to me. I will stop rambling now and give you a chance to read!

P.S. This is the one time I will write a disclaimer; I DO NOT own THG.

Now, I am pleased to present the prologue of Special.

My father died in a mining explosion when I was 11. Since then, I have become the sole provider for my family. I hunt, I trade at the Hob, I handle all of the money. My mother fell into deep depression, and killed herself three months after my father's death. I will never forgive her. I was desperate to keep me and my little sister, Prim, out of the community home. So, I acted as if we both had parents; I kept the house clean, Prim and I fed and healthy, and sucked it up.

When my father died, I made myself focus on what he had left me, not what he hadn't. He had left me a bow and arrows. He left me knowledge. He left me with experience I could only gain the hard way. He left me capable of doing what I needed to do, as if he expected that he would die.

When I was five, I was chosen to take place in a Capitol experiment, where one child from each district would be taken to the Capitol, and there, they would get a special type of surgery that made them into a Special. Each one was different, and only few lived to tell the tale. While in the Capitol, the districts all got brainwashed into thinking nothing of your absence if they even noticed it.

Since then, I have honed my powers given to me into perfection. My appearance was changed there, too. Before then, I had the look of everyone else from the Seam. Dark hair, olive skin, and grey eyes. Now, I look completely different. Straight deep red hair that reaches just past my shoulders, ivory skin, and eyes that can change between blue and red.

At first, I had felt like I hadn't belonged in district 12 anymore, but everyone else seemed to accept me the way I was, so eventually, I had, too. I fell into a routine. Get up, go to school, hunt with my father, trade at the Hob with my father, eat dinner at home, sleep. Repeat. When my father died, that routine had been broken and I had made a different one, though. Wake up. Get ready, make breakfast, gather a bit in the meadow, wake Prim, eat. School, hunt after, and slowly, I started going back in the Hob without my father. I traded and sold. I then came back to make dinner to eat with Prim. Then sleep and it repeated every day.

But then, as my first reaping approached, I was called to the Capitol and I met with president Snow. He told me that I would volunteer for the 71st Hunger Games. And I would win. When I asked why, he simply smiled a devilish smile and said that I would know when the time came. As I walked out the door, he had called out that I wouldn't have to worry about being reaped until then because he is "Such a gracious president".

I had begun training like a career after that. I had even ventured to the house of our only living victor, Haymitch Abernathy to ask him for pointers and suggestions for how to train. He had eventually caved and started half-training me after I told him about my meeting with Snow. Though I'm sure he did it more because he disliked Snow than any other reason. I hunted more, I skipped school more to hunt and train. My routine broke yet again to be rebuilt. It broke once more when I met Gale, a boy who had to be at least three years older than me.

We slowly grew to trust each other. It took years. Each time I thought of the friend ship Gale and I shared, I thought of the old saying my father had taught me; "Trust takes years to build, seconds to break and forever to repair." It was true in every way. We made a pact that if either one of us ever went into the Games, the other would take care of both families. When I told him I was going to volunteer, he had been curious at first, but I hadn't told him why. After he accepted it, he had even helped me train.

The closer the reaping got, the more I trained. Prim would treat my sore muscles after, and I would still hunt and train the next day. This repeated every day. The reaping drew closer and closer. People in 12 started catching on and asking me about it when I say the, but I always danced around the actual question. Very few people knew of my plans and I was going to keep it that way. The days grew longer. The reaping got closer. Then it arrived.

I hope you liked it! Please review to let me know how I'm doing in this story so far, even though you haven't read much yet. Remember, reviews make my day! :D See you next time my lovelies!