Chapter 1

The reaping

Kandis's POV

I walk down my house's hall. The twitter of birds is here. I hear my mother. I follow the sound of her hollow, scarred voice. "Janis! Stop that!" I hear her say. Janis, my sister sounds scared. I run quietly. Mother's holding her tightly, Janis scared. "Mother?" I ask. Mother turns around. Her curly black hair is tangled.
"Kandis! Your clothes are there," she points at a black dress. I hate it. I get into it and let my hair free. Janis hugs me. I hush her sobbing. After she stops, I walk halfway around the corner. Then I silently turn around and peek into the room. Mother is poised to hit Janis but I zip in and grab her arm. I glare at her and wrap my hand around Janis's. Mother raises her arm and I feel a blow to the face. She'd never do that. It is a dream. No, Mother just slapped me. It's worse than it's ever been. When father was in the mines she'd never say a word. I hate her. I squeeze my sister's hand tighter and take her out the back. Janis's white dress is beautiful. I walk down to the Dalesman. Rossin hands me my knives and I plunge one into a stack of hay. Janis looks at me in surprise. All of a sudden, a hologram appears in the square. There's President Snow Head. "Welcome, Ladies and Gentlemen. As you all know, this year is a Quarter Quell." I remember. I remember all too well. He goes over the quell history. Election, double the tributes, all the victors, blah, blah, blah. "This year we are holding a wonderful Hunger Games. You shall be going into the arena without training! And you've got a special little surprise in store too." Do I care? No. 'Course not. I can fend bloody well for my goddamn self. Janis cares though. I hug her tightly.

"Kandis!" I look up to see Slink, my best friend. I look at Janis and pull her with me towards Slink. He's with his sister, Mockingbird. Janis's face lights up as she sees the young blonde next to Slink and Mockingbird's lights up at Janis. They run of together. Slink looks like father. I feel some warm tears trickle. Slink runs towards me. I hug him and let my face get wet.

"I'm sorry about your father," he says. I smile. Father died 2 weeks ago. Moss Pepperfield runs over to us. She's the Mayor's daughter and her mother died a few days after Father's death. She smiles in relief. I think she's the only one besides Janis and Slink I can relate to.

"Happy Hunger Games!" she says although I can hear that somewhere, her voice is broken with grief. Just like mine. I hug her.

"And may the odds be ever in your favour," I finish. I look at the small clock in the square. Nearly 2:00. I hug them both and go off to find Janis. She's near the river. When I find her, she's bathing.

"Get your clothes on," I say, firmly. She rolls her eyes and puts on her black dress. I sigh and hug her.

"You've done it before!" she giggles. I chuckle.

"With Father." She sniffles. Then the bell chimes. I hold her hand and pull her towards the square. People are gathering. I spot Mother and go over to her with Janis. My Mother's smiling. How horrid, father only died two bloody weeks ago and she's smiling. Moss's father the mayor walks onto the stage. He also seems happy. He waves at my Mother and she waves back. And believe it or not, he blew her a kiss. I stare at him dumbfounded. Could he have-? No. I smack Mother's arm in disgust. "Don't say anything," she sneers. I frown. Our escort, Lilla Hemmingway steps onto the stage after the mayor goes over the history of the Hunger Games. The bowl of girl's names is in front of her. I pray it's not Janis. "As usual, ladies first," she smiles. Typical. While she's dressed in pink silk and emeralds and having the time of her life, we're forced to watch poor children in the streets- yuck. I'm not poor. I'm actually one of the richest. There's never been any debate about money. Everyone's eyes stare at Lilla's hand searching for a piece of paper that will be the contract for us to be sent to our deaths at the hands of the capitol. Finally she picks one up. Please don't be Janis! I think. "Kandis Evervine." I stare. She's just read out my name. And now I'm about to die.

Jinnas POV

I smile with a spark of hope. Maybe he won't smack me today. This is it. The reaping. Last time I tried to volunteer- and failed. Ever since then, father's ignored me. I'm a career- I don't want to be but I am. From the pack known for its murders. Father's proud of that though. "You will volunteer and you will win," Father snarls. I'm his only child. You'd think he'd try to preserve me. Completely the opposite. I roll my eyes. I will. And I'll die. I start walking towards the academy. Its white walls are dazzling. Mocking. The doors open and I find myself in a room filled with weapons and dummies. This'll be probably the last time I'm ever in this room. I grab a sword. I walk slowly towards a dummy. Then I swing my sword around and the dummy's head drops to the floor. It scares me. So what'll happen in the Hunger Games? "Good job," I hear. I glance over my shoulder. It's Acacia Adamsdale. I raise an eyebrow.

"Thank you, Acacia."

"Is that dress going to help you in the Hunger Games?"

"Tell Father that."

I follow her into a large room. The café. She immediately starts making me tea. I relax on a chair. My shoulder-length blonde hair bobs. I relax to the sound of pouring liquid. Acacia's yellow dress is horribly short and her thighs are large. She gives me some tea and I sip it in a ladylike manner. Ding dong! It'll be time to go to the square and the reaping soon. Suddenly I stand up and go looking for Saska, my best friend. I find her in a meadow. I slowly creep up on her from behind. I've taken the sword with me- for real training. She glances and squeals. "Don't goddamn kill me, Jinna!" My horrible stupid name. My weakness. Ugh. I laugh and grip her hand. "Drop it." She sounds so much like my Mother it's scary. I'll have to find her soon. Saska knows she sounds like her. So I drop the sword, and drop to the ground. The bell chimes. It's time for the reaping. Freja Dennington steps into the middle of the stage.

"Welcome, welcome," she chimes. She talks about the past and then asks for volunteers. Maybe Father will be happy if I volunteer.

"I volunteer!" screeches a girl called Willow Eventide. She's pretty but she won't stand a chance. I plough forward and knock her to the ground. the dirt is in her mouth so she spits. Then I punch her and she blacks out.

"Actually, I volunteer," I smile. My blond hair sweeps over my shoulder.

"Everyone, see our new volunteer!" she grins. I step up onto the stage, trembling. I'm going into the Hunger Games. "What is your name, darling?"

"Jinna Merrytree." I spot mother in the crowd, pale. Her eyes are getting puffy. I curtsey to the audience. Applause rings in my ears. I can't even hear when the male is chosen. Adamiah Lowgraze. My enemy. I catch him glaring as we shake hands. He's trying to break my arm! Bloody heck, where's my sword when I need it.

Mockingjay's POV

I walk through the school gates. My sister, Mayde signed up for tesserae. I'm not allowed though. I catch my sister's shape in the corner of my eye and I run to her. She swings me around and I giggle in glee. "Mockingjay, my sister," she whispers. I bury my face in her dress. She chuckles and runs her fingers through my auburn hair. I kiss her. She smiles down at me and I stare in awe. "Mayde," comes a voice. It's Wade, her boyfriend. She's lucky. I'm lucky. I grip her hand tightly and I feel my knuckles being whitewashed. Mayde takes my hand and takes me to The Hob. She can't fight very well, my sister. I sort of can (no offence Mayde) though. I'm good with a bow and arrow, Father's taught me since I was 6. Mayde's always been obsessed over the rules of the district. Never leave the district. But Father has. I've nearly done it. But I'm a bit of a scaredy cat. I can also go from tree to tree. Like the bird that I'm named after. Mayde's hand is wrapped around mine but I pull away. She looks hurt. I apologise and run off. I find the hole in the electric wire that I made to get here. I look around; no peacekeepers. Then I scramble under the wire and run off into the wood. I find my trusty bow and arrow and aim at a bird in a tree. The arrow hits it in the chest. It drops and I find its body lying limp and bloody on the ground. I pluck in and wash it. Then I put it in my bag. I get a few birds and go searching for the hole in the wire. Good thing I didn't rush for it, because a peacekeeper is staring into the wood, watching me. I silently make my way to a wire that is electric. I get up into a tree and crawl along its branch before dropping to the ground. I look around and sprint to my home. I make a fire with some coals and roast a few birds. Then Mother walks through. "Delicious," she smiles. I giggle. After a few minutes, the bird is ready and we have lunch. There's a knock at the door. I hide the birds and open the door. There's a 12-year-old boy standing there. His cheeks are hollow and his skin is stretched over his bones. "Hello? Can I have some bird?" I frown.

"What bird?"

"I saw you cooking that bird." I sigh. Our stomachs are nearly full. I get a whole bird and hand it by the leg to him. He smiles at me. I nod my welcome and shut the door. Mother asks us if we're full and we all deny. I hear a scream from outside. I look out and see the boy about to be whipped. I run out and throw myself in front of him. "He just found that bird. You know I've seen people in the woods, when I've climbed trees. I remember they had a fire." The peacekeepers glance at each other. They whisper something.

"You'll get five lashes instead of twenty-three, lucky boy. And you get five two, little girl." I feel the lashes against my tender skin. I grit my teeth but the boy yelps. I'm glad it wasn't twenty-three. I finally get up and run off. I find a big tree and clamber into its branches. I sit there, thinking. Now they'll be searching all over Panem; including the woods. But I saved that boy's life. Then I hear a whistle. My four-note one. I whistle it back.

"Mockingjay! Come down!" Mother calls. I reluctantly slide out of the tree. There's a thud as my feet hit the ground.

"Your dress."

I make my way back home and get dressed in a purple calico dress. I tie my hair up in a bun. My dark skin is caked with mud. Then Mayde takes me and pulls me towards the square. A woman called Geranium Cresta talks over the history but I don't listen. Then she picks up a piece of paper and reads out the name of the girl tribute. "Mayde Combe." My sister's name. She's pale as she walks along. She glances at me and that's put me into my senses. I run after her.

"I volunteer!" I scream. Mayde stops and looks at me. But she is more fearful than ever. I pant. Some peacekeepers grab me and pull me onto the stage.

"Hello, dear. Who are you?" Geranium asks.

"Mockingjay Combe."

"Was that your sister?"

"Yes."

"She's larger than you. How old is she?"

"Sixteen."

"And you?"

"Twelve." Geranium is pale but carries on. It's only as Geranium reads out the male tribute's name, that I realise what's happened. For the first time in the history of the Hunger Games, a twelve-year-old has volunteered.