Part I:
Before The Games
Chapter 1
No one can express paranoia or insanity without admitting they're out of their mind. No one can claim their insanity without admitting their losses. Their pain. Their fear.
Fear has no reason to stand with insanity, though they must be closely related, for without fear, what would push us close to the edge? It only takes one occurrence, one instant to make you lose your mind.
Annie rose early that morning, the thoughts in her head peaceful and relaxing. Until she realised the reality of the day. It was reaping day.
It was a relief to her every year to live in District 4. It meant she always had just enough food to feed her family of four and therefore she had no need to sign up for Tessera. Her name was only in the bowl a total of five times, nothing compared to some others she knew. Although there wasn't much of a chance she'd get reaped, it wasn't impossible. She had hoped the odds were in her favour.
She got out of bed and tiptoed to the kitchen next door, making sure not to wake her sister, Amy.
She was only 11 years old, so there was absolutely no chance of her being picked at the reaping, which made Annie feel much better about the awful hours to come.
When she got to the kitchen, she noticed her mother was already up and out the front of the small house, watching as people scurried by.
She was whistling, something she didn't do often, only on the day of the Reaping.
She used to sing to Annie, back when she wasn't supposed to be tough or mature. She even sung on her first reaping to calm her nerves.
There were some songs her mother taught her that she could never repeat. They were illegal songs, banned by the president. Apparently, according to her mother, they were banned because they revealed too much information about the Capitol. Her mother understood the Capitol more than she did, so she never questioned this.
One of the songs that was made Illegal was called Safe. It was one of Annie's favorites as a child, until she found out it was about the dead tributes in the Hunger Games. But still, sometimes she would sing it to her sister when she would get nightmares as her mother once had done.
Annie's thoughts suddenly stopped as she heard her mother coughing. Coughing fits were something that her mother had rarely, though the doctor said that at any moment they could have become lethal.
The coughing stopped for a few seconds, before her mother ran in.
"Where's Amy?" she inquired frightfully, searching the small room for any sight of her. She guessed that meant her father was out.
"She's still in bed."
"Well, please wake her up. There's plenty of preparation we need to get through before the reaping at two. Also, your clothes are already set out for you in the bathroom." with that she walked back outdoors.
Annie slumped back into her room with a sigh.
She moved towards her sister and blew softly on her face. It was the only thing that would wake her in the morning, that was if she wasn't already awake.
"What's wrong?!" she shouted in panic.
"Nothing."
"Did I sleep in again?"
"Yeah."
She nodded and dangled her feet over the edge of the bed.
"What are you wearing today? Is it pretty?" her eyes shone with excitement as she said it.
"I don't know." Annie answered honestly, but with a grin. "I haven't seen it yet."
With that Amy jumped off the bed, her smile stretching from ear to ear.
"It's in the bathroom!"
She sprinted out, and headed for the tiny bathroom.
Annie walked after her, only to find Amy hovering over something on the bathtub.
"It's wonderful!" she exclaimed, holding it up.
Annie looked at it, admiring her mothers taste when it came to fashion. It was Ocean blue, reminding her of her home.
"It's so pretty!" Amy told her and she nodded in agreement.
"Yes, it is."
Without another exchange, Annie took it from Amy and tried it on. She looked in the cracked mirror on the wall, admiring the blue.
Amy squealed and ran outside, obviously going to find their mother.
Annie strolled out of the bathroom and into the kitchen.
Amy was pulling along her mother, who looked slightly confused.
They had made it halfway across the room before her mother started coughing. Annie ran up to her mother and sister, telling Amy to keep her in a sitting position.
Annie ran into the kitchen, and immediately put the kettle on the coals, adding a few different herbs to make the remedy which helped her mothers problems.
She poured the herbal water into a small cup, making her mother sip at it slowly until it was all gone.
For five minutes she sat there, but after that she was rushing around again.
"Annie, can you please do my hair?" Amy asked.
Annie agreed, grabbing a brush. She combed her long hair gently. After a while he begun to realise that she wouldn't be able to tame her sisters wild curls and instead just fixed it into a bun.
"Done." she said as her sister looked in the mirror.
"Thank you," she said, hugging Annie tightly.
"Should we be going?" Annie asked her mother.
"Just let me get your father." she answered and left leaving Annie and Amy wondering.
"It could be anyone." Amy stated, making Annie roll her eyes. She was well aware. "Hopefully it's not you."
Her second comment set butterflies off in Annie's stomach.
'I hope it's not me' she thought. 'But what if the odds aren't in my favor?'
"It won't be." she reassured.
Annie held Amy's hand on the way to the square. It made her feel more comfortable about what she may be going into.
The ceremony officially started when the Mayor of District 4 came on stage and gave his speech, the same as every other year.
The Capitol lady, Gracella Farwell came onto the stage straight afterwards. Her green wig seemed slightly out of place.
"Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be EVER in your favour!" she said, as bubbly as usual.
"Ladies first!" she walked to the bowl to her left. She smoothed out the piece of paper which read the name of the first tribute.
"The Girl tribute for District four is... Annie Cresta!"
A/N: I'll make this short and quick. I will definitely be continuing this story, unlike my other story 'Only A Dream', which is on hiatus. I'll try to update once to three times a week, and if I don't, either assume my internet is fradazzled or I'm dead. Anyway, if you enjoyed it, hated it, or thought it was okay, leave your reviews. Seriously guys, it takes two seconds!