The First Annual Hunger Games

by TheAnonymousWriterGirl

President Granger has decided to place a cruel punishment on the twelve remaining districts. The Hunger Games have begun. In District 7, fourteen year old Lilac Greenhouse has been reaped into the Games. And who is her male counterpart? Her sixteen year old cousin, Ryker Putterbaum. Now Lilac has to face the cruelty of the Capitol, President Granger, and make sacrifices.

-The First Annual Hunger Games-

Chapter One: The First Reaping of District 7

"Lilac," my mother said, "You must put these on now." I looked from my mother's sea foam green eyes and down to the beautiful lavender color dress my mother was holding in her hands. My bottom lip trembled as I took the dressing garment out of her hands.

"Mum," I whispered.

My mom looked down at me, love trying to cover up the fear on her face. "What is it baby?"

"What if… what if I'm chosen to fight?" I ask, a tear escaping my left eye. Mom wiped the tear away and kissed my cheek.

"Baby, District Seven is huge. We will be alright. You're name is in there only once. Just like everybody else. There is a pretty low chance that you will be chosen." She tells me. But I can still see the fear in her eyes. What parent wouldn't fear, though?

The Capitol decreed after the war that in punishment for our wrong doings, one young man and one young woman would be chosen from each of the twelve districts to fight to the death. Only one person, also known as a tribute, could survive this fight. It takes place in an arena that it set up by the Capitol's Gamemakers. These games, called the Hunger Games, are to be held in the middle of every year. The participants had to be within the ages 12-18. I had just turned 14 last July, in the midst of the war. By the time I would be 15, the first annual Hunger Games should be over, according to President Granger.

I honestly, despised President Granger. He was an awful man that was so tall, one would think he had his height enhanced to seem more intimidating. But he just looked like a snob with his long, angular nose and cruel smirk.

I look at my mother and smile faintly. "Okay, Mum."

She pats me on the head affectionately and then turns to the door. "I'll let you get dressed then." She says and leaves me alone.

I slip my dark brown trousers off of me and then take my white shirt off. I take the lavender colored dress and pull it on my skinny frame. I am shocked to see that I actually look rather nice in it. The dress hugs my body tight, making my tiny curves more pronounced. The dress ends somewhere above my knees which aren't as knobby as they used to be, and it's spaghetti strapped with a white ribbon tied around my waist. I smile and twirl in the mirror, completely stunned at the look of me. I hear a knock on the door.

"Lilac, are you ready?" My father asks from the other side of the door. "You're cousins and aunt are here."

"Give me a second!" I cried as I picked up my brush and brushed through my hair. My hair is about waist length and a light brown-ish color and it has natural waves in it. Once I'm satisfied with my hair, I lick both of my pointer fingers and slick each eye brow in the right direction. I look at myself in there mirror, happy I don't look like a fool.

I walk to the door, open it and walk out to greet my cousins. I see my mom and her sister, my aunt talking animatedly about something. And that's when the TV flashed on and President Granger's snotty face appeared on the screen.

"Good evening, citizens of Panem. In exactly one hour, you all will proceed to your town square where the Peacekeepers of your city will direct the children between the ages of 12 and 18 through the procedures and to their assigned spots for the reaping. May the odds be ever in your favor!" The anthem of Panem rings through my house and then the screen blacks out completely except for showing the symbol of Panem. After ten full seconds the TV begins to play commercials that are being screened in every household throughout Panem. I walked up to my father, uncle, and my oldest cousin.

"Hey, Ryker," I say, greeting my cousin. He smiles at me warmly but I can see the fear in his eyes. It mirrored the fear of my mother's.

"You nervous?" he asks me.

I give him my famous sarcastic smile and shrug my shoulders. "It's a game where we fight to our death! Nervous? I think not!" But as I try to give a convincing laugh, it becomes weak and trails off.

"Suuuurrreee!" He says and lightly punches me on the shoulder. "I'm scared." He admits in a quiet voice.

I nod my head and whisper, "Me too…" But before he can say anything more to me though, his little sister Juniper bounces up next to us, her light brown eyes that are an exact replica of mine hold a mixture of excitement and fear.

"Hey Lilac! Are you scared? Next year it's going to be my turn. I'm actually really terrified. Heck!" She cries, "I'm terrified for the both of you. Ya know, I really can't stand Ryker sometimes, but if he ends up getting chosen, I'm going to be so upset and scared. Same goes to you, only well, you don't piss me off as much as Ryker does. So I'll be sad if you do get chosen but like, GAH! Whatever. I can't seem to explain myself and-"

"Juniper!" My Uncle Frendrick cuts her off, "stop talking Ryker and Lilac's ears' off. This is a tense moment for them and they don't need you making them more scared with your babble. And since when did you use the word 'pissed' young lady? You're only eleven and that type of language should not be coming out of your mouth." Juniper's light tan complexion colors in her cheeks.

"Sorry Dad," she mumbles. I give her a look and walk over to my mom and Aunt May.

"Hey Aunt May," I said. My Aunt smiles down on me and gives me a hug. I smell the scent of pine on her dress and smile. The smell of pine always comforts me.

District 7 is the District of Lumber. We basically manufacture wood into things the Capitol desires. It's really such a small thing but the Capitol USED to think it was a good thing. Until during the war we manufactured wood into weapons to attack that Capitol. But it's not like that made a difference in the war. District 7 is located in a place where we learn at school used to be called North Carolina. Even in the time before the Capitol and its 12 Districts, which used to be 13 Districts, there were a lot of trees here. We don't ever have to worry about the trees never growing back because the Capitol invented some sort of fertilizer that can make a tree grow thirty feet tall in five days.

Aunt May looks down at me in her arms. "Hello, my favorite niece!"

"Aunt May, I'm your ONLY niece!" I cry out. She laughs at me and I step out of her arms. Her laugh was really genuine, but like everyone else, I see the fear in her eyes.

"Well," my father rumbles loudly, "I guess we better head on down. The whole District is going to be there and well, we wouldn't want to be stuck waiting a long time."

"Alright," Uncle Frendrick says, his voice wary, "I guess we can head down…" but he looks like he doesn't want to go. I see my mother rush over to my father and I casually follow behind, pretending to go talk to Ryker who is currently kicking the wood floor of my home. I glare at him momentarily for kicking the floor and then listen to my parents.

"Jacob," my mother whispers, "What are we going to do if they really DO choose Lilac? We've protected her though this war so long, and I don't think I could stand it if they took her from me. It's a fight to the DEATH. There will be 23 other… what did they call it? Tributes? There will be 23 other tributes… and they'll all try and kill each other. Children, for goodness sake, trying to commit murder."

My father puts his hands on my mother's shoulders and I glance away quickly as his gaze settles on me. I feel my stomach begin to twist in knots. "That's enough, Scarlett. District 7 is huge and our daughter will be safe. If you keep talking like this, Lilac will hear you, and she's going to get freaked out. We don't need that."

I wanted to scream the words TOO LATE at them. I was so terrified when President Granger announced these Games and now I was so close to taking a number two in my pants that it wasn't even funny. It really wasn't, I mean I just took a fresh, warm bath this morning in boiled water and scrubbed my clothes clean.

"C'mon Lilac," Ryker whispered, tugging me along. I stared at my cousin and hoped that we would both be okay. We left my house together, our parents and his little sister following behind us. I look around as we make our way to the town square. The houses here have already been rebuilt since the bombing we took on during the rebellion. We're not much of a poor district, but ever since the rebellion, our food has been cut back, even though we're at "peace" with the Capitol.

"What do you think it'll be like?" Ryker asks me.

"What?"

"Fighting to the death,"

"Oh," I say, and think about it for a minute. "Probably horrifying and all that bad stuff; I mean, according to the rules, there's 23 other tributes trying to kill you to win."

"True…" Ryker says, and leaves it like that. But I can tell he's thinking about something.

"What?" I asked him.

He looks down on me with his father's dark brown eyes. "What do you mean 'what?'"

"Like, what are you thinking about?"

"Well, if you do win, President Granger said that you would live in the Victor's Village and not have to do a thing for the rest of your life and be rich and have an endless supply of food and such. Doesn't that actually, really, truly sound… like it's something worth fighting for?"

I roll my eyes. Ryker was over thinking this waaaaayyy too much. "If there would be anything worth fighting for it would be your own life." I argue.

"Yes but-" he doesn't finish his sentence.

We have reached the town square and already there's at least a hundred people here, which is half of the district population. There are camera crews high atop the buildings which we worked so hard to build back up. I see the reporters are from the Capitol, dressed in their silly Capitol outfits. Some of them have dyed their skin crazy colors all ranging from yellows all the way to bright, neon greens. In front of the Justice Building, there is a stage set up with three chairs, a podium, and two glass balls. One glass ball holds the names of the girls in our district from ages 12-18. The other glass ball holds the names of the boys. I shudder, thinking my name is in there on a little slip of paper, waiting. We reach a roped off area and our Mayer stands on a miniature stage, holding a microphone in hand, directing everyone where to go.

"Parents and other family members will stand around the roped off area to watch their children. You are not allowed to be in the roped area at all unless you are asked to do so." I look at my parents and I hug them tight.

"You'll be alright. I love you!" My dad whispers in my ear.

"I love you too," I tell him.

"No matter what, happens today, you'll be fine." Mom assures me. I give her a firm nod.

"I love you, Mum."

"I love you too, baby." She lets go. I go over to hug Aunt May and Uncle Frendrick. They whisper me luck and I hug Juniper. For once, she says nothing, just embraces me and then leaves with my parents and her parents. I look at Ryker.

"Well?" He asks.

"Onward." I say.

We enter the roped off area and listen for our next command.

"I would like everyone the age of twelve in this area, thirteen year olds in this area, fourteens in this area, fifteens in this area, sixteens in this area, seventeen year olds in this area, and eighteen year olds in this area." The Mayor says quickly as he gestures to different roped off areas. I shudder once more, afraid now that I have to be separated from Ryker. He gives me a long hug and then pushes me off in the direction of the fourteens area and then heads off to the area where the sixteen year olds must stand. I swallow my fear and walk over there.

All of the other fourteen year olds are there. I search for my friend Sage and quickly find him among the crowd. He stands out with his dark brown hair, hazel eyes, and muscular arms. No one else my age is really as muscular as he is, but that's mainly because he secretly went off to fight in the rebellion. I told him what an idiot he was, but as usual he was stubborn and went off to fight anyways. It was a miracle he came back alive. But then again, it was a miracle we all were still alive. After hearing how District 13 was so easily wiped out by the Capitol, we all realized how easy it would be for us to die.

"Sage!" I call out. He turns to me and rushes over and gives me a huge hug. I catch some girls staring at me enviously because Sage really is good looking and well, I secretly do like him. But he likes someone else, and I guess that's OK.

"You ready?" he asks me.

"Nope. But what choice do I really have?"

"There is no choice," he says, defeated. Sage is a guy who believes in choices. "It's starting." He looks up at the stage. The twelve year olds and the thirteen year olds are between us and the stage. The Mayer walks up to the podium and begins to speak. We all turn to him.

"Welcome, District 7!" He greets us. We do not applaud him because we are unsure of what to do. My eyes flicker to the three chairs behind him. Two are full, one is empty. I assume that one chair is his. The other two are occupied by two completely different people.

A woman with pink skin and bright neon green hair sits in the first chair. She is obviously from the Capitol because only those who live in the Capitol have access to these silly trends. She sits there and it really strikes me how tall she is, at least six foot seven and I know that she was not born that way. I scan her outfit and see that her dress is sort of like two metallic blue triangles put together. A small triangle on her top and stops mid-waist and then goes straight down and into a bigger triangle which ends right above her knees. I wonder how she sits in her chair.

The man sitting next to her is an exact foot smaller than she is. He looks familiar and with a start I realize he is Felix Zamora, the man who fought bravely behind our District general. He sits with his back completely straight, his face shows boredom. His hair is dark brown and is closely cropped, bringing out his bright sea-foam green eyes that look almost like my mother's only lighter.

The Mayor begins to tell the history of Panem and how it came to be. He lists all the awful things that had happen to the place Panem rose from, North America. He lists the wars, the natural disasters, and the droughts. He continues to talk about the Dark Days and how we had just ended them, the result with the Capitol fully in control, one district obliterated, the other twelve defeated. He then speaks of The Treaty of Treason and how as our punishment and reminder of the Dark Days, we were given the Hunger Games. He says how each district must offer up a girl and a boy to be imprisoned in an outdoor arena over a period of one to three weeks and fight to the death.

I shudder uncontrollably and Sage puts his arm around me in comfort. I lean into him and stay there until the shaking of my body is under control. I am so terrified, a fight to the death, murder, survival, control; the Capitol, I realize, is more twisted than anyone realized.

"We will treat the Hunger Games as a festivity, a source of entertainment. We will watch these Games on live television, see what these young adults must endure." The Mayor says. I cover my mouth with one hand, it's all I can do to not throw up my breakfast of bread and strawberries. After a moment, I lower my hand and look up at the rooftops. It is so quiet and I can see that even the Capitol camera crews are nervous.

"Now," the Mayer yells, "I would like to introduce the District 7 escort, Maxie Smirt!" The woman in the triangle dress stands and I immediately notice that she is at least almost eight feet tall. I could've sworn she was at least six feet and eight inches when I noticed her silver high heels, which added at the least, ten inches to her height. The Mayor takes his seat and Maxie Smirt walks her way up to the podium, a scary cat smile planted on her pink face.

"Happy Hunger Games!" She yells, "And may the odds be EVER in your favor!" her voice is abnormally high and shrill. This woman has had so much altered on her body that I'm beginning to think that even her voice was the work of the Capitol. "It is such an honor to be here and I am thrilled to escort the future tributes of District 7! Now," she begins, walking towards the glass ball holding the girl's names, "Ladies first!" I cross my fingers.

Maxie Smirt lowers her hand into the ball, swishes around the pieces of paper and latches her hand onto one. She smiles her cat smile and pulls the paper out. She walks back to the podium in her ridiculously high, high heels.

Please, please, please don't be me. I think.

She unfolds the paper, reads it to herself, and then lowers her mouth to the microphone, and opens her mouth to speak. My stomach does flips in my stomach. I wonder if I might be sick.

"And the first District 7 girl tribute is… Lilac Greenhouse!" I go numb. And hear my mother's screams.

Chapter Two: Tribute

"NO!" My mother screams. My head whips to find her in the crowd but I can't see her, I can only hear her. Sage grips my forearm in a death grip but I cannot cry out in pain.

"Lilac Greenhouse, please make your way to the stage, dearie!" Maxie Smirt chirps in her high voice. I look at Sage, see the tears forming in his eyes.

"It's okay." I whisper. And I break his grip, take a step forward. The people in my year have made a pathway for me, and everyone's are on me, the girl in the lavender colored dress. I make it out of my roped off area, still wincing at the sound of my mother's screams. A Peacekeeper in his pristine white uniform escorts me to the stage and I climb the stairs, shakily.

"Are you Lilac Greenhouse?" Maxie Smirt pipes. I simply nod my head, too numb to do much else. A fight to the death, I hear the Mayor's voice in my head. "Splendid! Now, time for the boys to have their own turn!" She walks past me and for a second I feel incredibly small compared to this tall woman. But then I remember that soon I will die and I forget my midget feelings. I don't even bother to look at Maxie Smirt as she makes her way back to the podium.

"The first District 7 male tribute is," she pauses for a sick effect, her cat grin spreading from ear to ear, "Ryker Putterbaum!" I find my cousin in the crowd of sixteens, see his tan face pale. He looks sick. I scan the crowd of parents, find his parents and see my own.

Juniper is full of grief, sobs racking her body. Aunt May is clutching to my mother, both of them a mess, screaming obscenities, trying to tell everyone that this is a mistake, that Ryker and I are to not participate in the Hunger Games. I see my father and his gaze is on me. Unspoken words pass between us and I know that he will keep my mother going. I look at Ryker, watch as he walks stiffly up to the stage.

"You two look related!" Maxie Smirt exclaims.

"We are," I mumble, but Maxie Smirt doesn't hear me at all.

"Now go on you two, shake hands!" But we defy her request and embrace each other tightly.

"I'm sorry," he tries to whisper in my ear.

"It's not your fault. Hush, enough of this, we'll talk later." I say back. We release our hug and Maxie Smirt takes a seat and the Mayor replaces her.

"The two tributes are going to be escorted to the Justice Building, where for one hour they will be allowed visitors to visit them and say their goodbyes. Then they will be taken to the train station and head off to the Capitol where they will participate in the opening ceremonies, have three days to be trained in weapons and survival, be interviewed and then put in the area for the span of one to three weeks in a fight to the death." The crowd is silent, and all you can hear is Mom, Aunt May, and Juniper sobbing in grief. "One last thing before we depart," the Mayor says, "The tributes will need a mentor for the Games, someone to guide them through and get them sponsors to survive. President Granger has requested the mentor to be someone who fought in the Dark Days against the Capitol. I am pleased to welcome Felix Zamora as our District 7 mentor!" there is no clapping.

Felix Zamora stands and then takes a seat. In a matter of minutes, Ryker and I are whisked away into the Justice Building and thrown into separate rooms.

The rooms are rich with velvet and colors. I sit on a plush chair and await a visitor. It isn't longer before my mother and father come barging through the door. Mom's face is red and tear stained while Dad's in pure white in shock and fear. I run up and give them both the biggest hugs I can ever give.

"How long do we have?" I ask.

"Five minutes." Comes my father's whisper, thick with tears.

"I love you both, so much. Whatever happens, you have to stick through with things. You have to go on." I choke up, I don't want to cry. At least not in front of my parents, I need to appear strong for them. It seems like seconds have passed and then suddenly there are two Peacekeepers in the room, pulling my parents out of my arms. Mom is screaming.

"I LOVE YOU!" I shout at them. "No matter what happens, it's going to be okay!"

The door is slammed shut and I hear my parents being taken away. I collapse to the floor, sobs racking my body. I will never see my parents again. It's a few minutes before Aunt May and Uncle Frendrick and Juniper come in. They're heartbroken. Their son and niece, only one can live, and yet both of us may die. The four of us do not exchange words, we just sit there, arms wrapped around each other and cry.

"I love you guys." I say as the Peacekeepers come in. The "I love you's" come back to me and the door is slammed shut. And then quickly, it is opened again and Sage runs in, holding me in his arms.

"You can survive." He tells me. But I shake my head, unable to speak. I have stopped crying. "Lilac, just try."

"Okay," I whisper. He kisses me on the cheek and then the Peacekeepers come in.

"I love you."

"I love you too…" and then he's gone. I have no more visitors. I lie in the chair until the hour is up. And by the time the hour is up, I have come to one conclusion; it is Ryker who is coming home.

We are bombarded by Capitol cameramen and reporters at the train station but Ryker and I are quickly thrown into the train and soon we are off, going at least 1,000 miles per hour, heading straight to the Capitol.

"Well?" I ask Ryker. But before he can answer, Maxie Smirt cuts him off.

"Oh gee, this is so exciting, don't ya think? Gosh!" she giggles, "Let's go eat some dinner!" she leads us to the dinner compartment.

The compartment has rich, earthly colors that soothe me, but only a little. There is a buffet of food and a large table with six chairs around it in the middle of the room. I see that Felix Zamora is already occupying one chair and eating. Ryker and I are overcome with hunger. We have never been so hungry before in our lives until the rebellion. We rush to the buffet and start piling food on our plates.

I sit down and, without thinking, use my fingers to pick up and taste a small biscuit and to my delight, find a rich pink sauce and meat inside. "You will NOT use your fingers to handle food. It is completely savage and shows you have no manners what so ever." Maxie Smirt scoffed. I glare at her until she squirms in her seat and then pick up fork and knife and begin to use those, but in a sarcastic manner. Ryker sits next to me and doesn't even bother covering up his laugh. But he picks up his utensils and eats properly anyways.

When we finish going through our first three meals, our plates are taken away and I want to yell and get them back. I feel my stomach start to gurgle and instantly I feel sick; I ate too much food. With a frown of distaste, Felix Zamora stands up stiffly.

"Let's go watch the other reapings." He says. Then, without another word, he exits the compartment, expecting us to follow him.

"What a snob," Ryker whispers to me as we walk into the compartment where we believe Felix Zamora went. We find him sitting on one of two couches and decide to sit on the other couch. It's very comfortable and so I sink into it and grab a pillow. Ryker sits down right next to me and so I put my head on his shoulder, comforted by the fact that I can have my cousin here with me, even though both of us or one of us may die.

"Are you two related?" Maxie Smirt asks in her high pitched voice as she sits down next to Felix Zamora.

"Yes. She's my cousin." Ryker says in a flat voice, trying to keep the emotion out of it.

"That's just wonderful!" She chirps and I wish that I could find something to rip her vocal chords out of her throat. Woah, there, I thought, The Hunger Games haven't even started yet and I'm already violent. Maybe I have a change. Well….

"They're starting." Felix Zamora silences us. First off is District One.

The girl from District 1 has short black hair and plain brown eyes. She looks to be well fed and I take that into note for later, it might possibly be useful information. She's around my height but she was drawn from the seventeen year olds pin. The escort from her district says her name is Denise Chapman.

Her counterpart is a very tall, broad shoulder kind of guy named Tripp. I didn't catch his last name and, well, it's not like it matters because he's probably going to try to kill me. He was drawn from the fourteen pin.

District 2's tributes are named Susan and Gerry and they hold each other's hands, suggesting that they are a couple. I can't help but feel bad for them, only one can survive out of all 24 tributes. They will never be together again. They don't look very threatening so I decide to not worry too much.

The girl from District 3 makes me want to run and hide in some other compartment. She has a wicked grin and auburn colored hair. She's very toned and built, making me wonder that if she played a role in the Dark Days or if she trained before this event. It's possible that she trained before; the Hunger Games were announced four months before today. But they stated in the rules that there was to be no training before. She was drawn from the seventeen pin.

The District 3 boy is just as scary. I catch his name and it sounds weird, Reshald or something like that. He's eighteen and has got some built muscles. I wonder if he's going to be the one to kill me.

The districts pass by quickly and soon we are on District 6. The girl's name is Mevelyn Rutz and she was drawn from the twelve year old pin. You can hear the silence of the crowd and then her mother's screams as she walks up to the stage. She's a small girl and it shocks me that the Capitol is making a little girl fight to the death. I wonder if there's ever going to be a twelve year old winning the Hunger Games in the near future. But I sadly doubt it.

The boy from her District is named Blaize Wescott and he looks very mean and cruel, with a sneer that was planted on his face probably before he was even called up to become a tribute. But he's also protective over Mevelyn and I decide that if it comes down to the three of us at anytime, the best solution would be to run and not murder the little girl because I'm sure Blaize will come after me until I'm dead. I shudder and realize that I'm already planning strategy and murder. My mind has already been twisted by the Capitol.

And then it's showing how Maxie Smirt is calling me up to the stage. How she has to call me twice and you can hear my mother's yells of protest, her screams of despair. My stomach flips around and I wonder if I'm going to puke on the nice carpet. The TV shows me walking up to the stage and looking shell shocked. Then it shows my true shock as Ryker is chosen as tribute. You can hear our parents yelling in the background and I wonder if the people in the Capitol get off on this sort of tragedy. They probably do, seeing as the Hunger Games are to be treated as a sporting event.

The Districts are going by fast now and I see that there's a twelve year old from District 9 and another one from 10. That adds up to four 12 year olds competing in this year's games. The first Hunger Games ever and four twelve year olds might just lose their lives. It's quite sickening.

District 12 finally rolls around and a girl with olive skin and grey eyes is called up from the thirteens. Her name is Artemis and I try and think back to school to remember what I've heard about the name Artemis. I know it was some kind of name for some sort of higher person, maybe a president? I have no clue. The boy from twelve looks scary and murderous with his black, unruly hair and grey eyes. Both tributes from twelve look related but I don't think they are. They stand apart completely and shake hands stiffly when told to do so.

Finally the showing of the reapings is over and I wonder what is to come in the next week and how fast I will die.

"Off to bed!" Maxie Smirt chirps, "Tomorrow we will be in the Capitol! I will explain your instructions in the morning!" With that, she leaves on her ten inch high heels, and ducks in the door way drastically so she does not ruin her spiked up neon green hair. Felix Zamora follows behind her and I glare at his back, wondering why he hasn't so much as spoken to us. He's supposed to be our mentor, and yet he has not helped at all. But I do not say a word as we leave the compartments. Ryker and I walk to our rooms which are next to each other in two smaller compartments.

"Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow," he says and gives me a hug.

"I'm scared." I tell him as he lets me go.

"Yeah, me too."

I walk into my room and I am shocked. The bed is a bright, neon blue color with silky sheets. There is a matching neon blue metal dresser next to the bed and I walk up to it and open up to find a whole bunch of clothes that surprisingly are my size. I slip out of my lavender flats and dress and pull out a night dress that is a simple yellow. It is made from a fabric that I'm sure I've only heard about in school, silk. Only the people in the Capitol have silk. The feeling of silk against my skin makes me feel oddly good. The carpet under my feet is soft and it's a silver color, as are the walls around me. I go to find the bathroom and realize it's pretty damn luxurious. I use the bathroom and say screw taking a bath because it's already pretty late at night and I'm exhausted. I got to the faucet to wash my hands and a panel shoots up next to the faucet with a bunch of buttons to press like the type of soap I am to use, the scent, hot or cold water, would I like it to feel gentle on my skin or would I like it to be so hard my skin is clean in five seconds. I quickly press a few buttons, wash my hands with pine scented soap, dry them, and head off to bed. My last thought before I am pulled into the land of dreams is that even the sheets of the bed are silk!

Chapter 3: Remade

I hear a pounding on my door and then a voice so high and shrill saying, "Up, up, up! We're almost in the Capitol!" My mind is foggy. What does the obnoxious voice mean about the Capitol? And then I remember. The reaping, the tears, the delicious food, watching the other reapings in the districts, and how I will be forced to fight to the death with my cousin at my side, and only one of us can live. I slide out of my bed and walk to the dresser. I open it and find a pink, long flowy silk shirt and white leggings and put them on. I go to the bathroom and brush my hair and teeth, wash my face and attempt to look presentable. When I come back to the room, I see a pair of flats matching my outfit has been placed on my bed that is now made. I slip the shoes on and make my way out to the food compartment.

I see that Felix Zamora is already there, looking pristine and clean as usual, not even bothering to look at me. Maxie Smirt is dressed in a bubbly electric purple dress with matching gold Greek sandals lacing all the way up to her knees. Her boy-short, neon green hair is in waves today and isn't touching the ceiling like it was yesterday. I am tempted to ask her why she wears the silly Capitol styles but I think if I do, I'll receive another lecture. I sit down in the chair I sat in last night and soon Ryker is sitting next to me as well. We are served eggs, ham, steak, bacon, and peas with tons of exotic looking sauces. I dig in with my fork this time and start eating away.

"Well, dearies, we will be in the Capitol in less than thirty minutes so I assume you will want to be prepared! Once we hit the train station, you will be escorted to your stylists, where they will dress you in an outfit reflecting your District. That is all you need to know for now. Until then, let's eat!" Maxie Smirt giggles as she dramatically threw her hands into the air, carefully attempting to not hit the ceiling. I look at Ryker and he rolls his eyes.

"This is stupid." He whispers. I nod my head in agreement and get to eating a roll of bacon with ham, eggs, and a white sauce inside. It's quite delicious and I pile four more of the delicacies on my plate and have at it.

The train goes dark twenty minutes later. Ryker and I are sitting in two chairs across from each other staring into the space of nothing. But when it gets dark I come into focus. Isn't it still morning? I ask myself. But then I banish the thought of morning as I realize we are under the mountain blocking the Capitol from the Districts. Really, this stupid mountain is the only reason why the Capitol won the war. If we tried scaling it, we were shot down. If we tried drilling holes through, they would collapse the tunnels on us. I start to shake, realizing how close I am to my fate.

What kind of sick thing is this, sending children to fight to the death all because of a rebellion? Why is the Capitol so cruel and twisted? I bet this was President Granger's idea, the man was as messed up as anyone could be. The train is suddenly flashed with light and I realize, we are on the other side of the mountain. We slow down on the streets of the Capitol, and I fight the sight truly horrifying.

There are people of all different shapes and sizes standing outside on the streets as the train rolls in. They're cheering as they recognize that the train holds the tributes for the First Annual Hunger Games. I feel sick to my stomach; these people, if you can call them that, are cheering because we will fight to the death. By the end of these next few weeks twenty three of us will be dead. I get up and move away from the window and go to the room I was assigned. It isn't long before Maxie Smirt is knocking on my door telling me that I need to be out of the room to be prepared to meet my stylist.

"You're so hairy!" a short woman squeals as she makes me undress right in front of her.

"Thanks," I attempt to mutter it sarcastically, but I don't think the people here understand sarcasm. They're too stupid.

The woman, Aqua I think is her name, stares at me incredulously, "It was not a compliment! Being hairy is…." She shudders, "Awful."

I glare at her until she is obviously uncomfortable. "It's not like we have all the luxuries you have here back in District 7."

"O-o-of course." She stammers. She leads me into a room where there are two other women and a bathtub. They both look exactly alike and I think they are twins, only one has her skin dyed purple and the other has her skin dyed candy blue. They both have the same, short electric pink hair, orange lip stick, and scary white smiles.

"I'm Hyacintho!" The one with the blue skin pipes in her Capitol accent.

"And I'm Purpura!" says her twin.

I nod hello and try to stifle my laughter at how ridiculous they look in their bright orange jump suits that match their lipstick. Aqua leads me into the bathtub which is starting to bubble up with pink and blue bubbles. The three members of my prep team begin to scrub me with oils and then rinse me until my skin is completely pink and not the usual tan that it's supposed to be. They then pull me out of the tub and dry me off and lead me to a table that I didn't notice before. They taking pieces of paper and begin to wax my hair off. It really hurt and stung so bad as they did it everywhere. When they were done, they put this nice lotion on and it soothed my skin, and I felt better and soft. They then allowed me to put on another silk robe (YAY FOR SILK!).

My stylist came in. I was honestly stunned by her appearance. It was far from normal… but in a beautiful way. I think she's the only person in the Capitol to actually achieve making their silly trends look wonderful. She had rainbow colored tattoos everywhere I could see and she was wearing a long flowing dress that was white but as it moved in the light, you could see different colors. Her hair was a normal brown color, put in a braid over her shoulder. She was about my height but it was her eyes which struck me the most. They were dyed a purple color. She put a tattooed hand out and I took it.

"My name is Eleganza. You are Lilac, yes? I hope your morning in the Remake Center has been well," she says, shaking my hand.

"It has been good, so far." I say. "I just don't enjoy getting my hair ripped out of my body." Eleganza gives me a bright smile and blinks. I realize that she is wearing fake, long, red eyelashes. Okay, so maybe that's the only creepy part about her.

She looks around at my prep team and praises them. "Excellent job!" she says, "Now if you will just leave me with Lilac. I will call you if I need anything more!" They all nod their head at her and scurry out of the room like colorful squirrels. She then looks me over.

"Please remove your robe. I'm sorry if this is uncomfortable, I just need to look and see what I'm going to work with." I slip my robe off and place it on the table. She circles me and then stops in front of me.

"You are beautiful, so I should be able to make everything look even more amazing to gain you sponsors. Sponsors, you know, can change the difference between life and death out there."

I nod my head. "Yes, that is what President Granger said when he announced the rules a few months ago."

"District 7," she ventures, "The District of Lumber. Well, it's obvious, isn't it?"

"What?"

"I make you into a tree!"

An hour later, I am told to sit in a chair in front of a mirror and close my eyes. I can feel my prep team drawing things on my skin and every time I try to open my eyes and see what they're doing, they scold me and screech until I close them again. I calculate another hour has passed when I hear Eleganza enter the room.

"Do you approve?" Aqua says hopefully. I can imagine her bright blue eyes huge, nodding her head in hope, making her green hair which is piled atop her head bounce.

"It's magnificent!" Eleganza cries. "Now Lilac, I would like you to carefully stand." I do as she says and make sure I don't fall. Hyacintho and Purpura each grab one of my arms and lead me somewhere else across the room. "Lilac, I want you to raise one foot gently, yes, yes, just like that! Now put the other foot next to it. Good!" Then I feel a dress being pulled up on my body. "Careful, careful, careful!" Eleganza chants, excitement creeping in her voice. "I don't want the makeup ruined! Alright, Lilac, have a careful seat!" I am gently pushed into another chair. I feel shoes being slipped on to my feet. "Stand." I do as Eleganza says.

"Can I open my eyes now?" I whine.

"Sure!" I open my eyes. "Now walk over to the mirror." I don't look down at my body, I just walk to the mirror. I realize that they have placed me in two inch high heels and I'm grateful they are not ten inch ones like Maxie's. I look in the mirror and gasp.

My high heels look like the roots of trees and my legs look like the trunk. Aqua, Hyacintho, and Purpura must've used some sort of makep technique to achieve the look of an actual tree trunk. My dress is a deep green color a looks like the leaves of a maple tree. My face has maple tree leave patterns all over it, with exotic flowers poking in between. But the patterns do not take up my whole face, they are sort of the back ground and more my skin color than anything else. You can recognize my light brown eyes, tiny lips, straight nose, and light sprinkle of freckles on each cheek. My cheek bones are more pronounced than usual and haven't looked this way since before the Dark Days. My eyes travel up to look at my hair. I am stunned. Somehow my prep team managed to take my light brown hair and make it appear as if it were the branches of a tree. They laced leaves in my hair, making it look like my hair was part of a tree.

I was a tree.

"Well?" Hyacintho inquired nervously.

"Do you like it?" Her twin chimed in.

"I look like a tree!" I cried. I could see Eleganza's smile in the reflection of the mirror behind me. For the first time since I was reaped into the Games, I felt hope. Hope that I could last long enough to protect Ryker. "Now," I ask, "What's next?"

We meet up with Ryker and are taken down to the bottom level of the Remake Center. We are loaded up into chariots that reflect our District as well. Ryker and I stand side by side in a dark wood chariot, pulled by brown horses with green eyes. I think how maybe these horses are mutations, or mutts for short. Mutts are creatures created by the Capitol to use as a type of weapon, like the jabberjays. The jabberjays are birds that can recite human conversations and repeat them to its owner. The Capitol created the jabberjays in the Dark Days to get plans and information straight from the rebelling Districts. But that sort of back fired when the Districts found out about the purpose of the jabberjays and began feeding the Capitol a bunch of lies. Supposedly the Capitol released them all into the wild to die out and no one knows if this is true or not.

The opening ceremony music begins and two massive doors open to reveal crowd-lined streets. The District 1 chariot rolls out of the building. A minute later, District 2 is out there behind them. I shake nervously and look at Ryker.

"How long is this supposed to last?" I ask.

"It's at least twenty minutes as we go down this long street, I guess. We end in the City Circle where my stylist, Genesis, says President Granger will greet us and tell us what will happen after this." He sounds tense. I look at his outfit, which is somewhat similar to mine, only in a manlier version. I look around at the Districts still in here. District Four is wearing some sort of fishnet clothing which is actually scaring me. But it's District Twelve that I pity; they are naked completely, and covered in black glittering dust with coal collars that glowed like coal on fire. They look uncomfortable and I feel really bad for them; the Capitol is having them humiliated before they were going to be sent to their deaths.

"Now," Eleganza addresses me and Ryker, "When your chariot rolls out there, the cameras will be all on you. To get sponsors, I need you to smile really nice, wave, and look really attractive. We've taken care of the latter now just smile and wave!" Our chariot moved up; District 5 just left the Remake Center. I look at Ryker, smile nervously.

"This is it," I whisper, he hears me.

"Time to make an impression,"

Suddenly our chariot is rolled out of the streets, riding behind the District 6 chariot. I am blinded by lights and the sound of the crowd. They're yelling and screaming, their attention now turned to the tributes in the District 7 chariot. I can hear them yelling our names and I smile widely and begin to wave at them. This makes them yell louder and I glance at the screens that are latched onto poles. It show's Ryker and I, the human trees, riding in the chariot that are being pulled by the horses with bright, leaf green eyes.

It was just as Ryker told me, twenty minutes to reach the City Circle. The Districts 1-6 are already there and it takes at least ten more minutes for the rest of the District tributes to line up in the circle. President Granger is there and they play the anthem and President Granger gets on with it.

"Welcome and happy Hunger Games!" His voice booms out to the crowd. There are speakers attached to his microphone, making it so his voice can be heard throughout the whole city. "The next few days are simple. Tonight you will be escorted to the Training Center where for the next four days you will be living in. Tomorrow and the day after you all will be trained in the art of survival and combat. The third day, you each will have fifteen minutes with the Gamemakers to show off any skill you have. That night you will receive a score between the numbers 1-12, one being the lowest, and twelve being the highest. The next day you will have interviews and the day after that you will be escorted to the arena for the fight to the death! Only one of you may win!" President Granger smirks at this last sentence. He's a total snob and I foolishly wish that we had won the war in the Dark Days, and not the stupid Capitol with their silly accents and crazy outfits. "I wish you all the best of luck and may the odds be ever in your favor!" The anthem rings throughout the city and it is over. The opening ceremonies are done.

We are then taken to the Training Center, which is this huge building. I don't have much time to look at it though, as soon as we pull up, Maxie Smirt is waving at us and hollering something about the opening ceremonies being such an amazing thing and how we were such a splash and such. She escorts us into the building and I see the other tributes looking nervous and scared and some, just a little bit hopeful. We arrive in front of four, large elevators. I follow Maxie Smirt and Ryker into one elevator; we are joined by the tributes of District 12 and 9, along with their escorts. Maxie presses the button to the seventh floor and I give her a curious look.

"Each District gets their own floor," she explains. "There are four bedrooms, two for each tribute, one for the escort, yours truly, and your mentor. There is a dining room and a lounge, which both have televisions." I nod tightly and exchange a look with Ryker. I listen to Maxie talk with the other escorts excitedly and then in ten seconds, the doors are opening and we are taken to our floor. Maxie Smirt leads us down a hallway. She points to my room.

"This is your room," she tells me. "I expect you to be out here in an hour for dinner. Try not to eat too much because there will be several courses and then we will watch the opening ceremonies replayed."

"Okay." I open my door and glance at Ryker as he is led down the hallway to his room.

My room is huge. There is a silver bed and the walls are a calming, leafy green. The carpet is a cream color and, after taking my high heels off, I realize it's super soft and silky under my feet. With a shake of my head, I realize that since being in the Capitol, I have attained an obsession for silk. I unzip my dress with some ease and slide it off on the floor and then lay it on the bed. I strip my under clothes off and go to my bathroom, which is the size of my room back home. A longing for my small room overcomes me and my bottom lip trembles.

What are mom and dad doing? How are they coping? Is Juniper coping well? I hope Aunt May and Uncle Frendrick are okay. Tears blur my eyes and begin to pour over.

"Enough of this, Lilac," I tell myself, "You have to get over it, move on. Protect Ryker, no matter what." Then I start to laugh at myself; If I must be talking to myself, I really have lost my mind. I wipe the tears from my face and go into the shower. I almost pee myself at the sight of the panel. It was just like the one in the bathroom on the train, only more complex.

I set the water temperature to a little more than warm, set the jet stream to massage my back and sides and got a whole bunch of forest scented lotions and shampoos to be squirted on my body. When I got my settings all ready, I pressed the on button and enjoyed the luxury of a shower; something I never got to experience back at District 7. As I receive a brush to scrub my makeup off, I wonder, just for a moment, what it would be like to win the Hunger Games and live a life of peace afterwards.

Chapter Four: Training to be a Killer

The pounding on the door woke me up. Whoever it was, should be ready to die, because I was about to go off on them. "Lilac!" the muffled voice said, "You need to get ready NOW! Zamora has requested we be at breakfast so we can talk strategy for the next few days." It was Ryker and I immediately take my thought of death back because, well, we were about to be in the Hunger Games. I go into panic mode, WHY DID I THINK THAT? I yelled at myself. "Lilac, get up, NOW!" and with that the pounding stopped. I swore and jumped out of my bed and ran to the bathroom.

I pulled a metallic blue brush through my hair and then brushed my teeth and washed my face. I went back into the bedroom, where I found a pair of black lace-up combat boots, dark grey leggings, and a plain, dark green t-shirt. I slipped everything on as fast as possible and headed for the dining room.

"Finally," Ryker muttered. I shot him a look and sat down next to him. There was an array of food and juices in the center of the big table. I started piling delicacy after delicacy on my plate and poured a glass of a juice that had a clear, yellow tint to it. I sipped it and realized it was something like lemon juice, but w-a-a-a-a-a-y sugared down. Maxie Smirt was sitting and the table laughing at me, making her hair bounce. Today her hair was sticking straight up and she was wearing and long, pointed sleeved, yellow dress. I tried to not look at her dress because it was too bright for yellow. The Capitol's colors are so manufactured; the yellows to bright, the blues too deep. It just wasn't right.

She gave me her bright white, cat smile and said, "Its lemonade, dearie and it's the best there is! Enjoy it while you can!" Ryker and I stood up at the same time, our chairs pushed away from us. The comment struck us both. This rude, silly, pathetic, Capitol woman is telling me to ENJOY something because I'm about to die? I yelled in my head.

"Who are you to tell us what to enjoy?" Ryker yelled at her, "Just because we both will die does not mean you have the right to taunt us about it!" Maxie Smirt somehow nervously shrank into her chair, and before she could say anything to make her situation worse, Felix Zamora spoke up.

"That is enough," I was stunned that Felix Zamora had actually spoken. He has never spoken to anyone since we arrived in the stupid Capitol. "Take your seats now. Maxie, I want you to be quiet and not speak until I say. You are making these children more nervous than they need to be and I'm done listening to you." Ryker and I did as he obeyed and pulled our seats back and sat down.

"Let's get straight to business," Zamora says, "These next two days in training; I want you to get to know the other tributes. The rules say you can have allies in the Games and it is in my understanding that allies can get you very far ahead."

I decide to speak up. "But only one of us can win. We're going to have to kill our allies off or they might kill us off."

"That is why you make the alliances early on, maybe even before the Games start so that way your alliances will be killed off."

"That's cruel!" Ryker says. But I understand what Zamora is saying.

"Its-"Zamora says but I cut him off.

"It's the Huger Games, Ryker; we are being thrown into an arena to fight to the death for the Capitol's pleasure. It's not supposed to be nice." Zamora nods his head in approval and Ryker just stares ahead as he processes the thought of killing. I've already made up my mind about the whole killing business: I won't kill just anybody, but if it comes down to it, I will do it. But it doesn't mean I was still scared; last night I was shaking just thinking about going into the area to fight.

"Now, when you get down to the Training Center, start with the wilderness survival stations because those are going to help you the most." Ryker and I nod in unison and finish our breakfast.

The elevator ride is very short and smooth. Ryker and I are the only ones in the elevator. The training rooms are below the ground level and when the doors open, they reveal a large gymnasium that is the size of at least ten houses back in District 7. We step out of the elevator and it closes behind us and shoots back up. There's no going back now.

The tributes from District 1, 2, 3, and 8 are already here and they look nervous. They are standing in a circle in the middle of the gym. Ryker and I walk up and we feel something being put on our backs. I look at the other tributes and figure that our district numbers were placed on. I glance around the circle, everybody looks quite nervous as more tributes join in. In five minutes, all twenty-four of us are gathered around.

A woman with black hair with rainbow streaks in it, steps forward. I look up towards the ceiling and see an opening balcony. I assume these were the Gamemakers observing us like Maxie said they would. I look back towards the woman.

"I am Apolla and I will be the head trainer for your time here." She looks at us, meeting each one of our gazes before continuing. "There are different things for you to try out here and many skills you can pick up and use in the arena. If you are at a hand-to-hand combat station, a trainer will be there to work with you and not another tribute. As you have already heard, you will not be allowed to physically harm another tribute until you are in the arena. If there are no questions, I will dismiss you to train." No one asks any questions; we all just shuffle around nervously. "You are dismissed,"

"Want to go to that station over there?" he asks, gesturing to a station that the tributes of District 9 are walking towards.

I shrug, "It couldn't hurt." I say, "They look nice enough; maybe they could be possible allies." We walk over to the station behind District 9.

The station is for learning to camouflage yourself into the environment using whatever you can find in the wilderness. I send Ryker a skeptical look as we pick up some mud and berry juices and some paints and sit down. I'm not very good at attempting to do art, and camouflage is basically the same thing. I see Ryker suppress a smile and District 9 sits down across from us.

After five minutes of sitting, trying to replicate part of a meadow on my left arm, I learn that the twelve year old boy's name is Nigel and his counterpart's name is Melody; she is the same age as me. I observe that Melody has a knack for camouflage and is directing Nigel how to make his arm look like moss. I continue to attempt at camouflage and smile when I see Ryker struggling as much as I am. I feel eyes on me after a while but I ignore the stares.

"You need to make the lines thinner, try using your little finger." A voice says from behind. I turn around and see the District 2 boy, Tripp, smiling at me. "Here, let me show you." He takes a seat next to me and I give Ryker a look. He slightly shakes his head at me as if to say, don't trust him. I agree with him completely; something about District One and Two have given me the creeps. Maybe it was the fact that there was more anticipation than fear in their eyes.

He takes some of my paint and my arm and begins to transform my whole left arm into part of a meadow. I resist the urge to pull my arm away and run. I see Melody and Nigel staring at me with sympathy in their eyes before they get up and move to another station. It's just me and Ryker here now, stuck with Tripp. "What's your name?" he asks.

"Lilac," I tell him with a confident voice so he doesn't know that I am mildly terrified.

"That's a pretty name," he says, "Mine is Tripp." I give him a weak smile. He continues to paint on my arm for a few more minutes and then stops, clearly saying he's done. "Hey, so a bunch of us have decided that we want to ally up and I was wondering if you and your partner would like to be in our alliance." He nods to Ryker who returns the nod, but cautiously.

"Who else is in the alliance?" I ask.

"My partner, Denise, both from District Two, both from Three, and the boy from Six." He tells me. I am silent for a while and so is Ryker. "You guys want in?" he finally asks.

"Maybe," I lie, and flash him a brilliant smile that I used on the Capitol crowd last night during opening ceremonies.

"Maybe?" He asks me, clearly confused but he returns my smile.

"What I mean is yes," I lie once more. Ryker pinches me on the back and I hold back a cry of pain.

"Great!" Tripp yells. He helps me up and I follow him. Ryker joins us and we walk a few paces behind.

He's clearly angry. "What the hell are you thinking?" he hisses.

"Calm down," I whisper back, "I'm only trying to get us to survive the first day. You heard Maxie last night! The first day is designed so that half of us die. If we ally with them, we'll have a better chance."

"Fine," He says, understanding he's lost the argument; I do have a valid point. Tripp leads us to the rest of our new alliance.

"Hey guys!" Tripp says, having all eyes on him. "I got these guys with us! We're all set!" I give a timid smile and to my relief, they all smile back and introduce themselves.

"I'm Denise," Tripp's counterpart says.

The girl from District 2 waves at me in a girly, preppy way, "Susan,"

"Gerry," her boyfriend says, looking quite bored.

The District Three girl gives me a wicked, dangerous smile. "I'm Lilithe."

"Reshald," He sends me a flirtatious smile and I respond with a smile of my own, but I don't really have the heart into it, he's eighteen and we're all about to die.

"I'm Blaise," District 6 tells me. His eyes are an enchanting, dark blue and I have to force myself to look away.

"I'm Lilac," I tell them.

"And I'm Ryker," Ryker chimes in. We all exchange smiles, but underneath the smiles are mild concern and fear. Only one of us out of twenty-four can live.

Lunch time rolls around and we are told to go to a room connected to the gym. There are several tables so Ryker and I, along with our newfound alliances, pull three tables together and then eat food.

"The food here is amazing," Tripp says to me with his mouth full. I wanted to tell him something about how it doesn't look so amazing in his mouth, but I controlled myself. He was going to get me through the first day in the arena; he and the other six Ryker and I had allied us with.

"I know," Lilithe says, "I haven't had such wonderful food since the Dark Days!" I observe her for a while, and I note that she seems crueler than the rest of the group. I decide that I am going to keep a safe distance from her.

Reshald silences the group after a few minutes. "So, what's the plan for when we're at the Cornucopia?" he asks.

"I think we should get all the supplies and then find some high ground and the split up into groups to kill off the other tributes." Blaise says. I look at him out of the corner of my eye while the others nod in approval. I realize our voices have not been very quiet because I see the other tributes around us, looking terrified as we speak of our plan. In horror, I wonder which one of us will be the first to die.

Chapter 5: The Gamemakers

"Lilac, today's the day where you have the fifteen minute session with the Gamemakers!" Maxie's voice cries from the other side of my bedroom door. "You need to be down in the gym in two hours!" The grogginess from sleep passes and nervous butterflies begin to swarm in my stomach. I wonder what I will show the Gamemakers today.

These past two days of training I have picked up various skills, but the only things I am good at are using a hatchet and being able to tie knots. Now, I wonder, how am I going to survive the Hunger Games by tying knots? I pull myself out of the comfortable bed and make my way to the bathroom. I select a nice warm stream of water, a gentle brush, softening shampoos and conditioners, and lavender and pine scented body wash. The shower lasts only twenty minutes and I come out feeling refreshed. I step onto the drying mat and my body and hair dry instantly; it's still shocking for me to comprehend that the people in the Capitol have so many luxuries just by the simple press of a few buttons. Actually, it's more repulsive than shocking because I realize the people who live here don't have to do one thing to earn these luxuries.

I pull a pink silk robe on and walk out into my room and find two Avoxes in there. One is making my bed and the other is setting a new outfit on a chair near the large window overlooking the city. They avoid my eye contact and I wonder how they became Avoxes.

"Am I allowed to eat in my room?" I address the one making my bed. He looks up at me with big, baby brown eyes and shakes his head sadly, telling me no. I sigh and wish that I could just have a break. These past two days Eleganza and Genesis have been eating with us at our meals. I would really just enjoy to be left alone for a while because every morning and night I am bombarded with questions of strategy and how I am to behave. Maxie still makes her repulsive, obnoxious comments and it is obvious she does not like me or Ryker.

Zamora is a man of few words and I don't really know how I feel about him. He talks good strategy and all but I just have this feeling about him that I can't seem to explain. Judging by Ryker's body language and facial expressions when around him, I can tell he feels the same way about Zamora – undecided.

The Avoxes leave my room quietly and I change into my outfit of combat boots, grey leggings, and green shirt. I decide to put my hair in a pony tail atop my head but it still reaches the middle of my back; but at least it's out of my face. With a reluctant look around my room, I open the door and head out to breakfast.

"So," Zamora breaks the silence we have been sitting in for at least half an hour now, "What exactly are you planning to show the Gamemakers?"

Ryker clears his throat. "I guess I'll show them how good I am with a spear, hatchet, and wires."

Zamora nods his head. "Good, and what about you, Lilac?"

"I'll show them my impressive knot tying skills and how I can hit anything with a pathetic, tiny hatchet." I say with a sarcastic tone to my voice. I feel like I've already given up on trying to at least surviving the Games half way now. There really is no point to try when I know I'm not going to make it out of the Games alive.

"Lilac," Eleganza snaps, "Do not speak that way! You have as good a chance as anyone else in the Hunger Games," I don't say anything, and I really don't have a choice because Zamora cuts in.

"Eleganza has a point, Lilac. The hatchet can be very useful."

"Alright," I mutter and I began to stuff my face with the bacon rolls that I just piled on my plate. These ones have peas and tomatoes and scrambled eggs inside with a creamy blue sauce that tastes very salty.

"I know we haven't really touched on your newfound alliances lately, but I think now is the time we discuss them."

"Well," I start off, "We've allied with the tributes from One, Two, Three, and the boy from Six. They're all pretty dangerous," I add.

"What's your plan, then?" Zamora asks.

"It's quite simple, really. We're going to get through the first two days with them and then break off." Ryker says and Zamora just nods, asking for more information.

"At lunch the first day of training, we devised a strategy for the Cornucopia," I tell.

"And what is that?" Ryker's stylist asks. She gives me the creeps a bit because one of her eyes is neon blue and the other is a pink. It reminds me of a delicacy that used to be around before Panem came to be; something like clothing candy or cotton ball. But I learned in school that they were in pink and blue colors.

"The eight of us run to the Cornucopia when the minute is up, grab enough supplies for everybody, and then find a high ground which we will use as our camping sight. Then after the first night or something we break off into groups and take rotations finding different tributes." I finish.

"It sounds like it's a good strategy. But from what you've told me so far about the tributes you've allied yourselves with in particular, I would advise you to stay together at all times and break away as soon as you get the chance. There can only be one winner and they will kill you as soon as they find it necessary."

"Good to know." I mumble and then stand up. "I'm going to go into the lounge and relax for a while." I look at Ryker, "Care to join me?"

We sit side by side, at the window, looking down at the Capitol, lost in our own thoughts. I think of the danger and how sickening it must be for our families to be forced to watch us compete in the Games.

"What do you suppose they're doing right now?" I ask Ryker while I squint at a building being hit by the sun's rays, making it look like its widows are rainbow colored.

"I don't know," he replies, knowing I am speaking of our families, "Worrying, I guess. That's what I would be doing if I were in their places."

"What do you think it's going to be like for them, seeing us fight to the death and kill?" He sighs in annoyance.

"Really, Lilac, you're acting like Juniper. What's wrong?" I finally look at him and I reach my hand up to brush his light brown hair out of his brown eyes.

I whisper, "I'm afraid." But I want to yell; Only one of us can live! We both may just die and that will kill our family, tear them apart maybe. They might do something drastic!

"I am too," Ryker wraps his right arm around me and pulls me to his side. We sit like this for a few more minutes before Zamora comes into the room.

"It's time for you to show the Gamemakers your skills."

I sit nervously in the chair, both my legs shaking. I have my pony tail laid on my shoulder and I am wrapping the end of it around my index finger. Denise, Tripp, Susan, Gerry, Lilithe, Reshald, and the boy from District 4 have gone. The girl from District 4 is called in for her session and I stand up and begin to pace around the somewhat small room. We have been put in a chamber that is connected to the gym. We each get fifteen minutes with the Gamemakers and we are not allowed to discuss what happens in the room with anyone besides our stylists, mentor, partner, and escort. I feel as if the breakfast I ate this morning will come out the way it came in and that terrifies me even more. What if I throw up in front of the Gamemakers? I bet that's going to get me a really low score! I babble to myself.

I feel a two pairs of eyes watching me pace around the room and I look to see the boy from District 5 and Melody looking at me. I decide to stop pacing and sit back down next to Ryker, who flashes me a look that clearly says, calm down! I look back at Melody and she gives me a timid smile.

I return her smile, "Are you nervous?" I ask her.

For a second she seems unsure to answer me, and she quickly looks at Blaise who is staring intently at the doors, waiting for his turn. "Yeah, I'm really afraid I'll mess up and they'll give me a bad score,"

"Me too," I tell her. We leave it at that, and don't speak anymore. The boy from 5 is called in and he looks at me once more before leaving.

I look over at Blaise again and instead of staring at nothing, I see he is talking to his district partner, Mevelyn, in hushed tones. I remember vaguely that she was one of four twelve year olds. The day we watched the recap of the reapings, I also noted that Blaise was very protective over her; I wonder why she isn't in our alliance if Blaise is acting so protective.

It then hits me that maybe, just maybe, Blaise might just be using the alliance like Ryker and I are and he is going to use the alliance to protect his district partner. The doors open again and the girl from 5 is finally called in. I look away from the District 6 tributes and begin to shake once more. I feel my food making a pathway up my throat and I start to sweat; I swallow it down though.

"Lilac," Ryker whispers in my ear, "You need to get a grip," I have broken out into a cold sweat and I'm tapping my hands against my metal seat. Some tributes take note of this, probably saving it for later to see if they can use it against me in the arena.

"Okay," I breathe back and take a deep breath, in through my nose, out through my mouth. I repeat this a few more times and I begin to calm down. I really can't stand waiting anymore and I wish I was in District 1 so I could've already gone. Forty-five minutes pass and Ryker is finally called in.

"Good luck," I tell him.

"You too," he gives me a hug and then leaves.

"Are you guys related or…" Melody asks me. She sits down next to me and I am shocked by her boldness, but only a little because I notice no one from my alliance is in the room anymore.

I laugh as she thinks that Ryker and I are in a relationship, "No," I tell her, "We're cousins on my mom's side."

"Oh," she says, "That explains the screaming from the side I heard when we were watching the reapings."

"Yeah… you heard our mothers' and his little sister, Juniper." I say in a quiet voice. Then, of all times it hits me that next year, Juniper will be old enough to be reaped and a cold fear washes over me. What if she gets reaped into the games like Ryker and I did?

"That's awful," she tells me with sympathy.

"Did you leave anyone behind?" I ask.

She nods her head sadly, "My dad and three older brothers. My mom died during the bombings on our District in the beginning of the war." She tells me.

"I'm sorry," I wish we weren't talking about this.

"It's okay… So, I'm just curious, but," she lowers her voice into a hushed whisper so only I can hear her, "Are you really in the alliance with those others or what?"

I shrug my shoulders and look into her blue-gray eyes, and I find I can tell her the truth, "Sort-of, I just want to protect Ryker," I say, "But we plan to high-tail it out of there around the second or third day. I don't want to take any chances; they make me nervous, especially Lilithe,"

"Which one is that?" she asks.

"The girl from District Three,"

"Oh!" She gasps, "She seems like she's ready to kill everyone right now and can't wait for these Games to start up,"

I nod in agreement, "She really makes me nervous, and after these past two days of watching her, I've seen she's good with almost ANY weapon she picks up."

"Yeah, I saw that too," she shudders.

"Can I give you a heads up?" I whisper to her.

"Of course,"

"When the minute is up out there, and the cannon signals the start of the Games, take Nigel as soon as possible, and get out of there as fast and as far as you can; because from what I've heard Lilithe and the others planning, it's going to be a blood bath and she's willing to kill anyone."

The door opens and I am called inside for my private training session. "Thank you for the heads up," Melody whispers back, "Good luck in there," She walks up and goes to sit next to Nigel. I stand up and walk through the doors; I have already decided I am ready.

The gym looks like it hasn't been used at all, even though I know it has because there have been thirteen other tributes here before me. I glance up at the Gamemakers in their balcony, and I see that all eyes are on me.

I walk over to the weapons area and pick out a hatchet that is a little bit longer than my forearm, and I go stand about twenty feet away from a dummy. For a moment, I can imagine being at home, standing in front of a tall tree holding my hatchet, and beginning to toss it up in the most efficient way I can, cutting down branches that will disturb the process of cutting the whole tree down. I look at the dummy, decide I want to lodge my hatchet in its head, and I with precise movements, I hurl the hatchet and in the blink of an eye, it's lodged right in the dummy's head. I can't help but smile a little bit as I walk back over the weapons station and grab two more hatchets.

I decide I want one to lodge into the dummy's throat and the other to lodge into the solar plexus. I step to the side, throw the one destined to be in the throat and then step back and hurl the one to be in the solar plexus. Both hit their designed marks within three seconds of each other. I look up at the Gamemakers as I head over to the knot station and see that they're all very impressed with the fourteen year old girl from District 7.

As quickly as I can, I grab three ropes that are as long as my whole entire arm and begin to make an intricate net that I learned to make my first day of training. I decide that I have possibly a little over ten minutes left, seeing as my little hatchet routine took less than two minutes of my time. In five minutes I have a net that can catch small animals and, if I had gotten more time, I would've made an even bigger one that would be strong enough to hold a human. I hold the net up for the Gamemakers to see and then set it down as I go over to the climbing net.

Since I lived in District 7, it would be part of my job to climb the trees with a hatchet to cut down the tallest branches. I put one hand in the net, and then lodge the opposite foot in the net; I take two deep breaths, and then I begin to scale the climbing net. With all the adrenaline in me, I reach the top faster than I would've been able to without adrenaline. I climb onto the other side quickly, and scale down faster than I got up.

I get off the net, my breath coming in short pants as I look up at the Gamemakers. They are clearly impressed and one gestures me forward. So I step up until I'm in the middle of the gym.

A woman speaks, and I assume she is the Head Gamemaker. "You have done a very good job, Lilac Greenhouse. You are dismissed," I turn towards the elevators and walk over. An Avox presses the up button for me and the door opens at lightning speed. I step in, press the button that will take me to my floor and ride up. It isn't until I reach my room that I find I am completely satisfied with what I showed the Gamemakers.

Chapter 6: A Nightmare

I tossed and turned all night. I tried everything I could think of to sleep: drinking calming tea, a scalding hot shower, even a massage chair. But nothing worked; I was just so nervous for my interview.

When I went to bed last night, I was buzzing with happiness and excitement. The Gamemakers had given me a 9! I was so shocked and excited. A nine meant I might actually have a chance at protecting Ryker, even though he might not need it. Last night, before I knew anything about my score, I was so nervous for Ryker and what he might have gotten. But turns out, he didn't need me to be nervous for him at all because he got an eleven! He told me that he used two wires and wood to make a campfire in less than ten seconds and then ripped up two dummies with a couple hatchets and spears. I guess they must've gotten me replacement dummies because the one I was taking out had never been touched by a weapon before.

Since yesterday was the last day of training, I am free to wear whatever I want. I took a shower last night and put my hair in a braid. I take my hair out of the braid and brush it through. It has a wavy look to it that I'm not sure I like but it's not like it matters anyway; Eleganza will probably have my prep team do something extravagant on my hair later. I program my closet to clothes of my taste and wear a pair of brown lace-up boots, kaki leggings, a lavender colored shirt, and a brown leather jacket. I move a chair over to the window and I look down on the Capitol, trying to enjoy my last day where I am certain I'll live through it.

"You will have four hours of training with me, and four hours of training with Felix," Maxie says, her cat smile stretching from ear to eat, literally. I think of how she would give me nightmares if I ever had any; for some reason I don't have dreams at all. But what she said sinks in and I decide I have to ask this disturbing woman a question.

"What do you mean four hours with you? What will we be working on?" I ask her. There is no way I want to spend four hours of my last day in safety with her.

Maxie Smirt looked at me with pathetic hate in her eyes and scoffed, "Hmfph! There's a lot I could teach you. Starting with manners and ending with posture," I am royally pissed as she says this and I stand, feeling quite dangerous and unpredictable for some reason.

"Yeah?" I ask, "Well I could teach you to be kind and considerate to children who are about to be sent to their death!"

There is a glint in this cruel woman's eyes, one that I cannot seem to identify, "You children deserve death," she spat, "You are the children of the ones who brought displeasure and trouble to the Capitol." She stands now, and I see she is wearing a pair of ridiculously high, high heels again and her spiked hair is beginning to flatten out on the ceiling. I know I should be intimidated by our immediate height difference, but I can't help but laugh.

"What are you laughing at, you pathetic girl?" She yells, sending me convulsing on the floor with laughter. After a moment, I stand and try to make my face look sober, but Maxie Smirt is really a hilarious sight. The skin on her cheeks is a glaring red color and her bright blue eyes are clouded with mad cruelty; but most of all, it's how she's shaking with pathetic fury that makes the scene so funny.

"I'm wondering…" I venture, my voice taking on a cruel sound to it, "Do you know how disgusting you look? Because if not, well, I'm here to tell you that you are very disgusting looking. Oh, by the way, dearie," I say sickeningly sweet, "Do take in to consideration that those high heels are ruining your image, making you so tall that your hair is losing its 'attractive' spike." I make quotation marks and snicker as I see her face become an even more blaring red.

"Lilac," Eleganza says quietly, "Enough." I finally pull my eyes away.

Ryker is standing next to me as well, his hands balled into fists, looking ready to hit something… or someone. Our stylists look quite scared but firm about my outburst, but most shocking of all, Felix Zamora is sitting in his spot at the head of the table, his arms crossed, with a triumphant smirk on his usually bored face. He looks at me and I can see there is a proud look in his eyes and it's as if he's trying to say, Give the Capitol what you got, honey.

I sit down and a few slow seconds later, Ryker does as well; but I notice his hands do not relax one bit as he stares down Maxie Smirt. The table is silent for what feels like forever and I feel a sense of pride begin to form in my chest. Back at District 7, before the war and all, I was the quiet girl who was always so timid and sweet and never really stood up for herself. But look at me now, being such a rebel, standing up to a woman of "high praise" in the Capitol. I guess I can say I happily accomplished something the last day I knew I would be alive for sure.

After minutes of silence, Maxie Smirt looks down at me, sneers, and turns to walk out of the dining room. But as she reaches the exit, she turns to me and Ryker. "I hope the odds aren't in your favor tomorrow,"

"Leave, Smirt." Zamora says and surprisingly, without objection, the horrible excuse for a human being leaves the room. I look around the room, starting with Eleganza and ending my gaze on Felix Zamora, who bursts out laughing.

"What?" Ryker asks.

"I always heard that you were such a quiet girl, and I just think it's so funny that you just gave her a piece of your mind." He says in between laughs. It's not long before the whole table is laughing, and the tension in the atmosphere disappears as quickly as it came.

"Don't worry, honey," Genesis addresses me, "I can assure you that not everyone in the Capitol is as horrible as she." Ryker nudges me and I turn to him.

"Good job, cousin," I give him a smile.

"So," Eleganza says with a smile on her face, "I hear you need someone to spend the next four hours with on manners, and I think I know someone who can accommodate your need,"

"And who is this person?" I ask.

"Well," she begins, "I have basically finished your interview dress, so I have the whole day to myself."

I smile at my new acquaintance, "That would be wonderful!"

Four hours later my back, legs, feet, ankles, and cheeks are hurting more than they ever have been before. I would've loved to pass out for a quick nap, but Eleganza would not let me, simply because I had to keep learning more until I was at the peak of perfection.

"How do you feel?" she asks me.

I give her a half hearted glare that turns into a smile quickly, "Just wonderful," I tell her, "All this pain in my legs and back makes me want to have another four hour lesson with you."

At this, Eleganza laughs so hard, making her cheeks go red, causing the tattoos on her face to either stick out or blend in, "You're going to do wonderful! I'm surprised you are such a fast learner."

"Back home, before the Dark Days, everyone would love to teach me things, simply because I could pick up the talents fast and then just as easily pass them on to someone else," I confess sheepishly.

"It is because you are such a wonderful listener. You're such a strong girl," emotion is thick in her voice and she embraces me in a hug. There are unspoken words in the air, and for some reason, I think of my mother back home. I wonder if she will be strong after what she sees on the television.

I pull out of the hug and smile up at the woman who has gained my complete and total trust in the past four hours. "What is Felix supposed to teach me for the remaining four hours?" I ask.

"How to make an impression," Eleganza informs me. My lips turn downwards into a slight frown; I never really was good at making first impressions.

"Lilac, there is only one shot here," Felix says in his deep voice, "What goes on in this interview may just increase or decrease your chances of survival in the arena tomorrow,"

"One shot," I mutter, "Got it,"

"I've been thinking, you are a timid, quiet girl, but very strong willed and will fight for what you believe in. I think that what should happen in your five-minute interview is that you should convey these qualities to your will; Act shy when the interviewer, Adolph Cleusang, asks you a personal or family question. Tell him what you really think when he asks your opinion of the Games. However, if you really are asked that question, do NOT tell him you think the Capitol is stupid for sending children like yourself to their deaths,"

I nod, attempting to absorb all this information properly. "O-o-o-k-a-a-y," I say slowly, "So I guess what I'm trying to go for is 'The-Shy-Strong-Willed-Girl-From-District-Seven?"

"Affirmative,"

"Well, then, that shouldn't be too hard," My mind is really getting into the thought process now, and I realize that it really shouldn't be as hard as I thought it would be. A smile creeps upon my face, "Now that we have this situation under control, can I possibly indulge in a nap and maybe a few snacks back in my room?" I ask.

Felix looks at me for a moment before shrugging his shoulders, "I don't see why not,"

I jump up from my seat in the lounge and resist the urge to do a little victory dance, "Yes! Thank you!"

Once in my room, I close the door, feeling completely insane. Here I am, about to be sent off to my death, and yet, I'm not so unhappy. I order a loaf of white bread with meat, sauces, vegetables, and potatoes stuffed inside. After that, I decide to indulge in wearing a silk, pink robe. I pace around the room, humming to myself while I somewhat messily eat my loaf of stuffed bread; I wish there could be some way that this was all an awful, bad dream, that when I go to bed, I'll wake up to Mom singing and Dad leaving to go to the forest for an early start to work. But no matter how hard I wish, I know that there is such a great possibility that I will never see my parents again. With a lazy sigh, I finish off the last of my loaf and lie down on my bed. I crawl under the warm covers and burry my head into the pillows where I stroke the threads of the sheets before I am taken under by unconsciousness.

I keep stumbling on rocks and roots that I cannot see, the darkness is overpowering. Fear is shooting through my limbs, pumping the adrenaline in my ears, making me alert of everything.

"I am going to die," I whisper.

"Baby? Baby, can you hear me?" A strangely familiar voice calls, "I love you," a light begins to glow faintly in front of my eyes. Soon I can begin to make out a nose and then eyes.

"Hello?" I ask. Now I can see a face, a familiar face, one I have known my whole life. "Mom!" I cry in relief.

"There's not much time," Mom says. The light is glowing brighter and I can see my mother's whole body. She pulls me into an embrace and the fear is washed away. "Fear not, my daughter, I will carry on,"

"I love you, Mom," She's gone, and the fear returns while the light recedes. I begin to stumble again, tears flooding my eyes and falling down my face. Something latches onto my foot, begins to crawl up my leg, tripping me mid-stride. I fall on my face and start to struggle frantically, while the screams escape my throat.

"LILAC!" I stop screaming and I feel that the thing on my leg has gone away. My head lifts up and I am blinded by another bright light. But I can hear the voices, whispering around me.

"Be strong," my father's voice whispers next to my ear.

"I love you," the three words echo around me in different voices; Sage's, Dad's, Juniper's, Uncle Frendrick's, Aunt May's, and Mom's voices, all telling me they love me.

"I love you all too!" I yell. Suddenly a pain slashes across my chest, then my throat. My head begins to uncontrollably shake around, and I am screaming again as the light becomes white-hot. The voices are disappearing, replaced by one terrifyingly familiar voice.

"DIE!"

I jolt upwards out of bed, still screaming. There is a pounding on my door and then suddenly the door bursts open. A worried Ryker and Eleganza sweep into the room.

"Lilac, Lilac are you okay? Lilac, what's going on? Stop screaming!" Ryker demands. I do as he asks, and I stop screaming. I have broken out into a cold sweat and the tears are threatening to pour over.

"B-bad dream," I whisper in fear.

"What was it about?" he asks me. Eleganza walks to the other side of the bed and sits down; she raises a hand a strokes my hair comfortingly.

I shake my head and close my eyes, "I can't remember," I tell him. There is a part of me that wishes I could remember, but the other part of me does not wish to know what the dream was about. I did remember one thing though, someone screaming something at me in a chilling voice. But as I try to remember the voice and identify the speaker, I get more confused and can't remember.

"We should get you ready," Eleganza changes the subject.

I look at her in horror, "How much time do we have before the interview?" I ask.

"An hour and a half,"

Chapter 7: An Interview with Adolph Cleusang

Looking at my reflection in the mirror, I twirl. My dress is a green color, but I notice, as I spin, the fabric has hints of brown, yellow and blue. It's as if the fabric is impersonating looking up at the sky through the trees.
"This dress," I whisper, "is absolutely stunning!" I turn to Eleganza. She has her hands on her hips with a triumphant smile on her face.
"It's perfect for you; while it represents your district, it completely complements you." I turn back to the mirror and I look at my hair.
Eleganza had surprisingly kept the waves I made with my braid. She only amplified it a bit and then intertwined a crown of sticks, leaves, and wildflowers.
"Thank you," I tell her.

"Anything to help you survive," She gives me a hug and I look at my prep team. They are huddled nervously together a few feet away and I roll my eyes.

"Come here you guys," I say, extending my arms to give them each a hug, "Thank you for putting up with me and making me look amazing," Purpura and Hyacintho hug me at the same time, and then Aqua hugs me.

"If we don't see you tomorrow," Purpura begins.

"We just want to wish you luck in the arena," Hyacintho finishes.

"And I hope the odds are in your favor," Aqua adds, giving me a shy wink.

I give them all a big smile, "Thank you so much for helping me," I realize that maybe, just maybe I will miss my prep team after all.

Eleganza and I meet up with Ryker, Genesis, Felix, and Maxie Smirt at the elevator. I shoot Ryker at look and walk up to Felix.

"What is she doing here?" I demanded.

"I have to make an appearance," Maxie Smirt spat back at me. I feel a hand on my shoulder and turn to Eleganza. The look on her face tells me to just ignore Maxie. With one more hateful glare at Maxie Smirt, I punch the down button and step into the elevator. It is a short ride down to ground level, where we immediately enter the City Circle. There is big stage set up out in the middle, with stands in front of it. There are twenty-four chairs spread out in a large arc on the stage and a microphone. All the tributes except the ones from District 9 and 11 are already here, standing around with their partners or sitting down nervously in their chairs, wishing this whole ordeal would be over with.

My breath hitches as I see the crowd of people in the streets, surrounding the stage; I look up to see camera crews have taken to the tops of buildings and balconies. Only the richest and the most popular sit high up in the stands. There is a section for the stylists and prep teams, one for the Gamemakers, and one for the mentors and District escorts. We are well into the evening but the sky in the Capitol is bright and sunny. For a second I wonder how they made it so bright out here, but then I decide I really don't care about it.

What bothers me most is that every single citizen of Panem will be required to watch this tonight; whether it is on their own personal televisions at home, or in the huge televisions in the town square. I will be speaking tonight, in a three minute interview with a complete stranger, in front of the whole country.

Felix guides Ryker and me to the chairs we will be sitting in on the stage, "Now remember, Lilac, you come off as your strong-willed, kind self." I nod. "Ryker, I want you to be as level headed as possible, but keep some of your wit in there too," and then he's gone and we are left to fend for ourselves.

"Smile, will you? I bet you the cameramen are already recording this event." Ryker says, slightly agitated.

I put on a timid smile and ask, "What is your problem, cousin?"

"I'm so nervous and I don't want to mess up any chances of gaining sponsors just because you're not smiling." He gives me a smile as well.

"I will not ruin your chances of gaining sponsors," I say, "What happens to me in this interview will not affect you."

"I'm not talking about my chances, I am talking about yours," he says. I open my mouth to say something but then we are told to sit in our seats. The interviews have officially begun.

I sit in my chair and keep my smile, though I do not look anywhere but my lap. While I pick at the hem of my dress and sit up straight, I listen as Tripp makes easy-going jokes about the food in the Capitol and the silly outfits here. No one takes him seriously about it though, they just assume he's trying to come off as a funny guy; I guess in a way he isn't trying though, that's just how he is. When his three minutes are up, the buzzer sounds and Susan takes the stage. She comes off as a lovable and shy girl, talking about home and family and her love for Gerry. During Gerry's interview, he seems very protective over Susan and it is clear that when we will be in the arena, he will do everything he can to protect Susan.

But it's Lilithe's interview that really has me scared. For some reason, listening to her voice sends chills down my spine as she answers her questions with a ruthless, wicked, cruelty that I have never heard in a voice before; I wonder if she might win the Games. When her interview is over, she walks back to her seat, with her flowy dress floating behind her. I cross my legs and pull the end of my dress down to my knees and look at my dark brown, Greek sandals nervously. The tributes from Four and Five all attempt a silent approach, which makes me sad because I know it's not going to get them anywhere.

When it's Blaise's turn for his interview, I break out into a cold sweat and feel my heart begin to hammer in my chest. Blaise is a passionate, mysterious kind of guy; he answers the questions Adolph Cleusang gives him truthfully, but he avoids giving any sort of juicy information.

"Now Blaise, may I just ask you what your thoughts are about the Hunger Games?" Adolph asks with a shy, concerned smile.

"Of course you can ask, Adolph," Blaise jokes, but then becomes sober as he says, "I think the Hunger Games are a way to tell the Districts that we have to obey the Capitol no matter what," The crowd is silent and I take a sharp breath in shock. Is he just asking for trouble? I think. What Blaise just did was very risky and I look up the Gamemakers and see some of them have annoyance etched into their features.

"That is a very interesting opinion, young man," Adolph says and then the buzzer rings, "And that is all we have time for! Everybody please give a round of applause for Blaise Wescott!" the crowd does as Adolph requests, but to a reserved extent.

And then my name is being called and I put a smile on my face as I walk to Adolph Cleusang the way Eleganza taught me. I politely try to avoid staring at his ridiculous green suit with red and blue stripes all over it. He embraces me in a big hug, as if we were old friends.

"Hello, Lilac!" he greets me.

"Hello, Adolph," I say with a shy smile.

"Now, since we have little time, let's cut to the chase," he says, "What has been the best thing you have encountered here since you've arrived?"

I nervously take a piece of my hair and begin to twirl it on my finger, "The best thing, would be the kindness I have received," My eyes find Eleganza's in the stylist's section and she gives me an encouraging smile.

"That is wonderful! Who has given you the most kindness?"

"My stylist, Eleganza," I say, "She has been so wonderful to me and in the short time I have gotten to know her, she has made me feel welcome in this city,"

"Speaking of people who make you feel welcome, is there anyone back home that you would like to give a special message to?" I nod my head, as if to say yes. "Who?"

"M-my parents," I stutter and find a camera to face directly and look right at it, "Mom, Dad, I love you. Be strong, no matter what happens."

"What do you think will happen, Lilac?" Adolph asks me.

"It's obvious, isn't it?" I say, the strong-willed part of me coming out. Adolph seems taken aback by my comment.

"What?"

"I die, of course," the words I have only thought feel weird on my lips. But oddly enough, I have accepted the fact I will die.

Adolph nods gravely but argues, "But, you scored that nine. Doesn't that mean you have a very good chance?"

"I suppose, but I don't think it'll guarantee me to the end. Plus, it's not like I want to make to the end,"

"And why is that?" the audience is hushed and Adolph is intrigued.

"Because, I do not want to make it to the end and have Ryker die," I tell, my voice firm and steady.

"I have a question," Adolph says.

"It's your job to have a question, so ask away," The crowd laughs and the tension disappears, but only for a moment before Adolph asks his question.

"In the replay of the reaping, we heard your escort say something about you and Ryker looking related, is that true?"

"Yes," I say, "Ryker is my cousin," The buzzer goes off and my time in front of the Capitol and the rest of the world is over.

"That's all we have time for! I wish you the best of luck in the arena, Lilac!" I nod my thanks and return to my seat in a daze. Ryker is called into the spotlight and I take a few deep breaths to slow my heart rate. Adolph goes through a few questions so the audience gets a good idea of what Ryker is like.

"So, we heard your cousin, Lilac, give her opinion on what will happen in the arena. What are your thoughts on that?"

"Well, I think that Lilac is going to find she's not going to get her way, because I am going to do what I can to protect her." I make a face that I probably shouldn't have made because I look up at a television screen and see my face is right there, on it. I struggle to make a blank face, but I fail because annoyance and helplessness seeps through. When the buzzer rings and Ryker walks back to his seat next to me, I shoot him look of fury. I will not have him let me win the Games and have to live with the fact he would be dead and I would be alive.

The interviews speed by and only three others stick out in my mind. Melody gets an empathetic crowd as she reveals her sweet and artistic personality. I consider that when Ryker and I break away from our alliance with the others, it would probably be a good idea to alliance with Melody and Nigel. Artemis comes off as a mouthy, yet sly girl. I decide she is someone I should avoid in the arena. Her counterpart, Jace really scares me. He produces the aura of a wicked, cruel killing machine and just hearing how he talks about what will happen in the arena makes me want to go back to my room and hide forever. I sincerely hope he is the one who doesn't kill me.

The interviews end and the anthem plays. Ryker and I head back to our rooms without a word to anyone, even each other. I am afraid of what I would say to him and what he would say back. An argument would follow and maybe a bit of a fist fight, which is what usually, follows one of our heated arguments.

I decided to program everything in my shower to speed by quickly; I was quite delighted to find that the shower lasted less than five minutes. Once I was out, I put on my signature look: lace-up combat boots, leggings, a cotton shirt, and a leather jacket. I brushed my hair and put it in a high pony tail. I looked at myself in a body-length mirror and smiled, somewhat confidently before heading out to dinner with everybody for the last time.

"You both did excellent!" Felix tells us with his mouth full, which earns a half-hearted glare from Genesis.

"I agree! You both game him some juicy things to think about, but not too much to tell the whole story. It was very well done on both of your parts." Eleganza praises.

I give her a smile, but I am so exhausted that it must look pretty pathetic because Genesis says, "Don't worry, we really are being truthful. You did amazing and there's nothing to be terrified of."

"Oh, no, I'm not worried or anything," I tell her, "I just am so exhausted. It's been a long day,"

"What do you mean, exhausted?" Ryker exclaims, "You took a four-hour nap because Zamora decided you had your whole routine spot-on! I should be the one exhausted here because I didn't nap at all!"

"She did have her whole routine spot-on," Felix points out.

"Fine, I'm emotionally exhausted!" I tell him.

Ryker glares at me before changing the subject, "Where do you suppose the awful excuse for a woman has gone?" he asks, referring to Maxie Smirt.

"She orders her food to her room now," Eleganza informs us.

"Really, Ryker, do we have to speak of her?" I ask in annoyance. Ryker doesn't answer me, but turns happy with excitement as a few Avoxes take our empty plates and replace them with cleans ones and set a big cake on our table. A jug of pink juice is set in front of me and I look at it hesitantly before I get a clean glass and pour some.

It fizzes all the way down my throat, but in a smooth way. I assume it's a type of fruity alcohol because after I am halfway finished with my glass, I begin to get a bit woozy as shapes and faces begin to blur and become disfigured.

"So, what's the plan for tomorrow?" I ask to no one in particular.

"I will wake you at dawn, and from there we will travel to the arena by hovercraft. Once we get there, we will be escorted down to a room below where you will be launched into the arena. The Games won't start until ten because the residents here in the Capitol are not up before then," Eleganza says. There is a lot of emotion in her voice. Fear begins to pulse in my veins and I pour some more of the pink alcohol; I want to numb the fear.

About halfway through my third glass of the drink, we go watch the replay of the interviews in the sitting room. I bring my glass with me, as well as the jug of the alcohol; no one notices though, because everyone is too wrapped up in watching the replay. I try to watch it, but everything in my vision is becoming distorted and my tongue is getting heavier. I listen to Jace talk about how he's going to slaughter in the arena and I begin to giggle.

"She's gotten herself drunk!" Eleganza yells in amusement. "She needs to be put in her room."

"Elegan-shh-aav," I slur, "I wanna s-h-h-tay here with everyone," I feel a bit frustrated because I can't speak right; Why can't I speak right again? I feel my empty glass and jug of drink being taken from my hands. But before I can complain, I find a pair of strong arms lifting me from the chair and Genesis's voice calling out behind me, "I'll make sure to pre-order her tea in the morning to cure her hangover; we can't send the poor thing into the arena drunk!"

My door opens and I am set down on the bed, staring up into a blurry sight of Ryker's concerned face. "When I save you," he tells me, "There will be no alcohol drinking. I demand that be my last wish." Before I can drunkenly protest, I see his form disappear out of my room.

I lie in my silk-sheet bed and stare at the ceiling, giggling at the figures I see running across it. One figure is tall and sort of resembles my father, only the figure has a lot of rabbit-like features. It's got big, buck teeth and whiskers, with a sort of grey, fuzzy face. He tells me I'm crazy and I wonder what I did to insult him. Before I can reply back to the rude figure, the door opens, sending a bright light into my room.

"Lilac," Felix says as he walks into my room, followed by Eleganza and my prep team, "I know you're drunk and you may not remember this at all, but we have to say goodbye now. Your prep team and I will not see you in the morning." I look into his eyes; see something there and whatever it is makes me sober for a few seconds.

I slip out of bed and wrap my arms around Felix, "Feeeee-lihkx," I slur, "I u-s-s-h-e-d-f to think you were shuuuchs a hard-assh, yhhhoouu big ol' shoftie! I'll mish you when I'm dead!" No one answers me as I say this and I giggle to fill the silence. Or maybe I don't giggle to fill the silence, maybe I do it because I can, or maybe I giggle because—

Aqua rushes out from behind Eleganza and gives me a hug that nearly knocks me over, "Good luck!" she interrupted my train of thought, and I can't help but think that was very rude of her.

Purpura and Hyacintho hug me at the same time wishing me well and luck. They say something about hoping I am the victor. "The victor of what?" I want to ask! But then I find my bare feet sliding across the soft carpet and I am back into bed. There are kisses being showered onto my forehead and then I hear everyone leaving my room. But before the door closes, I hear Eleganza whisper to someone,

"I'm so glad she's drunk, otherwise she'd be like Ryker right now- unable to sleep and comprehend what is going to happen," the door shuts, causing something in my brain to switch off, and I am pulled into the sea of drunken dreams.

Chapter 8: Let the Games Begin

The banging gets louder and I begin to scream, trying to drone out the sound. Everything inside me is telling me to run, to get as far away from where I am as possible. But, where am I exactly? I'm so confused and the banging increases, making me scream louder, and run more. Then, suddenly it stops, and I hear a voice yell out, "Lilac, its okay! Don't be afraid!"

I shoot upwards in bed super fast, see Eleganza's worried face, before I am knocked backwards by an unbelievable pain in my head. Cursing, I wonder what the hell has hit my so hard, so early in the morning.

"Why does my head hurt?" I moan.

"You have a hangover. Here," Eleganza slowly and gently sits me up in bed and hands me a cup of brown liquid. It smells really wonderful, and the warmth of the smell begins to wake my mind up. "Drink this," she tells me.

"What is it?" I ask her before taking a sip. It tastes really good too, and the warmth spreads throughout my whole body. I take a large gulp and almost cry out in relief as the warmth travels to my head and removes the pounding pain almost immediately.

"It's a remedy to cure hangovers. Do you feel better?" she asks.

"Yes," I give her a smile and slip out of bed, only to break down in tears as the memories come flooding back to me. I remember Ryker's interview- his vow to protect me no matter what, the pink alcohol and getting drunk, the heartfelt and drunken goodbyes in the middle of the night, and most of all the fact that the First Hunger Games will start in a few hours. I know, with every fiber in my being, that I will die.

The tears are flowing over and I feel Eleganza's arms around me, trying to tell me to be strong and do what I have to do. After several minutes of this, the tears stop and I stand up with my friend and give her a hug.

"Thank you, for everything," I whisper. "I'll never forget you,"

"Don't talk like that now, okay? Let's get you ready," She has me put my hair up in another pony tail; wear my lace-up combat boots and a pair of leggings with a silk shirt. She tells me that what I wear right now doesn't really matter because there will be clothes provided for us in the launch room.

Once dressed, Eleganza walked me out of my room to the elevator, where we met Ryker and Genesis. There were dark circles under Ryker's eyes and he looked scared out of his mind. It was kind of amusing to see that out of the two of us, I was the brave one. Back in District Seven, it was Ryker who was always so strong and brave, protecting me and Juniper during the war when our parents went out to help.
"You okay?" I ask when I hug him.
"Sure, of course. We're about to go in an arena to fight to the death, why wouldn't I be okay?"
I pull back and look him in the eye, "Don't forget we have an alliance. We're both going to make it through the day. I promise."
"I don't trust them," he whispers as we walk into the elevator behind Eleganza and Genesis.
"Me either. But I do know that Tripp and Susan trust us, and Tripp can sway the others. He won't let anything happen to us."
Eleganza presses the button to send us to the roof level and Ryker eyes the doors warily. "Okay, Lilac. But just know that I'm going to protect you."
I glare at him. "And I'll have you know that I will protect you." He doesn't reply and the elevator opens. We walk out onto the roof and are greeted by two hovercrafts. Eleganza directs me to one and Ryker is taken to the other.

I step onto the ladder and immediately I am frozen in place, unable to move. Weakly, I realize some sort of air current is holding me in place when an attendant approaches me, a needle being held in her right hand.

"Miss Greenhouse, inside this vial is a tracker. Do not panic," I want to cry out as she injects the needle into my forearm. It hurts so much but I can't struggle with the damn current holding me in place. Finally the needle is removed and I am taken by an Avox girl into a compartment and Eleganza enters after me, her blue, one-strap, flowy dress billowing like a cape behind her. There is food set out on a table and I go over to it hesitantly.

"Eat up," Eleganza says as she sits, "This is a Game designed to kill you, so I suppose there won't be much food in there." I stare at her for a second and then decide that she is right. When I sit, I start to put a lot of food on my plate; careful to avoid anything I think won't settle into my stomach. I am unbelievably nervous; I could be dead in a few hours flat. It's not that I didn't trust the majority of my alliance; it was Lilithe and Jace that gave me the creeps. The way they talked about what they would do in the arena made me feel slightly feverish and shake.

We sit there at the table, eating food for about half an hour before the windows black out completely. Before, I could look out and see the rooftops of the buildings in the Capitol, and now I see nothing. I am completely trapped in this room with my stylist and friend. There is no way out.

An hour or so later the hovercraft lands. An attendant is at the bottom of the ladder, which leads to a tube that suggests it goes underground.

"You will be heading down this tunnel and make a left turn. The Launch Room in which you will be using is the second door to the left." The attendant informs. Eleganza and I make our way to the Launch Room quickly.

The room is like the one I have been staying at in the Training Center, only instead of a bed, there is a white couch, two matching chairs, no dresser, a mahogany table, a bathroom with a shower, and a clear tube in the center. I assume it takes me up to the arena.

"Take a quick shower and then meet me back out here," Eleganza instructs me. I numbly nod my head and go take a shower.

The brush is being gently pulled through my waist-length hair and the effect it has on me is quite calming. Mom used to brush my hair a lot, back in District Seven; she knew how it could calm me in times of distress. Eleganza pulls my hair into a pony tail high atop my head and secures it with an elastic band. There is a sound at the door and I look to see a secret opening and a package being distributed into it.

Eleganza picks the package up, "Your clothes,"

She tells me that she could not have a say in what we wore, that she doesn't even know what to expect. I take the package from her tattooed hands and open it myself. There are simple undergarments, skin tight socks, lace-up boots, dark blue pants that start out baggy and then slim towards the ankles, and a skin tight grey shirt. Eleganza examines the fabrics closely.

"The shirt has this gloss here, you see?" she moves the shirt under a light and you can see a faint gloss to it, reminding me of the first dress I saw Eleganza in. "It's probably water proof. Maybe the arena will be all water?"

She helps me dress and I am shaking. Turns out the pants have hidden pockets in them, and they slim towards the ankles to be tucked into the boots. They're quite comfortable actually, and I decide I wouldn't mind dying in comfortable clothes. We sit on the couch and don't talk. What is there to say? Nothing.

I eye the clear tube carefully and then look at the ceiling. We are beneath the arena itself and I keep thinking how very soon I will be dead, nothing more than a simple memory. It's about an hour before a female's voice rings through the room, declaring it is time to be launched.

My breakfast begins to crawl its way back up my stomach and to my throat, but I push it down; there is no use puking before the Games. Shakily, my new friend and I stand together and it is I who pulls her into a hug.

"Thank you, for being my friend here." I say.

"Anything for you. Good luck, Lilac…" she gives me a grim smile, "And may the odds be ever in your favor."

I step into the cylinder tube and onto a metal plate. Eleganza looks at me with pride and hope; I decide to give her one last smile. The plate begins to rise.

The darkness that engulfs me for no more than ten seconds is broken by a bright, white-pink light. I can smell something sweet… but it's too sweet and makes me want to be sick. My eyes adjust quickly and I see we are all standing in a large circle around the Cornucopia. I can't see Ryker, and I assume he is directly across from me on the other side. I remember we have to stay on the plate for sixty seconds. If we step off, we get blown to bits; but once the sixty seconds were up, the cannon would boom, and it would begin.

The announcer's voice rings through the stadium, "Ladies and gentlemen, let the First Hunger Games begin!"

My heart beat is pounding in my ears, and I feel as if I may faint. But no, I can't faint, I can't die just yet on this damn plate. Adrenaline begins to course through my body and my hand taps my pants as I take in the scene.

The grass is exactly six shades lighter than the blue pants I am wearing and the sky is a light, creamy purple. On my left there is a huge pink lake that goes on as far as I can see before it is engulfed by cherry blossom trees, ferns trees, and oak trees. A quick glance to my right reveals a completely identical scene. I realize I could easily get lost out here.

Melody is the tribute right next to me on my left and I can barely see Nigel on the other side of the Cornucopia; I hope she remembers what I told her about getting out of here fast. I glance around the circle of tributes, look at the ones I can see when my eyes land on the boy from District Four. He is fidgeting like crazy. It makes me nervous.

Then I see it- his foot and the wild look in his eyes. He looks around like a cornered dog about to be punished. I want to look away, tear my eyes from the scene, but I can't. And as if in slow motion, his foot inches off the plate, and touches the blue ground. There is a second of silence.

BOOM.

The ground around the District Four boy erupts and he is no more. The boy from District Four is the first tribute to die in the first Hunger Games. Thankfully we have been placed around the Cornucopia at a safe distance from each other, so no one is harmed by the explosion. I wish the cannon would boom already.

And in fifteen seconds my wish comes true.

Boom!

I hear the cannon and my feet take off racing the twenty-four other tributes to the Cornucopia, wondering if I will die. Twenty seconds into the Games and I reach the golden opening of the Cornucopia, meeting up with Tripp. We are the first there.

I wildly look around and grab a few knives and four silver hatchets. Screams of death begin to ring in my ears and I want to puke; then I notice I Ryker hasn't shown up.

I tuck the knives and two hatches into random pockets that I figured out how to open while waiting to be launched into this hell hole. My feet take off running again and I leave the Cornucopia. Tripp and Susan call out my name behind me, telling me to stay with them so we can gather more supplies. But I don't care about supplies right now. It's near the tail of the Cornucopia where I find Ryker holding a spear in his hand while the District Eight girl wields a sword. Vaguely I realize that there were items scattered around the Cornucopia too, and I figure Ryker must have been lucky enough to pick it up. My speed increases and I see the girl swing the sword at Ryker's head. He ducks and tried to run, but she takes the tip of her blade and slices his palm. I can see the blood from here. Ryker stops and clutches his hand and looks at the sword.

"RYKER!" I scream as I get closer. His eyes meet mine and the sword comes down.

Chapter Nine: A Whisper

Horrified, I watch Ryker thrust the spear in his hands upwards, blocking the sword barreling down towards his head. In fear, I rush towards the pair and seize advantage of the moment. District Eight is momentarily stunned that Ryker blocked her sword and she stumbles backwards due to the momentum from the spear. Grasping the silver hatchet in my right hand, I come behind her and kick her in the small of her back, causing her to fall flat on her face. Without a second thought, I raise my right arm and swing it down and the hatchet releases, finding it's mark in the back of her skull in a mere two seconds.

The thought of my actions have not processed in my mind, so I reach my hand down for the hatchet and pull it out of the head. There's no cannon and I suppose the Gamemakers will save the cannons for later, when the tributes left can actually hear them. My head snaps up to meet Ryker's shocked face.

"Lilac," he sputters, "You- you-"

"Lilac!" Tripp's voice yells from the Cornucopia. I whip around to see that the tributes of my alliance are the only ones left on the field, besides five mangled bodies lying on the ground. "We need you and Ryker to help us carry the supplies and find high ground!"

"Coming!" I yell back. Turning around, I go to reach down to help Ryker up, but find he is already standing, brushing himself off, looking shaken. I pull him into a hug, and realize I am shaking myself, tears falling numbly down my face. The thought has sunken in.

"I'm- I'm so sorry," I sob, "But I couldn't… stand the thought of never having you here." My cousin rubs my back, mutters words of consolation.

"It's okay. Thank you for saving my life,"

I pull out of our hug and wipe my eyes and whisper, "Forgive me, District Eight," and with one last look at the dead body of the District Eight girl, I walk towards the Cornucopia with Ryker, to help with supplies.

"Here would be wonderful!" Susan exclaims as she plops down her crate of supplies. We have been walking for a few hours now, encountering nothing and no one. It took us a while, but we found a hill. Thankfully it didn't take us long to get to the top. I set my crate of supplies down next to hers and nervously fiddle with a pouch on my pants. Everyone else sets their crates down as well and we sit in a circle, exhausted.

"Should we talk strategy and set up watches?" Blaise asks. I look at his face and see right through his cool demeanor. On the insides, he is a nervous wreck as he glances around the hill and into the trees; searching for Mevelyn without a doubt. I want to ask him what is so special about the little twelve year old girl, but I know it would put him in a bad situation with the rest of our alliance. I keep my mouth shut.

"We will take watches and breaks, send three out at a time to scout out the surrounding areas for food, resources and tributes. The six left will set up camp, and once that is done three will rest and the other three will watch. We can rotate shifts and take it from there," Susan explains.

Gerry pokes her flirtatiously, "Given this much thought, love?" he teases.

"Excellent idea," Lilithe says, her eyes flashing with excitement as she thinks of the plan. "Now, who will start scouting and who will stay behind?"

"I'll go scouting," I say in a clear voice. I would honestly like to explore the surrounding areas, just to get a feel of what Ryker and I are up against and where we can escape once we leave our alliance.

Lilithe nods in approval, "I will as well," Ryker says defiantly.

Tripp chimes in anxiously, "I'll go too!"

"Good," Lilithe stands and goes to a crate filled with supplies. I look around her baggy pants to see she is shuffling through one of the weapons crates and begins to pull out various weapons. "I am good with these weapons," she tells us, "Tripp, Ryker, Lilac, come over here and choose the ones you want to take out for scouting." We do as she tells us and I pat my pockets near my ankles nervously. I hadn't taken the knives and hatchets out and didn't plan to until we were away from the rest of our alliance.

There is a spear that collapses into three pieces, making it the length of my forearm. Ryker immediately goes for that and Tripp just pulls out some long, wicked butcher knives and swings them around like they're air. I find a hammer that fits in my grip perfectly and settle with that. Susan and Gerry note my choice of weapon with raised eyebrows, but they don't say anything.

We go over to another crate containing various food items and two thermal bottles that contained pure water. Tripp picks both bottles up and straps them into two bigger pockets on his thighs. I go to the crate next to it and pull out a blue back pack and begin to fill it with dried fruit and jerky. In no time, the three of us are set to go out and scout the surrounding area.

"Good luck," Denise says. I note that she has been unusually quiet the way up here. Honestly, I had almost forgotten that she existed. Almost.

Tripp takes the lead and Ryker and I follow behind him, walking down the hill and into the woods. The trees are exotic, contrasting drastically with the blue grass. I wonder why the Gamemakers made the grass blue, what they were going to symbolize with it. The cherry blossom trees have light brown trunks with blossoms in varied shades of red and pink. We are a few minutes into the exotic scenery when we come across a cluster of silver trees with large fruit the color of gold. The fruit reflects the purple light of the sky shining through the trees, giving it a lavender tint.

"I wonder…." Ryker mutters as he raises his spear and pokes the fruit. The spearhead punctures the skin and a silvery blue liquid begins to drip down onto the ground, disappearing in the grass. Tripp reaches his hand out to pick a fruit when I stop him.

"Don't," I warn, putting my hand on his arm, "You don't know what it is and if it's safe to eat. This is the Hunger Games and we are all designed to die. It could be a form of trickery." I am afraid Tripp might not listen but with one last wistful glance at the interesting fruit, he looks away and into my eyes, lowering his arm. I move my hand away.

"Alright," he says with a simple smile and shrug of one shoulder.

"We need to warn the others before they go out here. They might make the mistake of eating it without knowing its safe." Ryker says.

I nod, "Let's keep moving."

An hour goes by in silence and Tripp decides we stop for a while to take a break. Ryker and I agree. The three of us haven't come across much, just cherry blossom trees mixed in with fern and oak trees. Occasionally we will cross a mouth watering aroma and find clusters of the silver trees. The Gamemakers confuse me, why put such an obvious danger everywhere? Honestly, they must think the tributes are stupid enough to eat something so hazardous. But then again, Tripp was about to take one and eat it.

I take my backpack off and sit back against a cherry blossom tree. It is neither hot nor cold in temperature, it just feels normal; almost like body temperature. So far we have not seen a single tribute or animal. We have been wandering aimlessly through the scenery for almost two hours now.

Tripp sits down across from me and gives me his easy going smile while Ryker sits next to me and leans on a slanted grey rock that almost matches our shirts. I suppose the clothing we were given is a sort of camouflage, making it easy for us to blend in.

"Pass the pack, will you?" Tripp asks. I push the backpack across the blue grass towards him and he unzips it and starts to pass food items out.

"May I have some water?" With a nod, Tripp takes out the two bottles of water and rolls them over to me and Ryker.

"Not too much though," he explains, "It's our only source of water and we still haven't found any out here,"

"Well there were those two pink lakes out by the Cornucopia," Ryker ventures. I snap my head towards him.

Tripp gnaws on a piece of jerky and asks, "Do you suppose it's a sort of juice?"

"I'm not sure," Ryker answers, "But we could find out,"

"How?" I ask. Curiosity is beginning to spike into my veins and I'm not sure if I can take not knowing what Ryker is thinking much longer.

"We could bait another tribute to drink from it. Or well, we could try to. Maybe we should set up a watch over near one of the lakes and see if a tribute goes near it and drinks from it. Someone should be bound to do so,"

"That's a good idea," I say. For some reason, speaking of the pink lakes is alarming me; I don't understand why.

"Wow," Tripp mutters as he lies back in the grass.

"What?" I ask him.

"I can't believe that we're here, in the Hunger Games."

"Yeah," I say. I can believe it. The Capitol and President Granger are cruel and I bet they are finding this amusing.

He continues, "Only one of us can live. I'm not even sure I will,"

"I doubt I will. But then again, it's not like I want to." From the corner of my eye, I see Ryker tense up in annoyance.

"Why?" Tripp asks, intrigued.

"Because," I tell him, "I don't want to live while everyone dies," I expect Ryker to say something, but surprisingly he just sits there quiet. And for a while, it is quiet between the three of us. What I said has given us all something to think about.

It is a while before we decide to continue on our scouting trip. I suggest that we take another thirty minutes to explore before heading back. Tripp insists he remembers the way back, so I attempt to push my worry away. The fear of encountering another tribute is great, because I do not want to kill or watch a kill. I killed only when it was necessary and I feel awful about it.

All we see are the trees, the blue grass, and the grey rocks. Occasionally light or dark brown roots will protrude from the ground and a few leaves will be scattered from random wind gusts. But that is all we see. I am about to suggest we head back when I see an opening in the woods. I look at the two guys from the corner of my eyes before breaking out into a cautious jog, the hammer in my hand, ready to be wielded in defense.

When I reach the opening, I stop abruptly, careful to not expose myself in the open. In front of me, I see the pink lake. Ryker and Tripp come up from behind me on different sides, so close to me and I can feel the heat radiating from their bodies.

"Which lake do you suppose we're at; left or right?" Ryker whispers in my ear.

"The right one," Tripp whispers firmly. "When we were traveling to the hill, we always stayed to the right and when we started on the scouting trip, we basically stayed to the right." He explains. We don't answer him; instead we all stare out in the clearing and the lake.

Tripp puts one foot out in the clearing, past the oak tree we are hiding behind; nothing happens. He keeps his hold on the trunk as he puts the other foot out. When nothing happens, he gives me his smile and then releases his grip on the trunk and walks right into the clearing. I want to shout his name and tell him to stop, but instead my feet start to move right after him, griping the hammer so tight that the feeling in my fingers start to fade away.

"Lilac!" Ryker whispers loudly after me as he follows behind, "What the hell do you think you're doing?" I shush him and follow after Tripp, who is heading right for the pink lake.

The blue grass ground begins to morph into a ground of loosely packed sand that's light brown. The pink lake's water laps gently against the point where sand meets water, or whatever the liquid was. I keep the toe of my boots a foot away from the liquid, afraid of what a single drop of it could do. The pink liquid has a light fizz to it that I can hear, making me tremble. I realize it reminds me of the alcohol I had gotten drunk off of last night. But it possibly couldn't have been last night? It feels like it's been weeks ago.

"It reminds me of what you drank last night, Lilac," Ryker speaks my thoughts aloud.

"What did you drink?" Tripp asks, pulling his eyes away from the lake.

"A type of fruity alcohol; personally I wouldn't recommend it. It makes you hallucinate and the hangover is really awful. But that's not really important,"

Tripp looks at me incredulously, "You got drunk?" He makes it seem as if I am the type who would never do such a thing. Okay, maybe under normal circumstances I would have never touched the alcohol or gotten completely drunk. But I was hours away from being thrown into the Hunger Games. One was allowed to try things before death.

I open my mouth to say something about the subject but Ryker cuts me off, "Do you suppose we should set the watch up here and see what the liquid does?"

"Yeah, but we have to get back first. We'll set it up the next shift, though. It's starting to get dark and I bet Lilithe will have puppies if we're not back," Tripp says. I raise my eye brow at what he just said.

"So I guess Lilithe's kind of in charge then?" a voice whispers from behind. The three of us spin around and find no one there, but the trees; as it has always been. I understand that we have been speaking way too loud, our voices carrying, probably drawing a tribute near to listen in. Tripp's easy-going expression turns hard as he swings the long butcher knife in his hand as if to warm it up a bit. My right hand grips the hammer and I slowly crouch down and pull a knife from my left ankle pocket.

"Who's there?" Ryker asks to the trees. We wait, but no response comes. So we stand for a few minutes, each of us eyeing the trees, walking closer so we stand on the blue grass, trying to see who is there, who we might have to kill to get back to the camp.

But we see no one.

I decide it's safe to move forward into the woods and I tell the two guys at my side that we should do so and get back quick, make plans later. Fear is vibrating down my spine and there is no way I want to be out here much longer. The boys agree with me and we start to head back at a cautious, quiet pace, not speaking, but listening to hear footsteps behind us. We were three hours away from the hill and I decide it will be at least an hour and a half before the white sun sets. It will be dark by the time we get back and Lilithe will probably be a little annoyed.

The voice in the trees was right, it seems as if Lilithe, the most bloodthirsty of us all, is the leader of our alliance. I really don't like her, simply because she will kill without remorse. I start to wonder if she was responsible for any of the deaths when I hear it. The cannon's boom.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

All three of us jump at the sound and begin to go attack mode when we understand the cannon booms are signaling the deaths at the Cornucopia today. Looking up at the sky through the trees, I can see it is starting to become a darker purple that is streaked with yellow.

"I suggest we better start moving faster. Nighttime is beginning to fall," I say. With tense nods, we all move forwards again to our destination, weapons clutches in our hands.

Chapter Ten: Hellish Nights

We made it back to the hill alright. It took us longer than we intended to because it got dark fast, but we made it. Lilithe wasn't mad really.

"You guys were gone for around four hours! I was starting to wonder whether or not a tribute had finished you off. Well, if that did happen, it would be easier for everyone else to move along in the Games." She babbled when we got back. I swear, other than the last part, the girl sounded like our mother. If she wasn't so crazy and in charge, I probably would've told her that too… but I bit my tongue.

"Sorry, Lilithe," Tripp says and puts his easy smile on, "But we did encounter a problem and a discovery,"

"Do tell," Denise says from the right side of me. I look over to see her, Gerry, and Susan lying on the ground. The six we left behind set up camp in a perfect manner. There was a tent set up to hold the supplies in and had enough room just in case of a storm or any other emergency. There were four sleeping bags on the ground and three were currently occupied. Denise, Gerry, and Susan were the three to be sleeping, and Lilithe, Blaise, and Reshald were the ones on watch.

"We are about three hours away from the pink lake on the right, but we're unsure if it's safe to consume. We've decided to suggest the idea to set up a watch in a nearby tree, preferably an oak tree, and survey the area and see if other tributes are drawn to the lake and drink from it." Ryker explains.

"Have you chosen the tree?" Blaise asks.

"That's the problem," I say, "I was about to find where to have our watch spot when we heard a voice,"

"A voice?"

"Yes. That's when we realized that we were being watched and anything we said would probably be overheard. So we came back here. We didn't see anyone, nor hear that voice again."

"Very well, no one will go out until it the sun rises again." Lilithe commands. "Any takers on who wants to watch?"

"I will," Reshald and Blaise say at the same time.

Tripp and I lie down on the ground and Blaise offers me the fourth sleeping bag. With a cautious look at Lilithe, who was lying on her side in fetal position, I accept the offer and climb in. Ryker sits next to me and tells me to watch the stars with him. I do. Its ten minutes later when the hovercraft appears overhead and switches on, bathing everything on the hill in a faint light. The anthem plays and then the faces of the dead tributes are shown.

The boy from District Four is shown first. It is the same picture that was used to show the training scores, only this time under his face, there are no numbers. Both tributes from Five are dead and then they're showing District Eight, the girl I swung my hatchet into the back of her head. I gulped and started to shake.

"It's okay Lilac," Ryker whispers, "Everyone has to die anyways," The boy from Ten's face is shown, and then the girl from District 11 is last. The anthem plays and the hovercraft's screen shuts off, and I suppose it flies away, out of the sky.

We all lie in silence and it's not long before I hear the sound of heavy breathing and gentle snoring. I was afraid to fall asleep because according to Mom I snored quite loudly. It was then that I started to think about Mom, Dad, and everyone back in District 7 that I loved. What were they doing right now? Were they watching me on the television? Or were they sitting in the Town Square, watching with others for moral support? Or were they buried in their beds, all of them huddled in one house, grieving as Ryker and I fought our way? So many questions bombarded me and I just wanted to go home. My eyes were beginning to droop closed when I heard it.

A rustle, and then the sound of gentle, beating wings.

A mutt maybe?

Slowly, I sat up and poked Ryker in the side, who jumped in shock. "Lilac what the he-" I clamped my hand over his mouth and made sure he could see my face in the dark. A silver moon was shining brightly above us, so I knew he could. I put a finger over my mouth and whispered gently, "Shh," then I pointed to my ears and mouthed the word, "Listen,"

We listened to silence, waiting to hear the rustle accompanied by the flap of wings. I turned to Blaise and Reshald, who have our backs to us, not paying attention at all. As silently as possible, I get up and touch them both on their shoulders and whisper to them, "Shh, we might have a problem. Listen,"

They both looked at me as if I were crazy but then we heard the rustle again, coming from the outskirts of the trees. And then, almost faintly, the sound of wings, closer this time. I looked up and around wildly, searching for the source and saw a tall fern tree extending a little bit over out hill, and between the leaves, a pair of blood red eyes reflecting the moonlight. A hand flew up to my mouth and stifled my gasp. It was Tripp's hand and as I looked around, I saw the other's being awakened by Blaise and Ryker. Soon everyone was gathering weapons in their hands and I moved Tripp's hand off of my mouth.

"Do you see it?" I whisper to him. He nods. "Have the other's seen it?" He shakes his head no, "We have to tell them, but subtly, so the creature doesn't understand it's been compromised," I walk up to Lilithe, Ryker, Reshald, and Denise, who are all bending over a crate, whispering furiously about a tribute hiding out there, possibly the one we heard at the lake.

"….and if it really is the tribute, we need to either kill him or her and stay here or we move now and hope we aren't ambushed by any other tributes," Lilithe was saying. I slipped in between Denise and Ryker and whispered, "There is a huge problem,"

"What do you mean?" Denise asks.

"Tributes aren't the only things stalking us tonight." Four pairs of eyes start to dart around, looking for a stalking creature. "Don't look," I hissed in annoyance, "The creature will know it's been seen if you keep acting oddly."

Lilithe's eyes are the first to stop searching, "Where is it?"

"There is a fern tree over there and unlike the other trees, it extends over us partially. I heard the soft beating of wings and I think the thing can fly. When I was looking at the tree, I saw a pair of red eyes being reflected off the moon light. But it wasn't looking at me, I don't think. Otherwise, we'd all probably be fighting for our lives right now." They all look at me, a grave look in their eyes, "Don't be too suspicious when you look. I'm off to see if Tripp has warned the others,"

Tripp is standing by the tent, looking extremely nervous as he holds the knives in his hands, swinging them around. I walk over to him.

"Did you warn the others?"

"Yes," We are standing near the edge of the hill and I look down. Honestly, we're about maybe ten feet up from the ground, but at the base of the hill are wild looking bushes that in sunlight are actually a vibrant green color. I hear the rustle again and see a bush move. With a quiet gasp, I take a step back. Fear is shooting through me and I know we're about to encounter some trouble. I pull a knife out of my pocket, along with a hatchet.

"Lilac, what's wrong?" Tripp asks, but I ignore him as my eyes dart up to the fern tree above us. I find the blood red eyes, but they're not looking at the hill. The eyes are looking at the base of the hill. In fear, I watch a black wing extend out into the open, followed by another on the other side. A growl pierces the silence and I put my hand on Tripp's arm.
"Be ready, something is going to happen," I whisper and turn around. "Something's going to happen," I tell the others, who eye the tree in fearful determination as they see the wings.

"Be ready," Lilithe says, anticipation high in her voice. She moves out from behind Gerry and Susan and I see she is quivering with excitement, ready to see what the wings might bring. A danger from the sky.

Another growl starts to curl in the air and the wings and eyes begin to move forwards, inching out. Looking down, I see the bush is still when the growl occurs. We all stand there for several seconds in silence, the beast has stopped moving, we all have stopped talking, and whatever is in the bush doesn't make a sound. For a few seconds at least.

Rustle.

The beast jumps from the tree, squealing and growling swooping down with lightning speed to the bush. I can't make out anything about the creature except its black wings and red eyes, looking like a predator who has found its prey; and in a sense, it has. The tributes in my alliance swarm to the edge of the hill, looking down as we watch the creature open it's rather large mouth and pull something out of the bushes.

Not something, someone. A terrified scream begins to pierce the air as the tribute girl is being attacked by the creature and it's sharp, large teeth. We just stand there and watch, all of us, weapons in our hands, fear radiating through our bodies, as the creature begins to devour the struggling tribute girl. She looks up at us and screams,

"Help! Help! Help!" her voice is consumed with panic, terror, and pain. We don't answer her cries, just stare back into her silver eyes. I realize she's the District 12 girl, with the interesting name. Artemis. This realization does nothing to compel me to help her. It's another minute before the cannon booms and the creature then goes to devour her dead body. I turn away; it's all I can do to keep the bile from escaping my throat.

"What should we do?" Reshald asks.

"Kill the creature." Is Lilithe's excited, cold response. I hear the sound of two pairs of feet moving down the hill halfway. I assume the creature is simple minded and consumed by the thought of its food. The footsteps stop and a second later I hear the WOOSH of a weapon coursing through the air, and then the death cry of a dying animal.

"I did it!" Ryker calls up. I turn around to look down the hill, stunned. Ryker had killed something? My feet find their way down the hill without my permission, following the others to examine the strange beast that killed Artemis.

"I know what it is!" Susan cries, "Or at least know what part of it is. I have no idea how it got wings…" she trails off in thought. I look down at the creature as I approach it. It's got a blood-covered snout, pink leathery-looking skin, and long black wings that are at least five feet in length each. The creature's body is rather large and I know already that its eyes are blood red and it has razor sharp teeth. There's a horrible stench in the air and I look at the only remaining thing of Artemis- her head and half of her upper body. Sadness courses through me at the thought of her being sent home in a plain box, half her body there.

"It's a pig! But it has wings and it's much larger than a regular pig is. Oh, and regular pigs don't have teeth so sharp and red eyes. Normally brown eyes or something, but that's beside the point," she babbles.

"Well, I guess it's a flying pig," Gerry says nonchalantly.

A shudder rolls through our group and I have the chills. The Gamemakers made a mutt version of a pig, which I had heard about during school before the war. They were a prime source of food for our ancestors and today they still are but I have no idea which District raises them. If the Gamemakers can make such a harmless creature become a deadly beast, I was afraid of what else they could make.

"What should we do with it?" someone asks.

"Cook it." I say with simplicity.

Chapter Eleven: Thirst and Breaks

The loud boom of a cannon wakes me with a start. I shoot up from my sleeping position, fear pounding through the grogginess of sleep. There is movement behind me and instantly I find a hatchet in my hand, and I'm on my feet, spinning around to face the tribute waiting to kill me. For some reason I can actually feel my eyes dilate with adrenaline. But I just see its Denise, looking equally startled as I am. We stand there for a second and then I realize it was wrong to get up so fast because I'm starting to lose feeling in my limbs and a darkness is crawling over my eyes. With a gasp, I fall to the ground, overcome with dizziness.

"Lilac? Lilac are you alright?" Tripp's voice comes from beside me. Vision comes back to me and I put my hand to my aching head. "What did you do?" He shouts at Denise as he takes in her weapons drawn, standing.

"N-nothing!" She exclaims.

"She didn't do anything," I tell him, sitting up slowly. I see the others are sleeping, undisturbed by the boom and our yelling. "I just got really dizzy, that's all."

"Oh. Sorry," he apologizes to Denise. She shrugs her shoulders in acceptance and sits down near us.

"Who do you think it was?" I ask them.

"Could be anyone, well, except all of us," Tripp answers. "There were seventeen of us left before the cannon boom, so now there are sixteen." A pang of sorrow hits me in the gut for the lost tribute. I hoped it wasn't one of the twelve year olds. It really was awful the Capitol had children fighting to the death like this. We sit in silence until Blaise and Lilithe wake up.

"We're out of water." Blaise says in a grave voice. It's then I realize my throat is dry from thirst and panic slowly settles in. Day 2, we don't know if there's a source of fresh water in this arena. We might have just drunken the only source of it.

"Can we send scouts out?" Denise asks. "We could send two groups out at a time. Three and three, leaving three here."

Lilithe nods, "Good idea. Denise, Lilac, and Gerry will stay here; gather anything you can find on the outskirts of the forest around this hill. I want Ryker, Susan, and Tripp in one group and the other group will be Blaise, Reshald, and I." Ryker sends me a tense look. We vowed to not be split up, but I think it would be bad if I spoke out against Lilithe with the rest of the alliance here; who knows if she can turn them all against me. I could die so easily if I said the wrong thing. Almost imperceptibly, I shake my head to Ryker, hoping he'll see and won't say anything.

To my greatest relief he nods his head and says, "Sounds good,"

"When will you guys leave?" Gerry asks, obviously not happy with the idea that he will be separated from Susan.

"Once we get all our supplies. Oh, and I guess we should ration out the rest of the flying pig." My eyes wander to the fire pit and I stare at the bones tossed into the pit. The pig, although deadly, was really delicious, and the wings were light and flexible enough to be used as blankets or something to lie on. Now everyone had something to cover them, use as a pillow, or lay on. Denise stands and goes into the tent and comes back a few seconds later, a bag of the cooked meat in her hands.

Lilithe takes the bag, "Go back in a grab three smaller bags," Denise does as told and she goes back in the tent. I hear her rummaging around, the sound of something falling, her cursing, and then a few seconds later she's out, looking flustered and holding three clear bags in her hands. She notices the amused smirk on Tripp's face and glares at him. Lilithe opens the bag of meat and takes one of the smaller bags from Denise's hands and starts to ration out the meat. Soon we all have three bags, one for each group.

When the two groups leave, I look at Denise and Gerry, unsure of what to do or say. I had never been alone with the two and they seemed fairly harmless, well, meaning they don't seem like they'd be the type to kill me and blame it on a flying pig.

"Well, uhm, Lilithe did say we should scavenge on the edge of the woods and see what other resources we can find. Maybe there is a fresh water source nearby in the directions they didn't go off in," Gerry suggests. "But we can't go too far, because we're going alone,"

I nod my head, "I'll scavenge for food and animals I might find that I can kill,"

"I'll look for fresh water," Denise says.

"And I guess I'll stay here and guard for a while,"

I crouch down and wipe the sweat off my forehead, fear hitting me. For the third time I had heard the beating of the wings. I knew I was being stalked and there was nothing I could do about it. Currently, I was hiding behind a green bush, slowly making my way back to the hill where I wouldn't be alone. All I heard now was silence being filled by the buzzing of bugs. My eyes flitted up to the trees and back to the bush, back up and around, and then quickly back to the bush. It took me a moment to register what I was seeing and then I could've cried in happiness. This scavenge would not be a complete waste if I could make sure these berries were safe.

The berries were blue and I picked one, sliced it open with my finger nail and saw it had a familiar center that I had seen at various meals back in District 7. These were pure blueberries. I pulled a bag from a pocket and shakily set my weapon down and started to pick berries like I was having a berry picking contest with Ryker. In the midst of picking berries, I heard the beating of wings and felt the shake of the ground as something hit it.

Fear nearly made me scream as I zipped the bag shut quickly, shoved it in my pocket and picked up a hatchet and a hammer. I couldn't die just yet. Standing, I leaned my back on the oak tree and heard a growl. Remembering what happened last night, I didn't move because the growl signaled ready for attack. I tried to control my loud, short panted breaths but it wasn't working. I was scared. I estimated that I was a five minute run away from the hill. So I waited for the next growl and decided that when I came, I would run like hell.

My heart pounding loud, I heard the next growl begin and I darted out of the bushes, willing my legs to make me run faster than ever before. Other than the footsteps of my feet, the pounding of my heart, and my ragged breaths, I heard nothing. Everything inside me was screaming to get to safety, and I had my mouth clamped shut as I jumped over a rock to keep from screaming. It wasn't long before I could see the opening in the trees.

I start to call out, "Denise! Gerry!" I feel desperate and overcome with panic and fear. I get no answer. "There's more!" Finally, I push through the trees and start to charge up the hill. When I make it, I find Denise, eyes closed, dozing off against the tent, and Gerry sleeping on the ground. I feel awkward now; there seems to be no apparent danger behind me, and I am standing before two people, sleeping, that need to die so Ryker can go home. I even have the weapons ready in my hands. Fate is cruel.

But then, as I swing my weapons, trying to decide my course of action, I wonder what's gotten into me. I thought I had made a pact with myself to only kill when I or Ryker were in danger. Only to kill when necessary. But now, here in the Games, everything seemed necessary, every single step, every single breath, every single swing of the weapon. I had already killed, so what would another two kills do on my conscience? Then I remembered what had happened after I killed the girl from Eight, how I broke down, how it felt to see her face in the sky for the last time. No, I decided, I wouldn't kill Denise or Gerry. I'd leave that to another tribute or the Gamemakers. Plus, doing that would put Ryker and I in a tight situation.

My mind was working overdrive now, calculating different plans and decisions, the outcomes of choices, and what my mother would think of me if she could look in on my brain. See how much her little, quiet, shy daughter had changed since she killed off the girl. It took me a moment to realize that I had been standing, swinging my weapons, and staring at Denise. I shook myself and turned around and stared into the trees, searching for red eyes and tributes. With a sad, shaken sigh, I plunked down onto the ground and landed on my backpack.

The blueberries! I quickly sat up, blinked back the overcoming dizziness and pulled my backpack off and zipped it open. The blueberries sat in the bag, and I ripped it open, dying for the taste of a regular berry.

"Wait." Gerry says. Startled, I jump and turn, picking up the knife to face him, "Woah, it's okay, just me," He has his hands up in a surrender position, looking scared but trying to hide it. Guiltily, I set the knife down.

"Sorry," I say half-heartedly.

"No harm done. Here, let me try the berries first.