Welcome to the Prologue chapter! This is the introduction to my SYOT. It may not be great, but it's getting there.
Myron Schumacher, District 2, 19, Victor of the 149th Hunger Games
It feels almost strange to have slept the entire night. Usually three or four in the morning is the hour I'll wake up sweating bullets and with an unmistakable feeling of fear in my stomach. But I was pleasantly surprised when I slept in for once. And no nightmares about her, either.
Rising from my enormous bed, I yawn loudly as I stare at the sunlight pouring through my window. It illuminates my room with a brilliant golden color, and while I would have normally been pleased by a sight like this, the sun has felt like an oppressor to me. It forces me to wake up every morning, and believe me, the last thing I want to do every day is face the world. Being a Victor is not something I would wish on anyone. But of course, for the sake of my district, I have to put on a tough face. I have to pretend like I don't see Emma every time I close my eyes. Just thinking of her is enough to cause tears to well up.
I enter my expansive master bathroom, staring at myself in the mirror. My eyes are puffy and red. I can't let my family see me cry.
I turn on the faucet, adjusting the water temperature to ice-cold, and splash my face in an attempt to reduce the redness. After a while I get tired of it so I just soak a towel and press it to my eyes. I wander into the bathtub, sitting inside with a wet cloth to my face. Not my finest moment, but I've had worse mornings.
"Myron, come down!"
A familiar voice is coming from outside my bedroom, but I try to pretend not to hear it.
"Myron, if you don't come down right now, breakfast is gonna be crumbs!" My sister, Allanna, is one of the last pure things in my life at the moment. She hasn't changed. The rest, like Mom and Dad and all my friends, act as if I was above them in some way. Being treated like a normal person is good enough for me and my sister does just that. She's 21 now, and has never set foot in an Academy. Allie decided early on that the Hunger Games weren't for her. I'm glad, because I don't know what state I would be in if she weren't here.
"Coming, sis," I tell her through the door, and quickly hop out of the bathtub and glance at myself again. The redness is mostly gone, thankfully. I almost leave my room before realizing I'm just in a pair of briefs. I throw in a charcoal-colored t-shirt and some jogging pants before heading downstairs, the smell of bacon getting stronger and stronger.
"Good morning, my Victor," Mom beams from behind the kitchen counter, dishing a hearty serving of eggs and bacon onto my plate. My parents always give me the lion portions, and that's difficult when it seems like you never have an appetite.
"Morning Mom," I greet to her, staring down at the plate she hands to me. "Danke." I waste no time in digging into the bacon, the juicy meat tasting even more flavorful than usual. Allie joins me at the table, shoving eggs into her mouth as if she were a carnivorous wolf Mutt who hadn't seen a morsel of food in days.
"Be sure to taste the food, Al," I suggest to her, and she slows down a little, but her plate is still clean within minutes. She's probably so hungry from all her early morning horseback-riding with her boyfriend. I'm glad Allie has found someone, and that they share a common love of horses. Anyone I meet would be allured by me, the big bad Career Victor, but soon realize I'm an emotional wreck and be bitterly disappointed.
As Mom puts our plates away, Dad soon comes downstairs, rubbing his forehead.
"Have the migraines gotten better, dear?" Mom asks him as he plants himself at the table, carrying a book.
"A little," he mumbles, opening the book. "Reading's helped." My dad turns to me intently. "Are you ready for the announcement?"
"Announcement?" I question, giving Dad a sideways look.
"The announcement for the Sixth Quarter Quell," he clarifies. I kind of forgot about the Quell announcement. The fact that I will have to mentor two Careers in a few months, and the Games in general, has escaped me. I wonder what they will come up with as a cruel twist this year. They've done five other Quells, maybe they'll run out of ideas and this one won't be so bad.
"What time does it start?" Allie asks, staring at her elaborate watch.
"Noon," Dad informs her, soon migrating towards the couch, "so we'd better tune in to it now." I glance up at the wall clock. 11:44. It shouldn't be long now until President Ismene steps out onto that stony balcony. Mom and Allie plop down onto the expansive couch while I settle into my favorite leather chair.
I'll never seen a Quell Announcement, so this'll be a first. The broadcast is reviewing all previous Quarter Quells and ranked them from best to worst. Calla Flickerman put the Third Quarter Quell at the top of her list, stating that bringing back dead tributes was not only an enormous act of generosity from the Capitol, but that seeing fallen tributes battle it out for another chance of Victory was a sight to behold. In the end, Elegance Saunders from One ending up coming home with the win. She had been in a Career pack along with other Careers who had been bloodbath casualties or had otherwise placed disgracefully low. But she ended up slashing open all their throats in their sleep so there would be no competition for her. The Capitol considered it to be a "twist" in the plot, although I would have easily done the same thing if I were competing for my life for the second time.
Their little segment is suddenly interrupted by the loud blaring of the anthem, followed by President Ismene Snow stepping out onto the balcony, overlooking hundreds of thousands of Capitolites, eagerly waiting for the President to break open that envelope marked with the number 150.
"Welcome, citizens of Panem. Welcome to this, the revealing of the Sixth Quarter Quell." President Snow boldly announces, her voice booming through the square. "The Quarter Quell was created by the Gamemakers many decades ago in order to serve as a reminder of the horror of the treasonous uprising known as the Dark Days. There have been five Quarter Quells in total."
I can tell she just wants to get the recap of the Quells done and over with by how fast she is reading.
"For the First Quarter Quell, as a reminder to the rebels that their children were dying because of their choice to initiate violence, every district was made to hold an election and vote on the tributes that who would represent it."
"For the Second Quarter Quell, as a reminder to the rebels that 2 rebels died for every Capitol citizen, twice the number of tributes were Reaped."
"For the Third Quarter Quell, as a reminder to the rebels that the Capitol is merciful, dead tributes from previous Games were Reaped and brought back to life."
"For the Fourth Quarter Quell, as a reminder to the rebels to that they broke the brotherly love they had with the Capitol, sibling pairs will be Reaped, regardless of gender."
"For the Fifth Quarter Quell, as a reminder to the rebels that male rebels and female rebels were both equally treasonous, twelve of the male tributes and twelve of the female tributes are to be placed in separate gender-specific arenas, with their Games occurring simultaneously. Each final survivor of those Games were to battle it out in a small arena for the title of Victor."
Finally, Snow opens up the paper for the Sixth Quell, delivered to her by a small girl.
"And now, for the Sixth Quarter Quell."
The President clears her voice before speaking in a loud, clear voice.
"For the Sixth Quarter Quell, as a reminder to the rebels that even their youngest and most innocent cannot escape the Capitol's power, the tributes are to be from ages 12 to 13."
Allie and Mom gasp in horror while Dad buries his face in his hands. Twelve and thirteen year olds? That's child's play. I'm not sure if any of them even know how to kill. I try to recall of any young academy recruits that would be remotely ready for the role of Career tribute this year, but none come to mind. They'll all still in training.
After Calla interviews some Capitol citizens and asks their reactions, I click off the TV, running my hands through my blonde hair. My sister breaks the sad silence, rising and putting her hands on her hips.
"Well, that's upsetting." Allie tells us, scowling. She then storms out, grabbing her saddle and boots. Probably going to jump onto Softy, her favorite horse and ride off into the sunset. I would rather do the same than sugarcoat the deaths of two ill-prepared children.
I went off to bed pretty early that night, mainly because I didn't have the energy to do anything else. My subconscious tortured me with a dream about Emma, again. Dreams about her have been getting less and less frequent, but they are very difficult to clear from my mind once I wake up. We were inside the cave we occupied during our Games. Emma was sitting next to me, petting the hyena Mutt that attacked us early in the Games, asking if I would always be there for her. I told her I would never leave her, and that we'll have a good life together. Emma's off-put by this, and just gives me a mean glare, telling me to stop saying that. Suddenly her calm disposition turns into a look of horror as a knife is in her chest. I know I didn't put it there, yet she is still mad at me.
"What was that for, Myron?" she asks nonchalantly, removing the blade from her chest. Emma looks down at the wound, displeased.
"Look at that stain. Wonder if it'll ever come out." she says in a monotone voice. She suddenly slumps over, quickly fading away, but the bloodied knife remains.
I wake up screaming, my fingers fumbling at the empty air. Instead of the inside of the cave, I'm back in my bedroom.
Damn it.
Hey there, I'm Isabeline and I'm starting my first Hunger Games SYOT! If you are interested in submitting a tribute, please visit my Google Forms! You may submit up to three tributes. This chapter is pretty much the revealing of the Quarter Quell from someone other than the child-hating president of Panem, I hope it was good! Although this chapter was pretty lengthy I won't be pumping out 4,000 word chapters, I just want this entire story to be fun and stress-free. So forgive me if my writing seems poor at times, this chapter gives you a little hint at my style. Can't wait to see some tributes soon! :)
P.S. Form is on my profile! Delete the spaces and you should be good to go. ;)