Prologue
President Reese Alder was a man in his early thirties with shaggy hair dyed silver and icy blue eyes. He was tall and slender, and always wore a black suit and tie, making his appear even paler than reality- although he was still very pale. In his first year as President- back for the 113th Hunger Games- he had pleasantly surprised the Capitol with one of the most entertaining Games in history. While his debut show was the best as of yet, he still provided exciting and nail-biting Games during his entire run as President, which probably wouldn't come to a halt for a very long while.
A few of the Districts- namely 1, 2, and parts of 4- had come to respect him, and even admire him. The outer districts didn't want to like him, although he had added things such as more clean water and sent supplies in their time of need. While showing some generosity to the Districts, he was one of the harshest Presidents yet through the Games, putting the tributes through terror and misery before their deaths and working the Gamemakers half to death.
"Well, Dartmill?" hissed President Adler into his telephone. "Any more ideas? Maybe I should... fire you if you don't do well in your first year on the job."
Therese Dartmill, on the other side of the phone, was the Head Gamemaker, appointed earlier that year. She gulped. "Erm, yes, sir, I have a few more ideas."
She couldn't see the President, but she could almost hear his doubtful smirk. "Oh? Care to explain?"
Dartmill ran off a few ideas, each of which Alder denied for reasons Dartmill hadn't even had a sliver of thought about. But after nearly half an hour of rejections, Dartmill struck gold. After the young woman told her superior of her plans, Alder was- for the first time ever- silent. He contemplated the thought, almost hoping for a flaw to think up. But he found none.
"Come to my office now, Dartmill. We will discuss this further."
"Yes, sir! I'll be over in five with the plans."
"So," Alder said as Dartmill sat opposite him at his desk. "Would you like something to drink? Perhaps tea, or wine?"
After a moment they sat each with a goblet of wine in their hands. Alder took a sip before continuing.
"Would you care to show me those blueprints, Dartmill?"
"Oh, uh, yes! Yes sir!"
Nervously and with shaky hands, Dartmill withdrew a beige folder from her bag. She slid it across the table for him to examine with his keen eyes. He grunted in approval as his icy eyes scanned the contents, from the sketch of the Arena to traps and tricks to hide inside. After what seemed like hours of anxious waiting, Dartmill barely suppressed a relieved sigh when Alder slid the parchments back into the folder and shut it. He looked up and stared at the Head Gamemaker for another few moments before speaking.
"I must say, I'm impressed, Dartmill."
Dartmill broke out in a smile. "I'm glad you like the idea, sir!"
"Yes, I do definitely like it. In fact, I love it. We should get to work immediately." He smirked his oh-so-famous smirk. "The Districts have a surprise coming their way."
A/N: HELLO PEOPLE! Erik here, presenting to you... THE 120TH ANNUAL HUNGER GAMES!
Okay, introductions over. Down to business.
So, this is an SYOT. The tribute form is on my profile. Just a heads-up, I will not be updating the story until every spot is filled unless that takes too long, where I will make characters of my own to put in. Please don't let it come to that. A few of you may know I have tried and failed an SYOT before, but I hope that doesn't happen! There will be slow updates, but slowly and surely I'll finish this one! Woohoo! More info on my profile.
Bonjour!
~Erik
