Chapter One.
Lonely Hour;
The 60th Hunger Games.
Prologue, Part One.
Teanna took hold of her mother's hand, pulling her into the gift shop. It was a three-floored extravaganza, a fan's dream land, a paradise for the eager Capitolite. It was barely past opening time, yet kids rushed in, tugging unwilling parents through the doors and onto the shop floor, breaking apart to explore Victor heaven.
"Mummy!" Teanna pulled harder, past someone she recognised from school, heading for the toy stand. "Mummy I want that one!" She threw a finger at the stack of cardboard boxes, showing a brand new range of Victor dolls. She could see little Kennedy Ames near the bottom, a Tallis Altier doll being stocked to the right. Most of them were of the pretty blondes from One, the tributes everyone idolized, but Teanna wanted Tallis.
She was her favourite.
Teanna wasn't sure why, but she was, and in her childish mind, reasons didn't matter. Her mother took the doll in her hand, checked the price tag, bit back a sigh, and nodded her head for her eager, doe-eyed little girl.
One of the televisions hanging above the shoppers started to show some of the recent footage of a past Hunger Games. Teanna didn't know what was really going on, and her mother kept tilting her head back down to face the floor whenever something happened on screen she wasn't supposed to see. Teanna didn't understand much to do with the Games, only that some of the people that went in didn't come out, and that the kids called Victors were strong, pretty and the kind of person she wanted to grow up to be like.
She giggled when a young boy zipped past her, carrying in his hands a t-shirt with another Victor's face on. It was madness inside the shop, the workers had already gone from happy smiles to tired frowns in a few minutes, herding kids around who wanted to know where certain Victor memorabilia was, and calming down angry parents looking at price tags and throwing their hands up in a huff.
For Teanna, however, none of that mattered.
She had a Tallis doll in her mother's hands, and she hadn't spent all her birthday money just yet. She could picture the other dolls at home, the little tea set she had, and immediately knew what she wanted next.
"Is that all dear?" She felt her mother's soft, gentle hand on the top of her blonde curls. It wasn't though, nothing was ever enough for Teanna. She was in a place she rarely got to go, only once a year, and she was barely past four years old, which meant she hadn't been around for long anyway.
So many Victors. So many Games. So many dolls to collect and shirts and mugs and posters and… I want it all! She beamed at her mother, pulled her hand towards another shelf and around to the back of the store.
"Come on darling, your father's waiting at home. We've got your friends coming round-"
"But mummy!" She shook her head, forcefully, sticking her bottom lip out and stamping her foot. She knew she'd done all she had to do. Immediately her mother caved and Teanna giggled, clapping her hands and weaving in and out of crowds of kids she'd willingly fight against if she had to get what she wanted.
Maybe I'm only four. But who cares?! I'd volunteer if I was allowed.
A four year old Victor.
She could easily be the first!
"Ladies and gentlemen. Ever wondered what it would be like to be in your very own Hunger Games? Well, think no further. Introducing our new top of the line virtual headsets, you can now be your very own favourite tribute-" Teanna didn't need to listen to anymore. I can be a tribute! Her jaw dropped open. The pretty little bib for her teddy bear, the one with Bronte Allain's face on, vanished from her mind.
Just like that, Teanna's brand new obsession erupted from her in the form of a shrill, excited shriek. She clapped her hands and leaped into the air. Other kids looked just as pumped to experience fighting in their very own Games, but Teanna's grumpy, spoilsport mother gave her a look that told her otherwise.
They passed a range of cushions and duvet sets with a blonde boy's face on, messy hair around a handsome face, a weird, enticing smirk curled into his cheeks. Teanna didn't know who he was, but she caught a flash of what he looked like and immediately wanted to find out his name.
She loved everything to do with the Games. Not just the Victors, but the Arenas, the tributes that didn't make it out – wherever they went – and the celebrations the Capitol threw for the entire festivity.
This shop was her favourite place in the whole wide world, however.
And her mummy was ruining it!
"Let's pay for your doll and leave," Teanna hit her mother's wrist away, but she kept a firm grip despite her weak punches, and shook her head forcefully. "We didn't raise you this way. Stop it and do as you're told."
"It's my birthday money. You ruin everything!"
She kicked out, her mother shrieked out loud, letting the Tallis doll fall from her fingers. Teanna scooped it up and fled from the scene, dodging a curious looking worker in a red waistcoat and up an escalator to another floor.
She'd now entered where they sold the picture books of some of the Victors. She quickly lost herself amongst the shelves, keeping an eye on the entranceway in case her mother turned up, and one eye on everything that she passed. There's just so much. I want to live here! The second her mother calmed down and said sorry, maybe she'd ask.
It'd be nice, never having to move away from what she loved, having everything she'd ever wanted here, in her very own house.
First, though, her mind raced back to the announcement.
Somewhere amongst this vast paradise of a shopping centre, they were letting the kids relive past Games. It had always been her dream, to really see what they were like, not just watching the tributes go in and her favourite come out.
It had always been her favourite who left.
Kennedy.
Tallis.
They were so perfect.
She made her way up a flight of stairs, reaching the very top, and there she bumped into the back of a queue that was forming. Her heart skipped an excited beat, her eyes looking up and down, catching sight of a neon sign that flashed beautiful blues and reds across the crowd. She couldn't read what it said, but it must have been good.
I'm doing it.
I'm going to be a tribute.
She jumped up again, kicking her feet together, and felt a hand clamp on her shoulder.
"Teanna." Her smile fell. She turned, looked up into her mother's eyes, and tried to put up another fight. This time it didn't work, her mother was ready.
They left without the Tallis doll.
It was her punishment.
All I want to do is become a tribute. It wasn't fair. She envied the Districts. They had everything they could possibly want – an actual way into the Arena.
They had a chance at becoming a Victor.
Having a doll based on them.
There would never be a Teanna doll out, ready to be bought and played with.
It's just not fair.
She hated her life.
She hated everything about it.
Hello again! I've reached that point, once more, where I'm ready to publish the next story in my canon series. So, Lonely Hour, is the fourth in a row, starting from Madhouse, Beyond the Veil and Flesh and Blood.
The third one hasn't finished yet, but I published that around the time Beyond the Veil reached somewhere between halfway and the final ten, so by the time submissions close for this, I'll have nearly completed that story (which is crazy 'cause it was only published like 2 months ago, eh, whatever).
Yeah, so you all know the drill. Guidelines and what not are on my profile, the form, no. of males/females etc. Leave a review if you can, submit if you can (and want to, of course) and we'll go from there. In three weeks time the next prologue will be up, and then everything will start from the beginning again.
See you all then!