The Noble War
He wakes up early in his room, hands under his pillow, eyes wondering around the house. He sighs. He's not scared, no, he was never scared of these days, but he's worried, not for himself, of course, he's prepared for the noble war, but for his sister.
He knows he'd volunteer for her if he was a girl if she was chosen, but he's not and she's 14 and she's passed 2 years and he just hopes that the odds are in his- her favour.
He knows the cock sucker is worried about her too, but also him. They're the only ones left, with his brother dead and his step father gone, or kicked out maybe, and she looks like dying when someone talks about the Games, she tries to change the subject and he can't stand her- he sometimes just wants to volunteer for anyone to be free, to get away from her.
He sighs. Today's probably going to be like the usual reapings, dress nice, act nice, watch someone get selected, hear families cry, return the ugly place called home and watch the Games for a week the most. Perfect.
He needs to stand up, eat some bread and well, maybe walk around the distirct to see people scared- he likes seeing people scared, he doesn't know why. He just does.
So he stands up, runs his hands over his face, closes his eyes, then opens them again. His sister is still asleep in the next room, he realizes, as he walks out and enters the cold living room.
"Morning," his mother calls, he rolls his eyes. He does not like her, he never did after the day his father left and he treats her like an insect and he loves it- he loves the look she gives when he swears or shouts or screams. He hates her and she knows it. She has to live with it, though.
"Do we have any bread?" he asks, she nods over the table, he blinks and walks over it. There are a few small pieces, he leaves two for Addie and takes the other 2 for himself, taking one of them in his mouth and walking over the door.
"Where do you think you're going?" the cock sucker asks, he still can't stand her; her voice, her looks, her acting. It's too annoying for him.
"I'm going to walk around for a while," he mumbles, she raises her eyebrows.
"On the day of the reaping? No way," the cock sucker shakes her head, she probably has to make sure that they're there, with her. He doesn't want that. Never did.
"I'm going out," he insists, she stands up and walks over, grabbing him by the wrist.
"You are staying here and that is the end. The reaping's going to start in a few hours and you need to get ready."
He closes is eyes. He tries not to think about squeezing her throat until she dies, to beat her up, to do anything to make her shut up. He sighs.
"Fine," he mumbles and returns back to his room, shuts the door behind him- so loud that he can hear Addie yawning and waking up. He doesn't want her to be sad.
Maybe he should just volunteer this year, eh? It would be perfect. He'd be able to kill anyone he wants, then he'd let a little girl win by protecting her and killing himself.
It'd be perfect. He's ready for the noble war.
But no, he can't leave his sister alone with the cock sucker, he can't. He loves her too much for that. He sighs again.
Maybe he'll get chosen. Maybe he'll have to go away. Than it wouldn't be his fault. He wants to kill. He wants to save people, save them from this disgusting world. He closes his eyes and lies down on his bed.
He knows he's not lucky enough.
-vt-vt-vt-vt-vt-
"Violet Harmon!" calls Amelia, as he stands there with the other boys. Amelia is nice, you can see she hates the Capitol more than anything by the way she acts, he likes her a little. She sometimes talks to him and gives him food after the reaping. She comes with a different hair color every year, this year it's orange.
He watches as the well, beautiful to be honest, Violet girl walk on the stage. She does not show fear. By looking at her expression, he can understand that she's ready for this war too, she's noble enough to fight.
He likes her.
He knows her a little, though. At least her surname. Ben Harmon works as a Peacekeeper, but he's nice. He lets them do stuff that they shouldn't be doing. He knows he's desperate right now, because he's next to Amelia and he's crying.
Amelia walks over the other bowl.
That's it. One of the boys, old or young will be gone again, probably won't come back because it's how it works in District 7. He sighs. He watches Amelia as she tries to look in the bowl, trying to pick an old boy, to save others, the young ones.
He still likes her after all those years.
"Tate Langdon!" she calls, her voice is kind of weak. He know she cares about her, he does but this is not what he's thinking right now.
He doesn't really want to admit, but he's happy. Kind of. He'll be able to kill, to save people from this bad bad world and he's proud of himself.
For him, the odds are in his favour.
He stands next to Violet as Amelia starts talking, the classic speech, and he looks at Violet for once again.
She's still beautiful.
And he knows that he does not want to kill her. He does not.
He wants her to live. He wants her to be happy.