CRASH!

"No! Not this year! I won't go back!"

CRASH!

"Please, Val, stop! You'll hurt the baby!"

At the mention of my unborn, I break down and begin to sob. I set down the remaining china plates that were in my hands. "I just- I can't do it, Zane. Year after year I do everything for these kids and year after year I watch them die!"

"I know, Val, I know." He kneels and places his hand on my thigh. Even after all these years, the scars still show on my back, just as the wounds of watching the people I loved die are still fresh in my mind. He continues. "But you also know as well as I do that there's nothing we can do about it!"

"But if we all banded together... Isn't there twelve of us and only one of them? If only we would put aside our differences as districts and unify, we could overtake them!" I must still not be thinking clearly. Talking like this is dangerous.

"Shhh, Val! I agree with you as much as anyone, but you have to lower your voice! The Capitol has hurt you once, and I can't let them do that again."

I lower my head and bite my lip. What would I do without him? Who would be there to keep me under control? Suddenly a teenager's voice breaks the silence.

"Mom? Are you all right?"

"Yes Dahlia. I'm sorry."

"I need to get your mom to the train station now," Zane says.

"I'll see you in a few weeks, girl," I say, "Love you."

"I love you too, Mom," she says with a smile, but I can tell she's worried about me. All the time I am faced with the urge to slip away, to let my mind exit from this world that has never welcomed me. It is for her and for Zane that I fight it.

...

I hate this train. Sitting in it brings on such a flood of memories that I usually just have to sit with my head down in my hands, trying to block my mind from the world in any manner. But this year, I find that it's slightly more comforting to instead rest my head on my very pregnant belly. Finally, in just two months she'll be here. But already she's as alive to me as Dahlia.

We stop by the Capitol to pick up Otillie before heading to District Seven. She's delighted to see my overlarge belly, but her usually ignorant self annoys me. She doesn't realize where she's headed or why. Doesn't she know how much damage she's helping to cause? Of course Otillie didn't think she was causing damage when I won, but damage was still done. I have never been the same and never will be. My family was scarred. My brother was killed...

When I roll off the train in District Seven, I let out a shiver. I guess I must be used to the mild beach climate of the fishing district now. District Seven is set in the piney forests of the Canadia region, which is much farther north and much farther inland than District Four.

Why do I despise this place so much? Wasn't it once my home? This was where I knew who I was and what my place in this world was. That's another thing the Games took away from me. My identity. I am not the same girl I was. That girl left with the kiss that was placed on his forehead.

I sit on the stage in front of the Justice Building, watching the kids assemble in front of me. Otillie comes on with her usual exuberance and I'm thinking, don't you know? Don't you understand? Don't you even care?

"Welcome!" she announces, "To the 74th Hunger Games!"

The names are Phox Karal and Davina Sarim. Phox is a tall sixteen-year-old with black hair and a strong build. Davina is also sixteen with blonde hair. She is also tall and athletic. Maybe this year I'll only have to see one die. This reaping passes with no drama, and before I know it, I am back on the train. I'm waiting for the tributes to finish their goodbyes and board when I find a surprise waiting for me.

"Another year, another Games. Awful, isn't it?"

I haven't seen her since I first left the District. "Johanna." She looks almost exactly the same. Except for the hollow look in her eyes. I guess I must have that too.

"Sooo... that cutie from Four finally got you knocked up, eh?" She reaches out to pat my belly. "How much longer?"

"Two months."

"Congratulations," she says sarcastically. "Your life is over."

"We already have a kid, Johanna."

"You've never had a baby. Teenagers don't need constant attention. Besides..." She winks at me. "Childbirth."

"Well thanks. I really needed the encouragement. Why are you here, Johanna?"

"They're letting me take a vacation to the Capitol. Don't you go thinking you're the only one who needs to get away from this place sometimes."

"Well I'd rather be in District Seven than in the Capitol any day."

"Not me. The food is better in the Capitol."

She hasn't changed a bit.

...

Just like nine years ago, I don't want to watch the recap of the reapings. I don't want to see the faces of the kids that I will be training these two to kill. But here I am, clenching my teeth to keep all my anger inside me. It doesn't help that almost every tribute this year is noticeable.

From District 1 there's a beautiful girl with a ridiculous name. The boy from 1 has an equally weird name. At least the names specifically I don't remember. The girl who volunteers from 2 is small with black hair and a don't-mess-with-me grin much like Johanna's. Next a boy with monstrous muscles volunteers with an eagerness that makes me sick.

And all of a sudden I think I recognize the boy tribute from District 3. But how is that possible? A name comes to me and pierces me so deep I must take a few seconds to catch my breath. Katana. This must be her brother. Oh... The odds are not in that family's favor...

And then they're showing District 4 and I'm not really paying attention until I hear the name.

"Dahlia Tano."

CRASH!