Two weeks. Two weeks is all I have to prove that she is better than me; that I am not fit to go into the arena… yet. I want to go into the games, but not this year. I want to go next year when I'm ready, next year when I am not a skinny little sixteen-year-old girl. Two weeks until the reaping, the district 2 government is still trying to decide which girl to put in the arena. The boy has already been decided; Cato Gothard. He is a blonde, brute force of muscle, a vicious killer, a very attractive boy… if I thought about that kind of thing… which I don't. The decision is between me, Clove Carlisle and an 18 year-old-girl named Precious. Don't be confused by her name though, this girl is dangerous, vicious, and a great fighter… but I am better. That's what worries me. She is 18, Cato is 18 but I am 16, I don't belong in the arena this year, not until I'm ready.
The gravel crunches underneath my new leather boots, my father bought them for me as a bribe to go in the arena this year. Districts 1 and 2 are the only districts in Panem that can afford real leather, the other districts are too poor. My district has lots of money, but no one has as much money as they do in the Capitol. They are rich, smothered in extravagance. It's harder here in the districts though, we have money, but never enough. I'm glad I am not in 10, 11, or 12, they hardly ever win the games, ever, just slaughtered boys and girls year after year.
I press my right index finger on the scanner outside the Preparation Building. The glass is cold and a shiver runs though my spine from my finger on the scanner.
"Access granted" a robotic voice tells me and I hear the lock click open loudly. I open the door and am greeted by the familiar smell of the Preparation Room. Today is more testing, testing. That's all I have been doing since I was 12, since I could actually be in the games.
I wave a subtle hello to the woman behind a bland, gray desk. She presses a button and the sliding door opens and I slip silently through it.
Moans, grunts, and the sound of metal colliding fill my ears and I sigh, this is where I belong.
"Clove," a rough but steady voice jolts me back into reality, Lance, the head trainer has arrived, "You're right on time, come along." He turns and walks through a door I have never noticed before, and I follow him.
The room is dark and small, lit only enough for me to make out Lance's figure and a narrow, empty doorway.
"This is your final test," Lance tells me.
"Final?" I question, "The reaping is two weeks away."
"We will decide now however," Lance replies roughly.
The urgency in his voice sets me on edge, what task will he have for me today? Lance leads me to the dark doorway.
"You will have four tasks," he says, I notice that he is staring at me as I break my eyes away from the darkness that precedes me, "You will have to complete them all and do a better job than Precious to get into the games, however, if you fail, you will never go into the games. Do you understand?" he looks at me with harsh eyes and I nod stiffly. "Oh, and you'll want this," he hands me a belt with every different type of knife you could imagine.
He knows me, he knows what I can do with my knives, I take the belt from him and feel in my rough hands and smirk slyly. Maybe I can be in the games this year, apparently Lance thinks that I can. Four tasks to beat. I can do this.
I walk through the doorway and I see a puppy, at least what appears to be a puppy. It isn't though, it's one of the Captiol's mutilations or 'Mutts'. The creature snarls at me, showing razor-sharp teeth. Suddenly the creature lunges himself at me, my first instinct is to run, but that doesn't happen in the games and there is nowhere to run. The dog is 15 feet away from me now and I feel the knife slipping out of my hands because they are sweating so much. Ten feet, it is getting too close I am running out of time. Five feet, four, then the dog jumps into the air and I chuck the knife straight into the Mutt's chest and with a slight whimper the dog keels over and the farthest wall from me slides completely open. I have completed the first task. One down, three to go.
The second room was bigger than the first, which makes me anxious. Suddenly, a swarm of huge black birds envelope me and start pecking violently at my tender skin. Suddenly I have razor-sharp knives in both of my hands. I start ferociously slashing my knives through the air feeling pressure when I hit each bird and hearing a desperate thud as each hits the ground. I lose track of time and suddenly there are no more birds in the air, they are all lying bloody, lifeless at my feet. Suddenly I feel a ping of guilt but quickly dismiss it when the next wall opens before me. Two down, two to go.
The next room contains a brown, furry lump in the corner that appears to be asleep, but it isn't. I pull the sharpest nice out of my belt; bears have thick skin. The bear slowly stumbles to his feet and I throw the knife, without hesitation straight into the bears left eye. It growls and I curse under my breath, now I've just pissed the thing off, well at least it can't really see me. Suddenly the bear lurches towards me and I jump as high as I can onto its back. I pull out another knife identical to the first I used and thrust the knife into the bears jugular vein. The bear roars loudly and I quickly roll onto the ground opposite of where the bear was falling. Breathing slowly, a bloody mess, the bear lies limp on the ground, unmoving from the spot that he fell. The wall opens for me. only one more.
I step warily into the room and I see a redheaded girl standing in front of me with a sword. I realize that this girl is an Avox, the Capitol is now making me kill and Avox, the guilty. I would do it no problem, but the girl has a weapon. I throw my first knife and she dodges it. She starts running towards me, the sword held high above her head, she is quick, but I am faster. I pull out another knife and chuck it at her, hitting her right in the heart and she keels over. I feel guilt again as I stare at her lifeless body, but I can't stop now.
The wall opens and Lance appears on the other side of the barrier clapping slowly.
"Fantastic," Lance tells me, "But you are small Clove," He looks down at my body, as if checking me out but I know better, no one ever checks me out, "Precious is not, she is big and burly. You would do better in the games, but she will create more fear, plus there is no way the girl tribute will beat Cato this year, he is unstoppable. I want you to work on your build for the games next year Clove. But very, very nice job," He finishes, extending his hand, I take it in mine and shake it firmly.
I take the long way home. I remove my boots and roll my khaki pants to my knees. I walk through the creek along the stone fence surrounding my district.
"Clove?" a voice behind me shakes me back into reality. I jolt around, possibly more abruptly than necessary, but I do it very quickly anyways. I see Cato Gothard standing on the banks staring at me in awe.
"Oh... Cato, right?" I ask him, even though I know his name.
"Yeah," he says nodding, "So are you going to the games this year?" he asks nonchalantly.
"No," I start, "Lance is saving me for next year, he says I will never beat you," I chuckle awkwardly and he does the same.
"Well I should probably go," I start after a few minutes of awkward silence, "My brother will have dinner ready soon."
"Oh yeah, well sorry about the games," He starts, "But I am happy that I wont have to kill you." He says and winks at me. I giggle and shake my head. Cato gets up and starts walk away, back towards the Preparation Building.
"Good luck!" I yell after him.
He turns around to face me and salutes jokingly, I laugh at his silliness and realize how girly I must have seemed. The weight of the world is now off of my shoulders, I have nothing to worry about until next years reaping. I sigh in relief and slowly make my way, barefoot, back to my house.