Salvation;

The 40th Hunger Games.

Prologue, Part One.

Riona Nelson, 32,

Victor of the 31st Hunger Games.

The journey back to Three was always Riona's favorite part of her Capitol excursions. Correction, it was the only part of the whole thing that Riona could actually live through without wishing she had perished in that bitingly cold tundra all those years ago.

The train ride was the only time she got to herself; it was the only time she had to convince herself again that she was actually worth something, that she was much more than just one of the Capitol's favorite play-toys. Years ago, Riona's healing process would have involved a bottle of the cheapest vodka she could procure and a steel-backed razor; this method had worked very efficiently until some of her Capitolite patrons complained that they wouldn't continue to pay for 'damaged goods'. Nowadays, it was either a near unbearable hot shower or that very same bottle of vodka.

Today was one of the bad days and therefore she was already a bottle of vodka deep with an hour left to get home; so be it. No matter how much alcohol she consumed she could not seem to get the memory of Sylvain Avvio's slimy hands crawling up and down her body, lifting up her dress and-

Maybe now was an appropriate time for another drink. Or seven.

These were the moments that Riona truly despised. She had fought tooth and nail, day in and day out, for three weeks to get the chance to keep breathing and go back to her humble Three. She fought tooth and nail and by some fucking miracle, won. And yet her life was still a ticking time bomb, just like it had been nine years ago in that frozen tundra. The only that had changed since she was reaped was the scenery; she was still a helpless victim caught up in a storm she could never escape from even if it seemed she had been handed the key to freedom.

The vodka was sadly gone; she should have guessed Sylvain Avvio would take more than a bottle to get over. The newly appointed Head Gamemaker had been one of Riona's first patrons and still remained her least favorite to this day. He was slimy, dangerous and seemed to suck the life out of everything he touched; evidently these were all traits that made him very good at his new job. There was something so revolting about his sharp eyes that Riona often felt like she was staring at Death himself and in some sense, she was.

He had invited her to the only important Pre-Reaping party in the Capitol, per his words anyway. She was sent a violet ballgown, much like the only she had worn for her Victor's Interview and paraded around the room as Sylvain's greatest accessory; everyone in the Capitol wanted a chance to walk around with a murderer, it seemed. He used the excuse of waltzing with her to grope her endlessly and then she was lead back to his penthouse, where the real horrors began. Riona had envisioned killing him hundreds of time before he 'released' her, so to speak; his parting words were a reminder that while he would do everything in his power to help Three out this year, he couldn't perform miracles. Sometimes Riona thought he forgot she blew up eight tributes with landmines; he would do well to remember her proficiency with explosives the next time he thought of Three as weak.

They were not weak, they were subtle. When Three won, they were respected, revered by the other districts because they did not win viciously or recklessly; instead they won with poise and dignity. Subtlety was Three's greatest strength and even the Careers could respect that.

God, she wished she had bought another bottle. Just one more sip even and she could forgot all about that horrid man and his evil eyes. Just one more sip and all would be as well as it could be.

The train slowed to a stop and Riona blinked out of her paralyzing stupor to realize that she was home. Finally. A smile hesitantly grew on her face as she heard the sound of those all familiar footsteps approach her. One glance up and there she was, Rowan Nelson, in her full glory.

'How are you, love?' Rowan whispered as Riona embraced her, the one woman who owned her heart. Their lips connected and Riona felt the world right itself again. Riona would go on as many horrid outings as she possibly could survive with Sylvain just for one moment with her Rowan; just one moment with her beautiful soul made the heavy darkness that danced around Riona's mind a little lighter.

'I went to a ball and danced. You would've been proud, I didn't step on his toes once,' Riona whispered back and Rowan let out the same surprised laugh Riona had fell in love with all those years ago. Rowan looked at her with those sharp almond eyes and quietly wiped away the tears streaming down her wife's face; Riona always glossed over the horrors until they were in their bed and almost detached from the rest of the world. Rowan would have to wait a few hours to hear the full story. 'I wore a purple dress.'

'Like your wedding dress?'

'The very same shade.'

'I loved you in that dress.'

'I know.'

The couple exited the train and walked slowly towards their house, swinging their hands like they had done when they were sixteen and innocent.

The Hunger Games be damned, Rowan was all the salvation Riona needed.

Hello and welcome to Salvation!

I've recently rejoined this site after too long of a break and got inspired to give this SYOT business another go so here I am. The form and rules are on my profile and I will only accept submissions through PM. I've set the closing date for submissions as the 1st of February so hopefully I will get enough submissions to actually start a SYOT then.

Anyway, this is the first of the prologues for Salvation and I hope you liked it; it's not the usual opener but I just wanted to try something different I think. Let me know what you think regardless because it's been a while since I've written anything.

I don't have much more to say so I think I'll leave it at that, hope you enjoyed it,

reckless.