The Fox's Game
Chapter 1- Nightmare
Foxface was my favorite character in the Hunger games so I decided to write the book in her POV.
Please review!!! I want to know what everyone thinks.
Screams. That is all I can hear. Screams of people being killed. I can not see them but I can hear everything that is happening to them. I am surrounded by trees and a large lake. I have no idea where I am yet I can sense that I am in terrible danger. Suddenly a creature darts out from behind a tree. A fox! The fox quickly darts through the woods obviously trying to conceal itself from something. I realize what that something is when a large wolf shoots out of the trees and flies after the fox. The wolf bares its knife like teeth at the fox. The chase continues deep into the woods. The wolf is the stronger animal and slowly catches up to the frightened fox. The fox tries to make a final attempt of escape by jumping up into a large tree yet the wolf is too fast. The wolf overpowers the fox and sinks it sharp teeth into the fox's reddish coat.
I wake up drenched in my own sweat still thinking I am in my horrible nightmare. I glance around at my roommates making sure they are still asleep. I have lived with them for my entire life in this terrible academy. I never knew either of my parents which is probably for the best. My mom left my dad for another man. My father's fate was determined 17 years ago on this very day. I slowly regain myself from my dream and begin to prepare for today. Today will not be a typical day in District 5 though. Today is probably the most feared day of the entire year. The reaping. School is always cancelled on the day of the reaping because it is such an "important" day. To me it is anything but important. The only people it might be important to is the capitol. The capitol. I can't even begin to tell anyone about how much I hate them. They are our ruling government. They rule us all like we are animals. They demand obedience and severely punish anyone who disobeys them. They established the reaping seventy four years ago right after all twelve districts rebelled against them. The capitol smashed the rebellion and obliterated what was District 13. To make sure we would never do this again the capitol established The Hunger Games in which 24 teenage tributes from districts 1-12 are forced to fight to the death. The reaping is what determines the male and female tributes for the year.
I hastily get dressed and put on my nametag labeled Argent Vulpes. I have never been particularly fond of my name yet I have managed to deal with it throughout my 15 years of life. I sneak out of my dormitory trying not to wake my roommates. I rush down the stairs to the main room where all our food is served. Some girls are already awake and eating what appears to be some kind of brownish oatmeal. Ugh! I suppose it is better than nothing though. The cafeteria has always served rather small and gross meals. Sometimes I am so hungry after meals I steal extra food from the kitchen. I have always had a thing for stealing. It has actually become a rather bad habit. I walk down and slop some of the grotesque mush onto my tray and find a table by myself. I usually would sit with my best friend Selene but I suppose she is not awake right now.
I don't have much of an appetite this morning. I'm feeling very nervous about the reaping which has been looming over my head all week. I try to calm myself. The chances of getting chosen are next to nothing. My name will be inside the pot 4 times out of thousands. Yet there always is that slight chance that I would be this year's tribute. I try to imagine what it would be like to be in the Hunger Games. I know it must be terrifying knowing that you could be slaughtered at any moment. District 5 has only had 4 victors in the seventy three years the games have occurred. Our district specializes in mathematics so we aren't exactly experts on killing like Districts 1 and 2.
Suddenly my train of thought is broken when my monster of a headmistress trots up to me in a rather hostile manner. Oh no! What could she possibly want. "Miss Vulpes!" she barks. I have always thought she resembled some type of large primate. "Yes" I reply trying to sound as sweet and innocent as possible. "I have reason to believe that you have been swiping extra helpings of food!" she says accusingly. Oh damn it! I think. How could she have figured this out? When I steal I rarely get caught yet it appears this episode will be an exception. "I haven't stolen anything Mrs. Tripp. You must be getting me confused with someone else." "Oh really?" She holds up a photograph of me with a basket full of bread. Blast those stupid security cameras! "OOOh!" I say as if I have suddenly remembered something. "Professor Grey asked me to bring this bread to his classroom for a project we were working on!" Professor Grey is probably the oldest man in the entire galaxy. He has a dreadful memory and would probably not remember if he had asked me to do this or not. Mrs. Tripp eyed me suspiciously before finally saying "I'll let you off the hook this time Argent Vulpes but if I ever catch you in that kitchen again you will not eat for an entire week! Now you better go get ready for the reaping. It is only two hours away." Two hours! Time is flying this morning. I smile sweetly at the monster of a woman and then dart of back to my dormitory to find my friend Selene.
I find Selene getting dressed in the dormitory along with several other of my roommates. Selene is probably the only person in the world that I actually trust. We have been friends our entire lives and understand each other more than anyone could. Selene seems to be just as nervous as I am. "Are you nervous?" I ask casually. "No" she replies yet I know she is lying. Everyone is nervous on the morning of the reaping. "We better head down to the town square to get our names checked off. The reaping is only two hours away." This could be the last two hours I spend with Selene.
We walk back into the main hall and out into the street. The street is packed as it is every other day yet today is different. There is a different mood in the air. A somber and frightened one. It takes a little over twenty minutes to reach the town square. The school that we live in is on the far west side of town which cuts us off from the rest of the district. When we finally reach the town square a line has formed. Every teenager is going to have to wait in this line to get their name checked off for the reaping. The only reason they do this is to ensure that no one tries to skip out and not participate. One year a boy's name was drawn and he wasn't even there. The peacekeepers spent the entire day looking for him. He never participated in the games though because he was executed by the peacekeepers that afternoon. The nervous feeling begins to come back to me as I wait in line with Selene. I begin to think back to the dream I had this morning and wonder if it has anything to do with the Hunger Games.
"Selene" I blurt out suddenly. "What is it?" she asks. "I have a bad feeling about today. Something just doesn't feel right." I reply sheepishly. "Argent, we are all feeling nervous. You are definitely not alone." "But Selene I had this strange dream last night. It really shook me! I think it might be a sign that I will be in the Hunger Games" I say shrilly. I can see the doubt in her eyes. "Calm down Argy everything is going to be alright." She says as sympathetically as she can. Our turn in line finally has rolled up and I submit our names. "Argent Vulpes and Selene Bostic." The peacekeeper nods signaling he's got us. Selene and I make our way to the section labeled "FEMALE-15".
We have arrived early so Selene and I are given a chance to discuss my dream. I describe every detail of the nightmare as clearly as I can. "I have no idea what this could mean Argent but I'm guessing you are just feeling nervous." I sigh. She just doesn't understand.
After about forty minutes of waiting the ceremony begins. Seated on the stage are past victors of the Hunger Games, our district's mayor, and our district's escort Relp Stantov. Mr. Stantov is probably the most arrogant man on the face of the earth. He works for the capitol and is one of President Snow's most trusted advisors. Mr. Vanfleet, the mayor, signals for us to settle down. First the mayor reads a very long and boring speech about District 5. He reads this speech every year. I have never been able to actually listen to him though because I've always been so nervous. Why don't they just get the stupid thing over with I think. After the speech has finally been completely read Mr. Stantov takes the stand. "ahem, Welcome ladies and gentleman of district 5 to the 74th annual reaping." The crowd claps nervously not excited to be sending their children to a certain death. "You all are rather down for such an exciting day!" he says. I could have punched him. How dare he insult us. Today is not an "exciting" day and he will probably never understand that. "I am your district's escort Mr. Relp Stantov and I will select the two tributes from your district for the 74th annual Hunger Games!" He is acting way too excited for this somber occasion. "We will start with the female." he announces.
"The female tribute for district 5 will be……" He draws a slip of paper from the pot labeled "female". He examines the small piece of paper and then shouts "ARGENT VULPES!!!"
The audience hushes waiting for a response. All I can do is stand there looking stupidly at Relp Stantov. How? I think. There is no way I could have been chosen out of all of those names. Selene suddenly begins to sob snapping me back to life. My mind races as I think about what to do. I finally stumble up to the stage trying to look as strong as possible so I won't be an easy target during the games. "Any volunteers?" asks Mr. Stantov. The audience drops dead silence. There has never been someone to volunteer in District 5 in the seventy four years the games have been held. "Congratulations Argent! You are the female tribute for District 5!" The audience claps quietly looking up at me as if I was some kind of alien. They all know that I am going to die. I have to prove them wrong though so I glare at them as if I was made to kill.
Mr. Stantov has already moved on to the male tribute when my mind zaps back to him. "CELIVS VANFLEET!" he booms. Celvis. I try to remember who this is. Then it hits me. Celvis Vanfleet is the mayor's son! This is astonishing. I scan the crowd looking for him. I find him with that same look of horror on his face that I had just moments ago. I also observe the mayor's behavior. He doesn't appear to be handling this much better than his son. I can tell that he is trying to keep it together though. Celvis walks up to the stage in a zombie like fashion and stands to my right. No one volunteers for Celvis either yet the audience is still shocked that the mayor's own son has been chosen. If you are rich like Celvis obviously is you having basically no chance of getting selected because you don't have to sign up for tessarae. Celvis and I shake hands and the anthem begins to play.
At this point the mayor is supposed to give another speech yet he seems to be suffering from extreme shock and faints as soon as he stands up. This causes chaos in the audience. Celvis and I are immediately rushed to a building where we will say our final goodbyes. I have never seen a more beautiful building in my life. There are portraits everywhere of our district's past mayors. A large diamond chandelier hangs above us and velvet chairs that are placed on either side of the room. I am led to the one on the left and Celvis to the right.
My first visitor is Selene. Until now I have never realized how much I need her. I stare at her pale face for a moment before collapsing into her arms sobbing. I know I will never see her again. After a few minutes of crying I brush my bright red hair out of my eyes and listen to what she has to say. "Argent, if you are going to win this you have to use your brain." "I can't win Selene! I have zero chance. I have never even used any type of weapon." I cry at her. "You can outsmart them all." She whispers to me. "You are the smartest person I know." I am shocked. I have never really considered myself to be very smart. Sure, I'm good with numbers and logic yet I guess I have never really put much thought into this topic. This gives me a little bit of hope. "Selene, you are the only person in the world I truly care about. I trust you more than anyone and I promise that I will do everything in my power to come back. You are my best friend." I say to her sadly. Now Selene bursts into tears. "You're my best friend too Argent and I can't stand to…" but she never finishes her sentence because she is escorted out of the room by a peacekeeper. "No" I scream at him. "Let her stay!" The peacekeeper ignores me which only elevates my anger. I watch as Selene's frightened face disappears from my view and probably from my life. "Goodbye." I whisper.
I don't receive any more visitors which is not surprising at all. Celvis receives several visitors though which also doesn't surprise me based on the fact he is the mayor's son. After a long time of waiting Mr. Stantov collects Celvis and I.
This is the first time we've actually been able to talk to him alone. "Are you guys having a great day? I am in no mood to reply with a sarcastic remark so I just say "yeah"
"That's great!" he says enthusiastically. "We are leaving for the capitol soon by train. Here are your tickets." He hands us two tickets which both say Hunger Games Pass. Stantov continues to speak. "On the train you will meet the past Hunger Games victors who will help train you for the games." I stare down at the ticket. It might as well just say "ticket to death" on it.
Stantov takes us to the train. The train is magnificent. It is slender and elegant looking unlike the ones that deliver supplies from the other districts. Yet I know that its beauty is fatal. For it is just taking me closer to the capitol and closer to my death.