Chapter 1
It started with the 74th Hunger Games. Even though I usually hated every bit of the games (during the broadcasting I usually made excuses to leave, I "went to the bathroom" every ten minutes), I couldn't stop watching this one. I dyed my hair to red roots, yellow tips and orange in the middle, simulating fire. My friends and I couldn't stop making the three fingered sign (as we called it) even after we got in trouble. Then the victory tour. The guy IS cuter in person. Then the 75th Huger Games came to pass. I was enraged when granddad announced that old tributes would be competing again. But when her wedding dress turned into a mockingjay gown, my hair was black and white layered, black on top, white on the inside, like a mockingjay. The second they escaped the arena I knew we were gonna lose this war.
Now, I'm standing at the window, waiting for Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark to overtake the Capitol. Am I mad? Absolutely not. It's about time. I'm tired of living with my creepy grandfather. He doesn't even try to hide the fact that he killed, like, a hundred thousand people before he became the president. He always smells like blood. And he infects the whole house with it. He tries to hide it with roses, but it doesn't work, it just makes his sent worse. And there's the fact that I'm showered with Avoxes. I don't want them to slave for me. It only reminds that I'm related to him. I'm the daughter of Elymas Snow and Angelique Danoah, winner of the 60th Hunger Games (that's how she gt my dad's attention) and from District three. My name is Esmerelda, I'm fifteen-years-old, and I am the granddaughter of President Snow. My mom and dad are dead, and I have a suspicion on who killed them. I was sent to live with my grandfather, here. My grandmother lives in the attic and never comes out. I don't want to know why.
I focus back in on the scene below. There's a shield of children surrounding the house. I hate him, using innocence to protect himself. I feel guilty that I'm glad I'm not part of it though. I thought he would have loved putting me with them, since I'm a rebellious, disgraceful accident.
"You might want to move away from the window," he's behind me. I jump. "When they come, it will be forceful."
"I'm fine," I reply. He knows I hate it when he sneaks up on me.
He notices my hair for the millionth time, "Why in the world did you dye your hair like that?"
"Why not?" After getting annoyed with this question, I resorted to that answer.
He mutters something about damned mockingjays and walks out of the room. I smirk.
Then I notice a girl in the crowd of children. She is about my age and she has the flame hair that I had while the 74th Hunger Games was happening, red roots, yellow tips and orange in the middle. She is wearing the flaming mockingjay themed gloves I gave her for her birthday. She's Marigold Addison, my best friend. My eyes widen and in seconds I'm racing down the stairs. I make it outside and yell, "Mari!" just before being held back by some Peacekeepers.
"Ez!" she cried. "They- they took me and I-"
"I know, I know. I'll get you out of this." I turned, walked through the door and yelled, "Granddad!"
Just then a hovercraft appeared over the children. It dropped silver parachutes into the rows of kids, and then disappeared. They grabbed eagerly for the gifts held in the parachutes. A few seconds pass and they explode.
"Mari!" I screamed. I spot her, unconscious, I hope, skin red and burnt, cuts across her face.
The Peacekeepers start scrambling towards the children. More people appear, medics. Rebel medics. I'm suddenly afraid. What if they figure out that I'm Snow's granddaughter, mark me as a threat, and kill me. Then I remind myself that these are only medics.
"Help her," I find myself muttering, "help her please."
I'm blown backward, my body on fire. I'm unsure of what happened. All I'm focused on now is the pain. Everything's black.
Author's Note: Okay, this is my first fan-fic so don't be mean with the reviews, pretty please! And if someone already won the 60th Hunger Games, I'm sorry! Chapter two will be up soon!