The Reaping - District 12
A charged silence descends over the crowd as the loud click of heeled shoes on stone echoes around the square. A sea of youthful faces, some frozen and unreadable, others pale and trembling, stare up at the Justice Building, waiting, a band of terror stretched wide around them all, pulling tighter, ready to snap.
Among the crowd at the sides, some mothers are already crying, silent tears snaking down desperate faces, their hands clutching the person next to them, searching for something to hold onto, fingers intertwining, palms slick with sweat.
The afternoon sun glints dangerously overhead, glaring down at the thousands assembled in the square as they stand packed together, baking in the heat, eyes trained on the stage.
Above them, draped over the old stone buiding, a red flag flutters dejectedly in the wind, the distinctive seal of the Capitol visible as the material is swayed slowly by the breeze.
A gentle thud draws the eye upstage, as the mayor settles uncomfortabely back into his seat, clearing his throat gingerly into his hankerchief and turning his gaze away from the upturned faces, seemingly relieved his part is over for another year.
As the sharp sound of footsteps stops, the microphone crackles with static and the obscenely smiling face of Effie Trinket is suddenly everywhere, mirrored on huge 10ft screens that surround the crowd with her image, magnified candy pink hair and painted features closing in.
The audience draws a collective breath as she leans forward, grinning towards them, the trilling of her ridiculous accent like a countdown to what they are all waiting for, the reason they are here.
"Happy Hunger Games!" she begins, her cheery tone jarring against the cold dread that engulfs the square "And may the odds be ever in your favour!"
Her speech is brief, worn old and tiresome by the amount of times she has repeated it, the same story that is being spoken at that very moment in all the 10 other districts of Panem, but what will begin after is so horrifying, so awful that the audience would listen forever, would be grateful to hear nothing else if it meant never reaching the next part.
But her swift recap of the history of Panem, how the Hunger Games had arisen as a punishment to the districts after the rebellion, a reminder after the dark days that it must never happen again, that the death of 23 tributes every year was the price they would always pay, all too soon it comes to an end.
"It is both a time for repentance and a time for thanks" She finishes, painted lips still upturned in an unnatural smile as she takes a pause before stepping forward.
Sitting on a podium at the front of the stage are the two large glass balls that are used every year for the reaping and she trots towards them, almost excitedly as the crowd watches, eyes painfully wide as they realise the moment is upon them once again.
"Ladies first" Effie Trinket announces, as she always does, before reaching into the glass on the right, dipping her arm to the elbow and swirling her hand dramatically. With a pincer like movement her fingers snap together and she withraws her hand, a small slip of paper just visible as she unfolds it slowly.
For a second the wind stills, the crowd is frozen and the only sound above the static of the microphone is the quiet crinkle of the paper as she straightens it between her long, powdered white fingers.
From deep within the crowd, a dark haired girl looks up at the sky as she waits to hear which of friends will be condemned to die this year, a hummingbird catching her eye as it flies over the roof of the Justice Building. Her eyes are still trained on the bird, watching the gentle grace of it's flight over the square, when the name she never fully prepared for is called out and she feels her whole body turn to ice.
"...Santana Lopez"
...
Ok firstly, I'm not giving up on FHLAH, so don't worry, I am definitely continuing it. It's just, I read The Hunger Games yesterday and I loved it so much, I thought it might be fun to do a Glee crossover, Brittana as the main storyline.
I really want to write it, so tell me what you think. This is just a brief start to give you an idea, but I'll start writing properly if people like it. :)