Hi everybody! Well, this is my first story on , so please bear with me. Hopefully the story will progress well.
So this chapter is set in Katniss' point of view, but I promise to you that the next chapter will be in Hannah's point of view. This is just so you sort of know more about Hannah and her Games from an outsider's point of view.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for Hannah. Everybody else belongs to the wonderful Suzanne Collins.
"She's the one you have to watch out for."
That was what Effie Trinket told me and Peeta when we were looking at the reapings of the 75th Hunger Games, the Third Quell. Effie was talking about the girl from District 5, the one who just walked up to the platform on the tape.
"Oh no." Effie moaned. "It's Hannah."
"What's wrong with her?" Peeta asked. "She looks rather small."
"Hannah Salven," Haymitch appeared at the door. "Should not be judged by how she looks."
"She's a robot." Effie said, eyes popping open. "She has to be."
"Not necessarily." Haymitch sat down next to us.
I, for one, didn't care. It was just another victor. Another bloodthirsty person who has played these Games. Another contender that could take away my life in a matter of days. Another way for me to end my life.
I tried not to think about the ways I could die in a few days and focused on watching the tape.
We watched that Game on the train to the Capitol. It was no different than the other Games we've watched – ruthless, bloody, and brutal. However, Hannah, the victor, added another quality to it – cunning. The victors are often monsters – hunting the other contenders like animals. But Hannah's way of hunting reminded me of Gale – the way they both use traps. However, Hannah's traps were much more brutal than Gale's ever will be.
At the first glance, she seemed normal enough – a little exquisite because of her eyes. But after watching her tape of the Games she won, I'm sure no one in Panem thought the same thing again. She looked a little taller than I was, her legs making up most of her height. They were long and slender, but muscular and strong. She could easily run a mile and escape. She had long, chocolate brown hair that was tied in a simple ponytail that trailed down her back. She had the same, thin face as the rest of District 5, but the one thing that struck people's attention was her eyes.
They were cat eyes – there's no other way to describe them. Yellow and piercing, they looked like the exact eyes you would see in a cat, down to the last detail. The irises were an almost glowing yellow, and the black pupils were thin and sharp, like a real cat. The only thing that seemed slightly human about them was that the pupils were slightly larger than a real cat's.
Haymitch explained that Hannah used to have normal blue eyes until she was put into an experiment than went horribly wrong. District 5 was the district of science – different from District 3's Electronics & Technology and District 6's Medicine and Health. Haymitch said that Hannah was put into the experiment, thinking she'd be okay – and leaving with the eyes of a cat. He didn't have any details as to what the experiment was supposed to be or how she felt about it.
She began as just another contestant – slightly memorable due to her eyes – but nevertheless just another background player who would die in the beginning. She never emoted any feelings – her responses in her interview short and monotonous, and her face on screen always straight.
In the Arena, everyone underestimated her. They all thought she was just another contestant that was trying to keep a straight face underneath a breaking body – but they all thought wrong. Maybe it was just that group of kids, or maybe it was just the aura she gave off, but everyone forgot she was from District 5. The smartest District there was, easily rivaling District 3. Hannah's brain was full of cunning plans, sly schemes, and math, formulas, and calculations to kill each and every one of them one by one.
She didn't stay in the Cornucopia for long. With her long, athletic legs, she reached the Cornucopia before anyone did, and she only grabbed a single knife before dashing away. The Arena for that year was a large swamp. There were a few clusters of trees at the edge of the arena that could be called a forest, but overall, the arena was murky waters. The Gamemakers made that year's arena harder to hide in than usual.
While everyone headed towards the forest for safety, Hannah stayed in the swamp. The trees were five times taller than a house, growing out of calf-deep muddy water. The trees were twisted and gnarled, and provided no protection or shelter at all. Everyone, including me, thought Hannah was extremely stupid for staying there.
Hannah, using the single knife she brought from the Cornucopia, hacked away at a rather large tree, one of the largest in the whole arena. The tree was hollow – just as she suspected, or rather, knew. She carved out an entrance that looked like an oversized squirrel hole in the tree in the perfect place – not to high but not too low. The hole was small, but large enough for her to slip through. She carved a few peepholes as well, all around the tree, and even made several emergency exits. That became her hideout for the Games.
She used the same tactic as FoxFace – or rather, FoxFace used the same tactic as her. She stole food from the other contestants, not too much to arouse suspicions, but enough for her to get by on. Quick and soundless, she reminded me of Rue from the way she hid in the trees, her eyes easily mistaken for another wild animal. In one second, the trees were still. In the next, as quick and silent as the wind, there were two unmistakable yellow orbs staring out of the tree. In a flash, the person's food was gone, and so were the eyes.
On the first few days, she explored the whole arena – carefully noting any hiding spots and trails, but the Capitol barely showed this, only showing the brutal fight against everyone else. Once I was sure she had the whole place memorized and mapped out, she would sneak up and listen to everyone's plans – especially the Career's plans. And she would foil every single one of them. Slowly killing each and every one of the Career districts, in those quick seconds when their guards were down, and taking down the competition. The Careers were afraid to hunt, in fear of the traps that Hannah set around the area – one wrong step and a knife would be swinging towards your heart before you even realize it. They were creative traps, some quick and painless, others used to scare and toy the victim until they wished they were dead.
The strangest thing though, was that Hannah would let all of the weaker players stay alive. Some she would leave to die, like the starving, but she would keep the other non-Career Districts from dying. She didn't let the Careers kill the other Districts, but often the tables were turned and she would kill the Careers themselves, each using a carefully crafted out plan.
The Capitol did not like what she was doing. They did not like the fact that a lowly District girl was killing off the favorites one by one, each gruesome yet clever. They had to get rid of her.
One night, when there was only around six or seven left, the Capitol sent mutated alligators after her. However, through her tiny holes in her tree, she saw the alligators before they reached her. She darted out into the forest. The next part was the part in which the Capitol hated the most – the part where she used the monsters that the Capitol sent to kill her to kill the other tributes. Using the thing that should've caused the end of her existence to kill everybody else – the exact reason why the Capitol sent them to her in the first place – is what angered the Capitol to oblivion.
She led the alligators to any tributes she could find, hiding out in the trees while she watched the alligators kill her competition. After the gruesome and bloody feast, there were only a handful of tributes left – including the small number of Careers. Hannah knew where everybody was, and knew that she could lead all of the alligators to everybody's death, but instead, she killed every single alligator – except for one. No one is quite sure what happened next since a huge fight erupted amongst the remaining Careers and the District 7 girl, and they switched the cameras to watch Girl 7's bloody end.
They didn't show Hannah again for the rest of the day.
In the next few days, Hannah killed one of the two remaining Careers, leaving the big burly Career that everybody wanted – and knew – would win. The last Career boy killed the remaining tributes, unable to find Hannah. He was furious, of course. Hannah had killed his District partner, his companion, and he was angry enough to murder. Everybody was on their seats to see the result – Hannah's definite bloody end. Everyone thought she was so smart in the beginning, so clever, until she made the fatal mistake of killing the Career girl instead of the big burly Career boy when she had the chance. Sure, she had cut him badly on the arm, but what difference does it make when he is ready to hunt?
The two found each other in the swamp, the Capitol eager to see the bloodbath that was sure to come. It was terrifying to watch this strong boy, a long deadly knife in hand, ready to kill a skinny scrawny girl whose knife wasn't even in her hand anymore. She must've lost it, or broke it. She had no chance of winning. She was accepting her death, and ready to be brutally killed by this boy.
The boy was ready, standing there, panting from the long run he just made. He was about to charge, positioning his knife so that it would puncture her right in the heart. He could see her red blood in his hands. He could taste the victory on his lips. He could almost smell her fear.
But he was wrong.
Just as he was about to run, the last mutation alligator jumped right out of the water, jaws ready and open, teeth deadly and long. The boy didn't see it coming. Nobody did. The alligator snapped his neck, and the body fell into the swamp, the red quickly staining the water.
After a moment of silent shock, the people heard the voice announcing Hannah's win. But nobody could believe it. I couldn't believe it. Hannah was still standing in the same spot as she was when the boy was ready to kill her. The alligator came up to her – and to everybody's surprise for the second time, nuzzled her leg as fondly as an alligator could.
How is it possible? The alligator, a day ago, had tried killing her. A day ago, the alligator was hungry for her blood. Today, it was nuzzling her like a faithful pet. What did she do?
On closer inspection, the alligator was bigger than it was before, but more streamlined. The spikes were smaller, no longer creating ripples in the water. The teeth were bigger, much bigger. But the one thing that everybody noticed first was its eyes – like a cat's. No longer the usual greenish-brown sharp, deadly eyes of a normal alligator, but the bright yellow sharp blade of a cat's - just like Hannah's. Everything about those eyes were clearing stating The alligator belongs to me.
But the worst thing was that the whole time, Hannah's face had no emotion. She showed no pity or mercy when she was killing the lower districts, or anger and hatred when the Careers squirmed underneath her traps. There was no joy or pleasure when she killed anyone. Even in hunger and exhaustion, her face kept the same normal, slightly bored face. She didn't have a smirk or mischievous smile when she thought of a plan or put in into action. Hannah didn't collapse with relief or happiness when she won, only standing in the bloodied water. It was unnerving, her expressionless face. It bothered me. Hannah did seem to be a robot – quick, witty, and smart – but also unfeeling. It was like killing people didn't matter to her anymore – like it was just another daily routine.
"Wow." Peeta whispered, after watching Hannah's tape.
"Wow indeed." Haymitch smirked. "Believe it. It was all her. You really have to watch out for her in the Games."
"Everyone really thought she was a machine. She just can't be human. Killing all of those kids, planning out each and every one of their deaths like it was nothing but eating breakfast – with no expression, nothing at all. It's even worse than watching someone enjoying killing someone else." Effie shuddered.
"We were all so sure it was a scam pulled by District 5, that she was a machine, that they actually got her tested." Effie said, her face reading shock. "They tested her blood, her DNA, everything. And she's completely human! I can't believe it."
We moved on and continued to watch other victor's Games, switching tapes. I took the tape out, the image of Hannah's expressionless face disappearing.
She was a machine, that's for sure.
A man killing machine.
So, that's it for today!
Hope you guys all like it and are planning to stick around to see how this progresses…
Reviews would be very much appreciated!