This is the sequel to my story The First Victor. Some adult themes mentioned but nothing too far. Happy Hunger Games.
I stare at the sky and choke. I know my time is drawing to a close. Waitr a little longer. I just want to see my father again. I could have won this if I hadn't made a stupid mistake. Such a stupid mistake that it cost me so much more than my life. A twelve year old girl should never have to do this. I failed my father and I just want to cry.
I slowly wake up and startle when I hear rustling in the room. I'm not alone. It takes me a moment to discover why. Tonight no one sleeps alone. Tomorrow is the reaping. I look over at my father on my left and mother on my right. Legally my father is not listed as a relative at all. Thirteen years ago he was reaped in the very first Hunger Games where he fought twenty three other people to the death. After killing twelve of those people himself he became Victor. He had to pretend he was single so he married under a secret name and then I was born.
Daddy has always worried I would be picked because of some horrible thing he did when he was in the capitol. He also doesn't know that I know this. Being only twelve he didn't want to scare me. My name is Vanessa Michel. Everyone calls me Nessa-Mie but most shorten it to Sammy. My father was Michael Patterson, the son of the leading general in the rebellion. He developed Dissociative Fugue and created a whole new name for himself, Mallorin Pitchmen. Mommy was Vanessa, she never told me her last name. She moved here with Daddy when he was twenty seven and they married a year later. Mommy goes by Natalia.
This is how my story goes.
I wake up and see my father snoring beside me. He has already had his nightmare for the night, those always come once or twice a night, so he will probably sleep until morning. Mom is a light sleeper but normally I can get out of the bed without bothering her. I do. I slip to the foot of the bed and slide onto the cool wood floor.
We live in a big two story house that is pastel blue in what is called the victor's village. A place only winners and select family members of winners get to live. Only two of the houses are in use right now. One is us the other is by Megs. She won the year I was four. She is now a mentor for the younger Tributes of District Four.
I walk down the cool wooden stairs and into the kitchen where I find my jacket and some shoes before I sneak outside and down to the water of the ocean. It is deep blue, reflecting the night sky that is void of moon tonight. I take off my jacket and shoes and slip into the cool water. My mother was a net maker before she married Father and she taught me how to make a net and tie many knots. She had to teach me how to swim but she says that she learned saving my father's life. I think of this as I drift out into the water on my back and relax.
He didn't know me, Mallorin I mean. He had lost all that Michael was and that included me. He ran down to the edge of the water and splashed in about ankle deep before turning around, his eyes wide with fear. I was going to yell at him but as soon as I opened my mouth someone slammed into him and knocked him into the water. They wrestled in the shallow water for a while before they got to their knees and he was kicked from behind bya second guy.
I was so furious that I made a lasso and flung it over the second one's neck. I pulled and just by luck he was off balance and feel to the water gagging. He couldn't get the rope loose from his neck. He flailed around like a dying fish as I tied another rope. I wasn't fast enough.
The first attacker grabbed me by the throat and lifted me out of the water, choking me as I struggled. Mallorin stood for just a moment and even though he was bleeding and about to pass out he hit my assailant with a piece of driftwood before he passed out himself. The first helped untie he second and they ran off to the town.
I tried to drag your father out of the water but I wasn't strong enough to turn him over so I ended up pulling him on top of me to warm him up, the water was freezing this time of year and he probably was freezing himself. He lay slightly snoring with his head on my stomach as I tried to stop coughing. He stirred slightly and I placed a hand on his face. We really were together ever since.
I know they had a rough patch just before Dad was reaped but love conquers. I feel vibrations in the water and swim upright. I look to the shore and see my two best friends stomping through the water to me. I smile and dive as far down as I can in the salty water, barely feeling it in my eyes. After a little while they are both down as deep as I am and they pull me to the surface.
"Sammy!" Blake yells as he hugs me. I struggle to keep us both afloat. He is thirteen but in the same class as me in school. He and I are almost opposites. I have my father's brown hair with a tint of my mother's red. The sun has given me strawberry blonde highlights. Blake has blonde hair that hangs in his face all the time in the front but is cut shorter in the back. My blue eyes meet his green ones and I try to shove him off. I am small in stature and, naturally, he is larger, so it has little effect.
This is when my other friend joins in. She is older than both of us, fourteen, and taller than Blake even though she weighs less by far. Elaine has copper hair with the normal sun blonde streaks that is cut up to her cheeks and pulled back in a ponytail. She slams into us and we sink, me flailing helplessly under them both for a moment before they tug me into shore. We laugh as we cough and flop onto shore on our backs, one of them on each side. We lay on the shore and talked as if the worst day of the year was not coming tomorrow.
"Sam, the sun is coming up." We sat up and I stared at Blake the I took both their hands and looks at the sky. They followed suit and we watched the sun rise sadly.
"We need to get home so your father doesn't think I kidnapped you again." Elaine hugs me and then we walk back to the Victor's village where I will be cooking them a meal since we are rich enough.
I wake up in a cold sweat. I don't scream this time but Natalia wakes up anyway. She hugs me and lays her head between my shoulder blades. I run my hand through my short goatee.
"Where is Nessa-Mie?" I ask.
"I'm sure she's either down at the water or in the kitchen with her friends." Natalia smiles sleepily , laying her chin on my shoulder. I kiss her forehead.
"I'm going to go eat. Want me to bring anything?" I smile, "Pregnant women should eat only their favorite foods!"
"You're still sleepy, Mallorin." She grins and shoves me onto the floor, "Go get me some oranges." She flops back on the bed laughing. I stand up and kiss her and leave, running down the noisy stairs. How does Nessa get down these at night? Ii see her with her three friends at the table and the mess they have made. I sigh and sit down, grabbing some food, ignoring the sugar that gets thrown across me. The three children always clean up after themselves.
"Do we still have oranges?" I ask. Instead I get a face full of flour. I shake my head and then my eyes flick up to meet my daughter's blue eyes. She grins and I stand up, "you asked for it." I start chaseing her and we run up the stairs and I grab her by the waist and spin her around. In the front Elaine slams into me and I bust out laughing as I spin, holding up both girls. I would have been fine if Blake didn't tackl me from behind. All the wind is knocked out of me as I fall to the ground, trying to roll the girls out from under me.
"We win!" Blake stands up, arms in the air and spins in victory before he falls and vanishes from view. I sit up, as do the girls, in worry. He definitely has fallen down the stairs. He suddenly stands up and shakes his head.
"I am alright!" He shouts victoriously. The girls run down and hug him and he spins them both around. I wish we could live every day like this, without the fear of the reaping or the capitol. I grab two oranges for Natalia as the children set about cleaning the mess in the kitchen. I smile when I find her in the bathroom brushing her hair. I show her the oranges and she grins.
After breakfast I have to get ready to leave early. I have a, um, meeting with a Capitol representative before the reaping. I shower and dress in my reaping outfit. I will have to train another set of Tributes. At least I still have the aid of Mags. She knows what I go through.
I'm shaking by the time I get to the meeting place. This client will probably decide whether my daughter gets reaped today or not. She is rough and I am much younger than her. She appears to just be an innocent Capitol woman. She was raised in District Two. After winning the seventh Games she became really popular and now lives full time in the capitol.
I knock on the door and she opens it with a grin, "Come on in." She lets me in and shuts the door. I turn to look her over, her hair is key lime green that matches her nails and dress. She looks at me hungrily and lunges forward. She rips my shirt off and shoves me to my knees. I whimper and she slaps me across the face. They can do whatever they want to me as long as it doesn't maim me. I have been beaten by some of these women, but not to the face.
She wraps a leather collar around my throat and ties my hands behind my back. I close my eyes as she prowls around me, "We have to make it fast today." She whispers, "The reaping and all." I just nod. Make it fast.
I hate the dress I have to wear to the reaping. It is too fancy. Red with a white ribbon around my waist. My mother smacked my hands every time I tugged at it. I got my finger pricked and scanned and I walked to my standing spot. Little do any of these people know, I have been trained. I am terrified of the idea of my name being called, but I fear for Elaine. She has grown ill and only told me. She wouldn't be able to run at all. I just hope she and Blake are safe. Blake is big but underfed and actually, other than his sheer size, he is good at nothing physical. His coordination is awful.
"Good morning!" Marian walks on stage in an orange outfit, her hair a strange black with matching Orange hat. She goes through a speech I have heard since I was little. I ignore her but can't tear my eyes from the screen when images of the war flash on the screen. I glance at my father up on th stage. He has never been able to watch this footage. He hides his face behind his curtain of long blonde hair. He had forced his prep team to keep his hair long and blonde, not its natural color.
I am brought out of my reverie when she calls loudly, "Ladies first!" I hold my breath and flinch when someone grabs my hand. She is a girl in my class at school, also twelve like I am. She is shaking to the bones, not that that is very far to travel. She smiles at me and ticks her short brunette hair behind her ear. Clarisse was her name. She seemed too fragile, too delicate.
"It will be alright, Clarrisse." I nod and watch Marian pull a name out of the bowl.
"Elaine Turnstone!" She yells. I see her, make eye contact and I know what I have to do, "Next the boys."
"See, it's alright. I pat the other girls hand as mine starts to shake, "Not Blake, Not Blake."
"Liam Christopher." She calls. Not Liam! Liam is about six foot nine and is very well fed. He works at sea with his father during the winter on their Fishing Vessel. He is stronger than any boy of seventeen should be.
"Oh, No." I whisper to prepare myself.
"Do we have any volunteers?" Marian asks. She spots someone in the crowd with a shaky hand, "Yes, come up, dear." I have to shake my head to realize it is me she is talking to. I put my hand down and start up to the stage, after prying my hand loose from Clarisse. My father is on his feet, furious with me. I look at my feet, unable to look at him as I climb the steps, "What is your name,Dear?" She shoves a silver microphone in my face.
"I am Vanessa Michel." I announce very proudly.
"How old are you?" she asks, her already pitched Capitol accent pitching at the word you.
"Twelve." I answer.
"Twelve! What a brave girl! Our Tributes, Liam Christopher and Volunteer Vanessa Michel!" She smiles and I shake hands with Liam, smiling smugly even though I don't feel smug, I feel dumb.
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