Chapter One
Hazel Snow
When dawn breaks, the house floods with light, awakening me. I groan and yawn, glancing up at the tiny window on our small home.
Sure enough, sunlight filters through the dirty panes. A crack ones through one, telling of its age while cobwebs and a gray film encrust another one. The whole house is dirty. It'd been that way since Basil and Angelica have taken us in.
I still remember the day my parents died. It had only been a year ago and we were all sick, that is, our whole family except for Acacia. Because of that, my memories are groggy, but the memory is still accurately in my mind.
The thought of my mother and father dying made a sharp pain in my chest awaken; causing me to groan again but I brushed it away. Today was no day for lying in bed and facing my pain. Today was the day when the Rebels were coming. I guess you could call them the Capitol now. Ever since that Katniss Everdeen had taken over with Peeta Mellark, things had changed. Us "Capitol people" had been thrown out into the districts and everything had reversed. The once rebels were now the Capitol and us Capitol people were thrown into the districts.
People who were hugely involved in the Hunger Games were given the poorest district, 12. Others who were just Capitol people were forced into better districts, although none of them matched the Capitol itself.
I have to admit, they did what was right in their view, but for the people like me, the innocent youth, we suffered the worst. My grandfather is President Snow, and my grandmother was a young woman tricked. The child she conceived was my mother who then married a Capitol official. My parents were good people. All along they'd tried against Snow and disagreed with what the Capitol people had done. They should have been killed but Snow spared my mother and our family, taking pity on his accidental daughter.
Of course the rebels didn't believe us. We were thrown into this district years ago. Life was harsh, leading to a series of events prior to my parents' death. We were left to my father's sister, Angelica, and her husband, Basil.
They were pretty much the only relatives we had anyway. I had been fourteen at the time and Acacia eleven. Verbena who we called "Ben" for short had been two then and terribly ill. I had caught it after long nights staying up, taking care of my little brother and soon we were all bedridden. For some unexplained reason, Acacia did not become ill. She stayed up twenty hours a day, helping us through. I don't know how such a young child managed to do that but when I had recovered, she slept for three days straight.
Soon after that, my parents had died which is another story I won't get into. Ben was now healthy but we had to move in with Angelica and Basil. Not that I regretted it. At that point I was just glad I didn't have to take care of my siblings although I know that's selfish. Ben catching a fever soon after my parents' death had caused him to come close to death. Dark circles and bags had formed under Acacia and my eyes as we kept him hanging on the edge to life.
Angelica and Basil weren't bad people, but we just didn't want to extend their hospitality by asking them to take care of Ben for the night part of the week. When Dill finally recovered from his second illness, we'd thought everything had gone back to normal. Unfortunately, we were far from it. Just two weeks after, the rebels had arrived in their vehicles and demanded we participate in the "Capitol games", their version of the Hunger Games for us former capitol members.
Alas, I had been ready to kill myself at that point, but for the sake of Acacia and Ben, I kept myself alive. The only thing that had brought me small portions of an emotion still far from happiness was seeing my two best friends, Jasmine and Dill.
As I lay in my bed, I roll over and then sigh. I'd have to go at some point. Better now then later. The rebels would come to check our houses at noon and count us and then at three in the afternoon, we'd have to go to the reaping. Everything was designed to work as before so that we could get a taste of what they had to go through.
I let my feet slip down to the hard floor. My blistered feet tense as I feel the harsh wood touch the blisters on the soles of my feet. At one point last month we couldn't afford for me to get new shoes and I had to walk around barefoot for weeks, producing red and scarred feet. I guess they would do me well. My feet had hardened and become tough so if a similar situation happened again they would be able to withstand the pain and would be less likely to split, but a few red marks still remained to remind me of the painful weeks I had to bear.
Creeping quietly on the floors, I make my way outside of the house to a small hole where I relief myself. A quick rinse of my hands from the outside tap and a rub with the bar of animal fat soap cleans my hands. There's a small purple cube of sweet smelling stuff that I sweep off a ledge next to the door. It's a special soap; in fact it's soap that Jasmine had given to me for my birthday.
I head down to a stream where I quickly strip and plop into the freezing water, my skin tensing and then erupting into goose bumps as the water gives me a shock. I'd sort of gotten used to the coldness but it never ceases to surprise me how cold the water is. After dunking myself underwater, I slurp up some of the water into my mouth and begin to bathe, using the cube of soap. It's one of my most treasured possessions, not only because soap is rare these days, but because Jasmine gave it to me.
Within a few minutes, I finish bathing and wrap myself in a towel. It's hardly considered a towel since it's been rubbed thin and there's a hole on one side. Luckily it's long so I can wrap myself up in it and still not be seen by any people passing by our house.
With the soap clutched in my hand, I make the minute-long journey back to our home. About half way through, a voice causes me to jump.
"Hazel."
I turn around at the sound, trying to figure out where it came from.
"Hazy…"
This time I recognize it.
"Dill!" I cry.
"Aha!" Dill steps out from behind the trees in cargo pants and a thin tee shirt. His feet are enclosed in hard leather boots and his blonde hair is ragged as usual, showing signs of the blade, which he uses to cut his hair. Today his hair sticks up, revealing the brown roots of his hair.
I turn slightly red for two reasons, one I've had a crush on him since I was seven when we'd met and two I'm wrapped only in a towel.
"I…err," Dill seems to notice it too.
"Is it urgent? Why don't I go change first," I say.
"Yeah, I mean no, it isn't urgent, you can change first," Dill says, blushing.
I nod and walk quickly towards the house. I can hear his footsteps behind me, telling me that he's following. The sound of a dog barking catches my attention though.
As my head tilts and I turn around to see where he'd gone to, I stumble over a rock, causing me to fall and sprawl out on the ground.
With a quick gasp, I leap to my feet and quickly wrap the towel back around me and glance around, hoping Dill hadn't seen. That's when I realize that Dill isn't there.
"Dill?" I call.
"Hazy," A distant voice tells me he's close.
"Where did you go?" I ask, confused.
"There's a dog here. Something happened to him. I'm fine, I'll take care of him, you go change and bring a damp towel back out with you." Dill's reassuring voice tells me the situation is under control.
"Okay," I say and step forward, crossing a stone path to where my home is. I fumble with the door and then open it, quickly stepping into a corner and changing.
I glance around the small house. Angelica is sitting quietly in a corner, with a raised eyebrow at me.
"Dill," I explain.
"I know," she smiles sweetly and returns back to the pot that she's stirring.
When I finish changing, I check on Acacia who is still sleeping peacefully on her bed. Our beds are pretty simple, really. A few poles that are rooted into circular holes in the floorboards have layers of old sheet tied to them, which we sleep in. It's sort of like a hammock except different. I'm still grateful I have that to sleep in instead of a hard tree.
Sighing contently in her sleep, Acacia rolls over in her bed. I decide that the house is good for now and step out of the wooden home, nodding at Angelica. Basil is gone off to work. He secretly hunts during the weekdays and on the weekends sells the loot. Of course he brings things home at night for us to eat but I've never had a full stomach.
I use a leather string to tie my long layered choppy hair into a loose ponytail and head over to the spot Dill had told me to go to, clutching a wet cloth that I'd grabbed on the way.
"Thanks," is all Dill says when I get to him. He takes the cloth and presses it to a wound on the hind leg of a dog. The dog is so dirty and matted that I can't see what color it is.
"Here." I know Dill is passionate about animals so I gently take the dogs head and chest up into my arms after letting it sniff me.
Dill must have known I'd do that because he already has her legs lifted up in his strong arms, cradling them gently.
Together we walk the dog to his home where we find Jasmine waiting, hand in hand with her little sister Issie. They both have the same crystal blue eyes and light skin, but Jasmine has dark wavy hair that reaches her waist and Issie has light blonde curls that fringe her neck.
"Hey Jazzy! Hey Issie!" I call. "Come help me open the door."
I've known Dill and Jazzy forever and their homes have become my second home up to an extent where I walk in and call their parents "mom" and "dad".
Issie does exactly what I ask her to and Jazzy rushes up, putting a hand under the abdomen of the dog, which is taut in-between Dill and my grasp.
When we enter Dill's house, a sweet flowery scent lingers in the air and causes me to smile as I always do when entering his house.
Dill's father is a merchant and his mother stays at home, stitching cloth to sell. In hard times their family helps ours and ours helps theirs although most of the time it's their family providing small things that keep us alive.
I'm forever in their debt. Everything they've done for our family is out of pure kindness and generosity. For that reason, I've sworn myself to repay them some time when I grow up and get a job. But for now, at the age of 15, I have to face life as it is.
When we lay down the dog, it squirms but its in too much pain to bite or try to get away. Dill lays his hands gently on its head, shielding its eyes from what we are about to do and it seems to have a calming effect on the dog. She settles down more willingly and falls asleep in exhaustion.
Dill takes his hands off her head and tells Issie to come over.
"She was caught in a trap. I don't know why but they must be trying to get rid of the stray animals," Dill grits his teeth. "Issie, cover her eyes so if she wakes up she can't see anything," Dill instructs as he takes a piece of rope and ties it securely around the dog's muzzle so she can't bite while we fix her up.
Dill performs his magic quickly. His hands flow rhythmically with the razor as he shaves through her mats and tangles, sending clumps of filthy fur to the ground. After watching him for a while, Jazzy and I begin to gather the fur and throw it out the window. When we return, the dog's fur ahs been shaved down, revealing some nasty unmentionables.
I use my bare hands and pluck insects and pests from the dog's short coat and flick them out the open window just a foot away from me. Jazzy uses a clean side of the cloth and wipes the dog's wounds clean with a surgery disinfectant while Dill prepares a sharp needle and precious suture thread.
I watch intently while his hands flow across the dog's skin, stitching up her wounds carefully so there are thin black lines replacing the large red and black wounds that used to be there. Sometimes I wonder why Dill bothers to waste his medical supplies on animals but then again, he's an animal lover and is always getting new medical supplies.
Dill's mother used to be a nurse and so he can easily get him new medical things. She taught him her ways and he had learned. Now, as I observed him fix the dog up, I was once again amazed at his skill. When he'd finished, he declared we eat lunch and it was only then did I realize it was already 11:00am.
The dog had obviously woken up halfway through but now she was sleeping peacefully. We helped clean up our mess and set the dog down on a cloth in the corner and sat down to our meal.
"The food was very delicious," I smile at Heather Kathreene.
"You're very welcome," the woman smiles, the wrinkles next to her eyes creasing as she takes our plates and sets them down in the sink with a clunk.
Dill's house is nicer then ours that's for sure but compared to the wealthiest in our district who when compared to the other districts are only so-so its not that nice. Just goes to show how poor we are.
We leave the dog sleeping in the house and decide to sneak out into the woods. Issie goes back home and it's just Jazzy, Dill and I. Dill's handy with the bow and arrow, Jazzy has her daggers, and I use a crossbow.
As we cross the electric fence that isn't so electric anymore, I wonder if the rebels snuck out here when they were forced to live in this district. Thoughts of what could have happened to them while we lived in the Capitol interest me although I know myself that we didn't deserve this. The people before us deserved it. But the rebels are determined to make us pay. And we were about to find out just how this afternoon.