Prologue
Thump. Thump. Thump. I awoke from my fitful sleep to find my sister tripping over an old toy of ours. My sister was once again planning to sneak out on the most heavily patrolled night of the year. The night before the Reaping or in southern District 4; "Bonfire Night". Peacekeepers and other capitol officials had already flooded into the District the previous day and here she was breaking the law, no doubt planning to attend the Bonfire.
"Alodia?" I called out. She froze, surprised I had once again caught her trying to leave as though I hadn't done so countless other times. My sister was not the master of stealth. "Going bridging, are you?" I asked, using this year's codename for the bonfire.
"I'm just getting some water Kris. Go back to sleep," My sister was a notoriously bad liar and this time was no different.
"You don't seriously think I believe, that right?" I said. "May I remind you how dangerous and stupid of you it is to go to Bonfire Night? You do remember what happened last year?"
"So what if I am? If I'm going to be reaped tomorrow I might as well have a good memory to hold onto before I die," Alodia scowled deeply.
"Oh come on now Alodia don't say that," I replied, completely terrified at the thought. "Odds are you'll be fine. In fact, the odds in you getting hurt are higher by going to this thing."
"I'll take those odds then," She said before exiting our shared bedroom, knowing full well I would follow her.
Each year since her first Reaping it had been the same. Each year I would somehow fall asleep despite the impending Reaping the next morning as my sister tried to sneak out to Bonfire Night. Each year she also somehow managed to trip over something, making just enough noise to wake me. Each year we argued over her going. Each year she still went and each year I followed her to keep her out of trouble.
Silently we both moved through our small "cottage" (it was more of hut really), knowing that if our mother was to awake to us leaving she'd have a fit. Luckily neither Alodia nor myself managed not to make too much noise as we quickly slipped out of the house.
The warm, humid summer air, which I have grown so accustomed to, engulfed me as I stepped outside. The heat as per usual during this time of year was overwhelming. Not for the first time I questioned the use of a Bonfire in such heat as it was for more fitting for us to do something water-related being the fishing district and all.
Despite the heat and the stupidity of such an event I followed my sister as we raced through the hidden streets in our District, avoiding the peacekeepers who wouldn't be so lenient if they knew were we were going. My sister who while was not the best liar or the stealthiest person, thankfully knew just about every corner of the District from her other late night exploits and was able to keep us out of trouble. For now, at least.
"Come on, we're almost there," She whispered over to me, excitement building in her eyes as we neared a small hidden harbour, the location of this year's Bonfire. The harbour was admittedly a good choice for a secret illegal gathering of rebellious youths, far better than last years at least.
The summer heat, already so unbearable on its own magnified as we walked closer to the bonfire. Again, I questioned the logic behind such an event but since it had been a tradition for at least thirty years, I kept my mouth shut in case I offended anyone.
Bonfire Night was an annual event that took place the night before the Reaping in the Southern Part of District where hate and disgust against the Capitol was at its highest in the District. Here the fishing hauls were the weakest and as such the Capitol did not hold us in such high esteem as they did so in the North, where the yield was far more plentiful. Thus the class divide in the District was created as the Northerners grew up strong and healthy whilst we starved. I supposed we were far better of the some of the outlier Districts such as Eleven and Twelve, but seeing people within our own District so well fed and looked-after as we suffered, caused a deep-rooted hate within the Southerners.
The Bonfire Night was created as an act of rebellion against the Capitol and the upper class of the District as we burned their possessions and ate "their" food. The Bonfire Night was open to the teenagers of the South or those aged 12-18, as we would be eligible to be reaped the next day. It was a final protest against the Capitol in case we were going to be sent the arena for their entertainment.
While mostly it was those who were aged fifteen and over, my sister had been coming since her first year of eligibility when she was twelve and I was thirteen. The two of us had therefore had been attending this far longer than most others at four years now.
Smoke filled my lungs as we finally made it over to the Bonfire. I had always disliked Bonfire Night for this very reason as it became hard for me to breathe properly at times.
I watched over the crowd for any disturbances as Alodia made her way over to her friends. After last year I was on edge, paranoid that an army of peacekeepers would start marching through at any moment. After the illustrious Finnick Odair won the Games two years ago, all eyes had been on our District during the previous Games. The idiots here still decided to hold the Bonfire and were unsurprisingly found out by the peacekeepers for the first time since the 2nd Quarter Quell, sixteen years previously. This year there was fortunately greater security and protection but it did not stop me from being on guard.
An hour in I began to loosen up, even chatting to some people I knew from school. I was even considering joining in and burning some stuff before I heard the shouts. They had found us.
I immediately ran to my sister, practically dragging her away from the scene. She would jump at any chance to fight against the peacekeepers. She was angrier than most. Than again she had every right to be. The Capitol had killed our father for rebelling and our younger brother who was simply at the wrong place and at the wrong time. Their lives were taken away from us, igniting hatred and a need for revenge within both of us. I was just better at hiding it than she was.
Briefly I considered joining in the fight, getting the revenge I so desperately wanted but thought better of it when I remembered my younger sister would die the second we joined in. Being the daughters of a would-be rebel got you a target on your back.
"Let me go! I want to fight!" She screamed at me, barely audible in the chaos around us. My grip on her hardened as I held her back. They would kill her without a second thought. Luckily I was stronger than her and able to keep hold of her as I hauled her back the hidden streets of the Districts.
She was yelling all types of obscenities by the time we were safely hidden in the narrow alleyways of the District but I paid her no heed as we made our way back to our house. We had to get there before the peacekeepers checked to see if we were home or not as they would be doing to all the homes of those eligible for the Reaping in the South. I didn't want to think about what would happen if they arrived there before we did.
Luckily after years of trailing after my sister I was able to navigate the streets relatively easily and in no time we were back home. The peacekeepers seemed to fortunately still be at the scene of the Bonfire, as we hadn't caught even a glance of one on the way back.
Finally we arrived back at the house, exhausted and out of breath with my sister still furious at me for not letting her go.
"How could you? You just abandoned everyone out there. Everybody else was helping each other out to escape and you just left without a single glance at anybody else., My sister started yelling at me as soon as we entered the safety of the house.
"Because I was too busy getting you to safety to think about anybody else," I yelled back, desperate for her to understand my reasoning.
"I don't need you to keep me safe," Alodia barked, "I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself."
"I never doubted your ability to take care of yourself," I lied. "Though the same can't be said for your ability to make stupid decisions," I shot back.
"Stupid decisions? When do I make stupid decisions?"
"Are you that fucking clueless?" I almost laughed, "Let's start with the decision to go to the fucking Bonfire in the first place," Now I was the one who was furious. She had done this type of thing one time too many for me to be anything but angry with her.
"Well maybe you shouldn't follow me then," She retorted with a childish pout.
"You never seemed to have a problem with it before," I replied, "In fact when I asked why you let me follow you, you said that you wanted me to see it, 'The Grand Rebellion', created by a bunch of stupid teenagers who will probably get themselves killed if they haven't already. You know it was this type of rebel thinking that got Dad killed in the first place."
"Don't you dare talk about Dad like that." Tears were pouring from her eyes and immediately I began to feel guilty. But years of pent up anger and cleaning up her messes had led to this and so I found myself not being able to stop.
"Well it's true Alodia. Dad broke the law and they murdered him for it," I snapped. "Our little brother too. You'll go the same way if you don't stop this."
"Shut up. Shut up. Just shut up-" The rest of my sister's retort was cut short by footsteps. My mother had finally awoken to our screams.
"Alodia, Kris what are you both doing up?" My mother interrupted, her eyes bleary from sleep. "It's the middle of the night. You should be in bed-" My mother stopped when she caught a look at my sister's crying face. Before she could continue however, more footsteps could be heard outside. Peacekeepers.
"It's peacekeepers. They'll be here to check on us," I quickly informed her when I saw her react confusedly. Realisation crossed her face as she remembered how they came to check on us last year after the Bonfire.
"Quickly go to your room now. Make yourselves look like you've just woken up. We'll discuss the rest in the morning." Both Alodia and I raced back to our shared bedroom, trying to make ourselves look as though we'd just woken up.
A knock on the door was heard, followed by faint whispers exchanged by my mother and a peacekeeper.
"I am here to check that Kris and Alodia Lacosi are here," The peacekeeper announced.
"Why wouldn't they be?" My mother asked feigning confusion. Luckily, she was a far better actress than my sister, as the peacekeeper seemed to buy it.
"There has been another Bonfire Night. We thought it was just a one-time thing but it seemed we were wrong." Both Alodia and I smirked at that. These peacekeepers had no idea how long the Bonfires had been going on, otherwise they'd be patrolling right outside our doorsteps. That being said there seemed to no chance of a Bonfire happening again, which was admittedly a shame since it would have been my last year. That is if you don't get picked this year, a small cynical voice said at the back of my head.
"Since your children are in the age group of the people we saw at the Bonfire we have to check they're here," The peacekeeper explained.
"Very well. I get them up. One second please." Quickly both Alodia and I made the last touches to our sleep-deprived look as we heard our mother walk in our room.
"Girls, they're here. Are you ready?" Both of us silently nodded and after a minute or so we made our way back to the front door.
"See, here they are," My mother said obviously hoping to be done with this as soon as possible.
"You are Kris Lacosi and you are Alodia Lacosi, correct?" The Peacekeeper pointed to us individually.
"Yes," I said for the both of us.
"Did you know about the Bonfire that occurred tonight?"
"What Bonfire?" I answered before Alodia can, not trusting her ability to lie. I however, was a natural at it.
"One occurred at a harbour tonight. Like the one last year," He explained in a disbelieving voice.
"We don't have any idea about any Bonfire," I answered, shaking my head.
"I find that hard to believe as this is believed to be an act of rebellion and seeing as you two were the daughters of a rebel." I wanted to tell him we are the daughters of a rebel not were. Death didn't stop him from being our father but I bit my tongue in case I said anything too rash.
My sister who had been seething since the second we met with the peacekeepers was bursting to say something but luckily my mother cut in before she could, "Look they are both here and are not going anywhere near a Bonfire or whatever so called Rebellion is taking place. Now as if you have seen they are here, may we please go back to sleep now? We have a long day ahead of us."
"Of course, Mrs Lacosi," The peacekeeper begrudging conceded "May the odds be every in your favours." He said as he turned to leave, giving Alodia and I a twisted smile. I gave him an equally twisted smile in return. He left at that.
"I have no idea what you two were thinking. Especially you Kris! As the oldest I thought you were smart enough not to do these things," My mother screeched, the moment the peacekeeper was far enough away not to hear us.
"I wasn't doing anything but following Alodia to keep her out of trouble. If it wasn't for me she'd still be there," I defended myself.
"Look we'll discuss this after the Reaping tomorrow. Both of you are to go bed now okay," She said before Alodia could argue back.
Silently Alodia and I went back to our shared room, not speaking to each other even though it was safe to do so now.
I laid in bed for what seemed like hours, thankful that the Reaping wouldn't start until later. I looked over to my sister who finally fell asleep in the last hour or so. All I could think was she would up blown to bits like my father one day. That she was going to do something so drastic that we'd end up like him.