*BEEP BEEP BEEP* My right hand creeps out from under the sheets to hit the snooze button for the seventh time this morning. Another cold December morning in the Mellark house. Except today wasn't any ordinary December morning, today was my younger sister Lock's birthday. Her first birthday actually. I turned to the cot only metres away from my own bed, to find it empty, followed by laughter that was unmistakably hers. She has that kind of preciousness to her laugh, the kind that actually makes me smile. She's one of the only people I care about, which is the only thing my personality is like my mothers. She told me her younger sister, Prim, was the only person she cared about. That was at least until she met my Father. They were both part of these big games a few years back called "The Hunger Games", but they don't like to talk about it. Nobody likes to talk about it. Its as if it was something so tragic to strike fear into the whole of Panem. I remember it briefly being mentioned when I was younger in school, but then they brought about the laws of it not being taught in schools, in case history repeats itself. Or something along those lines. I finally start to drift back off into a light sleep when I hear the sound of boots coming up the stairs. Darius, my older brother. "Isn't it about time you come downstairs Wren?" I see him standing at the bottom of my bed, leaning to grab the covers. "Don't do it Darius, you know you'll regret it" I say to him as I strike him a promising look. No matter how much I held onto the covers, he always finds a way to rip them off. At first I just lie there and accept the fact that lying there in the cold is better than getting up and chasing him, and then it clicks. This is Darius I'm dealing with and he's only trying to get me to go downstairs. He's almost like my mother, however has the presence of my father. He's kind and charming to everyone he meets. He makes me look useless. All I do is skip school and hang around the districts and wait for Finn.

Ahh Finn. He's a good friend of mine, his mother and mine are good friends, and also used to be with their father until he passed away. But apparently Finn is the image of Finnick in every sense of the name. Stunningly beautiful and extremely kind, no wonder he gets on so well with Darius. No matter how good friends they are, I don't think Finn will ever be as close to Darius as he is with me. On the days I don't go into school he'll always check and pick up some work for me, even though He is two years older and isn't in ANY of my classes. He'll sit with me until I do at least one page of work per subject, then we take a walk at the edge of the forest. Even when I don't go to school I'll walk with him there and back. I guess he's one of the only people who really understand me. Our parents are forever making little jokes about us one day getting married, but that would just be weird!

By this point Darius' voice has turned into a blur as he rambles on about some pointless information that I'm not really all that interested in, and before I know it my bed is soaking and even more cold than before. He knows exactly how to push my buttons and I end up chasing him down the stairs in a rage. "Finally she's up! Good morning, sweetheart!" My uncle Haymitch exclaims as he turns to my mother and mutters under his breath "I've told you she's like you" My mother rolls her eyes as she hands me a blanket to keep warm. "The fires on in the corner" she says as she freezes as if in a different universe. She does this often, as does my father. He walks over to her and gently takes her hand and pulls her in closely. It shouldn't, but seeing them like this makes me happy. I know, I know, my traumatised parents shouldn't make me happy, but it brings out the softer side of me, the side that gets happy when I see my parents being there for each other. They won't tell me, but I've come to the conclusion that there's only one thing that could have made them this way: The Hunger Games.

The moments of silence is interrupted by that sound of laughter that I love so much. We all turn at the same time to see Lock with a face covered of porridge. "Is little Lockie wanting some of the attention again?" I say in a lightened tone as I walk over to her high chair. I lift her in the air and spin her three times, as she loves, before even considering removing the mess from her face. I place her down in the living area, where all of her presents are still unwrapped. "Now you're up and in a good mood, I suppose we can watch her open the presents now?" My mother gives me as if to say she's been waiting a long time. I look up at the clock to see it's already 11 O'clock. "Sorry" I reply. The present Darius bought for her is the first she grabs and tries to open with a frustrated look taking over her face. When she finally gets the hand of it, her usual smiley face returns at the sight of a new teddy. She's been lost for a few weeks since she dropped her old one. "Fank oo DarDar!" She blows him a kiss and smiles, sweetly at him. After the rest of the presents are opened, I walk over to her and hand her a small box. She takes a moment to examine it before looking me in the eyes to say she doesn't have a clue what it is. I sit next to her and pull her onto my knee, open the box and place the locket around her neck. "A Locket for Lock" I tell her. She says nothing but turns around and wraps her arms around my neck.

As everyone is sat at the table drinking tea I'm at the window waiting for Finn. There's snow on the ground outside, like the day Lock was born, except this time it's worse. Is sit for at least an hour before I see him walking from his house in Victors Village, holding Annie's hand to help her in the snow. "Darius, Finn is on his way over, I'm going to help him with Annie" I shout as I'm already out of the door, no coat or shoes, just me pyjamas and blanket. Running over I take the blanket off so I can wrap it around Annie's shoulders. Words aren't needed as greetings between us anymore, we see each other every single day, but with Annie I feel the need to. She does what my parents do, go into these other universe states, but with Annie its worse. They say she's been this way for a while, and after losing Finnick it got worse. My parents were always there to help her though, and she really grew on me as one of the few people I genuinely care about. "Morning Annie!" I say as Finn helps me with the blanket. I turn to Finn and smile and that's it. Comfortable silence. As we hurry up the steps to my house and get Annie inside I can feel my mother giving me the stare. I get if off her so much that I don't question it anymore, I know exactly what she means. I run up the stairs and hop in the shower, clean myself up and put on some nice clothes. Going outside in this weather wasn't the best idea as I can feel my nose running already. "Typical" I hear a voice and look up into my dressing table mirror to see my mother's silhouette standing in the door way. Without responding, my head returns to facing mirror where I attempt my mother's famous plait. "Wren" she says as she walks towards me and takes over with my hair. "You know what tonight is, right?" I nod my head and try to avoid eye contact with her. The night of December 13th is the night of what is known in Panem of Tribute and Fallen ceremony. I don't really know much about it, but I know that My parents go every year, as well as Annie. The past two years Darius and Finn joined, as they both turned 16 prior to the event. My birthday is always a few weeks after the celebration, so this year will be my first. And I know what's coming, she's going to tell me all what it's about. Darius and Finn both know, but they aren't allowed to tell me. Until now that is. "You've heard of The Hunger Games?" My mother says as taking a deep breath, trying to prevent herself from the haunting memories of it. My right hand rises across to my left shoulder where her hands have frozen half way through task. "It's OK" I tell her. I force a smile out, a rare emotion I show to her. She smiles back and gathers the courage to continue. "The Hunger Games was a televised event that took place where two boys and two girls between the ages of 12-18, from each district would be put into an arena to fight to the death" "Even the Capitol?" I ask. "No, the event took place in the Capital. They viewed it as a sport almost. But times are different now, they aren't quite as cruel. Anyways, the 74th Hunger Games came around and there was the process of nomination: The Reaping. My sister, who only had one entry in the reaping, was chosen" She responds. "Prim? Is that how she died?" Hastily I ask. "No, no. She was killed by a man I used to be very fond of. But that's beside the point. I volunteered myself as a tribute, meaning I would take her place in the Games. Your Father, was also reaped" By the point I'm speechless, yet intrigued. She continues "After a while in the arena they decided to change the rules, to where two tributes from the same district could win if they were left standing. Which was obviously us. But at the last minute they changed the rules back, so only one could win. We picked up some berries called Night Lock. The berry Lockie is named after. This would mean if we both ate the night lock, we would die instantly, leaving the Capitol without a winner. As we were about to take our lives they made an announcement, crowning us as the winners of the 74th annual hunger games" Before continuing she took a pause, as if to take in all of the information the same way I was. "That is when things became bad. The whole of Panem started a rebellion, and I was the mockingjay" she told me. "You were a bird?" I asked, very confused. My mother pulls out a badge-like item from her pocket and holds it so I can see what it is. "A mockingjay pin, its beautiful" The only words I could pull from my brain. I was so astonished at how beautiful it was that I genuinely was lost for words. "I was the face of the rebellion, the mockingjay. Then the Quater Quells came along" It seemed almost as If my mother expected me to be fully educated on this terminology she was using. "Quarter Quells?" "Every 25 years of the games there would be the Quarter Quels, meaning the games were harder and crueller. This specific year, they threw 24 past tributes back into the arena. One boy and one girl from each district. That's when things really got bad. A handful of the tributes that went in, including Finnick, were rescued. Your father wasn't. He was taken by the Capitol and hijacked. I'll not go into details on that, but that is the reason he takes moments out of life sometimes. The whole country was part of an uprising and in the end we won. It was a long, hard battle and tonight we celebrate the memory of the fallen tributes, rebels and innocent lives" My mother finishes her story at the exact same time she finishes my hair. "You look like Prim, beautiful" She tells me. I can feel my face light up slightly as I respond with a simple "Thank You". Then there's silence. Soon to be broken by the overwhelming smell of fresh bread. My Father, Peeta, is a baker and has been part of a baking family since he was born. He has an exceptional talent for decorating cakes that reminds me that today is Locks birthday, which means there will be an extravagant cake to mark the occasion. "Come on then, before Finn's ate all of the bread" My mother tells me with a wink as she mentions Finn's name. I say nothing and hurry down the stairs to see everyone.

As expected, Finn's sat there eating as much as possible. "Hungry?" I ask him. A look of guilt shadows his face and he lifts up the smallest bun in reach to hand to me. "So kind of you Mr. Odair" I respond. Lock is sat in her high chair across the table with the exact same look as the rest of my family has on their face whenever I have a "moment" as they say with Finn. I try to take no notice of it because I know Finn, and I know that nothing would ever happen between us, we're too close. I like things the way they are: simple. Anyways, I see the way the girls all look at me when I'm with him, I hear the whispers too. It's bizarre how jealous they become, but really they don't seem to understand that we're just friends. Nobody does, except us. There's one girl especially who doesn't see it, Invidia. She glares at me when she see's me, but acts as if she's my best friend whenever Finn is around. "So Finn, how's Invidia?" I ask while stuffing my face with my tiny share of bread. "Oh so lovely as always!" He replies, sarcastically. "Seriously Wren, she won't leave me alone. I'm starting to get really scared of her. I try to be nice enough to keep her happy without giving her ideas but it doesn't work!" Finn tells me. "It must be hard, having all the girls in school at your beaconing call" I reply. "All except one" he continues. "One?" I ask. When it comes to Finn I know what to expect amd I'm ready for it every time. Annie says it's one of the many ways he's like his father. He knows he's beautiful and expects everyone to love him. I don't blame him though. I'm pretty sure if I wasn't as good friends with him then I'd probably be like the other girls, just not as forward. After a short pause he finally replies in a hushed voice "you". Typical Finn. "I don't go to school, Finn" I quickly reply in the same hushed voice. He stares at me as he always does with those sea green eyes for a few seconds before I feel the burning looks of Darius from the other side of the room. "I'm going to pull away now Finn, Darius is looking at us like they always do" I whisper to him. "If you were really bothered you would have already pulled away" He winks at me and beats me to it, leaving me looking like one of his crazed followers. I shoot him a look to let him know that I'm not impressed. "Welcome to the club" He responds as he gets up from the table to talk to Darius. "The swine!" I think to myself, trying my best not to kick off with him. But before I have the chance to go any further my father is coming out from the kitchen with his masterpiece of a cake, lit with one candle.

After Lock has blown out the candle on her cake, and we all made a wish on her behalf before having a slice of cake, Finn took Annie home to prepare for the night ahead. Our babysitter arrived on the porch to take care of Lock for the evening and I went upstairs to find something decent to wear. As I entered the room I find clothes already laid out for me. A blue dress with the mockingjay pin attached to it. I take a few moments to stare at it before finding a note beside it.

"Dear Wren,
I wore this dress the day of the reaping I volunteered as tribute. It would mean a lot to me, and many others, if you could wear it tonight.
And as for the mockingjay pin, it's yours. Wear it with pride.
Love from,
Mother."

I take the dress and change into it. Although me and my mother don't always see eye to eye, I know things haven't been easy on her, so the least I can do is make her proud of me in some way. When I finally make my way down the stairs my whole family is waiting at the door for me. My mothers eyes start to well up and we haven't even left yet. "Doesn't she look beautiful Katniss!" My father says to my mother as I finally reach the light of the hallway. "She certainly does" she replies as my father helps her put on her best coat. I take my coat from the hanger and put it on. My father holds the door open for us as Darius escorts my mother outside and I follow. As he locks the door he catches up to me and puts his arm around my shoulder. "Are you ready?" He asks. I reply in a confused way. "For?" "Tonight, its pretty sad. You'll have plenty of support though. Finn will be there to help you too" Again with the Finn comments. "Dad!" I try to shout but by this point he's already caught up to my mother. We wait for our car with the rest of the district 12 victors village residents. As far as I'm aware, Annie and Finn aren't from District 12, they moved here for extra support and because the majority of the houses in the victors village here were vacant, it was no problem for them to move in.

We all pile into the same car and are took train station where we travel to district 13. 13 was the perfect place for a memorial garden for everyone. It was so spacious and everyone was so welcoming. I walk in to the memorial garden to find literally hundreds of people in line to pick up some tokens to place next to the name of each person recorded to have died. Finn takes Annie straight over to the small trident stand to pick up a special version of the token, especially saved for them. We pick up a few as our family suffered a lot with the deaths, bearing in mind the majority of them died for my parents sake.

I wander over to a station marked "Primrose Everdeen". My mother's sister, my auntie. I spend a few moments staring at them, not entirely sure what to do. I'm distracted by a voice coming from my left. "I'm guessing you're a relative of hers? You look just like she does in the pictures". At first I'm unresponsive. "I am, she was my auntie. And you are?" I reply. "Oh, so you're Katniss' daughter? I'm your mothers friends son. Hi, I'm Aksel. Your name is?" The boy explained. "Oh, I'm Wren". He stared at me for a while before speaking again. "Like the bird. My father was right, the Everdeen family are quite something" A remark I didn't know how to respond. Within seconds of this, Finn is by my side grabbing hold of my arm. "Come on Wren, we're about to take our seats" He tells me in a kind of begging manor. I don't question it and agree to go with him. "I guess I'll see you some other time Wren" Aksel shouts over as I'm being dragged away and all I can do is look at him.
"Who was that? Why were you talking to him?" before I even have time to comprehend what just happened Finn is shooting questions in every direction but I take no notice of him. "Wren!" He exclaims in a louder tone, pulling me from his side to right in front of him with both hands tightly holding onto my arms. Once again I'm met by those eyes, only this time they are lit in a way I've never saw them. "His dad knows my mother, ok?" I reply in a harsh tone, trying to shrug him away from me but his firm arms won't let me move. He doesn't move his eyes away, and this time I'm determined to unglue from his stare before he can. But I can't, I get an overwhelming sense throughout my body, nothing like I've ever felt before. My eyes start to fill with what I think is tears, but they don't run down my cheeks, they stay put. He can see it and pulls me in closer and holds me tightly. Even though I can't see him doing it, he's glaring at Aksel, I can just tell. I find my way out of his arms and run towards my family and Annie.

We all take a seat, right near the front and a big ceremony starts. Our President starts with a small introduction, followed by a few personal speeches by past tributes, followed by a presentation of all the tributes who were ever reaped and then finally they call for the mockingjay to make a speech. My mother takes to the podium and gives the most inspiring speech I've ever heard. The way she holds back her tears and refrains from breaking down moved me. She stood there for everything this country is and I've never been more proud of her in my life. Everyone is then given a lantern with names written on it. Each name was of each person that died in the process. My mother and father are first to light there's and release them into the air. Thousands of different coloured lanters are set off into the air in memory of them all. My mother turns to me as I release mine and a tear rolls down her cheek. She see's me as prim, I know she does. I walk over to her and embrace her, it only lasts a few seconds but it was just what she needed. We gather out belongings and head to the main part of the garden. We place our tokens next to each persons name that made an impact on our family. I wish I could put one down for everyone, but the only people I know about is Prim and Finnick, so I stick with them. As I rise from placing the token next to Prim's name I'm being stared at again. A tallish, thin, pale and blonde lady was hovering over me. She has the District 12 look, with a few retouches from another district. "Prim" she says in a frail voice. "You knew her?" I ask before actually taking into consideration how much she resembles her. "My daughter. I'm sorry for staring, you look so much like her. May I ask how you know of her? She passed a long time ago, surely before you were ..." she begins to talk about her and I interrupt her before she breaks down crying. "She was my auntie" The lady stood in absolute shock, her pale face turned completely white as she took in that she was my Grandmother. "You're Katniss' daughter? How many of you are there? Are you the only one? ..." Again I feel the need to interrupt her. "Yes, I am. Theres three of us. I'm Wren, My older brother Darius is over there with my mother and Lock is at home, its her birthday today" I knew I had already said to much, and that there must be a reason as to why I've never heard of this lady and before I knew it my mother is coming over to take me away from her. She's angry, I can tell. But so am I, why has she never mentioned her to me before? And what could she have done to make my mother not want me to talk to her? "Why are you talking to her, you knew exactly who she is and you know exactly why you're not allowed to see her or any of them." My mothers voice is raised in a way I've never heard her before, I can tell I've sparked something and I don't like it. The woman replies so innocently and not phased at all by my mother "Katniss, darling. She's my granddaughter, I have every right to see her." My father runs over and has to hold my mother back slightly "YOU HAVE NO RIGHT, NOT AFTER WHAT YOU DID." My mothers crying with rage and I have nobody to turn to, my family is helping my mother and Finn is helping his. I run, just keep running and don't look back. Too fast. I'm falling now. Blackout.

When I finally wake up again, things are exactly how they were before I was gone. Except now I'm in the arms of someone. Secure arms they were, not as caring as Finns but I felt safe. How can I feel safe in the arms of a stranger, and then a familiar voice startles me. "I've met you once and you're already in my arms." "Aksel" I reply. He brushes my blonde hair behind my ears and out of my face. "That's better" He says in approval. Again, he looks me up and down before giving me a half smile. His strong arms manage to wrap around me and pick me up until I'm steady on my own feet. "Aksel, it's not the time or place" A voice echoes from a few metres away. As I turn to look at this figure I see his face drop. "Dad, this is Wren, Wren Mellark" Aksel tells him in a way that they've discussed me before and that the man should already know me. "Yeh I can tell. Nice to meet you Wren" He puts his hand out for me to shake it, I hesitate but do anyways. "Tell your mother I said hello" He continues. "I will, but what's your name?" I ask. He replies with one word. "Gale"