Defiance

I stand on the silver plate; let the cold sheath of glass slide around me. It encloses me, separating me from the world in which Cinna stand.

The world of morality.

Now the games will begin.

Or so I thought.

I stand there confused. Why isn't the plate moving? Shouldn't I be ascending to whatever torture the gamemakers have thought up this year? But no. I'm standing stock-still staring at Cinna who looks equally surprised.

He takes a step forwards, worry clouding those warm brown eyes.

And then all hell breaks loose.

The doors slam open, two peacemakers in their repulsively white outfits storm into the room and they grab ahold of Cinna.

Roughly, they slam him against the glass sheath. It's a violent act and Cinna cannot respond. The glass shakes with the impact. I scream.

"NO!" my voice yells. It feels unreal. Cinna looks up at me one last time before the peacemakers slam him out of this world. Win this, he mouths ever so gently. Then their guns pound over his head. And it is a matter of seconds before he stops moving and they drag him away. Roughly. As if he nothing but a carcass, a bag of meat.

"NO." i can't stop yelling.

Blood has stained the glass walls around me. It's smeared on the pristine floor; it coats a trail out of the door. And my silver plate is rising.

It barely reaches the black tunnel just as I watch Cinna's lifeless body be dragged out of the room. Cinna. The one man who stood by me. Girl on fire, he called me. I'm still betting on you. Only now he can't bet anymore. In fact his gamble went too far.

And another one bites the dust.

I have just killed another man.

Indirectly I could argue, but Cinna's death is my entire fault.

Tears are pouring down my face, silver droplets of sorrow. I can't help it. I don't care.

The blackness of the tunnel has swallowed me and my hope.

Of course President Snow did this. Organized and planned it all so that I would be destabilized when I would enter the games. I can almost see his snake-like eyes and puffy lips gleaming behind Cinna's cold corpse.

As I rise, I begin to hear the sound of life around me. I can't help the sobs that wrack my body.

Cinna, oh Cinna. I have to win this for him now.

Light shines through and my silver plate settles.

But I have not settled.

I can feel the stares of all the other tributes as they look at me. I must be a wreck. I am kneeling on the silver plate, bawling my eyes out. Tears drip on the ground, but I am heedless of this.

"Katniss!" It's Peeta's worried call. I lift my head slightly to look left where he stands. His fists are held tightly at his waist. You can tell he wants to run over, to comfort, to console me. But he can't. If he does his plate will explode and game over.

"Katniss!" he calls again, worry staining his tone.

I bunch my fists. I know who is at fault. I can feel myself trembling, but this fear is nothing compared to what has happened to Cinna.

"How dare you." I hiss, my head slowly lifting.

Peeta has stopped moving and is staring at me with a mixture of confusion and worry.

"Katniss?" comes Finnick Odair's voice, none of its seductive purr present.

"How dare you." I snarl, louder now. If the tributes weren't staring before, they sure as hell are now.

"HOW DARE YOU KILL CINNA!" I shout at the top of my voice towards the camera I know is filming us right now and right here.

Peeta's eyes widen, but I take no heed of it. He gulps.

"HOW DARE YOU KILL SOMEBODY I LOVE?"I know I will get in trouble for this. I am in the games now. They can burn me with fire, drown me with water, bury me in earth. But I no longer care. I have kept too quiet far too long. It is time to fight back. It is time to stand on my feet.

No more running, no more hiding, no more pretending.

"I WILL KILL YOU SNOW." I promise in a deadly voice. If I could see the screen right now, I know that there would be a pair of determined brown eyes, promising nothing but the truth in her words. I also know that the cameras will be stunned into continuing filming.

"I promise you that." I say raising one hand in a fist. I am standing now. I am shouting. I am becoming the girl on fire. Truly.

"For every person you have killed, I will deliver retribution upon you Snow." There is no mistake in my words. I can almost hear the capitol citizens gasp. It is mirrored in the tributes standing around me.

"Careful, Katniss." says Finnick, always a person of reason in the right times.

But I no longer care.

"Mark my words, Snow." I hiss as a final warning. "Watch your back, because I'll be coming after you."

"3" the clock sounds.

I stare at the screen for a moment longer.

"2" the clock sounds.

I hold my gaze and the sights of all of the capitol.

"1" the clock sounds.

It is beginning. The start of the 75th Hunger Games. And the end of it all.

"0" the clock sounds.

The bell rings, I dive into the waters. All the while thinking of revenge.

I am the girl of fire. And I am unforgiving.

This is the beginning of my defiance.

This I promise.