If I had a do-over,

The question is: would I take it?

Because a life like mine exceeds boundaries

The problem is: a life like mine makes many enemies

Charles Reignmen, 55

CEO of Reignmen Industries

The leaves crunched underneath me as I ran into the deserted forest behind my house. I stumble as I trip over a tree. The drugs in my body are starting to overtake me, but I can't let them win. I cannot allow them to get what they want.

"Charles?" asks the voice of my attacker in a sing-songy voice. "Why don't you come out here and fight like a man?"

Rather than respond, I continue to run. Willing my feet to carry me somewhere hidden. Somewhere where I can just sleep off these drugs and then come back guns blazing at my attacker.

I run several more paces before I fall to the ground and land with a loud thud. No! I think to myself as I hear their voice getting closer and closer. You're Charles Reignmen. You've worked too damn hard for what you have to go out like a little punk!

With an agonizing inner strength, even I didn't know I possessed I push up with my arms off the ground. I feel like I'm running again when I feel a massive sensation push me down. Falling face first into the cold earth that had just swallowed me.

I can't move. I feel my attacker grab ahold of my arm as I get flipped over to look up at the sky. The sun is setting, and if I weren't about to have to fight for my life, I would have considered this night pretty. The orange and pink color of the sky bounce off each other allowing them to work together. This is an album cover. I think to myself as my attacker steps into view.

"Why are you doing this?" I manage to ask as my eyes begin to droops. I feel the drugs finally getting what they want as they overcome my consciousness.

"Oh, Charles," says my attacker with a thick laugh as they pull a gun out from their jacket pocket. "Do you have to ask?"

The last thing I hear before I die is the sound of gunfire.

I bet you're wondering what the hell you just witnessed. Well, I'm here to tell you that it was the fall of a legacy. The end of an era, and most importantly the thing that will single-handedly pick up my career in a way that I could never have imagined.

You see, what you just witnessed was my death.

The first thing you should know about me was I was not a good man. This story isn't one of sugar plums and rainbows or even one that will leave you in a good mood. I'm also willing to bet that once you find out the story behind the name, you'll want to kill me yourself.

I was a shark, but to be in the industry I was in, you had to be one.

Let me tell you something about our World and the country we live in. The President holds no power in a country like Panem. In a world where we are developing such high tech operations, in a world where we are curing diseases, in a world where we are holding the very shreds of everything we love by keeping the people separated and in a lost void of depression, you don't need power.

Money, money is what you need to make your little world go round.

Oh, and I had money. I had lots of money. Reignmen Industries wasn't just a media mogul. It was an icon in this nation of fading trends. It was a monument as to what you could achieve if you never took no for an answer. Reign was everything I ever worked for in my life, and nobody: not my wife, my kids, President Snow, anyone could take it away from me.

Or I at least thought that was true.

If I'm going to tell my story though, and you're going to need to understand some people that were in my life. The first of which are those blasted Victors that I consequently brought to myself, Kenna Rockwall and Demelza Pierce.

They were models I scouted after their respective games. Who better to represent a brand that someone who has faced so much adversity and still managed to overcome it? These two girls were the perfect spokesmodels for makeup brands, car commercials, music video models. You name it; I got them the job. All because there was something real about them. Being from District 8 serves them well.

But they couldn't keep their noses in their own damn business.

My children mean the absolute world to me. In this world where I did all sorts of evil and misguided things, they were the ones I did it for. I would move heaven and hell for those kids. The truth of the matter is, I was looking for a replacement. Someone who could take my place. All of them thought they deserved it the most.

My oldest, Charles Jr, was a disappointment. I loved the boy to bits, but at 27 years old there's only so much that you can allow a child to get away with. It was my responsibility as a parent to mold him and to make him into a man that was respectable and able to take on anything that was thrown his way. Unfortunately, for both him and myself, that was lost on the boy. And I failed him miserably in that regard. Towards the end of my life, I tried to push him but ended up resenting me for it.

My eldest daughter, Eleanor or as we called her Elle, was everything you wanted to see in a student. She was savvy, and quick on her feet. She had the world of possibilities ahead of her. Her problem was her lack of killer instincts. If she had that shark mentality, I would have left her the company in an instant. She was too scared to step on her siblings and take what was hers. To motherly to want to go into attack mode. I resented her because of that, and she always strove for more from me.

My youngest, Barrett and Cosette, are twins. Barrett had all of the killer instincts in the world, but none of the business savvy to take him farther than his siblings. The poor kid tried so hard and worked his butt off to become more like his father, but sadly never amounted to what I needed. Cosette was a happy blend of all three of my older children, however. A baby in the eyes of her father, a party girl in the eye of the media, and able to seal any deal with the help of her looks in the eyes of her siblings. Cosette had it made, the only issue with leaving Reign to her was that she was so young. Her emotions crowd her judgment.

All of my children hated me the moment that gun trigger was pulled. All of my children had a reason to take me out. Throughout our time telling you of my life, I'll reveal more about them. Which leads me to the last person that was heavily involved in my life, my wife, Eleanor Reignmen.

Eleanor was every man's dream. Model, businesswoman, philanthropist. Eleanor did it all. I was an idiot though. In my youthful urges and lavish lifestyle, I convinced myself she wasn't enough for me. I sought love and affection elsewhere, and why she never left me, she always did have some sort of anger towards me. Though we never actually spoke about my affairs.

This story is not about my life as a whole. Consider this a partial autobiography. You're about to hear things about me that every media correspondent dug for, for weeks after my death. This is my life unfiltered.

Don't forget; this isn't a happy ended story. This isn't one about a family overcoming odds and sticking together. You've seen the ending. It ends in cold-blooded murder.

No, this is a story of betrayal and the ultimate lies.

I bet you're wondering why I took the time to introduce you to my family and close relationships. Surely they must work together for the justice of their father, mentor, or husband.

But one of them still pulled the trigger.

Get ready to go into a case even the best investigators can't even crack. My legacy now lies in the cold dark earth, and my blood lies absorbed in the dirt behind my woods. My company, the only thing to never betray me, still sits at the top of the mountain I carried it too.

Long may it reign.

Before I get the swarms of people asking me, no Crash Landing is not canceled. Far from it actually. It's only just getting started. I did, however, want to get started on my next series. It's obviously called Reign, and I've put so much thought into what I want this to be. Poor Jenna has had her ear talked off on a continuous basis about this story. I'm happy that I'm finally able to post this prologue.

With that being said, the start for this SYOT is going to be later. Maybe at the beginning of December is when you'll see the first tribute update. I will be posting the occasional prologue throughout this period though to keep this fresh in your minds, and also so you can get character ideas.

With that being said, what do you think? Think Charles is going to be a good character to hear from? FYI, he's talking from death. Tried to keep this as first person as possible. He obviously knows about his own life, but I wouldn't count it as second person as much as I would count this story taking place in two different times.

***Edit: I was going to address all of this in the forms, however, someone asked me and I feel it might be easier to do it this way. The time period for this game is the 6th Hunger Games. Kenna won the 3rd Hunger Games and Demelza won the 5th. Both are from District 8. This makes sense because the Hunger Games are brand new. Kenna would be one of the only mentors, so it makes sense that she could bring someone back. (You guys also haven't met Demelza yet, yikes.) This is a normal SYOT. Everything will be played out like normal. Only difference is this is COMPLETELY separate from Katherine/Sailor/Alma/Clyde. (A little bummed but it was time let's be real.) This is a COMPLETELY new series. A whole new world if you would. So there will be new growth in the characters, and maybe even contridictions to the world I made in my past series. I've tried to do my best to completely separate this, though.

Keep it classy,

Caleb