A/N: This is originally supposed to be a short story but I will consider continuing if you would be willing to read more. Enjoy!
"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage."
― Lao Tzu
"Focus Alice!" Tyler yells. I take a deep breath, brace myself, and bravely throw the knife at the target but painfully miss it again.
Here I am, standing in one of the combat rooms at the Elite Career Academy in District 1, practicing throwing knives at a target. The square room has little to no color, just black sleek equiptment and weapons thoughtfully placed throughout it. I look over at Tyler as he is sighing and shaking his head. "Alice, you need to concentrate." He says, emphasizing the last word.
"I'm trying," I reply exasperated, rolling my eyes at him. "I have been training for like three years and maybe I'm just a little tired!" I end with a hint of exasperation and sarcasm. I bend over and rest my hands on my knees to catch my breath. I'm not actually tired, I just want Tyler to believe that I am so I can go home.
"If you're tired now, you are going to die in the arena faster than a twelve year old girl from District 12!" He screams, his hazel eyes glaring into my brown ones. "Do you want that?"
Don't worry, he's not actually mad. Tyler is my best friend and we are both what you call Careers. He was the one to convince me to become a Career even though I didn't want to be one. I still don't want to be a Career, but I don't have much of a choice. My parents died when I was younger, leaving me to either attend this school or be put in a foster convinced me to choose the first option. He trains me everyday to prepare me for if I ever get called into the arena, which having grown up with bad luck will most likey happen.
Tyler is 15 years old, just like me. We have been best friends since we were 8 and Careers since we were 10. We both live in apartments next-door to each other on the campus of The Elite Career Acedemy in our district. The school is known all over and has even been recongized by the capital many times. Anybody can get in to this school but only a few actually survive here. Tyler is a trained assassin who is excellant at everything, especially using his knives. He's attempting to train me to be able to land a knife on a target. Everyone at this school is either deathly afraid of him or completely in love with him, or both, but he never talks to anyone but me and a select few. In school he is incredibly mean, but that's just a cover...sort of.
Other than not being able to hit a target at a range, I am one of the best female careers at this school. I am most known for my incredible stamina, stealth, strength, and fast reflexes. I only have two good friends, Tyler and my boyfriend, Derek. To other people I am the girl not to mess with, I am fierce and intimidating. Known to be dangerously reserved around people, except for Tyler and Derek.
"You know I don't want to go into the arena!" I yell back, putting down the knife and laying down dramatically.
"100 push-ups!" Tyler yells, giving me a supposed 'punishment' for making him mad. I don't move and continue to lay down so he pushes me over with his foot and screams, "Now!"
I glare up at him. "Fine." I spit out and get into a better position on the floor, knocking out my 100 push-ups, no problem. "Tyler, I'm basically a master at hand to hand combat. Do I really need to know how to throw a knife?" I ask, my sassy side coming out.
"Okay Alice, fine. How are you going to kill someone if they are 25 feet away? Huh?" Tyler asks me raising one eyebrow and crossing his arms over his chest.
"Well, I can just run up to them before they know what hits them!" I say arguing back, I just want to go home.
"And what if they have weapons? They'll get you, no problem." Tyler says, rolling his eyes.
"Um, throwing knives isn't going to help me kill anybody up close." I point out, getting to my feet. I dust off my black jeans with my hands.
"Fine." He says, throwing his hands up. "Let's train with hand to hand combat, me with my knives, you with your fists." He says, grabbing his favorite knives from his knife belt.
"But, I'm tir-!" I start to complain before I am cut off.
"You will do this now!" He yells and flips the knives in his hands. I sigh and get into position. "Ready? Set? Fight!" Tyler says, showing no emotion on his face, he is in training mode.
He raises his left arm and I grab his wrist tightly to prevent him from stabbing me. I deliver a sharp blow with my other hand to his knee, causing him to collapse to the ground. I prepare to perform a kick to his head that would knock him out but he quickly rolls out of the way and takes a couple swipes at my legs as he stands back up. He aims the tip of the knife at my head and punches forward but luckily I bend back just in time so that the knife goes right over me. I reach up, grab his forearm, and then throw him over me doing a backbend in the process. Tyler grabs another knife from his belt and when he turns back around I do roundhouse kick, made to hit his head. Tyler ducks under my leg and makes a quick swipe at my arm, slicing my arm open from my shoulder down to my wrist, in a long, painful, but luckily shallow cut.
I fall to the ground, dramatically clutching my arm to my stomach to apply pressure to the gash, soaking my black tank top with my blood.
"I'm done with this!" I say annoyed, standing up and going into the bathroom fighting back the large urge to scream in both pain and frustration.
"Geeze, calm down." Tyler says, acting like its no big deal.
"Shut up!' I snap back, slamming the door loudly. I run my arm under cold water in the sink, hissing as the cut stings.
After I clean off my arm, I am left with a long, shallow, red line down my arm, still very much raw. I groan and wrap up my entire arm in a bandage to keep it from getting infected. I look down at the leather watch on my wrist and realize that I only have an hour until Derek will be at my apartment to pick me up for our date.
I walk back into the combat room to find Tyler throwing knives at a target, most likely mocking me. He turns around when I walk by and asks, "Where do you think you're going?"
"Home." I reply simply, shrugging my shoulders and continuing to walk towards the door.
"No, you're still training." Tyler replies, folding his arms over his chest.
I turn around to reply to him. "You just cut my arm open and I'm going out with Derek tonight." I say raising my eyebrows, daring him to argue with me. Rarely does my sassy side come out.
"Fine." Tyler sighs, shaking his head."Be home by 10!" He calls after me as I walk out the door.
"Whatever." I answer, smiling and laughing lightly.
I walk outside and I'm greeted with a loud, bustling District 1. I walk four remotely painful blocks and come to one of the many apartment complexes that over look the ECA campus. On the wall is one of the new propaganda posters for President Ray, the new dictator of the Districts. Walking up the flight of stairs, I sart to think about my date tonight. I can't help it, I'm a girl. Just because I'm tough and mean doesn't mean I don't love going on dates. I unlock my door, and go straight to the bathroom to shower and get ready to leave.
I quickly pull on a strapless black dress that goes to my knees and pull on my signature leather jacket over always dress in black, no matter the ocassion. After I fix my hair into a slick ponytail, I lace up my combat boots and check the bandage on my arm.
I hear a loud bold knock on my front door. I hurry out of the bathroom and quickly swing open the door. I look up and into the sparkling blue eyes that melt my heart every single day. Derek has short natural bleach blond hair and is strongly built, like every girl dreams her man would be.
"Hey beautiful." He smiles, kissing me softly on the lips. I giggle, like I always do when I'm around him. When he pulls back he sees the bandage down my arm and looks at me with one eyebrow raised. "What did you do?"
"Tyler cut my arm in training today. Don't worry, it's not too bad." I say shrugging and trying to kiss him again.
He pulls away from my attempted kiss and wraps his arms around my waist instead. "You gotta focus babe, you know I hate it when you get hurt." He pouts.
"I know, I'm sorry" I say half annoyed and half dreamily.
"You don't want me to have to train you do you?" Derek jokes.
My eyes widen and I say, "No! That's okay!" Sounding a bit frightened.
Of all the careers, Derek is by far the strongest. He knows that I fear his strength in training, but he would never actually hurt me.
He laughs and kisses my cheek and leads me out of my apartment, holding my hand.
(Tyler's P.O.V.)
I am awakened by the looud beeping of my alarm the next morning. Groaning, I put my pillow over my head to block out the annoying noise. My alarm continues to drone on and on, I have finally had enought of it. I instantly shoot up, grab a knife off of my bedside table, and throw it up at the target on the ceiling. Once again, I hit it right in the bulls eye like I do every morning. I press the small button on my alarm clock to stop the irritating beeping noise that it continued to make, then sit up and yawn.
As I climb out of my queen sized bed, I grab two daggers which I hide inside the waistband of my jeans. I also grab my famous belt of throwing knives and position it across my torso to where I can easily grab one to throw at anyone who gets on my nerves.
I make my way across my bedroom and into my kitchen where I find Alice sitting at the table eating cereal.
"Okay, why are you in my apartment?" I ask, bewildered. I notice she is wearing something similar to what she wears everyday; black tank top, leather jacket, black jeans, and combat boots. Honestly, there's not much else you can wear when you attend ECA.
"You gave me a key." She replies nonchalantley and continues to eat my cereal.
"Yeah, for emergencies only!" I say with a slight smile, shaking my head.
"I was out of cereal! Doesn't that qualify as an emergency?" She says with a serious expression.
I laugh out loud, she does stuff like this all the time. I don't know how I could survive this school without her. Alice does stuff like this all the time, she is the only person who can make me laugh these days.
"Anyway, do you really need that many knives?" She asks, munching on a mouthful of cereal. I usually don't have this many knives on me.
"Do you really need to ask that question?" I shoot back, offended that she would even ask about my precious knives.
"Okay, whatever Tyler. I guess you will have a lot of fun in detention when you accidentally knife someone!" She says rolling her eyes and laughing.
"But isn't that what we're aiming to do?" I ask sitting across the table from her. Then I remember, she could care less about taking out careers so we would have a better chance to get into the games.
Since we were both 10 years old, we have been trained that our sole purpose in life is to fight for a place during the Reaping fight and then go on to win the Hunger Games. There is nothing else that I desire more; Alice is a different story. She just wants to graduate ECA, never have to fight again, and then start a family with Derek.
The boy who competed in the Hunger Games from District 1 last year died, so now I have a better chance of fighting to win the spot as the District 1 Male Tribute. The rest of those idiot hair stylists and winemakers don't stand a chance. Luxury District? Please, once I win the Games District 1 will go down in history as the most ruthless district full of the strongest tributes, like me.
As I make my way through the large oak double doors stamped with the District One seal, I am lead to my favorite place, The Elite Career Academy. These long hallways have doors that lead to only the most exciting things a human could experience, training, fighting, and winning. I can't help but smirk as the students I pass shrink back with fear or scurry in the opposite direction. Who's blaming them? I rule this school.
My arrogance soesn't even slip when I spot my biggest competition, Cole. With a specialty in swords and maces, this 17 year old is the only thing keeping me from my rightful place as tribute. I only have a month until the reaping, looks like I know who I want my partner in AR Dueling to be.
Let me explain something, The Elite Career Academy, or ECA, isn't like a normal school. For one, we don't learn math, science, history, or other normal things. Instead we learn he math of how to correctly throw a spear or the history of the previous games. Each student takes two major courses and 4 other ones that you choose based on what you are best at. The two major courses are Combat and Survival.
In our Combat class, we learn the basics of how to fight and defend ourselves. We learn vital places that will kill our opponent if properly ruptured, how to use different weapons, and my favorite, AR Dueling. AR Dueling stands for Augmented Reality Dueling. Basically, teachers put you in a mini arena with different variables that they can manipulate, like changing the scenery, adding smell, and putting our lives in danger. The intructors have their own miniature game-making room that controls the elements of the arena. Once I win the hunger games I want to work in there, making kids fight each other daily. My favorite part is that the combat is real and you can get hurt. That is why I want Cole to be my partner today. I want to injure Cole enough so he will be unable to compete in the fight for tribute.
The bell rings, signaling us to go to first period. I have Survival first, it is by far my least favorite class. I guess we learn a lot of important stuff, like what plants aren't poisness, how to build shelters and make weapons, but it is all so boring. Our teacher is an idiot; we have no hands-on activities whatsoever, all we ever do is just write down notes in our we will have an "exam" where she will just grade us on our fire making skills, or making a meal out of limited supplies. Anyway she is totally stupid, I could teach fifty times better than her. That givs me an idea...
RING! Finally I get to escape from that torture.
Second period is one of my choice classes, Fun with Knives. Yes, I know that sounds like a stupid name, but it is the most valuable class I can take. As an assassin, the knife is the most commonly used weapon. A knife is small enough to hide in your clothes, light enough to run with, and sharp enough to slit a person's throat in the dark without drawing attention to yourself. I walk in the door to the familiar class, a large open aired room about the size of a small house, covered with Capitol Logos and the painted red walls.
"Ok class, listen up!" Says my teacher, Mr. Blackwell, who starts dragging out target dummies. I feel my heart race with excitement. "Today we're going to practice throwing our knives. For the past two months we have covered various types of knives used in combat, but today we're moving on to a new unit. Since it's the first time we're doing this, I want someone to demonstrate." He says as his eye scan the room and land on me, as usual. "Tyler, you're up." He smiles. I've always been his favorite student, I can't help it. I'm just too talented.
This is another chance to show my superiority to the rest of the class. As if they could ever compete with my ranks. I stand up from my desk and stand 20 feet away fom the dummy. I grab a knife out of my belt, flip it up in the air, aim, and then throw it at the dummy across the room. A muffled "fwoomp" emerges as the knife passes clean through the dummy's heart, and out the other end of the dummy, laning in the wall.
"Nice throw, Tyler!" Says Mr. Blackwell, clearly impressed. It's not like I would ever miss. "Even in my prime, I wouldn't have been able to throw a knife that well!"
I can't help but smirk, I'm so good. I look over and see a group of girls, giggling. The Popsicles are staring me, again. The Popsicles are what Alice and I call the super-popular girls clique that is totally in love with me. Honestly, some of them are pretty hot, but I can't let a romance get in the way of the Games.I do have priorities.
I go through the motions of some of the easy exercises that Mr. Blackwell puts us through, then head to my next classes when the bell rings.
Most of my day is a blur. I head to the rest of my choice classes: third period (Stealth and Disguise), which is the only class I have with Alice, eat a quick lunch, go to fourth period (Camouflage: The art of Blending In), then go to fifth period (Assassins- the Silent Killers). Finally, the moment I've been waiting for comes, Sixth Period Combat. Guess what we are doing today? Augmented Reality Dueling.
(Alice's P.O.V.)
I hate my first period class (Aiming for the Target), it's like I can feel Tyler mocking me the whole time. He's not even in the room! He was the one who forced me to take the class. Learning the math of aiming and throwing a weapon isn't as interesting as it may sound.
Second period is fun, I have Hand to Hand Combat. Basically I get to show off and practice fighting with my fists. Rarely is anybody brave enough to fight me though, so I spend the period hitting a punching bag while my thoughts wander.
Third period I have Stealth and Disguise with Tyler, and I start to get nervous. Next I have lunch and then I have to go to Combat, my least favoite class. Today, just like Tyler, we have to do AR Dueling. I usually get hurt during these days but I always win my fight. Last time, I won easily but not without breaking my dommiant arm. If I get hurt I'll be unable to fight to get into The Hunger Games, I can't afford to have that happen to me...or can I?
As I am walking towards my fourth period combat class I develop an idea of how I am going to get hurt this time. As much as I don't want to go into the arena, I don't want to break my good arm again. Maybe an ankle? No thats too easy to fix, especially with all the medicine the capitol provides us with. I could try and break my leg but that would cause me excruciating pain. Maybe I could someow hurt myself with a knife? No, cuts are easily healed unless I lodge the knife deep in me and that als sounds painful. Hopefully I'll come up with something soon because class is about to start.
I walk into the holding room for my AR Dueling lesson today. As soon as my teacher spots me she calls me over. Oh, I hope I'm not in trouble. She pulls me into a secluded corner of the room and starts to whisper in my ear. "You will not have to go into the Dueling Arena this period."
I sigh in relief. "Really?" i ask, not believing what I'm hearing.
She nods and continues, "But you will stay with me the rest of the day and go in during 6th period."
A puzzled look replaces the smile on my face. "Tyler's class?" I ask, Tyler and I's friendship is no secret from the whole school.
"Yes Tyler's class." She confirms. "Actually we are going to use you to test Tyler."
"Huh? Isn't the Dueling Arena enough to test him?" I ask, making sure nobody is overhearing our conversation.
"As you well know Tyler is one of the top Careers at this school. He has mastered the ability to hurt, hunt, and kill in the arena and now we need to test him on a mental and emotional level." She says, observing my expression.
"W-with me?" I ask, growing uneasy.
"Yes, with you." She says. Even with her strict and tough composure, I see a bit of sympathy in her eyes. "I know you don't want to be the tribute this year and when you do this I won't make you fight for the spot." She says, giving me no choice in the matter. But, it will keep me from being tribute so it can't be all bad.
I nod. "What do you need me to do?"
(Tylers P.O.V.)
I stride confidenty into the AR Dueling waiting room, where the small class of 20 people are waiting for the class to begin. As soon as I start to lean against the back wall the bell rings and I smirk, this is going to be a great class.
"Alright class! You all know what we are doing today, but instead of letting you choose your partners you will all be going into the arena at once!" My teacher says, showing her seniority.
Hmm, this slightly messes up my plan. Now I'll have to defend myself from 18 other people while going after Cole. I'm not worried though, I am obviously the best in this class and my plan is fool proof.
"If there are no questions, everyone please step into a tube." She says, gesturing to the tubes that take you into the Dueling Arena, similar to the ones that take you into the arena. I step into the clear plastic tube thats only big enough to hold my body and I feel adrenaline kick in. This is my favorite thing part of my week, no doubt.
(Alice's P.O.V.)
Two hours later, sixth period is about to enter the Dueling Arena and I'm already inside of it, with a knife lodged deeply in my shoulder blade. I didn't think it was going to hurt this bad. Basically, our teacher wanted to test how Tyler would react and fight if somebody he cared about was in danger. So that lead her to stabbing me for real and sending me into the room, as soon as Tyler hears my cries he will know it's me. He knows my cries better than anyone, he is the only one who has heard them.
As much as I don't want the other students to see me crying, I can't help it. I think the knife went into my shoulder blade and I'm screaming in excruitiating pain. I hear the sounds of the tubes being lifted into the arena. "3,2,1, Go!" The familiar voice calls, signaling the studens to leave their platforms. I scream loudly an start to sob as I fall onto my chest so that the knife in me is visible and sticking up.
Tyler immidiately spots me and starts sprinting to my side while everyone just stares at us. "Alice? What happened, why are you here?" He yells, looking straight into my eyes.
I shake my head, not having enough words to tell him the made up story. "Knife, shoulder, pain." I sob, wishing I could be doing anything but this right now.
"Hold still." Tyler soothes, pulling down the back of my shirt to examine the wound. Cole seizes the opportunity and starts charging towards Tyler, but at he last second Tyler stands up and starts fighting Cole while I continue to sob.
I can't tell what's happening between Tyler and Cole, but I know that I am close to passing out because colors are starting to blend and my vision is fuzzy, like looking through a clouded window. "Tyler!" I plead, needing help and relief from this pain.
I hear Tyler yell and then a body drop to the ground. I'm not sure if it's Cole or Tyler but suddenly I feel a hand on my lower back and somebody is examining the wound. "Alice? It's me." I hear, from the voice that can only be Tyler's.
I sigh in relief, I was worried that it was Cole. "Losing blood." I pant, my vision getting worse by the second.
I hear Tyler sigh, knowing what he has to do. "I'm going to pull it out Alice." He says sadly. "Just breathe, breathe." He instructs and he grips the handle of the knife and yanks it out.
I feel my bone crack and I scream so loudy, anyone within a miles distance must have heard last thing I remeber is seeing blood red and then I blacked out.
(Tyler's P.O.V.)
Alice is in the hospital, she will be there for a while but she is okay. On another note, lets just say, I've taken care of Cole.
Now who's next?
A/N: This is supposed to be all of the story but should I continue? Would you read it if I did?