I was born before the rebellion had started. My father and mother christened me as Jessamine Vanadium Greystone. That was back when religion was allowed. Father died when I was three. I don't remember him much. Mother went mad after that. She got sick, and the medicine was expensive, so she sold my sister to the Capitol. She died three days later, when I was ten. The medicine hadn't even arrived yet.
I worked. If anyone had an odd job for me to do, I would work, for whatever price they offered. Sometimes they were fair, and sometimes they weren't. I hunted, too. And sewed. And did a little healing on the side, but nothing major. In two year's time, I had sold Mother's medicine and, combined with what I had earned, raised enough money to buy my sister back. Rue Germanium Greystone. But, the Capitol said she had died already, and so long ago that there wasn't even a corpse to send back.
District 13 was horrible, but not as bad as District 3. In 3, instead of whipping, they would drown you or electrocute you, depending on how the Guards felt. I think the only reason I didn't go crazy was because of Garrett. Those Everdeens had a way of making even the bad times seem good. He was my friend, and the only one I allowed myself to have.
Back then, we were allowed to come and go as we pleased, as long as we brought back enough food for the Peacekeeper, who was the head guard, to feast on. So, we would go on trips every once in a while. One day, we were staying in our cabin, outside of District 12, when we saw her. When I looked at her, all I could think of was my little Rue. This girl's name was Grayson. Grey for placidity. Son for inheritor. To be a Grayson was to have misfortune, but to be able to say it couldn't get worse than it was. To be named Grayson meant that your parents didn't want you.
She fit right in with Garrett and I. we had become somewhat famous, ever since the Feasted Tournaments. We had each been crowned strongest of our gender, in all the Districts, even 11. We had signed up for a laugh, and then had won in 13, so we had made our way through the Districts, and had beaten the strongest from each of them, as well. The prize for winning was a feast from that District. The only rule was that no deaths were allowed, and we had won every single one of them. That made us the strongest ever. Everyone seemed to know us, everywhere we went, and us adopting Grayson, who had run away from 4, was taken as us adopting a child since we weren't old enough to have one yet.
In all honesty, I had just wanted to protect her. She was the same age Rue would have been, and that hit home for me. I wanted her to be safe, since Rue wasn't. But, Grayson could earn enough to earn her keep. She was an excellent healer, unlike anyone I had ever seen before. I envied her for that, because healers were limitlessly important, due to the nuclear explosions that happened so often. We couldn't save them all, but we could save those that were far enough away, if we got to them in time.
The Guards began to get antsy, one day. Garrett was eighteen. I would have been in another two months, so we applied for a marriage. The right to a priest and any forms of religion had been banned a few years ago. We were denied, because they were too busy with more important matters. The couple behind us were given a marriage license and a house. We disguised ourselves and tried again. We were given a license. We signed our names and they stamped the forms without checking to see who we were. We were married, and had a big toast. Even though there had been more Tournaments since our day, and even though we had grown and matured and were hardly the same kids, the entire country was celebrating for us, because the valiant Everdeen and the beautiful Greystone were now joined as one. We were happy.
When the baby came, the war had been going on for a year. Garrett and I were worried for his safety. After all, anything can happen, especially when your District is being targeted by all the most advanced weaponry. Because the President blames you, personally, for having started the rebellion, because you, personally, made jokes about it while a little drunk in the Districts as you and your husband won battle after battle. I had never meant to.
He took our baby away. Our little Victor. The televisions had all turned on. I turned away, as he cut my screaming baby apart, piece by piece. Garrett watched the whole thing, because he was frozen in horror. The screams were bad enough.
Another year of fighting went on. The other Districts were falling. Especially 12. But we kept fighting. Eventually, the others subdued, and we were left alone. Garrett's pregnant sister, who had been raped at some point and didn't know who the father was, left to go to 12, because it was quieter there, with led killing. There were many who were doing the same. Eventually, the President said that he would leave the Districts alone, if we all gave him some tributes, and did exactly as he said. The others all agreed. The number he requested depended more heavily on the amount of damaged they had caused than it did the population left.
District 13 did not give him any. So, instead, he threatened us. He told us that he would kill child after child on the television until the three of us, just my family and I, surrendered. We had to accept.
We were tested on. Mutated. Tainted. Whatever you would like to call it. I was the first successful one. I didn't die immediately, and I wasn't absolutely insane. I was myself, just different. After that, the rest of his tributes were fixed up, as well. He chose the animal for us. We had to simply comply.
I was a mockingjay. Garrett, who we then called Garrison, was a cougar. Psycho was a parrot. Child was a monkey. The Gregorovich couple were interesting. Elizavet was a bear, and Dimitri was a dog. They were from District 9, where such animals did not exist. There were more of us, many more, but most are dead now.
The President took a liking to Grayson, so he stopped her age like how he had with all of us, but didn't make her an animal. He gave her a nice room with nice food. I don't know what else he did. I try not to think of it.
He had cloned my son, before he had killed him. He allowed this one to live. He named the boy Lesson, but I called him James. I told him he would have been christened James Lesson Everdeen, if I had any say in it. He seemed to be happy when I did.
Eventually, we broke out. I had to leave my James behind. He promised he wouldn't hate me for it, but I still hate myself. I had to leave Grayson, too. She was still with the President, last I knew. But, the rest of us were out and safe, all of our trackers ripped out and left behind. That was when we first discovered the Hunger Games. None of us had aged a day, the entire time we had been locked up. But, the Hunger Games were in their ninth year running. It started the same day that the Feasted Tournaments had always begun. I figured the President had named them out of sheer spite. Just to prove he could.
Garrison and I took the others to a place where they would be safe, and left Liz and Dimitri in charge, while we tried to see what we could do. Eventually, we had to accept that the rebellion had been a failure. The only good thing was that District 13 was free, but even then, it was kept a secret from the others. They all thought it had been destroyed. So, the Tainted and I worked to keep ourselves alive, and to help 13 in any ways we could. Especially hunting.
They had given me a name, back in the cells. Because the President had called me Rose, they did, too. But, now that I was free, and now that they were free, they gave me a name I like much more. It's because I can fight and kill. I'm good at it, too.
They call me Savage.