Author's Note: Hii! This is my new story, of course Hunger Games, and I think it's going to be good. I know this kind of ruins everything Katniss did, but it sounded interesting. Yeahh I'm evil. :D Anyways, I got really frustrated with this story, so it might not be the best, but we've already established I'm not a fanastic author. XD The action scenes were difficult to write. They were barely action. I'm planning to make the next chapter longer, but it'll probably get me more angry and take a while. xD It might seem a bit rushed, but I'm waiting for reviews to see what should be fixed. Give feedback and I'll do the next chapter better. Anyways, here it is!
I stood in the Town Square, petrified and crying. All sorts of security surrounded the citizens gathered; automatic weapons, helicopters patrolling the sky, armed Capitol officials everywhere. People shouted and protested, resulting in many bloody bodies piling on the now stained tiles. This wasn't supposed to happen. My mother already eliminated this once.
"Stop at once or we will drop a bomb." A booming voice almost deafened my ears. It left a ringing, which hurt me more than the others around. I was taught to be a hunter, so my ears were sensitive and attuned to everything. "Stand still and listen to stay safe. There will be no hesitation in destroying any Districts we need to."
Voices died down and the only sounds were muffled sobs. I had to do something, but those Capitol people would give anything for an opportunity to kill the Mockingjay's daughter. They certainly had the control.
About 2 days before, it was me, my brother and parents. I'd just turned 16 and my brother would be 12 in a few days. We were all enjoying a lunch outside when trees shook, grass waved and it seemed as if there was a tornado. But this wasn't any tornado; it was an organazation who we were yet to find out the name of. They dropped down a net, one similar to the electric freezing ladders, and abducted my parents. No help from neighbors, because it was obvious they didn't assume anything serious was happening. I was left alone with young Gale to defend and protect no matter what. We thought someone would've came for us, only they didn't, and it left us in shock and confusion. We'd spent three hours after that banding together a rebellion group to fight back with, but it wasn't even an hour before a terrifying broadcast hit all televisions in the country; a mysterious and clearly prepared group had taken Panem. Bombs, helicopters and every sound of war could be heard in just a few minutes, but nothing terrorized me more than losing my mother and father. No news of any place actually being blown up was released, but it was likely there was destruction. Everyone was rounded into their houses when the organization landed soon after that and threatened to kill anyone who didn't. The next day, an even worse announcement was released; The Hunger Games were returning, and there was nothing anyone could do.
Of course people tried. They burned anything in sight, shot members of the group, rampaged across the country in anger and did anything possible to show this wasn't fair. But perhaps it wasn't the district citizens who were in the most rage. I was sure it was the Capitol: they'd lost all control over Panem in just two days. All the events were too fast to even begin to make sense of. The only thing I knew was that my parents were gone and everyone in the whole country would lose their lives to keep the Mockingjay safe. But thousands of shots later, we were back in our houses while the Capitol and sadistic group fought. No details were released, because by then no one was willing to leave and get killed when this didn't concern us just yet. Once those two stopped and we could resume the war for Katniss and Peeta, more people would sacrifice themselves for the cause.
Later that day, it was announced on TV the Capitol had been seized by whoever was causing this and the Hunger Games were returning. Lots of people only laughed at it. They didn't think anything like that was possible, as long as Katniss had stood up for her cause. Gale and I knew better than that though-Panem was made up of plenty of tragic history, why couldn't it happen again?
No one slept that night, at least not well. My brother stayed up and worried, but I tried to get some rest and not care too much until the break of dawn. It felt like nothing had happened; our neighborhood was quiet and calm as usual, until we were rounded into the town square at 2:00 for further details on the games. I couldn't believe the return was this 't they need to prepare?
And so there we all stood, horrified at what was happening and awaiting death.
"Now." Since everything was finally quiet, a woman with wavy blue hair and ivory skin took the stage and tapped her microphone. She was easily identifiable as a Capitol woman, but why? The Capitol was enraged and would never work with a more powerful team. "This must be a shock to you all, so allow me to explain. The uprising almost 30 years ago resulted in a success. But we will not stand for that. These games represented courage, sacrifice, freedom for every district. We cannot let that go! That's why the very kind Viridia Santina has been working secretly since the seventy-fifth annual games to bring us back to the better days! She has persuaded the head city of Panem to join this cause and support what is very important to us all. So please, give a big hand to Miss Santina!"
Only small claps from officials echoed throughout the square as a tall, lean and beautiful woman took the stage. She must've been at least 50 by now if you considered how long ago the rebellion occurred.
"Hello! I'm so glad to stand before you all here today. There's no need to thank me for what I've done. It's great, that's for sure, but I'll just cover why. See, Katniss Everdeen destroyed everything established. Panem was a great nation, but she took the glory days and replaced it with... this." Her face wrinkled in dissaproval. "We have worked in secret since then to bring back all of this, and now, it's our dream realized. Nothing beyond that shall be revealed. All you must know is that the Hunger Games are back and we are in control."
I waited for someone to speak out, scream, cry, but nobody did. They were in too much despair to do anything. The woman kept going on and on, rambling about history and significant events while my mind raced and panicked. This all went by fast with not a single citizen in success. Shouldn't it have been easier, or at least more rebelling?
Santina finally finished rambling and her next words caught my attention. "So now, I have an announcement to make even larger than the last. We all are aware that Katniss Everdeen destroyed everything, but this... this will give you hope. Please welcome the one and only Mockingjay!"
I held my breath in hope for the first time. Could it be possible my mother would be okay? No, it would be fine no matter what. She was stronger than them.
Cheers erupted from the crowd. Everyone was chanting to let her go, but they must've felt the same spark as me; if we had our symbol of safety, nothing could happen.
"Calm down!" The Capitol woman was back. "Miss Everdeen will be giving us a... special... presentation today."
My mother took the stage, looking sickly and underfed. She'd die of dehydration if they didn't do something soon. The loud cheers turned to boos with people ready to fight, but one look from an official changed their minds. There was something wrong... why would they keep her alive? What did she have that they wanted? Not information, there was none.
It all made sense when Santina retook the stage with a knife. The next scenes were a blur; one man punched a Capitol representative, ran to the stage but got shot. People shouted and attacked, but from nowhere, more men in white appeared and injured most. The rest trying to were shot. Nothing actually registered, only fast scenes flashing by too quickly. My only thought was to get Gale and think of some rescue mission, but many women were already by my side. Hysteria kicked in. "Get my brother!" I sobbed. "They'll kill her!" Younger girls rushed over with him as I dodged a bullet and it drove into the head of someone from the Capitol behind me. Gale quickly grabbed my hand and we ran through the chaos.
A fire blazed on one side of the stage, trapping us from getting to our mother. I stared in desperation as everyone ran backstage to take cover but left her out and vulnerable to it. She wasn't afraid of death and it didn't look like this was scaring her at all. The only thing keeping her from waking into that burning light was Gale and I. Everything was okay; the death toll mostly consisted of Capitol people, my mother was doing fine, and my brother was safe. Nothing could hut us-until Santina walked back on stage.
She only stood there for a minute until withdrawing the knife again. My heart stopped but it was only me who saw what happened next.
Santina crouched low, took aim, and threw the knife perfectly straight so it lodged in the Mockingjay's neck.
I only stared in horror, wondering what happened to my father. He surely saw this... right? One by one, others were noticing and walking away from current fights. They held up the three-finger salute and whistled Rue's song. Gale was pulling on my arm, sobbing and shouting. It just wasn't fair that we had to deal with all this, losing our sign of hope and my very own mother. Sadistic Viridia was putting on a smug smile and holding the microphone, ready to speak and tell us that was the price to pay. It dawned on me quicker than I'd of liked that the only reason people weren't fighting back was because there was no reason. Without Katniss, rebelling meant nothing. Speaking out for beliefs, justice and freedom, fighting for life was absolutely pointless. There was no hope left in Panem, and they'd accept what happened next.
"Now that you're all calm, I'd like to finish my announcement. The Hunger Games have returned, and the first reaping will be today! If you could keep your attention on me we can get this over with." It was the loudest silence I'd ever heard. People aching to scream, but knowing it was useless. They couldn't give up this easily! Not yet, not now, not so soon. I seemed to me that this was a curse or something along the lines-when Katniss died, the rage stopped and people fell silent to this tragedy. Hadn't she taught them to keep going, stick up for what's right, never quit? Why did they stop all of a sudden?
"I'm going to call out the names of our first tributes in almost thirty years. Let it be known that this is quite an occasion, so we've modified the rules a bit. I had the honor of picking two children deemed worthy of battling in the arena, so I'd like to call them in a pair."
Then it hit me harder than anything in my life. Harder than the sight of the knife in her neck. There, taped to the microphone, were two little slips of paper side by side. It didn't take a genius to foresee the next events.
"Will Prim and Gale Everdeen please step up!"
Since this was no normal reaping, and we were no normal people, there were many who rushed to our sides but quickly fended off by officials. A million questions ran through my mind: is this real? What do they actually plan to do? Will we really be battling against 22 other tributes like the older games? If we die, who will carry on the sacred Everdeen name? Will Panem return to its horrid state? Do the gamemakers have treacherous tricks in store for the very kids of the Mockingjay?
I never thought anything like this would happen. People might've not fought when the very symbol of hope died, but they sure knew it was time to give support to her children. Eight men guarding us led us to up the stage and next to Viridia Santina and walked back down to stop the constant break outs. I kept telling Gale there was some way out to keep him less worried, but honestly, if there actually was a way it would be a thousand times more difficult to find than the cause of the rebellion was. Someone out there was hell-bent on torturing us in the most painful way.
To cease the battles once again, Santina called to a person behind the curtains and did the second worst thing possible. A man came out with the Mockingjay pin on a small table with wheels and covered in red velvet. A woman behind him followed with a torch.
"Citizens of Panem!" Her voice went louder than what seemed possible as every pair of eyes watched intently. "You've only put this upon yourselves. Burn the pin!"
The flames hit the pin and a sizzling sound was made. They flickered in a hypnotic way, but underneath the poor Mockingjay turned a burning red and started to lose shape. Whatever hope still remained was killed just then.