Sly. Wily. Fast. Cunning. Heartless. I laugh silently as I pass behind the house. Sly? Sure. Sometimes. Wily? Maybe. Fast? I'm quicker than a fox. Cunning? My best trait. Heartless? No. Well, maybe. I'm only doing what I can for my family. So call me heartless. My name is Nightlock Berry.
I watch the man and his wife argue from behind a tree. They live in a nice house with a big pine tree in their backyard. I scoff at them. They argue about how they have no money, yet they live in the merchant section of District Twelve. Greedy, annoying people. I hate people like them. Always want more and never take into account of how much they have compared to those who live in the Seam.
I slip through the back door when I see that they're heading up the stairs to their bedroom. I am immediately hit with the smell of fresh bread and meat. My mouth waters, and my stomach rumbles, but I ignore it as I grab the extra loaves and leftover slices of turkey from the table. I snicker silently. People in the merchant section are so stupid. Why would they leave their food out on the table, out in the open? Don't they know how some people in the Seam are willing to steal for food? Don't they know that there are people out there like me?
It doesn't matter anyway. It never really does. In the end, these merchant people will never learn that there are more people in the district than themselves. They'll never know who Nightlock Berry is. They'll never know that their food was stolen by a Seam girl. That's how I like it.
I quietly shut the back door and sprint across numerous backyards until I reach the Seam. I let out a sigh of relief. No Peacekeepers are looking for me. They did, once, but I managed to lure them away from the Seam.
Even though I'm safe here, I make sure not to make much noise. People don't usually walk outside this late. I make sure that my feet are only heard by me and I make sure that I'm not breathing loudly. I am careful not to step on sticks or crunch leaves beneath my feet. People say that I'm like a fox. The comparison never gets old. It only encourages me to go out every night. Because they're right. But I'm not just 'like a fox.' In my mind, I am a fox. A fox with black hair, brown eyes and olive skin. Like a fox, I'm sort of small. I don't mind, though. It only makes sneaking around easier.
I enter my house through the open window on the side. Even though it scares Cloud, I still need to practice if there are ever any doors locked and windows open in the merchant section.
"Nightlock!" Cloud shrieks, looking at me in terror before she relaxes. "Stop doing that!"
I roll my eyes. "It's just me, Cloud. You're fine."
"Still," says Cloud, still visibly shaken. "I almost had a heart attack!"
"You'll get used to it," I say, running my fingers through her brown hair. She doesn't quite have the Seam characteristics. Our father does, but Cloud looks the same as my mother. I get Cloud's and Mother's eyes.
"Did you get anything?" Cloud asks. I know she doesn't approve of me stealing, but everyone succumbs to hunger eventually. Everyone.
"Yeah," I say, handing her the bread and the turkey. "Fresh. Kind of. I can't believe that people would just leave food on the table like they expect it to stay there."
Cloud gives me a disappointed look. I'm used to it, but it still stings a bit.
"Thank you," she says, and she takes it to Mother and Father, who sit in front of the TV. I grimace when I see what they're watching. The TV is showing some footage of last year's Hunger Games. It wasn't too 'entertaining' for the audience, though, because the arena was designed as a desert and most of the tributes died from heat, starvation and dehydration.
My mother and father don't approve of me stealing either, but it's not like they're not grateful that I practically risk my life every night. Though I have to admit that I don't steal just because we're hungry. There's a thrill that I get every time I lurk in the trees and when I sneak into somebody's house. It's a thrill that I cannot bear to live without. And someday, it might get me in trouble.
Mother turns off the TV suddenly, snapping me out of my thoughts and back into reality.
"I can't believe it's time again," Mother says, and Cloud sniffles before sitting down on the floor next to the couch. I stand against the wall. Mother is right. The reaping will take place in just two days. I've taken tesserae since I turned twelve, and I hope that luck is still on my side. Cloud still has one more year to go before she is of age to be in the Hunger Games.
"Nightlock," Father says, patting the armrest of the couch. I sit on the armrest within a second. "There you are. Haven't seen you all day."
I nod. He knows where I've been.
"Where's Fern? I haven't seen her in a little while."
Father is talking about my friend, Fern Everdeen. She is a Seam girl, like me. We're not exactly friends, but we hang around each other. She's kind, smart and rational. She's called me heartless before. She's still kind in my mind, though, because heartless is the nicest thing to describe me. I know that the rest of the Seam call me ruthless and cold. But I am a fox. And I don't care what they say.
"She's been at home," I say. I don't really know where she's been. I mean, where would she go, anyway? There's only District Twelve. The Seam. The Hob. The merchant section. Or the woods. I smirk slightly. Fern loves going in the woods to hunt. I don't consider hunting because it means no loss from the merchant section. Fern's told me numerous times that I have to let go of the hate of the wealthier people of District Twelve, but I can't. I hate them with all my heart. There's no satisfaction in hunting. There's satisfaction in stealing.
"How about Kale?" Father asks. I think for a moment. Kale Everdeen is Fern's father. Everyone knows who he is, though they don't acknowledge it. Kale Everdeen's mother was Katherine Aberdeen, or Everdeen, who was the last person to be killed during the Dark Days. Her last name and Kale's father's last name combined to make the name Everdeen.
"I don't know. Don't you see him at the mines?" I ask, raising my eyebrow. My father and Kale Everdeen are good friends. I wonder why he's asking about him.
"He wasn't there today," says Father, and my eyebrows knit together. It's not good to miss a day, especially if you're a coal miner. "I hope he's all right."
"He's probably just sick," I say, leaping off the armrest and landing silently on my feet. "I'm going to bed."
"Good night," Mother says, and Father echoes her. Cloud takes my place on the armrest. She'll be joining me soon. We share the same room.
I lie in bed for a few minutes, considering my plans for tomorrow. I know that the people I stole from today will know that someone has been in their house by tomorrow morning. While it would be exhilarating to go back to that general area, I decide to go to the mayor's house. I know that it's risky. Like, walking up to the newly 'elected' President Coriolanus Snow and saying that I want a rebellion type of risky. But I'll take my chances. After all, I still had one hope. Could they catch me in the act?
My smirk only grows wider as the moonlight seeps in from the window. It stays the entire night.
"Where are you going this time?" Fern asks as we walk through the woods. Her brother, Oak Everdeen, walks beside me.
"What do you mean? Where I'm going tonight?" I ask. She nods. "The mayor's house."
Fern's mouth drops open, and Oak looks at me concernedly. I roll my eyes.
"What?" I ask when both of them stop to stare at me.
"You're seriously going to sneak into the mayor's house?" Fern asks, incredulous. "Nightlock, do you have a death wish or something? If you get caught, you're going to be in so much trouble. They might double the amount of slips you have in the reaping ball, which is already starting to pile up because of the tesserae you take. It's suicide."
I shake my head. "It's not suicide. It's fun."
Fern smiles slightly, though she's not amused.
"Nightlock, why don't you try hunting with us instead of feeling obligated to steal?" asks Oak, looking at me with his beautiful gray eyes. I stare at him for a moment before I shake my head and smirk at him.
"Why don't you come with me tonight?" I ask, wishing for once that he'd do something risky and exciting instead of being boring like Fern. Don't get me wrong, I like Fern and I consider her my only friend (besides Oak, though I don't really say he's my friend), but sometimes she's just too much of a stickler to what's right. Sometimes, I wish she is more like me.
"Nightlock…" He looks at me and then at Fern helplessly. "I can't. It's too much of a risk."
"Fine, be that way," I say, and even though I'm hurt, I cover it up with a smirk. "Whatever. It's better if I'm alone anyway. Means I won't have to worry about anyone but myself."
Fern and Oak don't answer me. I don't care. We keep walking through the woods. While Fern and Oak don't seem concerned about getting caught in the woods, I like to think of it as a time game. The more time you spend in the woods, the more likely the Peacekeepers will find out. Besides, what fun is it to be relaxed and think you're safe? It's fun knowing that you're in danger. At least to me it is. So while they walk through serenely, I make sure that my footsteps aren't heard, and that whenever I hear something, I quickly hide behind a tree. Fern laughs when she sees me hide, and Oak smiles at me, but I stay completely focused and serious. This is a game I like to win.
"Are any of you hungry yet?" Fern asks, and I decide that I can pause the game for a moment. Oak and I nod our heads. Now that I think about it, I can't believe that I didn't hear my stomach rumble. I decide that I've won.
"Looks like Nightlock definitely is," Oak says, smiling at me. I give him a small smile back.
Fern grins. "I'm surprised you didn't hear yourself. I thought it was an earthquake without the shaking of the ground." I glare at her, but she's not fazed. "All right, then. How about we look for some berries or game? Oak and I'll hunt a bit, and you look for some berries, Nightlock."
Sounds easy to me. I give her a quick nod before I start walking a few feet away, looking at the plants for any signs of berries. I'm starting to get frustrated when I catch sight of a multitude of dark blue berries that look almost like black blueberries. I grin and start to pick them by clumps and groups. I am about to eat one when Fern suddenly screams from behind me and kicks my hand, knocking the berries onto the ground.
"Nightlock! They're poisonous!" she shouts, looking at me with a panicked look in her eyes. "Did you eat any? Did you?" I quickly shake my head, no. "Oh, thank you. Thank you."
"How do you know they're poisonous?" I ask, looking at her suspiciously. What if she didn't want me to eat the berries because she wanted them for herself?
Fern sighs. "I saw a rabbit eat them once when I was hunting. It was dead before the berries even reached its stomach. It had just barely swallowed them and it had already died." My eyes widen slightly as I fully come to realize just how close to death I had been. Fern looks at me for a moment and then continues. "They're extremely poisonous, and what's even worse about them is that they grow extremely fast, so if someone took the seed and planted it, the seed would have already grown and produced berries in just one to two days."
"Wow," I say, and Fern nods before smiling weakly at me.
"C'mon. Oak caught a squirrel. He's starting a fire right now," says Fern, and she starts to walk away. I start to walk with her when I stop and turn back to look at the berries. They might come in handy someday. I grab a handful of the berries and stuff them in my pocket before I run to catch up to Fern.
If you're wondering about the bit with Kale Everdeen and Katherine Aberdeen, read my story Kindling Flames: The History of the Everdeens. It'll clear everything up. Well, kind of, because I'm only writing the second chapter right now, but if you read it as I update, you'll understand. And if you're thinking that Nightlock is a bit of a bi- female dog, I mean, that's exactly how she's supposed to be. Please review!