CHAPTER ONE

Clove woke up with a smile on her face. It was the morning of the Reaping and she was more than excited. She was going to volunteer as a tribute no matter which female was chosen. Even though she promised her best friend, Persephone that if she was picked, she'd back off, Clove knew that she wouldn't. Persephone would understand. She knows how important this is to me.

Almost non-stop, Clove had been talking about winning the Hunger Games since she turned 12.

"Why don't you volunteer then, show us instead of just bragging about something that has never happened yet." Persephone had told Clove one day when they were 13. It was during the 72nd Reaping. Persephone could not understand why Clove was so positive about the Hunger Games. They really freaked Persephone out back then and Clove was just going on, and on, and on about the tactics she would use to take down the tributes, all the people she would kill. It made Persephone sick to think about.

"Fine, I will." Clove responded, sticking her chin out. After thinking about it a little more, she added, "when I'm 15."

"Ugh, whatever." Persephone said, exasperated. She was just glad for the conversation to be over.

The next year, when the girls were 14, Persephone started to feel almost the same about the Hunger Games that Clove did. Being Careers, they had trained for the possibility of being in the games since Clove turned 11, Persephone was 12 when she joined. And so, the week after the 73rd Reaping, Persephone and Clove were hanging out in the town square.

"I can't believe Menelaus got chosen to be the male tribute!" Clove was rambling about her boyfriend. He was 16 at the time. Menelaus was also apart of the District 2's Careers group. He was planning on volunteering anyway, but with the luck of the draw, his name was picked from the boys' glass ball of names. Clove had been dating Menelaus for about a month when he was chosen to represent District 2. She was so proud of him, not showing any worried emotions on her face or in her conversations. But, her thoughts were clouded with fear. She truly believed she was falling for Menelaus and her worst fear was him dying in the arena. She only dared to speak these thoughts aloud at night when her family was sleeping and she was alone in her room, staring at the moon.

"Oh, moon, you see everything that happens at night. Please, keep my Menelaus safe so he can return to me." She spoke this every night, with tears in her eyes, tossing and turning until she fell asleep to her nightmares. She dreamt of her and Menelaus being in the arena. They were the only two left and something had to be done. Every time this happened in her dreams, Clove murdered Menelaus in cold blood, without hesitation. She could see the pleading in his eyes, as the life drained out of them. She woke up every morning, screaming and crying and hating herself for thinking so selfishly and terribly. Another recurring nightmare of Clove's was that she would be alone in a freezing room. The walls were gray, the floor was made of ice and snow would be falling from the ceiling. She was completely naked and could not do anything to get warm. Then a window appeared on one of the walls and Menelaus' face would peek at her from the outside of it. Clove would scream for help but all Menelaus would do is laugh like Clove dying of hypothermia was the funniest thing ever. Clove would always wake up twisted up in her blankets, like she was trying desperately to get warm. When she had both nightmares, she'd wake up completely drenched in sweat and her heart would be racing.

Clove had had dreams every night of winning the 74th Hunger Games ever since the victor of the 73rd one was her boyfriend, Menelaus. How great it would be to win the Hunger Games, just like him. We'd be the perfect couple, the envy of every one of District 2. The smile on her face grew wider and she jumped out of bed. Clove glanced at her clock and saw that it was 7:14, about three hours earlier than she usually woke up. However, she was way too excited to go back to sleep. All she could see in her future was blood spilt by her hands, tributes dropping one-by-one, until she was the only one left.


Thanks for reading my first ever fanfic! Constructive criticism is welcome. :) Please do whatever it is most authors on here ask you to do!