Warning: The hunger games start so as you can imagine things start getting a bit messy
Chapter 2- 61st Annual Hunger Games- Death in the Family
I was starting to worry now, deep set terror nestled in my gut. I was still in shock, as was the rest of my family. It had taken all my will power and strength to sit in front of the battered, old television and watch my sister face her death. My mother couldn't bare it; she just sat in the corner in the next room and stared into the distance, her eyes un-seeing of what was going on around her. Alec and I practically had to force feed her soup, but even then she would likely throw it straight back up again. Great that's all we needed at the moment was a mother starving herself to death especially when she's 8 months pregnant, yes that's another brother or sister to feed on top of the four of us, sorry three of us. My father wasn't much better than my mother; he would drift from room to room without speaking or even looking at any of us. He usually is very quiet anyway but now it's like the man who used to exist, is no longer there.
I try and stay strong but I barely manage to watch as the hunger games unfold before our eyes. I watch as the chariots parade the tributes through the cheering crowds, as if they were royals and not about to die. I hate them, every single last one of them; I would give anything to watch them all die, burn even. My sister had taken the sweet and innocent angle for the interviews, which I know was not an act. It broke my heart to see her flutter on stage in a long white dress, which seemed to sparkle in the light, and laugh and joke along with Caesar Flickerman.
Yesterday the games had started, as the plates rose to reveal each of the 24 tributes, my stomach twisted painfully till the point where I thought I was going to throw up the little food I had eaten that day. The camera flicked briefly between each tribute showing the fear or the arrogance on each of their faces. The only other tributes I paid any interest to was the careers from district 1,2 and 4. The boy that stuck in my head the most was the tribute from district 4, he was incredibly handsome and you could tell that he was the favourite to win from all the vain people in the capital. No matter how much I tried however I could not remember his name, apart from that it began with an 'F'…'Fin, something. Finally the camera moved to the district 11 tributes, not giving them as long air time as they did with previous tributes, but it was enough to see that Arella was hysterical, with tears streaming down her face. No, please be strong, I felt like shouted but I knew it would do no good. Oh God please, please help her, I begged… than the count down begun.
10….9….8….7….6….5….4….3….2….1….
Everything happened so quickly, tributes were running, screams erupted from the chaos below, blood was starting to flow. Oh help them there was so much blood it was difficult to see who it belonged to. I scanned the screen frantically trying to decipherer through the mess that was occurring. I noticed that the careers had already joined forces, they were part way through killing the boy tribute from district 7, they were stabbing and cutting, and just like that they had taken a life. Just as quickly as the killing spree had started, it finished. 5…6…no 7 bodies littered the ground staining the grass with blood and the remaining tributes had fled to cover amongst the trees.
The cannon fired seven times, each time made me jump. Cameras tried to lap up the images of the dead; I made a mental note of each tribute. Both the tributes from district 3, the girl from district 5, the boy from 7, they boy from 9, oh no there was the boy from 11, I remembered him from school now his name was Fabian. That made six dead tributes where was the 7th? I felt the beginnings of hope start to bubble up inside of me, and yes there was the girl from district 12! I felt like singing and dancing for joy, but them I gained control of myself that would have been disrespectful as seven lives had just been wiped out in a matter of minutes.
Yes! She had survived the initial bloodbath, now maybe; just maybe she would have a chance of survival? I knew I was being very hopeful, but hope was all that I had left. For the rest of the day I remained in the same position, transfixed with the TV, I barely noticed when Alec and my father joined me. As night began to fall I was getting fidgety and restless. All this time and they had not shown Arella at all. Maybe I had made a mistake. Maybe she really had died. Just as I began to feel myself panic, the camera showed Arella walking through the trees. My eyes fluttered closed in relief.
When I re-opened them I noticed that Arella was still being shown. I was confused now; normally they didn't give a tribute this much time on the camera unless something was going to happen. That's when I noticed him…the career tribute from district 1 was in the corner of the screen, creeping up on my sister, spear in hand. No this can't be happening, turn around now, turn around! I shouted and shouted but it was no use, of course she couldn't her me.
I couldn't move I couldn't turn around and hide from the inevitable; all I could do was watch in horror. It was the scream I heard first, and then I saw the boy quite literally pounce and drive the spear through my sister's stomach. I felt my legs give way, and that's when I noticed I was standing. I could feel the tears streaming down my face; I was feeling like a great weight was pushing down on me. My sister was laying there dying and all I could do was watch. I could hear my self whimpering as I let the grief take hold of me. I expected the boy to feel some remorse but instead he threw back his head and laughed. He was enjoying himself! I felt so much anger now, I wanted him dead, I wanted to kill him, to see his blood on my hands, but instead he gets to live and walked off leaving by sister lying there choking in her own blood.
So this is the capital's idea of entertainment watching children from the districts turn into monsters and tear each other apart! They were the real monsters in all of this. Just then a flicker on the screen made me take notice to what was going on again. The boy from district 4 appeared from amongst the trees with a trident in hand, under different circumstances I would have been impressed as this weapon was clearly from a sponsor and it was the most expensive sponsorship I had ever seen. Realisation took hold of me then, he was one of those tributes that enjoyed the death and liked to torture tributes before they died, maybe he was even one of those cannibalistic tributes, even though that is strictly not allowed. I couldn't watch, this was too sick so I turned my back to the screen and waited for the screams of pain…but none came. I hesitantly glanced back around to see the boy had dropped his weapon and was kneeling down beside Arella, and he was holding her hand! This boy, this stranger even was comforting my sister. I looked at my sister to notice her eyes had closed and I could barely notice her breathing and after what seemed like a lifetime the cannon fired signalling her death. The boy then slowly raised himself, turned and left. I had never respected anyone as much I did this boy now, if I wanted anyone to win he would be the one.
I turned to look at my father but he avoided my eye contact and just left the room. I heard my mother scream, louder than I ever thought possible, there was a hint of insanity to her voice and that scared me. My father had obviously told her and for that I was grateful as I don't think I have the strength. At that moment I also turned and left to find my two year old brother Jerome, standing outside the door looking terrified. I dropped to my knees and hugged him tighter than I had ever hugged anyone. I whispered into his ear promises that I myself didn't know if I could keep. I promised him that I would never leave him, that I would always be there to protect him no matter what. The one thing I knew I couldn't promise him was that everything was going to be ok, as quite frankly I knew it wouldn't be…
Ok quick note- for those who have not already guessed the boy from district 4 was Finnick Odair. He is the one original character I have made changes too, in this fic he is 16 when he enters the games but in the books he is 14. Also I have made him take part in the earlier games so this would make him 29 in the thrid quarter quell not 24. I always pictured him a little older so sorry about the changes :)