District 2

3 hours before the Reaping

Alexandra Mason walked through the back streets of District 2, behind the shops and houses. This is where the black market business resided, the part of District 2 that the rich didn't want to acknowledge. This is a part of District 2 that Alexandra is very familiar with, she had been coming here since she was 8, just over six years ago. Her father used to come with her, but recently he hadn't really been coming at all. She hadn't decided if he trusted her to do this, or if he really was trying to distance himself from her. She shook her head at the notion, and continued on. District 2 was the District the Capitol liked to show off, it was the richest, and by far the most loyal. But Alexandra knew that the Capitol didn't think of District 2 they the were trained to believe. To the Capitol, District 2 was a valuable commodity, nothing more. They looked good on camera and never complained. But then again, the cameras didn't show this part of the District.

As Alexandra walked through the back streets, she began to feel incredibly undersized. She had long brown hair, tied in intricate braids. She was very pretty, and barely edged over 5-6. She could see that the dealers were sizing her up to be an easy target to be ripped off. But none of them realized how powerful she really was. In District 2, the schools take children that display particular skills and personalizes befitting of a Career, and they have them stay at school another four hours after everyone else gets out. This is where the train rigorously, and without mercy or remorse. Alexandra was top of her class in her age group, and she assumed that she could also easily take the older kids. There was only one tribute that she felt unsure about, and that was Felix Kingsley. He hadn't lost a bout in all the years he had been training. Not only this, but he had become deadly accurate with a spear, topping even her own skill. But she doubted that he could handle a knife as well as she could.

But no one at the black market knew of her tremendous fighting ability, and she preferred it that way. She was a Career through and through, but no one would know that here.

She found her fathers favorite dealer sitting on a bench, with his box of goodies laying beside him.

"Hello, Mortimer." Alexandra said with a smile.

He was a very old man, and he was in know mood for her shenanigans,

"Eh? You again. Whaddya want this time?" He said with a scowl.

"A months supply of rice, and that turkey I can smell from your box." She said, matching his scowl.

"I aint got no turkey, you must of gone crazy, or somin'." He said averting his eyes.

He always had a turkey, he had his people sneak out and fetch one every weekend. Alexandra had been buying ones since she was a kid, she knew it all to well.

"Well…" Sighed Mortimer, "Supposing I do have this turkey you were talking about. How you gonna pay for her? The way I hear it, you aint got a penny to your name."

"Well, that's just simply not true. But besides, I can pay you with something much better." She said.

Mortimer raised his eyebrow, "Yeah? What's that?"

Alexandra smiled, "Protection."

This sent Mortimer into a fit of laughter,

"Ho ho ho! You got a wicked tongue, girl! Didn't your daddy teach you not to lie!"

Alexandra whipped around, and tossed a knife at break neck speed, and stuck it firmly into an oak tree, nearly thirty yards away.

"I wasn't lying." She said.

He stopped laughing, and then turned to her squinting his eye.

"Where did you get that?" He said quietly.

People weren't allowed to carry weapons in any of the districts, on penalty of death.

"Where did you get that turkey?" She said, with a coy smile.

Mortimer leaned his head back with a hearty laugh.

"I like you even more then I liked your dad! Let's talk business." He said.

Alexandra nodded and retrieved her knife. When she got back, she saw he had wrapped the turkey in paper.

"Here's your bird. I'll have one of my men drop off the rice at exactly midnight, if you aint outside your house, you aint getting it." He said, glaring at her.

"Sounds fair." She said, eying the bird.

"But here's what you got to do for me. There's a couple other dealers that have been messing around in my spot. They follow my men out in the woods, and shoot them turkeys before my men even got a chance. They hang around the fenced area, like bugs to a light. I need you to go talk to em. Show them that knife trick you showed me. Think you can handle that?" Spoke Mortimer, very seriously.

"The Reaping is in just a few hours." Alexandra replied.

"Oh right, that mess. Well, I guess you got to go to that. But presuming you aren't chosen, I want you talking to those boys tonight!"

Alexandra nodded, and stuffed the turkey under her jacket and started for home. As she walked, she thought about why she was doing this.

For food, of course. That was obvious, but then again, they had enough money to get by. She didn't need to go through all this for just a little extra food.

Then she thought about her little brother, Brian

Her mother died giving birth to him, and her father was to devastated to do anything. So in many ways, she had to raise Brian. He was eight now, but still very much like a young child. She would do anything for him, including selling her fighting abilities to see that look on his face when he realized he was actually going to be full after dinner. That's why she did what she did, and that's why she would be going back to the black market for the rest of her life. She loved her brother, and she would do absolutely anything for him.

She would even kill someone if she had to, and by that look in Mortimer's eye, that might not be to far off.

District 2

5 hours before the Reaping

It would be way to easy. The three of them weren't expecting the flurry of attacks like he was planning.

They weren't expecting Felix Kingsley to be so fast.

Before the first one even had his fists up, Felix clocked him the nose with his elbow. The second boy threw a punch, and Felix dodged that easily, and with the same momentum threw an uppercut. The boy toppled to the ground holding his stomach. The third boy took a step back, surprised his comrades had been taken down so easily. Then he decided to go for it, and took his stance.

"I wouldn't do that." Laughed Felix.

"What?" Stuttered the boy.

"You're stance is ridiculous. You're totally unbalanced. If I lead with all of my weight it wouldn't matter what you did, I would have the advantage." Replied Felix.

Then without warning he leapt at the boy, bringing him to the ground. With the same quickness and malice as before, he began to beat the boy severely.

"Felix! Get off of him!"

He turned to see his Selene standing by him, with tears in her eyes.

"You told me they were teasing you…" Felix responded, confused.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean that you can do…..THIS!" She said pointing to the boys lying on the ground moaning in pain.

"All I'm doing is protecting you. Besides, these jerks deserved it." Frowned Felix.

Selene wiped the tears out of her eyes,

"Nobody made you sheriff, Felix. You can't just beat up everyone who deserves it. Because, guess what, Felix? There are a lot of people that deserve it, more then you could ever possibly know. But that doesn't give you the right!"

"I'm not trying to play 'hero'. I'm just trying to protect my little sister." Felix replied with a scowl.

Selene whipped around and began to walk away.

"I don't need your protection. Did you ever think about that?" She yelled and stormed off.

Felix frowned, he actually hadn't ever thought about that. He had been protecting her since she was little, as far as he was concerned that was his job.

The boy he was beating moaned.

"You alright? Yeah, you're alright. Get up." Said Felix, giving the boy a light slap to the face.

"I can't." Said the boy, with tears in his eyes.

"Sure you can. I was just hitting you in the face, your legs should work fine." Felix said.

But the boy still just lay there.

"Geez. C'mon, up you go." Grunted Felix as he lifted the boy on his feet.

He looked over and saw the other boys had run home, so he begrudgingly grabbed the boys face, inspecting it.

"Yeah. You're going to be pretty ugly tomorrow, I worked you over pretty good. Just go home and put some fresh meat on your eye, that should bring some of the swelling down. As far as the cuts, just make sure to wash them out really well. You don't want it to get infected."

The boy nodded.

Felix grabbed the boys collar and pulled him close,

"If you ever tease my sister again, I will not hesitate to kill you. Do you under stand?"

The boy nodded again, and ran most likely towards his home.

Felix smiled, of course he wouldn't kill him. But fear was a better tool than destruction, and he had learned that early on. He had to put the fear of death on these kids, it was the only way to get them to stop.

He decided to catch up with Selene, and it was only a few minutes before he was by her side.

"You want to talk about it?" He asked, sticking his hands in his pocket.

"Nope." Selene responded, holding her head high.

"Okay, then. We can just walk."

So they just walked, for about ten minutes and not in any particular direction. Felix was going to give up on her, when she finally broke the silence.

"It's just that I'm 13 now, and you can't always be looking out for me." Selene said.

Felix shrugged, "You're my sister. That's my job, I don't care if your 13 or 40. That's what I'm going to do."

Selene frowned, "Then you have no respect for me at all! I can handle myself, you know."

"No you can't! There were three of them, and they were all 17, like me. I'm the only one in this village who can fight three guys at once." Laughed Felix.

"That's another thing! You think you're such a good fighter, and that you're sooo smart. You can't honestly think you're the only person in the entirety of District 2 that can fight like that."

"Well, to be fair, I did rank the highest in the school I.Q test, and I also was captain of the wrestling team. So, that kind of invalidates your argument….And yes I do think I'm the only one."

"I didn't say it wasn't true. What I'm trying to say: is try being a little humble. Any chance you get to flaunt your intelligence or physicality, you flaunt it with ravenous vigor. I'm surprised you can find a hat to fight your inflated head."

"You're no different."

"Felix…You and I are polar opposites."

Although Felix disagreed, he couldn't help but see her point. At a glance no one could really tell they were siblings. She was very short, and somewhat petite. He was over six foot, and very muscular. She had her mothers long, blonde hair, while he inherited his fathers black curly hair. Although, they were both very attractive. But their personalities were all to similar, and that bothered Selene more then anything in the world. It's not that she didn't love Felix, but she wanted to be very independent. When she was younger she used to hide behind him when meeting new people, always in his shadow. He cast a big enough shadow for her to hide behind for years. But recently, she had been trying to reinvent herself. At least, this is what Felix could ascertain. He was fairly good at reading people, and figuring out motives. But reading Selene was like staring into a mirror, and like what people do when they stare in mirrors, they are often confused by what they want to see, rather then what they are seeing. In his mind, she loved him more then the world, and despite her protests, deep down wanted his protection and love.

"So there." Selene said, crossing her arms.

"So. What were they teasing you about?" Felix said.

"Mom and Dad mainly. They asked if I wanted to beg them for money, or if Mom had any more pearls to sell." She said, obviously cross.

Their parents used to be the riches family in town, known for spending their money extravagantly. His father was a weapon manufacturer for the Capitol, and he had been very successful at it. Unfortunately, his father had made some bad business decisions, and it was unknown to Felix whether his father lost his money, or had the Capitol taken it away. But either way, they had gone from the richest family, to near the poorest. Their mother had even taken up selling her old family pearls and jewels to afford to feed the family.

"They don't know anything." Muttered Felix.

"What do you mean?" Asked Selene.

"They don't realize what I've come to realize. That money is worthless, and that social class is nothing but a fantasy that the rich came up with to cover their inadequacies. The real currency is fear, and that is truly earned. Those boys are idiotic, and they can have their money. They can die a sad pathetic life, writhing around in their wealth. " Said Felix, clinching his fists.

Selene frowned, "I don't like it when you talk like that."

Felix seemed to come out of a daze, and responded,

"I know. I'm sorry Selene. Lets go home and get ready for tonight."

The Reaping

The turkey didn't take long to cook, and she made sure to conceal the fires. Once it was finished, both Alexandra and Brian were famished. Her father joined them, took a few bites, and then went back to his room. Unfortunately, their meal was cut short, because she could see the potential tributes gathering outside.

"Well, I have to go now, Brian. But I'll be back after a while, okay?" She said, cleaning the turkey off of his face.

He nodded and ran over to play with a toy she had carved him a few years back.

He looked so happy, and so innocent. It was amazing that this world hadn't affected him like it had with everyone else. She was glad, but terrified for the day that it would. She quickly threw on some of her nicest clothes, and ran out to join the crowd. She had seen the other districts on her TV, and she always noted how scared everyone looked. But here, no one really stood a chance of being chosen, because every year some career would volunteer. So, everyone came in apprehensive, but calm. Only a few careers seemed at unease, most likely a debate on who would volunteer.

That's when she noticed her teacher, Brutus, come up to her. He had won the Hunger Games when Alexandra was child, and had been training her alongside the other careers for years.

"Brutus." She said.

"Alexandra." He replied.

They both were quiet for a moment when Brutus broke the silence.

"You're going to volunteer." He said.

Alexandra was shocked, this wasn't her year!

"But, what about Melody? We decided weeks ago this was her year."

Brutus frowned, "She broke her leg yesterday, she needs to wait a year. You're the next best, so you should consider it an honor."

With that he was gone, not even giving her time to argue.

As the others brushed past her, she was still having a hard time excepting it.

It's one thing preparing for the Games, its another knowing your going to participate.

"I guess I can't help Mortimer after all". She thought.

Felix was getting ready for the Reaping, and was getting tired of hearing his parents complain of their new life.

"I had to sell grandma Ima's gold necklace today." His mother said, holding a glass of scotch to her head.

His father sat in his chair, smoking a pipe, "Well, she was an old pain anyway, good riddance to her and her damn jewelry." He said angrily.

That's the way things were now, his mother would complain, and his father would get mad about everything. He tried to stay away from the house most days.

"Can I talk to you Felix?" His father said, putting out his pipe.

Felix nodded, and followed his father into the old study.

"You need to volunteer this year, Felix." His father said, putting his hand on Felix's shoulder.

What did he mean? He knew this wasn't Felix's year.

"I can't, Brutus chose Brock. He's a year older and has been preparing longer." Felix replied.

His father shook his head, "You know I don't give a damn what that ape Brutus thinks, I told you had to volunteer, and that's final."

Felix lowered his head, "Why is it so important this year? I know we don't have any money, but sending me to my possible death on the off chance you can save more of grandma Ima's jewelry, is wrong."

His father slapped him, "Curse you Felix, its about your sister!"

Felix's face was warm from the slap, but he could of swore there was a cold chill.

"What do you mean?" He said, glaring at his father.

"There's a man from Capitol that saw her during one of my trips on business. We talked about possibly ….setting up a Marriage proposal from him." His father muttered.

Felix grabbed his father and slammed him against the wall.

"She's thirteen, you sick bastard!" He shouted.

His father raised his hands, " You don't understand, this man is very high up in the Capitol, he could give her a comfortable life, not to mention get me back in business. The Capitol is very different then here."

Felix slammed him against the wall again, "I don't care how different they are, she's a kid! She's my sister, and your daughter, and you want to sell her, just so you can have money again?"

With a quick movement, he punched his father, sending him flying to the ground.

Everything went silent, and they said nothing. He stared at the his father lying on the ground, and he saw him in a different light. No longer was he the man he looked up to as a child. Now he was staring at a spoiled old man, who didn't care for anyone but himself.

Finally, his father spoke up, "If you want your sister to stay here, then you had better volunteer." He said.

Felix went to storm out of the room when his father shouted something else.

"Felix, you had better win!"

Alexandra stood in the crowd, and even though she was terrified, part of her was at peace. The fear of the Reaping had a lot do with the unknown's of it all. But now, that had been taken away. She still felt incredibly unprepared, but she would be able to adapt. After all, she had been adapting to the world her entire life.

As the cameras lights went red, Ira, the escort from District 2 stepped out. She was a girl in her 20s, and she was dressed very provocatively. She wore a one piece suit of some sort, that had holes cut through out. This paired along with the fact that she was very beautiful was enough to make the boys blush.

"Welcome, welcome!" She shouted.

"Brutus, you are very handsome, as always." She said, winking at the uncomfortable victor.

While she was going over the necessary speeches, Alexandra was planning out her entire strategy for the Hunger Games. She was good at climbing, that was obvious, she hoped there were trees of some sort. Her perfect weapon would be a knife, obviously. She wondered if she should team up with Brock, who was supposed to be the male volunteer. She spent so much time thinking, she had missed Ira calling out the name of the tribute. The poor girl was halfway up the stage, and in a mess of tears and snot.

"I volunteer!" Shouted Alexandra, hoping it wasn't too late.

The crowd turned toward her, not in any form of shock, but more in a surprise it took so long.

The girl that was chosen ran back toward who Alexandra assumed was her sister and burst into tears. Alexandra made her way past the crowd, and onto the stage.

"What's your name, sweetie?" Asked Ira.

"Alexandra Mason, and I am going to bring District 2 honor in the Games." She said, loudly.

The crowd cheered, and Ira clapped and smiled.

If only they knew that Alexandra could care less about District 2. All she cared about now, was trying to survive this ordeal.

Felix knew it was going to be her, he had heard earlier in the day that Melody had broken her leg. This girl was tough, no kidding. It would be wise to join up with her immediately.

Then he realized that he had already made his decision, he would volunteer. Of course he would, he would do anything to save Selene. But his plan was a little different then his fathers, if he did in fact win, he wouldn't help his father at all. He would take Selene and move across the District, it wasn't as far as he wanted, but its as far as he could get. His father didn't deserve a single thing in this world, and that including Selene.

Before Ira had even reached into the bowl containing the boys names, he shouted,

"Don't even bother. I volunteer for whomever you were going to choose." He said, loudly.

Ira turned to of the peacekeepers and mouthed, is that allowed?

He nodded, and she turned back to the mike, " Well, patience isn't a virtue for you is it?"

The crowd laughed.

"No Ma'am, it is not." He said with a smile.

The crowd laughed even harder.

He ran up on stage, and gave a wave and smile to the crowd.

"What's your name, handsome?" Ira asked.

"The name is Felix Kingsley, and don't any of you dare forget it." He said pointing to the crowd.

They all cheered, and Ira along with them.

"Alright you two, shake hands!" She said.

They even barely noticed each other as they shook hands.

Afterwards, Felix scanned the crowd for Selene. She was near the back, and her face was completely blank.

He wondered if she knew all of this was for her. To keep her safe.

After all, that's what big brothers do.

[End of District 2 Reaping! Any advice, thoughts or anything at all, please leave a review!]