Chapter Two.
"Throw on your break lights; we're in the city of wonder,
Ain't gonna play nice. Watch out, you might just go under.
Better think twice, your train of thought will be altered.
So if you must falter be wise"
Disturbed City: Prolouge, Part 2
Aleah Reynold, 15, The Capitol
It's the final eight of the fifth hunger games, and I know exactly what is coming next.
I have watched these games hundreds of times before. It's my favourite and it produced my favourite victor, Dianna O'neal. She isn't the most universally-loved victor. Most people like Leonerd, because of his show, his looks, and his personality. Others like Thea because she was the underdog who won and she has proven to be a very kind and warm-hearted individual. The general public pay almost no attention to the other victors, but some go as far as 'hating' Dianna. The reason people hate her, and the reason I admire her so much, is about to unfold on the TV screen in front of me.
The beautiful Dianna wakes up in the early morning, before the sun has even edged its way into the sky. At first, it's unclear what she's doing, but all eyes were on her, as she was the only tribute awake at that exhausting time. I watch as she goes over to her supplies and pulls out the carton of soup sponsor's had sent her a couple of days before.
I remember the shock I felt when I first watched this scene, I remember the excitement in my stomach and the grin that threatened to appear on my lips. Dianna takes out a small, blue, bottle of poison. The camera's quickly cut to her two sleeping allies, both favourites to win at this point at the games, before cutting back to Dianna, just in time to see her pour the liquid into the soup and mix it together.
I press the fast forward button after that and watch the next four hours worth of mind-numbing scenes flicker across the screen. When I stop it, it's just in time to watch the first boy die. The District Six boy, who had already managed to kill three tributes, could have won these games, but a single drop of blue liquid, in a spoonful of soup, stopped him. It's a gruesome death, to say the least. Foam bursts out of his mouth as his eyes turn a demon-like red. He screams and gargles in a deafening sound, which gave some of my friend's nightmares for days after watching it. At the time, it may have left me with an ill-feeling in my stomach, but now, as I watch it, I almost enjoy it.
I know it's wrong.
I know I should be disgusted with myself, but I can't help it. Watching the drama unfold before my eyes thrills me. Watching alliances turn on one another excites me, and admiring the perfectly designed arenas slowly becoming coated with a burst of red, satisfies a thirst for blood, deep in my body, which I never knew existed.
I wrap the cotton blanket around my shoulders as I lean back into the fluffy bean bag, letting the comfort consume me.
My father says: 'it takes a special kind of person to lean back and feel comfort whilst watching The Hunger Games'. I wouldn't say I'm special. I'm simply the start of a new generation who are immune to the intensity of all. We crave the madness that surrounds The Hunger Games, and we watch the blood-shed with both eyes open.
There are more of us, of course, there is an entire online community of Hunger Games fanatics; people who watch the games for fun and entertainment, throughout the year, and not just when they have to.
Suddenly, my phone rings, snapping me out of the bubble I'm in. I reach over to it and answer it immediately, without even checking the caller-ID.
"Hello?"
There's a long pause before they answer and, in that pause, I can only hear the rustling of branches outside and the heavy breathing of the person on the other-side. Finally, they let out a large sigh."You're watching the hunger games again, aren't you?" My boyfriend, Trevor, says, disgust clear in his voice.
I swallow down nervously and quickly lower the volume on the TV. "Of course not!" I exclaim. "I told you. I don't watch them anymore."
We have only been dating for two months, but Trevor's something special. He's the gorgeous older boy that every girl my age dreams about. Sure, he can be an ignorant, judgemental, douche-bag at times, but who care about that?
"You're such a bad liar, Aleah," Trevor says. "Look, just come down here and answer the door, will you?"
"Oh," I whisper under my voice as I nervously chew on my bottom lip. "Please say you've only just got there."
"Yeah, Well, like, five minutes ago. Hurry please, it's f*cking freezing."
"Of course, sorry," I say before hanging up.
When I look up at the screen again, Dianna is in tears, but the cameras don't stay on her for much longer. They leave her for a bit and focus back on another tribute. I shake my head. My friends and Trevor will never understand the attachment I have towards these games. They think I'm crazy, and maybe I am, but I know I'm not alone.
I will never stop watching these beautiful games, and I am excited for the Eighth Hunger Games to begin.
"Your mind is in Disturbia"-(Distubria- Rihanna)
A/N- Yeah, you may think I'm a fan of Rihanna, huh? No, not really...not at all actually. Nope. Oops?
Yeah, anyway, this chapter isn't very important. Just wanted to portray how the fans are. Yeah. That is all xD
Anyway, I have the tribute list here!
It was hard to put this together as I had so many amazing submissions (I have no idea how people who get like 100 submissions do this...) and I've had to reject some tributes who I have genuinely fallen in love with, and I hated doing that. Literally, at one point I was tempted to make up a new District...but...yeah, I couldn't do that. So, if your tribute isn't here, believe me, I wish they were. I loved your tribute. It actually pained me not to accept some. But, at the end of the day, I had to choose 24 tributes who were diverse enough and would work well for the story and work well together. Forgive me?
I feel so guilty...gah...
Tribute List:
District One
Male:Cedric Licott, 18 (LokiThisisMadness)
Female: Ramsey Belanger, 18 (TitanMaddix)
District Two
Male: Blake Warren, 18(JGrayzz)
Female: Tamaryn Alford, 17 (kkfanatic22)
District Three
Male: Rigger Kendrick, 14 (ZerotoAero)
Female: Severa Prichina, 16 (TWGnome)
District Four
Male: Shadow Mars, 18 (YesMyLordCiel)
Female: Coraline Leighton, 16 (xsakura-blossomsx)
District Five
Male: Jax Castell, 18 (cloveallies)
Female: Ella Bratton, 17 (District11-Olive)
District Six
Male: Immanuel Guillermo, 13 (kopycat101)
Female: Selicia Nookza, 16 (Vaan Levvy)
District Seven
Male: Merrick Levaun, 18 (bobothebear)
Female: Rosemary Valencia, 15 (Froshy)
District Eight
Male: Sherwood Decker, 16 (Blue Arch Angel)
Female: Evellyne Russo, 15 (BetterThanRealityFF)
District Nine
Male: Winslow Earnest, 17 (ElementalEvolution)
Female: Amelia Lockhart, 16 (hollowman96)
District Ten
Male: Gunner Fourier, 18 (nevergone4ever)
Female: Jaela Roper, 13 (M4D TE4 P4RTY)
District Eleven
Male: Jem Hoover, 15 (Katrace)
Female: Auberine Simmons, 17 (Violet Teardrops)
District Twelve
Male: Kristian Ferals, 17 (Jalen Kun)
Female: Havara Bhatnagar, 16 (W.E.B.P)
Personally, I love the age diversity I have. Just saying. Also, I hate long A/Ns, so, I'm sorry.
Anyway, I would love to hear people's thoughts on the tributes. Leave a blog review? Maybe? XD The link to the blog is on my profile and there's also a tab for 'Betting Ranks' which is just a lil fun thing and will be added to as the games go on.
Would also love constructive criticism as per usual.
Uh, yeah, that's all!.