I am taken into the Justice building and left inside a room full of overstuffed chairs and wooden tables. It's the nicest room I've ever seen, but I'm immediately overwhelmed. I'm average, simple Elessa, soon to be Dead Elessa. I didn't deserve this sudden kindness just because I was a tribute. The kindest thing they could do to me at this moment would be to end me now. I didn't want to wind up in that awful arena and die at the hands of some kid I didn't even know as they fought for their own victory. I didn't want my death to be a stepping-stone to fame. I wanted it to be average. Plain. Normal. It didn't even need to mean anything, but I definitely didn't want it to benefit anyone in the Games.

I perched myself on one of the overstuffed chairs and stared at my knees as I awaited anyone that wanted to say good-bye to me before I left for good. I wasn't let down. After a few minutes of silence a door opened to allow my mother, father, and Hyver inside. I was tackled with a large embrace from my sibling as my parents stood quietly off to the side.

"Come back home, okay?" Hyver whispered in my ear. "Both of you!"

"That's wishful thinking," I muttered under my breath. Hyver pulled away from me and took a few steps toward my parents. I wasn't certain if he had heard me or not, but I was far from caring. Next, my mother gave me a soft kiss on the cheek and quietly said something along the lines of how much she loved me. My father stepped towards me and crouched so that he was at eye-level with me.

"You and Gregor have to team up if you're going to beat this. We need both of you back home, not just one. Look at me," he said. He put a hand beneath my chin and lifted my head so that I was looking directly into his eyes. "You will come home for us. For all of us. We can't have you lose out there. You have to promise me."

I held my mouth shut. I wasn't going to make a promise that I couldn't keep. I tried to look away, but my father held me still with his hand and forced me to look at him. I could see tears brimming in his eyes and I suddenly felt awful for the way I was acting, how careless I was being. I threw my arms around him and held him in a tight embrace.

"I promise! I'll come back!" And some part of me, somewhere deep inside, wanted that so desperately to be true. Only time and plenty of pain would give me the answer, though. I released my father from my grasp and pushed away like nothing had happened. I resumed my sulky staring at the floor as the remnants of my family vacated the room. No one else visited me. It was to be expected. I spent more time with the stupid cows than I did with other people, and I doubted any of the cows would want to come into this room.