Chapter Three: Spinel


Spinel Phoenix, District One, 17 yrs old.

I jolt from my sleep as my alarm clock goes off. I reset my clock as a smug smile spreads across my face, It's reaping day!, today's the day I volunteer and win the games. I get up from off my bed and walk to my mirror and brush my long black hair, I notice that my twelve year old sister Sapphire isn't in the room, probably went off to the academy early... I guess I should get some training in before I volunteer.

Satisfied with the way my hair looks, I go the washroom to brush my teeth. Once I come back I put on my training fatigues which include a black muscle shirt, camouflage cargo pants, and black combat boots. I strode towards my shelf and took my belt of wide array of knives and put them on my waist. I quickly walk down stairs to the kitchen for breakfast. Halfway down the stairs I almost trip due to the overwhelming excitement that builds though me, but manage to stabilize myself.

I nod to my mother, Magenta, who leans on our brown marble counter top. She wore a blue pantsuit that suited her brown neck length curly hair. As she drank her coffee out of a white mug she had the looks of a popular socialite but then again, she was a former victor after all. She had won the 55th games; in which the arena was a dessert oasis. Half the tributes went stir crazy due to dehydration, I'm surprised mom isn't as scarred as most people would believe her to be. I sit down and dig in to my pancakes set down for me on our table. I manage to beat back my over excitement and finish them all.

"Where's Sapphire?" I ask,

"Training..." my mother turns around gives me a sympathetic look, "Spinel, do you really have to go through with this . . .?" she frowns and rubs my shoulders.

I scoff, Me and her have repeatedly had this conversation over and over for the past year. She doesn't want me to volunteer because she thinks I'm driven by rage.

She's right, a little bit.

I'm volunteering earlier to get revenge on District Eleven's female tribute for my cousin's death at the hands of a pathetic thirteen year old from that District.

I stand up and tower over her, I'm pretty amazed with how tall I am, I wish I were shorter just a tad. I gently hold her by the shoulders,

"I do, I do have to go through with this. I'm going to volunteer and get payback. There's nothing you can do about it mom.".

She gives me a hardened look as she sighs heavily and took a long sip of her coffee, "Go on then, you have my blessing."

I smirk and kiss her cheek. "I'll be back within the next hour. I'll be fine mom!" I say leaving the kitchen and walking out the door.

"Hey Spin . . ." I jump and look to my left. My semi rival and good acquaintance Lucifer Jones casually leans against my porch and takes a bite of his apple.

He's taller by 3 inches, me being 6''0 and him being 6''3. His hair is black and casually thrown back, his pitch black circle framed glasses block his cute hazel eyes. He also happens to be a distant cousin of a victor, I forgot the victor's name. All I know is that he is the winner of the shortest Hunger Game in history, lasting two days. This was back when Hunger Games arenas were smaller and much more compact. Lucifer was chosen by my mother, father and the rest of the academy committee to participate in this years games, along with myself. Although this wont stop the bad apples from volunteering anyways.

I lean in and give him a quick hug.

"You startled me." I say as he chuckles lightly,

"You, startled? " he rolls his eyes as we walk down the steps of my home and down the street towards the training academy.

District One is a very extravagant place to be, almost like a mini capitol of twenty two hundred people. We dress flamboyant, with our golden leather jackets and sky blue cardigans along with our stylish shoes and hairstyles but not as outrageous as Capitol citizens.

District One's streets are polished clean of any litter, a statue of a loyalist militiaman with a rifle in his hands stands guard in the middle of a fountain. A tribute to those who fought under the Capitol's seal during the dark days. Peacekeepers mingle and talk with citizens rather than carrying out patrols.

Lucifer and I wave to a couple of academy mates, clad with their own personal weapons secured on their shoulders. Maintenance workers string up balloons and flags in celebration of the Games. Yup! Things here are calm and lax, so lax we can leave one kilometer from the District's boundary line to the nearby lake. All we need to do is flash our identification cards.

I glance at Lucifer's hair and notice the extra gleam it seems to carry.

"I like the way you did your hair," I say patting his neck and carefully ruffling his hair. As I look forward I groan in disgust as we enter the more less fortunate part of our District.

The homes here are one floor bungalows instead of two floor homes in richer parts. This area is also full of perverts and schmoes who don't do anything with their lives. They always hang out on a park bench and say vulgar things to me and other girls while we're on our way to the academy.

"Hey doll face." one of them prods as another one makes a hooting noise as I roll my eyes in turn away. They all begin to laugh and make cat calls as Lucifer shakes his head in disgust then taps my shoulder,

"Psst!..watch this." he says and In a split second, he takes out a knife from my belt and tosses it at one of the men at the bench, landing in between his legs. Lucifer is widely known for his quick reflexes. He even makes me flinch sometimes.

"Didn't anyone tell you to treat women with respect..?" Lucifer sneers making a shooing motion with his hands.

The bewildered men on the bench grumble and walk away as Lucifer takes out the knife lodged in the wooden bench and sheathes it back in my belt. He winks at me, causing me to roll my eyes as we move on towards the academy we've trained in since . . . Who knows how long?

We reach the academy that was recently changed name wise my cousins honor as he was one of the best and brightest of the academy.

'Silas Phoenix Quarts Prep Academy'

was the new name. They change the name every year to honor our farthest fallen tribute. You'd think from the name it was some preppy nerdy school, you're in for a surprise. Silas would have been a fine victor if that stupid thirteen year old didn't take that opportunity away from him. I see Sapphire lounging around near the entrance, so we approach her. She's like the miniature version of me, same tan skin and long flowing hair. . . if she were any older, she could pass as my twin.

"Hey Spinel !" Sapphire chirps as she runs into me for a hug. I struggle a little bit but end up giving in and returning the hug as Lucifer snickers in the background. While Sapphire's back is turned towards him and her face in my chest, I quickly stick my middle finger up at him which makes him laugh even louder.

"So, do you know who's trying to volunteer this year?" I ask Sapphire as we enter onto the training floor.

"Only you, Opal and . . . Sparkle. I think." she says nodding vigorously,

"What about the boys?" Lucifer asks sternly.

" . . . Alot." Sapphire says with a giggle as Lucifer rubs his temples and grunts an then storms off to the swordplay station.

Sapphire waves goodbye and goes to the bows and arrows as I go to practice my knife throwing skills. I wave to fourteen year old Jackson O'Reil the best in the academy with tridents as he guts dummies in rapid succession. I smile warmly at eight year old Echo Dawnchild who quickly beheads a dummy with a rapid flick of her katana.

"Hey Spinel!" a little nine year old boy I know as Luminous Galore squeaks as he waves towards me. He has the cutest shaggy blond hair and striking blue eyes.

"Hey Lumi. How's the axe throwing going for you?" I ask folding my arms.

"It's going great thanks to you! I'll be like Lucifer in no time!" He chirps as he tosses an axe into the head of a dummy. I give him a stern nod, ruffle his hair and continue on towards another set of dummies. Kids like Luminous, Echo and my sister may look weak, but they can kill and maim like any other career if you train them right.

I unsheathe one knife out of my belt and quickly throw it at the dummy in front of me, making a hard 'Thump' sound as it hits its neck. That would have been a kill if it were a real target. I take out two knives from my belt and toss them at another dummy, one hitting its abdomen and the other its shoulder, that would've been a delayed kill if not tended to as soon as possible.

I was about to toss another knife with my left hand until it was stopped by someone else mid-throw. The knife sails through the air and hits the dummy in the kneecap. I let out a deep breath and look up into the air in anger.

Someone had better have a damn good reason of why they interrupted me.

"Why hello there Spinel!" the voice is laced with sarcasm and ignorance. There's only one person whose voice I hate more than anything in the world...

I turn around and see that it's Sparkle, a girl who I despise a lot. She was a year older than I was. Her brown hair was tied into a ponytail, her light brown eyes gazing into my dark ones. I groan loudly as she giggles obnoxiously.

"So.." she says twirling a knife in her hands,"I hear that you're trying to volunteer this year..." she stands beside me and grunts as she tosses the knife she had at the dummy beside mine, hitting it in the head. If she was trying to intimidate me, it didn't work. If anything it just peeved me off more.

I shrug, "Maybe? What's it to you?" I say coldly as she followed me towards the spears section.

"Well there's a slight issue with your plan," she says watching me pick up a spear.

As I size up my spear and study it, I laugh obnoxiously and roll my eyes,

"Oh yeah!? Please oh please tell me about my 'slight issue'!" I scoff and toss my spear full force at the practice dummy fifteen feet away, hitting the dummy in the stomach and making it topple over.

"I'm volunteering this year not you," she scowls,

"Okay . . . we'll see about that 'pal'." I say turning back to my spearing, tossing another spear into the heart of the dummy I made topple over.

"Or . ." she continues,

"You can volunteer and end up like your cousin Silas and get killed by a pathetic little girl?" her voice was disarming yet full of venom. Her remark set me off.

I turned around and send her a backhanded slap, it was so loud that everyone stopped what they were doing and looked in our direction, then ran over to see what was going on.

"Don't talk about my cousin that way." I say glaring at her, she tackled me full force to the ground and punching match insured. We were pulled apart by Lucifer and our instructor.

"Alright ladies that's enough!" he says as the bell rings, "Now go home and get ready! Try not to kill one another just yet." he chuckles with a smile.

Sapphire escorts me back to the knife throwing area as I glare at Sparkle and she glares back. I take my knives from out the target dummy's I used and walk out the door, me and Sapphire broke out into a full sprint all the way home. As we get home I quickly rush up the stairs and put on a black skirt with a blue blouse. I brush my hair and put on a necklace with a yellow dull cut spinel, the gemstone I was named after. I throw on some black heels and wait at the door.

Sapphire comes down the stairs panting and holding my shoulder, she wore a simple gold overskirt dress with a sapphire necklace. "Hold on Spin! gosh.", I roll my eyes and pull her along all the way to the Justice building.

We register with the peacekeepers and go to our respective lines. Mayor Amethyst and our District's escort, Ritchie LaFontaine sat down on thrones as people flooded in. I walk past Lucifer and he gives me a smug smile as I get into the seventeen year old section, one section beside his. As soon as everyone gets settled Mayor Amethyst gets up and walks up to the microphone.

She gives the same stupid speech about how we were once North America..then North America faced extreme disasters and war...Then Panem rose out of the ashes, blah blah blah. She then calls out all the victors of previous games, we had a lot of victors such as Cashmere, Gloss, My mom and dad. they take their seats as the propaganda film plays. During the film I notice that everyone was growing restless and uneasy. This tribute spot may be hard to get but I'm willing to throw some fists if need be.

Once the film is done Ritchie walks up to the microphone and taps it, then clears his throat. Ritchie had long curly white hair, with red circular frame glasses. The suit he wore was red, double breasted and his dress shoes white with black. He looked smug and posh as he casually leaned on his cane and studied his nails.

"Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen!, Welcome welcome to the 67th Annual Hunger Games reaping!" he said in a calm Capitol accent. The crowd cheers as he lets out hearty chuckle, "Well!, let's not waste anytime!", He took out his cane and twirled it as he walked towards the boys bowl. He took out a ballot and opened it up, all the boys loosen up and prepare to bum rush the stage. I prepare for the fray that will come within the next five seconds.

.

"Berilo De Kli-"

"I VOLUNTEER!" multiple voices erupt across the crowd. Multiple boys sprint, push, and shove for the stage in a frantic attempt to take the tribute spot, Lucifer dives for the stage and rolls to his feet, beating the other boys.

"YES!" he jeers as he looks down at us from the stage. He dares anyone to try to take him by glaring at the male audience.

"Well oh my! it seems that we have a volunteer!" Ritchie laughs as the boys growl and groan at not making it.

"I'm sorry, I didn't get your name..?" Ritchie chirps as he gave Lucifer the microphone.

"The name's Lucifer Jones." Lucifer replies giving a sly smirk and nodded towards the camera.

"I love that name!, sounds very...'Classy'!" Ritchie exclaims as he saunters towards the female's bowl. It was my turn to get ready. "I volunteer..I volunteer.." I whisper to myself as Ritchie quickly takes a ballot out of the bowl. Dad gives me a stern look, mentally telling me to get ready.

.

.

"Ru-"

"I VOLUNTEER, I VOLUNTEER!" I shriek before anyone else could, therefore no one could argue.

Regardless of me saying it first, girls fast walk towards the stage. I shove past other girls and quickly approach Sparkle. Sparkle was about to get on the stage as I tug her foot and she topples over, I then get on the stage and hold my knees as I raise my fists in victory.

"And your name is?" Ritchie asks as he's silently chuckling to himself. I take the microphone and compose myself.

"Spinel . . . Spinel Phoenix, your next victor." I say proudly smiling to the camera in triumph as I hear Sparkle scowl.

"I absolutely adoreyour confidence dear! Well ladies and gentlemen, there you have it! your tributes for the 67th Hunger Games! May the odds be ever in your favor!" the crowd roars with applause as me and Lucifer happily shake hands as the national anthem plays.

"I hope your ready for me Panem, 'Spinel Phoenix! victor of the 67th Hunger Games!' . . .heh, has a nice ring to it."

Peacekeepers guide me to the waiting lounge and a split second after, Mom, Dad and Sapphire barge into the room.

"Best wishes Spinel, I can't wait to see you on your victory tour." Mom chirped giving me a hug and carefully placed a yellow gem ring on my finger. I smile and pull her into a hug as she backs away slowly. Sapphire pulls me into a hug, even though her face is buried in my blouse I could hear her faint cries and whimpers.

"It'll be fine Sapp, quit crying." I say ruffling her hair. She nods sadly and follows mom out of the room as dad stands in his place, studying me with his light brown eyes. He was built like a head Peacekeeper and acted like one also. He wants nothing but the best for me, sometimes taking my preparation way too seriously.

"What are you going to do?" He asks sternly.

"Win." I say smiling.

"Excuse me . . .?" He raised an eyebrow, "Couldn't hear you."

"I'm going to win!" I snap coldly.

"What!?" He yells taking a step forward,

"I'M GOING TO WIN!" I bark in his face as he lets out a laugh and rubs my back in approval.

"That's my girl! haha! Now you get in there, get your hands on any weapon you wish and Join Two and Four . . . or any other worthy kid, then mess up the competition. No survivors."

"Yes sir." I smile back at him as he opens his arms for a hug which I happily accept. We stay like this until a Peacekeeper comes in and escorts my dad out.

I'm going to make my father, my family and my District proud. All while exacting revenge.


Tyler: Thanks for reading :), RIP Seymour Hoffman aka Plutarch Heavensbee... :(

*Sniff *Sniff...