A/N: Sorry for the late update, I was busier over the last while than I thought I'd be. I hope you like this chapter.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own The Hunger Games, Rue, or President Snow. I do own Tessa, Aurelia, Alonia, William, and Elizabeth (and any other original characters.. I suppose Alonia isn't exactly original, but her personality is my own!)


I woke up the next day, my face pressed on my desk with the letter to Rue crumpled in my hand. Tessa was standing there, her eyes filled with worry. Then, her eyes caught on the paper in my hand, and with a swift movement, she plucked it out of my hand and began to read it. Her big brown eyes filled with tears as she placed it down gently on the table.

"What? What is it?" I asked, pulling a sheet of paper out of my desk for her to write on.

I've never met a Capitol girl who cared so much. In fact, she wrote, the last house I was in had this one girl, Corinna, who decided that every time a tribute was killed, she would use her father's knives to cut one of the Avoxs. Then, there was boy, Viator, who would throw death-day parties for each of the dead tributes. There would be celebrations with food, drink, and long reenactments of their deaths.

I felt sick to my stomach. "Tessa?" I asked hesitantly. "How… how did you get here?"

She looked sad for a minute, and then resumed writing.

I was from district 6, where the Peacekeepers are very strict about everything. You see, my parents had died when I was eight, and I was left to take care of my little brother and sister, William and Elizabeth, who were twins. They were only 4. I went to work to try and bring in money, but there isn't much that an eight-year-old girl can do in a district where the labor to be done involves heavy machinery. So, I had to start sneaking out at night to hunt. I would only catch little things, like squirrels at first, but then I discovered that if I stole pieces of metal that were used for making cars, I could make these trap things. Then, one day, I managed to catch a wild dog, and in my happiness, I forgot to check for Peacekeepers. They caught me lugging it through town, with William and Elizabeth at my heels. The head Peacekeeper took away the dog, and William and Elizabeth. I never saw them again. Then, the Peacekeepers took me, and shoved me in a hovercraft. I don't remember anything until I was dropped off at a house, and ordered to work. When I tried to talk, that's when I realized that I had lost my tongue. And, that's my story.

I gazed in utter amazement at Tessa. Did all the Avoxs have a story like this? A thought struck me suddenly, and I glanced down at the paper for a second.

"Wait…Tessa? You became an Avox when you were 8?" She nodded, and looked as if she was going to tell me more, but just then, a little girl with golden blonde hair and pale paper-like skin bursts into my room. It's Alonia Snow, the President's granddaughter. Alonia is only six, and because her grandfather is always too busy to take care of her, she spends a lot of time at my house. She's a sweetheart; always smiling and helping the Avoxs clean up. In fact, she's one of the nicest girls I know.

"Aurelia?" She asked. "Will you come with me to the training center? Baba is there, and he promised to play with me today."

"Sure Loni," I said, and we started the walk to Training Center, where every Tribute since the 1st Hunger Games had stayed. Every tribute… Rue.

"Loni? Are you able to…to meet the tributes?"

Her pale blue eyes looked up at me with confusion.

"Yeah. Sometimes Baba lets me… why?"

I felt a thrill of excitement. Maybe, maybe I could meet Rue. Actually meet her.

"But… this year I'm not allowed to. My mommy told me that District kids are a bad influence, and Baba has to listen to her."

The thrill of excitement died as quickly as it had come.

"Oh." I whispered, disappointed.

We continued our walk to the Center, beside rows and rows of pastel homes, pinks and blues, until we reach the heavy metal doors of the Center. Just as we're about to go in, a guard stops us.

"Password?" He barks, scaring me.

Alonia just smiles and says in her high voice, "Circenses." The guard opens the door and stands aside. "Welcome Miss Snow. And…" He looked at me, obviously searching for a last name.

"Lane. Aurelia Lane."

"Welcome Miss Lane. Enjoy your visit."

Loni and I walked out of the bright sunlight and into the cool, metallic-smelling air of the Training Center.


A/N: In case you couldn't tell, Baba is President Snow, that's what Loni calls him... :D