AN: Hello again! Who are you guys? Just kidding, ily guys. Mah buddies. AND NOW FOR THE ADVENTURE AND EXCITING PARTS!

(Also, sorry if the themes of the arenas or costumes are repetitive, but I love the ideas and it's more fun to shape them with different characters.)

I sleep poorly. After finally managing to doze for a few hours, I awake. It's still an hour until the official breakfast call, but I go down to the dining floor anyways. The avoxes are still setting up, so there isn't much out, but I grab a mug of hot chocolate and return to my room to page through The Last One Left once more. I decide that I'm going to ask Selena if I can send it home to Izy after I go into the arena.

The arena. I shudder as I'm drowned in realization. The games are starting today. I leave my room, bringing my cocoa, to find Damien emerging from his.

"Hey," I venture, taking a sip of my cocoa.

"Morning," he yawns. "So. Today's the day, eh?"

"Yup. I guess this is it," I sigh. Tears start to come to my eyes, and I blink them away.

"Hey, you alright?" Damien asks, leaning down to peer into my face.

"Um, yeah, fine. Just nervous," I say, wiping my eyes. "Let's get breakfast."

By now, mostly everyone is downstairs, trying to get in one last meal before we start. As per usual, the Careers are conferring. About five tributes are huddled together in the middle of the room. I go over and fill up my plate, but by the time we find our table and sit down, my stomach is churning. I sit and stare at my food, and Damien doesn't make any pushing to get me to eat it. I see him pocket a roll, but it's pointless: they will take anything away from you that isn't a certified token.

It's quieter than a tomb as we are packed into the hovercraft. A lady comes by with a long needle and asks me to stick out my forearm.

"Why?" I ask, suddenly very jumpy.

"It's the tracker," she responds, like this explains everything. I mutely hold out my arm and close my eyes as she sticks me expertly. I open my eyes as she moves on to the next person. I can see a faint outline under my skin. It hurts.

We are shepherded to our separate holding areas. I hug Damien one last time, and I don't want to let go of my past, of everything that could be—

And he's gone.

I walk into the holding room, where Selena is waiting for me with my outfit. It is a dark bodysuit with a thin headband with a light. A headlamp. I have on thin shoes that look made for running or hiking, and a short overcoat.

"This outfit doesn't make a lot of sense, but you'll probably be somewhere where there will be rocks or dirt for climbing," Selena remarks, as she helps me put on the headlamp.

I regard myself in the mirror. I'm surprised, and at the same time unsurprised, by the dark circles forming under my eyes.

"Did you eat anything for breakfast?" Selena asks. I shake my head. She sighs, and then calls for some classic District Five rolls.

"Oh yeah! I forgot! Can you send my book back home to my sister, Izy?" I ask.

"I'll see what I can do," Selena smiles, and I know that it will find its way back home. The rolls have arrived, and I munch on one.

A buzzer sounds.

"Ok, time to go. Good luck," Selena says, as I finish the bread quickly. I step onto the plate. Selena waves, and I wave back as she disappears under the dirt.

The platform ride goes smoothly until it stops with a halt. I wonder if it's stuck, but then I realize the ride has ended. It's so dark I can't make out the arena. My hand reaches up to turn on my headlamp, but since nobody else has done it, my hand slinks back down to my side. I begin the countdown.

60…59…58…57…

Someone across the circle switches on their headlamp. The beam flashes around for a moment before a bomb near the plate explodes, sending the unfortunate tribute into pieces. Not another lamp turns on.

50…49…48…47…46…45…

I hate this waiting, especially in the dark. I hate the dark. I wonder if…no, no, it couldn't be.

28…27…26…

Are the Gamemakers taunting us? Are they ridiculing District 5? Trying to show us how to survive without light?

19…18…17…

I've heard President Snow say it too many times. A spark is nice, but it must be contained.

10…9…8…

Is Selena okay? What about Damien's stylist, Avair?

5…4…3…

"Ladies and Gentlemen, let the 74th Hunger Games BEGIN!" shouts Claudius Templesmith.

The gong rings. Suddenly, a ton of headlamps blind the arena with light. We are in a sort of clearing, a large underground tunnel, and the cornucopia is build right into the walls. I am so wrapped up in my thoughts it takes me a minute to switch on my headlamp and look around.

The first thing that pops into my mind is the fact that there are batteries. Everywhere. I scoop up a handful, thinking they may be important. Right next to me is a small waist pack, which I quickly snatch up and stuff the batteries into. Just as I straighten up and turn, a knife slices my shoulder open. I shriek in pain.

"Next one's gonna be your head!" shouts a voice, decidedly male. I run off blindly, in the opposite direction of the knife. I trip over something a look down a few steps later, all I can see is a bit of blood on my shoe. I know in my mind I tripped over a dead tribute. Looking up, I see three different tunnels. Tears are starting to leak out of my eye, and I frantically take the right one, running through more and more darkness until I run into someone again.

Only this someone is alive.

"Ah! Who are you?"

"I'm Dennis! Come on, we've got to get away from the Careers!" he replies, grabbing my uninjured arm and pulling me forwards.

"Turn off your headlamp when we stop, but keep looking forward. You're our only source of light right now," he says with extreme audacity. I follow him, my blood-soaked arm aching, until I'm sure we have run at least two miles, until I am having serious trouble breathing, until Dennis says—

"Turn it off."

I oblige and turn it off with my uninjured, but blood-soaked hand. Already Dennis has taken my pack and is examining its contents, along with a blue backpack that he must have taken. As I sit and apply pressure to my right arm, I realize that there is a tiny bit of light seeping through the ceiling of the ginormous tunnels.

"What…how," I mumble to myself.

"The arena is a giant maze of tunnels," Dennis responds automatically, "and the cornucopia area is pitch black. That's all I've figured out so far."

I squint at the figure kneeling before me. "Did you find any bandages or anything?" I ask.

"No, but I found a handkerchief. Let me see your arm," he says, standing up. His head only comes to about my shoulder, but he's peering at my wound.

"This might hurt," he says swiftly before clicking on his headlamp and swiping my cut with the handkerchief.

"OW!" I screech.

"Don't yell! They won't find us easily, but that will help!" he says quietly, turning off his headlamp.

I bit my lip as he ties the makeshift bandage by touch. We then sit on the packed dirt of the ground and watch the ceiling of the tunnel as the faces flash.

The first one is the boy from 6. Then it is the pair from 8, the girl from 9, then both from 10, 11 and 12. This isn't looking good so far. 10 dead in the first day. These Careers are brutal.

"Twelve left. Good odds or bad odds?" Dennis asks from the darkness beside me.

"Definitely bad," I respond quietly.