Bry Delavie, 18, Socialite


A cloak of dark clouds covers the sky, leaves rustle in the wind, owls hoot and cats meow. It's 2 am and no one is out on the streets except for the famous District Eight socialite herself, Bry Delavie, and her two most trusted advisors, Sasha and Loressa.

"That was a sick party!" Sasha cries out into the distance, clearly drunk.

"Omg. Did you see that guy… he was totally flirting with you, Bry." Loressa nudges Bry with her elbow.

"No way, he wasn't!" Bry rolls her eyes but reddens when she realizes that Loressa's theory could be true.

"Are you sure it was a good Idea to walk home?" Sasha whines. "It's cold… and I'm getting this feeling... like someone is following us," she whispers to her girls.

"W-what do you mean? C-c-c-could it be a m-m-monster?" Bry stutters mockingly. "You're clearly drunk. Chill. We all get weird sensations."

Loressa and Bry laugh, Sasha still unconvinced. That laughter, however, stops when the sound of a cracking twig disturbs the calm atmosphere.

"Ok, what the fuck was that?" Bry grabs ahold of Loressa. "Sasha, if you're doing this. It's not funny!" she looks back at Sasha furiously.

"Guys, I-I swear, it wasn't me!"

A shadowy figure, dimly lit by the flickering street lights, creeps its way in front of the girls, its hands behind its back, wearing some sort of feline mask.

"Who are you?!" Bry says cautiously yet loud enough to try and get some people to hear. Slowly Bry gestures for Sasha and Loressa to get behind her.

"He's not moving," Loressa whispers, still looking straight ahead.

"We're not even sure if it's a he." Sasha holds Loressa with a firm grip.

"Oh, please, all guys are pervs, I mean just look at him," Loressa says a little bit too loudly, causing the masked stranger to walk towards them.

"Stand back! One more step and I swear I'm calling the cops." Bry takes out her phone to show the stranger that she is indeed capable of calling for help.

Half expecting the stranger to get mad and perhaps attack them, Bry starts to dial the number. The shadow is still standing there, looking at them but when he reveals his hands from behind his back and brings a camera up close to his face, the girls look even more disturbed.

"What the hell is he doing?" Sasha lets go of Loressa, perhaps a bit more relaxed by the fact that it wasn't a knife or a gun that the stranger revealed

Before any of the girls have time to ask more questions, the shadow crawls back into the darkness and is heard of no more.

"Guys…" Bry starts. "I've had enough for today, let's just get outta here."

For the rest of the way home, the girls look around in the darkness constantly, scared that the masked stranger might pop up in front of them again.


Eden Cage, 17, District 8


3 weeks before the reapings:

Eden spreads his notes on his desk and sorts them into different piles. Some piles are larger than others and some piles consist of only one or two documents. The pictures he hangs on a string spread across his room from one end to the other.

As soon as everything is set up, he takes one pile of folders and pictures into his hands. "James Matterworth…" Eden mumbles. He's been observing James ever since he'd helped Eden pick up his books from the floor when he accidentally dropped them. It was a clear sign that there was potential.

Eden holds up a picture of James and brushes over his face with his fingers. "I love you…" his solemn expression morphed into a content smile. "I'll put you over there for now." He slips the picture back into the folder titled 'JM' and plops it in the corner of his desk.

His, room dimly lit by the outside sun, always smelled of glue and books. The glue because of the pictures which he'd stick into his personalized journals, dedicated specifically to very special individuals he holds dear, and the books because he's always liked to read. Especially trashy romance books.

Eden grabs the next pile and starts to write on a blank paper. The writing isn't gentle or calm but vigorous and nervous like he's trying to remember something. Which he is. Repeatedly he crosses out what he writes down and starts again and again and again until he's satisfied with his notes. "Oh, Damaris… I remember you. You've always been so beautiful, so kind, so loving. I remember when you helped me in class because I was struggling with the exercises. At that moment I knew that we were meant to be." He takes out a match and lights it. "It's funny how fast relationships can burn to the ground. When was the last time you spoke to me since that day, huh? When was the last time you even looked at me?! I thought we actually had something going." He stares at the picture of the dark-skinned girl with her beautiful black hair falling to her shoulders, half expecting her to answer him. "It's fine, it's fine. Some things in life aren't meant to be." He brings the flame closer to the picture. "I'm sorry." His words fade as the image of the girl bursts into flames.

"What's that god damn smell?" his mother shouts from downstairs, her roaring to be heard from the furthest depths of their house.

"Shit." He grabs a towel from his drawer. "It's nothing, mom!" he shouts back, trying to suffocate the flame. "It's nothing, I promise!" Successfully the flame gives in and all that's left are the ashen remains of the photo.

"Get down here right now!" his mother roars once more.

"Coming!"

He makes his way down the wooden steps that squeak whenever he steps on them. He gets down quickly, too quickly, almost stumbling and falling down. There she stands, tall and intimidatingly. "What were you doing, huh?"

"Nothing, I swear." He offers her a smile but she looks at him like she's still not convinced of his innocence. "Whatever… I need you to go out and buy some groceries." She fumbles in her bag. Eden can hear the items in the bag being pushed around nervously until, finally, she manages to find her purse. "There you go." She hands him a piece of folded paper. Eden unfolds It and reads through the list, nodding his head. "Ok, cool. Got it. Guess I'll be on my way."

Before leaving, he turns around one more time. "Love you, ma'."

"Yeah, whatever, just go…" she says dismissively, not even looking at her son, while she takes out a cigarette and lights it.

Eden doesn't blame her for her constant mood swings. She works hard every day on the cotton fields to provide enough resources for the big textile companies to manufacture. Sometimes Eden would go out and help her, make things a little easier for her and yet it never really made a difference. Depression crawled its way into their lives and created a barrier between mother and son. A barrier that cannot be broken.

He's never really been loved. Ever. At least not by his mother.

Yesterday he was stalking Bry Delavie, a popular girl at his school. Eden remembers when she first smiled at him in the halls. He truly felt a connection there.

The day before he was stalking James Matterworth. A perfectly chiseled human-being. James was nice to everyone at school but Eden knew that James was especially nice to him. He's sure that James is just a little shy…

The day before that he was stalking Sabrina Meyers. Sabrina, the newest crush, was his project partner. Eden can still feel her elbow touch his arm and her aroma protruding into his nostrils.

Now, he's on his way to get groceries for an unloving mother, he loves ever so much. There she is, Sabrina, talking to some of her friends. Subtly, Eden slides his phone out of his back pocket and takes a snapshot of his newest crush. Without attracting any attention he enters the store.


The vases shatter on the floor, the books tumble to the ground, the cushions fly across the room and the chairs are hurled around.

"What in the world of Panem is going on?" Hipotthelus, their escort storms hectic into the cabin where Eden and Eleonore are causing a pandemonium.

"The kid is stressed and scared so I suggested we break some things…" Eleonore throws a vase towards the escort, purposely missing him by a few inches. Hipotthelus evades nonetheless.

"Are you like completely INSANE?" he throws his hands maniacally up in the air to emphasize his point. "Do you know how expensive these antiquities are?"

"Oh, puh-lease!" Eleonore laughs. "It's not like the Capitol is running out of money any time soon, right? I mean… you guys legit profit from us 'lower folk' 24/7" Leo rolls her eyes.

"That's not true…"

"Not true? If you took a walk in our Districts once in a while and compared them to your grande empire, maybe then you'd see what truly goes on behind the curtains while you Capitol-bred people live in utter obliviousness." Eleonore grabs a bunch of books from a delicately carved wooden shelf and drops them on the floor. "Ah, this feels so good. I've been waiting for a moment to share my opinions with one of you people." Leo smiles.

Eden watches as the two continue to argue. Just then he realizes the complete contrast between these two oppositions. On one side, Hipotthelus, the capitol escort with his blindingly yellow suit and his neon-blue hair forming a tornado-like swirl on his head, who is, as Eleonore put it, Capitol-bred, and on the other side, Eleonore Athos, a girl he'd just met a few moments ago for the first time, a girl from the District of Textiles.

When he first saw her, he thought she'd be cold and dismissive since she looked quite uninterested and perhaps even bored. However, as soon as Eden started to panic and cry due to this new and strange situation he'd found himself in, she grabbed him by his shirt and told him to calm down. She then proceeded to flip over some chairs and looked at him, expecting Eden to do the same. And so he did.

"Feels good, right?" she shouted in the middle of the ruckus. Eden smiled and nodded. At that moment he knew that there was a connection between them and that they'd go far in the game together.


Eleonore Athos, 18, District 8


2 years before the reapings:

Today is Leo's birthday. Her 16th. A very special day. Well, it should be.

When she woke up today, her parents left her a box at the end of the bed. Too tired to really focus, she unwrapped the gift and found a gorgeous orange dress folded carefully inside. It was strapless and tight-fitted around the waste. Embroidered vines and blossoming flowers covered most of the bottom part.

Eleonore stands in front of a large mirror in the main hall of their villa and twirls, making her dress flow around her like a halo.

"Hey, gorgeous." Leo flinches and lets out a small gasp. She twists her head to see who it is. Her sister, Danielle.

"My god, relax. I'm not mom or anything." she chuckles with a cough at the end.

"Damn it, you're not feeling better, are you?" Elenore asks concerned.

"No, no. It's fine…" Dani makes a waving motion with her hands. "It's just a stupid cold, k? Nothing to worry about."

Elenore starts to sob.

"Why are you cr-" the question is interrupted by a sudden hug. Leo wraps her arms around Dani and burrows her face in her chest.

"I don't… I don't know what..." she wales. " I don't know what I'd do without you in this world."

"Oh my god, why are you thinking about things like that? It's your birthday! Have fun! Go out with your friends or something."

"Nope, I'm staying with you." Leo wipes the tears from her cheeks.

"If that's what you want to do, then fine." Danielle pushes her sister off of her. "And stop crying. Today's not the day for that."

Eleonore runs towards the mirror again, frolicking between each step. "You know what we could do?"

"What?" Danielle asks, following her sister.

"The basement."

"Forget it."

"WHAT?! C'mon. It's my birthday. We have to." Leo grabs her sister by the shoulders. "Pleaaasseee?" she shakes Danielle.

"Basement is a no, no. It's the one important rule in our household."

"Dude, seriously? Since when are you such a killjoy? I thought you were supposed to be the chill one out of the two of us."

"There's a reason mom and dad don't want us to go down there. They allow us to do anything else, except for that… I mean not that they care what we do."

"Mom and dad are not here. No one will find out." Leo approaches the spiraling staircase and starts to ascend it. "I know where dad hides the key. I followed him once when I saw him come out of the basement."

Before Danielle can refuse, Leo's already gone and a few moments later she stands next to her sister, the key in her hands. "Ready?" Eleonore jumps up and down with excitement.

Danielle sighs. "I bet they have a sex dungeon down there…"

Leo stares at her sister silently before exploding into laughter. "Good to have ya back, sis!"

After they open the door, the two descend into the depths of darkness. As the temperature drops, Leo's skin starts to shiver. "It's hella cold down here," she whispers

When the two reach the end of the staircase, they find themselves in an empty room with just a few bookcases filling it.

"Great, what now…" Dani walks around the room, in hopes of finding something. Anything secretive, anything worth having broken the rules for.

"There's gotta be something here." After having searched the room for at least ten minutes, Leo gives up. "Wow…"

Dani sighs once more. "At least now we know that there's nothing in here. Well, nothing significant to us at least…" Leo's sister leans on the cold granite wall. It is only after she feels one of the tiles, resting against her shoulder blade, move into the wall, that the rumbling sound occurs. And soon after, a piece of the wall turns at a ninety-degree angle, revealing a new passageway.

"Holy fuck." Leo's jaw drops open. "This is like in the movies!"

"I change my mind, maybe our parents are superheroes."

The two of them laugh in synchrony.

Eleonore and her sister descend another staircase, this one rather old to the point where it feels like the wooden surface will give in at any moment now.

At the end of the staircase, they are greeted by a door.

"If this door is locked, I will freak out." Eleonore wraps her fingers around the rounded handle and turns it to the right. She hears a clicking sound, confirming that the door is unlocked. Success. Carefully, she pushes the metal door open and signals for her sister to follow.

The room behind the door is one filled with files and photos and a big radio station in the right corner. Eleonore looks at the photos. "What the actual f-"

"Is that dad next to the vice president?!" Danielle grabs a photo and holds it up to show her sister.

Leo lifts a laptop, sitting on one of the desks and also holds it up for her sister to see. "Yeah, and that's mom's laptop. Look at the email she started to write. Read it."

"Dear Tatyana McAfterlee. As we've been aware of the recent rebellious acts spreading across District Eight, we've decided to act against the threat immediately. Not only have we almost managed to track down the source of the disarray, but we've also caught one of the rebel's members, currently being held captive for questioning. The next course of action would be to... " the email stops at that point. All she can do is look at her sister in disbelief. "Tatyana McAfterlee. You know who that is, right?"

"Yeah, I've seen her on tv a couple of times. Capitol politician... "

"Mhm."

Suddenly the two fall silent as they try to digest the newfound information.

"So our parents are…"

"Helping the Capitol."

"Yup…"

They hear a thud coming from another room next door.

"Ok, I don't feel comfortable with… with whatever is in there."

"Too late to turn back now." Eleonore walks towards the final door and pushes it open.

What they see next is not what they hoped they'd find. Not what they wanted to find. It's a confirmation that their parents aren't superheroes, nor are they into weird sexual stuff. That would have been fine compared to this. Compared to finding a half-dead man tied to a chair in the middle of a dark room with his mouth covered, to prevent him from screaming. Once the stranger notices them he starts to squeal like an animal.

Eleonore can see it all. The wounds. His swollen hands, his blue eye, the marks around his neck, the scars across his chest. She covers her mouth with her hand, feeling today's breakfast resurface. Before she can push it back down, she collapses on the floor, regurgitating it all.

"Leo!" Dani helps her back up. "We're not supposed to be seeing this. We shouldn't be seeing this!"

The tied up man continues to shout in pain.

"We need to get out of here…" Danielle grips Leo's arm and pulls her out of the room.

"NO! We need to help him!"

"We can't, okay? We can't."

"Of course we can!"

"Eleonore, for once in your life just listen to me! Nobody can find out that we've been in here. Nobody. The Capitol doesn't take these things lightly. If word gets out that we know about what goes on behind the scenes, they could have us killed."

Eleonore, too tired to think of a response, stays silent as the two get back to the surface, pretending like everything is fine.

At dinner, the aura is as uncomfortable and awkward is it could possibly get. With Eleonore and Danielle sitting on one side and both her parents on the other, a confrontation is bound to occur. And so it did.

"I never really like the Capitol…" Eleonore starts.

"Leo…" Dani tries to get her sister to keep silent but is shut down.

"I've expressed that a couple of times before, haven't I? Quite often in fact. I mean, they only take and don't give back. They literally force us to compete in a death game annually for their amusement. You, yourself, have agreed with me. You've told me that you'd change something if you could, that you don't like what the Capitol is doing either… so tell me… how is it that there's someone tied up in our basement? Sorry… I mean, why on god's earth are you helping the Capitol?"

Suddenly everything turns dead silent until her father chokes on his wine. Her mother is still looking at her daughter in shock as her husband drinks a glass of water to stop the irritable coughing.

"I don't know what you're talking about, sweetie." her mother forces some more cake onto her daughter's plate.

Elenore removes the plate and throws it on the floor causing it to shatter into dozens of little shards. "BULLSHITT! I'll ask again… why is there a rebel tied up and being tortured in our basement?! WHY?!"

"Listen… I know this might be shocking for you but-" her mother starts

"NO. No buts!"

"Eleonore Athos! Sit down right this instant!" her father's face reddens with wrath. "You were never supposed to be down there in the first place. There are things you don't understand yet."

"Yes, dad. I know. There are many things I don't understand yet. There are many things I still have to learn in life but if there's one thing I do know, then it is the difference between good and bad. Between what's right and what's wrong and torturing a human-being is definitely not morally right!"

"Elli…"

"NO DAD! NO! I MEAN WHAT THE FUCK? LIKE SERIOUSLY! One day… one day I'll show you. I'll show all of you. One day when the Districts realize that they are strong enough to overthrow the Capitol and you come back crawling to me because you've allied with the wrong force, you'll be sorry. Sorry for what you've done."

Before anyone else can get another word into the conversation, Eleonore storms out of the villa. That was the last time they've seen their daughter in two years.


Hello, hello, hello! I'm back from the dead. Sorry for being a little absent. I've been extremely busy with schoolwork and, thankfully, I'm on vacation now so I've got a bit more time. I also have a lot of stories I need to catch up on.

We are officially half way through until the real stuff begins. The stuff I'm really looking forward to. The arena is gonna be really interesting. That's all I'll say for now ;)

I know there wasn't a train ride scene in Leo's POV but I thought that her POV was already longer than Eden's and for now I feel like she was introduced enough. Don't worry there'll be enough time to get to know her more and on that note, I want to say something else too: Some of the character traits the tributes were selected for might not be obvious at first but it will become clearer as their character develops and as they build relationships with other tributes. I hope to give the tributes as much character development as possible because this story is also rather character driven which in my opinion fits the Quell's twist. However, I can't promise that every tribute will get character development because, in the end, not everyone changes throughout the course of the Games. Some stay good, some stay bad.

I also hope you didn't mind the strange introduction to Eden with this third POV. Just thought I'd be fun to show him from a different perspective :D

Anyway, a lovely review would be appreciated a lot! Which of the two do you like better? Who has more potential? Will they end up allying together?

I love you guys and I'll see you next time!