Maia Thresher's POV:

Flashback

"As you know," the cult leader said, "despite our annual ritual of sacrificing a male and giving his blood to the earth, our harvests have been...quite poor. It had seemed to me that we are not as faithful as we should be. But this is not the case. I have found the answer! We have had such poor harvests because the Earth-mother is angry that the ritual has been done in secret. It is our responsibility to change this. I predict that one of our cult members will be reaped for the Games this year. This chosen adolescent must carry out our ritual in front of the entire Panem! Then, and only then, will we again have bountiful harvests."

Flashback end

Mother, a doctor, is making a remedy for a sickness, just like she does every day. She works with herbs because we don't have the money for advanced ingredients, and also, they're her specialty. I stare at the tuber she is grinding into a fine powder.

"Mother, what's that?" I ask.

"Hmm?" She turns to look at me. "You mean the katniss?"

"The tuber thing, yeah."

"It's called katniss," she says. "It grows all over Panem. It's really good for herbal remedies - provides a nice background, you know. Why do you ask?"

"Um..." I can't find an answer. "No reason."

"Well then," Mother says. "Who do you think's going to be reaped?"

I remember last month, when Earth's Honored Daughter, the leader of the fertility cult, made her announcement, and predicted that someone from the cult would be reaped and have to make the sacrifice.

"I don't know," I say. "I just hope it isn't me or Reina."

"Reina," my mother sighs. "Maia, Reina isn't a native to the cult. She needs to prove her worth."

"Just because she wasn't born a member doesn't mean she should have to die!"

"It'll be an honor to be reaped," Mother says. "The person will reveal our traditions to all of Panem!"

"Yeah," I say. "Well, I should go and get ready. I'm meeting Reina in twenty minutes."

.

Twenty minutes later, I meet Reina by the square. She greets me. We live together now, because she joined the cult, but she always leaves early on reaping day.

"Hey, Maia," Reina says. "Do you ever get the feeling that...that the cult's a little...silly?"

"Silly?" I say. "Um...is this the place for this?" Nearly eighty percent of the district is part of the cult, and they, well, don't like having the cult questioned.

"Not really, but still," Reina insisted. "Why are we shedding the blood of males each year? The blood helps the ground? Ha! I mean, doesn't it sound ridiculous?"

"Well...it's blood," I say uncertainly. I honestly don't believe blood has many properties that may help harvesting, but they say it does, so I go along with it. I'm easily persuaded. It's likely that Reina will convince me that the cult's silly.

"It's blood, so what?" Reina laughed. "How does blood help the earth? It's ridiculous, what we do each year."

"Yeah," I say, thinking about it. "Blood probably doesn't really help the ground...so why do we even make the sacrifice?"

Reina shrugs, and we tune in as the reaping begins.

Jax Samuel's POV:

Alice waves to me as I go to the fifteen-year-olds' section. Alice is my best friend, easily. She's an orphan, and she lives in the community home. She's really nice. Even the peacekeepers like her.

"Good luck, Jax," Alice calls. "Please, don't get reaped! Stay safe! For me!"

I frown at her choice of words, then wave back. She reminds me a bit of my sister, sometimes.

My sister...who I used to have. She brought home a bunch of flowers one day a few years ago. Father was very suspicious. He beat her to death, then pretended a mugger did it. He even pretended to cry at her funeral. Well, we couldn't afford a real funeral, but it was when we buried her ashes. After her death, I got a rose tatoo right above my heart.

Alice blends into the crowd, just like my sister always did, fading into the background, disappearing.

The reaping is beginning. Eventually, the escort takes the stage.

"Maia Thresher!" she calls.

A girl comes out of the fourteen-year-olds. She looks surprised, but then a smile comes over her face. A smile. Weird. I'd have thought I'd be the only one to be happy to be reaped.

"Helson Everon!"

"I volunteer," I say before I can change my mind. I have to get away from my parents. My father, especially. He is cruel. He killed my sister. If I win, I can get away from him. If I lose, too.

I go up to the stage and give them my name. Then, I shake Maia's hand. She stares at me, an odd look on her face. Like she was already wondering how she would take me down.