Hello, my lovelies! I'm baaack! So, quick warning, this is the expositional character to end all expositional characters, what with selective mutism and all, so yeah. To the train! *makes whooshing sound as transition begins*

The moment we boarded the train, I put as much distance between me and everyone else as possible, especially my district partner. He is most certainly deranged; he certainly looks it. Now, I've always been raised not to judge by appearance, but if I were asked to sum Salem up in one word, it'd be crazy.

Our escort has tried luring me out of my room multiple times, for lunch, talking to my mentor, and other social things, but I managed to figure out how the complex menu imprinted onto the wall works, and I got myself lunch without having to leave my room. As for people… I'm not a people person, besides, there's clearly unsettled business between our mentors. It doesn't take a genius to notice the tension between the two, which I find odd; I'd heard they got on pretty well. What would I know, though?

I can hear Salem pacing in his room, grumbling to himself, his voice occasionally rising into yelling. I'm making a point of not meeting his eyes, not when we were asked to shake hands, not when we walked to the train, and certainly not when our escort asked Whit and Anouk who they'd like to mentor. We both left before they could answer.

There's a gentle knock on the door, and my fingers stop dancing along the wood of the table.

"Agatha, I understand if you're feeling shy, but you need to come out at some point. It's almost dinnertime and the recaps are about to start. You don't need to speak with anyone, I promise."

I smile a little at that, of course my quietness would be pinned to something like shyness. I guess I am shy, and I'd just rather be alone, in my room and my comfort zone, with my music. It's a shame they don't have a piano here; maybe I should see if that could be arranged.

I suppose I probably should watch the recaps, even if I have no intention of playing this game, it'd be easier to know who to hide from.

As I make my way across my room, I'm struck by how different my routine will be. I stick by the same actions each day: wake, eat, lessons, Griffin, room, spinet, stare, spinet, Griffin, eat, sleep. I like that, it's simple and easy to follow. No more interaction than needed, and most of it spent to myself.

I slide the door open, and briefly my escort looks shocked, like he wasn't expecting me to appear, but then it's replaced by his usual composed smile, and I awkwardly step out into the hallway.

I step into the living room, and instantly regret it. All eyes turn to face me, including Salem's, and I look at my sandals, sitting as far away from everyone else as possible.

I feel my mentors eyes on me as they tensely whisper between each other, and I look up at them through my lashes. Whit has a slightly annoyed look on his face and Anouk looks frustrated at him. I look back down at my feet, not my business.

Our escort, whose name has completely left me, switches on the TV, and I tuck my knees up to my chest as I stare at the screen.

One and Two bring the usual suspects: careers. The willowy blonde boy and a tough looking girl from One catch our escort's attention straight away.

"Wait, wait, did that boy just say he was a Lennox?"

"I believe he did," Whit says, looking puzzled as the man on his right gets this excited look on his face.

"Well, if I'm not mistaken, that must be the son of Lara and Chester Lennox, two of District One's most successful luxury businesspeople. They own several diamond mines, and they make the most darling products," the green haired man gushes, and then he points to the bejeweled rings on his fingers.

"Straight from the Lennox mines, see?"

From here, I can tell those rings must be worth millions.

"I'm guessing the girl must work for them, then," Whit says, pointing to the large crest on the girl's chest.

Anouk mutters something under her breath; I think she says "Well, that's fucked up,' and I have to agree. I wonder if anyone recognises my name, Agatha Parker, niece of Theodora Parker, Six's most successful hovercraft parts manufacturer. Aunt Theo would never put one of her workers forward to volunteer for me, trained or not.

The kids from Two don't cause as much of a stir, but the girl does rustle our mentors.

"Doesn't exactly look like a career," Whit says, and I see what he means. The girl barely passes five foot and reminds me, strangely, of an excited puppy. She rushes up onto stage, a spring in her step, and she bounces on the balls of her feet as she introduces herself as Zell Jericho, an ear splitting grin on her face. The boy, however, is nothing unordinary, big, strong and menacing looking.

Three starts fairly normally, with a girl with glasses muttering to herself, a nervous look on her face, shuffles onto stage, but once again, it's the boy who surprises everyone. He's a volunteer.

Only twelve years old and volunteering for the Hunger Games.

Well, then.

Four also brings careers, one reaped and one volunteered, which causes more muttering between our mentors, but I couldn't really care less. They both seem perfectly capable of snapping someone's neck. Five is also pretty ordinary, a girl with grubby knees and a torn dress sleeve and the mayor's son. Nothing new.

Then it's us, District Six, and I know that we're probably the craziest here. My cousins certainly seem to think so.

Freak.

The Agatha onscreen doesn't realise what's happening at first, she's off in her own little world, but then the peacekeepers grab her and she lets them drag her up onto stage. It's then that you see the building panic in her eyes, and she's on the verge of tipping over when her district partner is reaped.

There was already a gap of people around Salem Venumhall, but it only grows the second his name is called. He skulks onto stage, a sinister look on his face and completely dressed in black. He's the personification of creepy.

Seven brings a pretty girl with a hooked nose and yet another volunteer. A small twelve year old is reaped, and everyone falls silent, both onscreen and in the train, as the boy puts his brother forward.

The cameras then find the brother, whose arm is gripped by his friend, or maybe his boyfriend, and after a few moments of horrified silence he reluctantly volunteers.

"Well, shit," Whit says, and our escort shoots him a look, clicking his tongue at his 'potty mouth', which, I must admit, is pretty bad.

Eight reels out even more strange kids, and again, it's the boy. The girl is a short fourteen year old in a green dress and pretty normal looking, but the boy is far from it.

"He's an albino," Anouk states, and Whit grunts in agreement. The boy that steps forward has snow white hair tied back in a ponytail, glasses framing terrifying reddish eyes and milky white skin. He's short and wiry looking, and he has a smug look on his face as he walks up onto stage, smirking at the cameras and generally looking like he couldn't care less.

So far, it seems, the 47th games is reeling out all sorts of oddities.

Nine brings a screaming girl and a boy who looks positively joyful at the fact he's been reaped, and Ten brings two thirteen year olds, the girl bawling her head off and tugging at her tunic sleeves and the boy barely keeps his composure as he takes his place, desperately trying not to cry.

Eleven is… unusual. The girl seems strangely calm, once the initial shock passes, and even manages a small smile to the cameras. The boy, however, is livid, screaming how someone should've volunteered for him, and that he's 'a god amongst men'. Anouk finds it quite hysterical.

Finally, District Twelve brings a tiny twelve year old and a fifteen year old with a bruised face and a split lip.

"He looks like trouble," our escort mutters, preening his hair, but I don't see it. He looks a bit scrawny, not to mention quite short.

The TV flickers off, and I stand, fully prepared to go back to my room and use the fancy menu to get myself dinner, but Anouk speaks up.

"Everyone needs to attend dinner; there's lots we need to sort out."

No such luck.

Our escort, who Whit calls Brannock, trots ahead of us into the dining compartment, and I make sure to let both of our mentors walk behind Salem before joining the line.

The dining court is spectacular; in fact it reminds me of a fancier version of aunt Theo's dining room, just with a lot more- as Libia or Chassidy would put it- perzazz.

The moment we take our places, me sat next to Salem and Whit and Anouk sat opposite, avoxes begin serving up the first dish: soup with nutty bread, and once again it reminds me of home. Aunt Theo loves soup.

There's a moment of quiet before Brannock speaks up.

"Well, you two should probably pick who you'd like to mentor this year."

Whit and Anouk look at each other for moment.

"I'll take Agatha," Whit says, offering me a smile, which I sort of return. I don't know why Whit would want to mentor me; I'm a bit of a lost cause. I'm not stupid, I know how the games work, and he must know I'm not going to win.

Salem, however, looks like victor material.

Oh.

Whit and I share a look, and I think he sees that I understand. It's Anouk's first year as mentor; he doesn't want her to start with someone who clearly won't win.

I notice Salem's fingers clench around his dinner knife, and I instinctively edge my chair away slightly.

"I'm not going with her," he spits 'her' like poison, and Anouk's own hands clench.

"Tough luck."

Then, way to quickly, Salem stands, knife in hand, and I flinch as he thrusts it in Anouk's direction.

"Don't talk to me, bitch."

Anouk and Whit both stand in unison, and Brannock lets out a terrified squeak. I just want to leave.

And then Salem's hand draws back to throw the blade, and Brannock and Whit begins shouting as Anouk gets a knife in her own hand.

But the blade never leaves his hand because suddenly he's pinned down by a hoard of peacekeepers. I had barely noticed them in the shadows.

"For the love of God," Whit yells, "what took you so damn long?"

The peacekeepers stare back with their bug-like helmets, and then they begin dragging Salem off, who's growling and thrashing against them, but eventually they get him out, and the door slides shut.

Anouk's quivering as she drops the knife onto the table, and she sits back down, shortly followed by Whit, and she stares at her food for a long moment before rising again and walking out of the dining compartment.

"I guess I'm taking Salem then," Whit sighs, and with that he leaves too, leaving just Brannock and me. We stare at each other for a second, and he sighs and nods, reading my expression. I stand and scurry out of the dining compartment, retreating to my room

That went awfully.

In my room, I can't hear Salem screaming anymore, so they must have sedated him, or maybe he just calmed down. I have no idea why he reacted like that; maybe he has a thing about women? It would seem so, he flipped the moment Anouk opened her mouth.

I'll make sure to avoid him even more than I already was.

I suddenly wake, and I'm struck by that moment of panic you get when you realise you're somewhere unfamiliar; I haven't felt that since I was four. Once I remember where I am, my heart slows a little, and I stare at the darkened room. We must be passing through Five, because outside my window I can see lots of little blinking lights and a giant curved wall, and I recognise it instantly. It's Five's largest hydroelectric dam. I learnt about it a few years ago in Uncle Alphie's lessons.

I stare at it for a while, trying to figure out what woke me. It wasn't a dream, and even if it was I've completely forgotten what it was about, so I continue staring at the dam as my brain pieces it together.

And then I realise what it is.

It's the sound of Salem Venumhall crying.

Right, I need to quickly know something: when any of you saw Mockingjay: Part One, did anyone else laugh at the line "Anything old can be brought back into fashion… like democracy." (said by Effie Trinket) Because I was the only one in the cinema who laughed. I need to know, guys.

And before you all eat me about the boy from Eight having reddish eyes, severe cases of albinism can cause that person's eyes to be a reddish pink colour. Shhh. *presses finger to your lips*.

Anyways, hope you enjoyed. (^_^)