Olivia Lilac Thorne, District 11 Girl

Hunter Orion Vale, District 11 Boy

Life Before The Reaping

Olivia Lilac Thorne, 15

Like a normal Saturday in District Eleven, Olivia Thorne was picking wild berries and plants in the outskirts of the forest. It was her usual pastime and she preferred doing it alone. It was her place of peace, quiet and her only chance to actually be alone and think. Back home, the house was filled with spoiled screams and whines from her little brothers and her two older sisters worked around the house to help, often going from one place to another in lightning speed. Olivia would always try to help, but housework just wasn't for her and this led her to the beautiful outside without anyone screaming and running around.

Although it seemed like a normal Saturday, it wasn't. In a week was the reaping and Olivia had dreaded the day ever since she turned twelve. Her second reaping had been the worst and one she would never ever forget. It had been drizzling but the reaping continued on as if there was no rain at all. Thunder rolled across the sky as District Eleven's escort, Skylar Oakley, read aloud the name for the girls. Olivia could remember it clear as day.

"Sheila Poppy! Come up here darling! No need to be shy," Skylar said to no one in particular as he was still looking around for the girl.

Olivia stood absolutely still, staring blankly at the ground as her best friend shook violently beside her. The peacekeepers spotted her and marched towards the shaking thirteen year-old. Out of desparation, Sheila held onto Olivia's arm in an iron grip which possibly left a bruise. Skylar must have seen her already because his obviously artificial purple eyes pierced into Sheila's fearful brown ones.

"Come up, Sheila Poppy!" Skylar called with a kind smile on his face. "We can't wait forever you know."

Her best friend was reaped and Olivia did not know what to do. Was she to volunteer? Could she volunteer? No, she couldn't. Her whole family needed her home, but what about Shelia's? They need her too. Olivia could feel a lone tear make its path down her soft, delicate cheek as Sheila was forced to let go of Olivia's arm as she was dragged by peacekeepers up the stage.

"Mom!" she screamed, looking around for her mother. "Mom! Help me, mom! Mommy!"

"Sheila!" Mrs. Poppy's desperate calls echoed in the square of the reaping. "Let go of her, you monster!"

Surprisingly, Mrs. Poppy managed to go over the rope without meeting any peacekeepers in the way. She ran for her daughter who struggled as she was forced to go up the stairs to the stage. Before Mrs. Poppy could reach her, a peacekeeper from another end of the square pulled a gun out and Olivia watched him shoot, the bullet lodging itself into Mrs. Poppy's thigh making her fall, knocking her head hard on the cement and she was unconscious.

Sheila sobbed endlessly on stage, not even bothering to hide the tears. Olivia cried on her own, rubbing her bruising arm. She could see everyone else looking at Sheila, eyes filled with pity but at the same time, relief. But there was no relief in Olivia's eyes. She did not have the nerve to feel relieved because it was Sheila, her best friend and the person who's always been by her side besides her family, was reaped. She couldn't believe it. Sheila was much more well off than Olivia's family so she couldn't have taken any tessera. Her mother wouldn't let her either. What were the odds of Sheila getting picked when she had two slips of paper in that bowl?

"Olivia?"

Snapping out of her thoughts, Olivia lifted her head up from gazing down at the plants and berries she already collected with glassy eyes. Lia, her green-eyed nineteen year-old sister, stood before her but a bit too far as she was behind the border of the forest. She never dared to step in even though Olivia's done if many times before. As soon as she saw Lia, she hastily wiped the tears forming in her eyes.

"You really have to forget about that reaping," Lia said, obviously noticing her tears. "It happens, Olivia. You can never go back to stop it. She's in a better place now."

"It's pretty hard to forget," Olivia said quietly.

Life Before The Reaping

Hunter Orion Vale, 17

Far from the forest stood a tall, mourning boy with his brown hair neatly placed and his cold brown eyes gazing absentmindedly at the house a few meters before him. He was outside the old, dirty fence around the lot of the big house. The large field that was once so beautiful and green was simply just mud spread across the rest of the abandoned lot. The house by the field was covered in ash and rubble and Hunter could almost hear the cries of the burning workers in there again.

"It is not healthy for you to keep returning here, Hunter."

Without acknowledging the speaker, Hunter swiftly turned and started to walk away from the house, his face straight and his steps were stiff and forced.

"Hunter, dear–"

"Grandma, go away," Hunter finally spoke, his voice low with a growl.

"You don't talk like that to your grandmother, young man!" Hunter was scolded.

But no matter how many times she called for him to come back and talk to her, Hunter simply walked and walked and walked until he was back home. He rarely ever stayed in his room as he liked to stay in his little sister's room because he felt safe. It was like he was being watched by a very kind spirit. Hunter knew Garnet was there making sure her big brother was well. He was not like her. He was not sick, but he wished he was. He wished he was sick, just like her. He wished he would die, just like her. There was nothing left for him here.

Five years ago, his parents died in a fire. They were inside the house of the owner they worked for and there was an unexpected fire. No one ever knew what caused it and who did. Most people of District Eleven would say the fire came from the kitchen and coincidentally, the body of Hunter's father was found in the kitchen. He could still remember when almost everyone in the District looked at him and his sister like they were pieces of rubbish to be thrown in the sewers. His sister would cry all night and he would stay by her side.

As Hunter stood on the rough floor of his sister's bedroom, he heard soft knock on the door.

"Hunter, please talk to me."

It was his grandmother again. There were definitely times when Hunter would consider opening up to his grandmother, but he never opened up to anyone. So as usual, Hunter ignored his grandmother's calls and simply stared at the empty room of his now deceased eleven year-old sister. He would never know when his suffering would stop, but he knew it wouldn't be soon.

The Reaping

Olivia Lilac Thorne, 15

"Olivia, help me find Ember!" Lilac Thorne yelled from the kitchen as she packed the leftover lunch and stuffed it in the tiny refrigerator they could barely afford.

Down the hallway, a door opened and Acacia Thorne stepped out in a thin, slightly torn towel and her long brown hair soaking wet.

"Mom, Ember's in here! Let Olivia dress up first!" she said before shutting the door behind her.

Another door opened further into the hallway and Lia stepped out of the room holding up two dresses to show.

"Wait, Acacia, I need your help! Which dress should I wear?"

But Acacia was already gone and was back in her room. Lia stomped her way to her door and noisily banged her fist on the old wood, calling Acacia's name and demanding for her to open the door. Amidst the screams and shouts around the busy household, Olivia Thorne stepped out of the room she shared with her older sister Acacia and Lia almost hit Olivia's head with her fist. Apologizing quickly, Lia slightly pushed her little sister out of the way to find the other Thorne in the room. Unfortunately for her, there were two other Thornes in room, Jasper and Ember. Cackling, Jasper took one of Lia's dresses and ran down the hallway.

"Ugh, Jasper, come back!" Lia screeched, running after her brother.

Olivia had no idea how she managed to convince Jasper to return Lia's dress, force Ember (with the help of another male Thorne, Fern, of course) into taking a bath and finally picking something for Lia to wear. All that mattered was that Olivia was finally outside her house, doing her finishing touches on her three little brothers. After their dress shirts were wrinkle free and their shoes were squeaky clean, the rowdy family was on their way to the reaping.

"When are we going to get tessera for mom again, Olivia?" Fern asked, his voice high and his hazel eyes wide.

"If it's possible, never," Olivia said, taking his hand in hers as they walked.

"Why do you take tessera then?" he asked, a crease forming in between his eyebrows.

"Because I have to or you won't be able to eat, silly," Olivia replied with a sad chuckle, squeezing his small delicate hand.

"If you're taking tessera, I wanna take tessera too!" Jasper whined, overhearing their conversation.

"Get a whole bunch for all I care," Lia grumbled, obviously still irritated at the dress situation earlier.

"Lia!" Lilac scolded her daughter.

"You know I don't mean it."

"That's still no reason to say it," Lilac said, frowning at the words of her daughter.

Olivia and her family finally reached the reaping field where a stage was set and the lone victor of District Eleven sat silently on her chair. Skylar Oakley grinned before his mic as he watched everyone settle in for the reapings, and the mayor sat beside the victor looking like a nervous wreck like he usually does at this time of the year.

It was hard to say goodbye to her whole family and it was even harder to enter the field alone, joining the other candidates for District Eleven's tributes this year. It took a while for everyone to finally settle in and Olivia just wanted this over with. She managed to get through three reapings already. She still had hope in her that she would get through this one.

The Reaping

Hunter Orion Vale, 17

"Welcome, District Eleven, to you reaping for the fifty-second annual Hunger Games!" Skylar Oakley said into the mike, his bright green hair even messier than before and his skin tight shirt and jeans looking even tighter, if that was even possible, than usual.

Hunter stood in his spot with the other seventeen year-olds. A few tried to make a conversation with him which was normal during reapings since everyone was probably bored out of their minds. Hunter did not mind them. He did not even spare them a glance. With a huff, they would return to listening to Skylar and Hunter wouldn't even care.

What he hated the most was the mayor's speech because it showed the whole Panem how pathetic this District really was. He was stuttering over his words and would occassionally bring out a piece of paper from his pocket to read aloud his lines that he was supposed to memorize. Hunter didn't understand how the mayor could act like this to millions of people. Then again, it was the reapings and Hunter knew many people went insane just at the thought of being picked. The mayor had a son who was thirteen if Hunter recalled correctly. He must have been worried, but Hunter knew he knew nothing about the pain of losing someone. Half of him actually wanted his son to be picked, just so he could experience how much pain and how much of his life he would lose when his son was finally gone.

Nobody knew how it felt like. Nobody would ever understand him.

"Olivia Thorne!"

Surprised, Hunter snapped out of his thoughts, wondering how long he dazed out. Thorne, he knew that name. An older Thorne died the same year his sister did as they both died with the same disease. They were the only two known to have gotten the very rare disease in twenty years.

Hunter tried to look around for the girl. He could hear cries and screams from the outside crowd, those who weren't eligible for the reapings. Finally, the girl was spotted and the peacekeepers ran to her before she could go anywhere. By the look of her, Hunter didn't think she had any plans on going anywhere, not even to the stage. Her face was all white and her eyes were big and absolutely terrified. Hunter could feel a surge of sympathy in him for the young girl.

She was dragged by the peacekeepers. She didn't struggle nor did she even move her legs. Her face was completely blank and it looked like she was dead except for the facts that her eyes were wide open and she was breathing quickly and uncontrollably.

"Now, for the boys!" Skylar said when Olivia was finally upstage, her back hunched and her legs shaking.

Skylar walked over to the bowl for boys and pulled out one tiny slip of paper. Unrolling it, he excitedly grinned as he read the name aloud.

"Hunter Vale!"

Hunter blinked, his heart beat clouding his ears from hearing anything. Lub-dub, lub-dub, lub-dub. It was all that he could hear. His blood had gone cold and his eyes were wide with anger and hate. He forced himself move forward. The other seventeen year-olds already made a path for him for him to the stage. He would never let those filthy peacekeepers touch him. Slowly, he made his way up the stage and faced the whole of his district beside his sobbing, motionless district partner.

He was going to die, just like his whole family. He was going to join them soon and he didn't mind at all. It would be much better than being in the cruel world he lived in today.

The Justice Building

Olivia Lilac Thorne, 15

Olivia couldn't believe just about an hour ago, she was talking to her three little brothers about tessera. With what just happened, there was no way they would be taking any tessera when they turned twelve. These thoughts swirled around Olivia's head as she curled up in a ball in the corner of the room, sobbing.

Her whole family came in all at once, crying as well. Not even the boys had their sneaky grins and glints in their eyes. Lia seemed to have gotten the dress situation out of her head. Acacia was simply bawling her eyes out and she was the loudest crier out of them all. Lilac couldn't even look Olivia in the eye. Olivia knew why. Her mother was the one who suggested for her to take more tessera this year. She must have blamed herself for Olivia getting reaped.

"You're going to come back, okay?" Fern squeaked out, his voice very shaky and his eyes bloodshot. "You're a survivor. You'll come out alive."

"Fern, you can never be sure," Olivia whimpered.

"I know, but it won't hurt to stay positive right?" Fern replied, nodding his head and wrapping his arms around Olivia's waist.

"Olivia, don't go!" Jasper and Ember cried at the same time, running to their big sister and hugging her as well.

She couldn't believe this might just be the last time she would be seeing these annoying rascals she has taken care of ever since they're were born. It was all just too fast. It was like Sheila all over again except she wasn't the one asking for her not to go. She was the one being asked to stay now and it felt horrible. Was this how Sheila felt like when she was reaped? How did she cope with this kind of feeling?

The Justice Building

Hunter Orion Vale, 17

It was quiet and tear free in the room of the Justice Building he was pushed into just a few minutes ago. He sat on the velvet couch, his face void of emotion. He waited patiently for someone to come in and say goodbye. As expected, his grandmother entered, her face free of tears as well but so full of fear. She cautiously approached her grandson until she was able to sit beside him on the couch. For a few minutes, no one spoke. Not being able to take the silence, Hunter broke it.

"How do you think dying feels like?" Hunter asked in a raspy voice.

"I don't know," his grandmother chuckled. "I'm still alive, aren't I?"

"Well, what do you think then?"

His grandmother lifted her head up and stared into Hunter's eyes that were so filled with hurt and anger.

"I think death is something that should not be feared," she answered slowly. "I believe death is not the end of someone's life but simply a continuation, my child. Your father, my daughter and my granddaughter are all still with you. They never left. You keep thinking you're alone when really, they're all around you, watching your every move and making sure you're doing okay. Promise me something, Hunter."

Hunter looked deep into his grandmother's eyes, holding on to every word she said as it might be the last he would hear from someone who was his real family.

"Never ever think you're alone," his grandmother said, taking both his hands in hers and squeezing them in assurance. "You never were and you never will be."

Hey guys! Here's the new chapter! How are the tributes? Tell me what you think in a review! All reviews are appreciated and I love you all who give me such great motivation to type the next chapter up as soon as possible!

Another thing, I know people have been having problem with some pictures in my blog and I think I've finally fixed it. If you don't mind please check it out again so I know if it's working already or not for you guys. Thank you so much again guys! Tell me what you think in a review! :)

~jess