Sorry if there are any grammar, spelling, or any mistakes of that nature this chapter. My grammar-editor is still not working and I'm much too lazy to reread and correct this myself.

Dennis is from Team Shadow and Macey and Tracey are from Lord Shiro.

Note: In Dennis's chapter, the worms mentioned are muttations that are basically earthworms but with much larger brains (so they can feel pain and fear).

District 5

Dennis Fielder

The rising sun pokes out from the cracks between each of the tightly packed houses. I glance up at it for a minute, then return to my task. I ignore the unpleasant feel of dirt under my fingernails, and continue to dig. I see a small thing wriggling in my next scoop of dirt, and pick it up with delicate fingers. I stare at the worm for a second in curiosity before throwing it down next to the rest.

Before I continue my search, I notice that one of the worms in my previous stash is trying to crawl away. I cluck my tongue and reach down and pull the worm back up.

"You're not escaping any time soon," I inform him in my low, taunting voice. "I"m going to have a lot of fun with you." It wriggles in my hand, and I tighten my hold, probably hurting the thing. It's much more difficult to see the pain and suffering with worms, which is why it's not ideal to use them, but it's better than nothing. I still get to see them panic.

I set the worm back down with the rest, keeping an eye on it so it doesn't try to escape. I gather a few more worms from the wide selection before deciding I have enough. I cram them all in my pants pockets and half-heartedly cover up the hole I've dug. I have no doubt that Cade and Dad have caught wind of my sadistic ways by now, but I'd still rather not show any concrete evidence.

When most of the dirt is back in the hole, I re-enter my house. It's very small, although there are undoubtedly worse living arrangements in District 5. I have my own room, but only because I forced Cade out of it. Now he gladly shares with Dad, since they're all kind of scared of me.

I slam the backdoor closed and make my way through the kitchen. I start with light feet, but then realize that I don't care whether they hear me or not, and resume my usual thundering pace. As I walk toward my room, I see Cade peeking at me through a crack in the door.

"Can I help you?" I snarl. He squeals and disappears in his room without another word. I roll my eyes and a small smile plays on my lips. I love seeing the fear in people's eyes. It's one of the best things. Watching their terror and pain… there's nothing like the experience.

I enter my room and slam the door closed. The room is small, but I don't need it to be big. I sleep on a mattress on the floor and have a desk. I used to have an actual bed, but I threw that out years ago. I kept some of the wood, though, and fashioned it into illegal weapons and such. I know that it's not "safe" to have them, but why should I care? It's not like the Peacekeepers raid random houses, looking for weapons. They only raid houses when they get a tip, and who's going to tip me? The only people who know I have weapons are myself and Cade, since I threatened him with one once. And we all know that Cade is way too cowardly to report me.

I pile all of the worms onto my desk, where they squirm and stupidly try to dig into the solid wood. I squat down so that they're eye level and begin laughing. Look at them squirm… they don't even know what's coming, and they're already scared. I wonder how nervous they'll be in a moment.

I lift up my mattress and carefully decide which weapon to use. The sharper ones are easier to operate, but the ones with the dull blades keep them alive for longer, which means more fun. I decide on a small knife with a decently sharp edge, but not enough so that it will kill the worm immediately. I gently press my thumb against the tip, and a small bead of blood begins to appear on the blade. I wince, and draw back my hand. I don't like pain… well, I don't like being in pain. Pain is like a weakness, which is why I hate it with myself and love seeing other people or animals in pain.

I wipe the few drops of blood off onto my pants, which are already dirty from digging around, so it doesn't really matter. I head back over to the table, where the worms continue to squirm around. I grin wickedly at them and begin scouring for my first victim.

"Which of you shall go first?" I ask in a low whisper, looking down at all of them. I see one particular worm inching his way toward the edge of the table, desperately trying to escape. "How about you?" I ask, "since you seem so eager to escape." I pluck the worm up and it begins to slither in my hand. I pinch it tightly, so it's head begins to bulge. "Yes, you seem like a good start." I laugh evilly and squat down, setting the worm in front of me.

When it trying to crawl away, I use a hand to hold it in place. With the other, I brandish my knife. I slowly press the wooden blade against the worm's body, and it begins to struggle at the pressure. I press down even farther, and see the head and tail begin to bulge a bit. It definitely freaks out. Man, I wish I could see it's face and the pain and terror sinking in.

The blade finally cuts into the worm's back, but not enough to split it up. I lean in even closer, breathing directly onto the worm.

"I'm going to kill you," I whisper, and then laugh so loudly the neighbors across the streets probably heard me. I press the knife down, hard, and it slices right through it. It doesn't kill the worm. Eventually, if I would allow it (although I would never) it would regrow a tail. I carefully slice right above the previous cut, and it's narrowed down even further.

I decide not to taunt it any more. I need to see some death now. I don't want to make this easy for it, though. I flip my knife over and position the hilt of the knife right above the worm's little head. I'm going to crush this thing's head in, so it won't ever think again. I begin to giggle as I lower the knife. My laughs get louder and louder until the head is flat and I'm grinding the hilt against the table.

I stop when I hear a knock at the door. My laughs die and my grin immediately turns into a scowl. What could anyone possibly want with me right now? I angrily walk the short distance over to the door and yank it open.

Cade stands there, looking pathetic.

"What do you want?" I ask through gritted teeth. Cade lowers the hand raised mid-knock and stutters out his answer in obvious fear.

"Um, D-Dad said… he, um… s-said that b-breakfast was r-ready. And to c-come get y-you." Cade eyes nervously jump to the knife I'm still holding. It has a few smears of blood on it, but not a lot. Worms don't bleed a lot. My scowl turns to a smile when an idea pops into my head.

"Okay, I'll come in a minute," I say in a voice that sounds surprisingly calm. "But first, I'd like to show you something." Cade looks nervous.

"Um…" he begins nervously, but I send him a look. He knows what happens if he disobeys me. Both of us know that I'm not above hurting my little brother. I gesture him to enter, and he quickly shuffles in. He remains near the door, even after I close it, but that's close enough. I hover over my desk, looking down at all of the panicked worms.

I pick one up without much consideration and dangle it by the tail. Since Cade is so far away, I decide to take it to him.

"Do you see how panicked he is?" I ask him. Cade hesitantly nods, looking terrified. "Do you see the way he squirms around and wants to escape from my clutches?" Another nod. "Now watch."

I use the knife to make a thin slice near its head. At this point, the worm is practically touching Cade. It's dangling right in front of his face, so he can see the way it panics and squirms in pain. A small drop of blood appears where I made the incision, and slowly drips off of the creature. The drop of blood hits Cade's bare foot, which makes him panic.

I watch Cade's face now, seeing tears brim on his eyes. I'm almost done with him, but not quite yet. I lower my face to his, so we're only inches apart.

"You may think my torture of animals is bad, Cade, but you have no idea what I'm capable of," I whisper. "One day, animals won't be enough. I'll begin to crave the pain of humans. And when that day comes, I'll choose the person nearest me to torture. I think you know who that will be."

Cade's terrified expression is enough. I take a step back, and he immediately darts out of my room. He hasn't even exited when he begins to sob uncontrollably. I smile after him.

One day I'll get to hurt humans. Until then, I desperately crave for it. One day I will. But until then, I'll just have to settle.

With one slice, the life leaves the animal.

District 5

Macey Aderyn

I hear the insane laughs of our neighbor resume, and I sigh. That kid's insane. I haven't actually met him (thank god) but I'm still afraid of him. These houses are so tightly packed, I can hear everything that goes on in that place. Well, not everything. I can hear his insane laughs and mumbles speech, but nothing more than that.

"What's wrong with that guy?" Tracey asks me in a surprised voice. I shrug, but she obviously can't see that.

"Probably insane or a psychopath or something," I respond. "Let's head to the Reaping soon," I say.

I know it's a bit early to go, but it takes Tracey and I much longer than most people to walk a short distance. Also, I like being the first person there. It bothers me to have to walk down the aisle and have everyone watching us. They shouldn't be watching us. It's rude. Especially when they begin to mutter about us behind their hands and act like we don't notice them.

We've been called some pretty nasty names. Names no one should ever be called. But yet, we hear them every corner we turn. Sometimes Tracey cries over them, but not me. I never cry. It hurts, but I don't cry. I just get mad.

Mutant, freak, monster.

They just instill rage in me. But with Tracey, she just cries. Which just makes me even madder at them. We're already dressed, and in quite simple clothing. In some Districts, they go all out for the Reaping; dresses, suits, ties. In District 5, we just wear everyday clothing. Tracey and I are dressed in a simple sweatshirt and pants. The sweatshirt, obviously, has a modified neckline so it can fit.

"Are we ready to go?" I ask Tracey.

"Yeah, just let me put on my makeup," she says, eagerly. I groan, but comply and help her walk over to the mirror.

Sometimes, when we're by ourselves, I feel almost normal. Like anyone else. Then I look in the mirror and am reminded that we're not normal. We share a body, and that's not what most twins do.

We're joined at the neck. We have two different heads and brains and thoughts, but we have the same torso and limbs. We're Siamese twins, and no one's really supportive of that in District 5.

Tracey leans in front of the mirror and uses her hand to grab a bottle of mascara. She hands it to me and I hold it while she unscrews the top and begins to apply it to her eyebrows.

"Why do you wear makeup?" I ask. "We're already pretty beautiful. I mean, I know you don't come close to my beauty, but you still don't need it." Tracey laughs, which is always something I love to hear.

"I know I don't need it," she says. "But I like it. It makes me feel confident."

I don't argue my side, even though I can think of some good points. Tracey doesn't feel confident a lot, so I guess it's good when she does and I shouldn't ruin that. I help her apply the rest of it. When we're done, I can't help but feel a little jealous. I hate the feeling of makeup, but my face looks so plain in contrast to hers.

I shake off the envy. I'll never wear makeup. I don't like to hide myself, even behind a small layer of paint.

"Alright, let's go," Tracey says. Right before we leave, she adds one more thing. "And Macey?"

"Yeah?"

"You could never be more beautiful than I am." We share a laugh and leave the room.

District 5

Tracey Aderyn

I feel eyes boring into my back as Macey and I trudge along at a slow pace toward the check-in line. There aren't a lot of people out on the street at this time of day, but there are enough that I feel uncomfortable and insecure. For a second, I forget to move my leg and Macey and I stumble a bit. I control the left side and Macey controls the right side, which makes things a little difficult. We've gotten pretty good at everyday tasks, but not as competent as would be ideal.

"Tracey, don't stop moving!" Macey hisses at me, and I nod and we continue walking. I make the mistake of glancing behind me, and notice a group of kids snickering at us.

"Freak!" one of them whispers at me. He says it so quietly, Macey doesn't hear. Which is really good, because when she does hear insults, she gets furious and can't resist a fight.

I look away from him and keep my head down the rest of the way, feeling close to tears. I know that at this point, I should be toughened up a bit, but it still hurts.

Macey and I reach the check-in line, which only has one other person. The Peacekeeper finishes checking him in, and waves him past. He begins to walk into the roped-in area, but turns around and sees us. He does a double-take, and makes a strangled noise. I can tell he's grossed out, but he tries to hide it and simply walks away. At least he wasn't rude.

The Peacekeeper looks confused how to check us in, so Macey holds out her hand. I don't think the Peacekeeper understands whether to check in one or both of us. In the past, we've only had to check in for one person since we share blood and if one of us is there, the other one obviously is. Macey usually gets her finger pricked, since she suffers pain much better than I do.

The Peacekeeper, despite looking confused, pricks Macey's finger and presses it into a little booklet. It leaves a stain of blood, which makes me shudder. I really don't like to look at blood, it makes me queasy.

The Peacekeeper scans the bloodstain and the machine confirms us as "Macey and Tracey Aderyn". The Peacekeeper waves us past, and we walk into the roped-in area together. Only one more year of the Reapings, and we'll be free. That thought comforts me.

I'm immediately un-comforted when I see people staring at us as we walk down the aisle. I hear a few hisses of "monster" and "mutant" but mostly people remain quiet. They're too scared to insult us right now. Also, there's a huge belief in karma in District 5, so I'm sure most of them believe that if they're jerks to us right now, they'll be Reaped.

We take our place at the very front, which is not somewhere we'd normally choose to be. We like to stay in the back, but we don't really have that choice, since we have to stay at the front with the other eighteen-year-olds.

I mostly block out the next hour.

Other kids trickle in, until the entire space is packed. Then, our new escort, Phrixos, introduces himself and makes us watch a ridiculously boring video promoting the Hunger Games and makes us review the four living Victors we have. We only have one male mentor, who I feel bad for, because he has to mentor every year.

Finally, we get to the drawing of the names.

"This year, let's start with the boys!" Phrixos announces, much too cheerfully. He walks over to the boy's bowl and dips his hand inside. He's very no-nonsense, and doesn't do any of the silly taunting or "who should I choose…?" our old escort, Georgia, used to do. He just draws a name from deep in the bowl and carries it over to the microphone.

Phrixos takes a while unfolding it, although I think that's partly because of his thick fingers. He finally manages to unfold it and reads out loud:

"Dennis Fielder!"

Everyone begins to search for the unlucky boy, but we immediately locate him when he lets out a loud cackle. Everyone else falls uncomfortably silent as a tall, dark-skinned boy exits the eighteen-year-old section practically keeled over, he's laughing so much. He manages to get to the stage, and his laughs die down. However, a creepy grin is still plastered across his face.

"You seem enthusiastic," Phrixos remarks, although there's obvious fear in his voice. He holds out the microphone for Dennis, as if expecting him to answer, but he doesn't anything. Finally, Phrixos is about to set the mic back in place, and Dennis says something.]

"This is going to be fun."

The simple sentence is chilling, and I feel everyone stiffen up. No one wants to be the unlucky girl that has to accompany him.

"Now, let's find out who will be joining Dennis," Phrixos says, and walks over to the girl's bowl.

"I think that's our neighbor - you know, the crazy one," Macey whispers to me as Phrixos draws a name. I nod in agreement - his laugh did sound similar and equally as insane. Phrixos unfolds the paper and reads it silently. He doesn't read it out loud though, he just looks confused.

"Is this a mistake?" he asks. He turns to the mayor, uncertainly, but that guy doesn't know anything. Phrixos just shrugs and reads, "Macey and Tracey Aderyn." I feel my body freeze up. I can't move…

Macey begins to walk up without me, but that just makes us fall over, provoking some laughter. Macey glares at everyone, but even she knows that she can't fight anyone.

"Come on, Tracey," she whispers, sounding frustrated. I finally find the ability to move my leg, and we begin to walk up the stage. Phrixos sees us and sighs in understanding.

"That's why there were two names," he realizes. We stand next to Phrixos, only a few feet away with this insane guy.

"District 5, give a round of applause for your tributes for the 248th Hunger Games: Macey Aderyn, Tracey Aderyn, and Dennis Fielder!" The crowd gives a polite round of applause, but I don't think they even pity us. They're glad to get rid of us. The hyena and the mutants.

We're off into the Games, and everyone knows we won't make it out. I know what they're thinking.

Good riddance.

All three of these tributes were really fun to write and I can't wait to keep writing them. The District 6 Reaping will hopefully be posted tomorrow.

QUESTIONS:

1. What do you think of Dennis?

2. What do you think of Macey?

3. What do you think of Tracey?

4. Who do you like best?

5. What's your favorite type of music?

- Lilah