Again, apologies for the slow update rate. :) Also, I've forgotten to write Ace! She's here now, though, in all her glory- albeit a little shorter than Jasmine's part, but she'll have another part quite soon...

~Jasmine Hollis~

I swallow. The strange people are swarming all over the building, going about what looks like their daily business. They pay us no attention as we stand dumbfounded in the doorway. After a moment of silence, I clear my throat. "Come on, we'd better get moving," I say nervously. The others mutter indistinct sounds of agreement, and we edge out into the building's foyer.

I wait for Tork or maybe Naspa to say something, but they are entranced by the people flowing around us. Grumbling to myself, I march purposefully off towards the elevator. "Just standing there isn't going to help much," I call back over my shoulder. The group lurches forward as one, and I can see them trying to quell their anxiety. I'm struggling with the same thing; the silent people are nerve-racking, especially since we know deep down that they're not just here for decoration. However, even as our group wades through them, not a single one gets close to us or even registers that we are there. It makes me feel as though we have some sort of little force field around us.

However, it still doesn't give us much of a sense of security. We skirt and skip around the mutts the whole way. After what seems like a ridiculously long time, considering that all we did was walk across a room, we reach the elevators. I push the button with the upward-pointing arrow on it and it lights up. To break the tense silence, Gante asks, "Any idea what floor we're headed to?"

I suck my cheeks in thoughtfully. "Well… I don't particularly want to be down here, but I'm a little leery of the top floor, too… how about right in the middle?"

Tork breaks himself out of his daze and replies tiredly, "Sounds wonderful, Jasmine. If you don't mind, though, I'm going to stay down here and try to find some food."

I nod, but then I pause. "Not by yourself, surely?"

Tork runs his tongue nervously over his teeth. I can tell he's a little frightened, but he doesn't want to have to tell us. Before I can say anything, Naspa pipes up. "I'll help you, Tork."

Tork shoots her a grateful look as the elevator doors slide open. I nod decisively. "Great. The moment you find some stuff, bring up as much as you can carry- remember, Gante and I will be on the middle floor. We'll be waiting for you."

Naspa and Tork nod in understanding, and they watch apprehensively as the doors close behind us.

Once the elevator doors are closed, I look at the panel of numbers. There's fourteen floors. "Hmm," I murmur. "Gante, what do you think- seven or eight?"

Without hesitation, he says, "Seven. That's supposed to be a lucky number, right?"

I grimace. "Which is probably a good reason not to choose it."

He pales a little bit, and silently reaches out to press the button for the eighth floor. We ride up in silence, each occupied with our own thoughts. The moment the doors whisper open, I stick my head warily out and look to the left and right. Empty, as far as I can tell. I beckon for Gante to follow me, and we step out of the elevator. The doors close behind us. As one, Gante and I turn and silently pad off down the hallway to the left. We pass about nine doors before I slow down. I place my hand on a door's handle, and find it unlocked. I jerk my head, motioning for Gante to follow me in.

I look around the room we've entered. It seems to be a very, very plain sort of office. It's not all that large, and only contains a couple of bookshelves, a desk, a chair, and a large heap of rags. I snatch up a rag from the pile and bring it over to the door. I open it and tie the rag to the outside handle. I hear a small noise from Gante, and I explain, "It's to let Tork and Naspa know what room we're in."

I turn around, and see that Gante isn't even paying attention to what I had been doing. Instead, he's gazing wide-eyed at the books on the bookshelf. Warily, I walk over and pull one off the shelf at random. I let it flip it open, and I frown. It's a volume full of pictures. I flip the book over to read the spine, and a small sigh escapes my lips. The 97th Hunger Games. I sink down to the floor and gaze unseeingly at the pictures in the book. Now I know who these people are. They're tributes. Dead tributes.

Gante takes the books from my limp fingers and begins to turn its pages. The pages he first looks at are full of happy, smiling people standing in various districts. Then pictures of the chariots and of the interviews flash by… and then the pictures are all in a forest. The faces are no longer smiling. They are tense, frightened… And then the blood begins. A lean teenage girl, a spear through her stomach. A tall boy, blood running from a wound in his head. A tiny girl kneeling on the ground, screaming as a hulking Career towers over her. My breath begins to falter, and the pictures begin to blur through a film of tears. Then, a picture of a brutish boy, glorious in the Capitol. And finally, pictures of people crying- the torn and shattered families and friends of twenty-three dead children.

Tears are sliding freely down my face. I reach over and gently close the book. Gante looks up at me, his eyes red and watery. "Jasmine. Why?"

I shake my head slowly and sniff loudly. Anyone who says tears are beautiful is wrong- real tears, anyways, are snotty and messy. They're not supposed to be beautiful. I sigh, and say quietly, "Because this is what is going to happen to us, Gante. These faces are our faces. That boy that won there- he's Gage or Marigold or Ermine or Fyrian. One of the other arena's Careers. Maybe even Ace…. But not us. And those families are our families. They're my siblings. They're torn, and we're gone."

Gante stands up and slams the book back into the bookshelf. He turns and looks at me defiantly. "All right, Jasmine," he says, and his voice trembles with both fear and anger. "Maybe I don't have much of a chance. Maybe you don't either. If we die, we die. But life is always worth a shot."

I look up at him. His hands are on his hips, and his face is set and determined. I stand up, too, and I give him a small, shaky smile. "Okay, Gante. You're right. I can't let my siblings be broken in one of those books. We'll always try."

"That's it," Gante says, trying to smile back. His hands are fluttering at his side, betraying his nervousness. Still, I admire him. I hope he lives. I wish we all could.

~Ace~

I wrap my hand firmly around my ax. Narrowing my eyes, I watch the five tributes edge in through the door of a building down the street. I nod to myself, and set off towards it.

These people here are really creeping me out. I'm not usually scared by much, but even I have to admit that they're making me a little nervous. Yet another one swerves past me, and I growl. I stand still for a moment, and then I whirl around. The ax leaps from my hand and buries itself in the man's back. He keeps walking. I stand in doubt for a moment before I realize that my weapon is walking away from me. I jog back to him and wrench the blade free of his back. I swallow painfully. There is no mark left behind. The man keeps walking down the street, leaving me rooted to the sidewalk. Unkillable mutts. Just what we all need.

I rally myself and hurry off down the street again. I quietly slip into the building that the other tributes entered. Closing the door softly behind me, I look through the crowd of mutts to see them huddled at the elevator. I slip closer, blending in with the mutts. Straining my ears, I listen. I hear the District 11 girl announce, "I don't particularly want to be down here, but I'm a little leery of the top floor, too… how about right in the middle?" The others agree, and I back off a little. I watch as they split up, and Tork and that Naspa girl head foff in another direction. Gante and Jasmine get in the elevator.

I make a split-second decision to follow the latter group. Chances are the others will meet them up there, anyways. As soon as Tork and Naspa have disappeared, I get into another elevator, only to find fourteen floors available. I frown, and push number seven. It's closer.

The door slides open, but I stay inside, holding my breath and listening. Damn it, nothing. I let the doors close, and impatiently jab my finger at the button for the eighth floor. This time, I stick my head out the moment the doors glide open. Ah- success. Jasmine and Gante are just entering a room down the hall to my left. I press my lips together happily, and wait for their door to close. Then I step out of the elevator and walk quickly down the hall.

I hate this. I love all my tributes so much now! ;( Ah well. Such is the Hunger Games, no?