Daniel Arthurness/D3/12:
"Everyone, here are the tributes for District 3 along with their mentor!", I hear from the speakers outside the train. "Hold hands while you walk out," our mentor tells us, still not knowing his name. "You still haven't told us your name," I say. "It doesn't matter.." he moans. Suddenly, the train doors slide open and we're left to face the screaming crowds.
I grab onto Lucy's hand and we step off onto the platform. "Daniel!", I hear a woman scream. "There's the male tribute!", I hear another one scream. This is vile. There's tons of crazed lunatic cheering me on, knowing that I'm going to die soon. I'm only a regular kid, why are they going to psycho? Good thing that there's barriers containing them all, otherwise I'd probably be savaged.
Lucy and I walk through the closed-off pathway while everyone pushes their arms out as far as they can reach, desperately trying to touch us. We get to the end of the path and we're greeted by a fancy black limousine. A Peacekeeper opens the door and lets our mentor, Lucy and I inside. The Peacekeeper shuts the door and I immediately notice the bars blocking us off from the driver. "Are we being arrested?", I joke, but no one finds it funny. The driver refuses to speak or look us in the eye, our mentor is always sad and complaining, and Lucy is extremely shy and nervous. Why do I have to spend my last few days alive with these people?
As we drive off into the distance, I look through the back window and I watch as the barriers slowly lower into the ground, letting the crowds free and letting them chase us. The car drives through the Capitol city and I see why I'm right to hate them; Everyone is wearing all sorts of bizarre clothes and shiny jewelry on every street, all the buildings are towering up into the clouds and there's even a few poodles that are dyed purple.
The car turns around into a deserted street that comes to a dead end. The car begins to speed up and I soon realize that we're going to head straight into wall. The driver quickly hits a button on the center of the steering wheel and suddenly, the wall opens up a secret passage way. We drive straight into the room, plunging us in complete darkness.
The driver stops the car and two Peacekeepers open the door beside me. They pull us out of the car and the room suddenly lights up. The room is covered with metal slabs and there seems to be a long tunnel connected to one of the walls. The car turns around, almost knocking us over and drives back outside, most likely to collect the other set of tributes. The Peacekeepers usher us forward and we begin to walk into the dark tunnel.
The long hallway lights up with flashing arrows pointing forwards. "Where are we going?", I ask the group. The Peacekeepers refuse to answer while Lucy and our mentor just look at me nervously. I look on and I see a light coming from the end of the tunnel. We reach the end and we enter a horizontal hallway of Peacekeepers, nurses and doctors. "District 3?", a man in a white jacket asks us. Lucy and I nod our heads. "And you're the mentor?", he asks as he points at our mentor. "Yes", he replies. "Good", the man says, "the Peacekeepers will bring you to the Prep Hall, the tributes can follow me".
Lucy and I follow the mysterious man through various hallways and rooms, walking past young kids lying on beds. Then I recognize who the kids are; they're tributes. I recall seeing them on the television on the train, but there's only four of them. I look at one of them on his bed and I know his name; Kaiser. He's the boy from District 2. He stares at me menacingly so I turn my head and I continue following the man.
"Daniel," he says, already knowing my name, "hop up on this bed and wait for someone to come." I do as I'm told and I wave goodbye to Lucy, but she just looks at me and doesn't respond. The more I spend my time with Lucy, the more I get suspicious of her. I understand that this whole experience is nerve-wracking, but seriously, she should have a bit of respect to talk to me. There's only three reasons as to why she's not talking; she's either shy, she doesn't like me or she is plotting my death in the arena.
Lucy Voltzer/D3F/16:
I'm pretty happy that I'm away from him now. I kind of felt odd talking to someone so much younger than me. "Lucy, sit up here," he says as he taps on the bed. "Just wait here for your assistants to come." My assistants? What does he mean by that?
I prop my self up on the bed and I cross over my legs as I look at the other four tributes being medically treated. I wonder what they're doing to Daniel. There's a big stone wall in between us, but I did see some man rush in with a syringe. I hope that they don't wreck me.
Suddenly, out from the curtain behind me, a young and attractive man steps out wearing nothing but underwear. "Hello Lucy", he says calmly, "I'm Yorkmonford Gradezzle, you can just call me York." He sits himself up on the end of my bed and he gingerly runs his fingers through his dark brown hair. "I'm your mentor," he says as I stare into his sea blue eyes. I manage to stop my eyes inspecting his ripped body as he continues the conversation. "I won the 95th Games, but don't worry, I wasn't the violent type."
I try to make myself seem interested in the conversation so I start speaking. "I remember watching you push the final tribute into the lava pool. You were certainly a brave person," I say. He starts to chuckle. "Yeah.. I felt bad but he was pretty ugly," he says. Let me just tell you that this guy is extremely cocky and vain.
"So why are you naked?", I ask. He looks down at himself. "Oh! I completely forgot. Uh, I don't know why I'm naked, I suppose I like the fact that I feel free while I am," he replies. I can't really understand this guy. He's mysterious, weird, a bit goofy, vain but he's really cute.
"Well I better get going," he says, "see ya." He walks around the stone wall and he's out of my sight. I finally feel comfortable now. Talking isn't my favorite thing to do, I hate it. I always feel compressed and I feel like I'm shrinking. The interviews are certainly going to be hell.
I wait on the bed for a few minutes until I see two women a man heading in my direction. "Are you Lucy?!", an abnormally thin and tall woman with spiky green hair asks. I shyly nod my head. Oh no. These people are talkers, I can tell.
"Oh my!", the small plump man screeches, "She's hideous!". So now they're insulting me? Okay. "Don't overreact! She's quite fabulous actually!", the bald woman with freakish illuminated neon yellow eyes says. They start to circle around my bed and begin poking and feeling me. "Oh, we better tell you our names!", the bald woman says, "I'm Juliek!".
The other woman pulls off my shoes and my socks. "And I'm Pond!", she shrieks as she pulls my toes. "And my name is Frolap," the man says in a disappointed tone while he looks at my fingernails.
"All together now," says Juliek. "And we are," they all chime together, "your," they stop and begin to stomp their feet, making a drum roll, "assistants!".
Erenis Gader/D5F/15:
"This may hurt, but please try and stay still," says Bromley, my assistant. I lay flat on the bed and she starts to yank my hair back into some sort of machine. "This will make your hair longer," she says as she pushes a button on her remote control. I hear the machine starting to rumble, and suddenly, I feel my hair being pulled mercilessly.
I let out a painful scream but screaming doesn't make it stop. I think my head's bleeding so I continue screaming. "Don't worry, Erenis. It will be over soon!", shouts Bromely as she holds me down onto the bed. She turns off the machine and I immediately turn my head to see what damage has been done. There's only a couple of hairs caught in the machine so I begin to believe her that I look great.
The next couple of hours consist of getting measured, waxed, drowning myself in some sort of mysterious brown goo, plucking my eyebrows, getting covered in spray tan and all while I'm completely naked. Completely.
"You look stunning!", she shrieks, "You might be the best looking tribute yet!". She ushers me away down various hallways and into a dimly lit room with a bed and a steel wardrobe. "Stay here, your stylist will be here soon," she says. She pushes a button on the wall, which triggers the glass light on the ceiling to glow an electric blue light, and she leaves the room. I lay on the bed for a couple of minutes until I hear the door opening.
"Hello, hello?", I hear a feminine voice whisper. I tilt my head up and I see the crazy woman peeking through the door. "Are you Erenis?", she asks. "Yes," I silently reply, trying to match her quiet tone. "Well! Hello Erenis!", she screams as she charges in the room. I'm immediately taken aback by her odd clothing; a small orange tank top that ends halfway up her stomach and is covered in spikes and a pair of red shorts that appear to have golden strings hanging from the rim. Don't get me started on her makeup.
Her whole face is completely covered in blue paint and she has specks of glitter around her lips and her eyes. I also forgot to mention that her hair is tied into a basket shape. "I love your style," I lie. "Thank you! Everyone does! That's why I'm a stylist! My name is Herenda!", she says. Oh god.. What is she going to put me into?
"Now, we have to discuss the parade tonight. I have an amazing costume designed for you, it's in the wardrobe," she says. "How did you make it so quickly? How do you know what size I am? How-"
"Shush! It's okay! I've got it sorted. Your assistant measured you up and she gave me the measurements while you were bathing in the Nolumax, that's the gooey stuff. Okay?". Not okay, how did she make it so quick?
"But how is it done already?", I ask. "Well I already had the costume designed. All I had to do was enter your measurements into my special machine and.. BAM! The dress was made!", she explains, "Just go check it out!".
I walk over to the wardrobe and I slowly begin open the door. "Go on..", she whispers. This is it. What skimpy outfit has she got for me? I hope it doesn't show too much..
I swing open the door and I see it hanging from a clothes hanger; a beautiful golden dress with around fifteen crystal orbs placed all over. "What do you think?", she asks. "It's beautiful," I reply. But it is beautiful, I'm not lying. I'm certainly going to shine during that parade.
Tranthan Aileys/D5M/16:
"Both of you, turn around," orders Herenda, "The parade is starting in a minute or two so I better get you both sparked up." What does this fool mean? "Sparked up?", I say in a confused tone. "Don't worry," she says while she fiddles with something on my back, "Almost.. done.. Done!".
Suddenly, I lightly feel an odd sensation fill through my body. "You can turn back around," she says. I twist my head and I immediately see what she done. All over Erenis's dress, streaks of electricity are zapping out from the glass balls to another one.
"Oh my god," mutters Erenis, "Look at yourself." I look down at my costume that's the same as Erenis's except I'm wearing pants instead of a dress, and I watch as the bolts of energy flicker around my body. "That's only the beginning," says Herenda, "Push this button when you get halfway out there." She hands me a tiny controller that's hooked up to the back of my costume. "What will it do?", I ask. "Something..", she eerily replies. "All tributes, please step into your chariots!", I hear a voice call out around the hall.
Herenda escorts us over to our golden chariot and it seems that we'll be in the middle of the parade. Everyone else is full of colors and lights. I see the District 4 tributes wearing some sort of shell head piece with fish scales all over their bodies; weird. I also see the District 10 tributes wearing cowboy hats, a cow bell and a white costume with black spots; once again, weird.
"Hold on tight," she says. Erenis and I step up onto the sturdy platform and we grab onto the steel bars on either side. "Remember to smile!", she squeals. And with the sounds of the Capitol anthem and the start of the loud cheers, I see that the District 1 tributes are already outside.
The horses start pulling are chariot and I begin to hear the screams getting louder. "Hold hands," whispers Erenis. "No, get away!", I say. She gives me an unimpressed look and she moves her hand away from me. Here we go..
The chariot is outside and I see the crowds of thousands of Capitol citizens. "And here comes the District 5 tributes!", I hear a voice call out around the runway. I think I should press the button now..
I press the button and I await for the surprise to happen, but nothing changes. "It didn't work," I say to Erenis who's waving at the crowds. "Do it again," she says while still containing her smile on her face. I touch it again but nothing happens. It must be faulty. I hit the button against the steel bar on the chariot and press it again. Nothing happens.
This is it! It has to work! I slam it against the steel bar, and I don't remember fully what happened, but I do recall seeing the electricity bolt along the bar and mercilessly shock Erenis and I.
"What's happening there?", I hear the voice call out around the walkway. I instantly collapse and I fall onto the base of the chariot and I see Erenis fall too. My bare hand touches off her electric dress and I begin to get shocked relentlessly. I feel every bone in my body aching and I instantly black out.
After that, I remember seeing the Peacekeepers rushing towards us and I remember as I feel them tampering with the switch on my back. Then I see President Snow sitting up on the balcony as I'm pulled into a dark room underneath him.
I slowly open my eyes after the incident and I'm lying in a bed. "How do you feel?", a soft woman asks me. She stands by my bedside and leans down towards me. "I feel okay. What happened?".
"You were electrocuted during the Reaping. We've checked you and you seem to have no serious injuries, the electricity wasn't real but it still knocked you out. But do not fret, we've taken care of your stylist."
"What do you mean 'taken care of my stylist?'", I ask.
"Well," she begins, "Snow has taken care of her. He made her go to sleep."
Cliff-hang-ah! So what did you think of this chapter? The Games are approaching... are you excited? BECAUSE I'M EXCITED! :D I really hope you enjoyed this chapter, and if you did or didn't, please explain why in a review! :)
I can't wait for you all to read the next chapter because we'll be getting closer towards the Games! What do you think the twist will be? Who do you think will be a bloodbath victim? Who do you think will win? Who do you want to win? Let me know and please vote for the winner in the poll on my profile! As always, thank you so much for reading! It really inspires me to continue writing and it really makes me happy to know that there's people out there who like my odd creations! Thank you so much! Byeeeee :)
