Tribute Room #5

If one were to see Anna Leptick on the outside they would of said that she was in shock.

That's what her escort thought as Anna bolted out of the elevator in distress. Crying her eyes out while rapidly talking to herself in a fit of misery. The teenage girl kept on running her hand across her near bald scalp as she looked at herself in any reflective object she could find.

On the inside however, Anna felt much more than just simple shock. She felt traumatized. And with each second of seeing what had happened to herself, she felt as if she was getting closer and closer to becoming desolation.

Anna kept on trying to deny what had just happened to her, but every time she saw her reflection, she saw what she had feared. Her hair had been cut to near nothingness.

She saw it. She felt it. She knew it. And telling herself that it wasn't real, that it was just a nightmare, wasn't going to make the fact that she had just lost nearly all her hair go away.

Memories of a time long ago popped up in her mind. A memory that was one of her fondest, even if it had a couple of cringe moments in it. It was of a little girl running around her mother as she pretended she was flying. Her arms parallel to her shoulders and straight as she made whooshing sounds.

It got the attention of the crowd, and as her mother tried to get her to behave, the daughter kept on doing what she wanted to do, and that was pretending to be a machine that could fly in the air.

The young girl kept on bumping into people, and while she said sorry before continuing onto her activity, the people around her gave her a glare. She didn't notice, she was too busy in her own world to notice.

That is, until something caught her eye.

She stopped pretending to fly before she ran towards the object of attraction.

She stopped just short of what was the interesting object that twisted, turned, and knotted together. It was long, it was strange, it was black, and to her, it was amazing. She couldn't figure out what it was, but it looked like something you'd attach to a lamp or something. A kind of chained switch. She wondered if that was why it was on some kind of pole.

The little girl grabbed the roped object and not so gently pulled on it, causing the stand that it was attached to to give out a loud squawk. The girl was startled by the sound and gave out a scream as well.

"Ahh! A monster attached to a rope!" Anna screamed as the object that was attached to the rope turned around to face her.

"I'm not a monster!" A young girl's voice told her with a little bit of hurt. Both from the tug Anna had given her and the words that had been sent her way. "And that was my hair you pulled!"

"That rope's your hair?" Anna asked in surprise and fascination. She then saw that she had indeed pulled someone's hair. The girl was a little taller than herself with skin like dark coffee that went well with her even darker hair. "Cool!"

"What are you doing with my daughter?" A deep, growling voice asked. It scared Anna, but she looked past the girl to see a tall, dark skinned man giving her a menacing look. Before Anna could even think, she said the first thing that came to her mind.

"Ahh! Where'd you come from?"

"Anna!" Her mother's voice sounded out from behind her. "What did you do to that girl?"

"Nothing!"Anna replied. "I just saw this thing that looked like a rope. Turns out it was her hair. And I thought that it was neat looking, so I grabbed it."

"You what?" Both adults asked in shock.

"I grabbed it." Anna repeated as she did dramatic hand gestures. "And then she screamed and I screamed and then I realized that she wasn't a post but I thought she was a monster and-"

"I think we get it sweetie." Her mother told her, but Anna didn't stop.

"Then I saw that she wasn't and she was actually a girl, and then you guys showed up and wondered what happened and now here we are. With me talking about it."

"Riiiight." The father drawled wondering which emotion he should have.

"It's true." Anna told him. "No need to be rude about it."

"I'm so sorry." Anna's mom told the other girl's father. "She does things without-"

"I like your hair." Anna declared to the other little girl. "Let's be friends so that you can show me how to tie knots in it."

"It's called a braid An-"

"Cool! Show me how to do it." Anna said as she played with the girl's braid, ignoring a thing called personal space.

"Anna. What did I say about-"

"Touching people." Anna interrupted with a bored voice. "I know, I know." She touched the girl's braid a couple more times anyway.

"I wish I had your hair though." The girl told Anna. "It's-"

"Amazing?" Anna asked. "I know. Mom tells me that as well. My hair is really smooth and stuff while her's is dry and fading and turning grey or something."

There was a suppressed chuckle from the older man before Anna heard her mom say that it was time for them to leave.

"Don't want to waste anymore of their time do-"

"Come with us!" Anna said with inappropriate volume. "We'll have fun buying..." She looked to her mom. "What are we buying again?"

"Supplies for school." The mother sighed.

"Yeah. That."

"We're actually done." The older man told them, holding up a bag of supplies. "But I'm sure you'll see my daughter at-"

"What's her name?" Anna asked.

"Vida." The girl answered.

"I'm Anna. Anna Leptick." She heard the father chuckle, and Anna didn't get it. In fact, when she said her name, people tended to laugh for some reason. She wondered why. She had asked her mom, but she said that she'd explain it later. Only later never came. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing." The father said as he and his daughter walked away from them.

Anna looked to her mom and stated.

"I don't get it."

Present day Anna looked back at that memory with fondness, but when she returned to the present, she was once again devastated by what had happened to her.

Her hair was one of the reasons that she had became friends with her best friend, and it was one of the things that she prided herself with. Her hair was part of her identity. It was a part of her. And just like the button up boy shirts that she wore back in District Five, she felt as if it was one of the things that made her who she was.

Now she was haunted by the fact that she now looked more like a peacekeeper than anything else.

The Capitol forbid her from wearing her reaping outfit or anything else down to the training center other than the standard training uniform. They wanted her to look like everyone else.

And that's what made her hate it so much more. Peacekeepers wear a standard uniform and shave their heads so that they all look the same. Put on full faced helmets or masks and they all look even more like the same person.

Conceal the colour of their skin and eyes, make their gender difference disappear, place them all in matching clothes and give them a full faced helmet or mask, and what you have are people who all look the same. An army of clones.

Is this what they want? Anna asked herself as she cut up some white powder with a razor. To show that we're outsiders because we have mental disabilities? Do they want us to all look the same so that people won't distinguish one from the other? So that they won't care about us as much?

Anna knew that it was illogical, but her mind needed something to be fixed on. And with her racing thoughts, she kept on thinking of new ideas. One that always came back to her was that their head trainer was an asshole that liked to torture people for the hell of it.

"Mrs. Leptick !" Her escort shouted from behind a locked door. "Please calm down and come out of my room!"

Yeah. This'll calm me down all right. Anna said to herself as she created a line of white powder on the glass table. She wanted it. She wanted it so bad.

Anna then pressed her right nostril at one end of the powdered line and plugged her left nostril with her finger before she inhaled the substance.

Anna finished her line before she sniffed again to get the rest of the powder into her system.

Exhaling harshly, Anna scrapped the remaining substances into the small bag that it had originally came from. I'm taking this. After all, I need this way more than her.

As the white powder was scrapped into the bag, Anna started to feel it's potent effects, and it made her feel at ease.

Anna then stuffed the bag of powder into her pocket and wiped her eyes with her arm before she unlocked the door and came face to face with her escort.

"What were you doing in there?" She asked with narrowed eyes. Glaring at her like she had done something wrong and was trying to get her to spill her secrets.

"Nothing." Anna told her calmly before an itch occurred in her right nostril. Anna sniffed loudly before she walked past the escort.

"I don't believe you." She stated. "Tell me. What were you doing in my room."

"Nothing of importance. Thought it was my room in my fit. Sorry."

The escort continued to hammer questions in her direction, but Anna continued to walk away. The escort, wanting to see if Anna had made a mess of her room, decided to not follow her. Unfortunately for Anna, someone else decided to follow her instead.

"Anna!" They shouted.

Anna looked to her side and saw her district partner, Spark Gamble. "Are you okay?"

"Let me think." Anna sarcastically spoke. "I lost my hair, made myself look like an idiot, got humiliated by Thorn and myself, and possible made myself look weak in front of everyone and probably lost some sponsors. I'm perfectly fine, thanks for asking."

"I'm sorry for asking." Spark sighed as his eyes cast away from his district partner.

It was Anna's turn to sigh. But she didn't say anything after. "I got your hair if you want it." He told her as he held up a paper bag in front of her. Anna looked at the bag, pressed her teeth together, and narrowed her eyes as she faced her district partner.

"Why would I want that?" She harshly asked. "What am I going to do? Glue it back onto my head?"

"I just thought that-"

"Just thought what?" Anna snarled, getting her face close to his. "Taunt me by holding up that bag in front of me like you want to say 'here's what you had before but now you don't'?"

"It's not the end of the world." Spark told her, but Anna's feelings of anger only intensified.

"Not the end of the world?" She screamed, causing Spark to back off, only for Anna to step forward. "Not the end of the world? I'm a bald woman! Nobody likes a bald woman! They'll think I'm ugly! They'll think that I'm a crybaby! Nobody will look at me the same again! I can think twice about getting back home!" Anna then cast her eyes down in sorrow as a thought came to her. "She'll think I'm ugly."

Anna knew that she wasn't a good looking girl. She wasn't ugly, but she wasn't what people would say was attractive. There were permanent scab marks on her face where she had scratched pimples off, semi-shallow cheeks with low cheek bones, and fairly wide but scrawny shoulders. And while she had heard other girls say that they'd of liked long eyes lashes, Anna thought that her long eye lashes made her eyes look weird.

"What?" Spark asked with surprise as he tried to cover up as much of his fear as possible.

"You're a boy." Anna then declared as she looked back up at Spark with intense eyes. "You wouldn't understand."

It was then that Anna's eyes seemed to soften a little before she sighed heavily. "I'm sorry, Spark. I... I shouldn't be mad at you. All you did was do as you were told. I'm the one that... You know. Made this mess." Like so many other messes I've made before.

"It's okay, Anna." Spark told her as he raised his hand, but stopped, like he was unsure wither to touch her or not. Decided not to, and lowered his hand. "It must of been... Hard on you."

"Yeah." She sighed again. "It was. Still is." She said as she rubbed her uneven hair. She hated that feeling.

"And believe it or not, I do understand."

Spark then lifted his hand to his head, then stopped. Anna looked at him in confusion. She looked at Spark's face, and saw a dilemma on his face. Spark then decided to go with one of the options. "Please don't laugh." He said before he pulled at a section of his hair, only for it to come off completely.

Anna gasped at what she saw. There was a small bald spot on Spark's head. And it wasn't bald like shaved short, it was bald bald. Spark then pulled off four more small sections of hair from his head, and showed Anna a head of mismatched bald spots. Spark looked like he was on the verge of tears.

"Spark..." Was all that Anna could say before silence overcame them.

"It's a side effect of my disorder." He explained in a voice that sounded younger, weaker, and more sorrowful than normal. "It started to get dry and brittle before..."

He didn't need to finish. Anna knew what he was talking about. And because Anna wasn't the type of person that knew what to do a lot of the times, even when she was calm, she just placed both hands on Spark's shoulders and told him.

"I'm sorry."

"Yeah." Spark said as tears started to leak from his face. "Yeah." Anna could see that it was hard on him, and she didn't say anything else or do anything else. She let go as Spark started to wipe his tears with his sleeves.

Spark himself was someone that Anna would think would of attracted girls. He looked strong, but not overly so. He was tanned and had blue eyes that were as clear as water. But not counting his hair loss areas, he did look unhealthy, like he was pushing his body past its limits. A face that was a little bony with a tight jaw line and sunken in eye sockets. "Hey, Anna."

"Yeah?"

"Why are you so calm now?"

Anna smiled.

"Two reasons. And I'm only going to tell you one. First is because I was actively getting ready for the games. And the second one, you don't really want to know. I might tell you later though."

Tribute Room #1

Nothing.

If there was anything that she really wanted to do, it was nothing. Well... Almost nothing. There were some other things that she wanted to do, but sleep was on the top of her list. Unfortunately, sleep wasn't cooperating with her, as she had spent more time sleeping than should of been allowed, and she was paying for that.

Her sleep cycle was out of control, and she didn't know when she would be able to rest again. Sometimes she'd stay up all night, sometimes all day, sometimes it was a mixture of the two. But it didn't matter to her, she felt tired all the time and would of liked to sleep if her body and mind could allow her.

She didn't like listening to her escort insisting that she get out and try to mingle with the other kids, or try to learn something for the arena. Or to eat or something. She wished that that Capitol woman would mind her own business.

She didn't like her district partner with his annoying, gleeful attitude and high energy. He was up all day, up all night, and was continuously doing something. She wished that he wasn't so like that.

She didn't like the thoughts and feelings that she was experiencing. She wished that they'd just go away and be replaced with something better, or be gone all together.

But most of all, she absolutely despised what she was hearing and seeing.

As Radiance Dricer smoked her cigarette and cried, she continued to be harassed by people she that seemed to have nothing but contempt for her.

There was a man. He wore a fancy suit and had jet black hair. He sat beside her. He was so close to her. His voice was deep, unrelenting and borderline demonic.

There was a girl. She was slowly pacing the room in front of the teen. With a simple blue sun dress and shimmering blonde hair, she assaulted the younger girl with a voice that was almost apathetic.

They glared at her with hatred as they told her the hatred that they had for her. The poisonous opinions that they had of her and the world around her.

Why are you crying? You think that anyone wants to hear you crying? Nobody cares what you're feeling.

Radiance continued to let her eyes leak as she sat on the edge of the Capitol bed and inhale toxic chemicals. As she wrapped the cocoon of a blanket around herself some more, she continued to listen to the man sitting beside her, letting him tell her hurtful negatives as his partner walked around the room giving her rude comments as well.

Think that that cigarettes' going to help any? Stupid girl. Why don't you burn yourself with that cigarette? You know you want to.

Look here. She has a picture of her family.

Not like they're going to miss her when she's gone.

Radiance didn't need them to tell her what she already knew. Even though she had brought a picture of her family as a token, she almost wished that she hadn't. It wasn't like they were going to miss her when she died. If anything, she could hear her parents say how glad they were that she was now gone. A burden on the family, gone. It would make their lives better.

After all, she was-

Worthless. You're worthless girl.

You're nothing. I know it. They know it. You should know it as well.

Your parents have a sense of humor, naming you Radiance. Should of called you Dull.

Dull and Shameful.

The unkempt girl exhaled the toxic vapors from her mouth as their words attacked her heart.

She could remember better days. She could barley remember them, but she still remembered them. She had had friends, but then when her symptoms came, and they slowly, but surly, left her. One friend stuck around, but she was questioning why he stayed with her.

And then there was a time where she started to get better, and she began to make new friends. But then the announcement for the quarter quell came, and when her medicine was taken away from her, things went full circle.

Bothersome to your friends. Bothersome to your family.

Nobody wants to be around you.

Annoying. That's what you are. An annoyment.

Still, there was still one friend in her life, but she was yet again questioning why he stuck around with her after everyone else left. She would like to think that he was sticking with her because they were friends and that they shared something. But there were times where she thought that-

He's using you.

He doesn't like you. He only wants what you can offer him. And don't even think that it's your body.

You're ugly. Grotesque.

Have a face that not even a mother could love. So keep on smoking. Not like you could look any worse.

The teenage girl didn't think that she was good looking, not like the other District One girls. She had a darker, less shiny shade of blonde hair but had the same emerald green eyes as most of the other girls. But her eyes were dreary, and it make them look less bright and green than they should of been with dark sags around them. And there was the fact that she was thinner than was expected of her.

Her prep-team and stylist had brushed her hair until it had become straight again, but not it was yet again messy and tangled. Her escort was disappointed in her, but that was no surprise to her. She had overheard her escort wondering to herself if she was actually from District One, or if she was from a non-career district.

Radiance had been advised to take care of herself. Eat and shower and stuff like that. At the very least, she had been advised to brush her hair, but she didn't feel like doing it. She felt no motivation to do any of those things.

Rapid knocking came from her door. She didn't even say anything before the door opened, not that it would of changed anything if she had said anything anyway. Her district partner, Splendor Blackwell did what he wanted, when he wanted, and nothing could change the fact.

Radiance felt suppressed emotions rise within her as she looked at Splendor. That outgoing, cocky, annoying, happy, stupid district partner of hers with his crooked smile and energetic attitude.

There he is. The boy that's stealing your joy.

"Hey, Radiance, how's it going? Not good? Okay. Well I have something that will hopefully make you feel at least the tiniest bit better so that you ain't mopping around in your room all the time and stuff. So yeah, let's get this thing started, just let me find my stuff." Splendor then started to look around in the pockets of his training outfit. Something that he hadn't changed out of since they had since been put on.

Taking your abilities. Making them his own.

Radiance glared at Splendor as he continued to search and talk. "Come on come on come on. I know they're here somewhere. Let's see. Paper paper..." The boy with wild hair then started to swiftly pat himself, looking for those papers he was talking about as he loudly muttered to himself.

What could he want with you? Those papers he's looking for, they're the insults he wants to say to you.

He hates you.

Loathes you.

Wants you dead.

"What do you-" The girl asked, but was interrupted by her district partner.

"Hold on. You'll find out soon enough if I can only find those blasted papers. Trust me, you'll love them. I'm sure you'll love them. I mean, you girls like poems and stuff right? Poems. They can have hidden messages in them, even if the writer didn't intend for them to have them. They can also be interpreted different ways. I guess that's why people like writing and reading them. I think you'll find that the ones I'm going to read are quite-"

Insulting.

"What did you say?" Radiance asked upon hearing that.

"I'm sure you'll-"

Want to die.

Radiance really couldn't stand it anymore. She didn't want to hear Splendor's bullshit poems that he had written. They could be interpreted different ways, and there could be a hidden message in them. Maybe he wanted to make her sadder than she already really was. She really didn't see how that would be possible though. After all, all she could see was a bleak future of nothingness.

She saw nothing in her future, and she felt horrible. She felt like she was in Hell. And how dare the boy in front of her with his stupid smile think that he could cheer her up with some words that he thought of.

Double meaning. You say one thing but mean another. Ridicule as you disguise your words as sugar coated goodness.

She could see it in his eyes. His attitude positive and his smile wide, but his eyes said another thing. She didn't know what, but she could tell that his eyes didn't fit what he was on the outside.

Hit him.

Hurt him. Kill him. Kill that faggot. Kill him and then kill yourself. Piece of shit girl. DO IT!

"Get out." She growled. She didn't want him in her room anymore. She didn't want him near her, taunting her with his happiness. His... Euphoria, as she was stuck in a state of despair. A bleak world full of hurt and sadness. How dare he make her sadness his joy. "Get out of my room."

Smile never wavering, Splendor opened his mouth to speak again.

"Don't you want to-" He continued to speak the words, but they were overlapped by the sheer volume of Radiance's roar.

"I SAID GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY ROOM!"

When her district partner didn't immediately comply, she jumped off the edge of her bed and started to shove him out. "GET OUT! GET OUT!"

"Come on." Splendor said calmly with his arms wide, not even trying to defend himself. "Radi-"

The girl then slammed the door with all her might, causing some of the furniture inside her room to shake. She was pretty sure that Splendor got hit in the face as he gave out an "Ow."

That's right. Drive everyone away from you. Not like they want to be around you anyway.

Radiance then slammed her back onto the door and slide down until she was hugging her knees and bawling for all she was worth. "Radiance!" Splendor yelled from outside her room. "I just want you to know that if you want to talk, I'm here for you! If you want to say anything, anything at all, I'm here! Remember Radiance, we're all in this together! I know! Trust me! I know more than a little of what you might be feeling right now!"

Radiance didn't want to respond. She didn't want to do anything with him. He was taking her happiness. What else could explain it? He was so happy and full of energy, and she was so sad and lifeless. The only things that they had in common were that they were from District One and that they both looked like a mess. What could he understand?

Nobody likes you.

The girl looked at her near spent cancer stick before she pressed the glowing end of it on her shoulder, feeling her emotions fade as all she could think of was the burning hot agony on her flesh.

You're worthless. Just die.

Tribute Room #2

Conflicted.

That was how she felt when she was looking at the other tributes on the television screen. Watching them and their every move. She watched the recordings again and again for a purpose. More than a couple actually, but while one was more important in the long run, another was more important to her internally.

Still, she watched the tributes on the screen with a purpose, and wasn't about to be distracted by her goal. Both of them.

"You know, instead of watching the tributes train, you could go down and train yourself." Her escort told her. The teenage girl didn't like her escort, she always wanted her gone, like she wanted her to just disappear. Thought that there was always something better that she could be doing than what she was currently doing. What the Capitol woman didn't know was that what she was doing was more important than learning how to swing a knife or whatever.

But it was probably more than just that. Why did she really want her gone?

"I'm doing something important." Terra Whitcomb told the adult with no emotion in her voice.

"What's so great about these recordings that it's more important than actually training. If you wanted to see what was happening down in the training center you could of just gone down there."

"I don't want to go down there." The teen answered, not taking her eyes off the screen.

"And why the hell not?" Sabrina asked with a tone that said that she couldn't figure out why her tribute would want to do just that.

"I like it here."

"Yeah." Sabrina scuffed heavily. "I'm sure you like being up here all by your lonesome self. If this were any other year you'd be dead. Cast out of the career pack and left to die by yourself, but I'm sure that's what you'd like." Terra didn't like what she was hearing, so she turned up the volume of the TV set and tried to listen to it some more, but the escort just increased the volume of her voice. "Maybe that's what you want, to just die and be alone. Or are you just so arrogant that you think you can win the games without learning anything new and by your lonesome self?"

Terra couldn't handle it anymore. She felt her emotions quickly build up inside of her because of the adult's words. She let them loose.

"Shut up." Terra told the escort as she turned to face her. Teeth pressed together and her mouth looking like she was trying to snarl like an animal. She looked like someone that was trying to be mad. And while she was angry, she sure didn't look it. And to top if off, her small mouth mixed with full lips made it look strange.

"And what's that supposed to be?" The escort laughed. "Your angry face?" Then with extreme sarcasm, she continued. "Ohh, I'm so scared."

And for someone from District Two, she was one of the least feared teenagers in the district. Pasty white skin that contrasted heavily with her ink black hair that had been cut to barely over shoulder length. And to add to the flaws, she was six feet tall, but didn't nearly have the muscle density that was expected from someone from Two.

"The girl told you to shut up." A far more hostile voice told her as a hand grabbed the escort by the back collar of her shirt and pulled her away from Terra. Terra looked past her now shocked escort and saw her district partner, Thor Houghton, pulling the Capitol woman away from her. Sabrina looked genuinely worried. "So why don't you do what she wants and piss off."

Thor then shoved Sabrina away from them.

"What am I supposed to do then?" Sabrina asked. "You two want to be left alone in the living room."

"Go to your room." Thor suggested harshly. "Or go out. Take your pick."

Terra then saw Sabrina open her mouth, but then she saw her district partner glare at the woman. Sabrina backed down immediately and walked to the elevator. Probably to go out and complain or something. Either way, Terra wished that she could do what Thor had done.

Thor sat on the other side of the couch that Terra was currently sitting on as he poured a rich orange liquid in a glass. "So what have you found?" He asked as he passed a glass to her.

"I don't think Carver and Trail want to be in an alliance with you." She answered as she took the cup of alcohol.

"You don't say." Thor bitterly and sarcastically muttered.

"I do say." Terra said to him, not understanding the way he had said that to her. Thor shaked his head before he took a sip of the harsh liquid.

"Whatever." He sighed as he poured some more glasses before he snapped his fingers at the avoxes and pointed to the liquid filled glasses. Terra had seen him do it before. Giving stuff to the avoxes when their escort had told them that they shouldn't give the avoxes anything. Said that they were traitors or something and that they had their own separate foods and stuff.

Terra didn't know what their own brands were, but from the way that the avoxes ate and drank when Sabrina was gone, she guessed that they were being starved or something. "Anything else you want to add to that?"

"I don't think you should fight Carver again." Terra told him.

"That's not what I-" Thor started, but stopped himself. "Fuck. Never mind. Anything about the other tributes?"

"The District Twelve tributes are still together." She answered.

"No! I mean is there anything that we could use for our alliance!" Thor shouted, annoyed. Terra felt her emotions flare up a bit before she continued in a still monotonic voice.

"How about that District Four girl? Marsha."

"That retarded girl?" Thor asked as he pulled out a pack of cigarettes. "What the fuck could she offer us?" As Thor lit four cigarettes in his mouth, Terra answered him.

"She seems knowledgeable with traps."

Blowing out the grey smoke, Thor thought for a moment as he handed Terra and two other avoxes a chemical stick.

"True true. But do you think she'll be a fit?"

"Probably." Terra said as she took a drag of the white cylinder.

"Fine. I'll see about the retard. Anyone else?"

"Someone from District Three." Terra answered.

"I don't think so." Thor answered. "That guy will give us away with his fires, and that girl seems to have a perfectionist complexion."

"We need one of them."

"Fine." Thor sighed heavily. "I'll check out perfectionist girl. In the mean time, I'll see if I can get those faggots from Five and Ten."

"Try not to get stuffed in a trash can again." Terra advised.

"Fuck off." Thor shot at her. Terra's emotions once again flared. Terra didn't say or do anything. All she did was drink her alcohol and smoke her smoke. Silence ensnared the room before Thor broke that silence. "Hey, Terra." Terra looked at her district partner, wondering what he wanted. "You trust me, right?"

Terra didn't really know what to think. Every time she was around him she felt her entire body tingle. But that was nothing special, her body tingled whenever she was around anyone, it was just a matter of what degree she was feeling that sensation.

Terra also wondered if he was using her. If he was lying about the purpose of the alliance and if he was going to back down on what he had told her. She wondered if anything he had told her was the truth. Was this just something that he told her to make her lower her guard?

Am I just being used? Am I just being used as a puppet for a secret scheme that only he knows? Is he laughing at me right now because of that?

Terra didn't know if she could trust him, but what he was potentially offering was too good to back down from. So she was putting her faith in him, even if she expected him to stab her in the back at a moment's notice.

She didn't trust him, but she really wanted to.

The girl responded by raising her glass and saying:

"To hope."

Thor smirked, and raised his glass as well.

"I'll drink to that."

Tribute Room #8

Guilt.

It was such a simple word, but one with powerful emotions and feelings attached to it. It was one that people would use when they felt wrong with what they had done. One that would be associated with those that did things that they knew were frowned upon, but did them anyway for whatever their reasons were.

For Paige Ingram, that word had lost meaning with her long ago. She had described that word to herself, said that word to herself, so many times in the past that it felt like an empty word. An excuse more than anything else.

Guilt, if she could even stand hearing, or even thinking, of that word, was something that she lived with everyday. So much so that it had became a fact of life for her. Maybe even a part of who she was.

It was scary how she missed the feeling when she was medicated. It had been like an emotion had been ripped out of her.

But now she was feeling it again in all its intensity.

She had taken something that wasn't her's once again, and she hated herself for it. And what was worse was that it was something that was immensely valuable to someone else. It wasn't something that could be weighed in cash, but sentimental worth.

She looked at the cache of possessions that were hidden under her bed, and felt a heavy weight in her chest. Stolen things that were of hardly any value to her. In fact, the vast majority of things that she was looking at meant near nothing to her, or maybe anyone else.

Utensils, cups, pens, pieces of red clay and black coal. Cheap items that she had taken due to an overwhelming urge. But one thing in the pile stood out among the rest. A picture of a grinning family consisting of an older gentleman and woman, and in front of them, four boys and a girl. And the youngest one in that picture was her district partner.

Paige felt bad that she had taken the other items, but she felt ashamed that she had taken that picture from Stream. It was pathetic, and she thought of what she could of felt if someone had taken her token, a picture of her family as well.

The emotions of sadness and anger came to her mind. That's what she would of felt, and she was sure that Stream was going to feel that way if he found out that it was missing.

She was going to return everything before the games started, but right now, she felt that Stream's family portrait needed to be returned immediately.

Paige, enraged against herself, cleared away the tears that she had shed and pocketed the picture before she left her room.

Hopefully he's out of his room and hasn't noticed that it's missing yet. Paige said to herself with immense hope. I mean, I've heard enough about him to know what he's capable of when-

Paige opened her bedroom door and came into the hallway when she heard screaming and the sound of breaking glass. And she feared the worst.

She went towards the commotion to see what was up, and when she went into the living room, she saw what she feared would happen.

Inside, she saw her district partner throwing glass cups around as avoxes dived for cover.

"Which one of you bastards took it!" Stream roared as he picked up a flower vase. "Was it you?" He then threw the vase at an avox girl that was cowering behind a chair. The vase shattered a few feet away from her position as she gave out a weird scream. "Was it you?" Stream picked up the stand that vase had been on, and threw it at an avox boy that ducked under the incoming projectile. "Give it back! Fucking give it back!"

"Give what back?" The escort asked with a shaky voice. She was holding onto an avox boy like a shield. And they were both behind an overturned table.

"My token you bitch!" Stream told her before he ran towards the escort, pulled the avox away from her, and grabbed the front of her dress with both hands and started to shake her violently. "Did you take it? You've been all up in my business and have been in my fucking room! You took it didn't you! Where is it? WHERE!"

"I don't-" She tried to say, but Stream wasn't having any of it.

"Lies! Fucking lies!"

Fearing for the escort's life, and the avoxes, Paige took matters into her own hands. The guilt too overwhelming for her to stay silent.

"I've got it!" She shouted desperately. She saw her district partner snap his head towards her. His eyes burning with such intensity that she feared him, even though he looked like he wasn't even old enough to be reaped. "I've got it!" She then pulled the picture of her her pocket and showed it to him. "Here! Take it! I'm sorry that I-"

"You're the one that stole it?" Stream bellowed as he rushed towards her until he tackled her to the ground. Paige felt her feet leave the floor before she felt her back slam painfully against the ground. Air rushed out of her body as she temporarily forgot how to breathe. "YOU BITCH!"

Paige then felt powerful clamps tighten around her neck as her air supply was cut off. Upon instinct, she grabbed her throat, and felt hands squeezing on her neck. She suddenly realized that Stream was strangling her.

With fear washing over her, Paige tried to get the little boy to release his grip on her, but his hands were wrapped around her so tightly that she could hardly get a grip on his fingers. In fact, it felt as if his fingers were digging right into her flesh.

It was as agonizing as it was terrifying.

Paige fought, but while Stream was tiny, she wasn't that big herself. That, and she almost didn't feel like fighting at all. The only thing that kept her going was her self preserve instincts. But she felt so bad that she wasn't fighting her hardest.

Maybe I deserve this. She told herself as the corners of her vision started to become fuzzy. After all, I've caused so much pain because of my illness. And I could of destroyed Stream because of it.

Then before she knew it, Paige felt her throat expand as air rushed back into her throat. Her vision cleared as she felt immense pain in her neck and began coughing harshly as she struggled to get air back inside of her.

She heard Stream continue to scream and curse, but when she looked in his direction, she saw three peacekeepers restraining him.

"Get him to his room!" The escort demanded. "And don't let him out!"

The peacekeepers then hauled Stream to his room as he continued to slander the men.

Paige looked at Stream and the peacekeepers, then to the destruction of the living room. Everything but the TV and ceiling were wrecked at least minorly. Furniture was flipped or moved, items were smashed or thrown around, and the walls had some dents of holes in them.

Avoxes looked scared and worried. The escort was having a fit, and one avox was even crying while a couple of other avoxes were comforting her. And Paige. Paige felt horrendous.

I made this. She thought with horror and sadness. She saw that Stream's family picture was on the floor. He had no time to pick it up, nor had he been in the right state of mind to pick it up.

Paige began to weep again as she picked up the picture and place it in her pocket again. The things I do. She said to herself before she went to an avox and said to him.

"I want you to help me with something."