There have been a couple of different people who have tried to submit tributes via reviewing lately. I just wanted to clarify that all spots are taken up. Thanks for your interest.

Also, please don't expect me to update with the frequency I had for the first 8, it's not very realistic for me to have to work on it that much. I'll try and update as often as I can but please don't be pushy!

Be sure to watch out for tributes to sponsor!:)

District 8- Dax Griffon and Mystic

Light, then nothing. Laughter, then nothing. Crying, then nothing. Screams, then an explosion, then nothing.

"Mystic, are you ok?" asks my best friend Anna.

"Of course I'm ok, why do you ask?"

"You were staring hard at the ground and then you started to gasp and shake," she paused, "Was it another flashback?"

"Yes," I say quietly.

Anna is the only one who knows about my flashbacks. I'm too scared to share them with anyone else. I'm not sure what I have to flash back to. What lies in my past that I don't know about?

What's so special about me? Why is my name Mystic, just Mystic? Why don't we have a last name like everyone else?

I think for a moment, "Anna, do you realize that I know nothing about my past? Nothing. All I know is that I'm then daughter of an abusive woman and was mostly raised by my sister," I stop for a moment, "I don't even know who my father is, or if he's still alive."

I start to get a little bit worked up. "I mean what if under all this I'm a monster! What if I turn out like my mom, and for all I know my dad could have been a criminal, what if I turn like him? What if-"

"Mystic, listen, this is what we know about you. You're a strong beautiful young woman. You're a dreamer and sometimes you go into your own world, a place where nobody can ever hurt you. A place where you can be you. A place where ideas are formed. But not only that, you have a temper on you," we stop to laugh a bit. "And I don't know how many stupid situations we've gotten into because of it," we laugh again as we recall, "But one thing I do know is that you have a friend named Anna who cares about you very much," she says with a smile.

"You know I would do anything for you, don't you Anna?" I say.

"I know, and I would do anything for you," she says.

Reaping day

I try to cover up my shiner with whatever I can find. It's a fresh one, from last night. I'm pretty used to them, but not for reaping day. What if my name gets called and I have one of these? Won't that show the sponsors I'm weak?

I got this one in the Hawking Alley. I sigh. I can't remember a time when those older boys didn't pick on me. I'm sure there was a time, it's just very faint in my memory. I attracted their attention when I called one of them out in front of the whole school, I outwitted him, and made him look really dumb. And they don't want to look dumb. They want to look strong, invincible, and to scare all of us kids into submitting.

I'm not the only one that they beat up, but I sure seem to be a favorite. "At least it was worth it," I think. "The look on Xavier's face when he finally realized it was me leaving the love notes and not Tania," I thought with an audible laugh.

I had left supposed love notes from the girl Xavier liked, Tania Barnes, on his desk for a week or so. One finally told him that if he liked her too, he should go to her window that night and sing "My Sweet Lover". I couldn't believe he was actually dumb enough to do it! Tania leaned out her window and started shouting profanities at Xavier, and boy was he startled! My quiet laughter gave me away though, and he found me soon after. That was when it happened.

I still smile a little as I put on my blue collared shirt and gray shorts. You can barely see my blue eyes in between my black curly hair and bruises, "Ha! Black and blue!" I think. "How coincidental!"

After hugging and kissing my father and mother before I left, I meet Titus, my best friend, at the 13 year old boys section. "Another shiner? Really Dax, you've got to stay away from Xavier and the other boys," he says disapprovingly. But I know that he's curious about what happened. "What'd you do this time?" he says excitedly.

I tell him and we laugh. As we do so, I see Hope in the 13 year old girls section. Hope's my crush, I keep wishing that I'd get up the guts to tell her how I feel, but it's a work in progress. She sees me too and waves.

Girls reaping

I hold Anna's hand as we wait in the 16 year old section for Catty Mesia to pull out a slip from the reaping bowl. I close my eyes.

"Anna Longela!"

I open my eyes. "I volunteer as tribute!"

"You can't do this Mystic!" Anna says pleadingly.

"I would do anything for you, remember?" I say.

I walk up to the stage and feel strangely peaceful.

"What's your name young lady?"

"Mystic…just Mystic" I say.

"Alright everyone! Let's get a round of applause for this year's volunteer, Mystic Justmystic!"

Boys reaping

"Shall we move on to the boys?" asks Catty.

What's she thinking? Of course that's what we're going to do.

"Dax Griffon!" she says.

"Dax…" says Titus.

"Don't," I say "don't volunteer for me. With all the hunk I've got, I'm sure to win these games," I say with a slight smile.

That was a stab at a joke, but under the circumstances, it wasn't very funny. How was I going to stand a chance of even making it past the bloodbath? I think about my appearance, short, skinny, and weak. "I'm going to die," I think.

The tears stream down my face as I head to the stage.