Modest Kline, 14
My younger sister is curled up under our mother's patchwork quilt, wearing one of our father's woollen sweaters. Even with the quilt and the sweater I can still see she's trembling from the cold, her skinny little arms wrapped tightly across her chest in a subconscious effort on her part to try and keep warm.
As my eyes focus in the dim light I can see my brother Kyle sitting in the old cane chair at the end of the bed, his head resting on his knees, his little toes curling tightly over the chair's edge.
"Why are you sitting over there? It's not even light outside yet." I ask him.
He pulls the tatty shirt he uses for pyjamas down so it covers his legs and feet fully, making him look like a human tent. "I had a nightmare."
"Ok then, why would you go to the chair instead of waking me up?"
"Because its dad's chair." He says, leaning back. My heart almost breaks then and there. He was only two when our parents died, too young to have created any steadfast memories, but the ones he does have all seem to revolve around that chair, where our father would sit and tell us stories about princes and princesses.
There aren't any people with titles like that anymore. There are only Presidents, Capitolites, citizens and tributes. The last is one no one ever wants to have attached to their name, unless they are able to change it to victor instead. Even then I'm not sure anyone would want that.
"Come here." I say softly, patting the empty space beside me. He nods and crawls in under the quilt and wraps his arms around my neck in a hug. I run my fingers through his auburn hair, the color we both inherited from our father, trying to soothe him. "What'd you dream about?"
"Derek and Julia." He mumbles, burying his face in my shoulder. I have to force myself to swallow hard so I don't cry. Derek was our older brother, one year older than me. When our parents were killed in the mining accident he stepped up, taking on tesserae for all of us, even Miya, who was just a round pudgy baby. He ditched school to find food for us as well as fixing up the leaks that were and still are springing through the roof. Life was hard but with Derek acting as provider we were getting through ok.
Then he was reaped for the games and he never came back. He died protecting his district partner and our life long neighbor Julia from the career pack. It was all in vain of course; once he was dead they killed her as well, taking plenty of time to relish in their handy work. I tried to shield Miya and Kyle from seeing any of it, but that's a hard thing to do when the games are playing twenty-four seven, in the schools, the square, even the stores. When it gets a bit dull, when things aren't moving along at an action filled pace they sometimes play the highlights of that particular game. Julia and Derek's deaths were one of the main highlights for the year so they played it often. As much as I tried I couldn't protect Kyle from seeing it in the end.
I want to be able to tell him not to worry, that it's ok, it was only a dream, but I can't do that because it's not the truth. Most of what he's dreaming about are probably just memories of the things he's already seen, just distorted by his mind, making it worse. That's what my dreams are like.
Except I see more than Derek and Julia. I also see our parents gasping for air as rock, rubble and dirt swallow them whole, burying them deep within the earth forever.
So instead I just keep running my hands through his hair and shushing him until he falls back to sleep. The sunlight has started to peek through the curtains and while I pull myself out of bed I decide to leave them be. Seeing as neither of them are old enough to be reaped they usually stay home on reaping day with my friend Xander's mother. Seeing as she won't be over till mid-day it seems reasonable enough to let the two of them sleep in, after all, brief moments of respite such as these are few and far between here in 12, especially for people like us. I might as well let them enjoy it.
Cole Mackenzie, 14
I try my best to always stay optimistic, which is apparently a hard thing to do in District 12. The people in the Seam always seem downcast and downtrodden, their faces wrinkled in pain or sadness. I get why they feel this way, really I do. I live smack bang in the middle of the Seam; I know what it's like to feel so hungry you worry your stomach will eat itself just to keep you going for a day or two more, to feel so cold at night your bones feel like they've been dipped in icy water when you wake in the morning. I know life here is hard, perhaps a lot harder than some of the other districts, but I can't let myself fall into the rut like so many of my neighbours. I get by just on the hope that one day life will get better for me, that everything will turn out fine.
I almost always walk to the reapings on my own, at least part of the way. My parents and younger sister always go later, but I like to get in early so I can find a comfortable spot to stand, preferably close to the exits. I may be friendly and optimistic most of the time, but even I get the heebie-jeebies at the reaping. Just like every other kid I want to be in and out of that square as fast as I can. Last year I got stuck to the back of the crowd and it took forever to get home. The whole time I could hear Modest Kline, a girl in my year at school, screaming and crying her eyes out because her brother had just been reaped. It made me feel terrible for days afterwards because he was literally all she had left. Once he died she was left to fend for herself and those poor two tiny siblings of hers on her own.
She does alright though from what I've heard.
As I round the corner that leads out of the Seam and into the merchant part of town I spy my friend Aden chatting away with Jeanie Hart, one of the most beautiful girls in the whole district. She's two whole years older than us, and under most circumstances wouldn't be seen dead talking to anyone under the age of sixteen, but she and Aden have been friends of the family for as long as either of them can remember. It's one of the reasons Aden's become so popular with the other kids in our class; they all admire him for his connection to the ethereal Jeanie Hart.
"Hey Cole!" He calls out, waving ecstatically in my direction. I wave back just as Jeanie's head snaps around to find who he's waving at, and she gives me a wide smile. Not the kind of smile you'd want from a girl like that, but the kind that's a bit like "Oh you, I know you," Which is good enough in my books.
"Cole you know Jeanie, Jeanie, this is Cole." He says as I come up beside them.
"I know who Cole is Aden." Jeanie laughs, twirling a strand of golden hair around her fingers. "He's the eternally optimistic friend, am I right?"
"That's me." I stutter, slightly embarrassed and not too sure whether she's making fun of me or just stating the obvious.
"We were just talking about how much tesserae we've had to take out this year." Aden tells me. "I've got eighteen"
"I've got twenty-five." Jeanie chirps. "What about you?"
"Just twelve for me this year." I say. "Dad wouldn't let me take out any for him."
"That's so sweet of him." Jeanie mumbles, the slightest hint of envy present in her voice. I can understand why. She's not even the oldest child in her family and she still has to take on everyone's points. Her father apparently makes her do it because he thinks her older brother Damon is more valuable to the family, but that's just gossip I've heard whispered between my own parents at the dinner table and I don't pay a lot of attention to that kind of thing.
"I guess so." I say.
She smiles at me, a big wide toothy kind of smile, before turning back to Aden."Well it's been nice talking to you Addy but I think I better go find the other girls now." She turns back towards me and says "Goodbye Cole."
"Bye Jeanie." I stammer, and then she's gone, sauntering off down the street towards Carey Munsling's house.
"All the boys are going to be asking me so many questions tonight." Aden cackles, clapping his hands together. "Oh Aden, how do you do it man? How do you get her to talk to you?"
"Sooner or later they are going to work out your mothers are best friends you know."
He sticks his tongue out at me. "Hopefully that day will be much much later when I am married with a wife and five fabulous children and none of this even matters."
"Five kids? You don't even like kids." I laugh at him.
"True, but I like the word fabulous and it works best with five."
"If you say so."
"I do say so." He grins at me, looking down at his watch. "Jeez, we better get on our way Cole. If we wait around any longer we'll end up trapped around the edges like last year."
"We'll make it, don't sweat it. I feel like the odds are in our favor for a hasty escape this year." I say, mimicking the Capitol accent for the last portion of the sentence.
"Maybe one of us won't be allowed to escape, you know, maybe one of us will have to embark on a treacherous journey of honor and pride." He laughs.
"Nah, We'll be fine. I've got a good feeling about today." I say, as we walk towards the square.
Modest Kline, 14
It's a lot hotter in the square than it is back home in the Seam. There's plenty of trees back there that keep the cold air around in the morning and plenty of shade during the warmer parts of the day. Here in the square there's no shade, nothing to protect us from the harsh hot rays of the sun. It's just a wide empty space with a dusty floor. On years where the temperature has skyrocketed it's especially uncomfortable, because the wind sends the dust swirling everywhere and it sticks to your sweat, making you feel itchy and grimy. Thankfully this year it's leaning more towards the cold side than the warm.
Our Escort is pacing back and forth as the propo plays, which is actually a little bit distracting. It's not hard to see why Arachne has been stuck escorting twelve since the very first games; she's the least professional of the lot of them, and that's saying something because there are some truly woeful escorts getting around. Last year she picked the girls name out before the propo had even ended, causing almost half the crowd to start hyperventilating. People need that warning beforehand, those words to let them know the horror is about to begin. After that whole debacle there were rumors floating around that she wouldn't be returning this year, but I guess those were wrong. It's not surprising, I can't imagine there were a lot of people willing to step up and take the place of Escort for District 12. As much as they want to spruik it as an entry level district, it's earned a bit of a stigma as a long term position.
Plus, nobody wants to escort one of the few remaining districts who don't have a victor to mentor the poor kids. That just means more work for them and everyone knows the people in the Capitol are the epitome of laziness.
As the music draws to a close Arachne practically sprints back to the microphone, her hands so jittery she has to grab hold of the stand to stop them. "Wonderful, simply stupendous! Don't you think?! Well of course you won't answer me, so let's consider this a rhetorical question hey?" She rambles through the speakers. I exchange a look with my friend Ana, our eyes both agreeing that she seems even weirder than the year before.
"Well Well Well, I suppose we better pick out a beautiful young lady to come join me up on stage!" She says, walking over towards the bowl. She stops after a few short steps though and adds as an afterthought "Or an ugly girl, lord knows that fishbowl thing ain't picky!"
Ana's mouth drops open in shock. "Did she really just…"
"Yep." I reply.
Arachne jams her hand right into the centre of the mass of white slips and pulls out a handful, flicking them away like she's dealing out a game of poker until there is just one left. She opens it on the walk back to the microphone, her face lighting up with glee as she reads over the words.
Or just because she's bonkers, I'm not too sure.
By the time she gets back to the mike I'm surprised she hasn't exploded with excitement. My amusement fades quickly when she shouts the name out.
"Modest Kline, come on up!"
It's so horrifying that I can't even move. More than anything I want to crumple into a heap on the ground and just waste away, but I can't even do that. My knees are locked rigidly together, in fact my whole body is stiff. I can feel Ana shaking me, I can almost see her tear strewn face desperately trying to get my attention, but I can't respond. My body has shut itself down in the same way the machines in the mines do.
Eventually some peacekeepers come and drag me towards the stage. That's when the shock starts to wear off. That's when it actually hits me that I'm going to go into the games. Just Like Derek. The realization that there is no one to care for my four and five year old siblings hits me like a knife to the heart.
"What about my brother and sister?" I mumble, the words coming through hoarse as I struggle against the shock. Neither of the peacekeepers look at me or acknowledge the fact that I've spoken, they just push me roughly up the stairs and into Arachne's jittery hands.
It's those hands that wake me up.
Cole Mackenzie, 14
"No!" Modest screams, trying desperately to push Arachne away from her. "What about my brother and sister! Who is going to look after them! They need me! No!"
It must all be too much for her to process, because as she goes to scream something out one final time, her body suddenly goes limp in Arachne's arms. The poor girl has fainted on national television. There hasn't been a fainter for five years now, I think. I can't help but feel absolutely awful for her.
Arachne looks around nervously; her arms holding Modest away from her body, as though she's terrified of having the poor girl touch her. "Ahem, perhaps someone could lie this poor dear down for me?"
The same peacekeeper's that pushed and shoved Modest onstage come and take her away, treating her with a lot more care this time. The younger of the pair even sits down to cradle the poor girl's head in his hands as they place her down to the side of the stage, away from the camera's vision, but not from those close enough to see. It's a touching gesture that reminds me that the peacekeepers are just ordinary people like us.
"Heavens! That was a little bit crazy wasn't it?" Arachne laughs, brushing her hands repeatedly on the puffy skirt of her dress. "Now that she's being taken care of I better go find her a strong young man to travel to the Capitol with."
She does the same strange flicking thing with the handful of cards she picks up from the bowl, but this time she doesn't read the name until she's back.
"Cole Mackenzie, your number is up!"
At first it's the ridiculous line on the end that I think about most. Ever the optimist I try to hold on to that, to focus on it as the worst thing in this whole experience. That doesn't last long though. The fear creeps in, as well as the realization that I'm about to be sent into the games. As I walk up to the stage I try and soothe myself, I try and tell myself that everything will be ok, but I can't.
I can't think of a single way any of this can be spun into a positive. If I wasn't so terrified I might have even laughed about how I've finally been beaten in a game I always thought I was sure to win by being sent into another game.
"Not going to faint on me are you young man?" Arachne jokes, jabbing me in the side as I step up beside her.
"No ma'm." I croak out, my throat suddenly feeling as dry as sandpaper.
"Thank god!" She says, grinning from ear to ear. "How are you feeling about all this Mr Mackenzie?"
I wish I could say I feel fine. I even wish I could spin a huge lie and say I'm ecstatic, that I can't wait to go to the Capitol and eat their luxury meals, like another boy did a few years ago. The words that come out of my mouth aren't anything like that though. The words come straight from the heart, not the mind.
"I'm scared."
Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeoooooow! hurrah! The reapings are finally over *explodes*
Now that you guys have finally met all 24 tributes I'm putting up a poll to see who the favorites are. You can find it on my profile. I've set it so you can choose up to 5 tributes, that way we'll get a little more variety I think. So vote away!
I'm not sure on what I should do for the next chapter. I'm thinking of either doing a set of 6-8 characters in the justice building, or just skipping that completely and moving on to the trains instead, but i'm not sure. What do you guys want me to do?
I'd also just like to say a big thank you to those of you that have reviewed so far, it means a lot, truly :)