Flinch Lightwood, 17, D3
When the door to the room they've shut me away in finally opens its Avi that appears, not one of my family members like I'd expected. For a brief moment I feel relief wash over me because I'm not ready to see my mother's face yet, or my father's. To tell the truth I'm not ready to see anyone yet, but I'm glad it's Avi and not any of the others.
Avi wraps his arms around me and I'm sure it's the first time either of us have ever hugged one another in the whole time we've been friends. Out of he and his brother Avi is by far the least likely to ever show any kind of emotion, so I can't help but choke up a little bit.
"You're not going to come back, are you?" He mumbles as we break apart.
I shake my head and the poor kid actually starts crying, which makes me to start crying as well. "I'm sorry man."
"No," He sobs, wiping the tears out of his eyes and trying to force a smile. "Don't be sorry. If I was in your position I'd do the same thing. Just make sure you get her home ok? I'm already struggling to come to terms with the thought of losing one of my best friends, let alone two of them."
"I promise." I say, and suddenly all I can think of is that Allius is across the hall in a room just like this, struggling with the same pain as I am. "Have you seen her?"
"No, but Atzi is in there with her, so don't worry about her being alone."
"That's great. Wait, why did you guys get in before our family?" I ask, suddenly feeling panicky. Their absence is making me wonder whether they even care, even though that's a ridiculous thought. I know I'm well loved, that they'd never abandon me. It's just all the fear of what's to come making me paranoid.
"Your father went home to get your token, that's all, they'll be here soon. Allius's parents did the same too." He says, soothing my momentarily ridiculous fear.
"Good, I'm just nervous. This whole thing is making me feel crazy."
The door creaks open and a pair of peacekeepers enter, their expressions unreadable through the plexi-glass on their helmets. "Time's up."
Avi nods and begins walking towards them. As he starts to make his way through the door frame he turns back to look at me. "Goodbye Flinch."
"Goodbye Avi. Tell Atzi…tell him…well you know." I choke out.
As the door clicks shut behind him I know it'll be the last time I ever see my friend, as well as the last time he'll ever see me alive in the flesh.
Modest Kline, 14, D12
When I wake up from my fainting spell the people I love the most in the world are all looking down at me; Xander, Ana, Miya and Kyle. Of the four of them Xander is the only one who's cheeks aren't streaked with tears, but I know he's just trying to be brave for every one else's sake. Someone has to hold it together after all.
It's obvious that someone isn't going to be me.
"Oh god, I fainted didn't I?" I groan.
"Yeah," Xander half laughs, but I can hear the pain in his voice. "You scared that old nutbag Arachne something good."
"Well I suppose that's one good thing to come out of this then." I say, trying to be funny, but I can't even fool myself into thinking a joke can take the edge off a bit. I end up just bursting into tears.
"I don't want you to go." Miya whines, burying her face against my shoulder. Kyle sits behind her, his mouth clamped shut so tight his chin is trembling from the effort. It suddenly hits me that right now I've got to be strong, at least for their sake, so I somehow find the strength to stop crying, pushing all the pain and fear aside for the moment.
"I've gotta go ok?" I tell the two of them. For a brief moment I consider telling them that it'll be ok, that I'll be back before they know it, but I know that would be wrong of me. I can't promise them something of that magnitude and the thought of letting them down kills me. So instead I just whisper, "But I promise I'll never leave you guys, no matter what happens. Keep a little place saved for me in those hearts of yours alright?"
That seems to make them feel a little better, but I doubt by very much. As the two of them wrap their arms tightly around me, squeezing so hard I wonder how anyone will ever manage to get them off I turn to my two friends. "You guys will look after them for me, right?"
"Of course." Xander answers immediately.
Ana nods in agreement. "We've both got pretty big families, but we'll do our best to make sure they're looked after, as best we can."
"Thank you." I stammer, but a thought is niggling at the back of my mind. Life is hard here in 12 and both Xander and Ana's families are struggling to get by as is, without two more hungry mouths to worry about feeding.
Who knows how long their love for me and desire to care for my siblings will last if I don't come back?
Brock Emerald, 18, D1
"You can do this Brock." My father says sternly, clapping his hands down hard on my shoulders. "You've trained hard for this."
I can see Opal standing behind him with our mother, biting down hard on her lower lip. My heart lurches in my chest as I remember what my failure will mean for her.
"It's not a matter of I can win this thing. I have to win, and I will." I tell him, knowing it's exactly what he wants to hear. The look on his face is one of such overwhelming satisfaction that it makes me want to punch it right off. I can only imagine how quickly that smug smile would disappear if I told him that the only reason I kept going with this whole plot of his was to make sure he didn't send Opal to the games instead of me.
I don't say it though. My greedy father has never been particularly kind to those who question the love he feels for his children, or his reasons for being such an avid supporter of the games.
He doesn't like his integrity to be put in question.
Airick Marloth, 15, D8
"No! No!" Calla sobs over and over again, her little hands balled tightly around the collar of my shirt. "They can't take you away from me, I won't let them!"
"Hey, don't be like that, ok Calla?"
"I can't help it" she sniffles, looking up at me with eyes so bloodshot from crying they make me want to tear my heart right out of my chest. "Who'll look after me while you're gone?"
"Dad will," I say, glancing over to where he's sitting, on a chair in the corner of the room. He'd had his face hidden in his hands for the last few minutes but at the mention of his name he pulls his face up, his eyes meeting my own. I force him to hold my gaze. "Won't you dad? You'll look after her while I'm gone."
I hold his gaze for a while longer after I finish the sentence, hoping to get the words I can't say in front of Calla across to him. You won't flake out on her, no matter what happens, even if I die. You've got to step up. For her….and me.
I think he gets the gist of what the look means, because he nods quickly, his adams apple rising and falling fast from the effort its taking to hold in his emotions. It make me feel sort of melancholy that he's only now showing any sign of caring for my actual wellbeing because he might lose me.
"Airick?" Calla mumbles, tugging on the collar of my shirt to bring my attention back in her direction.
"Yeah Calla?"
I've got something for you," She says, rummaging frantically through the front pocket of the pinafore she's wearing, before pulling out a tiny piece of silver. As I squint to get a better view of it I see that it's a small butterfly charm, no bigger than my thumbnail. The kind of charm you find on one of those beautiful little bracelets some of the girls in the merchant class wear, or sewn decoratively onto one of the Capitol dresses.
"Mum's charm." I say, my eyes welling up with tears. Its Calla's most prized possession and the only thing she has to remind her of the woman who died giving birth to her. I shake my head. "No Calla, I can't."
"Please Airick, please." She whines, pushing it into the palm of my hand. "I want you to take it as your token, so you've got something from home with you, while you're….while you're…." She can't even finish the sentence, instead she just starts crying all over again, that awful choking kind of cry that's near impossible to stop.
I wrap my fingers around the tiny charm and pull her into a hug, as tight a hug as I possibly can in the hopes it'll soothe her. "Ok, I think that's a great idea. Thank you so much."
There is a soft knock at the door and a peacekeeper enters the room, his steps cautious. He's doesn't look like he could possibly be a day older than nineteen, and his face looks sad, as though he doesn't want to have to say what he's been sent to do. "I'm sorry guys, times up."
As the words leave his lips Calla's fingers claw into my side and she starts screaming no, over and over again. For the first time in years my father actually reacts to something; he gets up from his chair and pulls her away from me, his cheeks so tear strewn that it shocks me. He wraps my sister, his daughter up in his arms like a baby, cradling her head against his own.
"I love you kid and I'll see you soon," He sobs, before turning around and following the peacekeeper out the door, leaving me with only my mother's butterfly charm as company.
Demeter Ross, 17 D9
Saying goodbye to my family was by far one of the hardest things I've ever had to do in my whole life. Hestia had been crying so hard she couldn't even speak and my father was a blubbering mess, while the youngest of our little quartet, my four year old brother Icarius, had no idea what was going on and was only crying because everyone else was.
When the door opens and John enters the room I'm not sure I can handle any more pain.
There is this moment where we just stare at each other from opposite ends of the room, the pain left over from my family's farewell feeling like a barrier between us, as though it's something all too real and raw. Then John breaks through it, reaching me in a few of the longest steps I've ever seen anyone ever take, before he wraps me in his arms and kisses me.
It's a brief kiss and when he pulls away from it he rests his forehead against mine, a choked sob escaping from the back off his throat.
"I had to do it, just once."
"I always thought you were joking when you said you liked me." I stammer, wrapping my arms around him even tighter. His cheeks crease into what might be a smile, but I can't exactly tell from this line of sight. It could just as easily be a grimace.
"I do have a habit of hiding my feelings through comedy."
"You've never really been that funny though."
"I know." He sighs, pressing his head down into my shoulder. There is another long moment of silence before he speaks again, and from the way his voice sounds I can tell he's been hiding his tears against my shirt. "I can't lose you Demeter."
"You won't lose me. I'll win this thing, just you watch."
This time I know he's smiling, I can feel his mouth move upwards with his cheeks against my shoulder. "Of course you will, you've won every fight you've ever picked."
"Only because I've always had you there to back me up." I say without even thinking, realizing too late how doomed it makes be sound when his whole body stiffens up in my arms, like he's just been stabbed with a knife, the blade twisting around in his spine. "I'm sorry," I splutter, but he just shakes his head.
"Don't worry about it."
We stay like this, wrapped up in each other's arms, standing in the centre of the room like some sad ancient stature for the next few minutes before the peacekeepers come in and tell us time is up.
"Please, just a few more minutes," I whine, wrapping my arms tightly around his waist. They respond by each taking hold of one of his shoulders and tearing us apart, throwing me back into the painful aura of the room. It's too much for me to handle and I start screaming. "No! Please no! No! John!"
"Demeter I love you!" he shouts as the door is pulled shut, leaving me all alone in this awful room. I fall into a heap on the floor, all the fear based adrenaline I'd acquired at the reaping fading away.
"I love you too." I sob, even though he can't hear me. No one can hear me now.
If anyone's listening I doubt they even care.
Lewis Natbotch, 15, D5
A peacekeeper leads me out the back entrance of the Justice Building, where Kippy and Jane are waiting beside a car. I haven't had enough time to fully process this whole situation and I immediately start to feel panicky when I see the car, because I know it's going to take me to the train station, which will take me to the Capitol.
I don't even want to think about what comes after that. I am not ready for that at all.
Kippy smiles at me as I approach, her face so unusually warm and friendly for what I'd expect from someone who delivers children to their doom for a day job. "Have you ever been in a car Lewis?" She asks.
"No, I haven't."
Her face lights up and she opens the door to the backseat. "Neither has Jane. I think you'll both enjoy this quite a lot!" she says, before her expression changes to one of complete horror. "Oh, I must sound so ignorant, forgive me children. I know nothing about this feels enjoyable for you right now, I just mean that it's one of the, well, few perks, you know?"
Jane and I both nod and the smile returns to Kippy's face. "Ok good, I really don't want to offend you, I am here to help you win after all. Anyway we better get going!"
She enters the car first, followed by Jane and then me. I don't recognize the driver but I'm sure he's someone from our district, which makes me wonder whether he always drives the tributes to the station. Judging from the reflection of his face I can see in the rear vision mirror I can tell he's not enjoying today's delivery, that's for sure.
Beside me Jane is fiddling with her pocket again, and I can just see the end of the object she's been struggling to pry her hands from since she was pushed up onto that stage. It's a small book, with a red leather bound cover. It must have cost a pretty penny and I can't help but wonder how she managed to become the owner of such a thing.
"That's a pretty book you've got there." I whisper, my heart hammering hard against my chest as I say it. It's a struggle for me to talk to people I don't know, so this is a big deal for me.
Her head snaps accusingly in my direction, her eyes wide and fearful. "Pardon?"
"The-the book, the one you've got in your pocket. It's pretty." I stammer.
"Oh." She says, pushing it back down so the top of it isn't poking out anymore. "Thank you. It's my token."
"Where'd you get it?"
"That doesn't matter." She says and turns her face away from me. I shrink back in my seat.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you or anyth…"
"No, don't be sorry, it's ok."
"Oh!" Kippy interrupts, her attention finally coming back to us after being lost to the sights of the district through the windows. "Look, there are bunnies in that field out there! Have you ever seen anything so adorable in your whole entire life as that?"
We both smile and nod, humouring her, and with a satisfied nod herself Kippy leans back against her seat.
"I just love the countryside."
Cyra Hale, 15, D7
Larry leads Luke and me to one of the train carriages, stopping in the doorway. "Now I'm sure you two are starving from the whole reaping stress, so I think you'll love what's behind this door."
He slides it open and ushers us inside with a wild gesture. What I see almost makes my eyes drop out of my head.
There is no denying this is the dining cart and it's exactly as everyone describes it. The whole place is absolutely teeming with food. There is a bench in the far corner covered in every sort of fruit you can think of, all arranged in mini pyramids with whole pineapples balancing precariously on top. The actual dining table has more food on it than my family sees in a year, I'm sure of it. Strange pastries in every single color you can imagine with small pots of melted chocolate by their side, piles and piles of fried vegetables surrounding white puffy bread rolls, with the centre of the table taken up by one whole turkey, its skin coated in some strange bright pink marinade.
It's paradise for the starving, that's for sure.
"You two will be fine in here while I go find your mentor won't you?" Larry asks, one of his tongue studs flicking out of his mouth as he says it.
"Of course." Luke replies, perhaps a little bit too hastily. Not that I can blame him, I'm pretty eager to be left alone with the food as well.
"Fabulous." Larry simpers, his eyes sweeping over us with smug satisfaction. "I'll see you two shortly."
As soon as the door slides shut Luke sprints over to the dining table, tearing one of the turkey legs off and almost sticking the whole thing in his mouth all at once. "Oh my god." He moans through a mouthful of food, while shovelling a pile of fried potatoes into one of the bread rolls.
After he finishes his turkey leg he seems to realize I haven't joined him yet, and his face flushes bright red. "Oh, I'm so sorry; you must think I'm a massive pig right now."
"No no no really I don't."
"It's just I've hardly eaten anything all week and what I have eaten has been cabbage and.."
"No," I cut in, taking a seat beside him. "You don't need to explain yourself. I'm just a bit overwhelmed; I've got no idea where to start."
The color fades from his cheeks, and he smiles back at me, but I notice that he's more reserved, like he's being careful not to reveal too much through it. "Might I suggest the turkey then?"
"Ok then." I say as I pull one of its wings off and take a bite. It tastes so strange, like a thousand berries exploding in my mouth while the meat dissolves like butter on my tongue, but it's so strange it's delicious. Either that or I'm so hungry I don't even really care.
"Nice?" He asks, fitting as much of his potato roll into his mouth as possible.
"Nice? It's to die for."
Jarred Emery, 17, D2
Rose and I are sitting opposite our mentors in the dining cart, one of which just so happens to be her father, Atticus. I already know he'll focus all his attention on her, something which I'm not going to begrudge against him, so I decide to focus my attention on Nymeria instead. She's my best bet.
"You two needn't worry," Nymeria says, looking at both Rose and myself, even though we both know she's really directing it at the father daughter duo. "I've already been contacted by Quattra and she says both the tributes from 1 will be excellent allies."
"Have you heard from Wilhelm or Saline from 4?" Atticus asks, his voice anxious.
Nymeria nods. "Yes. They aren't your traditionally trained careers this year, but I think we both know that doesn't mean their tributes will be useless." She pauses for a moment, smiling smugly. "Not that they'll be a threat to our two of course. They never are."
Atticus rolls his eyes and I know he knows Nymeria is smugly referring to her own games, in which she dispatched both the tributes from 4 all by herself, the day before she took on her district partner in the finale. Two to one and she still came out the winner. At first Atticus looks like he's going to say something back to her, but instead he turns to look at me, his face stern. "I know you've probably already written those two from 4 of as weaklings Jarred and I don't blame you. What I don't want you doing, however, is writing off my daughter."
I roll my eyes. "What do you take me for Atticus? A fool? Anyone with half a brain cell to rub together would know she'll be a huge sponsor magnet, probably one of the game's biggest, seeing as she's your daughter and all."
"Don't you think that would make me a threat?" Rose questions, entering the conversation for the first time. While we've all been talking strategy for the last hour and a half she's said not even one word until now.
"Of course." I sneer, "You're a massive threat, but while the Career alliance is active you'll be a very valuable asset."
"He's not lying about that." Nymeria interjects, filling her glass up with a clear liquid that smells like lighter fluid. "The careers often end up labelled, well, how should I put it Atticus?"
"As villains." He replies.
"Precisely. If, and this is a big if, you somehow lose control of the supplies or wind up without any food, her influence outside the arena will be invaluable in keeping you guys fed. Not to mention she'll probably soften the career image a little bit."
"Aside from all this stuff, do either of you think I have any chance of winning?" Rose asks, her voice sounding just as anxious as her father's had before, just a few decibels higher.
"Of course." Atticus says, though I'm not all that certain he fully believes it.
"Stranger things have happened." Nymeria muses, downing the last of the foul liquid in her glass as she does so. "But not very often."
Russell Darcy, 14, D6
The Pyjamas that they've laid out for Katie and I are grey silk and I feel strange wearing them, like it's just not right. After being grilled by Otis and our Mentor, Chuxter, who's about as helpful as a penguin would be at this point, it was nice to be excused for the evening. Now I'm not enjoying it so much. I feel too common to be in these lovely clothes, sitting on these luxurious sofas and eating all this strange and delicious food.
Katie is sitting on the loveseat across from me, her legs wrapped up in her arms tightly, staring out the window. I feel a pang of sadness as I look at her. Even though she's only two years younger than me, she's still so much more of a child than I am. From what she's said today I know that she's an orphan and that there wouldn't have been a single person who loved her saying their last goodbyes to her in the Justice Building. Just one of the old matrons from the orphanage, who probably didn't know her face any better than the other little wretches she cares for. It breaks my heart a little bit.
"How are you feeling?" I ask her, my voice sounding far too loud against the humming of the train.
She waits a moment before replying, her expression unreadable. "I feel sad I guess, and scared."
"Me too." I mumble, pulling the sleeves of my shirt down to cover my hands.
We sit in silence for a few minutes before she speaks again. "You got a family Russell?"
"Yeah," I reply, "A mum, a dad and a little brother, his name's Fitz"
"Sounds nice." She says, her quiet little voice quivering slightly. I feel a lump start to form in the centre of my chest.
"They are pretty nice, yeah. I'm sorry about your family. That must be hard."
She shakes her head fast. "No don't be sorry. It's been a while now. I hardly even miss them that much anymore to be honest."
"Oh, that's good I suppose. I don't want to be rude, but do you mind if I ask what happened to them?"
"That's fine, I don't mind." She turns her head away from me, looking back out the window like before. "Someone set our house on fire one night. I was lucky enough to get out alive, but they were all trapped inside and burned to death."
"That's horrible. Did they ever catch who did it?"
She's quiet for a while and I start to think that I've crossed the line, but then she clears her throat and talks again.
"No, they haven't. I don't think they ever will."
Gray Atrium, 16, D10
I cried myself to sleep last night. As shameful as that is to admit, I did it. I was fine until I started wondering how many tributes had slept in my bed and I realized that none of them had ever come back. It was such a horrifying thought that I just couldn't handle it.
I kept thinking that I was probably going to wind up dead now like them as well.
I've been sitting at the breakfast table for over an hour when Jay finally appears. Roland unsurprisingly is still a no show.
She sits down on one of the seats across from me and after a few moments of indecision starts spreading what looks to be some kind of green jam onto a bagel. Yesterday we both ate so much it was a surprise that neither of us wound up exploding, but today I'm feeling sick from the mad binge. All I've managed to get down is half a glass of orange juice and a few pieces of sliced apple coated in caramel.
"What is that stuff?" I ask her as she takes a bite of the bagel.
"I actually can't work out what it tastes like." She says, scrunching up her nose in what I'm guessing is disgust.
"'l take it it's not very nice then."
"Not really." She mumbles, dropping the bagel back down on the table. "Maybe I'm just not that hungry though."
"We did eat a lot, didn't we?" I groan, my stomach gurgling, as though it wants to help prove my point.
"Might as well do it while we can." She sighs. "We'll probably be dead soon anyway."
"If I'm going to die, I want it to be by caramel coated apple."
She looks up at me with a grin on her face. "I think I'd rather death by chocolate."
In this way of meaningless banter and ridiculous conversations, we keep each other's minds occupied and away from cruel thoughts right up until Roland appears. For the shortest of whiles it's almost like we're just a pair of kids on a scenic rail tour, stuffing our faces as much as we can before our parents catch us, not a pair of kids who are about to be pitted against each other in a fight to the death.
Almost.
Spencer Lux, 15, D11
"You've got me, I can't spy anything beginning with P, inside or outside the carriage." I sigh, throwing my hands up in defeat. Gesha, in an attempt to keep us entertained, has forced both Rye and me to play 'I Spy' since breakfast and as yet I haven't won a single game. Rye's won basically every single one, but that's just because she's cheating.
"It was a Pegasus." Rye smirks at me from across the table.
"That's not fair, they don't even exist." I groan. "You can't spy something that doesn't exist."
"Oh but I just did you see. In my mind."
"I can't see into your mind though so how is that fair?"
"Life's not fair Spencer, why should this stupid game be?"
She's got me there and she damn well knows it too. "F-fine. Point taken. Just try and at least pick something real this time."
"Alright alright." She pushes herself up on her knees and turns to look out the window. "I spy with my little eye, something beginning with…..Capitol."
For a moment I think she's just messing with me again and I'm about to give up and go sit in the lounge area, when I realize she's got her face pressed hard against the glass, both hands on either side as well. I slide myself up to look out the window and end up doing the same.
"Ca-Ca-Capitol." I stutter, completely in awe of what I'm looking at. I've seen plenty of footage of what the Capitol looks like over the years, but nothing could ever compare to what it looks like in real life. Even from all this way across the dam it's radiating power, beauty and grace in a way that District 11 never could. It doesn't look like the kind of place where a group of people sit in some room year after year, plotting how best to kill twenty–four of the nation's children in an elaborate death game. It looks too pristine and pure for something as horrific as that.
"It's s-s-o.."
"Old and Tacky." Rye says, but I can tell it's not what she really thinks. She's just saying that because she doesn't want to admit how beautiful this place is. I'm glad she cut in and finished my sentence for me because now I feel like a fool, the kind that falls for a pretty face and completely disregards how terrible the person behind the perfect features actually is.
The Capitol might be beautiful beyond measure to look at, but we both know all too well that behind all that, it's rotten to the core.
I got this finished a lot faster than I thought I would. After much deliberation I decided to just merge the goodbyes with the train rides, as I'm sure you can see XD
I know a few characters didn't get POV's this chapter, but don't fret, they'll definitely have one in the next chapter, and I'm going to try my best to make sure every character is mentioned in each chapter until, well, they die hehehehe.
Yes, I do realize that I haven't included District 4. I just realized that now and I feel terrible! I'm so sorry guys, I won't forget them next time. (if it helps they get mentioned in Jarred's POV and you get to find out their mentors names so at least they haven't been completely excluded)
Now, for two important little things ya'll need to know.
1- I'm going away on holiday from the 4th of November to the 12th, so during that period of time I probably won't be able to update. I'm terribly sorry about this! I might get the next chapter up before then but I can't make any promises.
2- If you read the last chapter, you might have seen that I've created a poll to see who everyone's favorite tributes in the story are. You probably also noticed that it didn't work :S I've fixed that little problem and it works fine now, and might I just say the choices so far have been so different and interesting, I love it! So if you haven't voted for your 5 favorites yet please do :)