The Night Before

Fabian Drason, 16 years old, District 3 Male

7:35-7:45

An exhaustive night has just transpired and I can see that almost all of us want to go onto the elevators. In the rush to get on, I get separated from Batteron, Tranfera, and Zippina as they get onto a separate elevator. The paparazzi already seems to be flooding the stage all too quickly and have infiltrated back stage. In the mess of lights and cheers I bump into Nia, my ally, and guide her with me into an elevator that shuts immediately. "Thanks," she murmurs.

It's been a hard night for her too but we have to keep calm for tomorrow. I put a hand on her shoulder while she sighs. "Just try to rest when we get upstairs, ok?"

She nods timidly and begins to fiddle with her hands. I lean on the wall of the elevator, now aware of the District 6 boy also in the room. He gives a gruff grunt and crosses his arms to look outside the glass walls of the elevator. The ride begins to be uncomfortable but my floor is up and I stumble out. "Oh my goodness Fabian!" Evydysyncy says worriedly. "We lost you. I hope that you're unharmed."

"No thanks to you Evan," I say. "I'm going to my room." Evan makes an effort to follow me but I hear him being stopped by Batteron with a resounding thud.

I look at the clock, it's 7:42, still early. Mom and Dad would try to give me milk at this time only to realize that it wouldn't help, and I'd settle for some kind of tea. 7:43. All I can do right now is...well hope that my family will come out Ok after my inevitable death in the Hunger Games. Calico...Calico is going to have to stand up for herlsef sometime soon.

I only wish for the best.

Neve Seren Orion, 16 years old, District 13 Female

7:45-8:25

Our mentor, Joshua, has been separated from us in the midsts of the chaos and Jakob and I wait for him as we begin to watch some of the recap. I grip the edge of my arm chair in anticipation as we slowly watch the tribute odds go by in a banner at the bottom screen. "They don't mean much," Yana speaks up. "Bunny from district 6 won the Hunger Games with the lowest odds for a victor recorded, at one point having 250-1 odds. She was 12 years old and clawed out over the bodies of 4 individuals."

The odds right now aren't that low but as we've seen, they fluctuate. Nikos is at 6-1 odds, Layla is at 8-1 odds, Desmond is at 3-1 odds, Antoinette is at 5-1 odds, Fabian is at 25-1 odds, Zippina is at 36-1 odds, Regan is at 3-1 odds, Kimberly is at 9-1 odds, Jon is at 45-1 odds, Nidawi is at 25-1 odds, Adam is at 12-1 odds, Janine is at 15-1 odds, Aster is at 13-1 odds, Juniper is at 40-1 odds, Jensen is at 65-1 odds, Lenora is at 29-1 odds, Samuel is at 8-1 odds, Naomi is at 18-1 odds, Atticus is at 24-1 odds, Valonia is at 60-1 odds, Kaney is at 40-1 odds, Ember is at 10-1 odds, Erudite is at 70-1 odds, Naette is at 75-1 odds, I'm at 19-1 odds, and Jakob is at 12-1 odds, or so I read at the time stamp labeled 7:58 PM.

Joshua joins us at about 8:03 PM when a the interviews cut away to a commercial of a bear plush that is all too familiar by this point. "Do you guys really think that watching the interviews is bound to help us out?" Jakob asks.

"You can always gather more information," Joshua dismisses.

The four of us sit in silence just as the clock hits 8:20. As I head up to leave I find myself intercepted by my classically tall mentor. "I haven't done this in a while so forgive me if I'm rusty, but it has been an honor serving you as a mentor. Do us proud in the arena and remember that you have a support system." I nod solemnly as she envelopes me in a hug. In shock I slowly trudge off into my room, trying to let sleep take me one last secured time.

Jon Cheris, 14 years old, District 5 Male

8:45-9:00

Nidawi taps on my shoulder as I finish a quick snack of cocktail weenies. Dad had these for parties and I'd bring over three dozen for my friends on good days. I wonder if Nidawi would like some. "That's not what I came over to ask you for and you know it."

"Huh?"

"You've been thinking aloud again," she chides. I stand up and follow her into the hallway where the main bedrooms all intersect. "I've been thinking, more silently too. Jon, if you think I haven't been thinking about what you said onstage then you're an idiot."

"Oh, the kisses?"

"Yeah. I'm trying to watch what I say becuase everyone knows that the rooms are bugged, and no I haven't been around that District 12 loon." Though she stands shorter than I by a healthy margin she pulls me close as time seems to stand still. It registers as her face is halfway towards mine. I don't pull away and she slowly guides her way in, leaving a gentle kiss on my lips.

She pulls away slowly but the feeling of her lips linger on me as I stare into her eyes, red flushing my face. "Nidawi?"

"Yeah Jon?"

"What was that?"

"Your first kiss," she says bluntly. "I didn't want you to die without your first kiss. I know I'm not the first candidate but-"

"Hey, Nidawi, thanks. It means a lot more than you think. Sorry for taking your first kiss away from you."

"No, No," she says with a nonchalant motion. "I liked it, you're a great kisser too."

The two of smile at each other, sad smiles that flicker between joy and depression while we listen to the loud television in the background. Just gotta kiss de gurl… "Hey, if I asked you to...to...to be my girlfriend out of the Hunger Games…. Do you think you would have accepted?"

"I'd like to think I'd say yes, but Alaina wouldn't let me hear the end of it. Let's just get some sleep."

"Sounds good right now."

Naette Quill, 12 years old, District 12 Female

9:00-9:35

"Is there anything else you can tell us?" I ask Lillian as she rotates her finger around a small cup. She turns to us with a grim look on her face and almost immediately bursts into tears. This is the fourth time in as many days. I look at the small toy she gave me and wait for little else to transpire.

"Naette is there something you need right now?" I hear Ketrin ask. He has a gruff voice, deeper than most of the victors, and it always makes me jump.

"Do you guys really...really not have any more pieces of advice?"

Ketrin turns to me with a sigh and rests his hands on top of each other. "I really can't give you anything more. District 12 may be hopeless but you just need to look at Krysten to know that hopeless and impossible are not the same things. I have a granddaughter like you, you know. She's somewhere safer than District 12. Just do what you think is best."

"I-I don't-"

"It helps more than you think," Lillian speaks up. "Thank you Ketrin. Are you going to try to knock some sense into Erudite?"

"He's a District 12 boy, like I was many years ago. He's resigned himself to being a bloodbath. Unless the author of the story pulls a deus ex machina like a spoiler that wasn't revealed in his main fanfiction, he's inconsolable. But the fourth wall was meant to be broken. We still are District 12 even if the Capitol wants to pry that out of our hands."

"Which is why the Hunger Games will end in-"

"Krysten! No spoilers!" Lillian sharply reprimands, causing a round of raucous laughter. "Just get to bed dear. You can't nap in the catacombs."

Valonia Kalene, 12 years old, District 10 Female

9:35-9:50

"Atticus?" My much taller District partner turns to me in a hurried manner. I think I might have scared him. "Atticus there's a reason you left the alliance, right?"

"Yes there is," he says grimly. "I don't want to hurt you but Ember pushed me to an edge I didn't want to lash out at."

"Maybe she's much nicer at home?"

"I bet she is. Valonia, we need to focus on ourselves though. Look, it'll be us against the 25 other tributes as much as I hate to admit it. I want to believe that no one will do anything terrible but I think that we have some things to realize." Tears begin to fall from the corners of his eyes but he wipes them away. "I just...we… I… Nia. the two of us have a lot to get home to and I don't think that we can overly….overly rely on others."

The two of us sit in silence, occasionally drying our tears, as we look at the tv screen that has just finished showing interviews. A countdown of the top 151 victors goes up. We know what you came here for, here are the victors in the order we want! The names go by in a blur but I recognize Crate and Trusty, our two first victors, being among the first names listed and therefore one of the worst. "I'm going to bed," I tell Atticus absentmindedly.

"Have a good night," I hear him genuinely say. I'm about to enter the door to my room when I rest my hand on the handle, holding it tightly, like I did when it came to the barn all those years ago. I can almost hear my dad screaming inside. I finally creek the door open and there's no blood, no screams, and nothing but a comfy bed. I fall asleep immediately.

Desmond Pick, 18 years old, District 2 Male

9:50-10:05

"Twenty five...Twenty six…" I sound off. I jump up from the floor and look around my room, feeling a shiver go down my spine. "This is stupid Desmond. You've...you've done this."

Seven..that's all I had to do though. One a year since I was...I was 12. No bother. I had to do it in order to be a true Panemian citizen. Today I have seen… I have seen the files. No. I will not let myself falter. I thrive in one on one situations, I thrive in rocky environments, I excel because I am secure, I am District 2 and District 2 is the best.

Still the faces of my...my...what were they called? My fatalities. That's the word. The faces of my fatalities swim in front of me on the pillow. First and foremost is a 17 year old girl with an anger issue who foolishly chose to take it out on the street. The next year a remorseful father of one of my fellow trainees but abusive nonetheless. The next year a cocky 18 year old who thinks that I'm his kill but I'm his. Then a 13 year old girl from my home mining town, followed by a 12 year old boy from the same town. The kills get more challenging the next year. It's a 17 year old girl who also stands a threat and she wants to make me a kill…

But she's not just a girl. She was Gwyndoline Summit. I met her at the same orientation. She wanted to be a victor to help her ailing parents and her sister was taking three jobs so she could pursue her dream. Gwyndoline fades away to an 18 year old boy.

My...My best friend. Hadrian Carbide, 18 years old, my...my comfort after my first kills. He wanted to be a victor in order to… it was to save his hometown.

All seven of them fade away. I pick up the pillow that projected their face, tie it up, and begin to punch it. I need to become a true Panemian citizen as a victor and sometimes you have to improvise your workout. I strip off my shirt and begin to practice punches, one of my weak spots. I hope my training sufficed.

Regan Attwater, 18 years old, District 4 Male

10:05-10:15

My hands clasp in front of my mouth in something of a foreign gesture. Kyle and Castelia told me that it was a form of security for the people before Panem. As I clasp tightly I notice a small light bouncing off of the silver that lines Kyle's ring.

I clasp even tighter. Mom, Dad, Grandma and Grandpa, everyone else is waiting for me. I know that tokens get handed back to the family with the body but that's about it. Kyle...Kyle he knows that I have to make it back and if I don't he knows to take me out to the spot on a river where my parents met and just set me adrift.

Impulsively I open one of the drawers on my dresser. Inside is a camera, a book, a piece of paper, and some pens. The camera is only slightly foreign to me. I know how it works.

I plaster a confident smile and set the camera up in front of me. A timer has been made to go off after ten seconds. I try my best to keep the sadness out of my eyes just as the flash goes off. The photo develops in an instant. It;s not much of a photo but...at least I look good for Kyle and Castelia. I head out the hall and bump into my mentor, Bruce. "Anak, what is it?" he asks.

"Can you just deliver this to my family if the worst is...if the worst that is me dying comes?"

"Of course," Bruce says with a sad smile. "Think rationally but never give up hope, okay?"

"Yes sir," I say weary. Bruce turns into his quarters after tucking the photo into his overcoat. I strip off my shirt and look at myself in the mirror. Will my family even recognize me after what's happened in the arena?

Nikos Marbello, 18 years old, District 1 Male

10:15-10:20

Left, right, left, right. Back and forth I look as I slowly strip out of my clothes into more comfortable sleepwear. I trace the mid-line of my stomach, instinctively recalling where Jasper had one of his killing blows dealt to him. It sends a shiver down my spine and I take care to cover up my stomach immediately. I hope the cameras in the private room aren't catching this.

"Yeah but I am," I hear Jasper. His voice has only gotten deeper with age and I see him to my right, arms crossed as optimistic and sarcastic as he was before. "You're so close dude, your'e going to be living my dream."

"It was your dream more than my dream wasn't it?"

"Yeah but I'm glad that you're the one to be the volunteer. Just keep looking over your shoulder, I can't keep doing that for you." Jasper takes a peek at his pocket watch and smiles. "My time is up but your chimes are bound to ring. And soon it'll be a bell."

"You always were the confident one." He disappears after I said that. Great. With a sigh I slide on my night shorts. I take a look at myself in the mirror. My curly hair will be disheveled by the end of the day tomorrow, my skin will be at least some bit dirtied, and I'm not sure if my head will be in the game.

Janine Midnight, 14 years old, District 6 Female

10:20-10:30

I go to bed with my arms wrapped tightly around my pillow. I need to recollect for tomorrow but it always seems like there is never enough time in order to get all my thoughts straight. All the alliances are at least 2 people strong. Naette and Erudite aren't that strong of a pair so my team of 4 can probably take them on, that is if District 13 doesn't decide that I'm...I'm not worth it. I'm the physically smallest and Adam likes me well but I don't…

I can't think of that yet. District partners don't turn on each other until at least the final eight, and maybe before then if they're careers. Even if I'm not strong I can still bring a lot to the table. I can balance, I can last for long, and I can get away quickly.

It'll be all the more necessary if I really really want to get out of a tight situation. Well I'll be...I'll be fucked. Dad is waiting for me at home, that much I know. We're...we're all that we have to come home to and I can't picture anything else happening. I love the guys but I know they aren't willing to check on old man Midnight.

It's a terrible thought that I want to get rid of. I love my friends but my friends aren't my dad's friends and my dad just… this is complicated. I close my eyes even tighter and try to picture myself rocking the arena. Bunny is the youngest victor of all time so I think I can do this.

I just have to.

Samuel Palmer, 18 years old, District 9 Male

10:30-10:50

I get up from the floor after completing another round of fifteen push ups. Caleb recommended that a workout would help my brain getting across the days. He also dropped me a list of the tributes with their height and weight statuses. I'm on par with Nikos and Atticus in terms of height but the weight is a bit variable.

Come on, just snap out of it I tell myself. I've wrestled guys stronger and bigger than I and stood up to my father. I hope mom is doing alright. She can leave him and take Naomi with- but that can't happen. I wipe the sweat off my brow and flop onto the bed, muscles somewhat trembling and mind racing. I hardly fight my eyelids closing but sleep doesn't come to me in a while.

When it does come I find myself in Caleb's arena, in a dress, and looking out for my sister. She's on the other side of the cornucopia and I can't reach her. The gong goes off too early and three other tributes fall to their deaths into an open maw of that one hydra mutt from the 75th Hunger Games. I'm about to run again when I feel someone gripping at my shoulder. "DONT' LEAVE ME!" My mom shouts. She tears off my dress and tries to drag me into a lethal carrot.

I wrestle free before being bombarded with a snow storm, hearing my friends calling out for me as Naomi's silhouette shimmers in and out of existence. I make a blind grab onto something hard. I scream for Naomi but my father materializes, slapping me clear across the face.

My dream ends there and I wake up in a cold sweat. My eyelids are relentless and I can't fight my exhaustion for too long. I just hope Naomi is having a better night than I am.

Juniper Aspens, 17 years old, District 7 Female

10:50-11:05

The bed is like an endless sea of soft grass supported by the wind. I think back to the times when I'd just sit in bed, Lily at my feet, and my dad over me, reading a story. Books were common in District 7 if only because the paper would help. I wonder what would happen to them now. I know I dream a lot and I don't do much but tongiht I don't want any dreams.

My wish goes unfulfilled.

Tonight I dream of all the kids who walked up to me at various points in my life. I dream of every interaction with Kara and she blends into every bully that I once had. Lily is by my side and the two of us walk down to our favorite river, where Kara puts a reassuring hand on my shoulder. "I only made fun of you to be cool," she says.

"But you lost my friendship."

"And I know," Ash chimes in. "I hate it too."

I wake up and look at the digital clock that flips back and forth. It's only 10:58 and the Games will begin at 9:00 sharp. That means I have ten hours and 2 minutes. I can keep track of time in the arena. That much I know. I think that I just have to hold my hand high like a signal and just look at the shadow of it. I can't explain it but I can do it.

Many great geniuses know how to do it and they've never explained it. I just need to improvise. I think that my greatest problem would be being well rested for the days. I just hope that the days will be alright for me. I don't want anyone at home to see me be foolish.

Lenora Cotton, 16 years old, District 8 Female

11:05-11:35

A lot of the odds are against me. A lot of the odds say that I won't make it out even in the best of circumstances. In many cases they're right. District 8 is a divided world and I'm neither street kid nor rich kid. Only two of our victors have been 'rich' kids, Cecelia Turner and Denim Cupin. I just need to breathe. I've been doing that well but life was basically set up for me in District 8.

Now that it's in my own hands I'm not quite sure what to think. Every day I'd go to school for the required five hours and work for the allotted four hours given to minors working in the factories. I've seen many accidents.

I can go the Hunger Games the way I want, cautious and low key, without doing much to attract attention. I trust that Velvet and Indigo will help me get the supplies. They've been telling me and Jensen that we just need to have trust in ourselves that we can get through anything. That's how they both got through the Hunger Games in spite of their worse off backgrounds.

Now, I think I just need to sleep. It's already 11:32 and according to our escort Extraavaganza, we just need sleep. It seems to be important.

I hope Mom and Rufus don't lose a lot of sleep because of me.

Kaney Mayes, 13 years old, District 11 Male

11:35-11:45

"And with that, the group disbanded, sure to meet again." I read it aloud to my room. It seems so much more empty now that death is looming over. I wonder if the uncountable others who were in this room ever felt like they'd never feel a good night of sleep ever again. If only there was someone willing to listen to me talk to my stories.

It can't be that bad, my parents will have another child to read their story to if I don't make it out. I just have to make it otu and my parents will work better.

But what about Lenora? She has people to get home to as well. She has been a great friend but one of us would have to die if we want to get home. Judging by the other alliances, the careers, the semi careers, and the random alliances, we're outclassed. I don't want to break things up between us too soon but I don't want to ruin our alliance too early. It's…

It's too much to think about, and according to old Bale and older Donnabella, I can't be thinking too much. I close the comic/book up and put it on the night stand. I'll be missing so many other stories to read when I get out. So many things to play with my friends for, and so much of District 11 to see.

I guess I have to make it out to see it all.


Hey Guys Hopps here,

We are but two chapters away from the bloodbath (unless I choose to add a filler chapter of mentors since we haven't seen them in a while). Since I'm on summer vacation and I haven't signed up for classes I will probably be updating at a quicker pace, and expect preparation for the sequel to come out sometime soon. I still don't have a victor nor escapees planned, and somethign may occur at the end that can only be justified with the fact that this takes place in modern time 2592.

Sponsor Questions:

1) What time frame do all of these perspectives take place? (XX:XX- YY:YY) (2 possible points)

2) Which victors are mentioned? (1 point per victor)

Bonus: Which two tributes had your favorite perspectives? (2 points per each)

Fun Questions: Who is your pick of the victor? Who do you think will die in the bloodbath? Who do you think will escape?

Hopping out

Hopps