Finally, the next Reaping is up!

Zilla Odbody, 16
District 6 Female

Eleven months before the Reaping

She was completely out of place.

First off, unlike everyone else, Zilla showed up in a white blouse and grey slacks, cinched with a bright red belt. She did have an array of darker clothes to choose from, and she knew her mother had asked her to wear something more appropriate, but she didn't get what was so important. Clothes were simply not the rage anyone made them out to be. And Zilla never put much thought into her outfits anyways. They were always so plain and dull.

She also didn't understand whose idea it was to put the body on display like that. He just didn't look anything like his dead self, dressed in an expensive suit, with a face pumped full of god-knows-what. Were corpses supposed to look like that? So waxy? So lifelike? She waited for the moment when her father would sit up and spread out his arms so she could run into them.

She missed him so much.

Everyone else was crying, and Zilla wanted to cry too.

But she didn't.

Instead, she huddled in a corner of the room and watched everything unfold.

Why did everyone look so sad? The passing of her father was devastating enough already. Zilla didn't need a bunch of strangers and distant relatives crowded into this stuffy room, bawling their eyes out. She didn't want to put up with the number of adults who approached her, shaking her hand and patting her on the shoulder. They were sorry about the loss, they missed her father, he was a great man, he was in a better place now, blah blah blah. Zilla knew all of this already. She wanted to be left alone, to grieve in her own way.

And deep deep down, she was grieving. She was upset, even if it didn't seem like it. She knew things would never be the same ever again.

"Zilla?"

Zilla looked up as her mother grabbed her hand and led her to her seat. "There you are honey. Come on, it's about to start."

The ceremony was long and boring. All these people she didn't care for, giving these speeches she didn't want to hear. Zilla tuned most of it out, especially because to her, it felt so redundant. Igor Odbody was a good person. Igor Odbody was a smart man. Igor Odbody was a loving father. Igor Odbody was amazing in so many ways.

Igor Odbody was dead.

Zilla was there when they lowered him into the ground, never to be seen again.

She missed him.

She wasn't ready to say goodbye.

But it didn't show on her face.

She stood there.

Stone.

Cold.

Emotionless.

She followed her mother and younger sister home. Statika put an arm around both of her daughters, but Koia kept glaring at Zilla from the corner of her eye. There was nobody else with them. Good. Zilla was just glad the funeral was finally over. She was not in the mood for any more people crowding around her.

At home, Statika brewed some tea and they all sat, holding their cups. There were enough seats were four people. Only three were filled.
Zilla folded her hands neatly on her lap. Across from her, Koia crossed her arms and scowled. He cheeks were stained with tears.

After a few minutes, it became annoying. "Can I help you?" Zilla asked her sister.
"He's never coming back."
"I know."

"Do you, Zilla?" Koia hissed. "Because it seems like you don't care. Dad's dead, and you don't care! How are you not sad?"

Koia's words cut like a knife. Zilla just sat there, frozen. "I...but I do care. I do care a lot. I just don't get why we all have to be so sad."
"Because he's dead! You think we're actually happy he's dead!?"
Stakita gave her youngest daughter a glance. "Koia..."

"You're just emotional right now," Zilla aid bluntly.
"Yeah, I'm emotional! I just lost my father! Why wouldn't I be emotional!? Do you have a problem with that!?"
"Well...you're kinda irrational right now. And you're putting all these words in my mouth."

"ARGH!" Koia screamed, slamming her hands down on the arm of the chair. "IDIOT! YOU'RE AN I-IDIOT! You idiot! He's gone! H-He's dead and you didn't even sh-shed a single tear! You don't a-actually care about us, you d-don't even care about anyone! You only care about yourself! You act like you're above me all the time because you're a robot and you can't express any sympathy for anyone!"

"What is wrong with you!?"

Zilla was at a loss for words. She opened her mouth to speak, but no sounds came out. She tried to say something to prove that she did care, but she suddenly choked up. A single tear spilled down her cheek. Koia stomped off, sobbing into her hands.

She didn't know what she had done to send her sister over the edge. She didn't know what was wrong with her. She wished she had an answer, the perfect answer, one that would heal her sister and revive her father and fix Zilla so she'd become a normal girl.

She came up with nothing.

She saw her mother slowly stand up, before siting down next to her and giving her a hug. Zilla stood rigid and Stakita wrapped her arms around her. She wasn't in the mood for a after everything Koia just told her.

Something's wrong.

"It's okay, honey." Stakita whispered. "It's okay. She didn't mean all of that."

"I'm normal, right?" Zilla asked her mother.
"Of course! You have nothing to be ashamed of! I know you miss him just as much as the rest of us do, you just have a different way of showing it."
"So, you think there's nothing wrong with me?"

"There's nothing wrong with you, sweetheart."

For some reason, Zilla didn't believe her.

Charles Thomson, 16
District 6 Male

Three weeks before the Reaping

"Mr. Thomson?"
"Huh?" Charles glanced up from the book he was reading.

"Time to go home," the librarian told him as she began stacking up chairs. Sure enough, all the lights had been turned off. Charles hadn't even noticed. He had been doing research for a school projects on toxins and he had lost track of time. "I've got to close up now."

"Do you mind if I take this book with me?"
"As long as you return it on time."

Charles nodded, gathered all his stuff, and left the library. He was glad that the Sun now stayed out longer and he wasn't trying to find his way home in the dark. When he did get home, there was a 10 year-old boy with his arms crossed waiting impatiently at the door.

"Hey Ed. What's up?"
"Where were you?"
"At the library."

Charles showed Eddie the book; his brother just rolled his eyes. "Boring!"
"Aw come on, toxicology is fun!"

"Just exactly what we need," Randall Thomson said loudly, strolling into the room. "A poison master. Don't get any ideas, either of you."
"We won't!" Eddie protested.
"No poisoning the water supply, okay? Or giving out cyanide-filled cookies to the Peacekeepers. Or chasing people around with needles. Or-"

"Okay okay, we get it, dad!" Charles said, the palm of his hand hitting his forehead. "We're not gonna do anything illegal!"
"Well, how am I supposed to know that?"
"Boys! Dinner!"

Charles noticed that the dinner table had been set for five, instead of four. "What's going on?" he asked his mother.
"Maria's coming over for a visit tonight. She'll be eating dinner with us."
"About time!" Eddie interrupted. "She's been ignoring us for forever!"
"No, she hasn't," Charles told him. "She's just busy. We all get busy sometimes."

"Oh yeah..." Eddie frowned. "But still. It's just not the same."
"I know, kid. I know."

The second Charles and Eddie sat down, there was a sharp knock on the door. The two brother were tripping over each as they raced to answer it, and Eddie managed to get there first. Sure enough, there was Maria Thomson, Charles's sister, waiting on the other end.
"Maria!" Eddie beamed. "You're here!"

"Hi boys! Hey Eddie!"
"What took you so long!?" Eddie demanded. "I haven't seen you in like, years!"
Maria laughed. "But it's only been a month."
"That's too long!"

"Okay, Eddie run along now," Maria told him, giving Eddie a little push out of the way. "Hi Charles."
"Hey. What's up?" Charles asked.
"Eh, you know. Work's been busy. Rushing around all the time, never catching a break. How about you?"

Charles just shrugged. "I've got a bunch of projects coming up, now that it's the end of the school year."
"Oh, that sounds fun."
"What, the projects?"
"No, the end of the school year."

Charles snickered. "Yeah, unlike you, I get two months to do nothing but lie around and be lazy. Nope, you've got work. Welcome to adulthood."
"Ugh, responsibilities." Maris smacked him on the arm. "Lucky, lucky, lucky, you teenagers. What are you learning about?"

"Toxicology!" Charles's eyes sparkled. "All the fun stuff too!"
"You're not gonna go out and make a bunch of gas bombs, are you?"
"No! Why does everyone assume just because I'm learning toxicology I'm gonna try and do something illegal?"

"Because you don't seem like a likely suspect. By the way, my roommate knows how to dissolve a body, if you ever need to go to her."
"Why on earth does she- actually, forget it. I don't wanna know."
Maria just shrugged, as if this conversation was a daily occurrence for her. "Hey, you never know when skills like these come in handy."

It was Charles's turn to wack his sister's arm. "I'd move out if I were you."
"Rent is suspiciously cheap. It's the quiet ones we have to watch out for."
"Be afraid. Be very afraid."

"Maria! Charles! Come eat!"

Maria pumped her fist into the air. "A hot meal, just for me? And it's homemade food! At last! I'll be eating like a queen tonight."
"What do you mean 'at last'? What have you been eating for the past month?"
"Whatever I could afford. I'm not proud of most of it..."

Charles just burst out laughing. "Ew, Maria! What the hell? We can't leave you by yourself, can we?"

"I'm just kidding! But it feels good to be home."

Charles nodded as his big sister hugged him. "It's nice to see you again. Hey, do you wanna see the toxins project I've been working? It's really cool; you'll like it!"
"Sure thing. I'll check it out after dinner, okay? I'm starving!"

"That's fair," Charles said, following Maria off to the kitchen.

So, that was the D6 pair! What do you think of them? Do you like them both?

Now that OLS is almost done and the Victor has been revealed, I'm going to start updating this story more frequently, since I can do so withhold fear of spoiling the OLS Victor. My big focus is getting all the Reapings done, since they're kinda tedious. But at least the new format I'm using makes it a little less repetitive.

Next up is the D7 Reaping! I've got a pattern this time; I'm not doing districts at random. I'm following a set order. Any guesses?

Hope you all enjoyed this chapter!

-Vr