(trigger warning for parental abuse in Prince's POV)
Dakota Grangerford, 12
District 9 Female
The rain had slowed to a drizzle as Dakota and the other community home kids made their way to the town square. It wasn't far, and Dakota could have made it herself, but Terri, the too-cheerful volunteer, insisted on pushing her. Terri got on Dakota's nerves more than any other volunteer. Most were there for community service hours, but not Terri. She said she "did it out of the goodness of her heart" and she "couldn't bear to see those poor children with no one to care for them".
But she babied everyone, even Sarah, who was 17 and one of the oldest community home members. She clearly didn't see that they were perfectly capable of dressing, and eating, and learning. Even Dakota didn't need her wheelchair to be pushed.
Terri chattered away with Ms. Kornfeld, who only responded with grunts and nods. Everyone else was quiet. When they reached the line of teens waiting to be checked in, Dakota twisted around awkwardly to look at Terri.
"I've got it from here," she said. Before Terri could open her mouth to protest, she grabbed the wheels of her chair and propelled herself forward, straight to the front of the group of community home kids.
When she reached the Peacekeeper checking people in, she held out her hand without flinching. He pricked her finger and checked his monitor.
"Dakota Grangerford?"
"Yes," she said flatly. He nodded and gestured for her to move forward.
She rolled herself to the cluster of 12-year-old girls and took up a position in the back left corner, near the walkway. Easier to leave later. A red-haired girl she recognized from school glanced her way and then scooted closer to her friend. Dakota rolled her eyes.
"Hello hello hello!" a high-pitched voice called, and Amity Knox, District 9's escort, strutted onto the stage. She was wearing frighteningly tall silver heels, a bright pink dress with a cutout, and had silver streaks in her yellow hair. Her lips were the color of bubblegum, which Dakota only had once. She won it in a spelling competition in Year 2.
"Welcome to the reapings for the 54th Annual Hunger Games! Our congratulations to last year's victor, Signy Freyda! Let's see if District 9 can bring one home this year! But first, we have a wonderful film we brought all the way from the Capitol!"
The screen above the stage came to life with a war scene, narrated by an old man. Dakota ignored it. Everyone was required to attend reapings unless they were on their deathbed, and she'd seen this "wonderful" film many times before.
When it was over, Mayor Catalina Fyres took the stage to read the Treaty of Treason. Then she introduced District 9's past victors; Bran Granger, Ceres Arthur, and Maddox Hume. Dakota joined everyone in clapping, but her applause was half-hearted.
"And now, what we've all been waiting for!" Amity cried, throwing her arms in the air. "It's time to choose our tributes! Let's start with the boys, just to mix things up."
She wobbled over to the glass bowl on her right and plunged a hand in, twirling it around, and plucking out a slip of paper. She unfolded it and grinned broadly.
"Ezekiel Miller!"
A tall boy with brown skin and close-cropped black hair was pushed out of the 15-year-old's section. He was wearing a red-checkered shirt and looked absolutely terrified. But Amity just kept grinning, gesturing for him to climb the stairs, which he did.
Once he took his place onstage, Amity drew a slip from the other bowl. Dakota leaned back in her chair. It was almost over.
"Dakota Grangerford!"
For a few moments, no one spoke. Or moved. Dakota didn't even breathe. She waited for the shock to hit her, but it never came. Somehow, she wasn't surprised. If her name was called, so be it. She was a tribute.
With a sigh, she wheeled her way past her fellow tweens, purposely squishing the red-head's toes. When she reached the walkway, faint gasps and murmurs came from the crowd. Dakota went to the bottom of the stairs and stopped. A bitter laugh bubbled in her throat. How could they reap her if she couldn't get to the stage?
But two Peacekeepers came up on either side of her and lifted her chair, carrying her up to Amity's side. Both she and Ezekiel were staring at her. Dakota cleared her throat and looked away pointedly.
"Oh!" Amity gasped. "Yes! District 9, I give you your tributes, Ezekiel and Dakota!" More applause followed, but it was subdued. Dakota stared out over everyone's heads, not bothering to seek out Ms. Kornfeld, or Sarah, or even Terri or Trinity.
The anthem played one more time, and Dakota was pushed into the Justice Building by a tall Peacekeeper. They shut her in a small room with a leather sofa, where she sat in silence for several minutes. Then the door creaked open.
Sarah stepped inside, hands behind her back, swaying slightly on her feet. She was biting her lower lip and looking at everything but Dakota.
"Are you okay?" she finally asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Yeah," Dakota told her. Sarah nodded awkwardly before finally making eye contact.
"That's good."
She came to sit on the couch, far away from Dakota, and they sat in silence until the same Peacekeeper came to retrieve her. As she watched Sarah go, Dakota felt a small smile tug at her cheeks.
Indigo Li, 13
District 8 Female
Indigo was going to run away. Her bags were packed with the necessities, she'd put on several layers of warm clothing, now she just had to decide where to go. She was standing at her window, staring out over the dark district. It was the early hours of the morning, when most everyone was asleep. No one would notice a skinny girl in black climbing down a drainpipe.
She grabbed a small duffel bag, which was packed with clothing on the bottom. It wouldn't make too much noise as it hit the ground. She leaned down and out before carefully dropping it. It landed in the alleyway with a soft thud.
Indigo held her breath, but nothing happened. So she slipped on her backpack and hesitantly stuck one leg out the window. Straddling the windowsill, she reached for the drainpipe and wrapped her hands firmly around it. But as she slowly shifted her weight, one of the bands holding it in place came loose with a screech, and she felt herself beginning to fall.
She made a desperate grab for the windowsill, fingernails scraping across the paint, but it was too far. She felt herself falling, a short scream erupting from her mouth before she landed, hard.
For a few terrifying moments, she couldn't breathe. Everything was dark. 'Did I die?', she wondered. And then cold morning air filled her lungs and pain shot through her arm.
A window opened nearby and Indigo didn't need to look to know who was watching her. Aunt Victoria gasped loudly before beginning to shout.
"Indigo Maria Li! What the hell are you doing?"
"Relaxing," Indigo said with a groan, doing her best to sit up. Her elbow was bent at an awkward angle, and the sight made her stomach turn. She tried to haul herself to her feet with her good arm against a dumpster, but the pavement swooped and dipped in front of her, and she staggered for a moment before sitting back down.
By that time, her aunt was outside in her slippers and robe, yelling loud enough to wake up the entire neighborhood. Other people were opening their windows or coming out of their houses to see what was happening. And Aunt Victoria didn't stop shouting.
"What happened here?" a rough voice asked, and Indigo flinched when she saw who it belonged to. A Peacekeeper was standing near her aunt, helmet under his arm, steely eyes flashing angrily. Indigo raised her good arm and waved.
Marching forward, Aunt Victoria pulled Indigo to her feet again and gave her a small shake, making her even dizzier.
"My… my lunatic niece fell out her window," she screeched. The Peacekeeper frowned.
"Is this Ms. Li?" he asked, looking Indigo up and down.
"The one and only," she grumbled.
"Well young lady, you are under house arrest. Let's go inside and make sure you stay there." As he turned away, Indigo stuck her tongue out at him.
After several hours of being trapped in the living room, Indigo was allowed to leave, but only to go to the reaping. She would be marched straight back home afterwards and be kept under constant supervision. Her skin was already starting to crawl from sitting for so long that the thought of being stuck for longer made her want to scream.
She tried twice to dash away from the two Peacekeepers on either side of her, but they caught her immediately. By the time she reached the line of kids waiting to be checked in, one had a firm grip on her upper arm.
Her blood was drawn and Indigo was forcibly escorted to her section, where a Peacekeeper stood nearby to "keep an eye on her". Tapping her foot, Indigo glanced around. She couldn't run, but if she slowly inched her way across the crowd of girls, maybe she could vanish into the sea of people? It was her best shot. She began to inch her way to the right, making sure to guard her arm, which was in a makeshift sling.
Agnes Ortega took the stage in a sparkly zebra-print dress as Indigo tried to sink into the shadows. The anthem blared and a thought sparked in her head. If she made a dash during the short film, she might be able to make it all the way across.
When the movie began to blare, she took off, shoving girls out of her way. But right as she reached the edge of her section, a huge hand came down on the back of her neck and the largest man she'd ever seen hauled her back into the crowd. He kept a hand on each of her shoulders as the film ended and Agnes walked towards the glass bowl of name slips.
The Peacekeeper dug his fingers into Indigo's shoulders and a wave of panic washed over her. She was trapped. She was stuck. There was no way out. Unless…
As Agnes opened the slip of paper to read the name, Indigo burst forward, shooting her good hand into the air.
"I volunteer!" she shouted.
A stunned silence followed. She whirled around to give the Peacekeeper behind her a smug look before marching past the other gaping girls and climbing the steps to the stage.
"What a brave young lady!" Agnes cheered when Indigo reached her.
"Indigo Li," she said, glaring out at the crowd as whispers picked up. By now, most people with kids had heard her name, she was sure.
"Well Indigo, it is an absolute pleasure to have you here."
"The pleasure is all mine," she said with a satisfied grin. Agnes smiled back.
"Let us see if Indigo's district partner is as lovely as she, shall we?" She scooped up another slip and read the name.
"Keith Burton!"
A scrawny 12-year-old with round wire glasses and a purple shirt was shoved towards the stairs. Indigo watched as tears pooled in his big glassy eyes and he started to cry.
When he reached them, Agnes gestured for them to shake hands, which Keith did after wiping his nose on his sleeve. Indigo grimaced as she took his clammy hand. Then the anthem played again and another Peacekeeper grabbed ahold of Indigo's shoulder.
She was dragged directly towards the train.
"Wait, what about saying goodbye?" she asked.
"No one wants to say goodbye to you," he replied. "Now shut up."
Prince Middleton, 17
District 1 Male
As Queenie Barbour, this year's female volunteer, soaked in the crowd's praise, Prince moved closer to the front of his section, away from Ali. His boyfriend watched him go, but Prince didn't have time to look back. He had to time this perfectly.
Clio Lang unfolded the next slip, and Elijah, the chosen male volunteer, stepped forward. Prince lunged forward and shoved him down. He vaulted over Elijah's back and sprinted down the aisle between the girls and boys.
"I volunteer!" he shouted.
Gasps and shouts came from behind him, but Prince continued forward, refusing to acknowledge them. Even Clio looked surprised. Someone must have briefed her on who was volunteering. Well, sucked to be them.
He climbed the stairs and nodded politely to Clio.
"Prince Middleton, ma'am."
"Well, um, welcome Prince. Congratulations!"
She regained her composure quickly, he had to give her that. He turned to Queenie and held out his hand. But instead of shaking it, he bent down and dropped a light kiss to the back of it. Queenie gave him a steely look, and he smirked.
He was escorted into the Justice Building, ignoring the looks the past victors gave him. Elijah was fuming somewhere, and it made him smile. And soon, he'd be with Ali. That made him smile even more.
Prince was left in a small room with flowery wallpaper and a fuzzy rug on the floor. He sat down on the creamy white couch and crossed his legs, waiting. Maia came in first, tears in her eyes. They started to fall as she grabbed his hands.
"You're such an idiot," she whispered, yanking him into a hug.
"An idiot who's going to win the Hunger Games," Prince reminded her. She frowned at him.
"Your parents are furious," she warned. "They're coming in after me, and I don't know what they'll do."
"They can't hurt me anymore," Prince promised. "I'm a tribute now. I'm untouchable."
Maia's frown deepened and she released him.
"Please be careful," she said. "You're confident, but that can make you cocky."
"I'm not cocky," Prince grumbled. Maia raised an eyebrow.
"Okay. I'll, uh, I'll see you when you're back."
She hugged him one more time before leaving. Then Prince's parents burst into the room.
"What is wrong with you?" his dad shouted, slamming the door behind him. "We feed you, clothe you, raise you, love you, and this is how you repay us?"
As he shouted, something simmered up inside his chest.
"Love me?" Prince shouted. "You hurt me! You kept me away from Ali. You told me I was too weak to be a real contender for the Hunger Games. You didn't love me."
His dad's eyes widened and he opened his mouth to speak, but then his mom was there. Her hand struck his face before he could even flinch. Her red nails raked across his cheek and he stumbled back.
Gritting his teeth, Prince got up in her face and snarled.
"Get. Out."
"Fine," she snapped, whirling around on her heel.
"Good riddance," his dad snapped, following her.
Ali came in a few moments later. He was crying, but pushed Prince away from him when Prince came to hug him.
"What were you thinking?" Ali sobbed. "One year, Prince. You could have waited one year. And you're going to die!"
"What? Don't you support me?" Ali shook his head.
"Did you think this through? You're not high on the rankings at the Academy. You started training late. You didn't discuss this with anyone!"
"Maia knew!" Prince protested. Ali rolled his eyes.
"Maia doesn't count. She'll go along with whatever you say."
"Don't insult her!" Prince snapped.
Ali stepped back.
"You know what Prince? I want you to win. I love you. But you're being a huge idiot right now." He crossed his arms and turned around.
He reached out to put a hand on Ali's shoulder, but his boyfriend shrugged it off.
"Fine," Prince growled. "Be that way. You can leave now."
"Fine," Ali shouted back.
"Fine!"
And Ali stormed out.
Hey everyone! Here's Chapter 2 of Dakota's story. I had fun exploring her more, as well as Indigo and Prince. Indigo is a character who is very near and dear to my heart. I hope you enjoy the chapter, and please leave a review!
Have a nice day, be kind to each other, and never stop reading!
- Fiona