Electra Shielle 14 District 3

The train jerks awkwardly up for a brief second, reminding me of the situation I've found myself in. I glance to my left outside the window, the midday sun is now beating through the glass and radiating my skin. Covering my eyes, I blink awkwardly, turning my attention back to the boy in front of me. He is stuttering nervously to himself , something about bees I think? His hand is jittering against the table, tapping it repeatedly. His bright, brown eyes stuck firmly to it, I can even hear his pulsating breaths building up as he gets himself into more of a panic.

"Bees have five eyes," I think I catch him saying.

Revenge is still all that's on my mind, not panic, revenge. It had never left me and I swear by my parents that I'm going to make it out of these games and exact my vengeance on that Chip boy myself! I feel my fists curl and tighten, I can't believe my plan backfired like that! What even happened? The capitol must have known somehow that I rigged it and not taken too kindly to it!

"Bees are… are…insects…" The boy mutters, louder and more agitated!

His head collapses onto the table finally in despair.

"We're going to die!" He whimpers.

Well, speak for yourself. Luckily I only thought that and didn't say it.

"Look, try to… think positively," I tell him, I know that seems like ridiculous advice but it's the only advice I've got at the moment.

His head slowly rises back off the table to face me, his face is red and covered in tears.

"I'm… I'm sorry I'm usually the glass half full type of boy but I just can't think of a way I'm going to beat any of those other people in a fight," he mutters.

It's then I notice a woman strutting nonchalantly down the train towards us. She looks very short and probably beyond middle aged with thick glasses that cover most of her face.

"I think that's our mentor," I whisper to my district partner.

His eyes shoot up, clearly some hope reignited in them. When the woman reaches our table, she takes one look at us over her down turned nose and only one sound comes out of her mouth.

"Hmm."

And with that she is gone almost as quickly as she arrived.

"You have to be kidding me," I murmur in disbelief.

Our escort Constance suddenly rushes back to us, taking a seat on the seats opposite. Her eyes are lit up like an excited bunny as usual. Man, can't this woman read a room at all?

I turn back to Beckett.

"We're going die!" He exclaims, louder this time. He throws his head down on the table and begins sulking again.

I roll my eyes and take him by his hand, trying to think of something reassuring to say…

"Try to stay calm, you're not doing anything to help yourself." Is all I can come up with.

"So… what did she say?" Constance asks, her upbeat voice clearly not fitting the mood.

"Try to stay calm, you're not doing anything to help yourself," Beckett replies, as he lifts his head slowly off the table again. His tone sounds both hopeless and confused.

"No…your mentor."

"Not a lot," I say plainly to the clueless woman.

Marissa Grey 17 District 4

The room in the compartment is silent, save for the various noises coming from the train hurtling through the countryside. My district partner Taliesin has been staring at me in silence this whole time with his bulging brown eyes and he has an unmistakable sly smile stretched across his face. He is handsome yes but almost a kind of creepy handsome in a way that I've not seen before. I awkwardly clear my throat to relieve the tension in the carriage.

"Sorry," he smiles, flicking his chestnut, curly hair away from his eyes.

"It's just, that was quite some show you pulled back at the reaping's," he says.

"Breaking your sister's ankle like that… I think I like you already," he laughs, throwing his feet up on the table. His hand finds its way into the bowl of candies on the table, he pops one into his mouth and his eyes light up as the sugar coats his mouth however they stay fixed on me the entire time.

"Yeah… well she deserved it," I chuckle.

"And now at least you have a competent district partner," I smile.

"I'm sure," He smiles back before resuming chewing.

Even though there is something… uneasy about Taliesin that I can't quite place my finger on…so far I'm glad he's my district partner. He has a calm, laid back personality that I like. Now that I think about it, every time I'd seen Taliesin around the academy he had been more like a prop in the background than an actual person. I'd never spoken to him nor seen many people hanging around with him. I guess we're both used to living in the shadows in a way. Soon, I find myself staring back out the window again, then I finally turn back to him. It's time to talk about the elephant in the room.

"So who do you think did it?" I ask.

"What?" he shrugs.

I roll my eyes impatiently.

"Who do you think the killer is?"

He throws his hands behind his head, leans back and snickers.

"Haven't really thought about it," he states casually.

That comes as a surprise to me! It's been all the talk not just in the academy but all around the district. A mysterious serial killer had murdered six of our best students! In fact, if I recall, Taliesin had a friend that he always used to hang around with (I think they might have been more than just friends) and he was one of the victims. Maybe Taliesin does care but he just finds it difficult to talk about it for that reason. I understand that.

His eyes narrow back to me looking more like that of a snake.

"Does that surprise you?" he inquiries.

"Well, it's…it's just everyone was trying to work out who the killer is… I had some fun with my friends thinking up all sorts of crazy theories," I chuckle.

He chuckles back, almost in sync with my lips until his eyes suddenly narrow again. Then he takes his feet off the table and leans forward intently.

"All I do know is whoever it was, was extremely efficient and dangerous… so I thought it was wise to keep out of their way and not stick my nose in it."

His eyes remain fixed to me after he says this which for some reason sends an extremely cold shiver down my spine. I need to break out of the silence of his intense stare!

"Ye…yes well I doubt we'll ever truly know…"

He returns his feet back into the table and leans back again. Beginning to gorge once more on his candies.

"However my main theory is that it was some kind of rebel… clearly they had a message they wanted to send. Anyway we don't know for sure they were working alone... it could have been an entire rebel organisation for all we know," he contemplates while sucking the glazing of the candies off his fingers.

"Yeah, that's an interesting theory," I agree.

Suddenly there is the sound of footsteps on the train floor from behind me, they are heavy like boots.

I shift my neck around to see a girl, not much older than me, maybe by one year. She has black, straight hair, dark eyes as well and dressed almost entirely in black but her face is very pale, almost like the moon, shining. Beside her is another man, he is older. Probably in his mid thirties with auburn coloured hair and a large, thick moustache.

"I assume you are our mentors?" Taliesin asks as they reach our desk.

"You assume right," the man answers.

"I am Rico and this is Kate," he says, gesturing to the girl.

Now I remember! Kate Wakai! One of our most famous victors! She was the youngest career winner of all time at only 13! I feel hot flushes rinse throughout my body, and suddenly I find myself staring at a celebrity. Keep calm Marissa. I catch her dark eyes glancing at me briefly then back into the emptiness of the train.

"So how would you like to do this?" Rico asks.

"I'll mentor Marissa," Kate answers instantly.

"I don't like his eyes," she says sternly, briefly glancing at Taliesin.

I turn back to him and he just smirks in response, brushing off her hostility to him.

She places her hand on my shoulder.

"Come to my room if you want to begin," She says.

Not wanting to argue with the woman, I get up and follow her.

"Ok…" I hear Rico mutter awkwardly as he takes a seat opposite Taliesin.

I enter into Kate's room where she is lounging on her bed before shutting the door behind us. Then I almost jump out of my skin at the sight of a large, floating tentacle creature hovering around her closet. It has a lime green shell, blue glowing tentacles and two black button colored eyes.

"Don't be alarmed," Kate states, standing up and tossing a peanut at the creature. It catches it in its mouth and happily devours it.

"They are passive mutts, they don't attack unless threatened."

Then she turns to me, her eyes suddenly appearing more playful for the first time with a slight smile.

"Or if I am."

"Wait a minute, that's…Kyle."

"Kevin," she corrects me.

"Kevin… sorry,"

Kevin was the mutt that she managed to tame and helped her win her hunger games. It's been the talk of district 4 for a while, some not considering her victory legitimate but who cares? She won at age 13.

"Anyway… take a seat," she tells me.

Cautiously trying to avoid Kevin, I take a seat beside her on the bed. Her eyes not leaving mine the entire time.

I pause and take a deep breath.

"What did you mean when you said you didn't like Taliesin's eyes?" I ask.

"I've seen those eyes many times. Trust me Marrisa, Taliesin is not a friend," she assures me.

"First rule is don't trust anyone, especially not him."

"Ok," I murmur.

"Now I need to ask you the most important question of all…" She begins.

I straighten my back up and prepare for what it could be…

"Why did you volunteer?" She asks.

It was not the question I expected but it has hit me like a tonne of bricks because I don't know how to answer it.

"I…I want to bring honor to my district?" I answer, trying my best to sound sincere. It's the answer she wants to hear I think.

She smirks and shakes her head, drifting her eyes back down.

"We all think that. We all say it was worth it for the glory of our district whatever that means but can I tell that to the district 3 boy?" she ponders, staring back up at me.

"The district 3 boy?" I mutter, confused.

"I killed him on the first day…" her voice begins to crack and stutter.

"I never even knew his name, what he was like, his family, his hobbies, it didn't matter but now I'm here breathing and he's not. How is that fair?"

I can't answer this question. What is she even getting at? Does she not agree with the cause? She is supposed to be encouraging me here?

"So I'm going to ask you again. Why did you volunteer?"

Her eyes are cutting into me. There's no way to bullshit her this time.

"I… I guess I wanted to be better than my sister. I was always the better tribute not her and I couldn't let her screw it up."

"I thought so. I watched the reaping's," she smiles.

"At least you have a motivation I can understand because it was the same as mine."

I look at her in surprise. Now I remember, her sister was a victor as well. Maybe not as famous as her, however. So that was her motivation?

"But you should know. Even if you live, the satisfaction of out competing your sister will not be enough for you to be able to live with yourself forever," she says calmly.

I am unable to answer. Lost for words. I open my mouth to speak but only broken stutters can be found escaping. She takes a peanut out her bag and presents it to me with a gentle smile.

"You wanna feed him?" she offers casually.

I look back at Kevin, still lost for words and unable to reply as the peanut is shoved into my hand.

"What…what do I do?" I gulp meekly.

"Just toss it and he'll catch it."

I fling the peanut through the air and he gratefully accepts it into his mouth.

Charon Aytigin 18, District 12

The train bounces its way across a ridge on the track, jolting me upwards in the small compacted train bathroom.

I brace myself on the door knob until I twist it and stumble out of the bathroom.

"Shit."

So far I'm not enjoying my first train experience that's for sure. I begin moving my way down the carriage until I almost crash into my much smaller district partner, Nadia I remember her name being. She is just stood in front of me, staring up at me inquisitively. Seemingly bewildered by my appearance. I raise my left eyebrow at her in response.

"Why do you look like that?" She asks bluntly.

Her question throws me off a little at how direct she is but i'm pretty thick skinned so my mind just laughs it off as her being a dumb kid.

I give her a sudden growl like a wild dog and she jumps back in surprise, clasping her heart which causes me to chuckle with glee.

"Now get out of my way," I order.

She only moves back slightly, so I only just have enough room to get past. Is she doing this on purpose? Intentionally aggravating someone that can kill her with his bare hands.

"Get out my fucking way," my tonne becoming more agressive.

"I'm not in your way," she retorts.

"Get out my way!" I shout.

Finally she moves completely out my way allowing me to barge past her. There is a special door at the front of the train leading to a special room which our escort told us not to go into so that's exactly what I'm gonna do. I snagged one of the Peacekeepers tags earlier which should grant me access I think as I press it up against the scanner on the door.

PING

A green light flashes on the door and it clicks open. So, I sneak my way in and gently shut the door behind me. Inside can be found a dark room with many flashing computers and buttons which I have no clue what they do but there seems to be some kind of holographic pad resting below one of the computers. As I approach it I notice it's got an ugly mug shot of my face on it! I dart over to it and snatch it up into my hands. It looks like it's my "file" or something. I begin scrolling through it, it's giving all the details about me like my height ect and then it begins giving my life story.

"Was abandoned at a young age by parents so likely craves attention." It reads.

I scoff at that. I haven't read anything so ridiculous in my life.

Then besides where it was, I notice a picture of Nadia, I place my file down and pick up hers, beginning to get stuck into her life story.

"Her younger sister and mother died one year from disease."

Yes I remember that year well, we lost a few kids at the orphanage. Although most of them were extremely annoying so I was glad to see the back of them. As I continue reading suddenly I find myself standing in a cold wooden room. There is a girl, it's Nadia. She is standing, holding a door frame facing two people. One (the woman) is lying dead in a bed while the man is kneeling beside her, stricken with grief. I turn back to Nadia and I notice a single tear rolling down her cheek.

So she's clearly not too sentimental, like me.

Next, the room changes and I find myself standing in a lab, Nadia is there again, alone and slightly older. Her eyes are dead set on this kind of experiment she seems to be conducting, mixing different ingredients together in a flask. Her hands are moving just as quickly as her eyes and she seems to be working at a million miles an hour.

"Hmmm," I think to myself.

I am back in the computer room again, placing Nadia's file back down. A scheme begins forming in my mind. She's smart, very smart. I could take advantage of that, her knowledge and then stab her in the back when the time comes.

I exit the room as quietly as I came in and move back down the train to find Nadia hanging about in the exact same place in her own world.

I contort my face to put on the most gentle smile I can muster.

"Hey Nadia."

Her eyes turn back to me, completely devoid of emotion.

"What do you want now?" She groans, maybe not comprehending the smile on my face.

"Hey, I just wanted to say sorry about what happened earlier… I haven't taken the reaping very well and I didnt mean to take it out on you."

Her eyes stay hostile but she seems to relax a little. Perhaps she's emotionally intelligent as well and doesn't trust easily. We'll see.

"Can I make it up to you?" I ask, gesturing towards the train's seats.

She is still scanning me, curiously but she accepts.

"Ok…"

She moves in front of me so her back is facing me, suggesting that she is at least beginning to trust me. Now that she's not looking, my smile changes into a sly smirk…

Jonathan Priel 16, District 10

My District partner Adelina is nervous, a twitcher and of course a sinner, a wicked person just like everyone else. But there's something more about her. Something that's different to most people. Her striking, bright eyes are sunk downwards. Almost like she is guilty and she knows it. Like she's ashamed. She is more of a sinner than most and Corvus will reward me for cleansing her. The crow always watches.

Her eyes jitter up and make contact with mine for the first time, I don't try to hide the fact that I'm staring.

"What…what are you staring at?" She mutters with a slight venom in her voice.

I don't answer her but continue my deep stare.

"What?" She growls this time, her voice now becoming much more hostile like a wolf.

"Do not pretend you are any better than me, sinner," I tell her.

"Do not presume to talk to me. You will be cleansed."

All of a sudden, without warning she lets out a cry of anger and leaps across the table at me, catching me off guard so I am unable to defend myself properly. At first she is clawing at my face and hair but then she begins punching me rapidly in the head. My nose, eye, mouth, her attacks are so fast for someone so young!

Eventually I stand up with her still glued to my head and I stumble into the table opposite, crashing into some of the glasses and plates. However, I am able to use my superior strength to wrestle her off me and toss her onto the train floor. A split second later our escort rushes in having only left us for 5 minutes with a bunch of Peacekeepers to break us up.

"You're dead kid! Just wait until we get to the arena. I'm gonna show you the definition of hell." I yell, pointing my finger at her like a spear behind the peacekeepers.

She seems to remain unchanged by my threat but she quickly picks herself up from the floor and storms away back to her room. We haven't even met our mentors yet…

I rub my mouth from the pain of where she struck me multiple times and find blood on my hand. She took me completely off guard there, I never expected her to attack like that but she has only confirmed in my mind that she's a worse human being than I thought and must be cleansed at the first chance I get. I hate her.

Her attack was a mistake however, she has already shown her hand and now I know what to expect when facing her in the arena and how to counter her and plus I know how to push her buttons now. She is so dead, she doesn't even realise it.

I calmly take a seat again to get back to staring out the window. Adelina will be an easy kill but some of the others might be more tricky to cleanse. I have been chosen to cleanse them all. It is my destiny and I will see it done, whatever it takes.

Hey thanks so much for reading, I'm so glad we are on the pre games now and all our tributes are interacting! Also this chapter saw the reintroduction of Kate Wakai created by Platrium and conveniently you can read her entire origin story and games in the one shot "Under cover of night: the 90th hunger games" on my profile if you chose. That's all, Nautics wrote this chapter and Team Shadow will write the next train rides chapter!