When the Quell twist was announced, the Career districts promptly began voting for the strongest warriors the Academies could produce. It was considered an honor to be voted for. It was an opportunity to make your district proud.
In the outlying districts, however, the citizens saw it as an opportunity to get rid of any notorious young criminals that were making their lives a misery. To be voted for meant that your own district actively wanted you dead, which was a tough pill to swallow.
In District Five, this was only true for the male tribute slot. Many in the district silently but unanimously agreed to vote for an eighteen-year-old who was a known rapist, and a smug, self-assured one at that. Even though he knew everyone was out for his blood, he still infuriatingly insisted that they wouldn't actually get rid of him. They knew he never did anything wrong - he only ever had a bit of fun with those girls. And even if he did go into the Games, he would win, easy-peasy.
The selection for the female tribute slot, however, wasn't so clear-cut. There were no real stand-outs for "bitch of the year" so everyone just voted for whoever they didn't like.
As such, the results were very close. There was only a three vote difference between the winner and the next-highest number. The lucky girl who would be Five's female tribute was a seventeen-year-old named Electra Harter.
Electra was a cordial person, but not someone you'd describe as nice. She had a constant resting bitch face, a glare that would have put the late President Parkan to shame, and an extremely low tolerance for other people's bullshit. All of these manifested in her personality as irritability, a sharp tongue, and a nice healthy dose of vengefulness to round it all out.
Needless to say, she was not popular among her peers.
But she wasn't so hated that the district all banded together in order to get rid of her, like they had with her district partner. No. Those who had chosen her name only did so because they had to pick someone, so they went with the one who had personally wronged them in some way. They didn't think that she'd actually get sent into the Games.
But that's exactly what ended up happening. The escort announced Electra's name, and she walked up to the stage and scowled at the crowd. A tall, thin girl with creamy skin and reddish-brown curls, and clothed in a slightly ratty black lace dress, she was quite pretty. Her district partner leered at her, licking his lips.
When they shook hands at the escort's request, Pietro Sparks grinned hungrily at her. Electra fixed him with a cold, hard glare.
Her family came to visit her, say goodbye, and all that stuff. She made some vague promise to return home, yadda yadda yadda.
But she wasn't thinking about that on the train. Instead, she was more focused on keeping Pietro as far away from her as possible. The ugly bastard wouldn't stop trying to inch closer to her, even after Mara and Isaac tried to stop him from doing so.
Electra didn't even really remember what she saw during the reaping recaps after dinner, because she had to continuously keep one eye on Pietro, and the other eye on the nearest exit.
And when she went to bed, her body slept but her mind did not. It was constantly alert, ready to jolt the rest of her body into action if need be. One hand was under her pillow, wrapped around the three knives that she'd smuggled out of the dining carriage, just in case.
Isaac did not sleep that night. Instead, he stayed in an armchair from which he could see both Electra and Pietro's doors. If Pietro tried anything, he would stop him. He sat watching the dark hallway until his eyes burned and watered at the same time.
His head drooped as his eyes shut, but he suddenly snapped back into high alert when he heard the click of a door opening. Down the hallway, a large dark figure very quietly made its way along, stopping with one hand on the knob of Electra's door.
"Pietro," Isaac thundered, "go to bed."
His voice left little room for argument. Knowing he could no longer try anything without some form of intervention, Pietro turned around and crept back to bed.
Isaac's head didn't droop for the rest of the night.
The next morning, the Five tributes were separated for preparation for the parade. Electra was glad for it. She welcomed the opportunity to not have to constantly be on guard every second of the day. Even if those damn Capitolites that made up her prep team were super annoying and chatty.
The reprieve didn't last very long. That night they were forced back together. Electra's skin crawled at the thought of having to stand right next to him on the chariot.
Pietro seemed to sense her discomfort. "Don't be shy, Electra," he said with a smile, "I'll let you hold my hand if you get nervous."
Electra gagged. "I'd rather jump off a bridge."
Pietro tutted. "There's no need to be so rude. I'm only trying to be nice."
"Yeah, you're a real charmer, all right."
Then the announcement came to board the chariots. Electra swallowed and tried to stand as far away from him as humanly possible. He responded by standing very close to her, not moving away at all. Not even a little bit.
As their chariot rolled out before the crowds around them, Pietro suddenly grabbed hold of Electra's hand. She gasped and wrenched her hand away immediately.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?!"
Pietre feigned an innocent expression. "I was just doing it for the cameras."
Electra scoffed. "Yeah. Sure you were."
She would much rather be anywhere else than here. Even in a coffin underground. Even in the pit of a reactor. Even in her school's principal's office. Anywhere was better than here.
He scared her. She could admit that much. She'd heard many stories about what he'd done to girls he managed to corner. And he was absolutely determined to do the same to her. To "have some fun". Fucking gross.
Well, she sure as hell wasn't going to let that happen. She wasn't going to let herself be cornered. She wasn't going to get herself into a vulnerable situation of.
And even if she did, she was going to fight like a rabid animal.
It was at that very moment, when she reassured herself of her resolution, when she felt his hand slide down her back and grab a handful of her ass.
With no hesitation, she backhanded him, sending him spinning off the chariot. He fell to the ground with a satisfying thud, narrowly avoiding getting trampled by the horses pulling Six's carriage. The crowd gasped at the confrontation.
Electra smirked. Then her face hardened.
She knew that that wasn't going to make him give up so easily. She knew that that would only make him angrier, and definitely more determined as well.
The only way to put an end to this once and for all would be to kill him.
