District 4! 5/12 done!

Trenton Chase - District 4, 18 years old

"I honestly couldn't even tell you."

"Yeah, I haven't heard any guys talk about volunteering, either. I did hear that Tasha Bayou's volunteering, though."

"Really? She's good, but it sounds like One or Two have another win locked up this year."

The conversation continued in front of me. As the two boys strolled past the alleyway I had hidden in, I slinked around the corner to get a better view of them. As I crept behind them, I smiled to myself. Their ignorance meant they had no idea what was coming to them.

They were wrong about the male volunteer. They were utterly clueless to the scheming Talia and I had done over the past years. The two of us were going to volunteer together, and together, as star-crossed lovers, we would win the Games. As for the girl volunteer, Tasha was a nice girl. But nice girls don't win the Hunger Games. Because they were friends, Talia had a plan to convince Tasha to let her volunteer. I had offered some ideas to Talia, wanting to deal with Tasha myself, but Talia had shot them all down. Apparently, draining her blood and inducing her to faint before the reaping wasn't "subtle" enough.

I had dreamed for years of Talia and I in the Games. After all we'd been through, the terror in which we had come from, all of Panem would kneel to us. Of course, I would give all the glory to Talia. I would always give all the glory to Talia. For years, it was all I had done. When I stole little trinkets and creepy little toys, I would always give them to Talia. It was for Talia that I slunked through the dark streets at night, scaring those who would harm us. After years of being bullied in the daylight, it was in the immense blackness of the night that people would tremble before me.

Years ago, before our plotting had even begun, Talia and I were the best of friends. She devised her plans, and I loved her dearly. But in order to win her love, I needed to protect us. When I was younger, years of reading stories had convinced me I was a vampire. I found solace in the darkness, and my pale skin shied away from the hard sunlight of our district. Of course, that theory was ridiculous. Vampires were immortal and would live forever. I was no vampire.

But I did take something away from those stories after all. Vampires were true romantics. They always got the girl, and they always protected them with their lives. Talia wasn't mine yet, but she would be. She would see what I could become for her.

"Hey, did you hear that?"

The boys turned around, uneased. I had already retreated to the shadows.

"It was probably nothing. Come on."

The two younger boys turned around reluctantly and continued on their way, a bit more speed in their steps this time. Someone would have to teach them a lesson for their ignorance. I pulled my cloak over my shoulder, engulfing myself as part of the shadow. I ran my tongue along my teeth, my incisors sharpened to a point. My mouth could sense the presence of the blood I'd drawn from my tongue.

As I crept forward once more, I smiled from ear to ear.

Talia Alistair - District 4, 18 years old

Throughout my life, I have found myself wanting things other people have. It's not jealousy as much as pure ambition. I have to take that which I aspire to have. And in all my experience, I've found in order to truly take something from someone, it must be given willingly. If it is not given willingly, it is stolen, and then it is never truly yours.

My entire life, I've understood the sheer power that the Capitol holds. All I want is a slice of that power. After being orphaned by two pieces of rebel scum, the Capitol shipped me out to an orphanage. They've never truly left me alone. For years, I've known and felt their presence around me. I know the bottom. The orphanage, with its crippling poverty and deliquent bullies, that was my bottom. I also know how to reach the top. I could never reach the top with the Capitol breathing down my neck. That's where the Games come in.

For years, I've been able to receive training, with what little money I had. Winning the Games offers me a way to the top. If I won the Games, my power and path would be given willingly by the Capitol. I would prove myself and my allegiance, killing children in their name.

And for as long as I've known my plan, Trenton has been an integral part of that plan. I need someone I can trust to accompany me in the Games. Trenton gives me that, although he was reluctant to volunteer at first. In the Games, the two of us will have each other's backs, but in the end, there will only be one winner. Trenton will be giving me the safety and security I need to win and rise to power. And he will be giving it willingly. Unfortunately, I can never truly give him what he wants most dearly. I can never give him my love. I guess we both have a warped view of friendship.

There was only one thing standing in my way: Tasha Bayou. My plan with Trenton could never truly go into effect unless I was the one and only volunteer. With the increased success of volunteer tributes over the years, more and more academy tributes have begun betting on themselves in the arena. Our district's first victor, Erik Redd, was a trained volunteer. His success and background put our district in the same pedigree as One and Two. Each year, whoever was brave enough would declare their intention to volunteer. There were no rules, but it was etiquette that anyone else would not volunteer.

Tasha had declared herself the volunteer, and I needed to take that spot. I had to drive her away from ever thinking of volunteering. Luckily, she had one glaring weakness: her crippling insecurity. She was always looking to her superiors for recognition and affirmation.

It was all such a whirlwind. Poor, poor Tasha. Trenton stole a piece of signed stationary from Erik's house, and all of the sudden, Four's one volunteer victor had several strong words to say to the Academy Heads about Tasha volunteering. A small chat with a trainer, and Tasha Bayou had withdrawn her intent to volunteer.

Here we go! Our first volunteers! I have had this written and sitting around, I just forgot to publish it.

Trenton: He has a pale skin from not being in the sun much. He has dark black hair, and crooked nose. He is gawky and has blue eyes. He has Romanian ancestors

Talia: She has raven long hair, blue eyes and lingering look on her eyes. She is very athletic and because of that nimble.