District 9

Cractos Line

"Joey, would you slow down?" I shout as my son flies past. He doesn't respond, too far to hear me. After a second, Autumn runs past me, nearly knocking me over.

"Joey, I'm going to get you!" she laughs. She glances over her shoulder and says, "sorry, Dad," before following Joey out of the room. I grin despite myself and shake my head. My children are much too hyper.

I'm about to settle into a chair and check the Hunger Games recaps when the doorbell rings. Sighing, I set down the remote. I wanted to see if Hadley was still alive - our entire District is rooting for him, of course, since he's our only tribute remaining. But I suppose it will have to wait.

I walk over to the door and open it, revealing Cody Miller, Victor of the 246th Hunger Games. He looks very ill and scared, but that's not unusual. Ever since his victory, he's been a bit of a nervous wreck. But he looks especially afraid today.

"Cody? What's wrong?" I ask. He looks both ways before letting himself in.

"I need to tell you something," he whispers.

"Shouldn't you be in the Capitol? Helping Hadley?"

"Marielle said she'd look out for me. Savanna's gone, so she has plenty of time on her hands. But… this woman told me something scary that I think you should know. It's important."

"Okay…" I begin, ushering him over to our dining room. Joey races past. A second later, Autumn and Cassie follow. Cody waits until they are gone before her begins explaining.

"We're in danger. The President thinks we're rebels. And… and… he's planning on torturing and murdering us."

In case you don't remember the brief mention of Cractos from Flames, he's Ceres's husband and Victor of the 216th Hunger Games. This is kind of a short chapter because I wanted to start Day 8 soon.

EULOGIES:

12th: Dennis Fielder (D5M): Stabbed by Yael Harident (D11F) - I know for a fact that no one's upset about this death. Even Dennis's submitter wanted him gone, so this wasn't a very difficult choice. He was purely a villain, with practically no redeemable qualities. While I know I could have given him some more layers, I thought it was fun to have a purely evil character. Besides, I might save some redemption for another villain ;). Even though I hated him, I had a lot of fun with him and he was really interesting. As with Kade, I'm not going to bother with a RIP. Dennis can burn in hell.

- Lilah