Fall Baromet,17, District 9 male
I lay here in my bed just staring up at my ceiling and let out a long sigh. This is what I've been doing for several hours now, hiding in here like a coward. I still haven't had the courage to approach Winter yet, she gave me a hug after we boarded the train, but I just went into my room afterwards and haven't said a word to her since. I'm afraid honestly, I'm afraid she won't forgive me for all of the harsh thing's I've said to her and I don't think I'll be able to live with myself knowing I burned the bridges with the only person in this world who cared about me.
I wonder if she's still awake, I can hear the television playing in the living room but couldn't make out what they were saying. I sit up in my bed as I take a few deep breathes and I prepare to face her. Imagining her not forgiving me, the pain is immense, it hurts more not knowing for sure what her answer will be though. I have to man up and just face her. I let out a grunt and slip into my slippers before walking into the living room area and there Winter is, sitting on the sofa looking at the television screen that's playing some sort of cartoon.
"Hey…" I mumble as I walk near the sofa and it seems to catch her off guard as she didn't see me coming but does a warm smile.
"Hey, what's up?" she smiles at me.
"Can I sit here?" I mumble.
"Sure, come on!" she smiles as she pats an empty space on the sofa and I do a small nod before sitting next to her. It's quiet for a few seconds but she starts lightly tapping her foot against the floor as she looks at the television screen. She always does that when she gets nervous.
" So…what you watching?" I break the silence.
"Oh just some cartoon, it's so silly but I just can't stop watching it." She giggles.
"Yeah…" I agree with her.
"You know this actually reminds me of that show you used to watch-" she begins.
"About the boy who found a magical marker and can draw whatever he wanted." We both say in unison and Winter lets out another giggle and I only smirk a little.
"Yeah I remember whenever I didn't behave, Dad wouldn't let me watch the new episodes that came on, but you always recorded the new episodes and sneaked the tapes to me afterwards." I remember and she does a light nod.
"Yeah then I started watching the tapes and fell in love with it." She smiles.
"Yup but then Summer and Winter found our secret stash and burned them." I sigh.
"Oh how could I forget that, they're such party poppers." She sighs back and I nod in agreement as I look at the television screen but I'm not really paying to it. Some kid with a crown is riding on some kind of Dragon as they dodge beams of fire being shot out from another Dragon's mouth.
It's silent again though and I clinch my fists as I struggle to get the words out of me.
"Winter…" I mumble.
"Hmm?" she looks at me.
"You've done a lot for me Winter, a lot and all i've ever given you in return was shit." I begin as she's only listening to me.
"I, I don't even know where to start, but I've just said so many terrible things to you and…I didn't mean it Winter." My eyes start tearing up.
"Fall, it's ok…I know." She answers in a soft tone as she tries to comfort me, but does she? Or is she only trying to make me feel better about all of this?
"It's not your fault Winter, it's not your fault Mom died, I'm so sorry for ever saying that, I'm so sorry for everything I've done." Tears start to run down my eyes but Winter puts her hand on my shoulder.
"Fall it's fine, really. You're my sister alright?" she tries to comfort me.
"Brother." I correct her as i sniff.
"Y-yeah yeah that's what I meant, you're my brother Fall and I love you, I always will." She smiles.
"I love you too Winter, i always will and I just hope you can forgive me." I smile as more tears run down my eyes and I begin crying after.
"Of course, Fall I was never upset with you though. I never held anything against you." She tries to calm me down but I continue crying. I've bottled in these emotions for so long and I was finally letting it all out.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." I cry.
"It's ok, it's ok Fall." She whispers to me as she lays my head down on her lap and rubs my back as I continue releasing all of my pent up emotions. Winter…thank you.
Karen McShole,18, District 12 female
I continue laughing hysterically as I roll across my bed. Oh it's been hours since that happened and I just can't stop laughing! Seeing that crippled little fucker fall to the ground and that horse kicking him right in the face, i will never forget that! I hope he's dead! I guess a lot of tributes hate me now but I don't give a fuck! As I was in the elevator, the stupid girl from district 2 tried to run inside but the door closed before she can reach me and I made sure to flash her my middle finger, i know she heard my loud laughs too as I rode up to my floor. I'm going to get her back for slapping me though, No one touches my face!
I suddenly hear loud pounding on my door as I continue rolling across the bed laughing so hard that it hurts, but I just continue laughing anyways.
"Who the hell is it! Go away!" I manage to get out between my laughs. The door suddenly gets kicked in though and I jump up from my bed and gasp as my angry mentor Caleb glares me.
"What the hell!" I snap at him.
"You think this is real funny huh?" he continues glaring me.
"Well obviously! What else would I be laughing for dumbass?" I bark at him.
"What did that kid do to you? What the hell did that little kid do to warrant that?, you just signed your own death certificate with that move and with all the tributes' attention you attracted with that, you'll be lucky if you make to the arena!" He warns me.
"Ha! Well jokes on them! I won't even be at the training facility, I'll be up here in my nice cozy bed eating sponge cake and giving myself a manicure!" I tease.
"You enjoy your little safe haven while you can but you won't be able to hide once you're in the arena, I can already see you dying the most painful death imaginable!" he tries to warn me.
"Blah blah blah, keep your little fairy tales to yourself, answer me this though, is the bitch dead?" I ask.
"His name is Emmett, he has a severe concussion, but no he isn't dead." Caleb growls at me.
"How unfortunate for him, you think a crippled little fucker like him is going to stand any chance out there? It would've been for the better if his dumbass just died today! It's ok though, I'll finish the job once the games start, and there's nothing you can do about it!" I tease him.
"Yeah and that's if someone doesn't get to you first! If you only knew how fucking screwed you were!" He grits his teeth.
"Oh whatever! If you got nothing else to say get the fuck out of my room! I have to make some calls to get a new lock for my door!" I hiss at him and sit back on my bed but he punches through my door as the whole thing literally shatters in pieces and I jump up to my feet as my eyes widen. Ok he's strong, I should probably take it easy. He however walks up to me and is now in my face as I can feel myself begin to tremble.
"If this was me just a year ago when I had nothing to lose, you'll already be dead. Laying on this bed in a puddle of blood with all of your limbs shattered, and if I didn't have a child waiting for me back at home I'd do exactly that, because scum like you just make this world a shittier place than it already is. You'll get your justice though, they all do." He says in a sudden dark tone as I continue trembling.
I shouldn't mess with him, Caleb is considered the strongest victor from our district. He managed to kill two careers, one in a head on fight and ended the games with five kills. I thought he was soft now but no, he still capable of being the same person he was.
"You're really quiet now, is it cause you're afraid? Imagine how terrified Emmett was falling fifteen feet to the ground and the last thing he sees is a horse's foot about to kick his skull in, you ever took a moment to think about that?" his dark voice continues and I take several steps back.
"Enjoy yourself while you can though Karen, your days are numbered, but I'm sure you already know that. Oh and you might want to clean that up." He nods down to the floor and I look down to see I peed myself. He gives me another glare before leaving my room and my trembling gradually stops. Yeah he better leave! I was ready to scramble his brain more than the no legged fucker's brain already is!
Lykrie Ellisman,15, District 7 female
"May I announce to you the victor of the 80th hunger games, Garrison Larcan." The voice booms as I finish up my 3rd replay of last years hunger games. I studied each and every tribute in that arena and was able to decipher all of their skills, strengths and weaknesses. This is also what I planned on doing tomorrow in the training facility and I was going to use their strengths and weaknesses against them. Garrison won last year but honestly he was a very beatable opponent. He was remarkably strong and durable, he was slow though, lacked stamina and his technique was pretty poor. The way he swung his axe was pitiful and it left him completely open to counters. That's all you had to do to beat him, wait until he struck, then use the moment he takes to recover, to strike back. That's what I would've done at least.
The careers last year were strong, but like most careers they just charged head first Into everything and relied on their brute strength to pave the way to their victory. If you were going to rely on your brute strength to try and beat Garrison, you'll almost definitely lose, use your head though and you might actually stand a chance.
The careers this year seemed like a notable upgrade however and I was definitely going to be keeping my eye on them. Garrison has been in his room the entire time though, every now and then I'll hear a bang or some mumbling but that was it. Our other mentor Ruth who won the 58th hunger games wasn't much help either as she was a heavy morphine addict and is high as a kite most of the time so I'm pretty much on my own.
It's quiet now, no loud banging, my district partner finally stopped crying and Ruth is probably slumped over her bed high or something, I don't really care honestly and there's not really much point in trying to form much of a plan for these games either. I still have no clue if I want to be in an alliance or not.
For the most part I act on impulse, and that's where I usually make the best decisions. I hear light footsteps approaching the living room and I turn my head to see it's Acalistor who has a grin over his face, wow he actually wasn't crying, how shocking.
"Can I help you with something?" I question him but his grin only grows wider.
"You know I've been thinking about it and we should be allies! Imagine me and you together we'll be unstoppable! So what do you say? You want to ally with a big strong guy like me?" He extends his hand and I begin laughing, he cannot be serious.
"Will you cry if I say no?" I mock him and his grin immediately turns into a scowl.
"Hey what do you mean by that!?" he aggressively asks.
"No, that's what I mean." I clarify.
"Well since you don't want to be my ally, then you can be my servant instead!" he suggests.
"Excuse me?" I narrow my eyes at him as I stand up from the sofa.
"Are you deaf or something you idiot? I just offered you, well ordered you to be my servant and you will accept and do whatever i-" he begins but I suddenly punch him square in the nose and he lets out a gasp before screaming in pain and holds his nose with blood dripping out of it before crying and running back into his room.
I would've just let him ramble on, but decided at the last second to punch his lights out instead, it was worth it even if I am now going to have to hear him crying for the rest of the night.
Maria Waters,22, District 4 Victor
I wake up in the middle of a forest as I sit up and see I'm laying in a bunch of dead leaves. I look up around me to see all of the trees are dead, the clouds dark and gloomy and a chilling and ominous wind passes me. Shivers begin to run through my body and i hear distant screams, screams of pain and I can feel my heart begin to race as my breathing gets heavier.
"No…no." I mumble to myself as I sit up from the mat of dead leaves, my bare feet crunching through them as walk closer and closer to the distant screams as they become louder.
"Maria!" the pained scream shouts as the piercing sound stings my ears and a rain drop lands on my arm. I look at my arm however and it's a drop of blood. Another drop of blood then lands on it and I look up at the sky before another drop lands on my forehead.
"Maria!" the scream repeats as a downpour of blood rains down from the sky soaking me and everything around me, and I look at my blood soaked hands as I hear agonal breathing behind me. I quickly turn around to see it's Mattias, his body is badly mutilated as his skin is gradually melting off of his flesh, one of his eyes completely melted with most of his hair now gone replaced by burned patches on his head.
"You killed me Maria!" He yells and I only shake my head as I take several steps back.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" I cry but he opens his mouth showing his badly deteriorated teeth and the burned insides of his mouth before letting out another piercing scream, the same scream I heard as he was melting in that pool of acid and I let out a loud gasp as I sit up on my bed. Sweat pouring down my forehead and my heart threatening to explode out of my chest because it was beating so hard. I look over at my clock and it's three in the morning, everyone else is probably still asleep right now, so I'm all alone…
My ears suddenly begin piercing with the loud screams and I let out a pained groan as I open my drawer and grab a pill bottle as the screams become louder and louder and I quickly down some of the capsules and drink the entire bottle of water on my dresser as the screams gradually become lower and lower until they disappear…for now.
My breathing starts to slow down to normal and I sink my face into my hands as I begin crying. I'm so tired of living like this every night. Hearing those screams Mattias made as the acid melted him into a pile of ooze, I will never forget those screams...
Vladimir Licht,18, District 6 male
"Glup! Glup! Glup!" I can hear Rylee through these thin ass walls vomiting. That fucking junkie is likely already starting to go Into withdrawal, so pathetic. I only sit on the side of my bed though as I take some puffs from my cigarette and look out the window. I can see all the different colored lights in the distance glowing up the dark sky and as I exhale some smoke, I start reflecting on my plans tomorrow. I'm going to join the careers, leech off of them for as long as I can and finally gut them when they were no longer any use to me. I saw some of them looking at me and it's only a matter of time before they approach me, I'll beat them to the punch though.
"Glup! Glup! Fuck! Glup!" Rylee continues vomiting. I gunned down all her little buddies that night without any hesitation and now she looks at me like I'm the Boogeyman. Hell I am the Boogeyman and the arena is going to be my playground as I roam around it doing what I'm best at, killing people and Rylee is going to be my first target. This is the price you pay, for thinking you can fuck with me and my gang, and just get away with it, she'll be in hell with the rest of her groupies soon enough and I'll see her some day, but I don't plan on dying anytime soon. Realizing this bitch is probably going to be up all night vomiting, I might as well go to the fridge and help myself to a snack. I walk to the kitchen area and open the fridge before grabbing what looks like some sort of chocolate cake and I hear Rylee's door swing open as she stumbles into the kitchen area where I am and goes into the fridge as she grabs a bottle of water and gives me an angry look as she has a chunk of vomit near her lip.
"W-what huh? What the fuck are y-you l-looking at!" She barks at me and I sit my cake down on the counter, if she wants to die right now, then I'll be more than happy to put her out of her misery.
"What are you going to do huh! What? Do it! J-just try to! I'm so t-tired of looking at you! S-so tired of feeling fear w-whenever y-you're around!" Her voice cracks as her eyes begin to water and I only give her an evil smirk, She is so pitiful.
"I'm n-not f-fucking scared of you any more! So You can talk a-all you w-want a-about killing me! I'm not afraid of you a-anymore!" she cries as her entire body trembles.
"That's what you'd like to believe huh?" I snort.
'"Fuck you Vladimir! You want to k-kill me right!? Well try to and I guaran-fucking-tee you you'll regret it and you better be ready to put up one h-hell of a fight, c-cause I'm not g-going down easily!." She yells at me and I only do an evil chuckle seeing this pitiful stick figure having a mental breakdown.
"Well I look forward to it, I feel much better knowing you're at least going to try, those are the most rewarding kills after all, the one's you have to work for!" I cackle but she suddenly smacks me across the face and my head turns to the side as I try and process what just happened, did this bitch just…
I turn back to her and shoot her a death glare, does she even realize how fucked she is now?
"Go ahead, d-do something! Go ahead!" Rylee yells before grabbing a knife from the knife holder next to her.
"Try it! I dare you!" she yells.
"Rylee, Rylee, it's alright ok?" Rashima suddenly walks past me and embraces her as Rylee drops the knife and cries even more.
"I'm so tired, I'm so tired of this!" Rylee cries profusely as Rashima continues hugging her and I can feel the side of my face burning up, for a skinny little junkie like her, she packs a punch. Just for that though, I'm going to make sure I give her an even more painful death. I begin to head back to my room but realize Laurent is also here, only glaring me.
"Something you want to say old man?" I get in his face but he only continues glaring me without saying anything.
"Yeah I didn't think so, now go over there and enjoy the little bit of time you have left with that junkie. there won't be anything you can do once I get my hands on her in the arena." I warn Laurent through gritted teeth and he only continues glaring me before I leave and walk back into my room.
Here's night 1 in the capitol and next chapter will finally be the first day of training! I will try and respect all of your alliance preferences that you put on your forms but i may have to change up some stuff for plot purposes and all that. Anyways starting next chapter I'll have a list of the alliances down here and update it as the story goes on. That'll be it for now, till next time!