Everything's Not Lost by Coldplay

I'll be counting up my demons, yeah,

Hoping everything's not lost.

Melinoe Casra, 16, District Eight

The familiar pang of pain hits me before I even open my eyes. I groan and roll myself onto my side, bringing my hands up to rub my temples. Not even one day, possibly the last day of my life, can go by without it; without the pain threatening to make my head explode.

Alright, maybe it's not that bad. Well not right now anyway. But it's always there, just enough to never let me forget it is there and, more than likely, never going to leave. I pull the silk covers off of my neck, and my eyes open slowly allowing the light to filter in some at a time. I have learned to do this little routine because it keeps things manageable.

The door creaks open and I groan, digging my fingertips into my temples. "Melinoe, are you awake yet?"

It's Gethin, of course. No one else ever bothers to come into my room. Violan is always in his own room with direct instructions not to bother him, and Hena knows better than to bother me after I snapped at her on the train. She is a sweet lady, means well I know and especially so because it is her first year, but she can be so irritating sometimes. Her constant chirping about what so-and-so says about Violan and I makes my head throb. I had enough of it less than an hour into the train ride here, and she hasn't bothered me much since. I kind of feel bad, I never meant to be rude to her it's just that my head can't handle the constant perkiness that she seems to exhale.

"Yes, I am now," I lie. He edges his way past the door, making sure I am decent before entering the room. I smile softly at him and he returns it a second later. "What is it?"

"Just came in to tell you breakfast is ready," he says quickly. "Oh, and you don't have to dress in anything special today. Your stylist will outfit you once you arrive under the arena."

I feel a familiar rush of panic wash over me and I think I might vomit right here all over the velvet comforter. "Thanks, I'll be out in a minute then."

Gethin closes the door and I let out a long sigh as I swing my legs over the side of the bed. It's the first day out of all of those in the Capitol so far that I have been allowed to choose what I want to wear. Every other day I would wake up and already see a hanger swinging from the back of my door along with a note telling me something cringingly cheery that I would shove in my pocket. I wonder where I put them all anyway, I can never keep track of things.

My stomach beginning to protest the long wait for breakfast, I pluck a pair of light brown pants and a silky top that shows my shoulders from the armoire and duck into the bathroom. I run my fingers through my hair a couple of times until it rests flat on my head and splash some water on my cheeks. I throw the clothes I slept in on the floor and pull on the new ones, remembering that I forgot to pick out a pair of socks.

Gethin and Hena are already seated at the dining table by the time I get there, and I look around for Violan out of habit. He hates spending time with any of the three of us, but usually is somewhere to be found when there is food on the table. Without even having to ask Hena answers my question. "He won't come out of his room, we've tried everything."

"Do you want me to go see if I can get him?" I ask automatically. My headache isn't being helped by the fact that I haven't eaten yet, but it seems like the right thing to say.

Her face brightens at my offer. "That would be great! You two should bond some more anyways."

"No," Gethin interrupts and I almost feel bad for Hena as her smile falls. "She hasn't eaten and we are already running late. I will go talk to him, and in five minutes you bring her up to the landing. Okay?"

"Alright," she says, the grin returning to her face at the thought of finally being allowed to be in charge of something."

Gethin ducks down the hallway and I stand up to grab myself a plate from the cart. Hena grabs my forearm as I pass her and I nearly swing back around to punch her. Instincts, I guess those kick in when you know you'll be fighting for your life in just mere hours. She doesn't say anything and I give her a crooked look. "Yes?"

"Oh!" She giggles as if I said something hilarious. "I just remembered something really neat!"

"Alright, what was it?" I ask, mostly to humor her and possibly get her to release the iron grip she currently has on my arm.

"It's about the arena," she says, her eyes beaming and suddenly I am listening.

I lower my voice automatically. "What about it, what did you find out?"

"I know where it is."

I drop down into the chair beside her and now it's my turn to grab hold of her. "Please tell me, whatever you know, please."

"Alright, alright, no hurry!" She chuckles. "I heard some of the delegates chattering about it a few nights ago at the Interviews. Did you know that as an Escort I got second row seats, how amazing is that? Oh, anyways, the gossip then was that it was in the dead area; between District Seven and District Six."

"Okay, what does that mean I don't get it?" I ask eagerly, my eyes burning into her colored face.

"I'm sorry honey, that's all I know," she says after a second, her face noticeably dimmer. "I thought you would be able to understand more from that than I could. I don't know, it seemed important when they said it."

Briar Elway, 17, District Five

I rub my fingertips together, the grainy stuff from the ends of the bread loaf biting softly into my skin. It feel nice, cool, serene even in this terrible time. I can feel it in everyone's vibes; the feelings that emit from people when they are feeling strong emotions. Aderyn clears her throat and I look up at her with full attention. She doesn't say anything as I expected her to, only stares at me. It takes me a second to realize what she means by it but as soon as I do I grab the napkin in front of me and clean the grit off my hands.

Arden sits across from me and the strongest vibes are most certainly coming from him. I don't quite understand it because he always seemed rather calm to me. Similar to the demeanors that young children give off. Almost carefree. The vibes I am getting from him now make him seem older, more...troubled I guess. That makes sense for the situation, I guess people aren't supposed to be able to retain serenity in times of elevated, genuine fear.

I drop the napkin into my lap and take a bite of the grainy bread. Aderyn told us a few nights ago that it was good for you and would make us more prepared for life in the arena because lavish meals wouldn't be available to us once we left the Capitol. It has been one of the only few tips she has given us since the beginning of our time here. She has a rather quiet way about her, like she is trying to disconnect herself from the two of us.

"Do you think the arena will cater this well for dinner tonight," Arden laughs nervously, a tendency I noticed in him a good while after we first met. He seems to have a strong dislike for silences which is a problem for him since the majority of are meals are taken without conversation.

"You'll be lucky if you can find some sticks to boil for soup tonight," Aderyn tells him, locking her grey eyes with his. "I'll bet neither of you spent any time at all learning about how to get food when your sponsors won't cast a dime for you, too late now."

"Stick soup?" Arden's eyes widen dramatically and I crack a smile. "Can't you just send me some leftovers, I'm sure there's plenty here to feed us both for a few days."

"This isn't funny, Arden," Aderyn slams her fork down beside her plate and stands from her chair. "You won't be joking about it when your stomach gets so empty it starts breaking down your muscles just to keep blood flowing. Neither of you have any idea what you're in for."

"Then tell us," Arden swallows, the discomfort at saying such a direct question obvious in his slouch. "You haven't given us any way of knowing what you know, we haven't been in there like you have. You could help us, you know?"

"You wouldn't understand it, you'd laugh or make jokes about how it isn't that bad," she spits. "Well it is that bad."

With that she storms away from the table, leaving Arden and I alone with Helios who has yet to say a word. I had almost forgotten he was here at all. Helios stands as well and mumbles something about going to check and see if she is alright. He seems to gravitate towards her almost consistently, and I would maybe look into that if I had the time to. The reasons for people being the way they are intrigue me to no end but now is definitely not the time to investigate.

"She's mad," I say a few seconds after a door slams somewhere in the suite.

"You don't say," he smiles and shoves a flaky roll into his mouth. "Say, when are we supposed to go down there anyway. They just said in the morning."

"In the morning then I guess?" I say seriously, trying to think back to when this information was given to us and coming up blank.

Arden snorts, spewing pieces of half-chewed bread onto the settings in front of him. "You're hilarious sometimes you know."

"I do?" I ask and he just shakes his head, bringing a hand up to cover his mouth and hopefully keep the food inside it this time.

We sit and eat in silence until Aderyn and Helios return from the back hallway, Aderyn with an even more obvious disconnect in her now dilated eyes. She waves us over with one motion of her hand and presses on the elevator buttons. "Come on, it's time to go now."

"Okay," Arden and I both say at the same time. I get up immediately, almost excited to get away from the food that now makes me feel sick for some reason. I loved it all week but this morning there is nothing I want more than for one of the red-clothed people to come and take the whole lot of it away. Arden, on the other hand, stuffs another roll into his mouth on the way past the table. Seems like despite his nerves he is having no trouble retaining his appetite.

We all pile into the elevator and I stare back at the spotless suite as the doors shut it away from view. I can't help but think as the metal room closes around us that I won't miss being here one bit.

Violan Jadeth, 18, District Eight

"One last thing," Gethin calls to me as I step out of the elevator. I turn and look to him, my face remaining painstakingly neutral just like I promised myself I would keep it.

"Yes?"

"Take care of Mel," he says finally. "The two of you need each other so trust her and mind her if you can."

"I'm pretty sure it's your job to look after her, not mine," I respond after a moment.

"I'm not in there with you guys, there's a very slim area in which I can actually do anything to help."

"Then do me a favour and stay there," I say and I can feel my lip twitch. I have to keep my cool; the time will come but that time is definitely not now. I lock my eyes with him. "We'll be fine."

"Okay," he says but it's fairly obvious he doesn't believe me. I take a few more steps out of the elevator and three Peacekeepers flank me, one at each side and another following in behind. I don't hesitate to follow their orders, keeping my feet moving steadily one in front of the other. Instincts tell me that resisting would only lessen my favour with the people in charge and no matter the temptation even I cannot let myself believe that it's worth it.

"Get in," the Peacekeeper behind me says in a gruff voice.

I step onto the closest ramp to me that leads up into a giant metal thing that looks like something out of a fantasy story. The two Peacekeepers on my sides fall back, never entering the thing at all, but the other follows me on board and points me towards an uncomfortable looking chair in between two other tributes.

I gasp loudly when I sit down and metal bars clasp around my wrists and ankles and another sound escapes my lips when something wraps itself around my waist. I look frantically to the tribute on my right, the pale faced girl from District Seven, and my nerves calm a bit when I see the same restraints holding her thin arms and waist. I make the mistake of looking at her face for a split second and fight the urge to say something to comfort her obvious nerves. The girl's teeth are clenched together and her eyes are squeezed shut.

A woman in a red skirt and jacket approaches the District Nine girl whose chair faces mine from across the aisle. She places a harsh hand on the girl's arm to twist it around and the girl looks towards the ceiling as a thick needle is shoved into her forearm. When the red woman steps away I see a dribble of red fall from the District Nine girl's lip as her teeth bite into it. Just before the woman comes to do the same thing to me, blocking the girl from my view, I see something blink blue under her skin.

I clench my teeth when my turn comes and as soon as the red woman retreats to the back of the room, the whole place dims. Lights pulse on the ceiling and floors, lighting up the faces of the tributes around me. Suddenly I can feel my stomach do a flip and an odd feeling of suspension washes over me. The District One girl hardly flinches as the District Six boy sitting in the chair next to her lets out a loud whimper.

I don't really know how long this lasts, other than the odd cry from the District Six boy and the sort of low whistling that seems like it's coming from the walls it is silent. No one speaks, not like there's anything to say anyway. We all know where we are headed and it's not somewhere full of happy friendships and pink rainbow skies.

All at once, everything seems to stop. It is as if something was cupped around my ears that cut off all sounds, even my own uneven breathing. And for that single second I feel completely and utterly terrified.

"Tributes, please remain seated and await your instructions," a voice calls over the silence and each of us looks around for a body to match it to. There isn't one.

Two Peacekeepers march into the room within seconds of the doors opening. One of them walks right past me and presses a long sequence into the keypad beside the chair where the District Six boy is sitting. The second Peacekeeper does the same to the District Three girl and both of their restraints are released all at once. The Peacekeeper grabs the girl by the shoulders and pushes her down the ramp and out of sight.

When she disappears I turn back to watch the District Six boy who sinks to the floor with tears coating his cheeks. The Peacekeeper pulls him to his feet by his thin wrists and shoves him past me towards the exit. "Come on, kid, I don't have time for this."

Kiera Wentz, 17, District Two

Tomas said you liked the potato cream soup," Ranan tells me as she places a metal tray in front of me. There's not much to say so I just nod, moving my arms to make room for it.

The room we are in is pretty small compared to the spacious and luxurious rooms I have grown used to seeing in the Capitol. The entire thing looks like it is made out of concrete and it reminds me a lot of the outside of most of the buildings in District Two. Besides the table set, changing curtain, and the Launch tube there isn't much in the way of furniture.

Ranan sits down in the chair opposite me and I stare at her over my spoon. She is a pretty woman, actually, and I could even say that a good eighty percent of her is likely natural. "Are you nervous, honey? You don't have any reason to be, of course, but... I am here to talk if you feel like you might want to!"

"Thanks but no thanks," I reply with my mouth still partially full. "I am a Career tribute. I don't know if you know what that means, but it basically tells you that I am prepared for this. I am not nervous in the least bit."

"Honey, I know what you are and it doesn't mean much unfortunately. I mean, you are just a baby! You can't tell me that you aren't even a little bit afraid," she insists.

I throw down my spoon and cross my arms against my chest. "Actually it means everything. I am not a child, I am a Career and I am not scared."

"Alright honey, but just to put it in some kind of perspective for you, I am a stylist- never to be any closer to being inside that arena than the two of us are right now- and I am terrified."

I scoff at her and hold her stare for a moment longer until it is her that breaks it. She thankfully drops the topic when she realizes I have no plans of responding to her statement. If she is scared than that is her own fault, it means she is weak. We are two different people, she is weak and I am strong. There are millions of differences and frankly what she feels is irrelevant to me. "Finish your soup, honey, you don't have long yet to waste."

"I'm done actually," I decide, pushing the tray away from me with just the tips of my fingertips. Ranan sighs and takes it off the table, placing it on a small table in the corner from which it promptly disappears.

"May as well get you dressed then."

Ranan hands me a hanger with a bag dangling from it and points me towards the curtain a few feet away. Once I am dressed she gives the long sleeve, red shirt underneath my denim short overalls a once over. Her eyes tell me her opinion of the outfit without her having to say a single word, and for once it matches my own exactly.

"These go with it." She hands me a pair of ankle high boots with thick laces and a pair of red cotton socks that match the color of my shirt. "Not very much in the way of warmth besides the hood on the back of the shirt, so I wouldn't expect very many cold nights. The boots have good traction, though, so I would guess it is either a rocky or hilly terrain that you're in for."

"Anything else you can tell me?" I ask before I can think about what I am doing. I look around the room to try and keep the interest out of my body language. It is best for me to know as much as I can before getting in there, though, the last thing I need is to have my eyes spending the minute we have before the start sightseeing.

"Yes, one other thing," she says, absentmindedly fingering the material of the long sleeve shirt. "It looks like everything has been waterproofed, even the denim."

"Oh."

"Sit down," she orders a after a moment, pulling a chair over to face the mirror. I don't move right away and after seeing my hesitation she decides to elaborate. "I have strict orders for your hair, and I will warn you before we even start that neither of us are going to be very happy about the end result."

Deciding that it's no use resisting something that I could easily have changed before the cameras even come on, I sit down in front of the mirror. My eyes glaze over my bare thighs and I consider what kind of arena I might be stepping into. Relatively warm, rocky, and water of some sort if Ranan is right about her predictions. I feel a sharp tug at my hair and come back from my thoughts to see she is nearly done half of the style. She was certainly right about me not liking it.

"You have got to be kidding me," I sigh, seeing the first braid being cemented by a thick, red ponytail.

"I told you, honey, but there is nothing I can do. Strict orders from the boss."

She finishes the second braid just as quickly and as she is tying the ponytail around it I hear a voice that sends shivers down my spine. It comes from a speaker in the far side of the room and sounds like a cross between an elderly man and a robot. "Tributes have sixty seconds until Launch. I repeat, sixty seconds until Launch. Please enter your tubes when possible."

"I guess it's time," I sigh, standing from the chair and giving myself a quick once over before stepping towards the tube in the corner. As I am about to step inside, I feel a tug at my arm and I turn around to see Ranan, not that I could have expected anyone else.

"Kiera, don't forget who you told me you are," she whispers and I lean in as if she were telling me some big secret. "But also don't forget who you really are."

I pull my arm away and don't allow myself to even address what she said. It doesn't matter, this isn't about her anymore. This is about me and I will not let her distract me from my goal.

I step inside the tube without another look back, closing my eyes and allowing it to seal me safely within it.

The artist theme for this story will be Coldplay

Song: Everything's Not Lost

The blog for this story can be found on my profile. Also a new poll!

A question or two will be asked at the end of each chapter and I would be very grateful if you could answer them for me as well as giving me a general review on my writing, your thoughts on plot and development, etc.

Now that you've met all of the tributes, who are your overall favourites?

Who do you think will be the first few to fall to the Games (Guesses at Bloodbaths...)?

This is the last chapter before characters, and I am afraid to say readers, will begin to fall. I just want to say that I am very thankful for every tribute that is a part of this story, and for everyone that has been reading it whether you review or not. It is going to kill me to off some of these guys, but it must be done!

In other news, I have set up a poll on my profile for you all to vote on who you want to see survive the Bloodbath. It won't likely impact my decisions, since I have already pretty much chosen my victims, but it is always nice to see what the readers think! Thanks.