Chapter 1: Cage Match Kiss

I don't know how I put one foot in front of the other, as I slowly begin the march to what may very well be my death. I'm shaking enough that it takes a few fiddling tries to even turn the lamp on my headlamp. I finally will myself into the elevator that looks and feels more like a cage. More and more miners fill up behind me, and I suddenly feel claustrophobic, like I'm getting less air.

The breathing, the air quality will be even worse down below.

It is the day of my eighteenth birthday, and I am absolutely terrified.

Mother died a few months ago. Prim and I buried her in an unmarked grave, on a dark and stormy night. Per district law, underage orphans are required to go to the Community Home, but I refused to allow that to befall my sweet little sister. Everyone in this district knows the stories: kids in the Community Home are molested. And their chances of being Reaped for the Hunger Games are way higher.

Short of that, the options were either to move in with relatives (I knew already my mother's brother in Town wouldn't take us), or for me to get married. I didn't see either happening.

Since I was going to be of age in a few months anyway, Prim and I decided to hide Mother's death until I turned 18. If we could just make it to May 8th, we might be all right. Then I could apply to be Prim's legal guardian, and maybe even keep the house.

We made it, but barely.

If my sister and I are going to survive, her Healing skills that she learned from our mother and is now applying in practice won't be enough to sustain us long-term. I've kept up with hunting beyond the fence, but crackdowns on illegal goods have gone up.

So, I have no choice: I must go and risk my life down in the mines.

I am terrified of what might happen if I'm down there and an accident occurs. I resolve that I will just have to survive, the way my father did not. For if I die down here, Prim will surely die.

My breasts are heaving with every gulp of air under my coveralls.

"Hey…. You OK, Everdeen?"

I turn and look up. Thom Borden, son of the Miner Foreman, is studying me with genuine concern. I only know him in passing; he's one of my hunting partner Gale's particular friends.

I try to answer, but I'm not taking in enough air to form words.

I avert my head and vomit on the boots of the person flanking me on the other side. Meaty, rough hands drum down my spine as Thom rubs my back.

I wipe the bile off my mouth, my face ghastly pale. Thom laughs at me, along with a few others.

"I think this one needs a Reaping Kiss!" he hollers jovially. "You'll need all the luck you can get down there!"

I stare at him, gawp, still too petrified for words. The Reaping Kiss is something traditionally shared between district teens the morning of the Reaping. It's a superstition, supposed to bring good luck. If you kiss someone on Reaping morning, you and your partner are both guaranteed not to be picked.

Thom is still studying me with concern.

I gulp for air, feeling as though I am drowning.

The front cage mesh slides into place, sealing us in.

The lift plunges into darkness.

All at once, I'm being slammed back into the cage mesh right behind me. Large hands frame my face, and rough lips are suddenly pushed against mine. I try to yelp, but the muffled sound only parts my lips under his and inadvertently greets his tongue. The cage elevator rumbles as we start our descent into the depths of the Earth.

After a moment or two of him kissing me, I find purchase on Thom's burly arms and shove him away with a squeak. He just chuckles at forcibly kissing me without my permission. I would slap him, if I didn't think I'd accidentally whack somebody else.

I manage to breathe in deeply through my nose and out through my mouth.

"Better?"

I don't answer him, staring down at the floor.

The elevator grinds to a halt, the mesh opens, and we are expectorated out into a whole new world of hell.