Yay, new chapter! And new characters!

Let's all thank WhyNotDream for helping me with this chapter! Thank you!

I will calm down now. Okay, so yeah. Chapter. Cool.

The Moon was Still as Bright

Aurora Voe (16) District 1

I have tried to kill myself 3 times. Once by cutting, once by drowning, and once by hanging. Not that I ever succeeded. If I had, I wouldn't be talking to you right now, would I?

You hear and see things and your brain automatically comes up with a conclusion for them. Seeing and hearing are very deceiving if you ask me. Just because you see or hear something doesn't make it true. Like rumors, they are rarely true, but people believe them so they spread and spread until everyone knows about it. It's like a disease, a contagious disease that one passes to another who passes to another. Then everyone knows, but you're the only one that ends up hurt.

Loneliness. Pain. Anger. Sadness. Depression.

Those are the only things I every feel. Never all at once, no, I'm not that messed up. Like right now, I feel pain and anger as the Career in front of me manages to slash my hand with his dagger. I put the knife I was holding in my other hand and glare at the boy. I don't know him, I probably should, but I don't. It's not like I chose to fight him, other Careers always pick fights with me during training. To them, it was fun to watch a crazy girl go against a killer.

But that isn't how it went. I was a Career too, though; the others didn't seem to think so. I would always be the crazy girl in their eyes. The messed up, crazy girl who always wore a red bandana on her right wrist to cover those scars. I wasn't ashamed of them, in fact, sometimes I thought of 'forgetting' my bandana one day, but my parents would never allow it. They were ashamed of me, because I wasn't the perfect daughter they had always wanted, because I didn't have they're pretty blue eyes, because I was never enough for them.

Never enough. Never good enough. Never pretty enough. Never smart enough. Never.

I release the throwing knife after taking aim at the boy. He isn't paying attention, and the knife finds its target, lodging itself deep within his shoulder. I couldn't kill him, it wasn't allowed, and it was the only rule.

This boy is strange, though. He doesn't look like the rest of District 1, with his light brown hair, hazel eyes, and slightly tanned skin. No, he reminds me of a district 7 tribute, though he isn't tall like them. He isn't extremely short, but just an inch taller than my 5'5". I wonder why he isn't blonde with fair skin and blue eyes. My parents thought I didn't look like rest of district 1, but at least I had blonde hair. I feel like they would hate this kid.

But he isn't a kid; at least, he doesn't look like one. I guess he is older than me, making him either 17 or 18. And within that moment, I know I have never seen him before. He is walking towards me, one hand on his shoulder, and one hand on his knife. His eyes look tired and he has dark rings underneath them both.

I do not know why I am paying attention to this boy. He does not interest me in the least. Though his slows movements and tired appearance confuse me. This boy in general confuses me. But, before I have the chance to ask who he is, he holds his dagger against my neck, on my windpipe. He presses down harder and all of a sudden I cannot breathe. I take a step back, but he moves with me and pushes the sharp edge against my neck harder.

He must realize that I am not trying too hard to get away from him, because he lowers the dagger and stares at me in confusion. One benefit about being suicidal and being a Career: you aren't afraid to die, you welcome it.

I kick his hand that is holding the dagger, and catch it before it falls to the ground. I then put my knife against his windpipe, and put the other in front of his eye, which is bigger than I remember it.

I drop both weapons and turn to my father, who always watches me when I'm training and decides when I leave. I can only hope, but I don't bother. I don't hope, it doesn't get me anywhere anytime soon.

My father, the 'Perfect District 1 Citizen', just shakes his head. But no, not shakes, nods. There is something more to this, there must be. There is something I must have to do instead, something more important, but what?

I walk over to him and hear footsteps behind me. I don't bother looking back, the person behind me is irrelevant and I am unconcerned about them as of now. I stand in front of my father and he smiles at me, then points to something beside me. I turn to see the boy I had been fighting. He cracks a smile, but it doesn't reach his bloodshot eyes.

"Aurora, this is Jesse. You are to show him around the district today. Introduce him to your friends and such." My father tells me in a polite voice, but to me it sounds like a command.

"What friends?" I say in reply before I can stop myself.

My father gives me a disappointed look, or, I guess you could call it his normal look when he is looking at me. "Aurora, Jesse just came here from district 7. He was invited by the Capitol. It's just a visit, but would you please show him around?"

Oh, because he is a Career and the Capitol wanted him to get the best training in all of Panem? I wonder, and know it's probably true. There is no other logical reason Jesse would be here.

Jesse, what a strange name. It was a very old name, from before the Dark Days. I didn't really like his name, or his hair. It was in a quiff, and it looked like there was a mountain on his head. Weird.

"Why do I have to?" I ask because I really do not want to show Jesse around. That would involve going places and talking, which I was not in the mood for.

"Because, I told you to." My father says with clenched teeth. I've never understood this reason parents use to make kids do things. If I told someone to do something, they sure wouldn't do it for me.

Nonetheless, I know there is no way I can get out of this. I sigh and tell Jesse to follow me. I lead him to my house, where we enter and I head up to my room. I grab a thread and a needle, as well as bandages, and wet two towels. I bring everything back downstairs and throw a towel to Jesse. I then put everything down and start working on my cut. I only have to put a bandage on mine, unlike Jesse who has to stitch his up.

I notice that blood has stained my red bandana, and take it off, and after examining it, I find that it is still wet. I look down at my wrist and see that my failing job at stitching one of the cuts last night has failed and come undone. What? I never said I didn't cut anymore. I am about to tie it back around my wrist, but stop myself. Let my parents be ashamed, I've never cared before.

I decide to stitch up the cut again, and run upstairs to get another needle and thread. When I come back down, I see that Jesse is watching. He keeps glancing quickly down at my wrist, then at his, and then at my face.

"What? You do it." I say, though I don't know if he really does. He was glancing at his wrist.

"Not anymore." He says in a quiet voice as I sit back down.

I think about replying, but decide not to. There's no point really. Though, I am slightly surprised inside. Surprised that he didn't make fun of me. Surprised that he had cut before too. Surprised that he actually understood. I think about asking him why he used to, but think better of it. That was a rude question that I had been asked many times before, and I had always hated it.

Yes, it was my choice to hurt myself or not. But I have reasons and I need people to respect them. My reasons are personal and I will never share them with anyone, because my reasons aren't as serious as they used to be, but they still affect everything about me and what I do and how I feel. My reasons aren't something I can just change, they aren't something that I can stop feeling, they will always be with me.

Jesse Vanderwal (18) District 7

So far I hate district 1. Everyone is so rude, arrogant, and conceited; and they all look the same, with their fair hair and skin, and sapphire eyes. The Careers, they're the worst. I thought it would be good, training with them, but so far, it's the worst thing I've ever done. I lost every single fight, though the only time I bled was the fight I had had with Aurora.

Aurora. I can't even begin to explain her, because I can't. I don't know how. She wasn't nice, exactly, but she wasn't mean either. She didn't really show any emotion whatsoever. And those cuts on her wrist... They brought me back to a time where I did that, a time where I couldn't deal with my insomnia.

Most people think insomnia isn't that bad, it just makes it hard for you to go to sleep. But, it's horrible for me. I never can fall asleep; it usually takes me a couple days, sometimes weeks, of sleepless nights before I am so tired that I can sleep. It's not like I can chose whether or not to stay up all night; sometimes — most times — I have to.

People think I'm stupid because I'm always tired, so my brain can't work functionally at school. On tests, I just fill in the bubbles randomly, not even trying. That's why I became a Career. I hoped to win the Games, because there was no way I could get a job that would give me enough money to live in district 7.

Now I wasn't so sure I could win the Games. I wasn't even sure I would be able to go in the Games. This was my last year that I was eligible, and the Capitol citizens chose the tributes. I could only pray that they would pick the Career boy from 7. I thought I had pretty good chances, actually. The Capitol liked Careers, right? So they would choose me?

We had left Aurora's house about 30 minutes ago, and we were walking down the street, nearing the center of the District, or, at least, I thought we were. The reaping wasn't for another 30 minutes, and I had no idea where she was going, but I kept following her, figuring she knew what she was doing.

She had dressed into a short, flared black skirt with a thin brown belt around the waist. She also wore black flats, and an off-white sweater. When she turned to me, her black eyes looked even darker against her pale skin and pale blonde hair which danced around her wildly in the wind.

I, on the other hand, looked like a fool. We had gone to my 'house' which the Capitol was providing me to stay in while I was in district 1. Thank God I wasn't here for long, because the 'house' was more like two rooms, one with a small bed and broken television, and one washroom with a toilet, a sink, and a tub.

In my 'house' I had changed into a nice white, button up shirt, black slacks three sizes too big, and black shoes. I was sure even the poorest people in the district dressed better than I. I had known district 1 was rich and all, but I didn't know they were this rich. The average person in the district probably had as much money as the richest person in district 7. And we weren't even the poorest district; we were one of the wealthier ones. Probably the fourth wealthiest actually.

I didn't notice Aurora had stopped until I ran into her. I mumbled an apology, but she didn't seem to hear as she pushed past me and walked into a clothing store. I followed after her, and the strong aura of cologne and perfume hit me like a punch. I started coughing as I looked around for Aurora, but I couldn't find her within the colorful racks of clothes.

A hand grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the store. I took in big gulps of fresh air, enjoying the scent of chocolate and cinnamon coming from a nearby bakery. Aurora stood in front of me, looking at me strangely, and handed me a belt and suspenders.

"Please, I already look ridiculous." I say and cringe.

She makes me put it on anyway. It's a lot more comfortable now, but I'm sure I look like a fool. As we walk into the bakery, people stare at us. But not at us, at Aurora, but she doesn't seem to notice. She seems to be in her own little world as she looks at the different food. She asks me what I want, when she is ordering, but when I tell her nothing, she just gets two of whatever she was getting.

She tells me to get a table, and I do so as she waits in line for whatever food she was getting. It's about 4 minutes before she comes and sits next to me. She's caring a brown paper bag, and the scents coming from it are amazing. It makes me feel bad that she is buying me all these things, but I can't find the voice to say anything as she pulls out a blueberry muffin and hands it to me.

I rip off the wrapper and pretty much inhale the muffin. I hadn't even realized how hungry I was until now. Aurora is about half way done with her's, and she asks if I want another. I feel my face getting red, and tell her no, then look outside. There are some boys, probably around my age, kicking a ball around. I watch them until Aurora is finished and we head outside.

As we walk to the center of the district, I hear the boys who had been kicking the ball around behind us. They seem to be whispering about something, and then there's silence. I am about to turn around when I hear a loud sound and see Aurora, who had been walking next to me, fall forward onto her knees.

"Are you alright?" I ask, and grab her arm, helping her stand.

She doesn't reply, just glares at the boys behind us; at one in particular, one with golden hair and skin. I recognize him from training, he had been there, and he was a Career. I couldn't remember his name, but I remember he was good with a sword.

Aurora bends down and picks up the ball, as she holds it something falls out of her sleeve, and into her hand. It catches the light and shines in my eyes, but I already saw what it was.

She slashes the ball once with her knife, and the air comes out with a high-pitched scream. She then throws the ball on the ground in front of the boys, and puts the knife back in her sleeve.

Aurora then turns back around and continues walking, and I have no choice but to follow her. As we enter the center of the district, we separate so I can go stand by the parents and siblings, and so she can go get signed in and stand in the 16 year old section. I try to watch her as she goes, but she soon gets lost in the crowd of people.

The Dark Days video comes on, and I watch the video change from color, to black and white, to color, to black and white, etc. I wonder what's wrong with it; the escort on stage — who looks like a giant marshmallow — looks like he doesn't know what's wrong with it either.

The escort then jibber jabbers about how happy he is to be here, blah, blah, blah, and then it's time to announce the female tribute. It doesn't bother me, I don't know anyone in this district, and they all seem pretty unlikeable anyway. It won't matter to me who is reaped, I won't feel sorry for them; I don't know them.

"The girl, chosen by the Capitol because she is a Career and isn't afraid of death, is Aurora Voe!" The escort says, his heart probably leaping with joy.

I watch as she walks onto the stage. Her face looks confident, but there is pain in her eyes. She manages to smile, and although it's fake, it makes me feel slightly better. It's not like I'm going to cry, because it's not like I knew her super well. I only knew her for about 2 hours, and one and a half of those were spent fighting. It's not like I was going to miss her, or she was going to miss me.

"The boy, chosen by the Capitol because he is a Career as well, and because they knew he was capable of winning, is Silver Smithson!" The escort seems even happier about this, maybe he had voted for Silver to go into the Games.

Silver Smithson turns out to be the boy that had kicked the ball at Aurora, and they clearly have a bad history. They practically have a glaring contest on stage, and I see the white of their knuckles as they shake hands, obviously trying to hurt the other in any way possible.

They are escorted by Peacekeepers into the Justice Building, and I hope that Aurora kills that boy in the Games. I really hope she does.

"Jesse? Jesse Vanderwal?" A feminine voice is asking me, and I feel a tugging on my shoulder, the one Aurora hit with the knife.

"Hey!" I yell, and push away from the lady, who gives me an apologetic smile.

"So sorry, but, Jesse Vanderwal, you have to go catch that train." The lady says, she smells like moss, and is wearing a neon green suit which hurts my eyes.

"What train? What are you talking about?" I ask her, but part of me already knows what's she's talking about.

"Well, the train that goes to the Capitol of course! Didn't you watch the district 7 reapings from this morning? You were chosen by the Capitol!" The lady exclaims, and pulls me towards the train.

We have to walk some distance before we reach the district 7 cart, and we climb in. Part of me is excited, that part of me can't believe it's actually happening; I actually get to go into the Games!

The other part of me knows I'm going to die.

No hate please! And there will be NO new characters; Tomisin, Jace, Jesse, and Aurora are my only main characters. They will all be main characters, but I THINK Aurora will be the most main. That does not mean she will win the Games.

Goodnight, lovelies.