Waiting, Watching

It's a strange thing,
But when you are dreading something,
And would give anything to slow down time,
It has a disobliging habit of speeding up.

~ J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

- Belladonna "Bella" Crew, Victor of the Second Annual Hunger Games, District One Mentor -
- January 19, 21 ADD -

The Games wouldn't be starting for a while, but the decision-making process for District One's volunteers had already begun. As this year's mentors, Drake and I had already begun looking for the best trainees and that was exactly what we were doing at District One's training center. As we watched, one of the female trainees hissed, kicking out at the boy who she was sparring with and then giving him a hard punch on the nose to follow up. Blood sprayed from the boy's face as he fell backward, his head hitting the padded floor of the sparring area.

Drake looked at me. "That one's a fighter. She reminds me of you." he murmured. I didn't take my eyes off of the scene as the girl smirked, ignoring the blood around her.

"I suppose." I finally mumbled as the boy shakily rose to his feet. He would most likely suffer through another beating at home. These days, in District One, failures only meant more beatings. This was not what I had had in mind when I had suggested a training program.

I still remember my Games. I had allied myself with the girl from Two, Rhea. She had told me about the training program in Two. I'd suggested the same thing to our mayor once I had gotten home, so each child would be able to protect him or herself in the Games. That hadn't exactly worked out.

Staring at the boy with the bloody nose, I suddenly felt dizzy.

- Ebony Nevitts, Victor of the First Annual Hunger Games, District Two Mentor -
- January 29, 21 ADD -

My sister wasn't like me. She was a true Career. Ivory had been a volunteer, while I had been reaped. To be honest, I couldn't see why anyone would ever volunteer for something as gruesome and bloody as the Hunger Games, though maybe that was just my opinion.

That's why I had forbidden my now nineteen-year-old daughter, Alex, from ever volunteering. Her mother and I had agreed on that. When she began doing too well at the training center, I pulled her out, refusing to let her ever become a tribute in the Games. My sister was one of those who ran the training center and she could never understand why I had pulled Alex out.

I never did expect Ivory to understand.

After her victory, Ivory grew obsessed with the Games. Unlike me, she never settled down or found a family. On the other hand, my sole motivation in the Games was my girlfriend at the time, Serena, and how I had never gotten a chance to give her the diamond engagement ring I had purchased. As soon as I had gotten out of the arena, I had gone home and proposed to her. We found out on our wedding day that she was pregnant.

The Games did things to Ivory, the things that they were meant to do. They turned her into someone who was obsessed with the Games. They had hurt her so that she was someone completely unlike the girl she had been before she went into the arena.

I was determined not to let anyone else be hurt like Ivory again.

- Buzz Revel, Victor of the Sixteenth Annual Hunger Games, District Three Mentor -
- February 8, 21 ADD -

The Games had ruined me and everyone knew it. Before the Games, everyone knew me as a lively and sweet boy. After the Games, I had barely spoken a word. At first, my friends came to visit almost daily. My family would help me through the nightmares. Before long, none of my friends were coming anymore. Then, my parents stopped coming every time I woke up screaming.

My sister, Apoline, always came, though. She was always trying to get me to get up and actually do something. She never realized how different I was now. She was reaped last year. I tried to save her, I really did. I guess I'm just cursed.

My parents blamed me, of course. Apoline was always their favorite. They moved out of the house in Victor's Village. I didn't mind. It meant more peace and quiet for me and my tinkering.

I've thought about ending it all quite a few times. I could do it quickly, painlessly. Last year at the Capitol, Alexander Sabine from District Five told me that a victor he had mentored, Nadia Vern, had committed suicide.

I know why I've never done it, though. Without me, the tributes from Three really do stand no chance against the Careers and the other tributes. I'm the only advantage they have, though I must say, I'm not much.

- Coral Brooke, Victor of the Ninth Annual Hunger Games, District Four Mentor -
- February 18, 21 ADD -

Mags stood beside me, watching the tributes as they trained. She was silent as she stared at them, though that fact didn't worry me. Ever since she had gotten out of the arena, she had always been silent.

Her Games had been tough. I remembered that Mags had been the number-one trainee her year at the District Four training center. She had been the one chosen to volunteer and, even though she had been reaped, nobody had dared to volunteer, fearing the wrath of the training center officials. Yet, she had almost died in the arena. She had almost died five or six times.

When she came out, she hadn't wanted to be a Career anymore or a trainer or anyone who had to do with the Games and the kids. I never did understand her motives, but as a good mentor should, I respected her choices.

In truth, after Mags, none of the trainees looked like they stood a chance in the arena anymore. I turned around to tell her this, but she wasn't standing beside me anymore. Instead, she was crouched by one of the younger trainees, a twelve-year-old, who had just been defeated in a sparring match. The girl's face was covered in blood, which Mags was gently wiping away with a cloth.

Staring at her, I realized exactly why Mags didn't want to be a part of the whole Career business anymore.

- Alexander Sabine, Victor of the Eighth Annual Hunger Games, District Five Mentor -
- February 28, 21 ADD -

Rest in Peace,
Nadia Vern,
Mentor and Friend

I can't lie. Nadia's death broke me.

She was the only one in District Five who understood me. Whenever I, or she, for that matter, had another one of those dreadful nightmares, I went to her and we would just talk about the arena and the Games and everything that was bugging us. Every year, we mentored the District Five tributes together and every year, we watched as they were murdered in the arena.

I honestly had no idea that she was going to kill herself. I would see her every day, a sad smile ever present on her face. I was her mentor. I was the one who got her out of the arena. I was the one closest to her. I was, supposedly, the one who understood her.

And, yet, I never realized the thoughts that were swirling around her head until I found her sprawled on the ground, a small dribble of nightlock juice trickling down her chin.

Every single tribute I had ever mentored, I had lost to the Hunger Games.

As I knelt in front of Nadia's grave, I looked up at the sky and promised myself that never again would I lose anyone to the Hunger Games.

- Yvette Poole, Victor of the Seventh Annual Hunger Games, District Six Mentor -
- March 10, 21 ADD -

It should have been a special day for me today. It was my daughter's twelfth birthday today.

Unfortunately, it wasn't such a special day for me. It was also the tenth anniversary of my husband's death.

"Mother?"

I turned to look at my daughter, Leia. She would be eligible for the reaping from now on. With my luck, she'd probably get reaped. Probably killed in the bloodbath, too. The Capitol wasn't going to be so kind to me. They'd already taken my husband. Why not take my daughter too?

"Oh, sorry, Leia. What were you saying?" I asked. "I sort of zoned out."

Leia smiled, her smile so much like his that it hurt just looking at it, though a second later, her face was grim again. "You promise me, Mother, that you would tell me about Father when I turned twelve."

My blood felt cold as it rushed through my veins. I'm sure my face had gone pale, too, because Leia was looking at me with concern in her eyes

"Leia, your father was murdered by the Capitol. And I was the cause of his death, because I refused to comply with the Capitol's wishes for its victors."

- Daniel Foxfire, Victor of the Nineteenth Annual Hunger Games, District Seven Mentor -
- March 20, 21 ADD -

The Capitol required me to meet with Willow to discuss strategy at least once before the Games. I honestly didn't mind. Willow was pretty hot.

"So, Willow." I began, dropping my hand on the victor's shoulder. The little girl, the tribute I had trained to become a victor, shook my hand away.

"Don't touch me, Daniel." she hissed. "I'm only here because the Capitol requires any mentors from the same District to meet together at least once prior to the Games. When it's time for actual training, I won't be training my tribute with yours. I don't want my tribute tainted by you."

I couldn't help it. I smirked.

"Oh, am I really so bad now, Willow? You seemed not to mind so much last year before the Games." I teased.

"That was before you told me everything! You're sick! You enjoy the Games! You enjoy the killing! You volunteered for the Hunger Games, Daniel!" she retorted.

Before I could say another word, she stood, rushing out of the room. What could I say? Nobody ever understood me. Nobody ever listened to me when I said the Hunger Games weren't so bad.

- Woof Smith, Victor of the Seventeenth Annual Hunger Games, District Eight Mentor -
- March 30, 21 ADD -

I woke up screaming. It was the same nightmare every night

Her name had been June and she had been my District partner. She had also been my ally. We had decided to stick together and just hide from the other tributes until the final five, which was when we would split. At first, our plan worked pretty well. The one tribute that found us got a knife in her back from June.

And then, the Careers found us, or rather, they found June. She was coming back from hunting. I had been watching the supplies. She was screaming for me to save her as they killed her. I didn't lift a finger to help her.

They looked for me, but they never found me. That was when there were only nine of us left. The Careers soon went away to hunt for more tributes.

I never forgot the faces of the two who had murdered June. I am proud to say that I only killed two tributes in my Games and they were the two Careers who had killed my District partner.

Of course, in my nightmare, there wasn't always such a "happy" ending.

- Wyatt Frepzick, Victor of the Third Annual Hunger Games, District Nine Mentor -
- April 9, 21 ADD -

They say that the saddest people smile the brightest. I can tell you from experience that that statement is quite true.

Before my Games, my mentor was a man named Darius. I don't remember much about him, but I do remember that he was always smiling. Before I went into the arena, he told me, "Wyatt, I may be from the Capitol, but that doesn't mean I want to see you fail. You've got a chance. If you can go in there and keep that smile on your face, you're going to win this thing."

I remember nodding and Darius patting my shoulder as he whispered, "Go get 'em."

And I remember going in there, that smile on my face as I killed and fought. I remember how I forced the thoughts into my mind that every death brought me closer to home; everything I was doing was because I needed to get out of the arena. I remember coming out of the arena, that sick smile still plastered onto my face as I watched replays of my Games, had interviews, and trained tributes to take my place in the next Games.

And, ever since, I've always had that horribly fake, yet shining, smile on my face.

- Diane Lu, Victor of the Fourth Annual Hunger Games, District Ten Mentor -
- April 19, 21 ADD -

Mason grabbed the beer bottle, pouring its contents into the two glasses that sat on the table in front of him. As the flow of beer stopped, he looked up at me, a wry smile on his lips. I took one of the glasses, my eyes falling to the liquid inside.

It was a tradition of ours. Every year since Mason had won, three or four months before the Games, we would drink ourselves to drunk messes. I don't even remember why we had started doing that. Perhaps it was to push away the pain that threatened to consume us, as victors, every day. Or maybe it was to push away the sense of hopelessness that came with not being able to save twenty-three innocent lives every year.

Mason raised his glass of beer and I did the same. The two glasses clinked softly against each other as Mason smirked. "May the odds be ever in our favor!" he announced, causing me to roll my eyes. As victors, the odds were never in our favor and Mason knew it.

I downed my glass of beer in a single gulp, placing it back on the table for more.

- Cyprus Kif, Victor of the Fourteenth Annual Hunger Games, District Eleven Mentor -
- April 29, 21 ADD -

They say that, out of all the victors so far, I am one of the ones that have been affected the least by the Games. In a way, that's true. For me, it hasn't been the rags-to-riches story it's been for most victors. My father is the Mayor, anyways.

People that know me also say that I've never been totally consumed by the Games, like the Careers, or consumed by grief.

They're all wrong.

In my home in the Victor's Village, nearly everything is arranged in fives. Five for the five tributes I killed in my Games. In addition, almost every room has a twinge of purple somewhere. Purple for my District partner, Violette, who I hadn't been able to save.

I had stopped hoping that the Capitol would decide that the Districts had learned their lesson and that the Capitol would end the Games forever. The Capitol would never end the Games.

In a way, I've been affected the most.

- Emmeryn Sweet, Capitol-Provided Mentor, District Twelve Mentor -
- May 9, 21 ADD -

The previous Capitol-provided mentor for District Twelve had been my aunt, Alicia Sweet. She had warned me about getting too connected to the tributes. When I was younger, I scoffed at her word s. I wouldn't get too connected with these tributes! They were from District Twelve, of all places.

Now, four years later, I realized how I should have known how hard it would be to not get too connected with the tributes. They were from the Districts, yes, but they had feelings and stories, too. It's hard not to pity them.

I've already seen eight tributes die. I still remember their voices and faces, as clear as if it were yesterday that I had just met them.

When I was just a little girl, I remembered how I had loved watching the Games. They were amusing, I had thought. I had never noticed how terrible they really were. Why was it that I had never realized how twenty-three children would never return home to their loved ones each year?

I would do this one more year, I resolved, and then, I would do it no more.

Author's Note: So, I thought that I'd explain how this fanfic will work. Each character will get one POV before the tributes enter the Games. The chapters before the Games will consist of: Reaping Playbacks (three POVs), Getting Prepped (two POVs), Chariot Rides (two POVs; one Capitol POV), Training: Day One (four POVs), Training: Day Two (four POVs), Training: Private Sessions (one POV; one Gamemaker POV), Training Scores (two POVs), Interviews (three POVs; one Capitol POV), Launch (three POVs).

Speaking of characters, I still need more tributes! The tributes I still need are the District One Female, District Three Male, both from District Five, both from District Six, District Nine Male, both from District Ten, and the District Twelve Male. If I don't receive the tributes I still need within the next week, I'll just make the ones I still need and they will be bloodbath tributes.

If you have only made one tribute, this is a reminder that you may make two tributes that will be accepted! If you have already made two tributes, then please, please, please help advertise this fanfic to friends who might be interested! Thanks!