Fire is catching
Chapter 2
*Authors Note: Thank you for all the reviews, follows and favorites. I hope you enjoy the second chapter.*
I immediately feel a huge weight falling of my heart, my body relaxing as I'm flooded with relief.
I know this isn't good, to be actually happy that that girl is going to be a tribute and not me, but you can't really blame me, can you?
After this short moment of happiness I put myself together and look around the group of girls, searching for the future tribute.
What was her name again…,Emilia Johnson…?
I freeze as that name races through my mind.
Emilia Johnson.
I know that girl.
She has long red hair and a splash of freckles on her nose. I think she's 16 and I sometimes saw her in school.
Oh, and she's dead.
The tragedy happened only two months ago.
One day our headmaster walked in and announced Emilia was dead. Just like that.
He said she was found in a small room in the textile fabrics, just dead and he didn't explain how she died.
After telling us the news he just walked out and pretended nothing happened.
As I didn't really know her, her death didn't affect me that much as it did others. Some of her close friends cried for days, her family was never seen happy again.
It happens eventually, that someone dies at young age.
But not just like that. Most of them do because of starvation, dehydration, too much work, but nobody just drops dead in the factories.
However after holding a small ceremony at our school everybody avoided talking about Emilia Johnson and now her name was drawn at the reaping.
How can her name still be in the ball?
How can an already dead person take part (meaning die for district 8 tributes) in the hunger games?
A dead person can't die again.
How could the capitol actually have made a mistake?
Looking at the faces of the people around me, I see that they all noticed the mistake. Their mouths all dropped open, astonishment in their eyes, a big question mark written over their heads and a muffled murmur goes through the crowd.
Miranda still stands on stage looking completely lost but after a while her face turns paper white.
It's really bad luck for her.
I mean if she would've just picked another name, nobody would've discovered the failure of the capitol and everything would be 'normal'.
I guess the odds weren't in her favor as well.
It seems like Miranda got an explanation of what just took place through the microphone attached to her left ear.
Somebody must've told her that the girl who was supposed to be a tribute is buried on the district's graveyard.
I still can't believe this actually happened. The reaping is one of the most important parts of the hunger games which are held yearly in order to remind the districts of the dark days, a time when the districts started to rebel against the capitol.
Unfortunately, they kind of failed and here we are now, the children of district 8 all threatened as they hope our name won't be chosen at the reaping.
Hoping that they can stay alive another year, as participation in the games most of the time means the death of both tributes for district 8.
That's the outcome of that revolution.
We are oppressed even more, the hunger games only being the marvelous top of the iceberg.
Great right?
However, I never ever heard that something went wrong at even one of the reapings and now a dead girl's name was drawn.
This shouldn't have happened.
I wonder how the capitol will react.
Our escort walks around nervously before stepping to the edge of the stage and putting on her wide fake smile.
"Apparently the…, chosen tribute…can't take her place, although I think it would've been a great honor for her, to represent her district in the annual hunger games, I mean, I'm sure she would've been proud of joining the games for her district's sake. May Emilia Johnson rest in peace."
This is literally the biggest lie I ever heard.
Being a tribute, an honor?
Are you kidding me?
Since when is it an honor to run around in an arena waiting for your execution?
I hope the capitol can't read my thoughts…, as you can probably see I'm totally unhappy with the separation of powers in Panem but I can't really change it so I try to shut up and avoid any kind of trouble.
Anyway, if the capitol could somehow read my thoughts I would be in a jam.
But that isn't the point right now.
At the moment our poor escort Miranda has to deal with the biggest problem of her life, she drew the name of a dead girl.
So I guess she'll have to find a substitute.
Miranda smiles even wider, twisting her mouth to a scary grin "Who will be the lucky girl to take her place? Let's find out!"
She dives her hand into the crystal ball and fishes out a small slip of white paper.
"This year's tribute is…."
"Lucy Heartfilia"
I look around for that poor girl.
I mean, honestly, I feel sorry for her.
After she thought she was spared another year she now has to be a tribute.
Oh my, that sucks.
That's when I notice everybody is staring at me.
Wait a minute…, what did she say the tribute's name was?
Lucy Heartfilia?
Oh no….
What? No, this can't be true; the odds were in my favor, weren't they?
I mean this is no fair, I wasn't chosen!
I made it another year, didn't I?
I was relieved, already thinking about the dinner I prepared.
Emilia's name was drawn, it's not my fault she's dead!
Why do I have to be the tribute now?
That can't be, there has to be another mistake.
I couldn't possibly…, it can't, it shouldn't…
Everything around me turns black and I start to feel sick, my hands shaking badly.
This is a dream, this is just another nightmare I whisper to myself.
Wake up, why don't I wake up?!
"Lucy my dear, don't be shy, come to us" Miranda purrs.
Everybody around me steps aside.
I have to wake up!
And then I realize that this is true.
It's true. I'm the tribute.
I'll be dead.
Wait… the reapings are always played on television, aren't they?
So right now all the cameras are filming my breakdown to broadcast it live to all of Panem.
I curse myself for being so weak, this won't make a good impression. So I straighten myself, hold back the tears, look straight ahead and start walking towards the stage.
"There you are my dear"
I stand on the stage, my vision a little blurry and start looking at the faces. In some of them I see relief and I really can't blame them, of course they're happy that they've been spared another year. Some faces though show sadness, pity. Of course, the people of district 8 know me, some of them are my friends.
"And now for the boys…,this year's tribute is Sebastian Smith".
I'm glad I don't know him, which would've only made things worse. Sebastian walks to the stage, shaking uncontrollably and I ask myself if I looked like this as well.
I hope not.
He is a slim boy, only skin and bones, probably 15 years old. His sore, red hands and his hunched back show, that he has had to work in the factories for a long time, so the only magic he might know is sewing magic, a magic which makes the workers even work harder and faster.
It's like this for most of the tributes. District 1,2 and 4 usually have very skilled mages because they train illegally and the other tributes either know no magic at all or only magic which is harmless. Pretty unfair right?
But the games are never fair.
So if you look at it that way I can be rather thankful that I at least have my keys. I grab them, the cold metal making me feel better immediately.
"This year's tributes of district 8, Lucy Heartfilia and Sebastian Smith", Miranda cries in a high pitched voice, but the crowd remains silent as peace keepers accompany us to the justice building where we can have our last goodbyes.
I sit in the familiar room still feeling so sick, not realizing the full amount of what just happened as Jack, good old Jack comes in, his eyes filled with tears.
"I'm so sorry Miss Lucy", he stutters.
"It's not your fault Jack", I say and fight against the upcoming tears.
I have to be strong or otherwise I'll never make it.
He bows: "It was an honor to be at your service Miss Lucy"
As he turns around to walk away I stumble towards him and hug him.
"I'll miss you Jack", I whisper and he presses a kiss on my forehead, "You're a strong woman, Miss Lucy. You have the advantage of being a mage. You can do it! I have faith in you, Miss Lucy. Please, do your best.", he says and then walks out of the room.
After that a couple of friends walk in and out, cry, hug and kiss me, wish me luck, but it's like I'm not even there. I should enjoy the last moments with my loved ones, never forget them, hold on to them, but I can't, I can't concentrate.
As Mary enters the room and walks towards me, she clears her throat: "I won't say goodbye to you, Miss Lucy. It's not a goodbye. It's a see you soon okay? Don't you dare to die, Miss Lucy" and with those words she storms out of the room.
Finally my father walks in and sits down in the chair in front of me. Even in this situation, we don't know what to say to each other, but after a couple of minutes he breaks the silence: "I've lost my wife and even if you don't believe me, my biggest fear was always losing you Lucy. I'm so sorry for not taking care of you enough, but still you have to know that I love you."
He stands up, hugs me tightly, let's go and leaves the room without turning back and all I can do is to stare at the closed door. This was my last goodbye? Jack, Mary, all the others had told me that they believed in me, had thought that I would come back to them. But for my dad I am already dead as if the reaping had killed me immediately. Even I know that my chances of winning the hunger games are close to zero but it still hurts when your own father hasn't got the slightest bit of faith in you.
A couple of uniformed peace keepers arrive, drag me out of the room and bring me to the train station where the silver train already waits for us. The train that will take me to the capitol. I turn around and look at district 8, at my home, one last time before I get on the train, knowing that I won't come back
*Authors note: Awww, poor Lucy. Now she's a tribute, destined to die. Reviews, follows and favorites are very appreciated by the author, so tell me what you think about 'Fire is catching'*