I step onto the silver disk that will lift me up to the arena. Before the glass cylinder closes around me, Regan kisses my forehead and Corvin has to leave to go to his room. Symma and Eila give me a sad look, as if they know they'll never see me again.

A person in a white coat steps in and says, "Give me your arm." I extend my arm and a piercing pain courses through me as they insert a needle. "This is your tracker." He says with an emotionless tone.

The cylinder closes around me and I'm being lifted into the arena. As I rise, I'm frozen in place.

Finally I can see the floor of the arena. The other tributes are circled around me, all in ready positions. In between us all is the Cornucopia. I've only seen this on TV before. Never lived it. Never dreamed of living it.

The floor is stone and everything is dark, except for a few candles lighting the room. The walls are circular and stone as well. Why are we in a room? Aren't the Games supposed to be outdoors?

"Ten, nine, eight..." I hear the automatic voice counting down. I look for Corvin but I can't find him in this dim light. "Five, four three..." A thousand thoughts flashing through my head. "Two, one..." A cannon fires from somewhere and everything is a blur. Children sprint off their pedestals and everyone is attacking the Cornucopia.

I jump off mine and head over to get some daggers. I spot some lying a bit far from the horn and I snatch them and a belt that I can keep in them before anyone can get to me. I run for the dark outline of a door to get out of the room.

When I get out, there's one long, dark hallway that I know could be my death trap. Once the other tributes run in here, they can throw spears and knives like there's no tomorrow. So I feel along the wall for a side tunnel or vent that I can crawl through. Finally I find a chink in the stone and pull it aside. I wrench away at the stuff until there's a small hole that I crawl through.

Luckily the hole wasn't solid wall and I take a passage into a room like the one I was just in, but huge stained glass windows showing pictures of animals and castles line one circular wall. Unfortunately no daylight comes in so there are more candles hung on the walls. I reach over to touch one and find that they are surrounded by a gentle force field that shocks me when I touch it. These will not be used as weapons even if you want them to.

I walk tentatively around the room on my hands and knees until I almost fall into a pit. Reaching my hands down, I feel for a bottom but don't find one. A deep rumble emanates from it and I decide to move on. I keep my daggers ready in my hand and continue to carefully navigate the strange labyrinth that we have been put in.

I find more cracks in the stone that all lead to different passages and rooms, and sometimes big, obvious openings that anyone could find. Eventually I find a room with a large orchard of golden trees that seem suitable for sleeping in. Even though they are metallic and smell strange, I remind myself that the Games won't be easy and convince myself to sleep in the top of one off to the side.

I stay there for hours waiting for night to come and soon I find a watch embedded into one of the arms of my suit. I squint trying to read the time in the dark shadows that crawl the walls, and suddenly a huge flash of light leaps out in front of me and the time is in a hologram that comes from the watch. seven thirty p.m. I lean my head back and use my hands as a pillow, and wait for eight to come.

After what seems like an eternity, I hear the anthem playing and see the faces of those who have died: a girl from Two, the boy from Five, the boy from Seven, and a girl from Nine. Four dead. Then anthem plays as I wonder how they could die so fast. I know that the boy from Eight had gotten a four in training, yet he is still alive.

I fall asleep traumatized.

This was our first night in the arena.

I am officially a tribute. I will kill people or be killed. There is no way to describe how it feels. I hold my daggers protectively, in case anyone pops up, but I doubt that because I took so many secret tunnels to get here.

Only one thing is for sure though: this will not be a peaceful night.