I dashed into the Justice Building and through the double doors and to Elissa. She pulled me into a long hug.
"I'm so, so sorry," I whispered, tears running down my cheeks. "I was going to volunteer but I was too late."
"It's okay," Elissa said. "I saw you pushing through the crowd. I'm glad you didn't volunteer, though."
"What?" I pulled away from her and looked her in the eyes.
"I'm glad you don't have to go to the games," Elissa said. "Besides, I'm most likely going to be the oldest one in the arena, so maybe I'll win and come home."
"Please come home," I said. "I've already lost dad. I can't loose you, too."
"Don't worry," Elissa said, pulling me into another hug. "I'll be home before you know it."
I swallowed and wiped a tear from my cheek. I had to be strong. For Elissa.
"Time to go," a peacekeeper said, grabbing my arm and dragging me toward the door.
"Come home, Elissa!" I shouted to her as the peacekeepers dragged me away. "Come home!"
The peacekeepers shut the doors and motioned the other people in our family in, along with a few of Elissa's friends. Why they let me go in first, I don't know. All I wanted was for Elissa to survive the games.
The tribute parade started. All of the districts' tribute came on screen. And then the District 12 chariot came. Elissa and the boy tribute from our district were completely naked and covered in coal dust, the usual attire for District 12 tributes during the parade. Elissa didn't look happy at all, but at least she wasn't giving them any satisfaction.
Elissa got a training score of five. The closer it got to the games, the more doubtful I became of Elissa ever coming back home.
"So, tell me, Elissa," Caesar Flickerman said. "I take it you have family back home?"
"Yes," Elissa said, looking gorgeous in her black dress with jewels all over it. Her hair was curled and she had red lipstick on. "There's Becky, Lance, Manda, Melany, and my mom."
"Wow, quite a family you have there," Caesar said, not at all looking like he was wondering where are dad was.
"Yeah; it's pretty big," Elissa said, smiling.
"It is indeed," Caesar said, smiling back. "Now, tell me, are you going to change District 12's history of losing and win these games?"
"I will try," Elissa said, looking straight at the TV screen. It felt like she was looking straight at me, as if she was reassuring me that she would be coming home. "I will definitely try, Caesar."
The buzzer sounded, signalling that her interview was over. She would try to come home, and that's all I could ask her to do.
Elissa and all the other tributes stood on their pedestals, waiting for the countdown to reach zero. I looked at Elissa, who looked nervous but determined. The arena was a barren desert; nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, nowhere to get water. If anybody wanted to survive, they would have to go to the Cornucopia and get water supplies from there. It was a great idea on the gamemakers part; it forced all the tributes into the cornucopia to fight each other.
The countdown was coming to an end... 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. The tributes jumped off their pedestals, nearly all of them running toward the cornucopia... Elissa being one of them. She dashed to the cornucopia, grabbed a backpack and large jug of water, and took off blindly. There really was nowhere to go. She kept on running, though, and everybody was too busy at the bloodbath to chase her down.
Elissa had survived a week in the arena. There were only two tributes left; her, and the girl from 2. She was so close to winning. She would win. I stared at the screen as large hot rocks fell from the sky. Elissa dodged them quickly and ran straight forward. The gamemakers were pushing them together, of course. For the final battle that would decide the victor.
Elissa arrived at the cornucopia just as the District 2 girl did. They charged at each other. Elissa drew a knife that had been in her backpack and threw it at the District 2 girl. The D2 girl dodged it quickly and drew her knife. She and Elissa clashed and they fell to the ground, clawing and punching each other. Te D2 girl eventually pinned Elissa to the ground and drew her knife.
"Just you and me now, 12," she said. "Nobody to save you, nobody to help you."
No, I thought. Please don't.
"The final battle," the D2 girl started to say. "Has to be memorable, doesn't it?" She moved the knife just above Elissa's face. "Well, I'll make it memorable."
"No!" I shouted at the TV screen, tears already starting to run down my cheeks.
I wanted to look away from the TV so bad, but my eyes stayed glued to it. I wanted to block out Elissa's screams so bad, but I couldn't. By the time that Elissa had finally stopped screaming and her cannon sounded, she was torn to bits. My cheeks had tear stains and I was still crying. She had died in the worst way possible, and she was never coming home. My mom held me in her arms, weeping too. My sister was dead. She was never, ever coming back home. She was never, ever going to sing our special song again. She was never, ever going to say "it'll be okay" ever again.