Today is Victor's Birthday…
"Hey, Victor, I was thinking of volunteering this year." The words shock Victor so much he looks away from machine he was using to time his sprints. Jasper. What? How is that possible? Jasper, like Victor, is only 16! How can he possibly volunteer? As an answer, Jasper grins a strange, sort of lopsided smirk. "I figure it's now or never, you know?" He shrugs at Victor as though they've been friends forever and this is the most casual thing in the world. Not a Game to the death, which he is entering at a too young age, and talking to an enemy he, has had for more than 7 years. Victor stares at him. Is this some kind of sick joke? No matter the fact that Victor has always hated him. He's gonna die out there! But Jasper just grins again. "You don't know why I'm telling you this, do you?" Victor can't think of any other response other than to shake his head. "I just don't want to risk my chances of being eliminated. I'll try to volunteer right away, but if someone beets me to it, it's not the end of the world. There's next year and the year after. Look, I just want to say that I'm sorry for all the times I teased you when we were kids." And with that, he walks off. Where, Victor doesn't know. But the point is; he's gone.
"Amandine Sybil!" Victor feels the corner of his mouth turn up as he sees his sister walk onto the stage.
"Archery." She announces proudly. Of course. She has scored countless other bull's-eyes since the one last year. Now, she scores at least a few daily. It's beyond Victor how she can excel so much at something he was always so awful at. But yeah, he's proud. He remembers his time on that stage. And how sad he was that his family never seemed to notice. But he will congratulate Mandi. He gives himself a mental note not to forget. Then it hits him. Today Amandine will watch her first Games. Will she cry like Pearl did, so many years ago? As Victor tries to remember this day, the 13 year olds are called up. He looks up to find Emory on the stage. But the boy who is always smirking at the rest of the kids, like he knows something they don't, isn't there. Victor snaps his head around, looking everywhere in the sea of children. Suddenly, a large group of 14 year olds parts in some sort of circle around one boy. Emory. And he is mad.
"There must be some mistake!" I was called, I know it!" He shrieks.
Shimmer Angora looks over the podium with a mildly amused expression on her face. Yes, she has seen this before. And, even more to her amusement, a man who must be Emory's father, comes into the crowd and grabs his shrieking son's arm. And that is the last anyone at th4e Center sees of Mercury and Ivory Gleam, and their two children. A family of disappointment. So close, but yet so far. But Victor, who's only goal now is to achieve glory, is pleased. No one in the family will outshine him. Victor wants that honor and he will be willing to do anything to get it. And before he knows, it is time for the 16 year olds to get called. It is his time.
"Jasper Pinot"
"Champagne Lucian"
"Victor Sybil"
"Flint Colvin"
"Virdinia Hart"
That's it. It's just 5 names. But Victor's is one of them! He resists the urge to shout for joy on the way back to the house. Amandine, it seems has no such control. She is running ahead, laughing and tugging at Victor's hand. "I did it! I didn't think I'd do it, but I got in!" She laughs. But it's cut short. Their father's words cut through the air, sharp and cold, just like him.
"Of course you were going to get in Amandine. Don't say such things." He commands. From any other person, this would be a compliment. But their father does not praise. Even spoiled Amethyst, locked into her mother's hand, even though at 8 years old she really is too old in Victor's mind, can sense the tension. She whimpers and buries his head into her mother's skirt. Victor resists the urge to roll his eyes. Amandine never whimpered. Even Victor's cousin Glimmer, who is the same age as Amethyst, has never cried when she fell on the obstacle course at training. But his father continues on, as if nothing is happening. "You will continue this archery until you win the Games, you understand?" His father practically spits out the word "archery" and Victor knows why. In the Career districts, archery is considered a very weak weapon. Unlike swords or knives, if you miss by a fraction of an inch, it's no longer lethal, and in fact, barely slows someone down. Honestly, one arrow in your shoulder blade, quickly removed, never killed anyone. Besides, it doesn't make for a good battle scene and Careers are all about the show. So, archery has a bit of a bad rep. But if it can get someone home, then what must be done must be done.
Once home, victor throws on his Reaping clothes. It doesn't matter what he's wearing, but his mother would be angry if he wore anything less than his best. He still has a little bit of time left before he has to head to the Square, so he wanders aimlessly around the house. He's surprised how so many things have changed. In fact, he can barely remember the way to his sister's room. Her room is much the same as his. This, in District 1, is fairly odd. But Amandine is a Career girl and Career girls aren't supposed to be raised all frills and bows, though some mothers break the rules. She has the same wooden bed, the same simple wooden furniture, and even the same dull blue-gray color. The bright yellow, lacy dress she is zipping up is a sharp contrast. Although she is too young to go to the Square, one girl in her group has to go to say goodbye to her volunteering brother, so they have postponed the "Games watching" for a few hours. Of course, that girl likely doesn't know that her brother, 18 years old, may not be going at all. But this postponing allowed Mandi to come home. And since she is home, training clothes aren't allowed. Mandi looks at Victor's face, then at her dress, making a gagging noise. Victor smiles and nods his sympathies before wandering some more. He can't even remember what these rooms are. The door to one is opened a crack. Victor peers in. Lavender walls surround a gigantic bed with some kind of pink canopy draped over it. Elegant white and gold furniture fills the room, and a mirror is at every corner. Toys litter the floor, even a life-size pony toy. In the middle, Amethyst sits in a frilly purple dress, combing a doll's hair. She snaps her head up.
"Hey you aren't supposed to be here! I don't even know you!" She exclaims. The absurdity of the statement almost makes Victor laugh.
"I'm you brother." He articulates slowly.
"Nuh-uh, brothers live with you and you are never here."
With that, she slams the door in his face. And Victor lets her. Because she was absolutely right. It's time to go to the Square by now, so shouting his goodbyes to no one in particular, he takes off. Once again, children fill the streets, laughing and calling to each other. They are betting on whether those two 18 year olds will make it out. But Victor knows something they don't. He's not going to tell anyone though, even if Flint has just given him a small wave. No, they'll find out soon enough. While waiting in that hot, stuffy Square, Victor feels his mind wander. What would it be like if the Reaping was filmed, not in the colorful Main Square, but in the gray Square with the chipped and dirty fountain in the miner's section? But he pushes the thought to the back of his head. Well, that wouldn't look like District 1 at all! His attention goes to the stage as some 14 year old boy is picked. For a moment, the boy looks around with a bewildered expression on his face. "I volunteer!" The shout rings in the still air. Jasper has kept his word. When the escort calls for applause, it thunders out, just like usual. But everyone knows that something is wrong. Victor just wants to get out of there as soon as possible.
For some reason, he finds himself back at the training. Maybe his mind is trying to tell him that this is home. He wanders into the gym, now completely empty. A few more hours will go by before the Reaping Ball begins, so he has some time to himself before the crowds pour in. And now, also strangely, instead of simply grabbing a sword or some knives, he goes into the Viewing Room. His Games are drawing closer and it seems wise right now to watch a few tapes. So he hits the "play" button on one of the screens and loses himself in the 39th Games. And then the 40th. And then the 41st. And soon, he cannot stop watching. There is a "scene selection" on each, so they play out like a movie. At first, Victor only watches the Games section, usually just the bloodbath, any scene that mentions Careers, or the final battle. But sometime around the 43rd, he decides that he wants to learn more about the other districts, his competition. And he is shocked with what the screen shows.
Gone are the laughs, bets and cheers of his district. There are dreary faces matched by even more dreary landscapes. And no one besides 1, 2 and 4 volunteers, Instead, the first child, whose name Victor always thought was symbolic, is chosen. They are often 12 years old. No training and skin and bones. This is what replays again and again. The cameras show wailing mothers, fathers collapsed on the ground sobbing, and little brothers and sisters screaming. And then the deaths. So many small children, attacked by things, not even other tributes. A girl no more than 14 is stalked for nearly the whole 46th Games by a pack of wolves, until finally she gives up. Two boys are stranded in a raft in the middle of a lake, where small fish leap up and tear chunk after chunk out of their skin while the boys scream and scream. And then there is silence. A girl is impaled by a flock of bird's beaks while her lover looks at her, helpless. But most hauntingly, in a desert, a tiny 12 year old walked up to a snake. And offered it her arm. "I'm dead already," she told it.
Victor begins to shake. He never knew people actually shook. He slowly removes the tape and pulls himself to a standing position. So this is what he is up against. For years, instructors have told him that each and every one of these kids is an enemy. And yes, some of them are. Some will want to steal his glory. But there are some who know they won't get out. Some who, it seems, are dead already. As Victor makes his way out of the gymnasium, he makes a vow to himself. These kids will be left alone, at least by him. Because he knows that everyone deserves to die with at least some dignity. But yes, they will die. All except for Victor. That is his plan, as it always has been. He made a promise. It was made years ago, to someone so young who would never grow to be old. But it was a promise. And he intends on keeping it. As he walks out of the Center's doors, he sees a flyer. It's in the same place it has always been, year after year. The new flyer for this year's ball flutters in the breeze. But Victor pays it no mind.
He has stopped dancing a long time ago.