The Quarter Quell
Part I: The Voting

Chapter 3

Annabeth and I were escorted to the Justice Building where we would say our last goodbyes to our friends and families. I've never been to a place quite so elegant and neat. The velvet couches and chairs, the deep black carpets. There is only one window, but it's completely covered by the drapes and when I look outside I see two Peacekeepers standing next to it, guarding them so that no tribute would get out. The first ten years of having the Hunger Games, I've heard many stories of past tributes trying to find a way out, to escape their inevitable doom.

I sit down on one of the couches and look around the room. If it wasn't for all the nice, expensive furniture and the rest of the interior design, one wouldn't guess that this was a prison, and I was its captive. My breathing goes uneasy, as it started to hit me that in an hour or so I would be headed off to the Capitol, where I would meet the other lucky contenders of this years games.

The next hour, my family members come say their goodbyes and wish me luck on my journey to death. My parents were the first ones to say goodbye. I immediately start crying as I run to hug my mother and tell her how much I love her. She holds me and tells me that it was all going to be alright and that I will make her proud, and that I should think of her everyday and not become what they want us to become, a monster.

I look up at my father, his face rid of all emotion except sorrow. He knew as well as I that I wasn't going to get out of there alive. His blue eyes were pale and frozen, and I knew what he was thinking. He was losing his last child to an inhuman and dehumanizing show that was meant to be a form of entertainment. It's not my father's fault though, even though I could blame him for it, but it wasn't.

During the Dark Days he did his best to be a leader to the District of 12 and led the rebellions to fight against the Capitol. He never talks about it, he was punished enough when his first wife and first born, my half-brother, were killed after the war had ended. He would have been killed too, but they felt that killing their love ones would be the worst pain he could ever feel. And now, he was going to lose me too, and he had no choice but to let me go. Maybe that was why I was voted in, because of my father, because of him leading the rebels from this district.

My dad takes out a necklace, and I see that the pendant is a key, with the key blades that had the form of small daggers. I was always very good at using daggers; that was probably the only skill I had with weapons. My father had never worn it around here, but I saw in old photos that he once did, and he wore it during the Dark Days, but after the loss of it all, he never had it on again.

"Here," he handed the pendant to me. "This will remind you of your courage and stealth, and that you are the element of surprise."

I look at the old jewelry and couldn't help notice the beautiful material that it was made out of. My father could have sold this and gotten a lot of money because it looked like this was pure silver. I caught my dad's eyes and smiled.

"Thanks Dad," I say, "I'll make you proud."

"Just promise me, don't become into what the Capitol will make you. Don't be a piece of their game because you my son, have the wits and all the knowledge to get out of their alive." My father was serious now. Maybe he did have faith in me after all.

"I will Dad."

"And remember that this game will be more brutal and intense than any other games we have seen. The Quarter Quell was meant to be the deadliest games out of them all, and this being the first one, you are going to have to know the players and the board."

"What do you mean by that?"

"It means that you have to know your opponents and the arena itself. You have to show them what you got when the time is needed. You have the heart and mind, they may have brawn, but you can get through it all and come back to us."

I shake my head. My father once had to think like the Capitol did and he knows that this year's Hunger Games will be much tougher to beat. Will the odds be in my favor? Who knows, but either way I was going to find out.

"I love you, both of you!" I smile and hug them for what may be the last time.

When I let my parents go, the Peacekeeper told my parents they had to leave now. Once they both left, I put on the pendant around my neck and watched it dangling above my chest. I was going to take this as my token to have for the games. I tried so badly to stay strong, not cry my eyes out, but I couldn't help but to let go in between my goodbyes, and thinking of my mother and my father and how heartbroken they would be if the only thing that came back was my necklace. After seeing a few of my peers from school, I only had 5 minutes left, and the ones that came in were Posy, Gale and little Cullen.

"Klay, please make it back in one piece, please make it all the way!" I hear Cullen say as he rushed to give me a hug.

"I'll try my best," I respond, not wanting to lie and say that I will.

"Here, have these sweets," Posy says as she handed me a bag of what looked like green candy melts, which were my favorite when I was young, but couldn't have anymore because we were too poor to afford it. "It'll help you calm your nerves and you are going to need the sugar."

"Thanks Posy," I say as I take the bag from her and begin to embrace her. "Promise me to take care of Cullen, and visit my parents constantly."

"You know I will Klay!"

"And Gale, promise me you will look after her. Protect her until you die!"

Gale looks at me, shaking his head, agreeing to what I just said. It was all going to change after this games, not for me, but for my family, for Posy and Cullen. The possibility of me not coming back was 23-1.

I let go of Posy as the Peacekeeper came in to tell us time was up. I was to be ready to start heading over to the train station where a bunch of cameras would be there to film Annabeth and my departure from our home. I kiss Posy on the forehead, and hug her one last time, telling her that I loved her. I said one last goodbye to Cullen.

"Take care of your sis, k Cullen," I say and then they were gone.

The ride to the train station couldn't have been any shorter. Outside the car window I see cameras flashing, film rolling and reporters everywhere. I look at Annabeth and she is trying so hard to not begin crying again, so I take her hand. She looks at me, her brown eyes glistening an auburn color now. She is just as scared as I am. I give her a weak smile and then we both get out of the car and we are engulfed by the many reporters beginning to swarm around us.

It takes awhile before we actually get in the train, but when we do, we could see how majestic this train was. I've never seen anything like it before. This high-speed train was a beauty. The floors covered in red carpeting, chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, and the rooms were all clean and fancy looking. I felt like I was in one of those rich homes, but this one was portable. I chuckle at my distraction from, realizing that this train will be bringing me closer to my death.

Snow comes out from the next compartment and tells us that our rooms were located just a compartment away. The room was more like a chamber to me. There was a bed, and drawers and my own private bathroom. I guess the Capitol wasn't so cold after all. They at least try to flatter you and try to make you enjoy the last remaining weeks of your life.

The first thing I do is open the drawers to change out of this blue shirt, which had a stench of my sweat. I look at the variety of clothes and I pick out a simple green shirt, and a black vest, and some pants. The shower I took was probably the longest one I had, maybe an hour or so I stayed in there. I could have stayed longer but Snow knocked on my door saying that supper was in 10 minutes and that we were to meet in the dining compartment immediately.

I quickly rush out of the shower and change my clothing. When I leave my room I see Annabeth leaving hers as well. She was wearing a yellow sundress and made herself look pretty with a touch of makeup. The girl looks over at me and I could see that she must have been crying a bit more. She smiled at me, however, and walked towards me.

"Ready to eat," she says sweetly.

"Yea, I'm starving," I reply. "I haven't had anything to eat all day!"

I escorted Annabeth and myself to the dining area where we see our mentor Undersee and Snow sitting down at the table centered underneath the chandelier. We all eat the different courses they bring out to us and I'm the only one stuffing my face, tasting everything that came out to us.

"Slow down there kid, before you get a stomach ache!" Undersee says as he takes a piece of his bread and dips it with gravy.

"He hasn't eaten all day," Annabeth responds for me.

"Well Klaborn, you will have plenty more when we arrive at the Capitol, so don't eat too much," Snow says.

When the meal was over we all gathered in a different compartment where we watched the recap of the reapings from each district. We take a look at each kid who got voted in to be part of this year's Quarter Quell. The tributes from the career districts, which is 1, 2 and 4; made it look like it was a huge competition for them, wanting to win to become a tribute for their own homes. I see the ones from District 4 carefully, a blonde hair boy who was built and looked like he was a good swimmer, definitely had to watch out for him if there was water around; and the girl, tall and lean, she didn't look like a threat, but I knew better than to think that. I remember the victor of the games from 4 years ago, a small 14 year old girl from District 8, didn't look like a threat, but came out winning after hanging her victims upside down and feeding them to the mutts, or the muttations that the games has to make it more exciting for the Capitol to watch.

We watched as each district showed the winners, or at least that's what they say, of the tributes going in to represent their district. I was right when I said that each district would have the oldest of the bunch, but I was shocked to see that the male tribute from District 7 was but a little boy. He was probably 13 or 14, but still the youngest out of the bunch. We watched as the reaping from District 7 took place. Everyone wasn't shocked to hear the tallied vote of the female tribute, a 17-year-old girl, red hair flowing down to her shoulders. And then the vote for the male tribute was announced. People were in shock to hear the name of the little boy being announced the male tribute of their district. Parents were outraged, while the kids in the crowd had their head down. Apparently all the older males were important for they were lumberjacks, so the vote came down to one of the younger kids instead.

After going through Districts 8, 9, 10 and 11 we watched as they showed our district's votes being tallied an announced. They show Annabeth being called as the female tribute and then we watch as Snow announces that the male tribute vote was a tie and the big three had to vote for themselves who they thought was best for the Quarter Quell. I watch as the camera zooms into my face and to Gale's. Then we see Snow, the mayor and Undersee get back onstage to announce their vote, leaving Snow with the tiebreaker, declaring me as the tribute for this year's Hunger Games.

"Well, what an interesting reaping this year was," Snow says as he gets up to escort us back to our rooms. "This year we will definitely have a huge bloodbath and I cannot wait to watch how it all plays out."

Bloodbath, that is definitely going to happen, especially with the tributes this year. The majority of the males are built, the girls lean and seem like they were ready to kill anyone who came across their way. I look over at Annabeth, who looks back at me. We are probably two of the tributes that were probably considered the weakest from the rest, but like my dad said earlier today, I'll be the element of surprise.