A/N: Hey guys! First of all I want to give a special thanks to two readers.
Thank you SimplyAbi for reviewing, and adding my story to your favorite and following!
Thank you MISSYOCELINHAWTHORNE123 for adding my story to your favorite and following!
Remember if you read my story I would love it if you reviewed. Any advice is welcome!
IMPORTANT!
I APOLOGIZE FOR THIS BUT I WILL BE SKIPPING THROUGH THE GAMES. I JUST FOUND THEM INCONVENIENT TO THE STORY AND HONESTLY I ATTEMPTED TO WRITE THEM AND THEY ARE VERY DIFFICULT TO WRITE. HOPEFULLY YOU UNDERSTAND. ALSO, PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS STORY TAKES PLACE TWO YEARS LATER THAN THE ORIGINAL HUNGER GAMES. SO MOST OF THE CHARACTERS WILL BE TWO YEARS OLDER THAN THEY WERE IN THE ORIGINAL. THE ONLY CHARACTER WHO'S AGE I HAVE NOT CHANGED IS CATO'S.
Enjoy! :)
Chapter Three
The Gamemakers forced us together with the mutts that looked an awful lot like the fallen tributes. I got to the Cornucopia before Cato did. When he jumped on the horn I had him beat instantly with my long range shot with my bow.
I aimed my arrow at his shoulder. I wasn't looking for the death blow. I couldn't do that. I pulled the string tight and then let it fly. The arrow hit its mark and Cato took a step back. His foot slipped off the edge of the Cornucopia and he went tumbling to the ground. The mutts were instantly on him and it wasn't long before I heard the sound of a cannon.
I won.
"Ladies and gentlemen. I give you the victor of the 76th annual Hunger Games. Katniss Everdeen the tribute from district twelve."
I then heard the rumbling of two hovercrafts. The first came and collected Cato's body. The other hovered over me and dropped a ladder down to my feet. I clutched to the ladder and the second both feet were on it, a force field held me in place.
I don't remember reaching the hovercraft. I lost conscious before I could reach the landing.
All I knew was darkness for the longest time. The only light I got was from the vivid and horrifying nightmares.
The first was of Rue. Poor innocent Rue, just barely fourteen and succumbed to the horror that is The Hunger Games. I keep picturing the spear disappearing into her stomach and me covering her with flowers. Eventually the nightmare turned into something unimaginable. Instead of Rue in the games with the spear in her stomach, it's my little sister Prim and then it's Gale, and my mother, and Hazelle, and each one of the kids, Rory, Vick, and then finally little Posy.
I finally jerk awake, screaming at the top of my lungs. I look around and I find that I'm in a hospital bed. I try to move but soon find that my wrists, ankles, and abdomen have been strapped to the bed.
The doctors enter my room a couple seconds later and they find me flaring about trying to get free.
"Let me go!" I screamed. "Let. Me. Go!"
The doctors try to calm me and when they fail one pulls a syringe from a drawer and grabs my IV. He plunges the plunger down into my IV and I again fall into darkness.
My fellow district partner, Peeta Mellark, was killed in the bloodbath the first day. I don't know how he was killed. I wasn't there when it happened. I found out when the names of The Fallen showed up in the sky that night. Everyone knew he didn't stand a chance. He was a merchant, eighteen like me. As soon as he was out of the reaping he was going to inherit his father's bakery. His two older brothers had married into other merchant families who owned businesses in town.
That's another thing I hated about the merchants. Their father's didn't get taken when the eldest child reached reaping age. It's only about money and your social class. If you're poor they take more things away from you to make you poorer. To make you suffer. The people in the Capitol believe that the poor are worthless, so they try to get rid of us in ways that they think is unnoticeable. But we notice.
Mine accidents happen frequently in district twelve. Almost too frequently. If the man survives, well let's just say the wives get a little excited that their husband lived, one thing leads to another and BAM! Baby on the way and the wife knows that in just twelve short years she going is to lose her husband anyway.
The dreams don't come this time and when I wake I find myself in the bedroom that I was kept in before the games. I sat up in the bed and searched the room for anything suspicious. To my left there was a side table and a piece of paper was the only thing that lie on it.
Katniss,
Come to the dining room for breakfast when you are ready. And for god's sake take a shower. You reek!
Haymitch
What an ass! I scan the paper again and find some writing at the bottom.
P.S. Honey this is Effie. Don't listen to Haymitch. You smell fine, dear. I promise.
She signed it with Effie and with hearts and little smiley faces. I roll my eyes and sigh.
I jump from the bed and walk over to the chest of drawers that contain my clothes. I pull a random top and some black pants out of the drawer and walk to the bathroom where I proceed to take a shower because apparently I "reek".
Later, after I am showered and dressed, I go to the dining room where Haymitch, Effie, and Cinna sit. Cinna stands and holds his arms out while approaching me. He folds me in his arms when he reaches me.
"I told you, Girl on Fire," he whispers in my ear. "I knew you could do it. Congratulations!"
"Thank you," I reply in a whisper. It's then that I realize that I can barely talk.
"How long have I been out?" I croak.
"About three days," Effie replies as she stands to hug me. "Oh my. I'm so proud of my little victor. So proud!" she gushes.
I pull away from her and turn to the table where Haymitch is pouring liquor into his mug. "Hello, Haymitch," I say.
He grunts in reply; slightly glancing up at me before returning to his beverage.
Effie pulls me to the table and snaps her fingers. Instantly, a man in a red uniform, an avox, places a large plate of food in front of me. I immediately dig in, just now realizing how hungry I am.
"Now!" Effie says a little too loudly. "Let's discuss what happens tonight."
"What's tonight?" I ask after swallowing a huge mouthful of food.
"Tonight is the victor interview. Caesar Flickerman will be interviewing you on your performance in the Hunger Games. Don't worry you won't have to talk much. You just have to answer a few questions about your family back at home and then you will sit on stage while they play a three hour recap of the games."
I sigh. It was going to be a long night.
Cinna dressed me in a beautiful strapless, knee length dress. It was green, which Cinna said complemented me very well.
Caesar didn't ask me many questions. Just the usual questions that he asked every new victor.
Did I miss my family? Of course!
How do you think they are reacting to your victory? Well, hopefully, they are excited.
The recap was a bit harder. Watching every single tribute get killed in their own way. Most of them were killed by the careers, I noticed. I also noticed that they cut out the part where I covered Rue in flowers.
I soon found out that Peeta died fighting against a career. Marvel, the male tribute from district one, and Peeta were in a hand to hand brawl at the very beginning of the games. Neither of them had weapons, just their hands. It was Marvel who came out in top when he slammed Peeta into the Cornucopia hitting his head and instantly killing him. And there it was, another debt that I would never be able to repay, the boy with the bread.
The recap ended with me shooting Cato in his shoulder and him falling to his death. The screen went black and the crowd went wild.
President Snow walked to my side then and I froze.
"Congratulations," he says in a low voice. He then places the gold crown in his hand on to my head. "You have made you district proud."
I am still frozen in place when he walks to the front of the stage and bows then walks backstage. Caesar bids everyone goodnight.
Sort of a filler chapter! Thanks. Review!
-Britt