Hello! I can't believe I have 4 reviews, 1 favourite and 3 follows already! WHOOO! I'm so sorry that it has taken so long for me to update I was on holiday at a relative's house and I wrote a few chapters in a notebook whilst I was there so updates should be every couple of days ( I hope!) I would like to answer all of my reviewers.
XxXClatoLoverXxX: Thank you so much for being the first person to review on this story! It meant a lot to me! :D
Guest: I'm so sorry that I took so long to update! I hope this chapter will be able to make up for the wait! :D
Alice Williams: I have a few twists and turns planned that will happen in future chapters, so I hope you will find them interesting! :D
PadfootCc: Thank you so much reading!
I don't own the hunger games! xxx
I got woken up by a piercing scream that was filled with fear. I shot out of bed and ran to Prim and Katniss's bed. They share a bed while I have my own. Primrose and Katniss are like sisters to me. Katniss woke up as I reached the bed.
"Prim! Come on sis! Wake up" I urged whilst gently shaking her arm.
She shot up and burst into tears. I think I know what she dreamed about. " Shhh. It's okay" Katniss soothed as she pulled her younger sister into a hug.
"It was just a dream" I spoke in a soothing tone. Prim moved from Katniss's arms and into mine. I kissed her hair.
"It was me" Prim cried. Damn the hunger games! I knew that was what Prim was dreaming about. Who wouldn't? Today is the reaping and it was Prim's first time.
"It won't be you sweetheart" I smoothed her hair down. " Yeah your names only in there once" Katniss added.
"Go to sleep" Katniss urged.
"I can't" Stupid games. Gives everyone nightmares. The fact that they send twelve year olds into the game is just plain sick. I still can't believe that the residents of the capitol actually like seeing children die.
"Can you sing to me?" She asked us. I smiled at her innocent question. Even on reaping day her innocence is still blatant.
Katniss and I exchanged looks and nodded.
Deep in the meadow, under the willow
A bed of grass, a soft green pillow
" You remember that song?" Katniss asked.
Prim nodded, looking more peaceful but I could still see the fear in her eyes. It makes me sad and angry at the capitol. Twelve year olds should not have to go through all of this. Katniss kissed prim's forehead.
"We've got to go" Katniss told prim.
Prim shot us confused looks " Where?"
"Don't worry flower we will be back soon" I said using my nickname for her. She then settled down and I tucked her in. Katniss and I waited until Prim fell asleep before we started to get ready.
I got dressed in a black top and ripped jeans. I had brown leather boots on my feet that were wearing with age. I had a old matching jacket to go with it. I then tied my waist length hair into a plat, to keep it out of my face while hunting. Katniss and I hunt in the woods nearby. I know. It's against the law. But how else are we supposed to feed our family? We can't let them starve to death ... like my mother.
Katniss and I started hunting when her father; Mr Everdeen, sadly died in a mining accident. He taught Katniss how to use a bow and arrow and he taught me how to throw knifes. According to Gale I have an accurate aim. I admit I'm not bad at throwing knifes but I think he is exaggerating a little bit. Katniss and I met Gale when we first ventured out into the woods. The reason he found us was because Katniss and I found one of his snares. He saw how close we where to his precious snares and accused us of trying to steal his game. We then explained that we were simply just admiring his work. Katniss and Gale then started arguing like a married couple and eventually we agreed to hunt together.
"You ready?" Katniss asked me. She was dressed identically to me. The only difference was that she was wearing her father's old hunting jacket.
"I was born ready Kat" Yep. I have a nickname for everyone ... even Gale.
She rolled her eyes and we made our way into the living room. Katniss grabbed our forge bag that was placed on the table. As we got to the door Prim's cat, Buttercup hissed at Katniss. I snickered and stroked Buttercup's yellow fur. He likes me. On the other hand he doesn't really like Katniss as she tried to drown him in a bucket. I know. Kat and I are struggling to feed our family and a cat is just another mouth to feed. We feed Buttercup the entrails from when we clean a kill.
"I'll still cook you" Katniss warned him as we walked out the door.
"Kat Cuppie won't like you if you keep on threatening him" I teased.
She rolled her eyes but smiled in amusement. " Must you have a nickname for everyone?"
I pretended to think " Yep" I popped the 'p'. She chuckled lightly. Katniss only laughs around gale, prim and I. It's a shame.
On our way to the woods we usually pass coal miners on their way to work. But today was a different matter. Today the black cinder streets are empty. On the day of the reaping nobody ever works. They might as well sleep in as the reaping isn't till two pm. As we passed the squat grey houses I noticed that the shutters are down. Katniss and I are probably the only people who are up and about.
Katniss and I only had to pass a few gates to reach a field that the people of the seam call the meadow. A few yards away from where we were stood was a high chain- link fence topped with barbed wire loops. The fence was meant to be electrified twenty four hours a day but we were lucky to get two or three hours of electricity in the evenings, it's usually safe to touch. Even so Katniss and I listened to see if there was a hum that meant the fence was alive.
After a few seconds of listening it was all clear. We walk along the fence until we come to a hole in it. I lay down on my stomach and crawl through the hole until I get to the other side. The woods. I patiently waited for Katniss to get through the fence and then we ventured further into the woods. After we were about 100 yards into the woods we came to the tree were we hid our weapons. Katniss grabbed her bow and arrows and I carefully took my throwing knifes and placed one in each of my boots and I held one in case some prey come my way.
After ten minutes of walking around Katniss and I found a deer close by. It was the first one we had seen in months. It would be a nice change from the usual wild dog. Katniss motioned for me to throw one of my knifes. As I got ready to throw it I heard a rustling in the bushes behind my sister and I. I shrugged it off and started to concentrate again.
" Boo!" A voice shouted from behind Katniss and I. I let out a squeal and dropped my knife. The deer's head snapped up and ran ahead.
"Gale!" Katniss shouted, looking pissed off.
"Why did you do that snares boy?!" I shouted. " You scared me and the poor deer!"
He gave me a warning look " Snares boy. Really Alex?" I nodded and he then eyed Katniss and I " What were you both going to do with a hundred pound deer?"
"Sell it. To the peace keepers" Katniss grumbled.
"You were going to sell it to peace keepers?"
I rolled my eyes. No. We were just going to kill it and leave it in the woods!
" Oh and you don't sell to peace keepers?" Katniss asked him.
"No. Not today! The hob will be crawling with peace keepers!" Gale argued.
Wow. I hate to side with snares boy but he is right. Some of the peace keepers that will be present at the reaping will be more strict than the ones that are usually here. " Kat. I really don't like admitting this but snares boy is correct" I said in a capitol voice. Katniss cracked a small smile and Gale chuckled.
" Look what I shot" Gale said. I shot him a questioning look as he pulled out a loaf of bread with an arrow stuck in it. I let out a delighted laugh. It looked like real bakery bread, not the flat, dense loaf's we make with our grain rations.
" Is it real?!" Katniss asked as she took the bread in her hands and she ripped it open and smelt it. " Yum. Still warm" She stated. I licked my lips.
"It better be real It cost me a squirrel. I think the old man was feeling a bit sentimental this morning" Gale explained. Normally it would cost more than a squirrel for bakery bread. " He even wished me luck"
" it's to be expected. We all feel a little closer today, don't we?" I asked. We all sat down on the dark green grass.
"Prim left us some cheese" Katniss said, pulling it out of our forge bag.
Gale's face brightened up. " What a treat! Tell Prim I said thank you" I nodded. I will. " We'll have a feast" He continued.
I crawled over to a nearby bush as I was too lazy to get up and walk towards the blackberry bush. I plucked a few and crawled back to them. I successfully got back to them without squashing the berries.
Gale took the blackberries from me. He suddenly spoke in a capitol voice " I almost forgot! Happy hunger games! And may the odds-" He threw a berry in a high arc and Kat caught it in her mouth " Be ever in your favour" We all finished in the capitol voice.
I took the bread from Katniss and I used my knife to cut the loaf equally into thirds. We then spread the berries and cheese between us and dug in. I almost let out a moan as the flavours of the warm bread, cheese and the berries combined. It tasted amazing. As I bit the berry the juices exploded in my mouth.
We sat in silence as we ate our delicious treat. The only sounds that could be heard was our munching. When we had all eaten we just sat there quietly. Gale spoke up "We could do it, you know" I shot Katniss a confused look.
" What?" She asked.
" Leave the district. Run off. Live in the woods. We could make it" Has the deliciousness of our meal got to his head? The peace keepers would catch us. Also if we took Prim with us she wouldn't last. I tried to teach her how to throw a knife at an animal once and she cried when my knife hurt the animal.
" But we have prim. And you have your family" I stated.
He nodded sadly. " We could if we never had so many kids" Miss Everdeen and Gale's mother is included in the term 'kids' as we feed their hunger mouths that are always asking for more. It's like were the adults and their the children.
" I never want to have kids" Katniss said bitterly.
" I might if the circumstances where different" I said calmly.
" Well there not" Katniss snapped. I rolled my eyes. She always gets this way when a topic like this gets brought up.
"Forget it" I sighed. Gale stayed quiet through Katniss and I's small argument.
" What do you want to do?" I asked them, attempting to get rid of the awkward silence that fell.
" Let's fish at the lake. We can leave our poles and gather in the woods. Get something nice tonight" Gale said. I nodded.
On the night of the reaping most families celebrate that their family has been spared and eat what we in district 12 consider ' a lot'. But two families will close their shutters and wonder how they will get through the weeks to come.
When we got the lake we started fishing. By the end I had caught two fish. I'm not the best fisher out of the three of us. Katniss caught four and Gale caught five. Snares boy is such a show off. To make up for my terrible fishing skills I gathered some strawberries from the patch that Katniss found a few years ago. Gale had the idea to string mesh nets around it to keep animals away from them.
" The reaping will be starting soon" I muttered.
" Let's go to the hob" Katniss suggested.
We nodded and headed out of the woods. The hob is the black market that operates in an abandoned warehouse that once held coal. Most businesses are closed by this time on reaping day, but the black market's still fairly busy. We easily trade six fish for bread and two other fish for salt. We then split the remaining fish between us. Katniss and I kept two and Gale had three, it was only fair as he caught the most fish.
Greasy Sae is the main person we sell to at the hob as she is the only one who will take wild dog off your hands. She then chops it up and puts it into her soup. She also disguises it as 'beef' so peace keepers won't catch on that Katniss, Gale and I are hunters.
On the way back home from the hob we headed to the mayor's house to sell half of the strawberries. He has a very fond of them and he is willing to pay our high prices for them. When we reached the Mayor's house I knocked on the door.
The door opened to reveal the Mayor's daughter, Madge. She is in Katniss and I's year at school. You'd think that with her being the Mayor's daughter that she'd be a snob, but really she is one of the nicest people you would ever meet. Sure she's a little shy but honestly I consider her a friend of mine. I glanced at what she was wearing.
Instead of her drab school outfit she was wearing an expensive white, lace dress and her hair was tied back by a pink ribbon. Her reaping outfit. She gave us a small smile but it didn't reach her eyes.
" Nice dress Madge" I complimented.
" Well, if I end up going to the Capitol, I want to look nice, don't I?" She said emotionlessly.
"You won't be going to the Capitol" Gale said coolly. I glanced at the badge that was on her chest. It was made from gold and it would be able to feed a family for months. " What can you have? Five entries? I had six entries when I was twelve" Gale ranted.
" Yeah, because it's totally her fault" Sarcasm dripped off every word I said.
"No, it's no one's fault. It's just the way things are" Gale said.
Madge wiped her face of any emotions and placed the money for the berries in my hands. " Good luck Alex" She nodded to Katniss and Gale.
"You too" I handed her the berries and the door closed.
Our walk back to the seam was quiet. I was a little angry that Snares boy directed his anger at Madge. How is it her fault that the hunger games has unfair rules? She was just lucky that she didn't have to take any tesserae, like the majority of us in District twelve. This year my name is in the girls bowl thirty times. I left some tesserae on the door steps of people who I knew were starving. I didn't want them have the same fate as my mother.
" See you in the square" Katniss says to Gale as we reach the door to our house.
" Wear something pretty" He say's to Katniss. Will they just kiss already?
He then turned to me " Good luck Alex"
I shot him a weak smile " You too, Snares boy" With that he walked in the direction of his house.
When Katniss and I went inside I saw Mrs Everdeen and Prim ready to go. Prim was in Katniss's old reaping outfit. It was a white blouse and a ruffled skirt. The blouse was too big on her and was being held in place by pins. Even with the pins in, the blouse still won't stay tucked in at the back. Katniss went and had a bath first.
" You look beautiful Flower!" I exclaimed.
" Thank you Alex" She said.
Prim started to bite her nails. " Hey, don't wreck them pretty nails" I scolded, gently removing her nails from her mouth.
" What if one of us get's picked" Her doe like eyes where full of fear.
"We won't" I whispered.
She gave me a hug " I love you Alexandria" I hugged her closer to my body.
" I love you too Primrose" I only call her, her full name when I'm being serious.
Suddenly Katniss came into the room, wearing one of her mother's old dresses. It was blue and flowed at the bottom. Her hair was done in a delicate bun.
"Gale will be drooling" She rolled her eyes playfully.
" Your bath's ready and your Mother's dress is laid out on your bed." I nodded and went into the room that I shared with my sisters.
Waiting for me was the tin bath tub full of warm water. I sighed and striped down and got in. I cleaned all dirt and sweat from my body. When I was clean I grabbed the towel and dried off. I then got into my mother's old dress. She wore it when she was my age. I slipped it on. The chest was made from denim ( that was slightly faded from age) And the skirt was made from a delicate white lace. I put a pair of white flats on my feet.
" Can I do your hair?" I spun around and saw Mrs Everdeen.
I smiled gently at her " Of course, thank you" I said.
She grabbed the old hair brush and ran it through my brown locks. When all of the knots were out she done half of my hair in a plat and when it got to the back of my head it changed into a pony tail.
"Thank you" I said when it had been done. She nodded and together we went back to Katniss and Prim.
When I entered the room Prim gasped. " You look amazing!" I pulled her into a hug.
" As do you Flower" I murmured.
Suddenly the warning bell went off. Prim froze in my arms and she let out a little whimper. I stroked one of her plat's in an act to sooth her. Katniss and I took one of her hands each and we all walked to the square to get signed in. Everyone has to attend the reaping otherwise the peace keepers will come knocking for you and punish you. The only time they let you stay home is if your at death's door.
As we got to the sign in Prim started to cry hysterically. " Does it hurt?" She asked through her sobs.
" Only a little bit" Katniss informed her sister.
" Sweetie I will hold your hand while it's happening" I soothed.
With that we let Katniss go before us. I watched as Katniss's finger got pricked and placed on top of a white page. The sign in book. Katniss then waited by the roped off area.
" Next" The peace keeper said.
Prim reluctantly passed her left hand over. With her free hand she had a tight grip on my hand. She gasped and winced slightly when her finger had been pricked and pressed against the page of the sign in book.
" Good girl. You were very brave" I praised.
Prim ran to where Katniss was stood. I quickly passed my hand to the peace keeper and they pricked my finger and I pressed it on the section that had my age group. On the Machine next to the peace keeper it said ' Alexandria Everdeen' I smirked. Not even the Capitol knew my secret.
I went to my sisters and hugged them both. " I love you both, good luck" My voice cracked. I've no idea what I will do if either of their names get reaped.
"Good luck" They whispered.
Katniss and I then escorted Prim to the back ( Where her age group was). Prim's cheeks where drained of all colour. " This will be over soon" I kissed her forehead and then Katniss and I made our way to the sixteen year old girl section. When Katniss and I get there we nod at the girls next to us. I took Katniss's hand in mine. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Gale looking at Katniss. I made kissy faces at him. In addition to this he blushed slightly and looked away.
I laughed lightly and the female's around me shot me questioning looks. I pointed to the front. They scowled and looked where I was pointing. That's right. They better look away from me. It's rude to stare at someone.
The mayor came onto the stage and started his speech " It is both a time for repentance and a time for thanks" It's the same speech every reaping.
He then started to read out the past victor's in district twelve. In seventy four years we have had only two so that didn't take long to read out. He then sit's down in one of the chairs on stage. The one next to him is meant for Haymitch Abernathy. Of course he is probably getting drunk somewhere.
Suddenly the escort for district twelve, Effie Trinket practically skips onto the stage. " Happy hunger games! And may the odds be ever in your favour" I was too busy staring at her bright pink wig. I Will never understand her fashion sense. To be honest I don't think I want to.
Haymitch then stumbles up the steps to the stage and hugs Effie. I burst out laughing. The crowed starts clapping and he only hugs Effie tighter. I snickered. Now that is funny. When she gets out of the hug she tries to fix her wig, which is now slightly off centre. Haymtich practically collapsed into the chair.
Effie then states how much of ' an honour it is to be here'. While every knows that she just wants to get boosted up to a better district. She then starts the video sent from the Capitol. It was about how the hunger games came to be. Let me tell you. It's the same video every damn year. I started mouthing the lines to the clip. The Capitol really need to change it.
When it was over I sighed. Thank god for that. " I just love that" Effie said enthusiastically. Well we don't.
" As usual, Lady's first!" She trotted towards the girls bowl.
I bit my lip and my grip on my sister's hand tightened. Thirty of them said ' Alexandria Everdeen'. I watched in suspense as her hand reached into the bowl and she picked out a slip. She then walked over to the microphone and read out what was on the small slip of paper.
" Primrose Everdeen"
From that moment my world started to crumble.
That's chapter two! Another reason why it took me forever to update was because I was making a cover picture ( I know it's not as good as most people's but I've only just started to make them :D) Please tell me what you think of this chapter! :D xxx