"It's time to begin, isn't it?" — Imagine Dragons, It's Time.

I'm in one of the rooms under the arena now with my stylist (sadly). I don't really want to be spending, potentially, some of the last moments of my life with a Capitol citizen, but what can I do?

'Darling, you look amazing,' he says in that absurd Capitol accent. 'Try to stay looking gorgeous, alright?'

I groan inwardly. Seriously?

'Of course.'

We're alerted that I have to get in my tube now, which at first I hesitate to do, but realise that standing here with this weirdo will just induce even more nerves. He's bound to say something that'll make me feel sick, or worse.

I stride towards the tube, trying to look confident, but inside I'm shaking really.

The acting doesn't end here, Absidee. It continues right up until you die.

'Remember your angle! Work it!' my stylist says encouragingly, and I hold back the temptation to spit something like 'This isn't a Capitol bloody catwalk, moron,' back at him.

Instead, I just make my way into the tube and face away from the muppet that is my stylist.

Thank god I'm not planning on winning, if I did then the Victory Tour would be a joy.

I begin to rise up.

This is it.

Will the arena be hell?

My worst nightmare?

Who knows.

Perhaps.

Most likely.

Definitely, I think as I come to a quick conclusion.

I rise up.

Up.

Up.

Then I stop.

The light blinds me.

Well, we're definitely not underground... yet.

We're in a green forest land, it all looks completely lush.

The horror rumours? Well it looks as though they were all false.

I look around myself. The Cornucopia is right ahead, and as usual, the best items further in.

With my alliance with the other Careers I should be able to get some good items, due to no risk of them killing me. But there are the other tributes.

The sly looking tributes from 3, an act?

Then there was the boy from 7, he looked pretty buff. I'd keep an eye out for them.

My eyes scouted for Finnegan, and I see him. Beside the girl tributes from 6 and 7.

I can see everyone, the tributes from 3 still have that unsettling look in their eyes, the tributes from 1 and 2, my allies, look determined as ever. Then 7's boy looks pretty p-ed.

Pretty murderous, too.

A shiver rushes down my spine as the boy from 7's head spins my way, and my eyes quickly avert to look ahead of myself.

10 seconds have passed since I arrived up here.

10.

What can I grab?

9.

What if the Careers turn against me?

8.

I wonder who could kill me.

7.

Whoever it is, I hope they make it a quick death, for my family's sake.

6.

Not likely.

5.

I'd give anything in the world to see them again though.

4.

Too late for that.

3.

I wonder how Finnegan feels.

2.

Oh god.

1.

The girl tribute from 12 steps off a second too early and gets blown to pieces.

I feel like throwing up.

My vision goes blurry.

Blood, bits of flesh everywhere.

It's disoriented me.

Perhaps an act of defiance?

Oh god.

Oh god.

Everyone's seen that.

The siren sounds out.

The Games have begun.

I'm still in shock.

My brain tells my legs to move, but they disobey.

They stay still.

A few seconds later (or is it hours?) they decide to move, and I run to the Cornucopia, taking great care to stay as far as possible away from the tribute girl from 12's scattered remains.

Some of the others among us aren't displaced by her death at all, legging it towards the Cornucopia with a certain confidence in their strides.

The boy from 2 takes more time, I can see the complete and utter shock in his face.

The tributes from 1 and the girl from 2 are already hacking away at people with the weapons they've gained, and my eyes dart everywhere looking for Finnegan.

Is he safe, is he okay?

Yes, he's fine. He's running towards the Cornucopia to get supplies needed for survival, not weapons, which I slightly appreciate.

He's not one to rush to kill.

I'm still a bit wobbly as I grab a backpack and sling it over my shoulder, I know that if I see any killing up close I'll most likely vomit.

My eyes scan around me, trying to register more details about the arena.

I see a few large grates which could lead to elsewhere dotted around us, a good place to hide out perhaps.

Many head into the forest though, not the grates, as they seem extremely unknown.

The majority of the tributes have got out of the bloodbath alive, it seems, which is rather strange.

I grab more supplies and await the boom of the cannons to confirm my suspicions.

They begin. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Only 5 tributes dead? District 1 must be outraged. And so they are.

'What the heck?!' the girl from 1 shouts.

My mind tries to conjure up her name, I'm sure I learnt it in training...

Ruby.

Oh, I remember. I didn't learn it in training, but from when the scores were announced.

I can remember the others' names now.

The boy from 1; Jacob. The girl from 2; Thamilia and the boy from 2; Zamuel.

I stumble over to Finnegan, who is quite a way away from me, and I feel extremely peculiar.

Minutes ago, that girl from 12 was still inside herself.

It doesn't make much sense, really. She was still alive and breathing. She was inside her skin.

Not scattered on the ground of an arena.

Nausea consumes me and I nearly chuck up there and then, but I don't. That'll just make me seem weak to the sponsors and people watching. And to my allies.

I fiddle with the bracelet on my right arm, my token from my district, to calm myself. And thank god, it works.

I walk over to Finnegan, feeling better than before, but still not daring to look at the girl from 12's remains.

'Hey,' I say, not knowing quite what to say. I'm at a loss for words. 'Are you okay?'

'What a question to ask,' Finnegan smiles sadly at me. 'Come on, let's go.'

He puts his hand on my back and guides me toward the other Careers, who are discussing killing techniques, I think.

Well, at least 1 and Thamilia are. Zamuel is sat on a nearby rock, staring down at the ground.

Trying to get a grip on what just happened! I think.

He hasn't killed yet, I don't think. So Thamilia, Jacob and Ruby must've killed at least one each.

Tonight I'll see which districts the fallen are from. I wonder if 3 are still alive. I doubt 7 is dead, highly.

'Come on,' Thamilia says and gestures toward the grate. 'Let's see what's down there.'

We all follow her, not daring to do otherwise.

She stares into the grate. 'What's in there?' her district partner, Zamuel, asks.

'A short drop, then it seems to be tunnels,' she says.

'An underground system,' Ruby says with a glint in her eye. I feel extremely uneasy around her. 'How interesting.'

I turn to face the trees again, and I swear to god, I saw something glaring back at us. But a split second later it's gone. I try to forget about it, but it's etched in my mind.

We all jump into the hole, and begin our journey deeper into the tunnels, not forgetting to leave some kind of trace of our trail behind us.

Jacob had grabbed torches from the Cornucopia, so we had no trouble seeing, despite the lack of light underground.

We all journeyed back to the entrance of the system, a wide space with a small window of light from the grate, and also near to the Cornucopia.

It was a good spot.

Almost too good.

I can clearly hear the petrified scream of one of the other tributes as they die.

'No, Sandy, stop! Please don't hurt me!' They cry.

Sandy? Do they know this person? Is it another one of the tributes? I don't know.

It seems a bit too early to end an alliance, only half an hour into the Games?

How strange.

Their voice is stuck in my head on repeat, someone's last words.

I can't help but wonder if their death had anything to do with the figure I saw in the woods.

I have no idea. And I don't really want to know.