"The saddest thing about betrayal is that it never comes from your enemies. It comes from friends and loved ones." -Anonymous

District Seven's Sami Lavisa's POV

With the amount of noise that had been going on outside my bed room, I just couldn't get to sleep. Sure it was noisier at times back home in District Seven when the mills and lumberjacks were working overtime during the busy production times. Those sounds were both louder, more intense, and ran all night long, but this was a different kind of noise. Instead of machines and tools disturbing my rest, the noise came from a person. A person that had been yelling, swearing, threatening, and utterly destroying everything in her path.

That person was my female mentor, Amber Littlewood. Always angry and always mean, she seemed to take pleasure in putting Bo and I down, saying that we didn't have what it took to get out of the arena alive. Said that the only things we were good for was making the arena that much more blood filled. Said that I was going to rely on Aerin and Angel too much, that I was just going to be a burden to them.

Sure I was a decent trap builder, but she told me that gathering food would only do so much. There would be a time where I would need to fight someone, to kill someone, wither I wanted to or not. She didn't think that I had it in me. She didn't think Bo had it in him either.

Going back to our reapings, she told us to take a look at ourselves, the scared boy and girl that had gotten reaped and were crying on stage, not uttering a word to each other. To say that I didn't make a good first impression would have been an understatement. And because we didn't talk back, she would always assume that she was right.

But she wasn't always right though. She was right in her own opinion, and some others might think that she was right as well, but I knew that she wasn't right when she said that I was going to be a burden to Aerin and Angel. I was going to be an asset, someone that could help them.

Just because she killed all the opposing tributes in the fifth quarter quell in a mere eighteen hours didn't mean that games couldn't go on for longer than that. Games can go on for days, weeks even. If gamemakers didn't interfere with the arena, I had a feeling that games could last well over a month.

Killing didn't mean everything. And when I found the courage to tell Amber that, she merely laughed. She treated it as a joke, and from the way that she was looking at me with that laugh, I felt like a joke.

"Lookie here," She said with a smirk. "She can talk. And here I thought that she was just some carrot brained retard." To which then her smirk disappeared, and was replied with the cold look that she normally plastered on her face. "Now, what did you just say?" Her voice hard and rough, scaring me. "I just thought I heard you say something really stupid. Repeat that. Please."

I didn't want to, but seeing Aerin stand up to Griffin, as well as talking to the rest of them, I didn't want to stay silent, like I had done for most of my life.

I was nervous around people, but at the same time, it was also a choice not to talk to people. I had to help take care of my siblings and sick mother. Dad was busy working out in the fields so often that we hardly ever saw him. And when we did get to see him, he was usually too tired to even do anything with us. I knew that he needed his rest though, so I didn't bother him.

Mom said that I should try and make some friends, but I'm not good around people, and the only people that I seem to be around are adults anyway, and most of them don't want anything to do with a teenage girl. Well, nothing in terms of friendship anyway.

So I did the work that was asked of me, which was making paper in the paper mill. It wasn't a comfortable job, but it was a job neither the less.

Now looking at Amber's challenging eyes, and thinking of how Aerin had done the same to Griffin, and how I had helped Aerin out despite my fear, I decided to speak up.

"I'm not useless." I told my female mentor. "Because killing doesn't mean everything."

"Don't give me that shit!" She shouted at me, causing me to jump back with fright. "If you can't fight, than you're nothing but a burden! A body just waiting to die! Just you wait. When your precious allies die, you'll be dead soon, because nobody will be there to do the dirty work for you. You have to learn the harsh reality girl!"

"Do you have any friends?" I asked unexpectedly. It was sudden, and it surprised me. I didn't mean to ask that, didn't even think about it. I was scared of her, I knew that she was violent and that one wrong thing could grant me death. She may have been shorter than me, but she looked so much meaner, and stronger. But I said it anyway.

"What?" She asked, both angry and confused.

"Do you have any friends?" I repeated, thinking of how Aerin, Angel, and I were a team. We helped each other, and how we weren't going into the arena alone. "People that can help pick you up when you're down?"

Then before I could even form another thought, a fist smashed against the wall to my left. I didn't need to look over to know that Amber had her fist in the wall, literally.

With fear overcoming my body and mind, I ran from her, not wanting to get hit by her.

"That's right bitch! Run away! Coward! Useless cunt!"

Later that night, I could hear Amber trying to get Bo to fight her, only for the noise to suddenly stop. And though the noise was gone, the sound of Amber's violence continued to haunt my thoughts.

I wondered if it would be like this in the arena. Having someone like her, like Griffin, come after us because of something that we did. The thought of how strong, violent Griffin roaming the arena searching for my allies and I caused me to think of just how much danger we were in. It was bad enough that we were going to go into the arena, but we had unintentially painted a target on our backs. Even if the rest of the careers ignored us, Griffin was one of, if not the deadliest career this year.

I couldn't sleep. Not with the thought of danger hanging over me. And also, because Amber was right. I could help Aerin and Angel with foliage, but what it we needed to fight. I couldn't just stand around and let them get brutalized, I'd need to help them. Kill if necessary.

This wasn't going to be like back home, where people generally left me alone. This was life or death. I couldn't be a burden, just like how I couldn't be a burden to my family.

A couple of gentle knocks occurred at my door. So gentle that I almost didn't hear them.

"Sami." A male voice gently called out. "You still awake?"

"Yeah." I answered.

"Can I come in?" The voice asked.

"Sure." I told him. I got up and unlocked the door, allowing my male mentor, Barker Fabian, to come into my room.

"Can't sleep?" He asked as I closed my door.

"Not really." I told him, thinking of home and Amber and my allies and Griffin.

"Thought so." He sighed. I turned towards him, and noticed that he had something in his hands. A clear glass filled with a bright yellow and bold orange liquid. "The noise that Amber was making, I don't think anyone but myself and our escort can sleep through her rampages." I nodded, thinking of how those two were the ones that would always have to put up with her. At least, until either he or Amber stopped mentoring and our escort got promoted or demoted. "Anyway, I'm sorry that she's still causing you stress."

"It's all right." I told him, even though I thought that what she did was unnecessary.

"No." He said. "It's not okay. Amber should be acting like a proper mentor, but really, she can't, because violence is all she knows."

"Rough family?" I asked, thinking about how some people are shaped by their environments.

"Amber's parents were some of the kindest people that I had ever met." Barker answered. "It's not anyone's fault that Amber turned out the way she did, it's her own, and even then that's not entirely true. There's something wrong with her, she's unstable and not right in the head." I nodded, having thought about that more than once. I mean, how could someone like her be right?

A moment of pause came before my mentor continued. "Anyway, the reason I'm here." He then cleared his throat before walking over to my bed stand and placing the clear liquid on it. "That's to help you sleep." He explained. "Its tea with a sleep remedy in it. You're going to need your rest for tomorrow. I gave one to Bo as well."

"Thanks." I told him, thankful that he was thinking of us tributes. He was a lot kinder than Amber. He actually seemed to try and help us.

He nodded before he walked back to the door, opened it, and turned back to me.

"By the way. I think Amber's wrong about you being a burden to your allies. Your smart and your caring and I think you're all lucky to have each other. I like them. They got you to open up." With that being said, he closed the door. I locked it behind me, just in case Amber resumed whatever she had been doing before.

Going over to Barker's gift, I drank the tea, it was sweet tasting and it was hot enough to be enjoyed, but cold enough that it didn't burn my tongue, and laid in my bed, thinking of what he said about me opening up.

Yeah. I guess I had. It started with Angel, then moved on to Aerin. And while I was still uncomfortable around people, I was talking more than I had been before. Especially with my allies. They encouraged me to speak up, and weren't harsh on me either. Didn't force me to do or say anything, letting me go at my own pace.

They were good people, and I'm glad that they're my allies. I can't think of any other kids I'd want to go into the arena with.

With this feeling of calm washing over me, I closed my eyes, and let myself slip into the pleasant darkness.

My head hurt. That was the first thought that I had when I came to.

I don't remember my head ever hurting when I wake up. What happened?

I then remembered that stuff that Barker had given me. Sleep aid he had said it was. Sweet tea with a sleep remedy in it. It did help me sleep, I remember that much, but was it supposed to give me a headache? I remembered having sleep remedy before. It didn't work as fast as the one I had been given back in the Capitol, but it had never made my head hurt either.

My eyes were closed, and really, I didn't want to open them. They were heavy and my eyes seemed dry. I was still a little tired, but I knew that I wasn't going to be sleeping anymore. It was a strange sensation. Feeling tired but at the same time, not.

I moved my body around, wanting to roll into a more comfortable position, but I quickly found that I couldn't. My arms refused to move, and so did my legs. I then began to feel something cold and hard pressing against my chest, just below my breasts. Curiosity took over as thoughts entered my head. What were those things? Why were they hard and cold?

Opening my eyes a crack, I tried to look at my surroundings. It wasn't much, as it was blurry and oval like. I forced them open some more, despite the protests of my eyes, and found the world a little more clearer and bigger.

I could see a metal floor, clean and metallic grey. Though it was less dressed up and fancy than the Capitol rooms I had seen on my way to the Capitol, I knew where I was now. I was on a train. But what was I doing on a train? Hadn't I been in bed in the Capitol before I had fallen asleep?

Now I was confused. Just what was going on here?

I looked up, to see that in front of me was my district partner, Bo Heatherfield, sitting in a metal chair that was holding him up due to a circular band wrapped around his chest that was connected to the wall behind him. His head was slumped forward, and I think the only reason his head wasn't on his legs was because of that band. Also attached to him were metal bands that were wrapped around his wrists, arms, ankles, and knees.

Beside to his right was Ricky Coler. To his left was Dav Anders. All of them had the same restrains on them and all were unaware of what was happening. I looked to my right and saw Ember Varen, to my left was Rayne Page, their heads also tilted.

We were in row by our district numbers. One through twelve, boys in one row, girls in the other.

Were they bringing us some place?

"So you know what you have to do, right?" A voice to my left asked, causing my head to snap in that direction. There, I saw a girl with long, dirty blond hair, standing at the now open door at the end of the train car. Her back was turned away from me, and she hadn't seen that I was awake. Not wanting her to see that I was awake, I quickly closed my eyes and relaxed my neck, hoping that I looked asleep. "Is everything in place?"

"Yes." I heard an older man's voice say. "I'm going to give those kids that damn orientation, along with Joesiah, traumatizing them before they even get into the arena, and then I'm going to take off, and you'll leave my family alone."

"That about sums it up, yeah." The girl, much younger than him, around our age by the sounds of it, stated. "Your tool will be where I told you it'll be, and you will use it correctly, otherwise the deal's off."

"I can't believe I'm going to do this." The man sighed.

"You could always back off, get your family's life ruined, kill your little girl, it makes no difference to me. I could do this myself, but its better that you do it."

"You know you won't get away with this, right?" The man challenged.

"Yes I will," The girl arrogantly told him. "I've already got a cover story all made up. Rebel supporter, attempting to get a civilian uprising, trust me, that's all they'll need to know to believe me. Hurricane is already in the palm of my hand, so that's one more way they'll believe me. And even if they don't buy the story, they don't know what I look like, so how will they ever find me? How will they ever prove that any of this ever happened? How can they say that what I say is a lie?"

"Bitch." The man spat.

"Just do your job and everything will be all right." She said before the sound of a door shutting occurred. "Now then," She sighed. "Let's make sure the finishing touches are ready for you little children."

I couldn't help but wonder what was going on. What was that man talking about? Why was his family in danger? What was this orientation that they were talking about? What did a District Ten victor have to do with this? What was she going to do with us? Who are they?

I kept on trying to figure those questions out, when suddenly, I felt a sharp, burning pain spear through the right part of my neck, causing me to shout in pain. "The hell?" The girl said in an almost shocked voice. I opened my eyes to see that it was a girl with long, dirty blonde hair, around my age, in a full male suit. Tie and dress shirt included.

A thick syringe was in her hand, and there was a pulsing pain in the side right of my neck. What did she put in me? "How long were you awake?" She snarled harshly, grabbing my neck with her free hand, her grip so strong that it felt as if she was crushing the bones in my neck. "How much did you hear?"

I tried to speak, but with her hand strength, the lack of air, and the amount of fear I was experiencing, I couldn't speak to save my life. The way she looked at me terrified me as well, she didn't look like she was in a good mood and her eyes seemed to be soulless. So faded blue they almost looked grey.

I gasped and tried to utter something, anything, but nothing would come out. Then just as quickly as it started, she released, allowing me to suck in the sweet sweet air again. "Guess it doesn't matter." I heard her say before everything went black.

"Sami." A voice calls out. It's distorted and sounds far away. It sounded male. Jhono? Is that you?

Ugh. Did I fall asleep again? "Sami?" The voice called again, this time, it was only slightly less messed up and a little bit closer.

There was an intense pain in the left side of my left side of my face. Did I fall down? I don't remember falling, or being tired. What happened?

I then thought of what had been going through my mind earlier. Hunger Games. The arena. A nightmare. I had been having a nightmare. I had gotten reaped for the games, and I was probably going to the arena.

Well, I'm glad that it's only a dream. I don't remember why I'm so tired, but I guess taking care of you and Gracie just took its toll on me again. How's mom doing? Has dad come home yet? What time is it? "Sami?" The voice called out again. Why do you sound so weird Jhono? "Sami!" A familiar voice shouted out. I recognized that voice with horror, and hearing that guy's voice made my eyes snap open as I gasped out in shock.

With my eyes open, I was looking at Aerin Sevani, one of my allies for the Hunger Games. Realizing that this all wasn't a dream, I looked around, and recognized the other tributes that were room that Aerin and I were also in. Everyone seemed to be just waking up. Groaning and talking lightly.

Looking at the room, I found that it was a large circular black room, bigger than my house, that was brightly lit. At the walls of the room, set in equal length apart, were clear silver tubes that looked big enough to fit a person. I knew where we were now, the launch room. The room that tributes get sent to before they enter the arena.

But I thought that it was just the tribute and their stylist that went into that room, not all the tributes at once. What was going on? This wasn't supposed to happen. There were supposed to be separate launch rooms, not one whole one. "Sami," I heard Aerin say again, causing me to turn towards him, again. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah." I told him, though whatever hope I had been feeling earlier had been shattered. "Why?"

"It's just that," He started, paused for a second, then continued. "You've got this big bruise on the side of your face."

"What?" I asked, confused, until I remembered that the left side of my face was indeed hurting. I reached up to touch it, and it stung just feeling it.

"What happened?" Aerin asked, concerned about me. I wish I knew what had happened.

"I don't k-"

The sharp, loud cracks of gunshots echoed throughout the room, causing several gasps and little screams of fright to occur, along with Aerin to quickly grab me and hold me tight, like he was trying to protect me. For some reason, that only scared me more.

"Are you all awake?" Another familiar voice yelled out. It was that voice from the train, the man that had been talking with that girl before I had blacked out. Aerin's grip relaxed a little, and I allowed myself to look over his shoulder, seeing a man that was in horrible shape.

He wore a simple t-shirt and pants, but those didn't hide the damage that had been done to his face and other areas. His was a mess with black and purple swelling covering nearly half his face. Pieces of scalp were missing from his head, and there were pieces of his face that were crudely stitched back together. The same type of bruising cascaded down both his arms. In his left hand was a handgun, his right hand and fingers looked crushed and mangled beyond repair without Capitol surgery.

Tortured. This man had been tortured.

Beside him was another familiar face, the District Ten victor, Joesiah Herzig, also a mess, but in a different kind of way.

Nearly sixty years old, winner of the ninety eighth Hunger Games, this man had won by pretending to be a tree. Eventually, he began to act just like one. He let nature take its course on him. Hair like a rat's nest with a beard of the same description, dirty, and unmoving, his looked like he was dead of everything. Emotion, feeling, even life itself. How anyone could have gotten into that state I have no idea.

The injured man with the gun scanned the room before he continued. "Good. Now we can begin this fucking orientation."

That word. Orientation. Him and that girl had been discussing that while I was awake. Now I was finally going to see what it was. I didn't like this, not one bit. I had a bad feeling about this.

Looking around the room, there was a mixture of confusion and fear among the tributes.

Some were just confused, like Griffin and Lucifer. Some were more fearful, like Bo and Life.

"What's going on here?" Someone shouted. I, along with everyone else, looked in the direction of where the voice had came from, and found that Rayne Page was the one that asked the question that was on everyone's mind. "Who are you? Why are you here?"

Everyone turned back to the man, waiting for answers. All he did was sigh before talking again.

"Who I am isn't important, all you need to know is that I'm here how to teach you how to play the Hunger Games before releasing you into the arena."

As Aerin turned away from me, another voice sounded out.

"We all know how to play the games," The voice of Howl Draconix told him. "And if someone here doesn't, well, then they're the biggest retard in the world."

That was true, everyone knew how to play the Hunger Games. Go into the arena and survive until only one if left. Live or die, almost as simple as that. Gamemakers can change the circumstances.

Even though there are technically no rules in the arena, you do something that the Capitol doesn't like, they'll screw you over.

"This year is different." The man explained. I couldn't help but notice that some of his teeth were missing. "This year will be more...Natural. Meaning that there'll be less interference from the Capitol. Yes, there will still be mutts and there will still be traps, but the rules have changed as well." That seemed to peak everyone attention. Mine included. "As you all know, there are unspoken rules in the arena. Well those unspoken rules can now be broken, you can do anything, and everything in the arena. No holding back, everything is allowed."

Nobody seemed to respond. But as I looked around, I could see two individuals that were smiling. One was the white haired, red eyed tribute, Alexander Natas. The other was the hulking figure of Tharizdun. Both seemed more than pleased to hear that little bit of news.

"You hear that bitches!" Alexander shouted gleefully. "Everything's allowed, get prepared t-" BAM! A gunshot rang through the air an instant after a hole appeared inches away from Alexander's feet. Alexander jumped back just after the gunshot occurred, along with several other tributes.

"If you don't have a fucking question," The man shouted with irritation. "Don't fucking speak!"

Silence surrounded the room before Alexander broke the silence again.

"You can't kill us!" He countered, pointing to the gunman. "We're tributes, you can't kill us before we enter the arena."

"No." The man stated calmly. "But when you get into the arena, all bets are off."

"So I could kill you right here and now?" The deep voice of Tharizdun asked with joy.

"Try it and find you'll find your heart exploding within your chest." All of us looked confused as he spoke that. What did he mean by that? How could that happen? "I see you're all confused. Well, let's just say you were injected with a device that dug its way to your heart, and will detonate at the press of a button."

I reached up to the side of my neck, remembering the pain of the syringe that the girl had poked me with.

"You're lying." Dav Anders accused.

"You willing to try it?" The man asked. Nobody responded.

"He's not lying." I whispered to Aerin. "We really do have things in ou-"

"Got something to say ?" The gunman loudly asked. I heard myself squeak with fear the second he spoke.

"No." I heard myself say in a quick, high pitched squeal.

"Then shush," He harshly told me. "We're on a schedule, and it's best to not keep the Capitol waiting." He then looked towards the District Ten victor with a look that I could only think of as pity, and sighed. The District Ten mentor had not responded in any way throughout this event. "The Capitol wants you to know what you're fighting against. What you're fighting for."

Then without any warning, I saw the man point the handgun towards Joesiah Herzig before a loud pop occurred, and a thick mess of blood, bone, and brain sprayed out of the victor's head.

I could hear the screams of several tributes around me, myself included, sound out before the body even hit the floor with a wet crack, further spilling the grotesque contents to the floor.

While I don't think that anyone in this room really had any strong feelings for Joesiah Herzig, I don't think that he deserved to be executed like that. The way that that man had acted was calm, like the victor meant nothing to him. That taking a life was nothing more than chopping a piece of wood.

And while I didn't have any strong feelings for the victor, a life was still a life, and how easily it had been taken away just now... God.

I reached out and clutched onto Aerin's shoulders, finding support with him as I felt my eyes start to burn as I felt something turning around in my stomach, threatening to rise up to my mouth. Feeling a little faint didn't help either.

I could hear the sobs of some of the other tributes in the room, some giving out little gasps, still in shock. I couldn't blame them, I was feeling sick and faint. The only reason I wasn't falling over was because I was using Aerin as support.

"That's how much your lives are worth to the Capitol." The man barked at us. "So make the most of it, and maybe you'll make it out alive."

As tears built up in my eyes, I thought of how peacekeepers had killed back in our district. I had seen them do it, but back then, I knew that as long as I obeyed the law, I was going to live. But now, I could die just as easily as they had.

With sickening realization, I felt the stuff in my chest rise up before I felt the acidic burn of vomit course through my mouth. I felt Aerin's body move away from me as my hands loosened from his shoulders, but I quickly felt something grab on to me gently.

"It's okay Sami," He said, rubbing the back of my head as other tributes vomited as well. "It's okay." It made me feel better, but at the same time, not really.

District Eight's Lawrence Varen's POV

This was a sick orientation. That much was obvious.

Here I was, forcing kids to witness a murder right in front of their eyes before they were sent into the arena, and right in front of my daughter no less. She was on her knees, vomiting right on the floor, no doubt wondering who I was, who I had turned into.

I didn't want this. I didn't want this at all. But with what was a stake, what could I do? President Frost had me in her hands. I couldn't go back and shoot her, no, that would have been too easy. And besides, there would be consequences for trying such a thing. Instead, I was stuck here, making my daughter believe that I was a monster. A complete and utter monster.

Frost wanted me to kill Joesiah for two reasons. One, he was seen as a useless piece of work, a burden, someone that needed to be ridded of. Second, to try and get the tributes to fight harder, for them to remember that their lives were at stake. Sure they had already known that, but I was here to pound it into them that they die as easily as him. Frost wanted them to see the value of life, motivate them to fight, to survive.

I don't know if she wanted a quicker game, but I do know that she wanted them to be more willing to survive. And as she said, she wanted to open their eyes if they weren't open already.

Looking at the scattered reactions of the kids, I could see them all thinking differently. Tharizdun and Alexander looking at the corpse with disturbing interest. Griffin, Lucifer, and Howl looking calm and only the littlest bit fazed. Shoney, Eva, Lynsa and Arrowe looking less calm and more shocked, but still relatively fine considering the circumstances. Life, Aerin, Angel, and Eve looked shocked, but not surprised, like they were used to this kind of thing, and probably were because of where they were from. Meanwhile, everyone else either tearing up, vomiting, or both. The degree varied from person to person, with Nessa being the worst and Rayne being the one that was handling it the best.

Some of those crying were whispering to themselves, others were silent. Some got support from others. I could see Max next to Nessa, Life and Rayne together, Aerin and Angel and Sami holding on to each other. I honestly wanted to go over and hug my daughter, my December, and tell her that this wasn't what it looked liked. But I couldn't. It wasn't fair. I had made one mistake. One mistake of trying to help. Fuck.

I fought back tears as I raised the handgun and the air and fired a couple of shots into the air, knowing that time was running out. It got their attention.

"All of you, get up! Get the fuck up!" I fired another shot in the air, and soon, they were all running. Most of them scattered like rats, but the alliances stuck together. "Get to the right launch pads!" I yelled, firing off another shot next to the District Eleven alliance, breaking them apart. "They're marked for your convenience!"

Most of them continued to run around blindly, but after some of the more rational ones started to guide them and they started to calm down ever so slightly, they began to find the tubes they were supposed to enter.

Even though I didn't want to, I ran up to Tharizdun, hitting him hard in the back with the butt of my weapon. "Hey shit face!" I shouted to him. He turned around and faced me before I threw something at him.

He caught it swiftly with his right hand, looked at it, and I could see that he reconized it. It took a little time, but his smile eventually came to him. "From the president herself." I told him before walking away.

That thing that I had given him was a necklace. It was his token before we had taken it away from him back during the train ride. Why? Because it was made of human finger bones. Not only could it be used as a weapon in the arena, but it wasn't something that was deemed inapproprate at the time. I mean, who wanted to see someone wearing human remains as a kind of trophy? So it was contraband material until now.

I looked around, finding that everything was going as well as it should have. At least one thing was going right. But then I set eyes on my daughter. She hadn't moved from her spot, and she was looking at me with a look that was mixed with shock, betrayal, and denial. The look in her eyes wanted me to tell her that this wasn't real. It broke my heart. It made me feel sick and want to puke.

Pointing the weapon at her with shaking hands, I barked a command at her. "Move!" Fired a shot, missing her, and she quickly leaped up and moved. I'm sorry December. I really am.

I looked around, and saw that nearly all the tributes were in their tubes, my daughter being the odd one out, but she quickly fell into place. Thank ancestors for that, I didn't want to know what would happen if she didn't.

Seconds passed, but it seemed like an eternity when the pods finally closed. They were going into the arena.

I don't know what they'll face, or what Frost has planned for them, but I do know is that with that bastard Tharizdun inside... December.

I grunted heavily at the thought. I didn't want her to become like those kids back in that basement back in District Three. I didn't really want any of those kids to become like that. But what could I do to stop it?

My daughter continued to look at me through the clear tube, and I continued to look at her. Her eyes, I didn't want to look at her eyes, but I continued to do so anyway. I... Ugh.

Stop looking at me. Please. Just... Stop looking at me December. This shouldn't be the way that we depart from each other, not like this. This isn't a side of me that you should see. Instead, I should be holding you lovingly, telling you how much you've grown and asking if you've been taking care of your mother and sister. Asking if there's still some of the child that I left all those years ago, or if you've changed. I should be doing many things with you, and shooting at you, swearing at you, killing people in front of you, and sending you into the arena this way was not any of those things.

Their launch pads then began to slow move up, and they would soon be in the arena.

I guess this is goodbye baby. I wasn't a good father, and I'm sorry for that. I wish I could have been there with you growing up. Shit luck that we had to meet under these circumstances, huh.

As December continued to rise, I thought of her sister, June, and her mother, Janee. I loved them too, and I was doing this for them.

I never meant for any of this to happen. I just want what's best for them.

Sighing while wiping what little was leaking from my eyes with my arms, I knew what I had to do. Ancestors forgive me.

I'm sorry babies.

I pointed my weapon to my head.

I love you. All of you.

Is that December I hea-

A/N: Well, I would of liked to of gotten the bloodbath chapter done before this point in time, but, this is the best that I can do. Anyway, now I'm about to go on vacation, and while it's going to be three weeks long or something, I don't know if the month of January will be very merciful to me. So yeah, don't expect anything until February or something. Anything that I get out before then is pure luck.

Now, I shall post this, wait about a half hour, then start messaging some people.

By the way, check out the story's blog for character pictures. Blog link in my profile. Will probabaly update it on a later date with pictures of mentors. Warning: Tribute pictures might not be head canon in looks.

End of Part One: The Tributes.

Next up: Part Two: Just a Game.