Chapter 3- Districts 1,2, and 4's Reapings
Disclaimer: I don not own The Hunger Games.
District 1
Jemima watched in horror as her older sister's eyes closed and the cannon sounded. She was dead. She was gone forever. She listened as her dad laughed a drunken laugh behind her. How could he be laughing when his eldest daughter was dead?! Jemima ran out of the room as tears filled her eyes and streamed down her cheeks. Her eyes were big and scared, just like her sister's had been when she had gotten stabbed in the back by her fellow district partner in the Bloodbath. Jemima ran to her baby sister's room and grabbed her out of her crib. The poor child didn't know what was happening and started to scream and cry as her older sister ran at full speed out of the dark blue house, slamming the door behind her. Jemima ran and ran 'till she could no longer. She fell to the ground in a heap of tears, blocking out the noise of Kit's cries beside her. Her body shook and she lied in the grass crying for hours unable to stop. Jemima decided she had to be strong to survive this sudden loss. Jemima thought that if she only had one sister left, she would do all she could to keep her safe. The first thing to do was to get her away from their father. She stood up and marched to the bank. Jemima knew it was dangerous, but she didn't care. She walked in tall and strong. She then withdrew $600 from her father's bank account. He was to drunk to notice anyway. She walked out of the bank and screamed as she saw her older sister's bloody body lying on the ground in front of her feet.
Jemima woke up screaming in terror. It took her a minute to figure out that it was only another nightmare. She got up and started to get ready for the Reaping.
10 Minutes Later
Jemima Fitch stared at her petite figure in the mirror of her small bedroom of her small house she shared only with her little sister. Her fair skin shone in the morning light. Her light red hair fell down her back softly. Her gray eyes looked sad as she looked over herself once more to be sure she looked acceptable. She had on a pair of jeans that were dark washed. She looked at her shirt. Jemima had put on a light blue shirt. She quickly changed it to a green blouse.
The blue one is too bright for a day like this, she thought to herself. She slipped on some black ballet flats and exited her room. The ceiling light flickered as she approached her little sister's room in their small house.
She lightly knocked out a tune on her sister's door,"Kit! Are you ready to go?" All Kit knew about the Reapings were that she had to go and listen to some lady with pink hair talk about how great the Capitol was. She knew a boy and a girl walked to the stage and exited into a big building. She didn't know that they went and fought to the death once they left on the big, metallic train that left the station every time each year.
Kit opened the door and padded out of the room in a purple dress that hung below her knees. Her red hair was in two pigtails with little pink ribbons tied into bows at the top. She smiled at her sister and grasped her hand gently. "Mimi! Let's go! I wanna see the pretty lady!" Kit skipped out the old wooden door, dragging Jemima behind.
Micah Sparrow walked down the cobblestone path of District One, heading towards the Reaping. He was going to volunteer. It was his year. He knew he could have waited another year, but he knew he could win this thing.
"Hey! Sparrow!" He heard his pathetic nickname being called behind him in a singsong voice. He whipped around ready to punch someone in the face. He saw a small little girl about the age of three pointing up at a brown, speckled bird in a tree. Her eyes were wide with wonder as she looked at the bird fly away. Whom Micah expected was her older sister, was grasping her hand tightly.
It would be a shame for her to be Reaped, he thought to himself.
He was almost to the square and he could see the glint reflecting off of the glass bowls that determined one's fate. Micah walked to the counter to get his blood taken with his shoulders square and his face determined. He showed no emotion as the needle pierced his skin. He walked to the front of the 17 year old section, his blue eyes glinting with mischief. Micah knew that to volunteer he would have to beat all of the 18 year old's that would try to beat him to the stage. He couldn't let them.
The pink haired lady walked on stage, her 7 inch heels clicking as she took small, careful steps. Her vibrant blue nails were shimmering in the morning light. She started with her monotonous speech and played the video everybody had memorized.
Titania's high pitched voice brought Micah out of his thoughts. " Well, ladies first!" she dipped her hand in the bowl, swirling it around at a annoyingly slow speed. She picked one from the middle and unfolded the slip, careful not to chip a nail. "Jemima Fitch" She said, her teeth perfectly white and straight.
The girl Micah had seen earlier walked up slowly, obviously hoping someone would volunteer.
Why wasn't anyone volunteering? Micah wondered. She wasn't 18 or anywhere close.
"Okay!" The escort clearly sounded surprised as well."Now for the boys!"
Before the lady could even get a breath out Micah was on the stage stating his name. "Micah Sparrow" He said. He ignored the many annoyed stares he got from the 18 year old section. He also ignored Titania's huff of agitation as he and the other small girl were led into the marble justice building to say their goodbyes to the people that they were both confident that they would be seeing again.
District 2
The knife whizzed by her head, barely missing her face. Chloe whipped around, her long, black hair flying behind her. She saw a skinny, blond haired girl standing a couple feet away from her a slight curve forming on her mouth.
Tanya Errin. Great, another person to try and ruin my day, She thought to herself. Chloe turned back around her sea blue eyes dark with anger. She thew a knife at the face of the dummy where it landed perfectly between the eyes.
It wasn't anything new to Chloe. She had been training since she was 5. She was 16 now and the training had payed off in the end. She looked around the training center and spotted Liam in the corner flirting up some girls.
And they thought he was perfect. He doesn't even train half the time, Chloe slashed behind her in frustration, hearing a high-pitched yelp.
"Are you trying to kill me?!" Chloe turned around to see Perrie, her best friend, behind her with a joking expression on her face. Carmen was walking up behind her flipping a sword and catching it with one hand easily.
"Sorry! It wasn't my fault you were stalking me," She put a smirk on her face. Perrie laughed.
Carmen walked up, her green eyes flashing with mischief. "So, aren't you volunteering today, Chloe?"
"Yep!" She had a proud expression on her face. She was finally going to beat her brother at something. Her parents would know that she didn't need them to take care of her.
"Well you'd better come back cause I would be stuck with Perrie if you didn't."
"Don't worry. I will be. I'll see you guys at the Reaping!" Chloe turned and walked out of the training center a proud smile on her face.
Celtic slipped on a towel. The mirror was steamed up from the shower he had just taken. He had been sweaty from the intensive training he had done this morning.
He dried his wispy blond hair and slipped on a suit and tie. He stepped out of his room, taking a breath of the bacon scented air coming from the kitchen.
When he stepped off the last stair he was suddenly pinned down to the ground, a blond girl on top of him.
"You gotta be quicker if you're gonna win these games, Celtic," His older sister stood up flipping her curly hair behind her.
"Yeah, I also can't win the games if I have a broken back. Thanks Victory." Celtic stood up, putting his hand on his lower back.
Victory laughed and walked to the kitchen, giving a little wave as she walked in. Celtic scoffed. Victory had won the 85th Games. She always expected him to be on his a-game.
He walked to the kitchen grabbing a pancake and walked outside to meet his best friends, Nolan and Ryker. They were both 17 like him and they had trained together since they were little.
"Hey mister fancy pants!" called Nolan from his perch in a tree. He jumped down casually. His blue eyes and black hair shined in the morning light.
"Where's Ryker?" Celtic asked with a hint of question in his voice.
"I don't know, bro. I know he went to do something, but that's all," He could tell Nolan was hiding something by the way the emotions played across his face.
Suddenly a brown haired boy jumped of the bushes, rushing Celtic. Celtic dodged the blow with ease causing Ryker to run into Nolan.
"Ufh," was the sound Nolan made as he got headbutted in the stomach.
Celtic looked over to see the two boys on the ground.
"Um... Sorry?" Ryker said.
"You should be," Nolan tried to say without a smile. He failed miserably. "Let's go."
They headed towards the square, all with smiles on their faces. Not nervous for what was to come.
Chloe stared at her closet. She picked out a blue v-neck dress and grabbed some weave sandals from the back of her closet. She changed quickly, excited to get to the Reaping. She brushed her long hair down and applied some makeup the complimented her sky blue eyes.
Her long eyelashes fluttered as she walked out of her red brick house. She looked back where her mother was waving at her from the window. She waved back with a smile.
Chloe saw the blood come out of the wound on her finger and smiled at it with lust. The peacekeeper shooed her away quickly, a nervous expression on his face.
She walked to the 16 year old section, meeting up with Perrie.
The District 2 escort played the video and gave his small speech about the Capitol. His blue hair sticking straight up at odd angles.
It's finally time, Chloe sucked in a breath of air anxiously.
"Well, ladies first!" He swirled his purple hand in the bowl and picked a slip of paper up. He then dropped it causing a groan from the crowd. "Oops, sorry ladies and gentlemen," He picked it back up carefully this time." Alexis Coroner"
"I volunteer!" She shouted and walked up to the stage casually with a bloodthirsty look in her eye."My name is Chloe Jones and I am your future victor." She smiled at the camera.
"Okay! On to the gents!" The escort asked to the bowl and picked out a name. " Hero Nics!"
Celtic walked to the stage calmly and said," I volunteer. My name is Celtic Cannon." He winked at the camera flirtatiously making some of the girls in the audience swoon.
He noticed the girl beside him rolling her eyes.
Oh well. She'll be dead soon anyways, Celtic thought as they got led into the Justice Building.
District 4
Arren sat along the long, sandy beach with his arms around two girls. The sea-green waves padded up along the shore and the cool ocean mist sprayed their faces gently.
The blond girl on his left shoulder suddenly stood up. Arren looked around ready to attack. A short girl with long, stunning blond hair and brown gentle eyes walked out from behind a palm tree next to the path that led back to the town.
"Your mother told me to tell you to get ready for the Reaping, Arren," she said. The words flowed out of her mouth like music. At least to Arren.
Arren stood up quickly trying to remove the faint rose color on his cheeks. "Thanks, Ephyra."
"No problemo." She kept her head in her book as she walked away. Arren quickly waved goodbye to the red head and blond that were standing behind him. He didn't know their names anyway. Why talk, right?
He hurried off after Ephyra who was walking at the quickest pace her lean legs could carry her.
"Hey! You gonna wait?" He called from a few meters behind her.
"If you insist."
"Watcha reading?"
"A story from back before Panem. They were always the best, ya know?"
Arren nodded as if he understood perfectly. She had always been smart, knowing about before Panem and actually paying attention in school. It wasn't that Arren was dumb, no. It was just that he preferred not to listen to everything his teacher taught him.
Arren and Ephyra kept on walking. Arren talking, Ephyra reading.
Lorna screamed. She hated her mother some times. It wasn't really Lorna's mother. It was Lorna. She had mood swings. Especially on Reaping day.
Lorna ran out of the house, her light blue eyes filling with tears. She felt the wind whipping across her face, but she didn't care. She ran and ran. When Lorna dried her eyes she was on her father's old boat. The one that he had been killed on.
Lorna sat on the deck staring out into the ember sunrise. The colors reflected against the waves. She was at peace here if not anywhere else. She looked at her wavy, strawberry-blond hair that fell to her mid-back. She smiled at the fond memories of her father braiding her hair like he did the nets. She looked down at her knees that had the scars from crying over the rocks where he died. Her blue-green dress fell right above, showing them off.
Lorna stood up, not wanting to mess up her Reaping outfit and jogged back to her house. Her thirteen year old twin sisters were rocking on the porch swing, their dark hair swinging behind them.
"Oh, hey, Lorna!" Cemeline said. She whispered something in Scarlotta's ear and they both laughed. Lorna looked down and walked inside. They weren't mean to her, they just left her out sometimes.
As Lorna walked in, she heard her mother humming in the kitchen. Lorna whispered quietly,"I'm sorry, Mother," and walked quietly up to her room.
Arren heard a knock at his door. He opened the door expecting to see Ephyra. But no.
"Well hi." Merrick stood in front of him. His tan skin glowing in the light. He was 21, but was as fit as an 18 year old career from District 1.
"Hi. You're here. . .?"
"To pick you up for the Reaping," he finished the sentence quickly. "Ya know you don't have to be so fancy, right?" Merrick accented fancy in a bad British accent.
Arren was wearing pressed black trousers with a neat white shirt. He had a black waistcoat on over it all with red lining to add some flare.
"The red is too much?"
"Well, you'll be seeing lots of that once you get into the arena," Merrick motioned forward with his hand telling Arren to walk.
She walked to the Reaping a smile on her face. The ocean was so beautiful today. Lorna went to stand in the 17 year old section when she was stopped by a blinding orange on the stage.
"Hello District 4!" yelled Parvusis Helixeoir, our stupid escort. Today he was wearing a bright orange jumpsuit (One that represented what a prisoner would wear in the olden days.) His blue shoes looked like the sea in an odd, capitol way.
Everybody zoned out for the video and speech. When Parvusis reached into the ladies bowl, Lorna knew she had to volunteer.
" River Ashfoy!"
"I volunteer!" she yelled with all her might. She ran to the stage and smiled at the camera. I volunteered, she thought happily. Wait, I volunteered? She started to freak out inside. She was going to die. She knew it.
"On to the boys!" Parvusis's voice brought her out of her stressful thoughts. He swirled his hand in the blue bowl and picked one from the bottom. " Ermin Zale!"
"I volunteer!" Arren shouted. He had known he had wanted to for a while. He knew he was only 14, but that didn't stop him. No.
He walked to the stage and saw Merrick standing in the background with his jaw dropped. Both Lorna and Arren stated their names firmly, but before Arren could wave or mouth an explanation to Merrick, he was being led into the marble justice building.
I'll be back, he vowed.
A/N: Yay! I'm done! I've been working on this for a while. It is pretty long compared to my first 2 chapters. I hope you guys enjoyed and please leave feedback in the reviews about your character (If I wrote about him or her.) or somebody's'. I'll be on a trip with no electronics till Friday afternoon, so don't expect a chapter till Sunday-Thursday. The next one will be 3,5, and 6! See ya!
-Mere 3