Chapter 2
Hearing my name is like a slap on the face. My friends have let go of my hands, I start to walk to the stage, or in other words my death in the near future. By now everyone is looking at me, and Peacekeepers are surrounding me. I'm now on the stage, Saskia asks the question she always asks,
"Is there any volunteers?" Silent, you could hear a pin drop, I expected this, I have no one older than me to volunteer for me. She moves on to the boys, placing her hand into the ball of doom, and picking out the name of the person doomed to die for the entertainment of the Capitol.
"Odin Erinson," a sixteen year old steps forward, he is strong, much stronger than any of the girls his age, and just about half of the boys. He works in the same field as me, carrying off the carts of fruits to the trains for delivery to the Capitol. If I was ever face to face with him in the games, he could most likely kill me with one blow from his fist. The Mayor comes and reads the long boring Treaty of Treason, then me and Odin are told to shake hands, he hurts my hand without even trying, if we were in combat, I don't think I would still be alive.
We are taken into the Justice Building, I'm herded to the right, into a room fancier than anywhere I've ever been, I sit on the sofa, it's leather I think with pillows placed neatly on top. My parents and sisters come in, Heather runs up to me and jumps onto my knees, she always does it, maybe this will be the last time she does it.
"Autumn, where are you going?" I fight hard to contain my tears, I can't cry in front of Heather, she can't know where I'm really going or what's to happen to me.
"I'm going to play a game Heather, if I win I can come home, but if I lose, I'm not aloud to come back," Heather hugs me, maybe thinking, or even knowing I won't win the game I told her about. My mum and dad come and tell me how to win the games, they don't have time to tell me a lot before the Peacekeeper comes in telling them to leave, and they do almost willing. Tears are streaming down my eyes by the time Cherry and Lily come in. Lily has something in her hands, I remember it almost at once, a necklace carefully crafted from grass with a mocking jay feather hanging from it, this will be my token for the games. They both hug me, there's a silence for a while, Cherry is she first to speak.
"You can win you know Autumn, I know you can." I believe this Cherry would never lie to me, like I would never, but before I can say anything back, the Peacekeeper comes and tells them to leave. My hour is up, Saskia pops her head into the room, and tells me it's time to go to the train station, there is hundreds of cameras, I see myself, you can clearly see I've been crying. I'm thankful to be inside the train, when I see it is even fancier than the room in the Justice Building. Saskia shows me to my room, there is a four poster bed, with silk covers the blue of cornflowers.
I remove my dress, and find clothes from the dresser, I pick out a black denim skirt, well it looks like denim anyway, and pick a light blouse to match. I put my necklace on and head to the dining car, Odin is there and is sitting down with Chaff, he will be Odin's mentor, Seeder will be mine, but tonight we will most likely be talking as a group. I start to eat, the soup is great, creamy with I think chicken in it. Seeder starts the questioning,
"Do you either of you have any special skills?" I think about this, and I guess I do.
"I can hide very well in trees, and I can throw knives quite well, but I've not had a lot of work at it." "Well, now is the time to change that," Seeder says quietly, training will start the day after tomorrow, I'll have to make the most of the knifes. Odin speaks up,
"I'm good at weight lifting, and I've used a sickle in the fields." Dinner soon finishes, I head back to the room I was in before. I find a night dress in one of the draws, the same pink as my blouse is. I get into the bed hoping tomorrow is slightly nicer than today was.
