In a modestly-sized house in District 1, a boy sits in his room, the shutters drawn tightly, the lights out. Sometimes he's alright, but then he thinks about… Her… again, and his eyes fill with more tears. His voice is still raw from the initial outburst of screaming and tears. He doesn't know how he is going to go on without her, the girl that was his best friend and everything in his life. He loved her, he loved her with all his heart, and he never said anything to her. He should've poured his heart to her and he didn't. So much was left unsaid.
"Chime?" his little brother appears in the doorway.
"Go away Cordovan." A little girl that looks just like the both of them but with longer, shaggier hair, looks in the door. "Go away Chandelier. Leave me alone." This has been the response to their pestering for days now.
The two siblings, sighing, give up trying to cheer up their brother, and let him to grieve on his own.
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In District Three, a small house that is far from poverty, the blinds are still drawn, as they have been since the day their baby was reaped. Rory and Delie Bluebird have lost their beloved daughter, and have been beside themselves ever since. They loved the girl, nurtured her, did everything they could for her, and she's gone. The shelves in their kitchen are stocked with food made by their fortunate friends as they prepare to go through this hard time. They continue to work, though tiredly, hollowly, dejectedly.
In a small house near them, Harry Bluebird and his wife Lily leave work early and have a small lunch at home, in silence. The misery in the house is palpable. They try to remember fondly the fun and teasing they had experienced with her, his sister, and out of the blue she suggests that maybe they should consider having a baby together. They've had this talk before, but in much happier times. They have dinner that night with the Bluebird parents, but it's not the same without her.
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In District 4, Thomas Cantrop barely left his room. Ever since he was told what happened to his best friend, he hasn't had much energy to do anything. 'It should've been me,' he would think, 'I was the one that was reaped.' He wish his best friend wouldn't have volunteered to take his place.
'It shouldn't have been him… It should've been me.'
In a small catfish shop not too far away from there sits his family, in silence. A little girl just 10 years old, who wasn't allowed to watch, asks how he's doing in the Games, and two exhausted parents have to figure out how to tell her that their oldest child won't ever be coming back.
In a different part of the District, Ling Soong and his wife Mei have their evening meal quietly. They had experienced the pain of loss before, losing their sun Jung not too long ago. Out of three children, only one is left. The grief sits in the room, and the 5-year-old, the only sibling out of three left, skips in and starts to eat, horribly oblivious to the situation. As soon as she skips out of the room, Ling suggests to start her into training in a few years. Mei quickly gets up and puts the dishes away, scolding her husband for even imagining their last child facing the Games.
"I didn't mean for her to volunteer. I meant… Just in case."
Just in case she's somehow reaped away.
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In a small house (but a house all the same), the Eldridge family is all separated. The mother of the family sits in the bedroom she shares with her husband, looking through an old book full of memories of her sister. This loss brings everything back, and more.
He's with her now. With his mother, her sister. He's protecting his siblings in death just as he did in life, she's sure of it. Just like her sister protected them. She goes to check on her children. Her oldest, Joanne, is shut up in her room. Her second-oldest, Aubrey, sits with her brother, the third-oldest, Hayden. They sit and play with their little cousin, Sadie. An orphan now.
She was an orphan before, without parents, but her older brother kept her and their brother under his wing. The mother of the Eldridge household doesn't know why he insisted on keeping his siblings and trying to care for them at such a young age, but she didn't fight him on it.
The baby starts to cry, and the mother of the house goes to get him. She knows he must want his brother back. He's never going to get it.
Wye Dixon sits on the old bomb shelter he found the morning of the reaping, by himself. The carefree days before the reaping seem so far away. The taste, the touch of his best friend's lips on his own seems so far away. He runs a hand over the cold metal, trying not to think about the death.
It's all he can think of nowadays, though.
In the very worst part of the District stood Porter Shaw, one of District 5's most notorious drug dealers, stands against a wall, taking stock of his inventory. One of his most loyal clients was taken by the Games. She struggled with a lot of shit, but he had no idea how much. She had gotten fairly close to him because he was a softie that always offered her discounts after hearing about her shitty life. He sticks the needle in the crook of his arm easily, as he's done many times before. He didn't realize until then, but she was more than just a client, to him anyways. She was a person with a story, a friend that he liked to see around and talk to. Even if he was the only one her death affected, at least it was one person.
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In District 6, the Eberharts have no idea how they're going to keep on surviving. A tired woman, a mother that had lost both of her children to the horrors of the Games, just isn't sure how she can keep on waking up in the morning now that both of her babies are gone. The father of the house is barely much of anything anymore. Ever since his son was sent away his health has descended due to the grief of losing him.
Much of the District is still optimistic for his District partner, but that doesn't eliminate the fact that both of their children are resting peacefully for the rest of time in wooden boxes. The mother of the house is beside herself. 'It's not fair,' she thinks, as she lies awake in bed one night, tears streaming down her face. 'It's just not fair!'
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In District 7, the Kane family has indifferently gone back to their lives. Their son, though he was among the youngest there, was not looked upon fondly by them. His mother Ashley has gone back to her daily complaining in her sickness, his father has gone back to work, not taking a single day off. Their daughter, the pride and joy of his father, walks with a certain skip in her step when she remembers he's gone and it was totally legally.
A house in the Victor's Village is not nearly as happy. Lucina Tracey sits by the fireplace, staring into the burning blaze. She had fed her daughter strategies, and she picked the wrong one at the wrong time. She gets visits from other Victors, offering condolences. Katherine's mentor Marlowe calls from the Capitol to apologize and offer her service. Tatum Tracey, her 16-year-old brother, was not on good terms with his sister, but realizes that he never truly wished death on her at all. Too late for that now. Her 14-year-old sister Macey sits in her room, recounting the many talks she shared with her sister. The youngest in the house, Hillary, only 6 years old, was shouted at by her sister and her brother and sits by herself, crying softly and wondering why they're so upset with her. Lucina Tracey thought the Capitol was done with her after killing her husband 5 years ago, but they were not done yet. 'What do I have to do to protect my children from being reaped!?' She would do anything.
In a small little house by the woods, a 17-year-old boy has his face buried in his hands, tears freely flowing from his forest-green eyes. Stanley Kellogg loved her with all his heart. He sits alone, wondering how he will go on without her. He doesn't even consider how easily she went from innocent to torturing another tribute, and how two-faced she always was.
He had devoted everything he was to her, and she had never returned his love at all, compulsively cheating on the person that was ready to give her everything. And he would never know it.
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District 8 was a solemn place, shaken up by the death of its second tribute. In a very quiet household, two parents had shut their shutters, denying the public entrance into their personal lives. Their son, he had done nothing wrong, had even helped others, and so suddenly he was killed. They had expected much from him, but so suddenly he was gone. District 8 would not be so lucky as to have a Victor that year. A young boy sits in that house, on the verge of a breakdown. Nobody will tell him where his brother is, and nobody wants to tell him that he's not coming back. He just wants to know, but the truth could possibly hurt him more than the lies. Kuzey Ward had been very patient to that point waiting, but all he wants now was his brother. He just doesn't understand why people are so sad now, and why he's received in such a hurtful way when he tries to figure out what's wrong.
His best friends, Boris and Leona, were watching together when it happened, and have stayed together ever since, trying to remember the good times they shared before he was taken away from them, but often ending up in long crying fits, missing him more than ever. A gaping hole had been left in their lives, and they're going to have to work hard to even start trying to mend it.
Another mother in that District had lost her child. She had lost both of her children, in fact, to the horrors of the Games. Her son, Quint, had gone off and tried his very best. He almost made it. She had a good reason to be worried for her young daughter going into her first reaping. And, just like that, her other angel was taken from her, slaughtered by the injustice of the Capitol. It hurt her so much. Her husband stayed with her as much as he was able. He loved her and their children so dearly and tenderly, and now the house was silent, and empty.
It would never bustle with the excitement of children again.
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In a full-packed house in District 9, Augusta Cory mourns the loss of her pride and joy, her beloved son. His father Lucian goes back to work within a few days, but Augusta can't make herself do much of anything. His sister Tracie sits with her mother, occasionally trying to make a comment about a happy memory and eventually giving up and surrendering to the grief. He's with Vanessa, now. She was probably very lonely without him being there, Tracie thought, trying to be calmed by the thought of them being together. His grandmother Rosie is silent, while four of his cousins try to cheer her up. "He wasn't good for much anyways," they tell her.
His thirteen-year-old cousin Nikolas sits by himself, in the quiet room they used to share. He takes out the bag of drugs he had hidden under his bed. "These'll solve all your problems, kid. Promise," the dealer had told him. He took them, hoping it might be true. But now he's having second guesses. 'Is this really what he would've wanted for me?' It's not and Nik knows that.
A 9-year-old boy sits alone in his room, memories of last year tumbling back to him and threatening to overwhelm him. What are the odds that his brother and his brother's best friend are reaped away back-to-back?! His parents never cared much for either, and Verz Price always figured he didn't care for them either, but now he misses them. A lot more than he expected.
"Oi, Verz! Come down and have some dinner with us already!" calls his brother, two years older than him. The nine-year-old sighs sadly, slowly going to join his brother.
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In District 10, Dillan Grace sits at the kitchen table with a look of disgust on his face. His daughter trained and volunteered, all to spite him. After he was only trying to protect her. She had somehow fallen in love with a poor, lowly gardening boy, and he had only protected her by having him whipped and hung. She never would've been happy living a poorer life, no matter how much she tried to convince herself she would've been. Her brother Ethan goes back to school with no problem. 'She brought it upon herself,' he figured. 'She volunteered for this.' Sky Lansing, her mother, is slightly more solemn than the boys. She cared at least a little bit for her daughter.
Savannah Salinas and Arianna Cobolt sit together, cross-legged on the floor, recounting fond memories they had of their friend. They remember trying to talk her out of volunteering, but she assured them she could win and they decided to trust her.
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In a tiny house in District 11, 13-year-old twin brothers Carter and Cillian Gardiner sit quietly, locked up in their rooms and silently grieving. Both of them had such fond memories of their best friend. They had not known where to go, and saw a boy from their year on his way to the Justice Building, probably going to see his sister, who volunteered. The brothers sit in silence, remembering their best friend and trying to prevent tears from coming.
In a quiet household, his 18-year-old brother has shut himself up after being yelled at. His parents have never hurt their boys physically, or, well, not until the day he died, that is. After that, Daxton Dietz had brought up moving out, and that had been the end. "You ungrateful swine!" A heavy blow to the face. Now he sat in his room, a blanket held up to his face, trying to get the pain to subside.
He lost his brother. He lost his best friend. And now he's trapped.
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In the Hob at District 12 sits a woman who lost her young son in the Games and feels fairly unremorseful. She takes a bottle of alcohol and takes a swig before going over to a man that is sitting across the bar. Really, the loss of her child is one less worry for her. She doesn't have to worry about showing up at home every night for him. Not like she worried too much about it before, but now all she felt was relief that it was one less problem to deal with. She smiles and waves flirtatiously at the man she'd laid eyes on when she entered the bar. He'd be hers tonight.
In a small house in the Seam sits a family, in their living room, during the mandatory Games watching. Harriet Gorman, the matriarch of the house, watches the Games, not rooting for anyone in particular. Not that she'd expect a Victor from 12, anyways. Malboro Gorman sits silently, barely watching, haunted by the memories of his daughter's tragic death. She was his favorite, and he had loved her so dearly. His youngest daughter, an 11-year-old named London, snuggles into his side. She knows what happened to her sister, and now felt regret for even imagining that her sister could've made it out alive. Their oldest, Adele, mostly worries for what next year's reaping will bring, especially now that she will have to take tesserae. She can't wait to move out of the house, though. No matter how well each member got along with the girl, there was a definite emptiness in their lives from her life being taken by the Games.
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The families and friends of the 16 tributes that were lost can't help but be left wishing it were them that were going to be interviewed. Some have other tributes that they are rooting for, some are lost in a sea of grief that they are drowning in.
Whose wounds will heal, and whose will consume them? Only time will tell.
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A/N: This was meant to be much shorter but I started writing and decided that it deserves a chapter of its own. R.I.P. to the 16 tributes that have gone on. I thank their submitters so much for them, especially those who are still reading even though their tribute is dead. I thank you so much, these tributes were so fun to write with and I appreciate each and every one of them and hope I did them justice.
The prices on items are going to increase next chapter, by the way! The final 8 interviews will be next chapter for sure. To the final 8 and their submitters, may the odds be ever in your favor.
Chapter Question: Which of these tidbits for you was the saddest and why? Which one peaked the most interest for you and why?
Points:
Kate: 193
Dreamer (your gift will be received soon!): 126
Jess: 241
magicharity: 163
hopefuldreamer1991 (your gift will be received soon!): 30
Sinfonian Legend: 210
xQueen-of-Applesx: 40
Lady Lysa Arryn: 56
rising-balloons: 75
superneet1214: 6
: 5
Coolgal02: 61
epictomguy: 34
Medium-Indigo (Guest): 60
AbbyCorabby123: 10
falyn. oliver: 43
seaotter99: 22
ThisWorldWeHate: 17
Blonde4ever: 62
Beauty. Is. Strange: 61
Ibbonray: 35