Chapter Five

The train ride didn't go for nearly long enough. The day-long journey was barely enough time for Effie to confront what she had to do and make some sort of peace with it.

She disembarked the train to a line of peacekeepers. They led her to a carriage which would take her to the Justice Building for The Reaping.

In the train Effie had prepared her make-up so she would be camera-ready. She had on a purple wig, with her usual pale foundation and powder, she had painted her lips and eyeshadow green, which perfectly matched the shade of her ruffled blazer and pencil skirt. She had on grey stockings that she had paired with purple shoes to match her hair. She felt absolutely ridiculous, but this was far from a new emotion for her lately.

As she arrived at the Justice Building, she was met by Mayor Undersee. He was a tall, bald man, who looked to be in his mid-40s. He was wearing what were probably the nicest clothes he owned, but in the Capitol's standards would get him socially ostracised.

He spoke about his daughter, who was of Reaping age, and he was hoping wouldn't be chosen. The mayor pointed her out in the crowd, a slender girl, of 13 or 14, wearing her long blonde hair out over her shoulders. It wasn't the mayor's daughter that caught Effie's eye, however, but the girl who was standing next to her.

Stood next to her was a girl of a similar age, but with vastly contrasting features: brown hair, tied back into an elaborate braid, who despite looking skinnier than someone her age should look, still looked better fed than some of the other children here. She was holding onto a girl of 9 or 10, who had her blonde hair in two neat pigtails down the sides of her head. She wouldn't be up for the Reaping today, yet she still looked terrified.

"Your daughter is very pretty," Effie remarked to the mayor, "and she seems to have many friends."

"Those are the Everdeen sisters," he explained, realising who she was referring to. "The older one is Katniss, and she's in school with my Madge. Her younger sister is Primrose. Their father died in a mining accident a few years back."

Effie nodded in acknowledgement. Something about the brunette girl drew Effie's gaze. From the interactions she could see, Katniss was very protective of her little sister. She refused to let go of her hand, even though the peacekeepers were starting to section off the crowd.

At the last possible second, Katniss let go of her sister's hand, and pointed her in the direction of where the crowd who were not being reaped stood. The sister went and found a woman who looked remarkably like her, who Effie figured must have been the girls' mother.

It was time for the ceremony to begin. Effie tapped on the microphone to gather everyone's attention. Katniss turned her attention up the front, standing with her shoulders and back straight, and a grimace on her face. Her face matched that of all the children in the crowd.

The mayor began by introducing Effie, talking about the traditions of the Hunger Games, about the two victors who had come from their District. The audience, who had to endure this every year, waited for it to be over with folded arms and sour looks. After he finished reading the Treaty of the Treason, it was time for Effie to get started.

"Ladies first!" Effie remarked, trying to be uplifting.

Effie knew about the Tesserae and knew that most of the children in this district were on it. That's why, despite having the fewest number of residents in their district, the bowl of names was almost completely full.

She walked over and stuck her hand in the bowl, swivelled it around a little bit, before her hand settled on a piece of paper. She pulled it out of the bowl and held it gently while she walked back over to the microphone.

As she started to unfold the paper, she silently wondered whether she was hoping it would say Katniss Everdeen on it. The girl seemed wise beyond her years, clearly the caretaker of the family since the father's passing. She seemed able to feed herself, as evidenced by her not being as skinny as some of her peers. She seemed like she'd make a fine tribute. Then Effie remembered what she'd be sentencing her to, and quickly changed her train of thought.

"Iris Riverhorn!" Effie said into the microphone. A girl in the middle section, around 15 or 16, let out a sob before making her way up on the stage. She had similar brown hair and olive skin to Katniss, but she had her hair up in a ponytail, and she was wearing a bright orange colour.

She sobbed the whole way down the aisle up to the stage, before making her way up the stairs and next to Effie. The girl held her face in her hands while the whole crowd watched on in bemusement. This was not an irregular occurrence for them.

Trying to remain undeterred, Effie stated, "Now time for the boys!"

She walked over to the boys' bowl of names, pulled one out, and headed back to the microphone.

"Cinder Fairsmith!"

A boy near the front of the crowd, who had to be 18, started making his way into the aisle. He was a very tall and stocky boy. He must have been raised in town for him to be fed enough to grow that big.

He made his way up the stairs and next to Effie, who he towered over.

"Wonderful!" Effie said, still failing to lighten the tone of this whole event. She turned to the two new tributes, "Shake hands!"

The boy held out his huge hand, which the young girl took reluctantly. As soon as her hand was released she went back to burying her face in her hands.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, your tributes for the 72nd Hunger Games- Iris Riverhorn and Cinder Fairsmith!"

The crowd did a small, unenthusiastic clap, and the two new tributes were steered offstage into the Justice Building. In the crowd, Effie saw Katniss turn around and start heading to where her mother and sister were waiting for her.

In the Justice Building, the new tributes now had time to meet with their loved ones for what would most likely be the last time. Effie was escorted to another empty room, with a simple couch, and what was District 12's attempt at a grand meal.

Effie helped herself to an iced biscuit and sat down on the couch. Now that she was alone and out of the spotlight, the full weight of what she had just done hit her like a ton of bricks.

These two young adults- no, children- were seeing their parents, their siblings, possibly boyfriends and girlfriends for the last time because of something Effie did. The worst part wasn't even that Effie had to sentence these children to their deaths- it was that she had to be endlessly upbeat while doing it.

Effie had spent this whole time thinking about how horrific these Games were from an outsider's perspective; but now she wasn't an outsider anymore. She was a part of the Games. An essential member who rounded up these kids to be slaughtered.

She felt sick.

After a couple of hours, the tributes had seen everyone that had come to say goodbye, and it was time to be taken via carriage to the train station.

In the carriage they looked dejected, defeated, tired. The girl's eyes were puffy and red. She clearly hadn't stopped crying since her name was pulled from the bowl. Effie felt the blood run out of her face thinking about what she had inadvertently sentenced this child to.

Effie tried, again, to lighten the mood by talking about the grandeur of the Capitol. After all, it shocked her when she first arrived, and she hadn't come from conditions nearly as bad as these tributes had experienced. The girl cried harder, while the boy looked away, refusing to acknowledge Effie. She decided to stop talking altogether.

When they arrived at the train station, Effie ushered them up to the train, telling them to get ready for a delight. The tributes walked in and had a similar reaction to Effie when she first saw the Capitol. Their jaws dropped, their eyes darting all around the room to see everything. They eyed the buffet table and started stuffing their faces. Despite the boy seeming better off than some of his peers, they had clearly never seen food in abundance like this.

After they ate, they flopped down onto the couch. The girl seemed to remember where they were, and went back to crying, while the boy withdrew again. Effie wasn't sure how to talk to them, to connect with them.

Suddenly, the door behind Effie slid open.

In walked the man who she had been dreading to finally meet.

Haymitch Abernathy.