District 12 female – Fox Harlow, 12

CW: Abuse

I attempted to swallow, but it seemed impossible. It was as if my throat had completely shut its doors to any food that entered my mouth.

Two weeks. Two weeks and I'd be publicly executed.

I could already see my sister in the crowd. The tears poured down her cheeks as I was forced down and the peacekeeper brought the axe down on my head.

I didn't even want to imagine the blood dripping off my decapitated head and the axe, and my mind completely stopped at the idea of the pain I would experience in two

weeks' time.

I had been holding cold rice in my mouth for several minutes now, and there was no hope of keeping it down, so I spat it out onto the plate, trying to breathe steadily.

I was seated in the dining hall of the District 12 prison, surrounded by huge adults who were extreme criminals. I was the youngest person there by far, which was quite intimidating. In some districts, there were separate prisons for kids, but since I was in the poorest District, there was one jail for all criminals no matter their age.

I picked up my fork and pushed my dinner of plain, cold rice around on my plate, not bringing any more of it to my mouth.

Before I'd found out I was to be executed, all I had been able to think about was what had happened to land me in this hellhole. The red hot anger I had experienced as I ran towards Colby's house after school that day, all those months ago, then, once I had broken into his house, ran to him and stabbed him right in the back several times until he was dead.

It had taken me several moments to actually process what I'd done. I'd been blinded by anger and the need to protect Lysa.

But that wasn't what I was thinking about now. My mind was simply on the execution that was set to take place in two weeks.

"Ready to die, kid?" one of the two massive guys I was wedged between said to me, clearly seeing my worry. I felt incredibly small next to him, both physically and mentally, and I just completely ignored him.

I focused on the sound of my own breathing and tried to steady my racing heartbeat. It was hard to imagine that in just two short weeks, my life would be over. It felt like a nightmare that I couldn't wake up from.

The other prisoners around me were mostly silent, lost in their own thoughts or perhaps resigned to their fates. They had all committed crimes far worse than mine, and I couldn't help but feel like I didn't belong there.

But then again, I had taken a life. Even if it was in defence of my sister, I had still broken the law and now I had to pay the price.

I couldn't help but think about Lysa, my older sister. What would happen to her once I was gone? She and I had always been so close.

Tears welled up in my eyes, but I quickly blinked them away. I couldn't show any weakness in front of these hardened criminals.

The rest of that night was a blur and a completely sleepless night. Every moment felt like it could be my last, and the looming execution date hung over me like a dark cloud.

The next morning was the announcement of the twist for the Hunger Games Quarter Quell, but I barely paid attention and didn't even register what the twist was. It wasn't until I was paid a visit from Lysa that I discovered what the twist was.

"Alright, Fox, I have a serious question," Lysa said to be as soon as we sat. down.

"Yeah?"

"Would you rather be executed or go into the Hunger Games?"

I was taken aback. I'd never thought about that. "Go into the Hunger Games, I suppose. At least I have a chance of survival."

"OK, well I can get everyone to vote you into the games," she said.

"Vote me in?"

"Did you not hear the twist? Each tribute is being voted in by their district!" Lysa told me.

"Oh!" The pit in my stomach that had been there for the past few weeks suddenly lifted. I wouldn't be executed. "So... so you can go around, get people to vote for me..."

"Exactly," said Lysa, tears swelling in her eyes. "While it's not ideal, it's better than... the alternative."

"And I'll win," I said. "I'll win for sure, and there's no way they can execute me after that. I'll be District 12's second Hunger Games winner! First winner who survives for over a year. I'll be a district hero!"

"Yeah, you will," Lysa smiled, although a tear still managed to slip from her left eye. "Well... stay strong, Fox. I'd best be off, I've got people to talk to."

As she stood, my eyes went straight to her right arm, where a long, slowly healing cut ran along, from when Colby, her ex-boyfriend who I had killed, had stabbed a knife and ran it down from the top of her arm to her wrist.

His reasoning for it had been that he had suspected that Lysa had been cheating on him with another guy called Kobi, who was our family friend and practically a brother to both me and Lysa.

When Lysa noticed that I was looking at her cut, she quickly moved it towards the side of her body in an attempt to hide it, despite the fact that she knew that I knew about what it was.

"Good luck, Lysa," I said. "Thank you. I love you."

She gave me a small smile. "I love you too."

With that, my sister stood up and then walked out of the visiting room. I stood up, feeling a little relieved. I knew the Hunger Games wouldn't be ideal, but I would do anything to get out of the execution.

District 12 male – Zevran Karras, 18

As I got closer to the man, I took off my shoes to silence my footsteps. He was talking to his wife, near the edge of the bakery. She was cowering, just like she always did around him.

His fists were clenched, but most people wouldn't notice that. It's the sort of thing you would only notice if you were looking for your newest target. And a man who was clearly abusing his wife? Perfect.

I lowered my shoes to the ground and continued my slow trek towards the couple, being careful to remain subtle and hidden the whole time. When I was directly behind them, I lifted my knife and stabbed it into the man, as soon as he registered the fact that he had just been stabbed, I turned away and walked away, blending in with the crowd.

I didn't look back, because if I did they'd know. I had to act completely innocent as if it was a normal day for everyone here in the merchant section of District 12.

I made my way back to Gray's house as soon as possible, and when I opened the door, found that Associate #2 was right there, nostrils flaring.

"You killed a random man at the bakery?" he hissed at me.

"How did you hear? It was just a few minutes ago."

"I saw you! I've already told Gray, and he's not happy," he said, crossing his arms.

"He wasn't innocent," I responded. "He was abusing his wife."

"Why can you kill men like him but not Vanguard Akkel?!" Associate #2 snapped.

"Well, what's the reason for killing Vang?" I asked.

"Vang?" he repeated. "Vang? You have a nickname for that boy?"

"No, it's... just easier to say," I responded. "But why does Gray want me to kill... Vanguard?"

"I don't know any better than you!" he cried. "But if Gray says so, he says so! What happened to you being the best Associate? Wake up to yourself, Zevran!"

"OK, whatever, can you leave now?"

"Can you leave now?" he snapped back at me.

"No, I live here," I said dryly.

"Oh, yeah, right," he said. "You're Gray's little pet. Yet you can't even do your one simple assignment."

He stormed off, and I fisted my hands and pushed them into my pockets. It wasn't a simple assignment at all. Not that anyone else understood that. The thing was, Vanguard Akkel, the peacekeeper recruit dropout that the leader of our Assasin league, Gray, wanted me to kill, was actually the guy I was seeing at the moment.

I wouldn't say I loved him. God, no. Love was for pathetic people who wanted useless distractions and unnecessary sacrifices in their life. I wasn't sure whether or not Vang loved me, but I sure as hell did not love him.

But just because I didn't love him didn't mean I was willing to kill him. While I was loyal to Gray and the assassin league, I was not Gray's little pet, as Associate #2 had called me. I would not kill Vang.

At least not yet. Not while we were still hooking up. Maybe one day when he was a stranger to me.

Gray arrived home only an hour after Associate #2 had left, and I got up out of his chair when I heard the door opening. It was the only chair in his tiny house, and he would not appreciate me taking it.

Gray then came in, giving me a disappointed expression at the doorway before walking past me and toward his chair that I had just vacated. Gray didn't talk much. He communicated mainly through his eyes and gestures. He had been through a lot and just wanted the rest of Panem in the way he had.

He was the closest thing to a father I'd ever had, my own father having been killed in a mining accident when I was a baby, but I had never called Gray 'Dad' in my entire life. He was my mentor and my boss. The leader of the assassin league.

I could tell now that he was disappointed in me, as I cut a bun for us to share for dinner, he kept looking over at me, his brows furrowed. He was disappointed that I had yet again not managed to kill Vang today. I wasn't even sure why he wanted me to kill him so badly.

After dinner, I opened the small box that contained Rena's old diary and opened it to read it once again. But once again, I couldn't find evidence as to where she could possibly be.

Dear Diary,

Kathleen asked out Rizpah today. Even though she knows I liked him. Whatever, I don't need a man. And I don't need a best friend like Kathleen anymore. I am an independent woman!

From Rena

That entry was the last entry written in her diary before Gray's daughter had disappeared, but I was unsure of exactly when she had written it, as she didn't add dates.

But, it made it seem like she had run away to be independent. She had never been interested in becoming an assassin like Gray and me, and he hadn't even cared that much when she'd run away. She had been eighteen, after all, a legal adult.

But the thing was, Gray was fairly certain that Rena had joined an underground rebel cause, and because of this, added her to my list of people to kill. Hence why I kept reading her diary to try to find some sort of evidence as to where she was now.

I'd grown up with Rena and had never gotten along with her so I wouldn't mind seeing her head at the end of my knife.

So it was only a matter of time, really, before both her and Vang's blood was on my hands.

Thank you to SnowSymphony for Fox and Paradigm of Writing for Zevran. What do you all think of these two? See you in the next district!