Vinyle Oldham, 15

District 5 Female

"People are just as dangerous as a live wire."

It was impossible to stay focused.

Ever since the countdown ended, her movements had been erratic and incomplete, plagued by distraction. Her vision was taken over by flashes of movement as tributes scattered around her. And while Vinyle was used to the steady thrum of energy and sound- of generators, the water processing plant, the dams not so far from her home- this was entirely different. The electricity at home was consistent, soothing. This was manic. This was chaos.

Vinyle gasped, trying to steady herself. She squeezed her eyes shut as screams reached her ears. She needed to protect herself. She'd feel better with a weapon in her hands, then distance from this madness.

She forced her eyes open, turning her head as she searched. There- maybe twenty, thirty paces away, the silver metal of a weapon glinted at her. She rubbed her eyes, forcing the lingering sunspots from her vision, and then ran to it.

Ten steps in, she was jerked back by the head.

Vinyle screamed, her neck aching as she tried to twist around. The other tribute had planted a hand in her thick, curly hair, using it to wrench her back. Vinyle let her nails become claws, digging into the other tribute's bony wrist. At the same time, she pulled herself forward, screaming again as hair tore from her own scalp.

Vinyle whirled around, gasping, searching for the other tribute.

It was a girl. Her hair was brown and wavy, pulled back from her face with an elegance that Vinyle was sure she now lacked. The girl's gaze was sharp, her chin haughty. Her mouth was set in a firm line. A 4 was stitched into her uniform. Fuck.

Vinyle scrambled back, but the girl wasn't done. She reached forward again, this time not at Vinyle's hair but at her clothes. The Four girl clenched Vinyle's collar in a white-knuckled fist.

Vinyle wasn't done either. She slashed out with her nails, raking them across Four's forearms. Four flinched, but still dragged Vinyle closer, even as she tried to pull away.

"No!" Vinyle shrieked. She kicked at the Four girl, aiming at her legs. A few landed blows turned the girl's breath to an angry hiss. Four retaliated with a punch to Vinyle's cheek. Vinyle's head snapped to the side, and her vision blurred again. She tried to pull back, and this time Four leaned into it, shoving Vinyle to the ground. Her shirt tore free of the girl's grasp, and she landed, hard, on the rocky ground.

Four towered over her, her hand in a clenched fist. And in the girl's fist-

-Her necklace.

"Okay. The thing is," her stylist said, "you can't wear the pendant ring. It'll ruin the body paint, which ruins everything. Might as well send you out naked at that point."

Vinyle, who was already feeling more than violated by this point- her body waxed, her scalp scrubbed, her skin pulled and poked and prodded- balked at this. "I'm not going to the parade naked!"

The stylist waved her long, lithe hand, dismissing this. "Of course not. But also… I do sort of love the ring. Surprising, I know. Could we repurpose it somehow?"

Vinyle couldn't help but close her fist around the ring. "I don't want to change it."

"No, no no," her stylist said. "Not change. What if we just put it on a chain, or something? I think a necklace could work. It'll give the look that personal touch, ooh, and it'll give them something to ask about during your interview! It'll pique the interest!"

Vinyle still found herself hesitating. "Um…"

"It does have some personal meaning, I assume?" the stylist asked. "That's perfect interview material."

Vinyle looked down at her closed fist. "Yeah," she admitted. "It's my family's."

"Oh, that's perfect!"

She glanced back at her stylist's smooth porcelain face, somehow gushing with genuine excitement without being able to move much at all. It was unnerving. But she couldn't help but think this was the only compromise she was going to get.

"It, um… it used to be a necklace," Vinyle forced herself to say. "Kids used to try to steal it, so, um, the ring was easier- harder to grab it from me."

"Good," her stylist nodded. "Good."

"So I guess it's okay," Vinyle said.

"Fantastic! Let me just pick out a chain, then, something silver to match the paint- or perhaps mixing metals would be more current, let me see-"

Her stylist flitted away, talking to herself more than Vinyle. Vinyle uncurled her fingers, looking down at the simple pendant, passed to her by her mother when Vinyle was old enough to take care of it. The pendant was older than Panem itself.

It shone at her under the artificial Capitol lights. It was always brighter under Five's harsh sun, but Vinyle would take what she could get.

The necklace swung from the Four girl's fingers, flashing in a panic.

"No!" Vinyle screamed, the word tearing itself loose from her lungs. She threw herself at Four, reaching. Four couldn't take it. Four couldn't have it.

Four reached, too. Four wrapped her cold hands around Vinyle's throat, the necklace still tangled in her hand. And when Four started to squeeze, the pendant and its chain dug into her throat, too.

Vinyle felt her breath escape her. She clawed at Four's hands, but the girl only squeezed tighter. Vinyle pulled at the gold chain- the stylist had opted to mix metals, all that time ago- with all the strength she had, forcing the oval pendant to slide out from under Four's palms.

Vinyle's vision was going spotty, like a rare cluster of storm clouds in Five's sunny sky. But her fingers curled around the pendant again. It was hers. It was still hers. It was always hers.

Vinyle Oldham placed 22nd at 00:00:43. Killed by Emryn Cartison.