The train travels back to the Capitol. I don't know what I expected out of our contestants. Our tributes. Maybe I thought they'd be more...vibrant. Maybe they usually are. But I wouldn't know. The train stops, and the tributes are pulled out of the car by white cloaked peacekeepers. I exit last, my boots resounding against the glass road. They turn to look at me, and I see hate in their eyes.
I watch as a peacekeeper shoves the girl from District 7 down. I do not know her name. But then, Jessica, the girl from 1 calls it out. Kathryn.
She's not what you expect from a girl that cuts down trees for a living. She's not one of the bruly girls I coinsidered to bring to the games. But, it's because of her difference, that I chose her. She probably think's it's a curse now. She probably wishes she had the muscles, the male, angry, axeman features, anything to get out of the games. But to me, she's beautiful, she's different. She likes being who she is. She reminds me of a storm, some unknown hurricane. But then again, they all remind me of a storm to come. A danger to me. Because they know that the one tribute who lives will find me.
They know that that one tribute will make me regret what I have done. And then I am running, down the glass road, as fast as my feet can carry me.
* * * * * * * * *
I've been confined to my quarters.
What kind of sick joke is this? I have done everything I have been asked to do, I have played every part perfectly, I have strummed every single note on their stupid guitar, and still I am punished.
President Snow said I showed signs of weakness on the train.
Weakness!? Has she ever tried to randomly pick on souls to murder? I think not! This is where I loose my cool! This is where every bit of hidden emotion I keep is let loose. I can't take this! I just can't!
...
But the problem is, I know why she is doing it. The closer I get to the tributes, the more friendly I become with them. Lauren, from District 2 is a bright girl. She smiles. She laughs, hiding the horror of what she knows is coming. I am proud of her strength, and I am becoming attached.
So here I am, designing a battlefield for 12 children.
I wonder what God thinks of me. Will he call me a murderer, on Judgement Day? Will he send me to the fiery pits of Hell for this? Will he deny me?
I don't think I will ever be prepared to find out.
* * * * * * * * *
"C'mon! It won't be that bad, Veris!" Cori cries. "All you have to do is wish the tributes luck, eat a few grapes, and beat it! Then tommorow, you get to destroy them!"
I wince. Cori is tieing the laces on my backless, navy gown. He is all green today, like a tree frog. He bounces like one too. I shake my head, my curls, now fully brown, spinning in front of my eyes. I haven't had the time to get it redyed. "This is going to end badly, Cori. I know it. I just know it! Why does your mother want me to feast with them?"
He shrugs. Of course. This is Cori I'm talking to, the witless wonder. He doesn't know anything.
He finishes the tie, and I turn. He crushes his lips against mine, and I succumb. If it keeps me from the dinner, so be it.
After what seems like hours, Cori begins wiping my lipstick off his pale face. I smirk, the 1st of what could possibly be a smile in many days. "You should go." he says gruffly. I nod, without another word, and flee my room.
The Dinner started 30 minutes ago. I rush into the ballroom, and sit on my designated chair. All 12 tributes sit around a U shaped table. Jessica, from District 1, is closest to my right. Di Amore, from 12, is closest to my left. All is quite. A servant steps toward me, and fills my empty wine glass with a deep, rich red liquid. I nod to him, and he merely closes his eyes. I notice a resemblance in him and the girl from District 10, Jamie. My stomach clenches.
"Er...h-hello..." I mumble, stumbling over my words. "My name is-"
"We know who you are." Natalie Estel states angrily. "And we know why your here." Her cold blue eyes flash, and I automaticly sit lower in my seat.
"Right..." I mumble.
"You want to make us feel good. Like this is all just in our heads. Well, I'm not falling for it." Hannah Iris' voice is certain and icy still. Her red hair glitters in the fading sunlight from the window. My words die on my tongue.
"Maybe she wants to rub it in our faces." Ivrin Lucca murmurs. "That we're all going to die."
"Oh shut it, Ivrin." Simon commands, and the table is silent. His dark hair is messy. I can see my relection in his black/blue eyes.
"Veris Black, why are you here?"
I can't speak. They have all turned on me. Not one believes me. Not one believes that I wish that if I could turn the clock back, I would.
"B-Because....President Snow....s-she told me to." I whisper.
And Simon smiles. "Exactly."
Then it is Mikael's turn to speak. I can tell that even if he is the youngest, he will have the last word.
"What good will it do to kill us? Haven't we suffered enough?"
And the rest of the meal is eaten in silence. The next day is the Games. And now, I am truely terrified.
DAY 1 HOUR 0 MINUTE 0 SECOND 0
The timer is set. My heart is beating inside my chest. A hovercraft is taking the tributes to the center of the arena. There they will be placed in a circle, and will have a chance to fight for weapons placed in a Cornicopia near the only stream the runs through the valley. Cori decided that a Cornicopia would be the best representation as a weapons center. He said something about a Cornicopia bearing the best fruit. I didn't really care at the time. I had just wanted to get the preparing of the games over with. But now I am dreading the begining.
The watch the hovercraft on my screen. The tributes have been dropped. They now each stand over a metal plate. Each tribute must wait 60 seconds before stepping off the plate, or it explodes. Then, they all die. It was President Snow's idea.
The clock starts, the little electronic numbers whizzing by. My breath stutters, and comes to a halt. A 1 appears on the minute sign.
Mikael is hit over the head, and he is unconscious. Hannah runs toward the Cornicopia, laughing. The others follow. Kathryn and Natalie are in a battle already. Jessica has knives in her hand, and she attacks Lauren. And in a silent alliance, all forces turn to Natalie, and she falls. Hannah manages to escape with a cut on her arm, but nothing more. She has an arrow in her hand, along with a bow. And from afar, she turns, and shoots. It lands directly in Mikael's throat.
A cannon booms in the distance. It is the sound they will all listen for in this game. For that sounds means death. It means you are that much closer to surviving. Mikael's body lays not 5 feet away from his metal plate. He didn't even reach the Cornicopia.
The other tributes have run away by now. I watch as Natalie struggles to her feet, and limps into the forest, not even stopping as she walks over Mikael's lifeless body.
One down. Eleven to go.
DAY 2 HOUR 20 MINUTE 4 SECOND 34
The forces have turned to Jessica. Apparently the coinsider her a threat. She is hit multiple times, but she is not the only one. Not one tribute is uninjured, and each is watch their back. Alliances have been made and enforced, and yet beaten and broken. And it is only the 2nd day. Natalie has still not healed from the day before. She managed to run away from the others today, but the energy took it's toll, and she is fading. Jessica and Kathryn are by far the biggest threat. They have teamed up, and the way they work around the fire, the embers reflecting in their eyes, I am terrified of them. They speak in whispers, and I feel sorry for the other tributes.
They got to Lauren and Avery, who had been talking amongst themselves near the river. Lauren is bleeding and broken, while Avery managed to get away. When Lauren asked for his assitance, he laughed manaically, and left for the moutain top.
I feel as if I am dreaming. I only catch so much of the games. One person is fine, and the next day, dead.
((The rest of the days I have missed will be posted tommorow!))
I watch as a peacekeeper shoves the girl from District 7 down. I do not know her name. But then, Jessica, the girl from 1 calls it out. Kathryn.
She's not what you expect from a girl that cuts down trees for a living. She's not one of the bruly girls I coinsidered to bring to the games. But, it's because of her difference, that I chose her. She probably think's it's a curse now. She probably wishes she had the muscles, the male, angry, axeman features, anything to get out of the games. But to me, she's beautiful, she's different. She likes being who she is. She reminds me of a storm, some unknown hurricane. But then again, they all remind me of a storm to come. A danger to me. Because they know that the one tribute who lives will find me.
They know that that one tribute will make me regret what I have done. And then I am running, down the glass road, as fast as my feet can carry me.
* * * * * * * * *
I've been confined to my quarters.
What kind of sick joke is this? I have done everything I have been asked to do, I have played every part perfectly, I have strummed every single note on their stupid guitar, and still I am punished.
President Snow said I showed signs of weakness on the train.
Weakness!? Has she ever tried to randomly pick on souls to murder? I think not! This is where I loose my cool! This is where every bit of hidden emotion I keep is let loose. I can't take this! I just can't!
...
But the problem is, I know why she is doing it. The closer I get to the tributes, the more friendly I become with them. Lauren, from District 2 is a bright girl. She smiles. She laughs, hiding the horror of what she knows is coming. I am proud of her strength, and I am becoming attached.
So here I am, designing a battlefield for 12 children.
I wonder what God thinks of me. Will he call me a murderer, on Judgement Day? Will he send me to the fiery pits of Hell for this? Will he deny me?
I don't think I will ever be prepared to find out.
* * * * * * * * *
"C'mon! It won't be that bad, Veris!" Cori cries. "All you have to do is wish the tributes luck, eat a few grapes, and beat it! Then tommorow, you get to destroy them!"
I wince. Cori is tieing the laces on my backless, navy gown. He is all green today, like a tree frog. He bounces like one too. I shake my head, my curls, now fully brown, spinning in front of my eyes. I haven't had the time to get it redyed. "This is going to end badly, Cori. I know it. I just know it! Why does your mother want me to feast with them?"
He shrugs. Of course. This is Cori I'm talking to, the witless wonder. He doesn't know anything.
He finishes the tie, and I turn. He crushes his lips against mine, and I succumb. If it keeps me from the dinner, so be it.
After what seems like hours, Cori begins wiping my lipstick off his pale face. I smirk, the 1st of what could possibly be a smile in many days. "You should go." he says gruffly. I nod, without another word, and flee my room.
The Dinner started 30 minutes ago. I rush into the ballroom, and sit on my designated chair. All 12 tributes sit around a U shaped table. Jessica, from District 1, is closest to my right. Di Amore, from 12, is closest to my left. All is quite. A servant steps toward me, and fills my empty wine glass with a deep, rich red liquid. I nod to him, and he merely closes his eyes. I notice a resemblance in him and the girl from District 10, Jamie. My stomach clenches.
"Er...h-hello..." I mumble, stumbling over my words. "My name is-"
"We know who you are." Natalie Estel states angrily. "And we know why your here." Her cold blue eyes flash, and I automaticly sit lower in my seat.
"Right..." I mumble.
"You want to make us feel good. Like this is all just in our heads. Well, I'm not falling for it." Hannah Iris' voice is certain and icy still. Her red hair glitters in the fading sunlight from the window. My words die on my tongue.
"Maybe she wants to rub it in our faces." Ivrin Lucca murmurs. "That we're all going to die."
"Oh shut it, Ivrin." Simon commands, and the table is silent. His dark hair is messy. I can see my relection in his black/blue eyes.
"Veris Black, why are you here?"
I can't speak. They have all turned on me. Not one believes me. Not one believes that I wish that if I could turn the clock back, I would.
"B-Because....President Snow....s-she told me to." I whisper.
And Simon smiles. "Exactly."
Then it is Mikael's turn to speak. I can tell that even if he is the youngest, he will have the last word.
"What good will it do to kill us? Haven't we suffered enough?"
And the rest of the meal is eaten in silence. The next day is the Games. And now, I am truely terrified.
DAY 1 HOUR 0 MINUTE 0 SECOND 0
The timer is set. My heart is beating inside my chest. A hovercraft is taking the tributes to the center of the arena. There they will be placed in a circle, and will have a chance to fight for weapons placed in a Cornicopia near the only stream the runs through the valley. Cori decided that a Cornicopia would be the best representation as a weapons center. He said something about a Cornicopia bearing the best fruit. I didn't really care at the time. I had just wanted to get the preparing of the games over with. But now I am dreading the begining.
The watch the hovercraft on my screen. The tributes have been dropped. They now each stand over a metal plate. Each tribute must wait 60 seconds before stepping off the plate, or it explodes. Then, they all die. It was President Snow's idea.
The clock starts, the little electronic numbers whizzing by. My breath stutters, and comes to a halt. A 1 appears on the minute sign.
Mikael is hit over the head, and he is unconscious. Hannah runs toward the Cornicopia, laughing. The others follow. Kathryn and Natalie are in a battle already. Jessica has knives in her hand, and she attacks Lauren. And in a silent alliance, all forces turn to Natalie, and she falls. Hannah manages to escape with a cut on her arm, but nothing more. She has an arrow in her hand, along with a bow. And from afar, she turns, and shoots. It lands directly in Mikael's throat.
A cannon booms in the distance. It is the sound they will all listen for in this game. For that sounds means death. It means you are that much closer to surviving. Mikael's body lays not 5 feet away from his metal plate. He didn't even reach the Cornicopia.
The other tributes have run away by now. I watch as Natalie struggles to her feet, and limps into the forest, not even stopping as she walks over Mikael's lifeless body.
One down. Eleven to go.
DAY 2 HOUR 20 MINUTE 4 SECOND 34
The forces have turned to Jessica. Apparently the coinsider her a threat. She is hit multiple times, but she is not the only one. Not one tribute is uninjured, and each is watch their back. Alliances have been made and enforced, and yet beaten and broken. And it is only the 2nd day. Natalie has still not healed from the day before. She managed to run away from the others today, but the energy took it's toll, and she is fading. Jessica and Kathryn are by far the biggest threat. They have teamed up, and the way they work around the fire, the embers reflecting in their eyes, I am terrified of them. They speak in whispers, and I feel sorry for the other tributes.
They got to Lauren and Avery, who had been talking amongst themselves near the river. Lauren is bleeding and broken, while Avery managed to get away. When Lauren asked for his assitance, he laughed manaically, and left for the moutain top.
I feel as if I am dreaming. I only catch so much of the games. One person is fine, and the next day, dead.
((The rest of the days I have missed will be posted tommorow!))
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