The next morning I momentarily forget what my father told me the night before but when I remember I feel sad.
I just out of bed and take a long, hot shower, I quickly get dressed in my usual black outfit. I run down stairs, grab a slice of bread and I call to my mother, “Gotta go to the academy.” While running out the door.
I sprint all the way to the academy, excited to see Kaycee again, but when I reach the academy gates I see Cato standing there. I walk slowly through the gates, I look at Cato for a second and I see that he’s glaring at me.
I walk cheerfully into the woods and to the clearing. When I get there I see that Kaycee is there already.
“Hey, Kaycee!” I call. She sees me and waves me over. “So, what are we going to do today?” I ask her. “Want to see your knife throwing skills, and before you say that you don’t have any knives, I brought mine with me.” She says.
I look over at the stump next to her and I see that she’s lined the knives up by size. I take a middle-sized one and walk 10 feet from a tree. Kaycee tells me to hit a tiny crack in the bark. I grin as I throw the knife and I get a bulls-eye.
“Congratulations. That was pretty good but I’m actually better than you.” She says. I frown at her because for most people that’d be impossible.
I look around trying to find a harder target, I look up to the top of the trees and I see a small bird flying in a circle around the tree top.
I run and get a smaller knife, I get in a comfortable stance and stare up at the bird. When I throw the knife I start to worry that I won’t hit the bird so I look down at the ground in shame that I had tried that but seconds later I hear something hit the ground.
I look up and see the bird lying there with a knife in its heart. I look over at Kaycee and she’s beaming. “That was go-“ She cuts herself off shaking her head. “That wasn’t good, that was amazing!” She says.
“I’ve tried that more times than I’d like to say but I’ve never been able to do it. Seeing you do that is amazing! I think only one other person could do that.” She says.
She sits down, looking at the ground and when she looks up again, she’s smirking. “The only other person to do that was Alexander Green.” She says. “What happened to him?” I ask.
“He volunteered for the games but he didn’t survive because he was only 14 years old.” She explains. We sit in silence together for some time.
“If you don’t mind me asking but what is your story?” I ask, trying to break the silence. “My story?” She asks. I nod.
“Well, it starts when I was younger my brother volunteered for the games, he was at the top of his class at everything. Everyone knew he would win the games. Everything was working out in his favour. He looked great during the tribute parade, he got an Eleven as his training score and his interview went great. The Capitol citizens loved him!” She says.
I watch her intently. I’m excited to know more.
“During the bloodbath he did a great job at killing the other tributes and he just kept on killing throughout the game. One day while the careers were sleeping, a pack of mutts attacked their camp and my brother was the only one who made it out alive.” She says.
“I was sure that he’d win and he kept killing and killing and killing until they were only two left. There was a huge fight between him and the boy from Three but when neither of them could kill the other, the Capitol sent out the same pack of mutts. The boy from Three could climb a tree, unlike my brother, so he tried to out run them but in the end they caught him and they ate him alive.” She continues. “While he was being kill by the mutts I scream as loud as I could so the next day when I went to the academy again everyone laughed at me and it traveled through the whole school in one day that I had screamed like that.”
“So, when I turned eighteen I wanted to volunteer to revenge his death and, obviously, I won because I’m here.” She adds.
“I’m so sorry.” I say, with tears in my eyes. “It’s not your fault, honey.” She says, sweetly.
“I wanted to tell you what I’ve been hearing in the academy.” Kaycee says. “What have you been hearing?” I ask her.
“All the girls, who have personal trainers, are expecting you to volunteer for the games and I know you can’t get out of it without looking like you’re weak.” She says. I just stare at her with tears in my eyes. “But I had promised my mother and father that I wouldn’t volunteer.” I tell her.
“I’m very sorry but I have a feeling that you’ll be forced to volunteer.” She says sadly.
