An Extra Tribute

-back in the game-

I sit calmly on the stage next to Finnick, ready for my choice, Elena Divers, to be called by our escort, Kaddie. She reaches in the bowl, as per usual, and pulls a name from the female jar. We still pull from a bowl in District 4 for the cameras, but as we are a career district, we already have kids picked out from the Academy and they are the only names in the bowl. My year, the 69th, I managed to get Finnick to pitch my name to the council and they chose me. I was thirteen, the youngest ever victor. So, now I'm eighteen, ready to mentor for my third time. Kaddie smiled at the camera before reading the name.

"Noah Bryant." That's me. I feel my face pale as I look frantically to Finnick. He looks as confused as I do as we both quickly stand and face the Mayor.

"Sir-" I start.

"Sir, there has to be a mistake," Finnick finishes quickly. However, the mayor looks faint and he doesn't respond. We quickly walk to Kaddie and begin discussing quietly how this could've happened.

"Someone could've put your name in on the council," Kaddie suggests. "Maybe they didn't like you."

"Yeah, but we only put one name in. If I had only one slip, the odds would have been in my favor," I argue. Finnick quickly walks to the bowl and begins to file through the small pieces of paper. He turns to me after a few moments with three in hand.

"They all have your name on it," he confirms.

"So, someone printed wrong?" I asked.

"No, someone sabotaged you. There's not a soul in Panem who hasn't heard your name, Noah," he replied. Kaddie looks to us for help.

"What do we do?" She asks. Finnick gives me a look that I know all too well; the look that reads 'we can't afford to tell them no'. I give a small nod and he quickly reaches across and squeezes my hand.

"It'll be okay," he mouths. I nod again and look to Kaddie.

"We have to say yes," I say. She looks aghast, but swallows her shock and turns back to the cameras.

"It seems," she begins, her voice rather shaky, "that we are going to have a much more eventful Hunger Games than we originally thought. Our District 4 resident, 69th Hunger Games victor, and youngest victor in Panem history, is going back into the arena this year." A series of gasps passes through the crowd. However, a few claps begin in the back, a few bloodthirsty animals excited for this year's bloodbath, but soon everyone joins in. Calls come from the crowd.

"Get 'em girl!" "Show the Capitol what you've got!" "Shove it in their faces!" "Prove them wrong!" "Get out of there alive!" "Show them what District 4 is all about!" I don't even need to look at Finnick to know what he's thinking: that this is despicable. But, also that I need to put on my front. I allow myself to smile cockily and pump my fist in the air a few times.

"For District 4!" I yell, and the crowd copies me.

"For District 4!" I hear Finnick yell it too and know that he is putting on his front as well. I grin at the camera and mouth the words "I'm coming". The rest of the Reaping speeds by quickly. Kaddie chooses a boy named Max from the Academy. Not who I picked, but that makes my job easier, right? I don't want to kill anyone else though. I thought I was done. That's what they promised me when I won. That I couldn't go back in. And they got me just at the last chance too. I'm supposed to turn 19 before the next Games, so it was their last possible chance to grab me and throw me in. Not that I expected them to. No, I really didn't. Not after everything they've already done. They're the reason the last people I care about in my life are Finnick and Annie. They killed my brothers, my friends, my mom, who was also a victor, and my step-dad. My dad is a different story. I don't know him very well, because he's from another district. He met my mom when they were both mentoring, because he's a victor too, and they had me in secret. No one knows I'm the child of two victors except for Finnick. But, I don't really know my dad, so I consider Finnick and Annie the last of my people. Luckily, they can't touch them because they're victors too. And, Finnick is the youngest male to ever win. But, they did kill my mom, so what's to stop them? Well, they're much more liked than my mom was in the Capitol. She was very opinionated and they didn't like her opinions. But, Finnick is a show-dog in their eyes (even though he's actually a much better person in real life). If they killed him, there would be riots. And Annie has already suffered enough. She is a bright bubbly girl with terrible PTSD. Though she seems normal sometimes, every so often, more often than not, she'll "glitch" as I call it and stop talking or stare off into space, sometimes she'll spastically twitch or say weird things to people who aren't there. But, she's like a sister to me. Her, Finnick, and I make up a small trio. But, if I have to admit it, I'm closer to Finnick than Annie. Either way, I'm scared of them being hurt every day.